any and all advice por favor

[eflwon]

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I really need some advice on whether or not i should apply to med school (DO) this year or not. this is my situation...

I will be gratuating this May and taking the MCAT in August (~3.5gpa 3.2 science gpa). I didnt decide to go to med school until my junior year and i have only takent the required Pre-reqs and have little to know health care experience. i am starting to volunteer now but will only have minimal hours by the time of application.
I am going to Central and South America from Sept. to Dec. and will be doing a fair amount of volunteering down there along with learning Spanish. Since my mcat scores (and complete application) wont be in until November I am wondering if it will be a waste of time and money to apply this year with the little extra experience i will have by then.
Thanks for any and all insights
eflwon

 

[Megalofyia]

If your gonna apply DO then I highly suggest you have some DO experience. Shadow a DO or volunteer with a DO .. etc.. Really be able to talk about why you want to be a DO.

You could try and apply and see what happens. I didn't apply this year till December and it worked out however it is not a good idea to wait so long. Early applications def have better luck. You may also consider talking to the dean of admissions at a school your interested in and asking them about what they would suggest in the way of extra-curriculars to help you look stronger.

 

[mx_599]

I really need some advice on whether or not i should apply to med school (DO) this year or not. this is my situation...

I will be gratuating this May and taking the MCAT in August (~3.5gpa 3.2 science gpa). I didnt decide to go to med school until my junior year and i have only takent the required Pre-reqs and have little to know health care experience. i am starting to volunteer now but will only have minimal hours by the time of application.
I am going to Central and South America from Sept. to Dec. and will be doing a fair amount of volunteering down there along with learning Spanish. Since my mcat scores (and complete application) wont be in until November I am wondering if it will be a waste of time and money to apply this year with the little extra experience i will have by then.
Thanks for any and all insights
eflwon

i think you should apply!! however, things to consider:

reapplicants can definitely be looked highly upon...so if you do not make it this year it will look great the following year with healthcare experience you get when you return from your trip throughout the winter and following spring. these would all be the "things" you did to "improve upon" this current 2006 cycle 🙂

is money a major issue with multiple yrs of apps?

will you be able to coordinate the application process from another country??? it can be a freaking pain in the a$$. i am sure not for everyone, but the whole process of getting letters, transcripts, your pre-health office dealings, time commitment of secondaries, trips to the post office, baby sitting/watching over all the details to avoid major delays...etc etc with your august mcat you will be trying to do alot of this stuff when in S.A.

however, you can have a lot of this done over the summer before you leave...if you don't do well on the mcats, you can back out...you don't have to do secondaries. start rounding up letters, official transcripts to aacomas, complete aacomas so all you will need are the mcat scores come october.

for the most part, you should be able to do the secondaries from S.A. if a lot of this other stuff is done. with the advent of the internet and email i guess you can be anywhere. email your essays to friends and family for proffreading and stuff...

when you come back you can start interviewing!!!!! 😀 medical schools should love to hear about your S.A. experience. this can make up for flaws in other areas.

why wait another year if you can get into the class of 2010? see if you can shadow a DO before you leave while you are studying for the mcat this summer...then hit 'em up for a letter of rec!! also get you professor ones lined up and completed!

your biggest obstacle i think is getting a bunch of this stuff done over the summer before you go....that would be critical

the new aacomas is up...hurry, start it!!
good luck