I have an interview coming up for WVSOM, and was wodering what are my chances of getting accepted from here on if i dont screw up the interview with my stats of 3.6 and 27O. Also, any advice on how to prepare for the interview?
Do MCAT and GPA matter in getting into an osteopathic school? ABSOLUTELY. However, applicants make the mistake that just having good grades and scores are all that you need. There is more to the person than just grades. There are things like extracurricular activities, volunteer work, personality
all of these things are looked at.
Realistically, there is more to an undergrad student than studying. There are clubs, activities, fund-raisers, helping with blood drives, hobbies (what you do to vent-off stress), etc. Ok, so you can add and multiply (I know, a little cynical here
), show me what else there is to you
at the same time, be yourself, be real. People can spot a phony.
Think about it... book knowledge without a heart equals a lousy doc. Maybe they are overexalted on House M.D., but who wants to see a doc with the personality of a dial tone, especially if there are other equally-qualified ones that show excellent bedside manner and compassion?
Furthermore, in med school, you work together as a team. Others may know material that you dont, and vice versa. You may have a bad day
others are there to cheer you up and keep you focused. We have study groups. We are all going through this together. We are a family.
What destroys the fabric of a med school family are those gunners out there that are only looking out for themselves.
Those selfish ones that will hoard all of the materials to themselves, but willingly accept material from others.
Those who are more concerned about being #1 than working together with others.
The limelighters that will show-off at others expense. They fail to recognize that although they step on others to climb up the ladder, once they reach the top, those same individuals that they treated like trash are oftentimes their boss
ahhh, karma
Those are the applicants that you wouldnt want getting in
Part of osteopathy is having that heart
it is more than just picking-up a book and passing a test. It involves listening to the patient and understanding their point of view. It's been said that 90% of getting to a diagnosis is listening to the patient history. Many with the "booksmarts only" will miss important clues because they are, quite frankly, bored with the conversation and just waiting for the chit-chat to end so that they can give a script and move-on. Communication and listening are necessary skills...
Too often, people get locked into the perspective of that grades are all that matter
from my conversations with MANY med students, both allopathic and osteopathic, this is frequently due to misinformed pre-med advisors that seem to be just holding a committee position because they are required to. They might have understood what it took to for them to get their Ph.D., but medicine is different, and they don't take the time to learn that, or they are getting bad intel from somewhere.
WVSOM was my 4th school that accepted me. Two were allopathic: one an ivy-league, one a normal school that was heavy on research. The other school was an osteopathic in a city environment. I picked WVSOM, and Im very satisfied with my choice.
If youve got any other questions about the school, feel free to IM me
Im normally on throughout the day.
The Don
