Apply DO or take a gap year to build application

[kek3]

I know this conversation is overdone, but would still love some honest advice.
I agree the MD v. DO stigma is all crap, but at the end of the day there is a stigma. I'm grateful for a medical education either way, but I'm preferential for an MD if possible.
I'm in my gap year, 3.53 cGPA 500 MCAT. I have 1000 clinical hours and 1000+ volunteer hours. No research (will indicate future research as I'm currently applying for positions). Should I just go ahead and apply DO? Or should I take another year to stack my application and retake my MCAT before applying MD and DO? I'm not sure if it's worth another year to apply MD when there's no guarantee, but if I have a fighting chance I'll take it. Also, if anyone has recommendations for schools to apply to with my stats, please PM. I really appreciate it.

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[chilly_md]

Moved to WAMC.

If you have 50 or more hours of shadowing (or worked as a scribe and can pull 50 hours from that), apply DO this cycle. Where is your state of residence?

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Hello, and welcome to the What Are My Chances (WAMC) forum. The purpose of this forum is to Post threads about your chances of acceptance to MD and/or DO schools Have your school list critiqued and modified by other members of SDN Determine how to strengthen your current application General...

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[kek3]

Moved to WAMC.

If you have 50 or more hours of shadowing (or worked as a scribe and can pull 50 hours from that), apply DO this cycle. Where is your state of residence?

Please format your post to the below template:

*~*~*~*IMPORTANT: How to Format Your WAMC Thread for Optimal Results and More!!*~*~*~*

Hello, and welcome to the What Are My Chances (WAMC) forum. The purpose of this forum is to Post threads about your chances of acceptance to MD and/or DO schools Have your school list critiqued and modified by other members of SDN Determine how to strengthen your current application General...

forums.studentdoctor.net

I have ~35 shadowing hours, but I can get more before applying. I'm in Virginia!

 

[Angus Avagadro]

Your Mcat Is 49th percentile. GPA is avg. MD and established DO schools arent going to be impressed.Quite frankly, newer and less established DO schools may be your only possibilities this year. If you are fine with primary care, then apply this year. Me personally, I would take a yr to improve my app. MCAT and GPA. Then target an established DO school or your State MD schools, but that 500 will get you screened by many schools. Good luck and best wishes .

 

[chilly_md]

I have ~35 shadowing hours, but I can get more before applying. I'm in Virginia!

You would need a DO letter with where your stats are and I agree with Angus that you likely would need to include multiple newer DO schools on top of VCOM. If you think you can improve on the MCAT, that would be the best.

The in-state MD options are competitive though (and take a lot of OOS students too), so depending on how big the jump is, you would only be improving your chances at the established DO schools.

 

[Faha]

You could receive interviews at these DO schools with your MCAT of 500:
VCOM (all 4 schools)
WVSOM
UP-KYCOM
ACOM
PCOM (all schools)
LECOM (all schools)
WCU-COM
LMU-DCOM
NYIT-AR
ARCOM
UIWSOM
MU-COM
BCOM
TUNCOM
Noorda-COM
ICOM
Touro-Montana
RVU-Montana
KHSC-COM (new school)
Orlando (new school)
Most of these schools have MCAT medians in the 498 to 502 range so you should receive interviews)

 

[theoceanman]

Go with Faha’s list. You won’t need to apply to MD schools this cycle as you won’t have a shot at all for any MD schools. Get more primary care shadowing in from a DO physician and get an LOR from that DO physician as well.

I’ve seen consistent results with ORM students with 498-503 MCAT’s get into DO schools that are slightly newer, such as LMU-DCOM, with no problem as long as you submit everything early.