Applying this weekend

[doctosan]

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The moment has finally arrived. I am applying to schools this weekend, but need advice on how to maximize my chances.

I graduated in May 2010 with a BS in Biology. My cumulative GPA is 2.75, and science GPA: 2.85, but with a strong upward trend.

Over the past 4 years I worked 16 hours a week for past 4 years at highly respected academic medical center. In addition, for the past 2 years, I have worked 40 hours at another highly respected academic medical center, affiliated with a university. Worked as a microbiologist in both hospitals.

I worked multiple shifts, had to skip class at times due to work, but I got the job done - 3.8 gpa for 40 credit hours. My postbacc was all science courses, 100 and 200 level, except for one course in statistics, and two psychology courses. I earned A's in Anatomy, Pathology, Pharmacology, Microbiology, etc.

MCAT: 28 (BS 9, PS 9, V 10)

Shadowed ER docs and Internists, for over 100 hours. Have strong letters of recommendation from MD's and DO's, as well as basic science professors.

I am thinking of applying to the following schools, please advise:

Alabama COM
AT Still - Kirksville
AT Still - Arizona
LECOM Erie
LECOM Bradeton
LECOM Seton Hill
WVSOM
VCOM
Pacific Northwest
WesternU
Pikeville COM
NYIT COM
Cambell
Marian
William Carey
Rowan
New England
All Touro's

Advice would be highly appreciated. Timing is crucial. I have already delayed this enough.

 

[katiemaude]

I think it's good you are applying broadly to DO schools. Did you factor in grade replacement when you calculated your GPAs?

The best advice I can give you (coming from someone who didn't follow this advice and paid the price) is to apply NOW. Don't wait another day if you can help it. Get your application in and get verified. You can add more schools later. And turn those secondaries around ASAP.

I wish you the best of luck! 🙂

 

[doctosan]

I think it's good you are applying broadly to DO schools. Did you factor in grade replacement when you calculated your GPAs?

The best advice I can give you (coming from someone who didn't follow this advice and paid the price) is to apply NOW. Don't wait another day if you can help it. Get your application in and get verified. You can add more schools later. And turn those secondaries around ASAP.

I wish you the best of luck! 🙂

I did factor it in for the one or two courses I retook. Most of my C's remained C's, as I was unfamiliar with the grade replacement policy until it was too late. Live and learn, I suppose.

 

[doctosan]

Recalculated my GPA based on AACOMAS guidelines:

cumulative 2.95/4.00
science 2.67/4.00

Should I even give it a shot this round, or just retake classes/take more classes for another year, and apply next round?

 

[Chip N Sawbones]

With such a low GPA you will be a very marginal applicant this year. Applying is expensive and time consuming. It's up to you to decide if it's worth applying when there is an excellent chance you won't get accepted anywhere. Should you decide to apply, call up each school you're thinking of applying to and see if they automatically screen out applications below a 3.0. Don't apply to any schools that do. PNWU and William Carey have very strong regional preferences, so applying to them might be a waste of money. NSU seems to like nontrads a lot, so you might add them to your list. The good news is that with just one or two more semesters to retake classes, you'll be an excellent candidate for the next application cycle. It might take a little longer than you'd planned, but you'll still end up getting accepted at some point.

 

[deleted480308]

I think might want to wait a year and work the grade replacement

 

[mspeedwagon]

There is a poster here on SDN named Chocolate Bear that has the GPA cut-offs for many of the DO schools in his signature.

I would second the wait a year and apply next year.

 

[HipChick]

Most cut offs are 3.0 🙁 but that post bacc? Awesome! But I think you've gotta get over they 3.0 hump because there's autocut offs. There's a underdog thread in the osteo forum. Come visit 🙂

 

[katiemaude]

Recalculated my GPA based on AACOMAS guidelines:

cumulative 2.95/4.00
science 2.67/4.00

Should I even give it a shot this round, or just retake classes/take more classes for another year, and apply next round?

Hmm... in that case I would consider taking another year to replace those Cs and get your cGPA above a 3.0. As some other people have already said, you will eliminate yourself as a candidate at a lot of schools because of the automatic cutoff.

But if you are determined to apply this weekend, only apply to the schools that don't auto screen and don't dramatically favor IS applicants if you're not IS. It's like throwing money out the window. In the meantime, you can still retake some of those C classes in case you have to do a reapp year. (No judgement - I am doing that now. It sucks. My problem was applying too late in the cycle. Don't do that either.)

I'll keep my fingers crossed for you. I hope some DOs send you love! 🙂

 

[doctosan]

Went to a number of websites, here is my new list for this round:

WVSOM
TCOM/UNTHSC
Pikeville
Western
Pacific NW

If my AACOMAS sciGPA goes about 2.7, I will apply to these as well:

LECOMs
AT Stills
AZCOM


I realize my LORs will look old if I use them next year (some are already from a year ago because I thought I was going to apply last cycle). I figured I would give it a shot. It's not that much money in the long run I suppose.

 

[deleted480308]

I think wvsom is really heavy in state

 

[mspeedwagon]

I'm not sure what state you are from, but if you are not from KY/TN, you will NOT get into Pikeville. It is one of most in-state mission bias schools out there. They told me, when I visited sine I was there for work, the they not only prefer people from KY, but they prefer people from Eastern KY (which is much more rural... granted, if you visit from San Francisco even Lexington feels rural). Their focus is on rural medicine.

The same can also be said for for WVSOM. Their focus is also rural medicine and they have a strong in-state focus.

UNTHSC is not an AACOMAS school. They fall under the Texas application system. They are virtually all Texas.

Western and TCOM both favor high stats.

Pacific NW is another regional DO school.

LECOM/AT Still/ AZCOM are much better bets. Along with Alabama and some of the other newer schools (skip Marian since they are likely to have an IN bias).

Went to a number of websites, here is my new list for this round:

WVSOM
TCOM/UNTHSC
Pikeville
Western
Pacific NW

If my AACOMAS sciGPA goes about 2.7, I will apply to these as well:

LECOMs
AT Stills
AZCOM


I realize my LORs will look old if I use them next year (some are already from a year ago because I thought I was going to apply last cycle). I figured I would give it a shot. It's not that much money in the long run I suppose.

 

[whatbout2morrow]

Agree about TCOM. They have a separate application system (TMDSAS) and only 10% of the spots are for OOS students. The OOS students tend to have high numbers and TMDSAS does not do grade replacement.