Benefits to applying DO only?

[Crookshanks]

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Hi, I did a search for this but can not find it.

I think I am becoming more and more interested in Osteopathic Medicine. I really don't care too much though, if I get accepted at a DO or MD school. But, I was wondering, would their be any benefit to applying to DO schools only? I don't want the DO schools to think that they're my last choice, and that I'm applying to them to be safe incase I don't get into an MD program. The only problem is that I intend on staying in my state, Florida, and there are only 2 DO schools here. Would it be a bad idea to apply to just 2 schools? Or are my chances of being accepted in general simply better if I apply to more places, say all the Florida schools, for example...?

 

[Animus]

Hi, I did a search for this but can not find it.

I think I am becoming more and more interested in Osteopathic Medicine. I really don't care too much though, if I get accepted at a DO or MD school. But, I was wondering, would their be any benefit to applying to DO schools only? I don't want the DO schools to think that they're my last choice, and that I'm applying to them to be safe incase I don't get into an MD program. The only problem is that I intend on staying in my state, Florida, and there are only 2 DO schools here. Would it be a bad idea to apply to just 2 schools? Or are my chances of being accepted in general simply better if I apply to more places, say all the Florida schools, for example...?

Schools will not really know if you are only applying DO. Some schools do ask you in an interview if you applied to both, that is really the only time you would be able to say/use that if you did it. (what I mean is I dont know that it is a great idea to overly express such a thing in a personal statement, although I guess it might not hurt to mention it if you want to)

As for your chances we would need more information to get an idea of how good of an applicant you are. Even with the numbers and EC's though we can only give relatively good advice on whether or not two schools is a smart choice.

 

[jp104]

Schools will not really know if you are only applying DO. Some schools do ask you in an interview if you applied to both, that is really the only time you would be able to say/use that if you did it.

As for your chances we would need more information to get an idea of how good of an applicant you are. Even with the numbers and EC's though we can only give relatively good advice on whether or not two schools is a smart choice.

If the OP is applying to NSUCOM then he will need to list down all of the schools he is applying to, both DO and MD, on the secondary application. I don't believe there is any specific benefit to applying only DO. Just be prepared to answer if they ask you why you applied to both.

 

[Animus]

If the OP is applying to NSUCOM then he will need to list down all of the schools he is applying to, both DO and MD, on the secondary application. I don't believe there is any specific benefit to applying only DO. Just be prepared to answer if they ask you why you applied to both.

Ahh thanks for info I did not know any schools asked you to do that. 👍

 

[Fermata]

Ummm. You only have to fill out one primary application?

By applying to only DO schools you limit your options as to the pool of schools that you can apply to.

Then again, I only applied to DO schools.

Had I not gotten into an osteopathic school then I would have reapplied and added some MD schools into the mix.

Basically, just do what is best for yourself. Only you can figure that out.

 

[Dr JPH]

It's cheaper.

 

[Crookshanks]

If the OP is applying to NSUCOM then he will need to list down all of the schools he is applying to, both DO and MD, on the secondary application. I don't believe there is any specific benefit to applying only DO. Just be prepared to answer if they ask you why you applied to both.

Yes, I will apply to NSUCOM. My reason for applying to both would be what I stated about staying in Florida. Most everyone advices to apply broadly...so for me, that would mean all (or almost all) of the Florida schools. I don't have the option of leaving the state for family reasons.

I wasn't asking "what are my chances" of getting in somewhere specifically, I was just asking if there was any benefit to applying to DO schools only. The two here are LECOM-brandenton and NSUCOM. If there were MORE I think I might apply DO only...but with there just being two, I'm afraid that hurts my chances of an acceptance.

My overall GPA is about 3.2, I've not taken the MCAT, and the only science classes I have so far are Bio I and II and Chm I, in which I received 2 A's and a B. I think I'm considered a non-traditional applicant, because I have a child. I know that from this information there's not much you can predict.

 

[DrBowtie]

If you have to stay in FL, apply to ALL of the florida schools.

 

[Crookshanks]

Here's your hug, Fermata! (((((((((((Fermata)))))))))))))

See, I'm not a rit. 😀

 

[DNA Helicase]

I think you should just apply to whatever schools you want to go to, MD or DO. There's really no benefit to only applying to DO schools. Unless you want to save money. But it's kind of a marginal difference compared to the cost of medical school.

 

[voltron77]

There's no real benefit.....if you want to stay in Florida, apply to both MD and DO schools.......you increase your chances of staying in the state and becoming a doctor! As an allopathic med student, don't ignore the MD schools in Florida.....there are some great programs out there! Best of luck to you!

 

[Fermata]

Here's your hug, Fermata! (((((((((((Fermata)))))))))))))

See, I'm not a rit. 😀

!

 

[Dr 14220]

Having a child automatically characterizes an applicant as non-traditional?

 

[TrollKCN]

Having a child automatically characterizes an applicant as non-traditional?

Probably. Especially if the applicant is a single parent.

 

[SOUNDMAN]

Well what is a traditional applicant? A person just receiving there bachelor's degree and going right to medical school, or maybe a year or two off in my mind. They are usually in their early to mid 20's. Basically they have not lived in the real world or had to deal with too many real world issues...i.e. family, wife/husband, bills, paying back student loans, etc. Not disparaging anyone, just stating the obvious.

Argue with me if you will but the OP is a non-traditional applicant to medical school.

 

[GreenShirt]

None of the schools I interviewed at asked me if I had applied to both. Although, one did indirectly by asking where I had gotten in. When you start the process it seems like DO schools only accept "hard core DO pasionate" people, but in reality if a good candidate comes across their doorstep, they're not going to turn them down b/c they think the person also applied MD.

 

[MedStudentWanna]

Well what is a traditional applicant? A person just receiving there bachelor's degree and going right to medical school, or maybe a year or two off in my mind. They are usually in their early to mid 20's. Basically they have not lived in the real world or had to deal with too many real world issues...i.e. family, wife/husband, bills, paying back student loans, etc. Not disparaging anyone, just stating the obvious.

Argue with me if you will but the OP is a non-traditional applicant to medical school.

Not that it makes any difference whatsoever, but the people that most med schools refer to as non-traditional are career changers/older students. If a student is 21 years old, graduating college with a husband and a child, they aren't automatically "non-traditional." They're just a student with a husband and child. If the student is 28, going back to school after a career in something else, that makes them non-traditional.

 

[Crookshanks]

Not that it makes any difference whatsoever, but the people that most med schools refer to as non-traditional are career changers/older students. If a student is 21 years old, graduating college with a husband and a child, they aren't automatically "non-traditional." They're just a student with a husband and child. If the student is 28, going back to school after a career in something else, that makes them non-traditional.

Hmm...well, when I apply, I will be 23 and my child will be 3, and I'll be single. Everyone over at the non-trad forum believes I'm non-trad.

 

[Crookshanks]

Not that it makes any difference whatsoever, but the people that most med schools refer to as non-traditional are career changers/older students. If a student is 21 years old, graduating college with a husband and a child, they aren't automatically "non-traditional." They're just a student with a husband and child. If the student is 28, going back to school after a career in something else, that makes them non-traditional.

Hmm...well, when I apply, I will be 23 and my child will be 3, and I'll be single. Everyone over at the non-trad forum believes I'm non-trad.