Boosting my Resume for next time: Your thoughts please.

[bluejigmaster]

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I have always heard seniors, no matter what field they desire, talk about the stress that comes along with trying figure out what comes next. I am finally here. I applied to 7 DO schools and have gotten rejected from 4 of them without an interview. Virginia put me on 'hold' for an interview, but I'm not holding my breath. Remaining DMU is highly unlikely due to my mcat and OSU is unlikely due to being Oklahoma selective and my mcat. It is depressing to not even get an interview, but I must continue. I have a few options that I would like to have your opinion on.

1) Take a year off by studying for the mcat (without having other classes to distract me) and working some. My main problem with the MCAT is simply finishing the test. On each section, I had one passage left where I had to just mark BBBBBBB down the page. I have always been a slow test taker, and I fear that is something that I can't just rid myself of, so the same thing could happen.

2) Teach for America. I would love teaching underprivileged kids and developing skills that would be useful as a doctor. I had my phone interview with them and find out soon if I get my final day long interview. I would still retake the mcat with hopes of increasing it even just a little, and my resume would be more heavily considered. Anyone know anyone that has done Teach for America and med school?

3) SMP Program. A friend of mine had a 23 mcat and very similar gpa, got rejected his first year, and went to KCUMB's Biomedical program. Without retaking the mcat, he has an interview next month. They told me I would be an "excellent applicant." How much would my mcat play into applying with them next year if I did the program and had excellent grades? It is more likely for me to do well in a program like this than to get above a 25 on the mcat in a small time frame. Plus I would have a masters if I ultimately didn't get in.

I know it seems like I am doubting my abilities on the MCAT, but I took the Kaplan class last year and studied for about 15 hours per week from January until June. Out of 7 practice tests and 1 real test, I only broke a 25 once; for whatever reason, I was able to finish most of the sections on the exam that day. I know that I could get to a point where I could score consistently over 25 by becoming a faster reader/test taker, but that would take a long time to develop.

I apologize if I seem desperate, but I am a little down now and am wondering what would be the best thing to do over the next year. Thanks for reading.

BACKGROUND INFO--------
MCAT was a 22Q with a breakdown of 7PS 7VR 8BS and I have a cumulative GPA of 3.83, biology major. It is my understanding that osteopathic schools don't implement math classes into science gpa, so my nonmath science gpa is 3.7ish, whereas if you include math I have a 3.75ish.

Extra stuff:
-2 College summers working at a camp for underprivileged children.

-3 years of College Marching Band at a major university

-Shadowed a Radiologist, Ophthalmologist, Hospice Doctor, and General Physician, all MD. Will likely be shadowing a DO soon. 40+ hours so far of shadowing.

- 70 Hours of Volunteering at Hospice doing clerical work and taking a class to visit patients.

 

[Reaction]

Your GPA is good so I wouldn't really do an SMP. I would recommend Teach for America and trying to boost your ec's with more volunteering etc.

 

[bucks2010]

Honestly, with a GPA as good as yours, you should be able to do much better than a 22. You need to consider different study strategies and analyze where things went wrong. Your test-taking skills will be called upon again in Step I, board exams, etc, so it's important to learn how to adapt now.

I also wouldn't go for the SMP. Your grades aren't what's holding you back by any means - it's your MCAT. Find a way to raise it.

 

[Catalystik]

Hope for those trying to get past an MCAT score in the teens or low 20's:
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=774396 - by Noshie

 

[ridethecliche]

I would reconsider TFA as there is no way in hell that you will have enough time to study for the MCAT during your time there, that is, unless you can do it over the summer.

And application essays and interviews during the school year? forgetaboutit.

I applied and got into TFA then withdrew. While I think what they're doing is good work, it's not my dream. I want to be a physician and have pursued opportunities to make this a reality.

I have close friends doing the program so I know what it's like for them day to day. If you want to be a good teacher, realize that you will have to dedicate 90% of the time you don't spend sleeping to the craft of teaching. That leaves little room for anything else.

However, the program shows dedication and you will be worked hard if you do it. If you want to apply after finishing your 2 year teaching commitment, then you should be golden as the background will probably work well for you.

 

[bluejigmaster]

@Catalystik: thanks for the helpful article. I think that is what I need to do; when I studied hard for the mcat, I was doing it on top of college work.

Thanks for all of your comments; the advice helps out a lot and has given me some info that I did not know previously about SMP's. If anyone has anything else to say, I would love to hear from you.