MD & DO Can I get in? Any and all opinions!

[finessekidATC]

Hey guys! Recent bachelors graduate here with a a few more med school reqs to take. I have a relatively non-traditional background so I'm looking for some honest opinions and advice on if I have a shot at reaching my dream of med school in this upcoming (2018-19) application cycle. I'm also an AZ resident.

Current GPA: 3.3, looking to achieve about 3.5 overall and science once I'm done with the reqs... my undergrad school had the horrible grading system where 86%=3.3 and 93%= 3.7. Had some bad family stuff happen at the start of my sophomore year and it took until this past summer to have my grades not reflect that.
MCAT: taking in May, looking for 510+
Major: Athletic training, will be getting my board license in Feb
Clinical experience: 1200+ hours of hands on athletic training patient care
Shadowing: 150+ hours (and counting) over gen surg, IM, family med, anesthesiology, gastro-enterology
LOR: 1 D.O., 2 M.D. (all with shadow experience), 2 from athletic training program teachers, 1 from biology teacher, 1 from former preceptor/teacher (no pre-med advisory)
Volunteer: occasional orphanage work in TJ, Mexico and some medical volunteer (<30 hours)
Research: no research, but I will be presenting my undergrad capstone at our state athletic training conference
Work: 20 hours/wk coaching (all throughout undergrad and currently), 10 hours/wk lifeguarding, going to 40 hours/week over the summer as a head coach
My mom works very closely with admissions and teachers at AZ-COM, but no family in medicine

I'm looking to apply to:
AZ-COM
ATSU-SOMA
CCOM
LUCOM
MU-COM
MSUCOM
NSUCOM
PCOM
COM-NY
TUCOM-CA
TUCOM-NV
UP-KYCOM
VCOM- auburn
VCOM- Virginia
WesternU/COM

University of Louisville
Western Michigan
Tulane
Virginia Tech Carillion
Meharry
U of A- Tucson or Phoenix
UCLA
Mayo Clinic- Phoenix

Please let me know what y'all think! Thank you!!

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[Faha]

Louisville, UCLA and Virginia Tech have a strong preference for their own residents. Meharry accepts mainly URM. If your MCAT is at least 500 you will be competitive for some DO schools. Post your score here when available.

 

[Goro]

Come back when you have your MCAT score and then we can advise.

Hey guys! Recent bachelors graduate here with a a few more med school reqs to take. I have a relatively non-traditional background so I'm looking for some honest opinions and advice on if I have a shot at reaching my dream of med school in this upcoming (2018-19) application cycle. I'm also an AZ resident.

Current GPA: 3.3, looking to achieve about 3.5 overall and science once I'm done with the reqs... my undergrad school had the horrible grading system where 86%=3.3 and 93%= 3.7. Had some bad family stuff happen at the start of my sophomore year and it took until this past summer to have my grades not reflect that.
MCAT: taking in May, looking for 510+
Major: Athletic training, will be getting my board license in Feb
Clinical experience: 1200+ hours of hands on athletic training patient care
Shadowing: 150+ hours (and counting) over gen surg, IM, family med, anesthesiology, gastro-enterology
LOR: 1 D.O., 2 M.D. (all with shadow experience), 2 from athletic training program teachers, 1 from biology teacher, 1 from former preceptor/teacher (no pre-med advisory)
Volunteer: occasional orphanage work in TJ, Mexico and some medical volunteer (<30 hours)
Research: no research, but I will be presenting my undergrad capstone at our state athletic training conference
Work: 20 hours/wk coaching (all throughout undergrad and currently), 10 hours/wk lifeguarding, going to 40 hours/week over the summer as a head coach
My mom works very closely with admissions and teachers at AZ-COM, but no family in medicine

I'm looking to apply to:
AZ-COM
ATSU-SOMA
CCOM
LUCOM
MU-COM
MSUCOM
NSUCOM
PCOM
COM-NY
TUCOM-CA
TUCOM-NV
UP-KYCOM
VCOM- auburn
VCOM- Virginia
WesternU/COM

University of Louisville
Western Michigan
Tulane
Virginia Tech Carillion
Meharry
U of A- Tucson or Phoenix
UCLA
Mayo Clinic- Phoenix

Please let me know what y'all think! Thank you!!

 

[calivianya]

Compared to most premeds, your number of volunteer hours is shockingly low - I'm sure you're aware of that. Try to accumulate as many as you can before this summer. Focus on non-clinical volunteering with underserved populations since you have the 1200+ hours of patient contact.

If you search medical mission trips or international mission trips here, you'll see most adcoms here look down on those kinds of experiences, so try to get your future volunteering in the US.

 

[MedicalDoge]

Do need your MCAT for us to give a full opinion, however:

I disagree with a post above about international volunteering. I've done two international volunteer experiences and they were some of the experiences of my life. They give you a ton to talk about at interviews, and many schools I have interviewed at, including Dartmouth, Georgetown, and Rochester, explicitly stated that they like to see international exposure/volunteering, and virtually every interviewer I have talked to asked about them, but that's just my experience. However, I have a good amount of domestic volunteering as well, so that would also help to round you out. Maybe try to spend a semester/summer volunteering at a domestic hospital or a non-clinical organization.

You have a unique spread of experiences, which is a positive. However, you definitely need some research hours and more volunteering to be competitive for MD, in my opinion. Schools on the caliber of Mayo and UCLA are a stretch, especially given how research heavy they are, but it is good to give dream schools a shot! I think you have an excellent shot at DO if you have a MCAT above 503 ish. If you do get your goal score of 510+, I think that you have a very high chance at DO, and some MD (state schools and Meharry for sure).

Would also probably need another hard science LOR. Clinical and shadowing hours are great.

I hope I helped a little bit!