Chance me

[rman77]

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So I am applying to medical school in may...unfortunately I have a very bad feeling I don't stand a chance at a M.D. US school. I don't care what school it is I just want to get an MD from the U.S. I am a Junior in my spring term. I go to NYU...where i consistently get above average in me pre-med classes, but always get Bs and B+s...I have never had a grade below a B.

Double Major: Econ and Environmental Science
Double Minor: Bio and Chem

I have one semester left and if I get a 4.0 I would have (taking 2 ecology and physics too and a easy environmental science course....all science GPA boosters)...also i have a W from frosh year in a politics course...i just didn't want to do politics...so i dropped it
OGPA: 3.57
SGPA:3.46

Right now I have
OGPA: 3.47
SGPA: 3.3

My Practice MCATS are putting me around the 32-34 area...

-I have +100 hours of volunteer experience in a NY emergency room (junior year) doing EKGS and patient care.
-Shadowed a doctor last summer at Hopkins
-I'm White (o well)
-Speak semi-fluent Spanish
-100+hours doing volunteer social work in a NY hospital (sophomore year)
-Do lots of club sports and run marathons
-part of a radiology study
-doing 20+ hours a week research this summer on alcohol and the homeless
-full of a family of doctors (not expecting this to help)
My recs are not great because the classes are big here and I can't seem to get to know a teacher that well, but I have a good letter from my school and good outside recs.

Thanks for your help!

 

[sling787]

If you do in fact get that science GPA to a 3.46 and get that 32 MCAT, I say you have a shot, but apply broadly and to a lot of safety schools. You should consider taking some more science classes in the next year and apply next cycle. If you were to consistently get 3.75+ with science classes you would probably be decently competitive by next cycle.

 

[rman77]

yeah I mean Im willingly to apply to 30+ schools...I am a PA resident and plan on applying to every school in PA....the thing is I don't really have the cash to take a year off, but I strongly believe I can beast the MCAT (hopefully that will make up for my poor GPA)...I mean in this job market what the hell am I going to do with a year off...Also I don't need to go top 50 at all...just somewhere that is a MD in the US.

 

[chewsnuffles]

yeah I mean Im willingly to apply to 30+ schools...I am a PA resident and plan on applying to every school in PA....the thing is I don't really have the cash to take a year off, but I strongly believe I can beast the MCAT (hopefully that will make up for my poor GPA)...I mean in this job market what the hell am I going to do with a year off...Also I don't need to go top 50 at all...just somewhere that is a MD in the US.

Get a 32+ as said above. Apply to a ton of schools, and your PA residency helps a lot as well.

 

[rman77]

Also one last question...My parents live in different states....my mom in PA, but my Dad in NJ. Think it would be worth switching to NJ residency for Robert Wood Johnson?

 

[rman77]

Ggbump

Also one last question...My parents live in different states....my mom in PA, but my Dad in NJ. Think it would be worth switching to NJ residency for Robert Wood Johnson?

 

[virusgirl]

I don't think it's all that easy to switch state residency... You usually have to move for non-educational purposes and have a job and be registered to vote and stuff. I was born and raised in MA but went to school in PA, and I really had to jump through some hoops to be able to apply to UMass as a resident -- but we may be unusually picky in that respect.

I agree that as your grades stand right now, you probably don't have a great shot at US allopathic schools. IF you can pull those straight As and get up to a 3.57/3.46, you have a shot. But a 3.3 sGPA is pretty low for US allo.

You've mentioned -- twice -- that you really want to go to an American allopathic school; may I ask why this is so important to you? If it was a choice between DO and not going to med school, would you really choose not to go to med school? I know that this is never what "What are my chances" posters on the pre-allo thread want to hear, but you really, REALLY should consider DO schools. You would be a competitive applicant, and there is really no difference, except in the minds of premed students. Hospitals don't care. Patients don't care, and probably won't even know. Unless you want to do a derm residency at Hopkins, going to a DO school really won't hurt you professionally.

 

[rman77]

I don't think it's all that easy to switch state residency... You usually have to move for non-educational purposes and have a job and be registered to vote and stuff. I was born and raised in MA but went to school in PA, and I really had to jump through some hoops to be able to apply to UMass as a resident -- but we may be unusually picky in that respect.

I agree that as your grades stand right now, you probably don't have a great shot at US allopathic schools. IF you can pull those straight As and get up to a 3.57/3.46, you have a shot. But a 3.3 sGPA is pretty low for US allo.

You've mentioned -- twice -- that you really want to go to an American allopathic school; may I ask why this is so important to you? If it was a choice between DO and not going to med school, would you really choose not to go to med school? I know that this is never what "What are my chances" posters on the pre-allo thread want to hear, but you really, REALLY should consider DO schools. You would be a competitive applicant, and there is really no difference, except in the minds of premed students. Hospitals don't care. Patients don't care, and probably won't even know. Unless you want to do a derm residency at Hopkins, going to a DO school really won't hurt you professionally.

I am really just not a fan of the manual medicine idea and I understand that they are equally competitive for residencies. Personally from what my other doctors have told me....they don't usually recommend people to DOs....not that they are going to automatically be bad doctors...im sure there are plenty of DOs that are great...maybe even the best in their field, but the fact of the matter is statistically they are less likely to be the best, just like somebody from Harvard is more likely to be a greater success than somebody from NYU.

So if it came down to it and i didn't get in to an MD this time...then sure the next time i applied I would throw a DO in there....but I want to aim high first...it's not like I have a 2.9, I feel that I can recover my GPA a little bit, I also have confidence in my standardized test taking abilities so maybe if I get a 35...ill have a shot. I know it's a lot to bank on, but I REALLY MADE MY SCHEDULE easier...I had been just doing suicidal GPA courses loads like Orgo+BIO+Calc+Intermediate MACRO. Now I am taking 2 ecology classes known for field trips that involve bird watching...along with physics which I am good at.

 

[Dr McSexy]

-doing 20+ hours a week research this summer on alcohol and the homeless!

Can I get involved in this? I'm not necessarily homeless, but I'm wasted every weekend. I was so wasted once that I ended up sleeping in a cardboard box, so I have a good perspective on this.

 

[Mobius1985]

So if it came down to it and i didn't get in to an MD this time...then sure the next time i applied I would throw a DO in there....but I want to aim high first...it's not like I have a 2.9, I feel that I can recover my GPA a little bit,

The average acceptee to osteopathic schools has a GPA of 3.45. Your opinion is not well informed and seemingly based on some of your older mentors' attitudes. Read SDN widely and try to moderate your views for the sake of your future working relationships with other medical doctors. MD and DO licensure provide the same scope for medical practice. From what I've read in the Pre-Osteopathic forum, most DOs do not regularly incorporate manipulative medicine techniques in their practices.