Chance of getting into an MD program with low stats?

[CalBoy]

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Chances of getting into an MD program?
cGPA: 3.48
sGPA: 3.39
URM, Latino (Central American), LGBTQ+ identifying
speaks Spanish
1st gen American, 1st gen college student
undergrad: Berkeley
MCAT: 504 (took during COVID-19 pandemic)
5+ years of research including both wet lab and clinical-about 4000 hours
1+ year of working as an EMT-about 300 hours
have been volunteering in hospitals since I was 15
President of a student org during undergrad
40 hours of shadowing
lead a volunteering trip abroad
served as a tutor for 3+ years at old high school
home state: California

@Goro @Faha help?

 

[penguinsfan71]

It's gonna be tough. With a sub-505 MCAT, you need to have a stellar GPA for most MD programs. Add on top of that that you're a Cali resident, and I don't really see MD being a reasonable option. Your stats are competitive for plenty of DO schools however.

 

[MyOdyssey]

URM status makes a difference, I think, in chances at MD programs.

 

[KnightDoc]

It's gonna be tough. With a sub-505 MCAT, you need to have a stellar GPA for most MD programs. Add on top of that that you're a Cali resident, and I don't really see MD being a reasonable option. Your stats are competitive for plenty of DO schools however.

Not exactly true. I'm not an expert in this area, but URM, first gen, etc. will definitely provide a significant boost. It's no guarantee, but that, plus maybe LGBTQ+, plus the extensive ECs, definitely makes OP competitive for MD. OP should tag the adcom experts like @Goro and @Faha for more specific guidance.

 

[CalBoy]

Not exactly true. I'm not an expert in this area, but URM, first gen, etc. will definitely provide a significant boost. It's no guarantee, but that, plus maybe LGBTQ+, plus the extensive ECs, definitely makes OP competitive for MD. OP should tag the adcom experts like @Goro and @Faha for more specific guidance.

thank you for the feedback!

 

[penguinsfan71]

Not exactly true. I'm not an expert in this area, but URM, first gen, etc. will definitely provide a significant boost. It's no guarantee, but that, plus maybe LGBTQ+, plus the extensive ECs, definitely makes OP competitive for MD. OP should tag the adcom experts like @Goro and @Faha for more specific guidance.

I agree, I didn't mean to suggest that getting into an MD program would be impossible, just that a DO program might be more realistic. Being a URM, 1st gen, etc. definitely helps.

 

[Goro]

Chances of getting into an MD program?
cGPA: 3.48
sGPA: 3.39
URM, Latino (Central American), LGBTQ+ identifying
speaks Spanish
1st gen American, 1st gen college student
undergrad: Berkeley
MCAT: 504 (took during COVID-19 pandemic)
5+ years of research including both wet lab and clinical-about 4000 hours
1+ year of working as an EMT-about 300 hours
have been volunteering in hospitals since I was 15
President of a student org during undergrad
40 hours of shadowing
lead a volunteering trip abroad
served as a tutor for 3+ years at old high school
home state: California

@Goro @Faha help?

Chances of getting in are 100% on you.

Chances of II at MD? Possible. I suggest getting in some service to LGBT communities.
Chances at DO are excellent.

For SDNers not familiar with this, Central Americans are generally not considered URM. Spanish skills are always good, BUT LGBT are URM at some schools (just avoid LUCOM and Loma Linda!)

 

[Blueprint Med School]

https://www.aamc.org/system/files/2019-10/2019_FACTS_Table_A-18.pdf

Average GPA/MCAT for Hispanics is 3.74/506 (and these numbers typically get higher every year). Without stellar extracurriculars, I wouldn't have my heart set on MD.

Kevin W, MCAT Tutor
Med School Tutors

 

[biobukowski]

Chances of getting into an MD program?
cGPA: 3.48
sGPA: 3.39
URM, Latino (Central American), LGBTQ+ identifying
speaks Spanish
1st gen American, 1st gen college student
undergrad: Berkeley
MCAT: 504 (took during COVID-19 pandemic)
5+ years of research including both wet lab and clinical-about 4000 hours
1+ year of working as an EMT-about 300 hours
have been volunteering in hospitals since I was 15
President of a student org during undergrad
40 hours of shadowing
lead a volunteering trip abroad
served as a tutor for 3+ years at old high school
home state: California

@Goro @Faha help?

Any publications from your lab work? Full time or part time research?

 

[Faha]

Assuming you are a CA resident I suggest these schools:
UC Davis
UC Irvine
California University
TCU-UNT
NOVA MD
George Washington
Drexel
Temple
Seton Hall
New York Medical College
Vermont
Quinnipiac
Oakland Beaumont
Wayne State
Wright State
Medical College Wisconsin
Loyola
Rosalind Franklin
Creighton
Also apply to DO schools and I suggest these:
WESTERN
TUCOM-CA
CHSU-COM
TUNCOM
AZCOM
UIWSOM
KCU-COM
ATSU-KCOM
DMU-COM
MU-COM
ACOM
LECOM (all schools)
PCOM (all schools)

 

[candbgirl]

URM status makes a difference, I think, in chances at MD programs.

Central Americans aren’t usually considered URM!

 

[biobukowski]

Central Americans aren’t usually considered URM!

Who says Mexican, Guatemalan, Salvadorian, Cuban, Puerto Rican, Haitian, Jamaican are not under represented?

 

[candbgirl]

Although some schools expand the URM pool for their school based on local/community populations the usual URM candidates are AA/Black, Mexican, Puerto Rican and Native American!

 

[Goro]

Who says Mexican, Guatemalan, Salvadorian, Cuban, Puerto Rican, Haitian, Jamaican are not under represented?

Mexicans are viewed separately from these other countries.

Jamaica and Haiti are not part of Central America; and people from those ancestries would be Afro-___, and so are URM.

Cubans especially are well represented in American medicine. And are also not Central American.

To follow up on Candb's post, some schools consider Hmong to be URM.

 

[biobukowski]

Hi, I am Cuban and I certainly remember my primary school geography. The Caribbean is located in Central America. I am not sure about your definition of what Central America is, maybe you are talking from adcom perspective. I can only tell you from my perspective, as an actual individual who went through medical school (MD/PhD), residency, and now fellowship.

I entered medical school in 2010, so perhaps things have changed in the meantime. However, I will tell you that:

1. There were ~5 AAs and ~4 Latinos in my
med school class of 180 students.

2. I have yet to find another Cuban first generation immigrant who went through a physician-scientist (MD-PhD) program like me.

3. There were practically no Central Americans (Anywhere from Mexico to Colombia) or latinos in general in my Pediatrics residency, which is one of the largest in the country and is located in a state where ~70% of the patients that we see speak spanish. In my residency class, there are ~5 latinos, ~10 AA, 2 Vietnamese americans, and the rest are southeast asian or caucasian (~50 residents).

4. No Cuban americans, and very few latinos of any kind represented in my fellowship of choice (Allergy/Immunology)

Same goes for Native americans and african americans.

I am not sure where you are finding your statistics but the truth at the ground level, in training, does not reflect them.

 

[RickyRic]

Hi, I am Cuban and I certainly remember my primary school geography. The Caribbean is located in Central America.

I am from a more southern Caribbean Island, and you are 100% false. The Caribbean is not considered as "Central America". However, you can say that some islands may be considered part of "Latin America" (Cuba, DR, PR, some islands near South America). But the Caribbean is its own region.

 

[biobukowski]

I am from a more southern Caribbean Island, and you are 100% false. The Caribbean is not considered as "Central America". However, you can say that some islands may be considered part of "Latin America" (Cuba, DR, PR, some islands near South America). But the Caribbean is its own region.

I’m not 100% wrong, and neither are you. "Central America" may mean different things to various people, based upon different contexts. To me, growing up in Cuba, the term Centroamérica referred to what some call “Middle America” (confusing given the term is used in this country to reference the midwest plaints). That includes the Caribbean, because geographically the islands are part of the region of the american continent in the mid latitudes.

You could argue that Cuba is in North America in terms of tectonic plates, but then you’d have to say that central american and Caribbean countries south of Cuba are in the same geographic region, as they are situated in the same tectonic plate.
See:

Middle America (Americas) - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

Interesting, but not that this adds anything to my point, or to the conversation in general, which is that somehow the war torn and relatively poor countries of the middle of the continent are somehow seen as well represented in medicine, which is false, albeit from the point of view of one MD in practice (me). I would ask, in your experience in medicine, do you tend to see many latino doctors in american hospitals and medical schools?

 

[RickyRic]

I’m not 100% wrong, and neither are you. "Central America" may mean different things to various people, based upon different contexts. To me, growing up in Cuba, the term Centroamérica referred to what some call “Middle America” (confusing given the term is used in this country to reference the midwest plaints). That includes the Caribbean, because geographically the islands are part of the region of the american continent in the mid latitudes.

Ah, I understand. I don't speak Spanish and I'm not familiar with Cuban culture so I never heard that term, but that makes sense.

Interesting, but not that this adds anything to my point, or to the conversation in general, which is that somehow the war torn and relatively poor countries of the middle of the continent are somehow seen as well represented in medicine, which is false, albeit from the point of view of one MD in practice (me). I would ask, in your experience in medicine, do you tend to see many latino doctors in american hospitals and medical schools?

For context: I am a pre-med applying this cycle, so my only experience with hospitals is from being sick and volunteering. Also, I currently live in a very white region of the country.

From my experiences, Latino people do not have equal representation as doctors. Maybe they are over-represented in healthcare in general (nurses, PA, etc), and that's why they are not considered Under-Represented in Medicine? Also, maybe there are doctors with Hispanic ancestry, and claim so, but are "passing"?

 

[biobukowski]

holy cow! average MCAT and gpa for asian Matriculants is 514 and 3.8. These kids must be from CA and are the cream of DO schools.

514 is like the old 32 right?