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jacob18

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Hey everybody,

I'm just looking for some honest, real advice here. I will go through and list my resume so to say and let me know what you guys think!

-27
-Michigan resident
-First generation college student and college graduate with health science degree and minor in chemistry
-3.3cgpa
-3.0sgpa
-have not taken the MCAT yet, see why in further listed points
-roughly 1000 documented volunteer hours in undergrad alone
-roughly 200 documented shadowing hours of MD and DO, includes both surgical and non-surgical scenarios.
-3200 clinical hours of patient transport
-worked part time all through undergrad (2 different jobs, not counting my next bullet point)
-I own and run my own youth program for high school football players to train and get hands on work on and off the field (ACT prep, social media awareness, NCAA slide scale, etc)
-I have coached high school athletes for 5 years

Now, here is where things got interesting in my life! Football brought me some very fortunate and lucky opportunities, I was afforded the opportunity to coach as a graduate football coach at the D1 level and of course, get my masters. I dual mastered in getting my MHA (Masters of Hospital Administration) and MBA (Masters of Business Administration). My life is coming to a potential crossroad, I may keep coaching if afford that opportunity, but as some of you may or may not know, it's not a guarantee thing to continue on in that career, especially when you are only working from a graduate level assistant standpoint. Getting to be on staff full time as an assistant is challenging to say the least, so I want to weigh my options.

My question(s) are to you guys are these: 1. Should I take the MCAT and pursue my initial dreams of becoming a physician? 2. What scores should I be aiming for on the MCAT (I understand it's a new version) to be accepted? 3. MD or DO? 4. Should I just run with my masters degrees? 5. What schools should I apply to if I do choose medical school? 6. Open ended, short answer question, any other thoughts, opinions, or ideas you may have for me would be greatly appreciated, thank you!

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You'd be a long shot at MD without a SMP. DO is doable, but you'd better get at least a 27 on the MCAT (or whatever the equivalent is on the new test, I have no clue) if you want a decent chance.
 
Pardon my poor shorthand, but SMP? I will add, I have one BIO letter of rec, one colleague letter of rec, and 3 MD letter of Rec's. My goal for the MCAT is currently a 30.

You'd be a long shot at MD without a SMP. DO is doable, but you'd better get at least a 27 on the MCAT (or whatever the equivalent is on the new test, I have no clue) if you want a decent chance.
 
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I've been told with me being a first generation and now a non traditional type of thing that may bode well, as well. Not sure how true.
 
Pardon my poor shorthand, but SMP? I will add, I have one BIO letter of rec, one colleague letter of rec, and 3 MD letter of Rec's. My goal for the MCAT is currently a 30.
Your GPA is just too low, all things considered, for most MD programs to consider you. With a broad enough application, your chances would cap out at 30%, unless you're a URM, in which case they'd be higher, or Asian, in which case they'd be lower. If you score below a 30, you're basically done- your chances drop to the low teens. Your ECs are great and all, and they might put you into the 30% that gets accepted with a 30-32, but you'll have to both apply very broadly to low-mid tier MD programs, and you'll have to

Also, keep in mind that undergraduate GPA is calculated separately from graduate GPA on the AMCAS. If your overall GPA is greater than 3.0, but your uGPA is under 3.0, your chances are basically nil, as most schools screen based on uGPA AND cGPA since graduate schools tend to grade on an easier curve. I'm just saying, your odds aren't zero, but they're pretty long.

SMPs are special masters programs, in which you take a first year medical school curriculum to both boost your GPA and prove that you can handle medical school. There are also career-changer SMPs in which you complete just the prereqs, but those don't apply to you it sounds like. Many are linked to medical schools which guarantee an interview if you achieve a certain level of performance.

https://www.aamc.org/download/321518/data/2013factstable25-4.pdf For data on acceptance by GPA and MCAT.
 
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I'd say take the MCAT using the strategies in the MCAT section. Apply DO with a 26 or greater score. Add a few MD schools if you get a 34 or greater. If it's sub-26, it doesn't bode well for you. 26 is kind of low, but I would still apply, since you have neat ECs and I'm sure there's some DO adcom with a soft spot in their hearts for high school football.
 
Have you taken a practice MCAT? If you haven't studied this material in 5 years it will be very difficult to re-learn. That being said, if you really want to be a doctor then you can make it happen. I think MD chances are going to be low regardless of what you get. I'd divert your attention to mainly DO and try to score at least a 26.
 
This may sound a little harsh, but I would not call your football career an explanation for your GPAs. I would call it evidence that you chose to prioritize the short-term over the long-term, which is not a particularly appealing characteristic in potential physician. You will simply get crowded out by applicants with stronger academic records.

Your GPAs are not competitive for MD schools, but might be OK for some DO programs, mostly the newest ones. Skip CCOM, the CA and NY Touros, Western, AZCOM, KCUMB, DMU and PCOM.

Aim for high 20s in the MCAT, or whatever is the equivalent in the new one.

Not true. You need to demonstrate that you can survive a medical school environment.

I've been told with me being a first generation and now a non traditional type of thing that may bode well, as well. Not sure how true.
 
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I didn't think this was an incredible story. I want my 2 minutes back.
 
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FIrst of all you need to take the MCAT no matter what you decide to do if you want to enter medicine. So take it and see what happens. I agree mostly with @Doug Underhill but if you are affiliated with certain schools, wouldnt hurt to apply to both their programs. Just be certain medicine is what you want to do and the rest will happen if you are determined to make your dreams come true.
 
I didn't think this was an incredible story. I want my 2 minutes back.

Yeah, an incredible story would be a 4.0/40 applicant with a first-author Nature paper about the care of Ebola patients who comes from rural Texas.
 
Yeah, an incredible story would be a 4.0/40 applicant with a first-author Nature paper about the care of Ebola patients who comes from rural Texas.

Not really, but it certainly wouldn't be someone that thinks that coaching a D1 sport is an exceptional achievement that merits that headline.
 
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It really depends how bad you want it. If you already have an MHA and MBA you can probably use those to solidify a strong career in some business/healthcare administration field instead.
 
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