Chances of getting into an MD or DO program?

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DeliciouslyEric

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Hello all!

I was looking for some help regarding my application and will take any and all advice/criticisms.
Also, I'm ORM from Cali since that seems to matter in a lot of threads I've been looking up.
I graduated from UCDavis back in 2018, but my cGPA and sGPA were pretty horrendous.
I have a cGPA of 2.69 and an sGPA of 2.41, mainly due to personal issues, but this was from 4 years ago and I feel as though I've grown a lot academically since then. I also had an upward trend, but I'm not sure if it's really that acknowledgeable (2.41 uGPA freshman year-> 3.11 uGPA senior year).
After graduating, I started working full time in a research lab dedicated to Alzheimer's research for about 5 years total, equating to about 7.3k hours with 1 publication and 1 poster presentation and a couple of other publications currently in the pipeline.

I've also taken the time to do a Masters in Medical Physiology at Case Western Reserve and graduated from that program with a 4.0 last year(2019-2021), but from all the info I could find, I can't tell if it's specifically considered a special masters program? My advisor said it contained courses given to their medical school students and they do have a linkage program, although I don't qualify for it due to my super low undergrad GPA. Looking at the definitions of an SMP online, it seems to fit the bill, but I'm not entirely sure so if I could get some clarity regarding this, that would be amazing!
Also, I recently retook the MCAT and got a 507, up from a 500 from June of last year. I know it's not amazing, but hopefully it shows some improvement.

My ECs are a bit skewed to be honest, but I was wondering if they helped at all:
7.3k hours research with 1 pub and 1 poster presentation, with some leadership positions with teaching new lab members
50 hours virtual shadowing (I've been trying to get in contact with both private and public clinics for in-person shadowing, but they all say that it's not possible due to Covid. I'm still trying though!)
200 hours volunteering at a church that supports the local underserved community and I'll continue doing this for the next year or so (projected additional 500 hours)
Almost 0 recent clinical experience - I worked as an EMT back in 2016 with some experience in the ER, but I don't think this is recent enough for current cycles.
I guess another pertinent piece of info is LoRs. I have 4 LoRs but none from a physician - 1 from the director of the research institute I worked in the lab for, my lab supervisor, a committee letter from CWRU, and 1 letter from the pastor of the church I volunteer at.

I know my application contains a lot more important info like the personal statement, but are these stats enough to get my foot in the door at some low tier MD programs or DO programs? I'm willing to go to whichever school accepts me so location and pricing would be something I'll worry about later.
I guess another pertinent piece of info is LoRs. I have 4 LoRs but none from a physician - 1 from the director of the research institute I worked in the lab for, my lab supervisor, a committee letter from CWRU, and 1 letter from the pastor of the church I volunteer at.

I've already submitted my AMCAS application for review because I wanted to be in the first or second wave of applicants, but I only added 1 throwaway school so that I can at least get verified early-ish. I have my AACOMAS application ready to send out, but haven't actually done so yet because I'm waiting for more feedback from my advisor regarding my personal statement.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read through this post, I really appreciate any and all feedback I can get.

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Doesn’t case have an auto admit at UM?
I'm sorry, but what is UM? I was thinking this meant university of Miami (?), but I wasn't sure how the two schools were related. If you mean about the linkage - Case guarantees an interview to their allopathic medical school if you get a 514+ on the MCAT, a 3.4+ uGPA, and a 3.5+ gpa from the program. I didn't meet two of the benchmarks, most notably the uGPA one and it would take way too many credit hours in a post bacc to fix my uGPA to that score. However, they do have a guaranteed interview to their Osteopathic school which is what I will apply to, but it won't be a guaranteed interview as I'm not an Ohio resident. Sorry, I forgot to mention that my masters was online due to Covid, so I didn't end up moving to Ohio.
 
Chances of acceptance are 100% on you.

Your chances of getting IIs are far better with DO than MD.

If you're gunning for the latter, you're going to need to improve your MCAT score
Thank you for the advice! I will definitely be focusing most of my effort on my DO applications, but from your experience do you think the Master's GPA is enough to "prove" to the admissions office that I can handle the workload? Or is the uGPA still going to cause my application to get screened out? As much as I would want to fix my uGPA, I think it would take too much money/time to get enough credits to bump up my GPA to a 3.0. I guess that's why I was worried whether or not the master's in Medical Physiology was considered an SMP or not to the admissions office.
 
Thank you for the advice! I will definitely be focusing most of my effort on my DO applications, but from your experience do you think the Master's GPA is enough to "prove" to the admissions office that I can handle the workload? Or is the uGPA still going to cause my application to get screened out? As much as I would want to fix my uGPA, I think it would take too much money/time to get enough credits to bump up my GPA to a 3.0. I guess that's why I was worried whether or not the master's in Medical Physiology was considered an SMP or not to the admissions office.
The SMP proves that you have reinvented yourself.

It's an SMP if the majority of coursework is like that of medical school and research is at a minimum.

It's a shame that they won't consider you due to your UG GPA...the whole purpose of a SMP is to erase that stigma!!!
 
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Hello! About 24 hours in the ambulance as an EMT and 24 hours in the ER room.
Your chances are low for interviews with only 48 hours of clinical exposure and no in person shadowing. You should accumulate 50 hours of in person physician shadowing (including DO and primary care) and 150+ hours of clinical volunteering with patient contact. If you can accomplish that in the summer you could submit a DO application in September or October.
 
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Your chances are low for interviews with only 48 hours of clinical exposure and no in person shadowing. You should accumulate 50 hours of in person physician shadowing (including DO and primary care) and 150+ hours of clinical volunteering with patient contact. If you can accomplish that in the summer you could submit a DO application in September or October.
Thank you very much for the response! I'll definitely be looking for in person shadowing opportunities! I understand my in person shadowing and clinical hours are non-existent so I'll do as much as I can with the time I have left in the cycle!
 
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The SMP proves that you have reinvented yourself.

It's an SMP if the majority of coursework is like that of medical school and research is at a minimum.

It's a shame that they won't consider you due to your UG GPA...the whole purpose of a SMP is to erase that stigma!!!
Okay, thank you, that's definitely reassuring seeming as it is an SMP. I'm more upset at myself for my poor performance during undergrad, but it is what it is and I'll just try to beef up my application more over the summer and focus my app towards DO schools. Thank you so much for your insight!
 
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As Faha and Goro mentioned above, shadow a DR and get a LOR. Apply DO schools and try to shadow DO Doctor.
You should be able to get into DO schools as you have MS and MCAT score of 507.

All the best.
 
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The SMP proves that you have reinvented yourself.

It's an SMP if the majority of coursework is like that of medical school and research is at a minimum.

It's a shame that they won't consider you due to your UG GPA...the whole purpose of a SMP is to erase that stigma!!!
Hi Goro! I was just reviewing this post again and saw your signature! Do you happen to have some DO schools that you recommend? I feel as though DO schools aren't really "ranked" like MD schools are so it's been a bit more difficult to find a more cohesive answer. If this is something you're willing to answer I'd really appreciate it! Thank you very much :)
 
Hi Goro! I was just reviewing this post again and saw your signature! Do you happen to have some DO schools that you recommend? I feel as though DO schools aren't really "ranked" like MD schools are so it's been a bit more difficult to find a more cohesive answer. If this is something you're willing to answer I'd really appreciate it! Thank you very much :)
I have a high regard for the following, in no order:

CCOM (but watch tuition!)
both Westerns
KCU
KCOM
CUSOM
LECOM-E
The coastal Touros
DMU
VCOM
NYITCOM
AZCOM
TUNCOM
PCOM
PacNW
MUCOM
 
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Hello all!

I was looking for some help regarding my application and will take any and all advice/criticisms.
Also, I'm ORM from Cali since that seems to matter in a lot of threads I've been looking up.
I graduated from UCDavis back in 2018, but my cGPA and sGPA were pretty horrendous.
I have a cGPA of 2.69 and an sGPA of 2.41, mainly due to personal issues, but this was from 4 years ago and I feel as though I've grown a lot academically since then. I also had an upward trend, but I'm not sure if it's really that acknowledgeable (2.41 uGPA freshman year-> 3.11 uGPA senior year).
After graduating, I started working full time in a research lab dedicated to Alzheimer's research for about 5 years total, equating to about 7.3k hours with 1 publication and 1 poster presentation and a couple of other publications currently in the pipeline.

I've also taken the time to do a Masters in Medical Physiology at Case Western Reserve and graduated from that program with a 4.0 last year(2019-2021), but from all the info I could find, I can't tell if it's specifically considered a special masters program? My advisor said it contained courses given to their medical school students and they do have a linkage program, although I don't qualify for it due to my super low undergrad GPA. Looking at the definitions of an SMP online, it seems to fit the bill, but I'm not entirely sure so if I could get some clarity regarding this, that would be amazing!
Also, I recently retook the MCAT and got a 507, up from a 500 from June of last year. I know it's not amazing, but hopefully it shows some improvement.

My ECs are a bit skewed to be honest, but I was wondering if they helped at all:
7.3k hours research with 1 pub and 1 poster presentation, with some leadership positions with teaching new lab members
50 hours virtual shadowing (I've been trying to get in contact with both private and public clinics for in-person shadowing, but they all say that it's not possible due to Covid. I'm still trying though!)
200 hours volunteering at a church that supports the local underserved community and I'll continue doing this for the next year or so (projected additional 500 hours)
Almost 0 recent clinical experience - I worked as an EMT back in 2016 with some experience in the ER, but I don't think this is recent enough for current cycles.
I guess another pertinent piece of info is LoRs. I have 4 LoRs but none from a physician - 1 from the director of the research institute I worked in the lab for, my lab supervisor, a committee letter from CWRU, and 1 letter from the pastor of the church I volunteer at.

I know my application contains a lot more important info like the personal statement, but are these stats enough to get my foot in the door at some low tier MD programs or DO programs? I'm willing to go to whichever school accepts me so location and pricing would be something I'll worry about later.
I guess another pertinent piece of info is LoRs. I have 4 LoRs but none from a physician - 1 from the director of the research institute I worked in the lab for, my lab supervisor, a committee letter from CWRU, and 1 letter from the pastor of the church I volunteer at.

I've already submitted my AMCAS application for review because I wanted to be in the first or second wave of applicants, but I only added 1 throwaway school so that I can at least get verified early-ish. I have my AACOMAS application ready to send out, but haven't actually done so yet because I'm waiting for more feedback from my advisor regarding my personal statement.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read through this post, I really appreciate any and all feedback I can get.
4th year non-traditional student at Okstate here. Story short, had a 2.99 GPA/502 MCAT and I got in by networking/military experience. Our DO school loves non-traditional students, but i'll warn you-and correct me if things have changed-I'm not sure any DO school is going to take you without a LOR from a DO physician. This was a hard requirement during my cycle.
 
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