Chances?

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KMat

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Planning on applying for 2018-2019 cycle:

Major: Psychology
cGPA: 3.61
sGPA: 3.49
MCAT #1: 497
MCAT #2: 502 (124 (ran out of time), 125, 125, 128)
I have been working in an inpatient Psych unit at a general hospital for 1.5 years now and plan to keep working until before I start school. I also am the JV coach of a local high school field hockey team and coach youth field hockey.
Currently arranging to shadow a MD and a DO.
CT resident.
4 year member and 2 year captain of my school's Varsity Field Hockey Team.
Lots of Psych research experience and have presented in a professional section of Eastern Psychological Association's conference in Times Square, NY.
I don't have much volunteer experience other than what I did with my field hockey team.
I am very interested in UNECOM, LECOM-Bradenton, LECOM-Erie, PCOM. In that order. I am also applying to other schools but those are my top 3. Please give any other school recommendations. I have a larger list of interested schools but I want to do more research/visit them before I am sure I will apply.

Is there anything else I can do that will boost my application? Please advise. Thanks!
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I'm sorry to post this in here generally... I figured out how to post in the "What are my chances?" section after I posted here...now I can't figure out how to delete this post. 🙁
 
KMat said:
Planning on applying for 2018-2019 cycle:

Major: Psychology
cGPA: 3.61
sGPA: 3.49
MCAT #1: 497
MCAT #2: 502 (124 (ran out of time), 125, 125, 128)
I have been working in an inpatient Psych unit at a general hospital for 1.5 years now and plan to keep working until before I start school. I also am the JV coach of a local high school field hockey team and coach youth field hockey.
Currently arranging to shadow a MD and a DO.
CT resident.
4 year member and 2 year captain of my school's Varsity Field Hockey Team.
Lots of Psych research experience and have presented in a professional section of Eastern Psychological Association's conference in Times Square, NY.
I don't have much volunteer experience other than what I did with my field hockey team.
I am very interested in UNECOM, LECOM-Bradenton, LECOM-Erie, PCOM. In that order. I am also applying to other schools but those are my top 3. Please give any other school recommendations. I have a larger list of interested schools but I want to do more research/visit them before I am sure I will apply.

Is there anything else I can do that will boost my application? Please advise. Thanks!
Click to expand...
With your MCAT you want to apply broadly. Look into as Goro puts it, volunteering with those less fortunate than yourself. Also, some shadowing of a physician
 
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KMat said:
Planning on applying for 2018-2019 cycle:

Major: Psychology
cGPA: 3.61
sGPA: 3.49
MCAT #1: 497
MCAT #2: 502 (124 (ran out of time), 125, 125, 128)
I have been working in an inpatient Psych unit at a general hospital for 1.5 years now and plan to keep working until before I start school. I also am the JV coach of a local high school field hockey team and coach youth field hockey.
Currently arranging to shadow a MD and a DO.
CT resident.
4 year member and 2 year captain of my school's Varsity Field Hockey Team.
Lots of Psych research experience and have presented in a professional section of Eastern Psychological Association's conference in Times Square, NY.
I don't have much volunteer experience other than what I did with my field hockey team.
I am very interested in UNECOM, LECOM-Bradenton, LECOM-Erie, PCOM. In that order. I am also applying to other schools but those are my top 3. Please give any other school recommendations. I have a larger list of interested schools but I want to do more research/visit them before I am sure I will apply.

Is there anything else I can do that will boost my application? Please advise. Thanks!
Click to expand...
I agree. It would be your MCAT rather than your GPA that will raise eyebrows. Best of luck!
 
Fix that low MCAT score and you will probably receive invites from MD schools. It is well worth the effort.
 
You definitely need to boost up your volunteering. Aside from GPA and MCAT, these schools love to see that youve done things to help those less fortunate than yourself. Plus, its very difficult to answer some secondary prompts if you have no volunteer experience. At the minimum, I would say you need around 30-50 hrs shadowing a D.O. (with a LOR), 75-100 hrs non-clinical volunteering (homeless shelter, food kitchen, etc.), and 150 < hrs of medical volunteering.

If you can get those things accomplished, with your current GPA, MCAT and research experience, I think you'll be fine for the D.O.s you mentioned, although you'll want to apply to more than just 2.

Best of luck
 
KMat said:
Planning on applying for 2018-2019 cycle:

Major: Psychology
cGPA: 3.61
sGPA: 3.49
MCAT #1: 497
MCAT #2: 502 (124 (ran out of time), 125, 125, 128)
I have been working in an inpatient Psych unit at a general hospital for 1.5 years now and plan to keep working until before I start school. I also am the JV coach of a local high school field hockey team and coach youth field hockey.
Currently arranging to shadow a MD and a DO.
CT resident.
4 year member and 2 year captain of my school's Varsity Field Hockey Team.
Lots of Psych research experience and have presented in a professional section of Eastern Psychological Association's conference in Times Square, NY.
I don't have much volunteer experience other than what I did with my field hockey team.
I am very interested in UNECOM, LECOM-Bradenton, LECOM-Erie, PCOM. In that order. I am also applying to other schools but those are my top 3. Please give any other school recommendations. I have a larger list of interested schools but I want to do more research/visit them before I am sure I will apply.

Is there anything else I can do that will boost my application? Please advise. Thanks!
Click to expand...
You're fine for most DO schools except the coastal Touros, AZCOM and CCOM. I can't recommend Nova or LUCOM, for different reasons. MSUCOM? Ask Larry Nasser's victims.

Strongly suggest shadowing that DO and getting LOR from same.
 
Magus5454 said:
With your MCAT you want to apply broadly. Look into as Goro puts it, volunteering with those less fortunate than yourself. Also, some shadowing of a physician
Click to expand...
Thank you!!
 
CyrusHabs7695 said:
You definitely need to boost up your volunteering. Aside from GPA and MCAT, these schools love to see that youve done things to help those less fortunate than yourself. Plus, its very difficult to answer some secondary prompts if you have no volunteer experience. At the minimum, I would say you need around 30-50 hrs shadowing a D.O. (with a LOR), 75-100 hrs non-clinical volunteering (homeless shelter, food kitchen, etc.), and 150 < hrs of medical volunteering.

If you can get those things accomplished, with your current GPA, MCAT and research experience, I think you'll be fine for the D.O.s you mentioned, although you'll want to apply to more than just 2.

Best of luck
Click to expand...

Thank you! I will arrange to start volunteering at my local shelter to get those non-clinical hours. I am also currently trying to find a DO to shadow, so thanks for that bit of advice too! 🙂
 
Goro said:
You're fine for most DO schools except the coastal Touros, AZCOM and CCOM. I can't recommend Nova or LUCOM, for different reasons. MSUCOM? Ask Larry Nasser's victims.

Strongly suggest shadowing that DO and getting LOR from same.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice!! 🙂
 
Ibn Sina MD said:
I would just shoot for DO. After taking the MCAT twice already, you'd need a real good MCAT score to secure an MD acceptance, like 511+, your gpa is also slightly low for MD.

But DO you should be more than fine. The lower MCAT may cause some minor hurdles but the GPA should keep your head above water at most DO schools, excluding the ones Goro mentioned you shouldn't apply for.

PCOM and UNECOM, as you mentioned you're interested in, appear to be DO to the core. Meaning they expect competitive applicants to have DO experience. In other words, shadowing the DO will be very helpful for those schools, and getting a DO LOR would be even more helpful.
Click to expand...

Yes I don't feel confident that I will get a 511+ if I take the MCAT a third time. I've already taken prep courses before the first one and spent good money on and time with a personal tutor for the second one. I'm just a poor standardized test taker and always run out of time on the actual thing. So I will stick to DO. I will definitely find a DO to shadow. Thank you for your input! 🙂
 
KMat said:
Planning on applying for 2018-2019 cycle:

Major: Psychology
cGPA: 3.61
sGPA: 3.49
MCAT #1: 497
MCAT #2: 502 (124 (ran out of time), 125, 125, 128)
I have been working in an inpatient Psych unit at a general hospital for 1.5 years now and plan to keep working until before I start school. I also am the JV coach of a local high school field hockey team and coach youth field hockey.
Currently arranging to shadow a MD and a DO.
CT resident.
4 year member and 2 year captain of my school's Varsity Field Hockey Team.
Lots of Psych research experience and have presented in a professional section of Eastern Psychological Association's conference in Times Square, NY.
I don't have much volunteer experience other than what I did with my field hockey team.
I am very interested in UNECOM, LECOM-Bradenton, LECOM-Erie, PCOM. In that order. I am also applying to other schools but those are my top 3. Please give any other school recommendations. I have a larger list of interested schools but I want to do more research/visit them before I am sure I will apply.

Is there anything else I can do that will boost my application? Please advise. Thanks!
Click to expand...
I think you'll get a few II's with those stats with a well timed application.
 
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