**class Of 2013**

BU Medical Sciences
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I'll be almost a week into med school on 8/22. Holy ****.
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badapplestix said:
Class of 2013 (I hope). Hopefully I get into Western U (I'm from Cali), or maybe Touro-CA or AZCOM.
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Welcome and Good Luck! Yay! Another Californian. :)

TexasTriathlete said:
I'll be almost a week into med school on 8/22. Holy ****.
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You do realize that this was bound to happen, right? :laugh: Unless you are just an overzealous application-writing hobbyist, in which case you should have been more careful to not hit the "send" button at the end of it all. Probably didn't help that you attended the interview either ...
 
Heh, I'll be 22 days into med school by then.....:cool:. w00t.
 
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Rough, I have no idea how I did and have to wait like 2 more weeks. Its nerve racking as I could be in ok/good standing or have to retake!

My biggest tip for the specific MCAT I took is don't under estimate Kaplan and other hard FL's as they were much closer to the one I took on 4/5 than the aamc's. I think others felt the same too about it. It was tougher than any aamc i took which was every one.
 
I really wish that some med school will just trust me when I say I'm a good applicant, instead of doing all this applying and mcat business. I can't believe I'll still have to finish my senior year as an undergrad after knowing I'm going to medical school (that is, if I get in). Hmm, do I keep volunteering/doing research if I get in?
 
A question for anybody or the more experienced. Just curious to know what are the best DO schools or really good ones to send applications for next year? Or does the school really matter? I am from Ky so there is PCSOM and LMU-DCOM within proximity but was wondering if I need to look further out. I feel like school is school and you get out of it what you put into it. Am I right or wrong?
 
mroof1 said:
A question for anybody or the more experienced. Just curious to know what are the best DO schools or really good ones to send applications for next year? Or does the school really matter? I am from Ky so there is PCSOM and LMU-DCOM within proximity but was wondering if I need to look further out. I feel like school is school and you get out of it what you put into it. Am I right or wrong?
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that's what they say....:sleep:
 
mroof1 said:
A question for anybody or the more experienced. Just curious to know what are the best DO schools or really good ones to send applications for next year? Or does the school really matter? I am from Ky so there is PCSOM and LMU-DCOM within proximity but was wondering if I need to look further out. I feel like school is school and you get out of it what you put into it. Am I right or wrong?
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the school matters. you have to find the one that fits best for you. here is a thread that is discussing your exact question. keep in mind these are all opinions and you have the final decision.

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=440793
 
Thanks for the responses. Sorry to bring up a topic already been exhausted but I just see people on here talking about some schools more than others. So I was just curious. But I definitely agree that there has to be a great fit between you and the school. You could be stuck on one school, then interview at another school and absolutely fall in love with it. I am at the point that whoever accepts me will be the right school!
 
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Hey blondeshell15, I know this might be off topic but, are you catholic? I read early in this thread you saying something about a catholic HS or college and school girl uniform? I am catholic and grew up going to private catholic elementary,middle and high school. I do remember those girls uniforms. They were good but some girls made them look really good!!


Next subject: How is everybody, still in school, doing on finishing up classes and finals? I hope all is well. I know I do not miss that.
 
i had a convo w/ my mom today about the DO schools I was looking to apply to and what not....most of the time we were talkin about PCOM and I showed her the website and she was lookin around or whatever...

everything was cool until she stumbled upon the FAQ page and saw that gpa was 3.4 and the MCAT was 25 and she get all flustered about how it was too low and it will hinder my chances of doing whatever it is i wanna do, and how it must meen the quality of education isn't the same as MD and blaaaaaaa bla blaaaaaa babble babble....

i tried to explain to she was jumping to irrational conclusions, but it was like she had ear plugs in her ears or something......she just didnt get it...i got soooo irritated that i had to leave the room....its just unfortunate that people are so uninformed and can jump to such irrational conclusions with so litlte to base it on... especially when they are people of your immidiate family :eek:. you'd think theyd trust that you were making the decision that was best for you??? right??

and its not like i told her i was definitely going there.....we were talking about the possibility of me applying!!!! i cant wait for the convo if/after i get accepted and tell her i am considering on moving to philadelphia....GREAT
 
ryserr21 said:
i had a convo w/ my mom today about the DO schools I was looking to apply to and what not....most of the time we were talkin about PCOM and I showed her the website and she was lookin around or whatever...

everything was cool until she stumbled upon the FAQ page and saw that gpa was 3.4 and the MCAT was 25 and she get all flustered about how it was too low and it will hinder my chances of doing whatever it is i wanna do, and how it must meen the quality of education isn't the same as MD and blaaaaaaa bla blaaaaaa babble babble....

i tried to explain to she was jumping to irrational conclusions, but it was like she had ear plugs in her ears or something......she just didnt get it...i got soooo irritated that i had to leave the room....its just unfortunate that people are so uninformed and can jump to such irrational conclusions with so litlte to base it on... especially when they are people of your immidiate family :eek:. you'd think theyd trust that you were making the decision that was best for you??? right??

and its not like i told her i was definitely going there.....we were talking about the possibility of me applying!!!! i cant wait for the convo if/after i get accepted and tell her i am considering on moving to philadelphia....GREAT
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haha....my dad does the same thing to me, and he'll always end the conversation saing: "well, if you don't want to be a real doctor..."

hopefully he's joking though
 
schussboarder said:
haha....my dad does the same thing to me, and he'll always end the conversation saing: "well, if you don't want to be a real doctor..."

hopefully he's joking though
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the worst is when they end the conversation with something along the lines of this:

"well, its your decision"

"well, i guess you know whats right for you" (said with a tone that really means "you are an idiot. i am your mother, i know whats best")

"well, i just hope you dont look back on this in 10 years and regret your choice to go DO"

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
 
ryserr21 said:
the worst is when they end the conversation with something along the lines of this:

"well, its your decision"

"well, i guess you know whats right for you" (said with a tone that really means "you are an idiot. i am your mother, i know whats best")

"well, i just hope you dont look back on this in 10 years and regret your choice to go DO"

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
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tell her that she'll be grateful in 20 years when you put her up in a nice nursing home from your ninja income.
 
Hah ninja revenue.

Well, my dad basically said "You know your situation better than I do, so this sounds good." It was refreshingly honest because he doesn't know much about the DO scene or about admissions.

My mom actually loved the idea of OMM though, so that was also a plus.

Unfortunately, the rest of the immediate family wasn't so supportive. Uncles and aunts were much less understanding and pretty much told me straight about how they felt about DO, mainly because they didn't know about it. It's a sad world, but it's getting better.
 
oh and another thing.....its not like my mom doesn't know what a DO is...she even went to the DO orthopedic surgeon i was shadowing...and she loved him! went on and on about how good he was and how well he treated her and bla bla bla....

yet somehow when it comes to me being an orthopedic surgeon....DO isnt good enough.


if i do end up going DO, I hope it does get better.....although it would be nice to be a DO orthopedic surgeon just to prove a point and say "HA! i told you i could do it"
 
ryserr21 said:
oh and another thing.....its not like my mom doesn't know what a DO is...she even went to the DO orthopedic surgeon i was shadowing...and she loved him! went on and on about how good he was and how well he treated her and bla bla bla....

yet somehow when it comes to me being an orthopedic surgeon....DO isnt good enough.


if i do end up going DO, I hope it does get better.....although it would be nice to be a DO orthopedic surgeon just to prove a point and say "HA! i told you i could do it"
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my entire medical school education will be based on spite alone. why else do it, that's what i say
 
fortunately my family has been very supportive. They all want me to make it, I guess probably so that I can take care of them one day. haha!
DOs will hopefully get better and better recognition as the years go on.
 
ryserr21 said:
oh and another thing.....its not like my mom doesn't know what a DO is...she even went to the DO orthopedic surgeon i was shadowing...and she loved him! went on and on about how good he was and how well he treated her and bla bla bla....

yet somehow when it comes to me being an orthopedic surgeon....DO isnt good enough.


if i do end up going DO, I hope it does get better.....although it would be nice to be a DO orthopedic surgeon just to prove a point and say "HA! i told you i could do it"
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i'm so glad to be practicing amongst you all some day! :D my family is the SAME WAY. i love that people who are competitive for both DO and MD schools, are willing to see through the stigma that DOs are for people who couldn't quite make it. and, let's be honest, even for those who are less competitive for MD schools, we could easily take a year off, take more science classes, spend time studying for the MCAT and most likely achieve higher numbers. but, i don't think that's the point. the point is that you want to help other people achieve physical, emotional and mental wellness and you want to do it as soon as you can. at least, that's how it is for me :)

plus, i think it takes a stronger person to work against stereotypes and push through them than it does to succumb to whatever preconceived notions exist in the world that tell you that one thing is right or better than another.
 
diggintheDOs said:
i'm so glad to be practicing amongst you all some day! :D my family is the SAME WAY. i love that people who are competitive for both DO and MD schools, are willing to see through the stigma that DOs are for people who couldn't quite make it. and, let's be honest, even for those who are less competitive for MD schools, we could easily take a year off, take more science classes, spend time studying for the MCAT and most likely achieve higher numbers. but, i don't think that's the point. the point is that you want to help other people achieve physical, emotional and mental wellness and you want to do it as soon as you can. at least, that's how it is for me :)

plus, i think it takes a stronger person to work against stereotypes and push through them than it does to succumb to whatever preconceived notions exist in the world that tell you that one thing is right or better than another.
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agreed! i parallel the situation I am in now with my experience in picking an undergrad........ when it came down to it I had to decide between going to USC or a small liberal arts college that pretty much no lay person has ever heard of... i knew I was going to be a kinesiology major, so i did a great deal of research into the two programs at each schoo...

in the end, my final decision was an easy one....i chose to go to the small liberal arts college....the look on peoples faces when i told them "yea i chose Occidental over USC..." "you did whaaaaaaaaaat!? what the hell is occidental? you want to be a dentist?"

the people that knew the least about my educational decision tended to give me the most crap about it.... now, i would love to hear those same people try and tell me how my school selection has hindered my future career as a physician...
 
question that has been on mind:

i always hear people talk about PCOM....how awesome it is, arguably one of the "best" DO schools, best recognized, bla bla bla.

ive alwasy assumed they were talking about the PCOM in philly....right? does the rep for the original PCOM automatically extend over to the branch in georgia???
 
ryserr21 said:
question that has been on mind:

i always hear people talk about PCOM....how awesome it is, arguably one of the "best" DO schools, best recognized, bla bla bla.

ive alwasy assumed they were talking about the PCOM in philly....right? does the rep for the original PCOM automatically extend over to the branch in georgia???
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yes. PCOM philly. the rep extends as far as the name carries. Since the branch is new, maybe not many people know about PCOM-GA. It holds it weight in philly, but maybe not traveled that far south yet,
 
ryserr21 said:
if i do end up going DO, I hope it does get better.....although it would be nice to be a DO orthopedic surgeon just to prove a point and say "HA! i told you i could do it"
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I had a conversation 2 weeks ago with a 4th year at Western that just matched into an orthopedic surgery residency in Riverside, CA. He told me that the residency programs (excepts for a few old timers) don't give a crap about your school, they care about board scores and whether or not they like you and think they could work with you for years and years. He went on to say that he has had first hand accounts of programs turning away better qualified candidates because of their personality.

I believe our generation is going to change the world view of DOs. By the time I retire, I think most lay people will see us as equal to MDs.

On a side note, I had OMM performed on my neck by a 4th year and it was amazing, easily as good as my chiropractor. I can't wait to learn OMM!!!!:thumbup:
 
I believe that the rest of the US will still be in the state of "Wait what? We have two types of medical degrees?" long after the medical universe has the issue resolved.
 
EricH said:
I had a conversation 2 weeks ago with a 4th year at Western that just matched into an orthopedic surgery residency in Riverside, CA. He told me that the residency programs (excepts for a few old timers) don't give a crap about your school, they care about board scores and whether or not they like you and think they could work with you for years and years. He went on to say that he has had first hand accounts of programs turning away better qualified candidates because of their personality.
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he was referring to DO residency programs im assuming? and isn't the riverside, CA ortho residency program super biased towards western students??? ive been told those spots are basically reserved for westesrn students.... that would go against the whole "school doesn't matter" attitude.
 
i'll be attending PCOM-Georgia in August but I have talked to many of the people that really made the school what it is that are originally from Philly. Carol Fox was one of the poeple I met in person and had a long conversation with, and their goal at Philly is to make Georgia the same exact school just in a different location. The school is only 5 years old right now, so obviously it hasn't reached the smooth operating like Philly but I am definitely happy and proud to be going there. If you look at some of the 2009ers posts about rotations and such maybe it could clear up some of your questions. Good luck to all of ya!:)
 
ryserr21 said:
he was referring to DO residency programs im assuming? and isn't the riverside, CA ortho residency program super biased towards western students??? ive been told those spots are basically reserved for westesrn students.... that would go against the whole "school doesn't matter" attitude.
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I'd assume whereever the location you're at and the school affiliation, it will ALWAYS be biased to some degree.
 
Tepi said:
I believe that the rest of the US will still be in the state of "Wait what? We have two types of medical degrees?" long after the medical universe has the issue resolved.
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All you have to do is have a DO on Oprah, problem solved. :laugh:
 
whats the general consensus on the cut off for thinking......"okay, i need to retake the MCAT." below 25? below 24? 23? assuming an average/above average GPA.
 
ryserr21 said:
whats the general consensus on the cut off for thinking......"okay, i need to retake the MCAT." below 25? below 24? 23? assuming an average/above average GPA.
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This is the same thing I have been wondering
 
There is a whole "should I retake" thread...I think its in a sticky up top
 
My rule of thumb had been a 28 and at least all 8s. A 27 was borderline for me and I would decide if the time came. A 26 or below and I would retake. I got a 27 with at least all 8s and called it good although I wish I had done better. Personally, I think you should aim for at least a 25 for DO schools since that is about the average but that is just my opinion and people do get in with lower scores than that but I wouldn't count on it.
 
t-funk said:
My rule of thumb had been a 28 and at least all 8s. A 27 was borderline for me and I would decide if the time came. A 26 or below and I would retake. I got a 27 with at least all 8s and called it good although I wish I had done better. Personally, I think you should aim for at least a 25 for DO schools since that is about the average but that is just my opinion and people do get in with lower scores than that but I wouldn't count on it.
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if I was only interested in MDs, i would agree with the cut off of 28 or 29 range....... but thats not my case at all. i am equally as excited to go DO as I am MD.... probably more so.

my priorities:

1. become a physician
2. take MCAT as few times as possible

this means, if i take it once and get a 24-26, although i'm pretty much eliminating myself from any MD school.....it really doenst matter to me. and i think that if i apply early to DO schools (which I am), then that score will be okay. is this wishful/unrecommended thinking? my gpa is :thumbup: and the rest of my app is comin together quite well i think.....
 
Thanks t-funk thats exactly what I was wondering.
 
ryserr21 said:
whats the general consensus on the cut off for thinking......"okay, i need to retake the MCAT." below 25? below 24? 23? assuming an average/above average GPA.
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there is no magic number, what you should do is look at it, and really ask yourself, "Can you do better?" I ended up with an uneven 28. 11VR/7PS/10BS. I knew no matter how much more time I spent, I couldnt increase my PS, and my VR may have been a fluke. But it got me noticed, and ended up getting 5 acceptances.
 
That was my DO MCAT goal. If I had been solely interested in MD, I probably would have retaken with anything less than a 30 and all 9s. I guess I just personally thought I needed a 27 to be competitive at DMU and OSU, a 26 and KCUMB and KCOM, and a 25 at LECOM and DCOM. Those were my personal assessments based on their averages and my application. I had a very strong work history, research experience, and ECs with somewhat above average GPAS. I had little to no clinical experience (but lots of personal medical experience included in my PS) which I knew was my achille's heel.
 
another saturday spent in the library.....JOY! this time writing a paper about the US healthcare system.

p.s. bump
 
Hey All,
Applying this year. Graduated undergrad in 06 and took the MCAT sept 07. Still working on getting a DO letter, but everything else is pretty set and I'll be submitting the application early in June.

Good luck everyone, I'm sure I'll best posting more as this process moves on.
 
Airlife91 said:
Hey All,
Applying this year. Graduated undergrad in 06 and took the MCAT sept 07. Still working on getting a DO letter, but everything else is pretty set and I'll be submitting the application early in June.

Good luck everyone, I'm sure I'll best posting more as this process moves on.
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Hey there. :) Oh letters of recc . . . Ive got to get on that too, but Im kind of nervous. >.< Shouldn't be, but I am.

On the other hand, is anyone feeling burnt out? It's not too bad, but I am feeling a bit frazzled (as is everyone, I am sure). Ugh, I just want finals to be over. Two weeks! (I think, or three. I have no concept of time anymore. My days are numbered by chapters.)
 
Tepi said:
Hey there. :) Oh letters of recc . . . Ive got to get on that too, but Im kind of nervous. >.< Shouldn't be, but I am.

On the other hand, is anyone feeling burnt out? It's not too bad, but I am feeling a bit frazzled (as is everyone, I am sure). Ugh, I just want finals to be over. Two weeks! (I think, or three. I have no concept of time anymore. My days are numbered by chapters.)
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im pretty burnt out. i have one paper left, 8-10 pages. a final and a lab practical. i wrote 18 pages this weekend for two classes. i dont wanna write anymore! just give me a test and ill study for it but pleaaaaaaase dont make me write.
 
Maybe I missed it, these forums are lengthy, but when can you start working on the primary ap for AACOM? It can be a bit of a time sink and I'd like to start as soon as possible. Not looking forward to entering all my classes again, I've got a lot and went to several schools, including one that NEVER sends out the transcript without some serious handholding. But at least they don't charge :)

The clinic I work at just hired a DO, I plan on being super nice and getting a DO LOR (I have one from a NP and several graduate professors).
 
Oneida said:
Maybe I missed it, these forums are lengthy, but when can you start working on the primary ap for AACOM?
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Feel free to correct me if I am horribly wrong, but I've been operating under the assumption that you can begin on June 1st.
 
Tepi said:
Feel free to correct me if I am horribly wrong, but I've been operating under the assumption that you can begin on June 1st.
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you can submit on June 1......you can be working whenever they post the application, which i believe is sometime in early-mid may
 
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