Creating a School List, Would Appreciate Advice

[MedArtist]

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I have a high chance of being a second year applicant and would greatly appreciate help with creating a DO school list. I applied to one DO school this last round and was waitlisted (COMP-NW). Here are my stats:

Washington resident.
Graduated from University of Washington with Physiology BS and Chem minor 2013
CUM GPA: 3.5
Science GPA: 3.3
MCAT 2nd attempt: 12 PS, 11 BS, 8 V 2015
MCAT 1st attempt: 7 PS, 10 BS, 10 V 2012

EC:
Undergraduate HIV lab ~300 hours
Biology Department Honor Council VP ~130 hours
Americorps NCCC (service in under-served communities) ~1822 hours
Congressional Award, Presidential Volunteer Service Award
UWMC volunteer ~ 80 hours
Legacy hospital volunteer - 126 hours
Shadowing: ENT, Plastic surgeons, IR, ER, DO oncologist (only 5 hours), pathology ~ total 50 hours
Local free clinic volunteer (current) - 9 hrs / month (30 total thus far)
ER scribe (current job) ~30 hours / week (~1500 total thus far)
ENT scribe (current job) ~8 hours / week (~100 total thus far)

LORs:
Americorps NCCC Team Leader who I worked and lived with for 6 months
Microbiology professor and HIV lab PI
Biology professor and head of Biology department
ER Doctor who I scribe with

Note: No publications or presentations. No DO LOR. It is highly possible to obtain more shadowing hours from a DO and perhaps obtain a DO LOR. I would like around 10 schools.

Many thanks!

 

[Cardboard101]

Get some more DO shadowing, apply to ~10-15 DO schools you'd want to go to that doesn't have huge OOS bias.

 

[MADD!!!]

Everything looks great. Just get a DO LOR and apply more broadly.

 

[MedArtist]

Would it be possibly worth it to add more DO schools for this cycle? It seems there are some that still accept primary apps right now...

 

[meditative_premed]

^^I agree, definitely get as much DO shadowing as you can between now and when you submit your next primary application. You can even shadow two DOs at the same time to rack up even more hours and then you can choose the doctor you feel more of a personal connection with to write your LOR. Your 2nd MCAT is REALLY solid (I don't think the lower verbal score is really going to bother schools that much, especially since you brought up both PS and BS). You also may need to get a LOR from a non-science professor, some schools require 3 professor LORS (2 science and 1 non-science). With all this said, the best thing you can do is submit your primary and secondaries as SOON as possible. The earlier the adcom can get their hands on your application, the better chance you have to get an interview. Even a month can make a difference, first-time applicants who don't have their ducks in a row might wait until July or August to submit their primary, so if you can get yours in the day the cycle opens (in June I believe), you'll have less initial competition.

As for a DO school list, avoid schools with really heavy in-state bias (Ohio, Michigan) and make your list broad and diverse. I would aim to have 5-6 older, established schools and 6-8 "mid-tier" and newer schools (there really isn't a tier system as far as DO schools go, but you know what I mean). Good luck!!!

 

[mathnerd88]

Would it be possibly worth it to add more DO schools for this cycle? It seems there are some that still accept primary apps right now...

It would be too late to send into more schools right now. Wait until next cycle and apply to more DO schools.

 

[deleted610572]

With a 31 apply UW again and then hit whatever DO school you like. Unless you have red flags then you should do really well

 

[Goro]

Agree 100%

Start your list with PacNW, both Westerns, Touro-CA, TUNCOM, both AZ schools.

Get some more DO shadowing, apply to ~10-15 DO schools you'd want to go to that doesn't have huge OOS bias.

 

[QueenJames]

Get a DO LOR and Apply FIRST THING IN MAY. You'll get interviewed everywhere.

that mcat dooeeee 😉

 

[mathnerd88]

OP, depending on when you took the old MCAT, your scores might not be counted towards the next cycle for some schools. Keep in mind which ones.

 

[mathnerd88]

Get a DO LOR and Apply FIRST THING IN MAY. You'll get interviewed everywhere.

that mcat dooeeee 😉

I wouldn't say "everywhere," but the majority of schools he applied to he should get interview invites. Only about 60-70% of the schools I applied to I got interviewed at with same MCAT and higher GPA.

 

[sandstorm223]

I really think your stats look good. Just apply to five or ten DO schools, be on top of your game at the interviews, and you should have multiple acceptances.

 

[TUVIX]

Good. To. Go.

 

[bettafish]

I recognized your username/icon from the UW thread haha. Hopefully we both hear back with good news in the next 2 weeks.

That being said, I have similar GPAs and a 31 MCAT and if you want to stay in the PNW, I recommend adding PNWU (that might be an obvious choice) and AT Still University in AZ (SOMA). You may want to do a little research on SOMA as it has a unique curriculum where you spend 1 year in AZ and 3 years in a regional CHC site. 2 of these options are in Portland, OR and the other is in Renton, WA with the Healthpoint CHCs.

Also if it makes you feel better about the DO letter predicament, I had 4 DO acceptances and an additional interview that I did not attend with no DO letter. I shadow/chat with an osteopathic physician once but most of my shadowing was with a MD. I think I was complete at 8 DO schools and I had better success with my west coast schools compared to the east coast haha.

 

[memory tcells]

I don't think the DO letter is the issue here. Our MCAT (1st and 2nd) attempt are near identical, same major/minor, our GPAs differences are neglible, neither you nor I had a DO LOR but instead had a MD LOR. In fact, we interviewed the same day (2/6) based on what I read on COMP-NW 2015-1016 thread. Of course our EC are different, but I think you had more than me based on volume. However, I was offered an acceptance. In my opinion, it likely came down to the interview and/or "in-state/out-of-state" status since I am an Oregon resident. Regardless, I hope to see you in class this fall fellow interview day buddy. Best wishes to ya!

 

[MedArtist]

I don't think the DO letter is the issue here. Our MCAT (1st and 2nd) attempt are near identical, same major/minor, our GPAs differences are neglible, neither you nor I had a DO LOR but instead had a MD LOR. In fact, we interviewed the same day (2/6) based on what I read on COMP-NW 2015-1016 thread. Of course our EC are different, but I think you had more than me based on volume. However, I was offered an acceptance. In my opinion, it likely came down to the interview and/or "in-state/out-of-state" status since I am an Oregon resident. Regardless, I hope to see you in class this fall fellow interview day buddy. Best wishes to ya!

I am pretty sure it was the interview. I feel like I bombed the single question based around being a DO. I was surprised to even be placed on the waitlist. I felt like I rocked the patient interactions though *shrug*. Thanks for the words of encouragement!