D.O. School, easier but harder?

[OrdinaryDO]

Hello everyone, the title of the thread probably caught quite a few of you off guard, so I will hurry to the point. I have been researching the pathway to a successful career in medicine STRONGLY for over a year now, but it wasn't until now that this question hit me and I feel as if it is important for me to understand why and how it works. To the question...In Oklahoma (I am using only this school because I haven't looked at other state's schools yet.) the OSU-COM accepts roughly 25% of the amount of students that U of Oklahoma M.D. does. Very low number of applicants accepted as you can see since OU accepts about 127 students per year I believe. With that statistic in mind, the D.O. accept lower cGPA's, sGPA's, and MCAT scores than most M.D. Colleges would recommend accepting. I know this question has been a bit sketchy but what I am trying to get at is...What are the reasons behind the lower score acceptance rates and the smaller student body? I especially want to know this because I notice a lot of people who are chasing their dream of M.D. status are often referred to a D.O. school if their GPA, MCAT score, or even EC's are lower than average. Any thoughts?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[DrWily]

Hello everyone, the title of the thread probably caught quite a few of you off guard, so I will hurry to the point. I have been researching the pathway to a successful career in medicine STRONGLY for over a year now, but it wasn't until now that this question hit me and I feel as if it is important for me to understand why and how it works. To the question...In Oklahoma (I am using only this school because I haven't looked at other state's schools yet.) the OSU-COM accepts roughly 25% of the amount of students that U of Oklahoma M.D. does. Very low number of applicants accepted as you can see since OU accepts about 127 students per year I believe. With that statistic in mind, the D.O. accept lower cGPA's, sGPA's, and MCAT scores than most M.D. Colleges would recommend accepting. I know this question has been a bit sketchy but what I am trying to get at is...What are the reasons behind the lower score acceptance rates and the smaller student body? I especially want to know this because I notice a lot of people who are chasing their dream of M.D. status are often referred to a D.O. school if their GPA, MCAT score, or even EC's are lower than average. Any thoughts?

The PC answer is that D.O. schools take a holistic approach to accepting students, and that the numbers don't matter as much as the whole package. Realistically, I believe that M.D. has much larger reputation and many more schools than D.O. A very small population would apply to D.O. if the GPA and MCAT requirements matched those of the M.D. The majority would rather just apply M.D.

Now, don't think that just assume that D.O. schools accept "M.D. Rejects." There are a lot of us who fell behind in undergrad for one reason or another but have the capacity to compete with M.D.s for residency programs.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

Are you 100% sure about that statistic? Sounds a bit off.

Anyways, DO schools have lower average stats, however they have a lower applicant to accepted student ratio than MD schools, due to the lower amount of seats.

 

[OrdinaryDO]

Are you 100% sure about that statistic? Sounds a bit off.

Anyways, DO schools have lower average stats, however they have a lower applicant to accepted student ratio than MD schools, due to the lower amount of seats.

Unfortunately I am not 100% certain, I have been researching all of this information over the past year or two very thoroughly, and I did not save the place I found this data. But it was a MAJOR difference. I kinda am in a toss up between M.D. or D.O. I don't see any difference as far as reputation in my own OPINION ha. I believe it is the doctor who makes the reputation. I just want the knowledge to be able to help people, make them happy and functional again. I want to be the guy who makes the difference in that person's life.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

OSUCOM (DO) enrollment : 353
OUCOM ( MD) enrollment: 165

More like 250%.

 

[OrdinaryDO]

OSUCOM (DO) enrollment : 353
OUCOM ( MD) enrollment: 165

More like 250%.

Oh dear, lol I know what I was looking at now SORRY I was looking at a School for Community Medicine I believe taught by OU. They accept like 27 residents a year. Thank you for the correction, I feel like an idiot but at least my question is answered ha!

 

[bstep12]

OSUCOM (DO) enrollment : 353
OUCOM ( MD) enrollment: 165

More like 250%.

Actually 353 is the TOTAL med school enrollment for OSUCOM, while 165 is the entering first year class at OU. OSU has a first year enrollment of 92