MD & DO Devastated after a low MCAT -- WAMC? (505 MCAT, 4.0 GPA)

[ke81899]

Hi all! ORM, SES disadvantaged, first-gen here. Devastated currently after receiving a 505 on my MCAT (125/127/124/129). I don't know if I have it in me to retake, but that BB score is abysmal. Here are my ECs and schools I want to apply to:

- 150 hours free clinic (clinical volunteering)
- 150 hours vitals screening at community center (clinical volunteering)
- 150 hours tutoring minoritized low-income community kids (volunteering)
- 200 hours meal prep & distribution to homeless (volunteering)
- 2000 retail/food service
- 500 hours research
- 40 hours shadowing
- 20 hours research, just started this
- just started lab technician position at free health clinic (volunteering)
- 300 hours humane society (volunteering)
- 1 poster presentation
- Phi Beta Kappa, departmental distinction

Schools:
- UIC
- SLU
- Albany
- Drexel
- Midwestern
- Other DOs that I am not aware of but will have to search!

Thanks.

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[Mr.Smile12]

Welcome to the forums.

Please complete a template. The more details we have, the better advice you'll receive.

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Hello, and welcome to the What Are My Chances (WAMC) forum. The purpose of this forum is to Post threads about your chances of acceptance to MD and/or DO schools Have your school list critiqued and modified by other members of SDN Determine how to strengthen your current application General...

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[Faha]

Where is your state of residence ?

 

[ke81899]

Where is your state of residence ?

Illinois!

 

[ke81899]

Welcome to the forums.

Please complete a template. The more details we have, the better advice you'll receive.

*~*~*~*IMPORTANT: How to Format Your WAMC Thread for Optimal Results and More!!*~*~*~*

Hello, and welcome to the What Are My Chances (WAMC) forum. The purpose of this forum is to Post threads about your chances of acceptance to MD and/or DO schools Have your school list critiqued and modified by other members of SDN Determine how to strengthen your current application General...

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Sorry!

1. cGPA and sGPA as calculated by AMCAS or AACOMAS: 4.0/4.0
2. MCAT score(s) and breakdown. Include all (non-voided) attempts: 1 attempt: 505. (125/127/124/129)
3. State of residence or country of citizenship (if non-US): Illinois
4. Ethnicity and/or race: South Asian
5. Undergraduate institution or category: Large public state university
6. Clinical experience (volunteer and non-volunteer): all volunteer. 300 hours split between free health clinic & community center.
7. Research experience and productivity: 500 hours research, 1 poster.
8. Shadowing experience and specialties represented: primary care focused, one DO, pediatrics.
9. Non-clinical volunteering: homeless shelter volunteering, humane society volunteering, disadvantaged elementary school volunteer
10. Other extracurricular activities (including athletics, military service, gap year activities, leadership, teaching, etc): will be starting a lab technician volunteer role in my gap year. 1000s of retail/food service work to help my family starting in high school.
11. Relevant honors or awards: departmental distinction
12. Anything else not listed you think might be important: first generation, utilized health clinics as a patient throughout childhood.

 

[Faha]

Illinois!

I suggest these MD schools with your stats:
UIC
Rosalind Franklin
Indiana
Medical College Wisconsin
Oakland Beaumont
Wayne State
TCU
Belmont
Wake Forest
Eastern Virginia
Virginia Commonwealth
NOVA MD
Drexel
Temple
Penn State
Albany
Vermont
Quinnipiac
Alice Walton (when it opens)
Roseman (when it opens)
For DO schools I suggest these:
CCOM
MU-COM
DMU-COM
ATSU-KCOM
KCU-COM
UIWSOM
AZCOM
TUNCOM
CUSOM
PCOM (All schools)
LECOM (all schools)
Touro-NY
NYITCOM

 

[ke81899]

I suggest these MD schools with your stats:
UIC
Rosalind Franklin
Indiana
Medical College Wisconsin
Oakland Beaumont
Wayne State
TCU
Belmont
Wake Forest
Eastern Virginia
Virginia Commonwealth
NOVA MD
Drexel
Temple
Penn State
Albany
Vermont
Quinnipiac
Alice Walton (when it opens)
Roseman (when it opens)
For DO schools I suggest these:
CCOM
MU-COM
DMU-COM
ATSU-KCOM
KCU-COM
UIWSOM
AZCOM
TUNCOM
CUSOM
PCOM (All schools)
LECOM (all schools)
Touro-NY
NYITCOM

Thank you! What about Charles R. Drew in LA? And I was thinking about also adding Midwestern since it’s in IL.

 

[Faha]

Thank you! What about Charles R. Drew in LA? And I was thinking about also adding Midwestern since it’s in IL.

CCOM is Midwestern. Charles Drew mainly admits applicants from the African American community.

 

[ke81899]

CCOM is Midwestern. Charles Drew mainly admits applicants from the African American community.

Duh, that makes sense, thank you so much. Do you think it would still be okay to apply to an HBCU as an ORM if I have experience in/passion for working with minoritized and disadvantaged communities? All of my W/A have to do with my passion for these.

 

[Faha]

Duh, that makes sense, thank you so much. Do you think it would still be okay to apply to an HBCU as an ORM if I have experience in/passion for working with minoritized and disadvantaged communities? All of my W/A have to do with my passion for these.

Which community does your clinical and non clinical volunteering involve ?

 

[ke81899]

Which community does your clinical and non clinical volunteering involve ?

For my clinical volunteering, the clinic serves uninsured/underinsured/undocumented adults and it’s a free clinic in Chicago. The other clinical volunteering experience serves elderly individuals within a suburban setting. My personal statement talks about my experience being a patient at free health clinics and then volunteering my time at similar clinics.

For my nonclinical volunteering, I am part of an organization that works with unhoused people with diverse demographics. The other organizations are for students in under resourced inner city public schools where I volunteer as a tutor and peer mentor. I also volunteer at the humane society.

A lot of my shadowing is in free clinics as well, closely related to my dream MD school. I have a huge interest in primary care. My research that I have 500 hours in is with substance use/disorders.

 

[Faha]

For my clinical volunteering, the clinic serves uninsured/underinsured/undocumented adults and it’s a free clinic in Chicago. The other clinical volunteering experience serves elderly individuals within a suburban setting. My personal statement talks about my experience being a patient at free health clinics and then volunteering my time at similar clinics.

For my nonclinical volunteering, I am part of an organization that works with unhoused people with diverse demographics. The other organizations are for students in under resourced inner city public schools where I volunteer as a tutor and peer mentor. I also volunteer at the humane society.

A lot of my shadowing is in free clinics as well, closely related to my dream MD school. I have a huge interest in primary care. My research that I have 500 hours in is with substance use/disorders.

If those activities are mainly with people from the African American community you could try the HBCU schools.

 

[ke81899]

If those activities are mainly with people from the African American community you could try the HBCU schools.

Thank you so much for your help, I really appreciate it.

 

[mike-sheree]

This information may be COMPLETELY out of date. I note you want to go to U of I Chicago. You also mentioned attendance at a large public state university which i am assuming is U of I champaign-urbana. That was my pathway in 1973. The U of I Chicago school knew the pre med rigor of the classic “flunk out” courses for pre meds in Champaign-urbana and recognized the advent of grade inflation from other institutes. That “A” in biol 110(?) and 111(?)both premed intro bio sequences as well as the physics and general chem/ orgo sequences were given the weight they deserved. The grading was brutal in the 2nd biol class. 10% F, 10% A, 15% B, 50% (average C), 15% D. STRICT curve. I don’t think a school could do this today. Different parents, students, institutional finances, profs and general “softness”. As an aside, the various engineering schools in Champaign-Urbana also weeded out first-year students with a vengeance. If you were not FLUENT in 2 semesters of calc from H.S. the INTRODUCTORY physics courses for engineers were bears. The college of business got a huge influx in the first month or two of the semester.
Bottom line, if you went to u of i champaign and are applying to u of i chicago, they may very well look on your GPA with much greater understanding and lend appropriate weight.

 

[ke81899]

This information may be COMPLETELY out of date. I note you want to go to U of I Chicago. You also mentioned attendance at a large public state university which i am assuming is U of I champaign-urbana. That was my pathway in 1973. The U of I Chicago school knew the pre med rigor of the classic “flunk out” courses for pre meds in Champaign-urbana and recognized the advent of grade inflation from other institutes. That “A” in biol 110(?) and 111(?)both premed intro bio sequences as well as the physics and general chem/ orgo sequences were given the weight they deserved. The grading was brutal in the 2nd biol class. 10% F, 10% A, 15% B, 50% (average C), 15% D. STRICT curve. I don’t think a school could do this today. Different parents, students, institutional finances, profs and general “softness”. As an aside, the various engineering schools in Champaign-Urbana also weeded out first-year students with a vengeance. If you were not FLUENT in 2 semesters of calc from H.S. the INTRODUCTORY physics courses for engineers were bears. The college of business got a huge influx in the first month or two of the semester.
Bottom line, if you went to u of i champaign and are applying to u of i chicago, they may very well look on your GPA with much greater understanding and lend appropriate weight.

Thank you for your response! So I actually went to U of I Chicago for undergrad (w/ 4.0 GPA) and have significant ties to the medical school (i.e., research with UICOM, volunteering with UICOM clinic, shadowing with UICOM clinics, & LoR from UICOM associate professor & affiliated physician).

However, I'm still super concerned with my lower MCAT (that is in the 10th percentile of UICOM matriculants as per MSAR).

 

[MD_Maker]

Obviously add all Illinois programs. I'm assuming you're straight out of undergrad? Your application looks a bit sparse. But with that gpa, your 505 isn't the end of the world. Apply to a mix of MD and DO. It's ok to have a reach school. I had a student with a similar profile to you get an acceptance at Jefferson, though with the number of applications they get, it's hard to get picked out. Actually look into DO programs. Don't just apply to Touro and Western, they're competitive, and on par with the lower tier MD programs. Consider a few private DO programs as backups. I have a few students at AT Still and NYIT.

 

[ke81899]

Obviously add all Illinois programs. I'm assuming you're straight out of undergrad? Your application looks a bit sparse. But with that gpa, your 505 isn't the end of the world. Apply to a mix of MD and DO. It's ok to have a reach school. I had a student with a similar profile to you get an acceptance at Jefferson, though with the number of applications they get, it's hard to get picked out. Actually look into DO programs. Don't just apply to Touro and Western, they're competitive, and on par with the lower tier MD programs. Consider a few private DO programs as backups. I have a few students at AT Still and NYIT

Thank you so much for your response. I just graduated undergrad, and my hours were a bit off in my original post! I re-calculated the other day and below are my true hours, albeit not too different. All my activites are long-term things. I really want to get into UIC-- that's my ultimate goal, but I'm definitely applying broadly. Here's my MD list so far, and currently working on my DO list.

MD List:
Albany
Central Michigan
Charles R. Drew
Rosalind Franklin
Eastern Virginia
Geisinger
Washington
Howard
Indiana
Loyola
Wisconsin
Nova
Oakland
Pennsylvania
Saint Louis
UIC
Wayne State
West Virginia
Wright State

Extracurriculars:
Research with physician, 20 hours (began in 04/2024, projected 150)
Clinical research associate, 530 hours (1 poster)
Volunteer tutor to disadvantaged elementary students (160 hours)
Meal/supply distribution organization volunteer for the homeless (215 hours)
Clinical triage volunteer at free health clinic (170 hours)
Shadowing (40 hours) -- mainly in federally qualified health centers & free clinics, big focus on primary care & family medicine
Research & project assistant in public health (150 hours)
Retail/food service (1750 hours)
Volunteer tutor to high school aged disadvantaged students (50 hours)
Vitals screening clinical volunteer at elderly center (245 hours)
Humane society/dog shelter volunteer (400 hours)

 

[MD_Maker]

Looks good. Btw Howard is historically black and Charles Drew has a preference for URM.

 

[Goro]

Hi all! ORM, SES disadvantaged, first-gen here. Devastated currently after receiving a 505 on my MCAT (125/127/124/129). I don't know if I have it in me to retake, but that BB score is abysmal. Here are my ECs and schools I want to apply to:

- 150 hours free clinic (clinical volunteering)
- 150 hours vitals screening at community center (clinical volunteering)
- 150 hours tutoring minoritized low-income community kids (volunteering)
- 200 hours meal prep & distribution to homeless (volunteering)
- 2000 retail/food service
- 500 hours research
- 40 hours shadowing
- 20 hours research, just started this
- just started lab technician position at free health clinic (volunteering)
- 300 hours humane society (volunteering)
- 1 poster presentation
- Phi Beta Kappa, departmental distinction

Schools:
- UIC
- SLU
- Albany
- Drexel
- Midwestern
- Other DOs that I am not aware of but will have to search!

Thanks.

I recommend:
Albany
SIU IF you're from southern ILL
EVMS
GWU
Loma Linda (only if you are SDA or a very devout Christian)
MCW
NEOMED
Oakland-B
Rosy Franklin
Rush
SLU (maybe)
Temple
Tulane
U ILL
U VM
Uniformed Services University/Hebert (just be aware of the military service commitment)
Wake Forest
Wayne State

Any DO program. I can't recommend LMU, SOMA, RVU, BCOM, ICOM and LUCOM, for different reasons. Avoid those new schools that haven't graduated a class yet, if at all possible. Watch out for CCOM tuition!
Suggest:
KCOM
MUCOM
DMU
KYCOM
ARCOM
Both NYITs
all LECOMs
UIW
ACOM
all Touros except Montana
PCOM
all VCOMs
CUSOM
VCOM
KCU

 

[ijustwannasaveppl]

506 mcat and horrible GPA here( like before my masters my science gpa was sub 3.0). I still managed to get an MD interview and lots of DO interviews, so don't give up hope.