Diverse Applicants in DO

[kuanileqa]

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Sooo...My first post here (I am a shameless lurker).
It seems to me that DO schools tend to look holistically at the applicant instead of putting the majority of weight on grades. I have a ton of extracurricular humanitarian/work experience and decent grades (3.5 overall). Probably going to end up with a 25-28 on the MCAT. Not to sell myself short or anything, but looking at it realistically nonetheless. My "academics" may not be the best, but I feel like I will be a superb doctor. How many other folks are in my situation? Or, how many people know of someone in my similar situation and their experience getting into a DO school? OR, any other tips Please do not belittle people for their comments/grammar/spelling/ect. It is lame.
Cheers!

 

[jpagano]

You should be fine. Highlight your strengths. Write a compelling personal statement and move forward. You should be fine.

 

[NSU14]

You should be fine. Highlight your strengths. Write a compelling personal statement and move forward. You should be fine.

Agree. Similar to my stats but you have more EC's.

 

[Daedra22]

Sooo...My first post here (I am a shameless lurker).
It seems to me that DO schools tend to look holistically at the applicant instead of putting the majority of weight on grades. I have a ton of extracurricular humanitarian/work experience and decent grades (3.5 overall). Probably going to end up with a 25-28 on the MCAT. Not to sell myself short or anything, but looking at it realistically nonetheless. My "academics" may not be the best, but I feel like I will be a superb doctor. How many other folks are in my situation? Or, how many people know of someone in my similar situation and their experience getting into a DO school? OR, any other tips Please do not belittle people for their comments/grammar/spelling/ect. It is lame.
Cheers!

Your stats (assuming your get an upper-20's MCAT) are pretty common among those accepted to DO schools. I had a 3.5/27 and made it into my first choice DO school. Write a great personal statement and be ready to talk a lot about your EC's in an interview. You should do great. 🙂 Good luck on the MCAT.

 

[kuanileqa]

That's great advice! Thanks for the encouragement. It's will be tricky to explain/write about how my strengths cause my weakness (high extracurricular tends to lead to fall in grades). I guess I could say that had I not done ANYTHING else in my undergrad, I would have had a 4.0 and 39 on the MCAT. Easy to say, hard to prove. 🙄

 

[sonofva]

your stats (assuming your get an upper-20's mcat) are pretty common among those accepted to do schools. I had a 3.5/27 and made it into my first choice do school. Write a great personal statement and be ready to talk a lot about your ec's in an interview. You should do great. 🙂 good luck on the mcat.

+1

 

[teacherman84]

As the others said, you seem to be a solid applicant based on what you told us. Maybe i took it the wrong way but i wouldnt use excessive ECs as an excuse for lower grades...i think that sends the wrong message. Use your PS to describe your experiences and how they influenced your decision to pursue medicine, not as an excuse for acadenic shortcomings

 

[Daedra22]

As the others said, you seem to be a solid applicant based on what you told us. Maybe i took it the wrong way but i wouldnt use excessive ECs as an excuse for lower grades...i think that sends the wrong message. Use your PS to describe your experiences and how they influenced your decision to pursue medicine, not as an excuse for acadenic shortcomings

I agree. I wouldn't say in your PS that you think you would have been fine if not for the EC's, because plenty of applicants do get stellar grades and have great EC's (not belittling you here, just saying). And anyway, I wouldn't call a 3.5 a "shortcoming." Maybe it's just because I have those kinds of grades, but don't present yourself like that... compared to most other college students, you have a well above average GPA and will hopefully have an above average MCAT. Those are not points of shame.