DO Chances? (3.45 cGPA, 3.22 sGPA, 509 MCAT)

[JDixon]

• cGPA: 3.45 sGPA: 3.22
• MCAT Score: 509
• State of Residence: California
• Ethnicity: Indian
• Undergraduate Institution: University of California, Davis
• 135 hours of volunteer clinical experience over the course of 2 years (with the same organization)
• 800 hours of research experience under my professor over the course of a year
• No shadowing experience
• Tutor for undergraduate students taking general chemistry
• An active member in a club that aims to provide resources for local homeless people.
• Youth Activities Director at my local mosque (I designed and managed different programs, such as park cleanups and food drives for those in need, that allowed the youth to become more directly involved with their communities)

Additional Information:
- General Chemistry: B, B, C (quarter system)
- General Biology: A- (retaken), A-, A-
- General Physics: C+, B+, A-
- Organic Chemistry: C+, A-, A-

-Upward Trend starting towards the end of sophomore year (went from Bs and a few Cs to all A-)

-Also, any tips on things I could potentially fix before applying (UC Davis does not allow undergraduates to retake courses that they received a C in)? I have heard about doing a post bacc, what do you guys think? I honestly just want to get into a school

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[chilly_md]

Edit your post to provide information according to the template described below:

*~*~*~*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...

forums.studentdoctor.net

 

[Faha]

You are competitive for most DO schools and I suggest these:
WESTERN
TUCOM-CA
CHSU-COM
TUNCOM
AZCOM
ATSU (both schools)
UIWSOM
KCU-COM
DMU-COM
MU-COM
ACOM
NYITCOM
Touro-NY
LECOM (all schools)
PCOM (all schools)
WVSOM
WCU-COM
You should accumulate 50 hours of physician shadowing (including DO) and another 50+ hours of clinical volunteering with patient contact before you apply.

 

[candbgirl]

Any nonclinical volunteering to the unserved/underserved in the community? If you will fill in the grid that @chilly_md provided, we might be able to help you out more appropriately.

 

[JDixon]

Any nonclinical volunteering to the unserved/underserved in the community? If you will fill in the grid that @chilly_md provided, we might be able to help you out more appropriately.

I have updated the formatting and added some additional information

 

[chilly_md]

Follow Faha's advice. Though, I would recommend removing CHSU-COM due to how new they are and other concerns they have. No shadowing and your current number of low clinical hours greatly weaken your application as admissions will view you as someone who does not know what medicine or being a physician is about.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

You didn't give us a lot of details on the volunteering. We can only work with what you give us, and the fewer details you give us, the less helpful the advice is going to be. So let's start...

• 135 hours of volunteer clinical experience over the course of 2 years (with the same organization)

Over two years, that's not a lot of hours. It's enough for threshold minimum experience for me, but I don't know what you did. 135 hours over 2 years is... ~80 minutes per week (x 100 weeks)???

• An active member in a club that aims to provide resources for local homeless people

When did you begin your membership? There are no hours here, so I'm guessing... incorrectly.

• Youth Activities Director at my local mosque (I designed and managed different programs, such as park cleanups and food drives for those in need, that allowed the youth to become more directly involved with their communities)

I'm guessing if this activity were meaningful, we'd have a better idea of how many hours and how many years you were involved. Is this a mosque where you have been a member with your family since you were a child/youth yourself? How much of a commitment is this?

Basically you need more of a convincing statement of your altruism and service orientation, then possibly a postbac depending on what courses you have taken as an undergraduate.