Do i apply now or wait till the time is right?

[chris_i]

Guys I need some good (but at the same time brutally honest) advice.

My main question of this post is I need advice on wether I should apply this cycle or take a gap year or two before I apply.

So like many times we’ve seen before, I decided to really want to pursue medicine later in my junior and senior year of college. I Majored in biomedical sciences and took big course loads and was getting Bs and a C here and there. Towards my junior and senior year is where I started to really focus and decide I want to pursue going to medical school and started having an upward trend of nothing but As and a few Bs.

Point is, I ended up graduating with a 3.1 cGPA and what’s done is done. I’ve been studying for the mcat and been going hard realizing I need to score good so I’ve been scoring around 505-508s on practice ( I have NOT taken any AAMC FLs or AAMC material, saving it for last month) and I test on 6/15 so that means I still have about a little over 2 months till test day.
I’m predicting I’m going to score around 515-520 if the rumors are true that AAMC is much easier then 3rd parties and I am not working or taking classes so I can focus entirely on the mcat.

As far as EC’s go:

-100+ hours in clinical volunteering in multiple fields at hospitals
-100+ hours shadowing a physician (plan on getting even more because I have a good strong connection with him since he’s my actual primary doctor)
-Multiple LOR from college faculties as well doctor im shadowing.
-leadership role in my fraternity at university directing the sports team as well as nutritionist and personal trainer (will explain down in the post)
-research = none. Now now, I know this might look bad but hear me out. I know research isn’t the be all end all of EC’s and I know a lot of adcoms and certain schools don’t require research as absolute mandatory although I do know it helps.

But I must say, the reason why I don’t have much much more EC’s hours including research Is because I spent a majority of my life in the fitness industry. I used to be over weight and obese and ever since I lost weight and built an impressive physique, I decided I want to dedicate my life to helping others and their life. I never got so much joy before after realizing the impact I made on other people’s life when I helped them lose 100s of pounds. Or when I trained diabetics and they told me they were feeling better and much more healthier. Or when I had clients with high blood pressure, high risk for heart attack message me saying they had reduced and came out multiple amounts of medications because of me helping them lose weight and changing their life.

Anyways I’ve spent thousands and thousands of hours personal training and got a personal training certificate along with a certificate in nutrition.
But this is what made me want to become a doctor and help people even further then just changing their life through fitness.
Enough with the rambling, because I know thisnpost is getting long enough.

My question is since my gpa is quite low compared to most matriculates applying, with my current gpa and projected mcat of 515 or so as well as my EC’s, do I apply this cycle to any schools (mainly DO not many MD’s) or do I wait and work on EC’s? Maybe do a post bacc or an SMP program?
Sorry I wrote so much but I want to do things right this time and make less mistakes in the future. Any advice from anyone would be greatly appreciated. If I’m forgetting anything, you can ask me, I’ll be glad to answer it.

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[Rogue42]

1. Take a practice AAMC before you assume you’ll make a 515 plus. For example, I was making great practice scores on Kaplan, NS, and AAMC. Then dropped 7 points on the real thing. N=1 but don’t just assume you’re score will be in the 90th+ percentile.
2. How many hours do you have as a personal trainer? Because anything besides school counts as EC. If you have thousands of hours, then you will probably be okay.
3. DO schools tend to value research less.
4. Fill out your application in May when it opens. Apply to one school you would NEVER go to get verified. Then wait for your MCAT score to determine if the time is right to apply. I would say above a 503 for DO and 508 for MD then give it a shot. Others may say higher or lower though.

 

[chris_i]

1. Take a practice AAMC before you assume you’ll make a 515 plus. For example, I was making great practice scores on Kaplan, NS, and AAMC. Then dropped 7 points on the real thing. N=1 but don’t just assume you’re score will be in the 90th+ percentile.
2. How many hours do you have as a personal trainer? Because anything besides school counts as EC. If you have thousands of hours, then you will probably be okay.
3. DO schools tend to value research less.
4. Fill out your application in May when it opens. Apply to one school you would NEVER go to get verified. Then wait for your MCAT score to determine if the time is right to apply. I would say above a 503 for DO and 508 for MD then give it a shot. Others may say higher or lower though.

I plan on taking the sample in about 3 weeks. mainly due to the fact that i still have a whopping 2+ months till test day but yes youre absolutely right that it the 3rd party score isnt representative. Its mainly an assumption based off peoples reviews on difficult of 3rd parties.

as a personal trainer? well over 3-4000 hours. I personal trained at multiple gyms, mainly LA fitness where i actually was their top personal training director their and had the most clients out of all the trainers working.

And i plan on applying majority to DO schools but if i see the small possibility of a few MD schools, then i might apply to a few, but i always figured for people with low gpa and high mcat scores, they would still need a post bacc or SMP in order to apply to MDs and even DOs for that case.

 

[Rogue42]

Depends. In a state like California, you might be dead in the water no matter what your mcat score is for MD but maybe not with an smp. State like Alabama or Tennessee, I don’t believe an SMP would be necessarily needed with an upwards trend and a 515 or even a little lower for MD. For example, I think umichigan accepted someone with a 2.7 cumulative gpa a couple of years ago though they did not post the mcat (it was probably very high though).

As for DO, the average MCAT is like a 503 and GPA of a 3.4 maybe 3.5. Good MCATs CAN make up for lower GPAs along with great ECs

 

[Goro]

Guys I need some good (but at the same time brutally honest) advice.

My main question of this post is I need advice on wether I should apply this cycle or take a gap year or two before I apply.

So like many times we’ve seen before, I decided to really want to pursue medicine later in my junior and senior year of college. I Majored in biomedical sciences and took big course loads and was getting Bs and a C here and there. Towards my junior and senior year is where I started to really focus and decide I want to pursue going to medical school and started having an upward trend of nothing but As and a few Bs.

Point is, I ended up graduating with a 3.1 cGPA and what’s done is done. I’ve been studying for the mcat and been going hard realizing I need to score good so I’ve been scoring around 505-508s on practice ( I have NOT taken any AAMC FLs or AAMC material, saving it for last month) and I test on 6/15 so that means I still have about a little over 2 months till test day.
I’m predicting I’m going to score around 515-520 if the rumors are true that AAMC is much easier then 3rd parties and I am not working or taking classes so I can focus entirely on the mcat.

As far as EC’s go:

-100+ hours in clinical volunteering in multiple fields at hospitals
-100+ hours shadowing a physician (plan on getting even more because I have a good strong connection with him since he’s my actual primary doctor)
-Multiple LOR from college faculties as well doctor im shadowing.
-leadership role in my fraternity at university directing the sports team as well as nutritionist and personal trainer (will explain down in the post)
-research = none. Now now, I know this might look bad but hear me out. I know research isn’t the be all end all of EC’s and I know a lot of adcoms and certain schools don’t require research as absolute mandatory although I do know it helps.

But I must say, the reason why I don’t have much much more EC’s hours including research Is because I spent a majority of my life in the fitness industry. I used to be over weight and obese and ever since I lost weight and built an impressive physique, I decided I want to dedicate my life to helping others and their life. I never got so much joy before after realizing the impact I made on other people’s life when I helped them lose 100s of pounds. Or when I trained diabetics and they told me they were feeling better and much more healthier. Or when I had clients with high blood pressure, high risk for heart attack message me saying they had reduced and came out multiple amounts of medications because of me helping them lose weight and changing their life.

Anyways I’ve spent thousands and thousands of hours personal training and got a personal training certificate along with a certificate in nutrition.
But this is what made me want to become a doctor and help people even further then just changing their life through fitness.
Enough with the rambling, because I know thisnpost is getting long enough.

My question is since my gpa is quite low compared to most matriculates applying, with my current gpa and projected mcat of 515 or so as well as my EC’s, do I apply this cycle to any schools (mainly DO not many MD’s) or do I wait and work on EC’s? Maybe do a post bacc or an SMP program?
Sorry I wrote so much but I want to do things right this time and make less mistakes in the future. Any advice from anyone would be greatly appreciated. If I’m forgetting anything, you can ask me, I’ll be glad to answer it.

A 3.1 GPA is weak for DO, and you'd be DOA at my school and many others (the Touros, PCOM, CCOM AZOM for starters). So if you're going to apply now, apply broadly and especially target the newest schools.

Expecting a 515-520 on the MCAT is, frankly, unrealistic.

Your ECs are weak as well. Get in 50 more hours of clinical experience.

Research is not needed for DO schools.

 

[chris_i]

Depends. In a state like California, you might be dead in the water no matter what your mcat score is for MD but maybe not with an smp. State like Alabama or Tennessee, I don’t believe an SMP would be necessarily needed with an upwards trend and a 515 or even a little lower for MD. For example, I think umichigan accepted someone with a 2.7 cumulative gpa a couple of years ago though they did not post the mcat (it was probably very high though).

As for DO, the average MCAT is like a 503 and GPA of a 3.4 maybe 3.5. Good MCATs CAN make up for lower GPAs along with great ECs

Yeah im aware some states, i would be dead in the water immediately like Cali. Im thinking if its possible to apply broadly for DO and have a good chance or should i just say screw it, do a post bacc\SMP and then apply next cycle with a higher gpa to MD/DO. But ultimately, i appreciate your advice as this gives me a better idea now. In another month or so ill take AAMC FL 1 see how im guaging with that which should hopefully give me an idea where i stand. thanks brother.

 

[chris_i]

A 3.1 GPA is weak for DO, and you'd be DOA at my school and many others (the Touros, PCOM, CCOM AZOM for starters). So if you're going to apply now, apply broadly and especially target the newest schools.

Expecting a 515-520 on the MCAT is, frankly, unrealistic.

Your ECs are weak as well. Get in 50 more hours of clinical experience.

Research is not needed for DO schools.

Appreciate the advice. So if you had to pick between applying broadly this cycle (assuming i land around a 515 on the mcat) to DO, apply mainly to newest schools. And as far as clinical experience, i can continue to shadow an MD physician for anywhere from 50-100 more hours if need be to bring up my clinical experience.

or do you think i should scratch all that and try to raise the GPA via a program? then apply MD/DO?

 

[Magus5454]

N=1 obviously, but I had a 34/515 MCAT 3.17c/3.29s and was offered basically my choice of DO interviews and two MD. However, knowing what I know now, I would have jumped at a SMP/post bac. ( no OMM, one set of boards etc...)

My advice. Take your MCAT, if you score well enough for MD, consider the options. If you don't, look at DO.

 

[Goro]

Appreciate the advice. So if you had to pick between applying broadly this cycle (assuming i land around a 515 on the mcat) to DO, apply mainly to newest schools. And as far as clinical experience, i can continue to shadow an MD physician for anywhere from 50-100 more hours if need be to bring up my clinical experience.

or do you think i should scratch all that and try to raise the GPA via a program? then apply MD/DO?

The latter plan

 

[chris_i]

N=1 obviously, but I had a 34/515 MCAT 3.17c/3.29s and was offered basically my choice of DO interviews and two MD. However, knowing what I know now, I would have jumped at a SMP/post bac. ( no OMM, one set of boards etc...)

My advice. Take your MCAT, if you score well enough for MD, consider the options. If you don't, look at DO.

Gotchya, thanks for the advice. ill see how things are going once test day arrives and i get a score back. Now when you say offered basically your choice of DO interviews, were all these acceptances or all interviews?

 

[Magus5454]

Gotchya, thanks for the advice. ill see how things are going once test day arrives and i get a score back. Now when you say offered basically your choice of DO interviews, were all these acceptances or all interviews?

Interviews. I didn't go to most because I got in to where I wanted to go.

 

[ciestar]

Appreciate the advice. So if you had to pick between applying broadly this cycle (assuming i land around a 515 on the mcat) to DO, apply mainly to newest schools. And as far as clinical experience, i can continue to shadow an MD physician for anywhere from 50-100 more hours if need be to bring up my clinical experience.

or do you think i should scratch all that and try to raise the GPA via a program? then apply MD/DO?

Please also be aware that shadowing and clinical experience are regarded as two different things. Active clinical experience is more important that passive shadowing.

 

[chris_i]

Please also be aware that shadowing and clinical experience are regarded as two different things. Active clinical experience is more important that passive shadowing.

If you dont mind, could you elaborate on the clinical experience you're referring to? if not shadowing then whats an acceptable or appropiate suggestion you might recommend?

 

[ciestar]

If you dont mind, could you elaborate on the clinical experience you're referring to? if not shadowing then whats an acceptable or appropiate suggestion you might recommend?

Scribbing, CNA, EMT, MA, hospice.. stuff that gets you working with patients. You’ve gotta know if you can be around sick people for the rest of your career. You definitely cannot really get a feel for this just shadowing.

You have more than enough shadowing. The consensus around SDN is that 50 hours is adequate.

 

[chris_i]

Scribbing, CNA, EMT, MA, hospice.. stuff that gets you working with patients. You’ve gotta know if you can be around sick people for the rest of your career. You definitely cannot really get a feel for this just shadowing.

You have more than enough shadowing. The consensus around SDN is that 50 hours is adequate.

Fair enough! appreciate the advice and will start on it asap.

 

[dial1010usa]

What is your Sgpa?

 

[chris_i]

What is your Sgpa?

Right around the same area. 3.0-3.1. Started off rough freshmen year with B and Cs and one D and then upward trend on Straight As for 2-3 semesters and a few Bs. nothing below a B once i started the upward trend.

 

[arc5005]

I applied this year with a 3.1 & a 510, and was able to get 4 interviews: 3 DO and 1 MD. Non URM, but with a unique story. I'm extremely happy with the DO school I am going to. It was one of my top 3 DO schools I was interested in; however, I got lucky. If there is any way to increase your GPA with 1 more year of prep work, additional clinical experience, and really getting a good MCAT score you'll have more options!

 

[chris_i]

I applied this year with a 3.1 & a 510, and was able to get 4 interviews: 3 DO and 1 MD. Non URM, but with a unique story. I'm extremely happy with the DO school I am going to. It was one of my top 3 DO schools I was interested in; however, I got lucky. If there is any way to increase your GPA with 1 more year of prep work, additional clinical experience, and really getting a good MCAT score you'll have more options!

Wow congrats man thats awesome to hear. Im curious, did you do a post-bacc or take any additional classes to raise your gpa or just applied after undergrad? and could you elaborate on clinical experience? for example, what did you do for your clinical experience and for how long?