Do I have a chance to get into MD school?

[iijiyoungii]

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Hi,

Here is my mcat score
aug 2006 p 10 v 8 b 10 M
may 2010 p 14 v 4 b 10 L

GPA 3.82 science GPA 3.7 BIOLOGY major from stony brook university, class of 2007

I attended NYU dental school for one semester and decide to apply to medical school.
During my one semester in NYU dental school I got 4.0 GPA.

EC
1.one year research experience with publication

2.volunteer at the hospital in Vietnam for 2months

3. volunteer at stony brook hospital for 2 months

4. teaching exp. full time 2 years. and many private tutor exp.

5. reception at dental office for one year

6. group leader in Christian group.

Q. 1. with my poor verbal score and low overall mcat score, do i have a chance to get into MD school??? or DO school????

Q2. I am retaking the mcat on sep, is it too late to apply if i submit my application after I get my scores back?

Q3. If i do have a chance to get into any MD/DO school....which school should i apply???(what are my safety schools....?)



Thank you =)

P.S I live in NY...i will love to go to stony, downstate, UMDNJ, buffalo, albany....
for DO school NYCOM....

 

[Ioriscrub]

I hate to tell you, but with a 4 on your verbal your odds at MD schools are pretty much zilch and even DO schools would be a serious stretch. You should definitely retake and try to get AT LEAST a 9 on verbal if not 10+. Is English not your first language? That would help with explaining to Adcoms why it was so low. Its a shame too, because everything else on your application is very strong.
The good news is that your 2006 MCAT should be expired by now (I think? Someone can correct me.) so you won't have it on your record that you went down 4 points on verbal.

 

[iijiyoungii]

Thanks for you advice. yeah English is not my first language and verbal was always not my favorite subject. I will be retaking it on sep 2 but 9+ on verbal seems pretty difficult.

I was hoping that my 2006 verbal score would kinda cover my 2010 verbal....correct me if i am wrong about this...

is there anything else i can do to improve my application other than my verbal score???

 

[Ioriscrub]

I think that the 2006 MCAT is too old by now and would have expired. If you're fine with DO, 7-8 for verbal would be okay especially since you're ESL. I think there are even some allopathic schools that make allowances for people with low verbal scores based on situations like yours.
As far as the rest of your application goes, your clinical experience seems kind of sparse. The average applicant has about 150 hours over 1.5 years (I'm quoting Catalystik on this). The hospital work in Vietnam makes you stand out but Adcoms want to see continuous experience over a period of time. Also, I don't see any shadowing. 50-60 hours of shadowing seems to be the standard to be competitive. If I were you, I would save yourself the stress and money of applying this cycle, take this year to improve your MCAT and build up your ECs, and apply again next year.
Also, your 4.0 at the dental school wouldn't go on your AMCAS and likely wouldn't be considered, but in your case that's not a problem since your undergraduate gpa is already very strong.

 

[Catalystik]

EC
1.one year research experience with publication

2.volunteer at the hospital in Vietnam for 2months

3. volunteer at stony brook hospital for 2 months

4. teaching exp. full time 2 years. and many private tutor exp.

5. reception at dental office for one year

6. group leader in Christian group.

is there anything else i can do to improve my application other than my verbal score?

I would take suggest taking your time restudying for the MCAT as your ECs need some work before you're ready to apply to med schools. Don't waste your time and money applying this season.

You only have 4 months of clinical experience, half of which is not US-based, where 1.5 years is average. I suggest you volunteer 4-6 hours per week for the next 10 months in a clinical setting.

You have not listed US physician shadowing. Average seems to be about 50 hours, split among 2-3 docs. Do more if you can.

Some weekly nonmedical, noncampus community service is also desirable. Do this until yyou apply and during the application year. Pick a cause you care about, aiming for 2-3 hours per week.

You have leadership and strong teaching. Your research is average, but a publication is outstanding. Don't forget to list hobbies, sports, and artistic endeavors.

There are a few schools that will judge you by composite MCAT, but not if your older score is too old. I think you're stuck retaking and aiming for a much higher VS. An 8 again would be OK, but more schools will consider you with a 9. I've never heard of anyone with a VS of 4 getting into a DO school, but I suppose it might have happened.