DO & MD: Is this an issue?

[eablackwell]

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Hi all,

I know a lot of people on here apply both DO and MD, but a friend of mine who is also applying this cycle told me that if you apply to both, neither MD schools nor DO schools will want to take you. She says it is a common question in interviews "Did you apply to <insert other type here> schools. She said she'd heard of people saying no and then getting acceptances withdrawn when they found out the person hadn't been truthful.

This sounds really odd to me, but I wanted to check with those who might have experience. I have currently only applied MD because after nearly 6 months of searching I have yet to find a DO to shadow ad the 2 schools I'm interested in only allow DO letters, not MD.

My question is, should I try do anyway and hope I can find a letter writer, or should I not even bother since it might hurt my chances by applying to both?

 

[DrBowtie]

A) They wouldn't find out unless you told them.
B) The lying was probably more of the issue than the actual subject matter.

 

[TriagePreMed]

When they ask you where else you applied, you should be allowed to say "that's a personal matter that I would prefer not to discuss, but I would like to be clear that applying to your school is because I'm absolutely certain that I do want to be here."

I would personally feel troubled answering questions that are too personal like that. I also wouldn't want to answer questions about my financial resources.

 

[DrBowtie]

When they ask you where else you applied, you should be allowed to say "that's a personal matter that I would prefer not to discuss, but I would like to be clear that applying to your school is because I'm absolutely certain that I do want to be here."

I would personally feel troubled answering questions that are too personal like that. I also wouldn't want to answer questions about my financial resources.

To me your suggested answer seems kinda combative.

Where else you applied is hardly as personal as financial information.

To the OP: I'd suggest saying you applied to a variety of schools based upon your application, and geographic preferences, and educational interests and goals. If they probe any further I'd just give them a few schools. In my experience they are often looking for something to use on a comparison level to pitch their school (especially true for 2 schools in the same state).

 

[TriagePreMed]

To me your suggested answer seems kinda combative.

Where else you applied is hardly as personal as financial information.

Unfortunately, you're right in that it could be interpreted that way. However, if you want to avoid answering it, this is the best way I can think of.

 

[DrMidlife]

a friend of mine who is also applying this cycle told me that if you apply to both, neither MD schools nor DO schools will want to take you. She says it is a common question in interviews "Did you apply to <insert other type here> schools. She said she'd heard of people saying no and then getting acceptances withdrawn when they found out the person hadn't been truthful.

I heard that if you wear a red suit and the moon is full and you've ever taken Sudafed that they call all your recommendation letter writers immediately after your interview.

Your friend is delusional.

DO mentor page: http://www.do-online.org/iLearn/home.cfm

Depending on where you live, you can get a DO shadow/letter going within about a week.

 

[eablackwell]

Thank you for your input DrMidLife. I have been trying to access that website for quite some time. I have an account, but when I go to try and find a mentor it doesn't have city, state, only name or ID#. when I click on either of those it just gives me an error message. Is this maybe a mac issue?

Also, I am going to be about an hour from one of my preferred DO schools for the next 3 weeks. If you call and talk to them, do they ever let you go to the campus and shadow for a day? I'm going to call tomorrow, but I figured I'd see if you all thought it would be a stupid question 😉

 

[QofQuimica]

Hi all,

I know a lot of people on here apply both DO and MD, but a friend of mine who is also applying this cycle told me that if you apply to both, neither MD schools nor DO schools will want to take you. She says it is a common question in interviews "Did you apply to <insert other type here> schools. She said she'd heard of people saying no and then getting acceptances withdrawn when they found out the person hadn't been truthful.

This sounds really odd to me, but I wanted to check with those who might have experience. I have currently only applied MD because after nearly 6 months of searching I have yet to find a DO to shadow ad the 2 schools I'm interested in only allow DO letters, not MD.

My question is, should I try do anyway and hope I can find a letter writer, or should I not even bother since it might hurt my chances by applying to both?

Your friend is wrong. Unless you're applying ED, no school or adcom would be naive enough to assume that you're only applying to their school. In fact, you can apply to every single medical school in the United States and Canada if you like, both MD and DO, and it won't affect your application at any other school. The schools do not know where else you are applying unless you tell them. But good luck finishing all those secondaries.

In my experience, it is also not true that being asked where else you applied is a "common" question. I went on 17 interviews and had approximately three dozen people interview me. Out of all of them, exactly three asked me where else I had applied. One wanted to gauge how interested I was in that region of the country. The others wanted to get more input about what I was looking for in a med school. No one ever asked me if I had applied to any DO schools. I did get asked once "why not MD/PhD," but I'm going to chalk that one off to the interviewer being distracted, since I had just finished explaining my dissertation work to her. 😉

If you want to apply to some DO schools, by all means, find yourself a DO to shadow and get yourself a letter. You don't have to justify that decision to anyone, and I think it's a smart thing for you to apply to both.

When they ask you where else you applied, you should be allowed to say "that's a personal matter that I would prefer not to discuss, but I would like to be clear that applying to your school is because I'm absolutely certain that I do want to be here."

I would personally feel troubled answering questions that are too personal like that. I also wouldn't want to answer questions about my financial resources.

I told those three interviewers that I had applied to my state schools and some others in the South (or Midwest, when I was interviewing there). Two did not press me further, and one pressed me to name names. I did name a few that were regional competitors of that school. It made me uncomfortable too, and I agree with you that it's an inappropriate question for an interviewer to ask. But like DrBowtie said, there's nothing to be gained by being defensive about it. I agree with him that when an interviewer is asking you this question, what s/he really wants to know is, "tell me more about what you're looking for in a medical school," because s/he is hoping to put in a plug for their own school.

 

[familyaerospace]

I second that it is probably more the lying than anything else.

Good luck with trying to shadow a DO. I've tried to contact nearly every DO in a 3 hour radius and can't find one who will let me shadow (and that includes my own). The people on the DO list won't even respond. Luckily, the DO school I am likely to apply to takes MD letters.

 

[PharmaTope]

some places are asking through small talk and they want to see that you are serious and applying to more than one school.

usually if someone applies to just 1 school it is a red flag.

i have openly told schools where i applied when asked, i didnt list like 20 schools but i did tell them a few.

 

[Lazarus]

.

 

[Lazarus]

Some bonehead in my class was trying to convince me that schools know if you have applied to many schools; i.e. applying to many schools = raise a red flag.

I am glad I politely smiled, and then promptly filed that in the completely disregard category of my memory.

 

[MSmentor018]

no one knows how many schools you applied to or where. it's all on you. the DO/MD application issue is not the problem for getting an app denied. if you said you presented a research project somewhere (you didn't) and they called your bluff, then yeah, you could be tossed for that. I applied to both disciplines, no problems. I am a DO in a competitive MD residency program. no problems. as for finding someone to shadow, there are a growing amount of DO's in FL. you should be able to find someone, somewhere....even for a few shifts. good luck!