DO School Admission questions

[irs88]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Hey guys I just joined the site and have some questions:

1) I am taking my MCATs the first test day in January. Is it to late to apply for next Septembers class? I know deadlines for some schools are at April or so, but is it too late? Do I have to wait another year?

2) I am looking for a Doctor to shadow. I found some in my city on
http://www.osteopathic.org. What do I do now?
-do I just call him up and ask if I can shadow?
-How long am I supposed to shadow him for until I can ask for a letter?
-Do I have to make him fill out any form or anything or is it just I ask for the letter and it gets sent to whatever DO school?

3) What other experiences do I need for getting into a good DO school(Touro specifically)? My sGPA is a 2.9 and im planning to get at least a 30 on the MCATs, but i have no EC at all. Should I volunteer, do lab work, or do the EMT program(which I am actually planning to do) until January?

Thanks a lot for your help.

 

[blueflower]

Hey guys I just joined the site and have some questions:

1) I am taking my MCATs the first test day in January. Is it to late to apply for next Septembers class? I know deadlines for some schools are at April or so, but is it too late? Do I have to wait another year?

2) I am looking for a Doctor to shadow. I found some in my city on
http://www.osteopathic.org. What do I do now?
-do I just call him up and ask if I can shadow?
-How long am I supposed to shadow him for until I can ask for a letter?
-Do I have to make him fill out any form or anything or is it just I ask for the letter and it gets sent to whatever DO school?

3) What other experiences do I need for getting into a good DO school(Touro specifically)? My sGPA is a 2.9 and im planning to get at least a 30 on the MCATs, but i have no EC at all. Should I volunteer, do lab work, or do the EMT program(which I am actually planning to do) until January?

Thanks a lot for your help.

1. Check CIB for specifics. http://www.aacom.org/resources/bookstore/cib/Pages/default.aspx
2. Yes go ahead and just ask. As for how long, you need to work that out with the DO. The longer you shadow obviously, the better they know you. But you could theoretically get one even after a week of shadowing. The DO should be able to just write a letter. From what I recall, only MSU requires evals instead of LORs. And even still, it doesn't even need to be from a DO.
3. You definitely need to get some ECs in. Go volunteer. Lab work is more for MDs. EMTs not bad either.

Seems like you really need to sit down and think about what's best for yourself right now. You have a lot of ideas in your head, and I think it might help if you jot down a timeline.

 

[irs88]

thanks!

Seems like you really need to sit down and think about what's best for yourself right now. You have a lot of ideas in your head, and I think it might help if you jot down a timeline.

what do you mean? :[

I am taking the EMT course from sept-november. Then I am going to work until I enter med school. Im going to do 4 hours of volunteer work every week until January at my local hospital which will be about 500 hour. Then I got the shadowing thing down hopefully. Thats enough right?

 

[seap3]

Hey guys I just joined the site and have some questions:

1) I am taking my MCATs the first test day in January. Is it to late to apply for next Septembers class? I know deadlines for some schools are at April or so, but is it too late? Do I have to wait another year?

2) I am looking for a Doctor to shadow. I found some in my city on
http://www.osteopathic.org. What do I do now?
-do I just call him up and ask if I can shadow?
-How long am I supposed to shadow him for until I can ask for a letter?
-Do I have to make him fill out any form or anything or is it just I ask for the letter and it gets sent to whatever DO school?

3) What other experiences do I need for getting into a good DO school(Touro specifically)? My sGPA is a 2.9 and im planning to get at least a 30 on the MCATs, but i have no EC at all. Should I volunteer, do lab work, or do the EMT program(which I am actually planning to do) until January?

Thanks a lot for your help.

at the bolded.

Sorry, but that was my plan too... Doesn't always work that way.

I think with your sGPA and lack of ECs, shadowing, ets, it is too late for you to apply this cycle. Start reading through SDN and apply next year. Check out the FAQs and CIB like the PP suggested.

Even though the official deadlines of many of the schools are later than January, most of the classes are filled by then. And with a Jan MCAT you won't know your score until Feb-Mar.

It would be good to start calling DOs now. Don't be discouraged if many of them turn you down. You'll have to use your own judgment on when you feel comfortable asking for a letter. Most schools don't have a form. The only one I can think of offhand is MSU, but you need to contact the schools you are interested in or look at their websites to be sure.

Good luck.

 

[seap3]

thanks!



what do you mean? :[

I am taking the EMT course from sept-november. Then I am going to work until I enter med school. Im going to do 4 hours of volunteer work every week until January at my local hospital which will be about 500 hour. Then I got the shadowing thing down hopefully. Thats enough right?

No thats not enough. And I question your math. 4hrs/wk from now until Jan is not 500hrs.

Most people applying to med school have spent years preparing. It looks like you are a doing all your ECs at the last minute, and this won't look good to adcoms.

It would really be in your best interest to spend the next year improving your app and apply early next cycle. I really doubt you'd get an acceptance this year.

 

[FutureDoc1988]

thanks!



what do you mean? :[

I am taking the EMT course from sept-november. Then I am going to work until I enter med school. Im going to do 4 hours of volunteer work every week until January at my local hospital which will be about 500 hour. Then I got the shadowing thing down hopefully. Thats enough right?

You may want to do some other volunteering as well as working with the local hospital. Do something that shows your interests, so if you are interested in sports, try to coach a sports team. Things like that.

I agree with other posters that you trying get in this year would probably be a waste of money because with a January MCAT you wont be looked at by schools until late Feb or early March and by then it is a lot more competitive to get in.

 

[lolbacon]

What are you basing your projected MCAT score on? If you've taken some of the AAMC practice tests and you're scoring anywhere around a 30, go for it. Then again, if you're scoring around a 30 now on practice tests, you should just take the September MCAT, but I'm guessing that's not the case. Anyways, a 30 in January might get you an interview, so if you're that confident, get your app submitted now-ish.

As far as finding a DO, see if there are any DO residency programs around you. I found a DO family practice residency where I could show up for a few lectures, meet 3rd/4th years, interns and residents, got to see some OMM, met with the PD and basically interviewed with him, saw an M&M, etc, and they write you a letter.

Are you counting your EMT training in that 500 hours? If you are, I'm not sure you should be. In any event, you do need to get started now on some kind of volunteering. If you get an interview this year it will give you something to talk about, if you and you apply next year, you have a lot of hours built up by the time you apply.

 

[DbDan]

Hey guys I just joined the site and have some questions:

1) I am taking my MCATs the first test day in January. Is it to late to apply for next Septembers class? I know deadlines for some schools are at April or so, but is it too late? Do I have to wait another year?

2) I am looking for a Doctor to shadow. I found some in my city on
http://www.osteopathic.org. What do I do now?
-do I just call him up and ask if I can shadow?
-How long am I supposed to shadow him for until I can ask for a letter?
-Do I have to make him fill out any form or anything or is it just I ask for the letter and it gets sent to whatever DO school?

3) What other experiences do I need for getting into a good DO school(Touro specifically)? My sGPA is a 2.9 and im planning to get at least a 30 on the MCATs, but i have no EC at all. Should I volunteer, do lab work, or do the EMT program(which I am actually planning to do) until January?

Thanks a lot for your help.

I was going to say that January was not too late until you said you had a 2.9, plan on getting a 30 and have no ECs. Not to be harsh but I wouldn't waste your money and I'd work to improve both your GPA AND your ECs. With a 2.8 and a 33 I had 2 interviews last year and I had quite a bit of medicine experience.

Getting a 30+ with a sub 3.0 is NOT the norm. In fact its extremely rare unless you are a non-traditional student who has been out of school for quite some time.

Spend the next year taking advantage of DO school's grade replacement policy. Continue on your path to take the MCAT in January and get your score back, if its not high enough you can retake and still not delay your application. Spend some time on here and gather all the information you have. If you apply this year late and unprepared you will be shooting yourself in the foot as a re-applicant next year. They would expect significant improvement in your application, which in 3 months would be nearly impossible. If you have more questions or something specific feel free to ask but I honestly believe you should wait another year before applying to work on your application.

 

[nlax30]

I was going to say that January was not too late until you said you had a 2.9, plan on getting a 30 and have no ECs. Not to be harsh but I wouldn't waste your money and I'd work to improve both your GPA AND your ECs. With a 2.8 and a 33 I had 2 interviews last year and I had quite a bit of medicine experience.

Getting a 30+ with a sub 3.0 is NOT the norm. In fact its extremely rare unless you are a non-traditional student who has been out of school for quite some time.

Spend the next year taking advantage of DO school's grade replacement policy. Continue on your path to take the MCAT in January and get your score back, if its not high enough you can retake and still not delay your application. Spend some time on here and gather all the information you have. If you apply this year late and unprepared you will be shooting yourself in the foot as a re-applicant next year. They would expect significant improvement in your application, which in 3 months would be nearly impossible. If you have more questions or something specific feel free to ask but I honestly believe you should wait another year before applying to work on your application.

Pretty much exactly what I was going to say. When I was accepted I had actually applied even later than that, BUT had already spent the previous year+ improving my academic history, had done very well on MCAT, and already had EC's and a DO LOR.

Yea, it's certainly possible to apply this year, but if you don't get in you would be reapplying in just a few months and it's basically going to look like the same application. Spend this year retaking any necessary classes to help GPA, focus on getting some experience/EC's, get a DO LOR, etc...