DOs with 30+ MCATs?

[Yadster101]

How many of you guys at DO schools have 30+ on your mcats and what do you think was limiting your app from getting into MD (unless you chose DO over md)?

I'm not trying to start a fight. I'm starting this thread because someone recently told me that they went to a DO school over an MD school and that got me thinking about the topic. One of my greatest mentors is a DO, and I've met many brilliant DOs that I hope to be as good as professionally. I have a family friend that is a DO ortho surgeon, and I've shadowed multiple DOs in highly competitive fields. I was curious and wanted to get anecdotal info on how many of you guys got over a 30, and what stopped you from going md.

If you guys could reply with the following I think I'd would make the thread more neat:
1. MCAT score
2. Reason for going DO

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[AnatomyGrey12]

This will go well....

I am going DO because my 18 year old self crapped all over my GPA. By the time I got it together and figured out what I wanted the damage was done. With a wife and kids an SMP just isn't feasible financially in the short term or long term. I don't really care about the letters and I am confident that the school I am going to will allow me to pursue the specialty I want if I work for it. I am extremely happy that I will be a doctor.

There are a lot more people at DO schools with a 30+ than you think.

 

[bigindian4891]

I did not do stellar during my initial undergrad years, but improved each year. Did an SMP to prove I could handle the courseload, and killed the MCAT. Luckily they made up for each other, but my GPA was still too low for allopathic schools. Shadowing a DO showed me no one should be disappointed with osteopathic medicine.

 

[Neopolymath]

This will go well....

I am going DO because my 18 year old self crapped all over my GPA. By the time I got it together and figured out what I wanted the damage was done. With a wife and kids an SMP just isn't feasible financially in the short term or long term. I don't really care about the letters and I am confident that the school I am going to will allow me to pursue the specialty I want if I work for it. I am extremely happy that I will be a doctor.

There are a lot more people at DO schools with a 30+ than you think.

There are many of us with a very similar story to this.

 

[DO2015CA]

Also besides the fact that we wanted to use OMT (no longer valid seeing as residencies are merging), some of us come from states such as California lol

 

[D4C]

How many of you guys at DO schools have 30+ on your mcats and what do you think was limiting your app from getting into MD (unless you chose DO over md)?

I'm not trying to start a fight. I'm starting this thread because someone recently told me that they went to a DO school over an MD school and that got me thinking about the topic. One of my greatest mentors is a DO, and I've met many brilliant DOs that I hope to be as good as professionally. I have a family friend that is a DO ortho surgeon, and I've shadowed multiple DOs in highly competitive fields. I was curious and wanted to get anecdotal info on how many of you guys got over a 30, and what stopped you from going md.

If you guys could reply with the following I think I'd would make the thread more neat:
1. MCAT score
2. Reason for going DO

Made a 30 on my mcat, chose DO because the school I wanted was a DO school - didn't apply MD. Roommate has a 38, DO was a fall back for him since he applied to only a few ivys IIRC.

 

[navigator]

Got a 31. Didn't have a high enough GPA (mine was 3.5) to get into the TX MD programs. It all worked out anyway though.

 

[Yadster101]

Got a 31. Didn't have a high enough GPA (mine was 3.5) to get into the TX MD programs. It all worked out anyway though.

Really? I thought Texas highly favored instate applicants which is why everyone is jealous of Tx? I would think a 31 would get you into UTMB.

 

[Goro]

Ditto.

There are many of us with a very similar story to this.

 

[Mad Jack]

Had a 35. Limiting factor was my self doubt- I never thought I'd score that high, so I scheduled my test too late to make the MD cycle.

 

[SLC]

Poor GPA performance early on in college. But got a great MCAT. I had my eye on the school I went to for a long time.

 

[Staphylococcus Aureus]

There are plenty of DO med students with high MCATs, what you'll probably continue to hear, other than choosing DO outright (location is a huge reason) is that their limiting factor was probably GPA (i.e. most nontrads). To get a 3.5+ throughout undergrad you pretty much have to be on the straight and narrow, but many of us find the road late or have pit stops along the journey. There are also students with a 3.99 and a 23 that just took the acceptance and ran. But it's important to remember that there's a multitude of reasons why someone may have a lower score or GPA that has no bearing on their future aptitude as a physician.

 

[Peach Newport]

Had a 34. GPA was crap, but I did a masters and killed it. I probably could have gone MD in the end but I got really into the DO philosophy and applied strictly osteo.

 

[68PGunner]

I broke my hand in August as I was ramping up to send in MD secondaries. No way in hell was I going to take a gap year and lose 1 year of doc salary.

 

[Mad Jack]

SAME! Got my score towards the end of September, no way did I expect the score I got so I never applied MD at first. I actually remember being at Macy's when my score was posted and I literally sat there on one of the mannequin stands and started sending my primary to MD schools because I didn't want to be any later. Worked out for me, so anyone else who finds themselves in this situation, just go for it. You never know (note: I had sent in one throwaway school to verify my app at this point).

I didn't even have a throwaway app. Hell, I didn't even fill out any of an AMCAS app yet. By the time I was verified it would have been late November or later.

 

[Mad Jack]

Hindsight eh? Moral of the story- less self doubt for you and I (and everyone else currently self doubting).

Absolutely.

 

[Goro]

There are several phenotypes of applicants to med school.

High LizzyMs in both GPA and MCAT. The go to MD schools. I'd say maybe 1-5% of them go to DO schools, with geography playing a larger factor than liking the DO philosophy.

Then there are the more median LizzyM persons, who either have:

Lower GPA/good MCAT (LizzyM ~65-70)
High GPA/lower MCAT (very common) (LizzyM ~65-70)
Lower GPA and MCAT (< 65)

Of the above, the majority are like people engaging in this thread. People discover that college is not high school, or are killed by the weeding classes. But they then improve in years 3 and 4. these are different applicants than those with a flat line GPA trend (say, B/B+ students all the way through) The latter end up as mostly DO students. The middle two can either hit MD, if they apply smartly, or live in a lucky state.

 

[angeloflogic]

Currently going to matriculate to a DO school. Got a 511, and had a decent overall app too. IDK why I haven't gotten any MD IIs yet, but that doesn't matter. I'm choosing DO because I ABSOLUTELY HATE DOING SECONDARIES. Primaries aren't too bad, I love interviewing, but dear lord do I hate writing four short stories about myself then paying someone an extra $100 to read it. I will never voluntarily do another secondary in my life. The difference between the letter M and O is not worth it if it means I have to do another secondary. Just needed to get this off my chest.

 

[thoracentesis]

So far at my DO school, I have yet to find someone who got less than 30 on their MCAT. Small sample size (5-10) though, so cant say how truly accurate it is.

1) I got a 32, and that seems to be a very common score among my classmates.
2)Bad GPA

 

[jw3600]

Currently going to matriculate to a DO school. Got a 511, and had a decent overall app too. IDK why I haven't gotten any MD IIs yet, but that doesn't matter. I'm choosing DO because I ABSOLUTELY HATE DOING SECONDARIES. Primaries aren't too bad, I love interviewing, but dear lord do I hate writing four short stories about myself then paying someone an extra $100 to read it. I will never voluntarily do another secondary in my life. The difference between the letter M and O is not worth it if it means I have to do another secondary. Just needed to get this off my chest.

I hope your being facetious. Most DOs will lead successful and fulfilling careers but choosing DO over MD for any reason (especially as inane as yours) is usually a horrible decision.

 

[Ioannes Paulus]

I had a 32 and got into all the DO schools I applied but only 2/25 MD IIs with a 3.7 GPA from a "top 20" undergrad. I think it was a combination of poor-planning (I applied "late" in the cycle, i.e.: September), a generic personal statement, and average LORs. My advisers told me to wait a year and reapply but the application process was/is soul draining and I would never want to put my family through that again. I haven't regretted my decision so far.

I remember my partner would sometimes wake up in the middle of the night and walk around our home and when I would wake up and ask "what's going on" they would say "What's going to happen if you don't get in? How much longer am I going to work here? What's the plan? How are we going to pull together the money to apply to another 30 schools next year?" and it would kill me to say "I don't know, I'm trying my best." I would never want to put anyone through that again so I'll gladly take DO. Plus I'm interested in a specialty that is very open to DOs in most cities so I'm not worried.

 

[jw3600]

You need a vacay, brother. May I suggest residency on the beach.

Though, I do agree. That may be the laziest and dumbest reason I have seen to date. What's a 511 anyways? Average comlex is 520. Psh. 511

Hey we can't all be 4th years post interview season hombre.

And yeah I do.

 

[angeloflogic]

You need a vacay, brother. May I suggest residency on the beach.

Though, I do agree. That may be the laziest and dumbest reason I have seen to date. What's a 511 anyways? Average comlex is 520. Psh. 511

A 511 is about a 31-32. If I was honest, I live in a DO friendly area and truly believe MD=DO so I'm perfectly happy with being a DO. Also I am a believer in OMM as an effective modality, so learning how to use it is great.

 

[SurgDoc95]

Also besides the fact that we wanted to use OMT (no longer valid seeing as residencies are merging), some of us come from states such as California lol

YEP!

 

[navigator]

Really? I thought Texas highly favored instate applicants which is why everyone is jealous of Tx? I would think a 31 would get you into UTMB.

They do favor in-state applicants (90% of every class except Baylor's are Texas residents) but also prefer high GPAs over high MCAT scores. I have no idea why.

 

[Robotfishbrain]

Scored 90 percentile on the new MCAT and I have a similar story to others here. I was not ready for college at 18 and depression and anxiety got the best of me, so I failed out. I climbed out of the hole and ended my college career with a 3.o GPA, but with grade replacement ended up being a 3.5. I only applied DO so who knows what would have happened with low tier MDs, but as a non-trad applicant I wanted to be a doctor as soon as possible. I got into a long-standing, respectable medical school, which makes the whole DO vs. MD argument inconsequential to me..

 

[surfguy84]

How many of you guys at DO schools have 30+ on your mcats and what do you think was limiting your app from getting into MD (unless you chose DO over md)?

I'm not trying to start a fight. I'm starting this thread because someone recently told me that they went to a DO school over an MD school and that got me thinking about the topic. One of my greatest mentors is a DO, and I've met many brilliant DOs that I hope to be as good as professionally. I have a family friend that is a DO ortho surgeon, and I've shadowed multiple DOs in highly competitive fields. I was curious and wanted to get anecdotal info on how many of you guys got over a 30, and what stopped you from going md.

If you guys could reply with the following I think I'd would make the thread more neat:
1. MCAT score
2. Reason for going DO

Didn't realize not going to class and generally being an idiot as a freshman meant a lot of F's and D's.

Sad, even after a strong upward trend followed by a 4.0 post-bacc, MD schools couldn't look past horrendous grades 10 years ago in such rigorous classes as health 101 and art history.....all I have to say is thank god grade replacement was around when I applied DO though..

 

[Cryc_to_the_point]

I applied to both as my end goal is to be a physician, not specifically a MD or DO. I think osteopathic medicine is frankly underrated (though the clinical aspects stand to improve). I fell into medicine in college after studying security and HATING it. I had horrible grades in the sciences during that time so I spent my undergrad trying to overcome the GPA and work full time as an EMT and then paramedic. So between a low initial GPA, high hour count, and extremely heavy schedule I ended up with a whopping GPA of 3.1. KY MD programs snuffed me so I'm happily going to a DO school in TN!
Edit: MCAT: 501 (not good, but good enough)

 

[LutGholein]

I did a retake. The second time I scored a 510(I think that's above a 30). My GPA was good and I applied broadly.

I just wanted to get into any U.S school because I honestly had no idea if my numbers and ECs would be competitive. It turns out I got interviews from both DOs and MDs.
After getting acceptances to both DO and MD I received feedback from really helpful folks on sdn and a med friend which led me to take the MD after a lot of debating and arguing.

I'm pretty attracted to a very non-competitive primary care field so I knew coming in that I would have been happy at either DO/MD. The students you meet at these med schools blows your mind--you definitely feel humbled and at the end you're thankful you got into either DO/MD.

 

[hallowmann]

Mid-30s MCAT, low gpa due to 1-1.5 yrs of badness from about 8-9 yrs before I applied (last 80 some credits were 3.7+) Took MCAT late due to personal things, applied late because of it, interviewed MD and DO, waitlisted MD and accepted DO, and wasn't going to reapply also due to age/timing/more personal stuff.

Didn't realize not going to class, not thinking to drop classes I stopped going to, and generally being an idiot as a freshman/sophmore meant a lot of F's and D's.

Sad, even after a strong upward trend followed by a 4.0 post-bacc, MD schools couldn't look past horrendous grades 10 years ago in such rigorous classes as health 101 and art history.....all I have to say is thank god grade replacement was around when I applied DO though..

Doesn't TX have like a 10 year rule where they ignore grades in courses taken >10 yrs ago? Did you try applying through TMDSAS? I would have considered it if not for the personal stuff that made waiting a no-go.

 

[goneriding]

I'm a Californian, went to a UC, and got destroyed in the weeder classes during my first few years of college. I figured out how to succeed in class eventually, and finished with an upward trend during my junior and senior year. However, I still could only pull my sGPA up to a 3.2. After college, I took the MCAT, and got a 31.

I worked for a year and then enrolled in one of the more highly regarded SMP's at a MD school. I got a 3.9 GPA, and was advised to re-take the MCAT. I ended up with a 510, which is 1 percentile higher than the 31 I had prior.

I then applied MD only during the second year of my SMP program. I was rejected from my SMP's med school pre-interview, and only got two interviews out of 30 schools. I ended up waitlisted at both schools I interviewed at.

This cycle I applied later (secondary's in August), as I was hoping one of the waitlists would turn into an acceptance. Neither did. I still have not received a MD interview this cycle, but I did get accepted to a DO school, and am currently waiting to hear back from another.

I'm stoked-- I'll be a doctor. That's it really. I am certainly a bit jealous of some of my peers from my SMP who have gone on to really awesome schools, but at the end of the day, I want to be an ED physician, and either the MD or DO route will get me there so long as I put in the work.

 

[jw3600]

I'm a Californian, went to a UC, and got destroyed in the weeder classes during my first few years of college. I figured out how to succeed in class eventually, and finished with an upward trend during my junior and senior year. However, I still could only pull my sGPA up to a 3.2. After college, I took the MCAT, and got a 31.

I worked for a year and then enrolled in one of the more highly regarded SMP's at a MD school. I got a 3.9 GPA, and was advised to re-take the MCAT. I ended up with a 510, which is 1 percentile higher than the 31 I had prior.

I then applied MD only during the second year of my SMP program. I was rejected from my SMP's med school pre-interview, and only got two interviews out of 30 schools. I ended up waitlisted at both schools I interviewed at.

This cycle I applied later (secondary's in August), as I was hoping one of the waitlists would turn into an acceptance. Neither did. I still have not received a MD interview this cycle, but I did get accepted to a DO school, and am currently waiting to hear back from another.

I'm stoked-- I'll be a doctor. That's it really. I am certainly a bit jealous of some of my peers from my SMP who have gone on to really awesome schools, but at the end of the day, I want to be an ED physician, and either the MD or DO route will get me there so long as I put in the work.

Glad you're on your way. Stories like yours make me hate the predatory nature of SMPs.

 

[TheBoneDoctah]

I'm a Californian, went to a UC, and got destroyed in the weeder classes during my first few years of college. I figured out how to succeed in class eventually, and finished with an upward trend during my junior and senior year. However, I still could only pull my sGPA up to a 3.2. After college, I took the MCAT, and got a 31.

I worked for a year and then enrolled in one of the more highly regarded SMP's at a MD school. I got a 3.9 GPA, and was advised to re-take the MCAT. I ended up with a 510, which is 1 percentile higher than the 31 I had prior.

I then applied MD only during the second year of my SMP program. I was rejected from my SMP's med school pre-interview, and only got two interviews out of 30 schools. I ended up waitlisted at both schools I interviewed at.

This cycle I applied later (secondary's in August), as I was hoping one of the waitlists would turn into an acceptance. Neither did. I still have not received a MD interview this cycle, but I did get accepted to a DO school, and am currently waiting to hear back from another.

I'm stoked-- I'll be a doctor. That's it really. I am certainly a bit jealous of some of my peers from my SMP who have gone on to really awesome schools, but at the end of the day, I want to be an ED physician, and either the MD or DO route will get me there so long as I put in the work.

Could have just stopped at "I'm a Californian" and I would have known why haha. Cali is super hard to gain MD acceptance.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile app

 

[Mr Roboto]

I got a 33. I had an above-MD-avg from a school that doesn't get much respect. I didn't have any pubs or research.

That being said I'm far from the smartest person in my class at a DO school.

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

Just got this email from AACOMAS.
Does this mean no more grade replacements?

"The current AACOMAS Repeat Coursework Policy drops the initial course attempts from the GPA calculation. In the upcoming 2017-2018 AACOMAS application cycle, applicants will continue to identify repeated courses during coursework entry, but they will no longer enter 0.00 credit hours for initial attempts. Credit hours for all attempts will be entered as they appear on the official transcript and all grades will be averaged. The AACOMAS application instructions will be updated in advance of the 2017-2018 application cycle to reflect this change in policy."

Lol where have you been? Yeah grade replacement is gonzo, sprung upon future applicants with no warning in an extremely dirty move by AACOMAS

 

[Staphylococcus Aureus]

This thread shows how MD schools are missing out on great applicants that turned things around, now AACOM wants to follow suit? I thought the whole point of grade replacement was rewarding reinvention.

 

[dfib slim]

.

 

[NonTradSuperGrad]

I had a 32 MCAT. Applied to both MD and DO schools. Got into both. Ultimately chose DO for several reasons. I liked the fact they welcomed non-traditional students, I wanted to have another trick in my bag when trying to treat a patient (OMT), and many of the nurses and other hospital employees I knew preferred working with DOs because they thought they were better doctors; not because they had more knowledge (they were equal in that respect), but because they were more humanistic and had better bedside manner with their patients.

 

[deleted564680]

There are a lot of 30+ DOs out there that end up in DO schools for various reasons. The application to medical school is mostly a crapshoot. Many of these things are even out of control of a good application such as regional/geographical bias, racial/ethnic priorities, alumni/physician relative priority, etc.

One of the biggest reasons though is that these high MCAT students would rather go to medical school at 22 even if it's a DO school then re-apply, do a SMP, etc. I've met a TON of MD students who didn't get in to EITHER MD or DO schools at 22, did a SMP/research for 1-2 years, then got into great MD schools. Great for them, of course, but the biggest fallacy I learned is that you don't have to go to medical school at 22 and in fact, most don't.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

I'm behind the curve. That's crazy though. Guess that detracts from the "holistic" selection process.

Honestly I think they should just change the policy to only consider the final 60 credits of a person's gpa. There should be no reason that someone who had a rough first and second year but aced their 3rd & 4th has to either pay for an expensive SMP or seek education on an island.

 

[JustPlainBill]

Wow -- hard to believe that some D.O.'s could actually be that smart --- I mean, most are tolerable subhumans, capable of eating, sleeping and not making messes in the house. Who'd have thought? I mean, usually you have to hold a mirror under the nostrils to determine if they're breathing ---

That you would even bring this up in this context on an osteopathic students board is insulting to say the least. Get it through your head --- an osteopathic physician is just as qualified in all areas as an allopathic physician.

 

[68PGunner]

Honestly I think they should just change the policy to only consider the final 60 credits of a person's gpa. There should be no reason that someone who had a rough first and second year but aced their 3rd & 4th has to either pay for an expensive SMP or seek education on an island.

USUHS does that.

 

[68PGunner]

There is no reason to take a gap year or do a SMP when you can get into a decent DO on your first try unless you are dead set on 3-5 super competitive specialties. Each delayed year is a loss of 1 year of doc salary at 220-250K a year min. That was my thought process. I got mouths to feed and more hobbies/interests in my life. The sooner I hit my financial goal, the sooner I have time for my other hobbies and life milestones.

 

[Azete]

I turned down an MD acceptance (for family reasons) and came to a DO school with a 35. I thought I would easily be at the top of my class, and I'm not even close. We have some legitimate geniuses at our school that I would wager anything could be in the top 5% at any MD school.

Sure, we have a couple students that make you wonder what the hell the admissions office was thinking, but this is the extreme minority. Honestly I worried a lot about the DO stigma and how it would affect my career, but after seeing my classmates all my concerns were quickly erased.

 

[DocWinter]

I came from a nontrad blue collar background and couldn't/ didn't know how to justify not working and getting into debt while I pursued this goal duing undergrad and postbac.

Had a 3.4 and average MCAT at the end of 4 years of working 40 a week and studying full time. Sometimes wonder how it would be to have those extra hours to study. Wanted to go DO regardless due to interest in OMM.
Either way it worked out. Proud to be DO

 

[tunicaexterna]

Our classes average was very close to a 30...there's quite a few people with MCATs that are at 30 or above in our cohort.

 

[Peach Newport]

Our classes average was very close to a 30...there's quite a few people with MCATs that are at 30 or above in our cohort.

Are you at one of the touros or midwesterns?

 

[tunicaexterna]

@Peach Newport

Yep

 

[Peach Newport]

@Peach Newport

Yep

I'm love puzzles!

You said "close to 30" which I'm going to assume means 29 point something, which sounds like a midwestern, I think AZ is more like a 28, so my guess is you're at CCOM! Damn man, I hope you have a really fluffy coat.

 

[tunicaexterna]

@Peach Newport

Only the fluffiest! And yes, I am at CCOM!