EAP vs applying???

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What do i do


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sam888

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So I'm in dire need for some advice on what to do within the next 5 days. I was recently accepted into an early acceptance program at an unnamed DO school prior to taking the mcat. At that time I had already payed for and been studying for my mcat so I thought I'd take it anyway and if I did well I'd still apply out because I don't love the school that I was accepted to but hey, an acceptance is an acceptance. I got my score 4 days ago and even though it's disappointing at the least and 3 points lower than my last FL, I still am considering applying to other DO's and lower stat MD schools. That might be really stupid since I could already have a spot somewhere and that's why I need people to tell me if I'm crazy and I should just take my risk-free acceptance or if I should bet on the rest of my application and apply to hella schools and see what happens. Not that schools care, but I graduated in 3 years so I have this next year off and would be a 2020 matriculant. I've waited till now to decide if I should apply because if I had applied earlier and waited for my mcat score the EAP would have retracted their acceptance. But now I'm on a time crunch because I'm nearing becoming a late applicant since it will likely take over 20 days to get verified if I apply by July 3rd. My options are to 1) go to EAP, 2) apply out, 3) retake mcat. Here are my stats and info:
  1. MCAT - 504 127/126/125/126
  2. GPA - 3.792 sGPA- 3.82
  3. IL resident
  4. Asian, 21
  5. CV:
900+hr student leadership (ACS/SPS, AMSA, etc)
400hr ED scribe
350hr Research assistant (No pubs (yet) but lot's of experience and things to talk about, 7 conference presentations, and good LoR from research mentor)
250hr Bio/chem learning assistant
200+hr volunteering in foster homes
150hr Biology tutor
120hr IM medical assistant volunteer
50+hr IM shadowing
50+hr crisis text line volunteering
100+hr freelance photographer/videographer

Any and all advice is welcome, I'm desperate lol

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Your best chance is DO and you are already accepted - what is your rationale for wanting to turn it down?
 
Your best chance is DO and you are already accepted - what is your rationale for wanting to turn it down?
The program is kind of shady since they're not competitive in the slightest like most EAPs and they accept anyone and everyone without an MCAT score from high school. Their match rate is good but majority are matching into primary care and family care and very very few into more competitive residencies which is where I see myself aiming for right now. I don't want to limit myself in my specialty from the get-go just based off the school I am attending.
 
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The program is kind of shady since they're not competitive in the slightest like most EAPs and they accept anyone and everyone without an MCAT score from high school. Their match rate is good but majority are matching into primary care and family care and very very few into more competitive residencies which is where I see myself aiming for right now. I don't want to limit myself in my specialty from the get-go just based off the school I am attending.

Ah okay, I don't know if turning down an EAP is as big of a red flag as turning down a normal acceptance (or if the schools you apply to will even know) so I will defer to someone who can comment on that.

I could be wrong, but I think it will be hard to find a DO school that has a lot of students matching into "competitive residencies"; if you don't think you would be happy in primary care you may be looking at MCAT retake to make yourself more competitive for MD programs...just my two-cents.

Hopefully someone else can weigh in.
 
Ah okay, I don't know if turning down an EAP is as big of a red flag as turning down a normal acceptance (or if the schools you apply to will even know) so I will defer to someone who can comment on that.

I could be wrong, but I think it will be hard to find a DO school that has a lot of students matching into "competitive residencies"; if you don't think you would be happy in primary care you may be looking at MCAT retake to make yourself more competitive for MD programs...just my two-cents.

Hopefully someone else can weigh in.

@Goro and @gonnif might have answers.
 
The program is kind of shady since they're not competitive in the slightest like most EAPs and they accept anyone and everyone without an MCAT score from high school. Their match rate is good but majority are matching into primary care and family care and very very few into more competitive residencies which is where I see myself aiming for right now. I don't want to limit myself in my specialty from the get-go just based off the school I am attending.
Named names. PM if needed

EDIT: what exactly is Shady about the school? Why did you apply there in the first place?
 
Last edited:
Named names. PM if needed

EDIT: what exactly is Shady about the school? Why did you apply there in the first place?
I'm not sure if it's actually shady or just has a bad rep at my undergrad which has an affiliation program with the school but they accept people into EAP with extremely low stats (just looking at high school GPA and ACT/SAT scores) compared to most EAPs which are very competitive. I've heard is just to get money but who knows. If you apply to the school as a regular applicant then they seem more normal (average MCAT 503). I'm still leaning towards going to this school as the safe option but I'll definitely PM you with more details.
 
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