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Hello,
I am currently a senior in my second to last semester and am looking for ways to finish off to be the strongest possible applicant I can be for DO schools and am also looking to see if it is worth it to apply in the first place. I understand that my GPA is much lower than the average applicant and have worked to fix this. I have had two returns of an illness requiring hospitalizations and those semesters were shown with a rather poor GPA. Nothing ever below of 3.0. I would assume it is definitely not worth applying to MD schools.
Here is some basic information:
GPA: cGPA 3.35, sGPA 3.21 (Expecting to graduate with a 3.38-3.4 and an sGPA of 3.31-3.34)
MCAT: Will take the MCAT in June. Test exams have yield 505-513
Shadowing: 24 in an Emergency Department
Volunteering: more 1000 hours volunteering for small towns near the city I reside in as a firefighter and EMT
Research: One summer in cancer immunology research designing plasmids, two years in enzyme kinetics research (published twice)
Extracurriculars: Full time EMT in the 911 service for a major city to help fund my undergraduate education, Private and Instrument Pilot
I considered dropping out of undergraduate for a period until I was in good health when I was sick and am now thinking that this would have probably a good idea.
Thank you kindly for any advice
1) The shadowing hours (24 in an ER) seems a little low to me. I'll defer to others in medical admissions for feedback.
2) How much networking have you done with the DO schools on your target list?
3) What documentation do you have regarding your illness and subsequent recovery/management plan?
Thank you very much for your reply
1. I am working on accumulating hours this spring and next year when I have more time in diverse settings and fields
2. I do not yet have a target list. I am trying to gain recommendations for target schools or if it is worth applying in the first place. I have a plan and resources to utilize to begin networking at a number of schools which I plan to engage next week when finals end.
3. In terms of documentation, I have documentation from specialists, emergency room and ambulance bills, as well as documentation of medications attempted for use in treatment. The problem was due to a previously undiagnosed chronic disorder that suddenly became severe during my undergraduate. In terms of recovery and management. I have recently started a plan where I should be mostly symptom free over the next year and have documentation of the medications involved. I am afraid that medical schools will see me as a risk because of this. Though, since starting the new recovery plan, my energy is coming back and pain is going down and I am hopeful that medical schools will see the issue as resolved.