Finalizing School List with Mid GPA and Low MCAT (URM)

[dubem100]

Hello everyone!

I really would love some help trying to craft a school list based on my current stats. After my horrendous MCAT retake last month, I decided to not submit my MD applications and focus solely on DO schools. I am planning on submitting by the end of this week. Are there any schools I should be looking at I don't have on my list

cGPA: 3.65
sGPA: 3.5
MCAT #1: (499); MCAT #2 (500); MCAT #3 (498)
State of Residence: NY

600+ Patient Care Volunteer In Psychiatric Ward at a Hospital
2000+ Hours working full time at an infant neurodevelopment lab at my university (1 Abstract published + ongoing data collection)
40 Hours Shadowing two different DOs at an Family Medicine Clinic
1000+ Hours Working as research associate with a undergraduate research group studying the effect of illicit prescription stimulant abuse on college campuses (1 publication + 3 abstracts)
100 hours volunteering at a hospital in my dad's hometown in Nigeria (Not sure how to list contact information for this experience)
100 hours working as a per diem EMT

Letter From my school's pre-medical committee + 1 DO letter

This is my current school list

1. BCOM
2. ARCOM
3.Midwestern
4. Edwards- Carolina and Virginia Campus
5. DUQCOM
6. KCOM
7. Liberty
8. MU-WCOM
9. MSU COM
10. NYIT- Both campuses
11. Orlando
12. Rowan
13. Touro MT/Harlem
14. PCOM Philly and Georgia
15. UNECOM
16. LECOM

Are there any schools I should add? I really would like to attend NYIT or Touro MT/Harlem, but given my stats I am not hoping for much. I plan to submit ASAP, so please let me know if there are any I am missing. In addition, what would my chances look like for the above schools?

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[Faha]

You could receive interviews at some MD schools and I suggest these:
All 4 SUNYs
Howard
Meharry
Morehouse
Charles Drew
Albany
Vermont
Quinnipiac
Drexel
Temple
Eastern Virginia
Tulane
Belmont
TCU
Rosalind Franklin
Medical College Wisconsin
Oakland Beaumont
Wayne State
For DO schools I suggest these:
UNECOM
NYITCOM (both schools)
Touro-NY
LECOM (all schools)
WVSOM
MU-COM
KCU-COM
ATSU-KCOM
TUNCOM
UIWSOM
WCU-COM
ACOM
CUSOM
VCOM (all schools)
PCOM (all schools)
For MD schools you should apply this week and submit all your secondaries by late September.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

What support have you received from your prehealth committee? Feedback?

 

[dubem100]

They have been very supportive in my quest to pursue medicine. I am so regretful of the rushed MCAT attempts, but I would like to try for DO this year and reapply next year if there is no success. I am very interested in family medicine, so I had no preference for DO vs MD. I was told to apply to a few MD schools to “shoot my shot” but with the poor MCAT retakes and late submission, it did not seem wise to pursue MD schools. I am focused on crafting the best possible DO applications I can and have everything submitted by the end of this week

 

[Faha]

They have been very supportive in my quest to pursue medicine. I am so regretful of the rushed MCAT attempts, but I would like to try for DO this year and reapply next year if there is no success. I am very interested in family medicine, so I had no preference for DO vs MD. I was told to apply to a few MD schools to “shoot my shot” but with the poor MCAT retakes and late submission, it did not seem wise to pursue MD schools. I am focused on crafting the best possible DO applications I can and have everything submitted by the end of this week

You are way underestimating your chances for interviews. The GPA-MCAT grid for MD schools shows that for Black applicants with your stats you have a ~75% chance for a MD acceptance.

 

[dubem100]

I have seen that, but is it worth the chance? I'm not too confident after that last MCAT retake I should have voided. I was scoring close to 510 on my practice exams, but bombed the test on the actual date. It is too late to take the MCAT now for this cycle, so if I do retake it, it would be next year for the 2025-2026 cycle. Again, I know I have URM status, but I want to make sure I'm applying strategically for this cycle. If you really don't think it's too late to submit MD applications, I will definitely send some apps in for some of the schools you mentioned above. Thank you again for providing that list. It was super helpful!

 

[Faha]

I have seen that, but is it worth the chance? I'm not too confident after that last MCAT retake I should have voided. I was scoring close to 510 on my practice exams, but bombed the test on the actual date. It is too late to take the MCAT now for this cycle, so if I do retake it, it would be next year for the 2025-2026 cycle. Again, I know I have URM status, but I want to make sure I'm applying strategically for this cycle. If you really don't think it's too late to submit MD applications, I will definitely send some apps in for some of the schools you mentioned above. Thank you again for providing that list. It was super helpful!

It is definitely worth submitting to MD schools. There is a shortage of Black physicians and the medical needs of that community are unmet. As a URM applicant with a MCAT of 500 you should receive MD interviews.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

I agree with Faha's list. We don't know your journey to medicine, but Faha's list includes the in-state and HBCU schools that better understand the context of your journey and your mission fit. You need to know what you need to succeed in the schools you apply to, including academic, social, and professional support/mentoring that suits you. This includes the NYCOM and Touro-NY DO schools.

Regardless, if you decide to apply, you should connect with SNMA members at all the schools (MD/DO) on your list and get insights about their lives as medical students. Nationally they are involved on social media and run frequent webinars.

 

[dubem100]

Perfect. That all makes sense! I will give it a go and hope for the best. Thank you again for the help!

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Perfect. That all makes sense! I will give it a go and hope for the best. Thank you again for the help!

Great. I just posted an opportunity in the Underrepresented forum. Jump on it.