Help Meeeeeeeee

[Columbia22]

So heres the situation....Ivy league srudent, graduating this May, double major science/non-science...I applied back in july, was complete at most schools mid-end of october...took the August 2003 MCAT (8VR, 10, 10, S), GPA 3.4, science 3.2, good LORs and ECs, as well as PS, NY resident, applied to 25 MD schools plus 3 DO schools, and so far I have 6 rejections, 12 pre-interview holds, 1 MD interview, 3 DO interviews, and 1 DO acceptance as of yet. Now, as time is dwindling, i fear i may not get any more MD interviews (even at schools like SUNY Downstate or Drexel)...i can just settle for DO for next year, although i really dont want to...now, my question concerns reapplication....do you guys see any point of me re-applying?? Can i reapply in june? I know most schools say that you should reapply after significantly strengthening your credentials, but i dont see anything that needs much significant improvement...im not looking to get into a top 20 school...i dread taking the mcat over again and am really disinclined to do so. What do you guys suggest? What do you think explains my lack of interviews thus far?? DId i apply too late?? Did the August MCAT hurt me?? Is there any chance i may get off pre-interview holds with subsequent acceptances?? Should i just go DO?? I need help here, any advice would surely be appreciated

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[skypilot]

I think your stats are average so you gotta apply early AND get complete early, like July this time! Don't go DO unless you think you might enjoy that little something extra they offer.

Think positive, you still have a shot this year! How about some letters of interest or some phone calls to your connections at those schools where you are on hold. Pick a couple to annoy, don't annoy all of them. He he.

 

[BklynWill]

My advice is to call all the schools holding you in limbo. I called Drexel and it turned out they were ready to invite me to interview.

Why did you apply DO if it is not what you want?
Why even consider the profession if you feel you are settling for it? Allow someone else to have your spot, someone who really wants it.

 

[No Egrets]

Originally posted by Columbia22
So heres the situation....Ivy league srudent, graduating this May, double major science/non-science...I applied back in july, was complete at most schools mid-end of october...took the August 2003 MCAT (8VR, 10, 10, S), GPA 3.4, science 3.2, good LORs and ECs, as well as PS, NY resident, applied to 25 MD schools plus 3 DO schools, and so far I have 6 rejections, 12 pre-interview holds, 1 MD interview, 3 DO interviews, and 1 DO acceptance as of yet. Now, as time is dwindling, i fear i may not get any more MD interviews (even at schools like SUNY Downstate or Drexel)...i can just settle for DO for next year, although i really dont want to...now, my question concerns reapplication....do you guys see any point of me re-applying?? Can i reapply in june? I know most schools say that you should reapply after significantly strengthening your credentials, but i dont see anything that needs much significant improvement...im not looking to get into a top 20 school...i dread taking the mcat over again and am really disinclined to do so. What do you guys suggest? What do you think explains my lack of interviews thus far?? DId i apply too late?? Did the August MCAT hurt me?? Is there any chance i may get off pre-interview holds with subsequent acceptances?? Should i just go DO?? I need help here, any advice would surely be appreciated

retake the MCAT. a science major at an ivy league school (columbia, perhaps?) should be able to do better than 10's in PS and BS, and a non-science major should definitely get higher than an 8 in VS...

 

[omarsaleh66]

I would go the DO route. U can always do an allopathic residency

1 year is a long time, and u can be a very successful doc as a DO, so that shouldnt be an issue.

I am an MD school, but I would go the DO route w/o any hesitation cuz one year is not worth it; cuz w DO , the doors for whatever residency u want (most of them) is open for u.

gluck


Omar

 

[Disenchanted 1]

wow, I am sorry. I actually think your only downfall/mistake was applying fairly late. I don't see why you didn't get at least couple of MD interviews as well as acceptances. Plus, have you looked at your essay.....perhaps, that needs strengthening. Maybe some minor details of your application need to be improved. I don't see anything wrong with a DO school and actually, I myself would prefer to go to a DO school rather than wait around a year. But if your mind is set to go to an MD school (perhaps you want to get into a competetive residency in which case your chance is better at an MD school) then I would perhaps retake MCAT, see if you can bump it up to a 30 and then go over each aspect of my application, having a critical mindset and trying to note areas where I need strenghtening. Also try and see if perhaps as I mentioned before your essay needs improvement. I would not waste a year either. I would try and volunteer maybe two or three places while also taking MCAT and then apply EARLY in JUNE to all schools. I am sure if you do this you will have a great shot.

Plus, its not over yet. Dont give up hope, maybe you will get your acceptance to that 1 med school soon. Just hang in there. I wish you the best of luck!

 

[acab]

I would call the schools, send a LOI to your current top choice and see what comes out of it this year.

In addition, I personally do not see why so many people want to rush into med school. Why not take a year off? Take some grad courses, improve your GPA, travel a bit, work, get a bit of life experience.

I think your MCAT is pretty good and being from an ivy, you should be able to get into a SUNY, to say the least. If you don't get accepted this year, apply early next year, and try to review your essay and maybe if you can get stronger LORs.

 

[g3pro]

also, remember that being in an Ivy League means nothing when the adcoms consider GPA. if they see a 3.8 GPA at a state school, and a 3.4 at an Ivy League, they will take the 3.8.

the only thing you can really do is retake the MCAT and hope you get 11, 11, 11 at least to be competitive with your GPA.

 

[JayMiranti]

I am surprised that you havent had more success. I would be weary of some wierd thing in your app, like your personal statement, or a bad LOR, that is shutting doors on you.

The double tens is strong, and so is the columbia name.

In my opinion what is hurting you is the combination of the 8 in VR with the lower than normal GPA.

But still, even that said, a 28 mcat from columbia with good grades overall is pretty strong. I am surprised no invite to the schools you mentioned.

I know what you mean about DO, I myself chose to wait a year and reapply to MD schools. So go with your gut on that, its the rest of your life you are talking about compared to one year, which can be spent as you choose, which sounds pretty good to me.

I think it is totally possible that you will get more interviews in the near future from pre-interview hold. As someone profoundly posted in another thread, the way the system is set up leads to the top applicants holding lots of acceptances, making it worse for the common applicants in the short term, until they turn down the acceptances. This year with more people applying that is definitely a possibility.

stick with it, i think you have a good chance for this year, and pull out all the stops with calls and letters of interest. If no luck, dont retake the mcat, just fine tune your app and make sure you are applying to the right schools, i.e. suny buffalo, suny syracuse, I know people with 24's who got in there

 

[acab]

I just want to bring up a point made very clear to an interviewee at SUNY Downstate:

They do not want to accept people who have had a sheltered background, since that would make it very clear that Downstate is just a backup.

I haven't heard anything similar about other SUNYs. So something to keep in mind...

 

[TRUE]

Originally posted by g3pro
also, remember that being in an Ivy League means nothing when the adcoms consider GPA. if they see a 3.8 GPA at a state school, and a 3.4 at an Ivy League, they will take the 3.8.

the only thing you can really do is retake the MCAT and hope you get 11, 11, 11 at least to be competitive with your GPA.

from the adcom's i've talked to, that is completely not true. They know that classes are considerably tougher at better schools and the competition is often not the same and they consider this accordingly. According to a former UM adcom member, a 3.4 from an ivy is about a 3.7 from UF. That's how they see it.

As for the question at hand, I would consider retaking the MCAT. Like you said, if you need to show significant improvement, that's the one area you can hopefully rock and that'll improve your chances. That, combined with an early application could do you a lot of good.

 

[Bones2008]

Originally posted by JayMiranti
a 28 mcat from columbia with good grades overall is pretty strong.

Though it pains me to say it, I have to disagree with this. I do, however, totally agree with other posts that it may be worth your while to retake your MCAT, since it is one of things you can change at this point. Your GPA (in particular the science 3.2) is probably working against you here. By improving your MCAT and maybe getting some stronger LOR's you can make your chances better for the next cycle. Good luck on everything.

 

[Rendar5]

Unless you have a good reason for wanting to avoid osteopathic medicine (you don't like their philosophy, you want to specialize in something competitive and want every advantage you can get, etc.), just go to the DO school.

 

[jlee9531]

since you are from columbia and it is tough over there that can explain your gpa issues, which it really isnt a big issue since i have the same gpa from berkeley and it hasnt slowed me down too much and i think they give you the benefit of the doubt.

the thing about it is...if you go to a good school like that you gotta know that the adcoms are assuming you will score well on the mcat, but honestly you didnt do as well as other the other students from your school. that supbar score actually might eliminate any "benefit of the doubt" they were gonna give you because your low gpa is supported by your relatively low mcat.

is your PS decent? maybe you have just whatever LORs. But you do have 1 MD interview. with the possibly of hearing from the other 12 schools that have not responded to you. dont give up just yet...

however i do have to agree...if you didnt want to go DO, why did you apply? you should never do that. but if the only schools you do get accepted to are DO schools then go there, do well and go into the residency of your choice. (that is if you dont feel like taking the time to improve your app. tho it would be somewhat lame to say you took the entire year off and did nothing but study for the mcat.)

 

[el piel]

Hang in there! Interview season's not over yet. I applied last year, and just when I thought I should throw hope out the window, I got a couple of late MD interviews (MCW and Drexel, late April, early May) and ended up with acceptances to both. BTW, I had an August MCAT and a really late application, too.

 

[DCGIRL]

Do me a favor don't go to DO school if you don't wanted to. Because they are plenty of people who don't just settle fo a DO school but actually want to go and are happy to be a DO

 

[Adapt]

My advice is go to the DO school. If you are looking out for your best interests, there is no guarantee that if you reapply again to only MD schools you will get in. Also, if you were to reapply to DO again as well they will wonder why you didn't take the DO acceptance the first time and this will look bad.

Look at it this way.

OPTION 1: Go to the DO school, take the USMLE, do well in both school and the boards, and get into the residency of your choice(unless you want to go into something really competitive like derm). The only problem you will have is maybe you will have to explain to some patients what a DO is. The old-school MDs who may be prejudiced against DOs won't tell you their prejudices to your face, so really you won't be discriminated against. Basically, you will be a successful physician.

OPTION 2: Turn down the DO acceptance and reapply to MD schools. Reapplying to DO schools will look bad since you turned a DO acceptance down so you're putting your eggs in one basket. There still is no guarantee you will get into an MD school with a 28 MCAT, and in fact without much improvement to your application, why would they reconsider you. If by some chance you do get in you will be a year behind your goal of becoming a physician, with the added quality of prestige that comes out of the MD name.

Logically looking at this, you are taking a big gamble just for the prestige factor. You have to ask yourself, is it really worth it?

 

[omarsaleh66]

guys stop scaring the OP by acting like if u go DO then all u can do is family practice in Arkansas...

I know some DOs that got opthamology which is pretty competitive. And most patients dont care if there doctor is MD or DO. Not going the DO route is a waste of a year, and a risk.

U can be really successful as a DO, u just gotta work ur ass off. Medical school is a long road, addign a year to that would just suck.

 

[idq1i]

Originally posted by JayMiranti
[B. If no luck, dont retake the mcat, [/B]

The OP should realy consider re-taking the MCAT. The 8 in verbal is not a competitive score for a non-URM, especially for an Ivy graduate. The 10's aren't stellar, either

As for DO/MD, I'd do some soul-searching to see if you want to spend the rest of your career explaining to those less informed the significance of the "DO" after your name. Having a DO will also place you at a disadvantage should you decide to go for a very competitive residency.

(Please, don't turn this into a DO?MD bashfest. I was simply posting my opinion on the matter)

 

[gary5]

Hi,

Take an extra year...

#1) Take a prep course and get your MCAT above 30. Shoot for 33. Take the April test.

#2) Get a research job, full-time or at least 20 hrs/week. Be enthusiastic. Get more LORs.

#3) Apply again next year, submitting everything absolutely as early as possible.

#4) Forget the DO schools, since you're obviously not interested. (Apply at them, but only as backups.)

Good luck!

 

[jlee9531]

Originally posted by gary5

#4) Forget the DO schools, since you're obviously not interested. (Apply at them, but only as backups.)

Good luck!

so that he can think about not going again and taking another year?

if you are gonna retake and give up the DO acceptance, dont even bother applying to DO next year.

 

[zepplinfan]

Take the MCAT again........try and hit the 30 mark. There is a big difference between 28 and 30.

Also, if you reapply, take into consideration that it will be TWO years till you actually step foot into a medical school class. Not 1 year. If you decide to reapply, make some plan for these two years and figure out what you want to do. Don't just sit there and worry about Med School. The adcoms are gonna wanna see that you did something that YOU thought was worthwhile. Have something else to respond other than you studied for the MCAT for 8 months or something. The 28 to 30 jump isn't too difficult if all that's hurting you is verbal. Practice the verbal and improve it. Use EK if you really want it to improve. Above all, have fun.......do stuff you want to do: go do a grad program, volunteer, research (somewhere in the US or abroad), travel, learn a new language (a little outrageous I realize)........but most of all just have something to write down with confidence.

Good Luck with everything.
~ Zep

 

[ixitixl]

Originally posted by No Egrets
retake the MCAT. a science major at an ivy league school (columbia, perhaps?) should be able to do better than 10's in PS and BS, and a non-science major should definitely get higher than an 8 in VS...

Definitely retake the MCATs. That's the only obvious factor holding you back.

 

[Adapt]

Originally posted by ixitixl
Definitely retake the MCATs. That's the only obvious factor holding you back.

Yes everyone advises you to retake the MCAT as if it is as easy as that. Do you really want to waste your life away again studying for that monster. I know I wouldn't. As I said before, is going through all that work to take the MCAT for hopefully a better score and then hopefully for an MD acceptance worth it. Personally, I don't think it is. Certainly more so since I will attend my in state DO school over the out of state MD schools I got into if I don't get into an in state MD school.

I believe that if you shadowed a DO or had experiences with them you would take your DO acceptance as a gift. The so called stigma that they have is overstated particularly by MD students who have had no experience with DOs.

 

[prmd4555]

you need that something extra, like really cool volunteer experience or something. Your stats are okay but average they won't make you stand out. Have you tried a prep course?

 

[Doc Ivy]

If you will be continually haunted by the DO vs. MD thing then spend a couple more years jumping through all the hoops to craft the "perfect" application.

However, I suspect that what you want is a MEDICAL degree, and a DO does the trick quite nicely. I'm no expert, but it really seems that the curricula are so similar between MD and DO (barring the osteopathic manipulation), the core rotations, and the possibility to do allopathic residencies and fellowships after graduation, that it doesn't seem worth it to put your self esteem through the MD applicaton cycle again....

Just make sure you kick ass on rotations and boards, try and do research if you can and it interests you, do some away electives and you'll be able to do what you've always wanted to do: BE A DOCTOR!

~doc