Help please! Should I apply this cycle?

[Ketterile]

I just completed my primary app but haven't submitted. I have volunteering, shadowing etc but no research. 3.97 GPA [science & cumulative] and I'm taking MCAT next week. Not disadvantaged BUT hispanic (half hispanic half white, but probs just saying Hispanic)

I'm worried that:
1) it's late in the cycle & I might be at a disadvantage, especially since I haven't taken MCAT yet.
2) When I've taken Kaplan and AAMC full lengths, I usually get around a 500, which isn't too wonderful. I took the AAMC FL 1 last week and got a 503. [127/123/126/127]. My CARS went down like crazy but I'm practicing it a lot more now and improving.

I'm supposed to take the MCAT next Thursday, should I push it (void)? I kinda feel like this might be a high GPA low MCAT situation. But I've studied for a few months and I'd definitely rather take it this year.

And should I even apply this cycle? I don't want to have to re-apply next year any input would be much appreciated!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[SLU Student]

Are you fine with D.O.? With your GPAs, if you get 500+, you'll be fine this cycle if you apply to D.O. schools. The D.O. cycle is also much longer than the M.D. cycle, so you'll be just fine timeline wise as well.

If you're gunning for M.D., you should wait a cycle and study the MCAT to maximize your chances. The AAMC FL's are extremely accurate in my opinion, and with only one more week left, you probably can't improve that much more. If you score a 503, and you're not URM, your chances aren't the best for M.D. You might get an interview if you have a state M.D. school, but who knows?

EDIT: If you do apply this cycle, I suggest submitting your primary to a throwaway school so you can get in queue to be verified. At this point, it may already take 4-6 weeks to be verified; the later in the cycle, the longer it'll take.

Good luck!

 

[Ketterile]

Are you fine with D.O.? With your GPAs, if you get 500+, you'll be fine this cycle if you apply to D.O. schools. The D.O. cycle is also much longer than the M.D. cycle, so you'll be just fine timeline wise as well.

If you're gunning for M.D., you should wait a cycle and study the MCAT to maximize your chances. The AAMC FL's are extremely accurate in my opinion, and with only one more week left, you probably can't improve that much more. If you score a 503, and you're not URM, your chances aren't the best for M.D. You might get an interview if you have a state M.D. school, but who knows?

EDIT: If you do apply this cycle, I suggest submitting your primary to a throwaway school so you can get in queue to be verified. At this point, it may already take 4-6 weeks to be verified; the later in the cycle, the longer it'll take.

Good luck!

edit: not sure if I qualify as a URM but I am hispanic / bilingual and plan on using that. I'd rather not do DO but i will if i have to, but can I do that in august once i get MCAT scores or is that too late? also, i'm half white half hispanic, would it be lying if i just put hispanic? also I'm only considered in-state for uconn which has a 511 mcat average :| but thanks for the reply! sorry i wrote so much, v clueless lol but I appreciate ya!

 

[SLU Student]

edit: not sure if I qualify as a URM but I am hispanic / bilingual and plan on using that. I'd rather not do DO but i will if i have to, but can I do that in august once i get MCAT scores or is that too late? also, i'm half white half hispanic, would it be lying if i just put hispanic? also I'm only considered in-state for uconn which has a 511 mcat average :| but thanks for the reply! sorry i wrote so much, v clueless lol but I appreciate ya!

Being able to speak Spanish fluently will definitely help your case. Which Hispanic community do you represent? Also, being half Hispanic definitely counts as being Hispanic.

August will be completely fine for D.O.! Most schools' interview cycles run from October (some as early as late July) to March (some as late as April).

Unfortunately, you don't have the best state for an in-state M.D. school advantage.

I would take AAMC FL2 before your test next week both as practice and to get another score to gauge where you are at. If you are satisfied with your practice test score, I would say go for it. You can always void the test at the end if you don't feel confident. It's also good practice.

 

[Ketterile]

Being able to speak Spanish fluently will definitely help your case. Which Hispanic community do you represent? Also, being half Hispanic definitely counts as being Hispanic.

August will be completely fine for D.O.! Most schools' interview cycles run from October (some as early as late July) to March (some as late as April).

Unfortunately, you don't have the best state for an in-state M.D. school advantage.

I would take AAMC FL2 before your test next week both as practice and to get another score to gauge where you are at. If you are satisfied with your practice test score, I would say go for it. You can always void the test at the end if you don't feel confident. It's also good practice.

Colombian! But yeah I agree, I'm gonna just submit mine with like 2 schools then. One last thing: if I submit my primary now with 2 schools on it, and I add more schools later say like 2+ weeks, will it take longer for those schools to receive my primary and send out my secondary? Not totally sure what "processing" for the AAMC means

 

[SLU Student]

Unfortunately, I don't think Colombian counts as URM. I may be wrong, though; maybe someone else can verify this.

"Processing" means that the AMCAS/AACOMAS staff are currently verifying your official transcript with the courses/grades that you typed in on your primary. This is what may take 4-6 weeks.

After this process, your primary will be considered "verified." When you add the schools you actually want to apply to, AMCAS or AACOMAS will automatically update those new schools you added with your primary.

As for secondaries, it is different for each school. Some schools send you one right when they receive your primary (with or without your MCAT score). Some others will hold your primary until it is 100% complete (with an MCAT score and LOR's). You'll have to do some research on the schools you are interested in to see what they do.

 

[Goro]

1) it's late in the cycle & I might be at a disadvantage, especially since I haven't taken MCAT yet.

It's NOT late in the cycle. And the DO cycle is longer than MD, too


2) When I've taken Kaplan and AAMC full lengths, I usually get around a 500, which isn't too wonderful. I took the AAMC FL 1 last week and got a 503. [127/123/126/127]. My CARS went down like crazy but I'm practicing it a lot more now and improving.

I'm supposed to take the MCAT next Thursday, should I push it (void)? I kinda feel like this might be a high GPA low MCAT situation. But I've studied for a few months and I'd definitely rather take it this year.

I don't think that you're ready to take the MCAT. Thus, take the exam when you're scoring better, and apply next year.


A