Help with final school list

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mouster

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Hey guys, I just wanted to double-check my school list to make sure it looks decent. Should I apply to more? Less? I'm only applying DO if that matters.

Stats
26, F, CO resident
MCAT: 31 (2011, so expired), just got back 4/23/16 score of 516 (127/131/128/130)
cGPA ~3.5, sGPA ~3.4ish (from my best calculations, including grad GPA),
undergrad science GPA ~3.2, Master's GPA ~3.8 (all upper level science classes)

ECs
  • volunteer student tour guide (~400 hours)
  • sorority (had a few leadership positions here and there)
  • played an interesting club sport (1 year)
  • raised money for domestic violence by participating in activism show
  • member of several different clubs
  • currently volunteer at animal shelter nearby (~80 hours at time of app, been volunteering there for almost a year and will continue until I matriculate)
Also held a bunch of odd jobs throughout college/beyond doing retail/sales/other, usually worked about ~30 hours a week from sophomore year on.

Research
Did research at a large hospital near my Master's program for a year, no significant findings but able to discuss it well. Presented paper at poster presentation. Lead investigator of individual research project during Master's as well (organized all studies, wrote 95% of paper, etc)

Clinical Experience
  • About ~150 hours of shadowing at time of application, but I'm going to continue to shadow throughout the applications process (IM, pediatrics mainly, some FP but it was with my father)
  • 2000+ hours of working in a nonprofit clinic...I'm a bilingual medical assistant, so I do translating, intakes, blood draws, assist with procedures, answering phones...kind of a catchall, but tons of patient contact.
  • 1000+ hours as caregiver for patients with Alzheimer's disease
LORS
1 from genetics professor, one from evolutionary bio professor, one from DO that I shadow, one from physiology professor, one from my boss at the clinic, one from clinical director of clinic (pending, all the others are in, I may submit without this one)

I have a couple of gaps in education on my transcripts, including time that I spent being the primary caregiver for a dying relative, and then I took another break to save money after graduate school (I wanted to make sure I had a solid financial base before applying).

For schools, I'm thinking:
LMU-DCOM
AZCOM
ATSU-SOMA and ATSU-KCOM
CUSOM
DMU
KCU-COM
LECOM
MU-COM
PCOM-GA
RVU
KYCOM
BCOM

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Your application looks very solid! You're fine for any DO school.

I would add PCOM & CCOM to the list and maybe Touro CA/NY. They tend to favor high MCAT applicants.

You might want to consider applying MD as well
 
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I thought I was too late to apply MD? Also I don't have an MD letter....would it look bad to apply with a DO letter only?
 
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No MD schools don't usually care about physician letters. How can you be too late if apps haven't even been sent out yet? Apply to your state MD and some of the other lower tier ones, you might just get a nibble. I think with that MCAT you are good for any DO school.
 
I thought I was too late to apply MD? Also I don't have an MD letter....would it look bad to apply with a DO letter only?
You should apply to University of Colorado's MD program. Both your MCAT score and graduate GPA fall within their range, and they give a preference to Colorado residents. As an FYI, last year, they received around 7,100 applications and admitted around 300 folks, but since you are an in-state applicant, I bet you get an interview. After that, your chance at admission is like a coin flip. In state tuition at $37K is less expensive than what most DO programs charge.
 
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