How important is the timing of applying to MD/DO programs?

[aatokos]

I graduated in May with my bachelors in biology and I am studying this summer for the MCAT and I will be taking it at the end of August... so I will be receiving my score by the end of September. But I still have a couple of pre-requisites courses I have not taken yet and I am registered for those courses at a community college near me. I am also concerned about that having a negative impact on my application. Another semester at a 4 year university is something I could not afford and that is what made me decide on taking the CC route.

But with all that being said it seems to make sense to wait until the end of the fall semester when I receive my grades in December to apply, since I am certain I will receive As in the courses I am taking and that would help bring my GPA to a solid 3.5.

But a 3.5 gpa is still not a super competitive gpa and I am concerned that the combination of a average gpa and a late application is not a recipe for success.

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[AnMDtoB]

Definitely wait until next cycle then - applying in December is wayy too late for MD and ( I believe) DO too

 

[Goro]

I graduated in May with my bachelors in biology and I am studying this summer for the MCAT and I will be taking it at the end of August... so I will be receiving my score by the end of September. But I still have a couple of pre-requisites courses I have not taken yet and I am registered for those courses at a community college near me. I am also concerned about that having a negative impact on my application. Another semester at a 4 year university is something I could not afford and that is what made me decide on taking the CC route.

But with all that being said it seems to make sense to wait until the end of the fall semester when I receive my grades in December to apply, since I am certain I will receive As in the courses I am taking and that would help bring my GPA to a solid 3.5.

But a 3.5 gpa is still not a super competitive gpa and I am concerned that the combination of a average gpa and a late application is not a recipe for success.

You should apply when you have the best possible app, even if it means skipping an app cycle.

Med schools aren't going anywhere.

 

[aatokos]

How, and more importantly, why are you taking the MCAT before you have taken the prereqs?
Timing is vitally important; you need to be applying EARLY as in JUNE

Technically the only prereq I haven't taken is physics II, which considering it's not extremly high yield and I've never minded physics courses I decided to teach myself the necessities of the course to be efficient on the MCAT. The other prereq I am taking in the fall is gen chem 1, which technically I took but because I took it as intro to biochem (covered basically the same things as a gen chem 1) I do not want to run into any issues down the line when I begin applying so I figured to just take the course. I've taken all other chems (gen chem II, org chem I & II) and did fine. So I figured minds well not put off the test another semester for just one class.

But yes the more I research on when to apply in the cycle it looks like my best bet is to just wait until the following cycle begins.

 

[907914]

intro to biochem (covered basically the same things as a gen chem 1)

Silly question here as I am sure you know your curriculum better than I would...but how exactly does intro to Biochem cover the same material as gen chem 1...? In my experience, those are two wildly different courses.

 

[Moko]

Finish your pre-reqs, then take the MCAT, and prep your application to be ready next summer for the 2020-2021 cycle.

Your chances of getting in applying in December is virtually zero, especially with a 3.5 GPA.

 

[Jungkookie]

Do not apply too late, just apply next cycle when you have everything in order and more prepared - this way you won't stress about what's missing and if you have a chance

 

[aatokos]

Silly question here as I am sure you know your curriculum better than I would...but how exactly does intro to Biochem cover the same material as gen chem 1...? In my experience, those are two wildly different courses.

Quite honestly I wouldn't expect them to be similar either but I took it at one school then transferred and when I was meeting with my adviser to see which credits would transfer I brought in the syllabus from the intro biochem course and it matched pretty well to the gen chem I course. It was a few years back but from what I remember it was mainly just introducing us to chemistry foundations with a little bit more biochem stuff added to it. It was a 100 level course, so like most 100 level courses it spent a majority of the time introducing concepts. But I decided to take gen chem I because although the college I went to was accepting of that other course... not sure if medical schools will be... and I do not want to get held back even longer over a prereq technicality.