How many DO schools should I apply to, and which ones? 509 MCAT, 3.92cGPA, 3.87sGPA

[Ray_of_Sunshine_MD]

• Year in school: graduated with 1 gap year
• Country/state of residence: FL
• Race and gender: white female
• Schools to which you are applying: applying to low tier MD and state schools. Have applied to 29 MD so far. For DO here is my current list (haven't submitted AACOMAS yet because I'm waiting on my transcript). I am thinking of applying to 4-5 DO, but please let me know if I should add more with my stats.
  • NOVA
  • LECOM (Bradenton)
  • PCOM
    • I'm currently shadowing a DO, and I hope she will write me a letter, but I am not counting on it.
• Cumulative GPA: 3.92
• Science GPA: 3.87
• MCAT Scores: 508 (125/126/129/128) to 509 (128/125/128/128) I am really disappointed that I increased by only a point. Will this be a huge red flag?
• Research – include any abstracts/posters/publications and how you were credited (eg. First author, senior author, etc): 1 published paper in Journal of Drugs in Dermatology and also participated in an ALS patient database
• Volunteering (clinical) – include hours/sites: 200 hours with MDA (2 months), Israel's version of Red Cross, 51 hours (4 months) as a hospice volunteer (which I plan on continuing during my application year)
• Physician shadowing – include hours/specialties: 70 hours in dermatology (5 months), 25 hours in pediatrics (2 months), 3 hours in internal medicine (1 day), and 20 hours in plastic surgery (2 months). I am starting to shadow a DO as well this summer, as I have a feeling I will need to apply to DO as well.
• Non-clinical volunteering: 110 hours as a standardized patient (almost 2 years), 160 hours as a volunteer notetaker (almost 2 years), 50 hours at a local community center (3 months), 6 hours (1 day) with Habitat for Humanity (plan on doing more projects), 8 hours (2 months) as a reading mentor for young children,
• Extracurricular activities: Zumba, kayaking, baking, drawing.
• Employment history: 50 hours (3 months) as a college level tutor (I was a dual enrolled student so most of the people I tutored were older than me, which I felt was a learning experience for me as well)
• Please include time span and weekly commitment for volunteering/research/shadowing/extracurriculars.:
• Immediate family members in medicine? (y/n): nope, my mom almost became a PA but got leukemia in the middle of her degree so she had to quit.
• Specialty of interest: I don't want to set my sights on anything because I feel like that will affect my ability to learn about other things. I am interested in the areas I've shadowed in, but I know I have a lot more to learn.
• Graduate degrees: N/A
• Interest in rural health (y/n): not really

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[DrStephenStrange]

With your GPA and MCAT I'd apply to KCU, PCOM-PA, DMU, TCOM, OUCOM, OSU, MUCOM, CUSOM, Touro-CA, NYIT-NY, and RVU-CO. I'd also say MSU and CCOM, but tuition would be outrageous, so I don't think it's worth it. Also make a good list of at least 20 MD schools for which your GPA and MCAT falls within at least the 10th percentile of their matriculated students based on the MSAR.
Edit: also include your state MD school(s).

 

[Ray_of_Sunshine_MD]

With your GPA and MCAT I'd apply to KCU, PCOM-PA, DMU, TCOM, OUCOM, OSU, MUCOM, CUSOM, Touro-CA, NYIT-NY, and RVU-CO. I'd also say MSU and CCOM, but tuition would be outrageous, so I don't think it's worth it. Also make a good list of at least 20 MD schools for which your GPA and MCAT falls within at least the 10th percentile of their matriculated students based on the MSAR.
Edit: also include your state MD school(s).

Thank you for the list! I already applied to 28 MD schools (including my state schools in FL), so I was thinking of only applying to 4-5 DO. Someone told me to do 6, but I already spent a lot of money on the MD... Should I do at least 6?

 

[DrStephenStrange]

Thank you for the list! I already applied to 28 MD schools (including my state schools in FL), so I was thinking of only applying to 4-5 DO. Someone told me to do 6, but I already spent a lot of money on the MD... Should I do at least 6?

Yea, I think you should do at least 6. If you want, you can remove TCOM, OUCOM, and OSU as they are state schools that accept very little out of state applicants, but I was willing to bet you'd have a chance at matriculating in at least one of them. State schools are the best DO schools along with the other ones I suggested. Go ahead and apply to 6 then, you should get plenty of interviews.

 

[Osminog]

With your stats, 5 DO schools should be more than enough.

If geography is a top priority: Nova, LECOM-Bradenton, PCOM-GA, ACOM, VCOM-Carolinas

Otherwise, apply to the best programs that don't have major geographic/residence bias: PCOM-PA, KCU, DMU, NYIT-OW, Western

 

[Allosteopath]

With your stats, 5 DO schools should be more than enough.

Not an expert, but with those stats, I'd be inclined to agree.

 

[tradingdavid]

PCOM- GA's facebook class this time has a bunch of FL people. I think both pcom's have a slight regional bias

 

[Ray_of_Sunshine_MD]

PCOM- GA's facebook class this time has a bunch of FL people. I think both pcom's have a slight regional bias

I was wondering if there is a difference in ranking between PCOM-PA and PCOM-GA? Or are they considered the same? I'm sorry if this is a stupid question.

 

[DO2015CA]

ACOM definitely likes FL students. One thing though, the Dean retired and the clinical dean left. This could be good if they replaced them with better replacements. But the unknown is scary. You can always ask 2nd year students on campus during your interview. They’d be the only ones that would have experience with the old deans.

 

[DrStephenStrange]

I was wondering if there is a difference in ranking between PCOM-PA and PCOM-GA? Or are they considered the same? I'm sorry if this is a stupid question.

PCOM-PA definitely better than PCOM-GA look at their match lists.

 

[Goro]

With your stats, 5 DO schools should be more than enough.

If geography is a top priority: Nova, LECOM-Bradenton, PCOM-GA, ACOM, VCOM-Carolinas

Otherwise, apply to the best programs that don't have major geographic/residence bias: PCOM-PA, KCU, DMU, NYIT-OW, Western

I'd recommend six, myself, but can't recommend Nova.

Trey
CCOM
PCOM
DMU
NYITCOM
KCU
Western or Touro-CA

 

[PapaGuava]

Thread moved to the WAMC subsection.