I need some input!

[dtrain5]

I am currently a senior at Colorado State University, and I am getting a degree in Health and Exercise Science with a concentration in Sports Medicine. I am applying to a special year long plan B master's program in anatomy and I am fairly confident I will get in. If I choose to pursue that degree, I think that I have an assistantship set up throught the university health center. It will pay my tuition and I will also recieve a monthly stipend. My duties would include designing health education programs for undergraduates. My GPA right now is about a 3.48, with a science GPA of around a 3.4.
I have also applied for an instrument technician job at an orthopedic center, and chances are that I will be offered that job as well. I have volunteer experience, and last summer I worked in a outpatient rehab clinic as a therapy aide. I am taking the Kaplan class room prep, and am scheduled to take the MCAT for the first time on April 22 (I have been scoring around a 25 on the practice tests thus far). I have yet to shadow an osteopathic physician.
My question is, what will make me the most competitive for Osteopathic school? Should I enter the master's program, or should I take the job at the orthopedic center (assuming I am offered the job)? The one school that I am really considering is KCUMB, although I am sure that I will apply to several more. I plan on submitting my application to aacom, as soon as I receive my scores from the April MCAT. Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

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[HunterGatherer]

The most important thing is scoring well on the MCAT. Work on your weaknesses(usually not fun) in the remaining days and you may see a bump on the real deal.

I think either one is fine. Your GPA is good so the Master's program is not necessary unless this is something that truly interests you. Once you start the Master's program you will have to finish it. It will provide a unique experience to talk about in interviews/secondaries if you can tie it in to your interests in med school/academics.

not sure if you will get a lot of patient contact or what your team will look like in the work place but you already have clinical experience.

You can't lose with either choice just be sure this will keep your interests for the next year.

Good luck on the MCAT and get that DO letter now since it looks like you will be very busy after graduating.

 

[scpod]

My question is, what will make me the most competitive for Osteopathic school? Should I enter the master's program, or should I take the job at the orthopedic center (assuming I am offered the job)? Thanks.

What HunterG said is dead on the money. The best thing you can do for yourself right now is really rock the MCAT. If you don't do that in April, then do it again in August.

There are a whole list of things that you need to consider while you finish your prereqs for med school, and it never ceases to amaze me how many people wait until the last minute and complain that they can't get it done now. For one thing, you need to make sure that you have professors that will send out good LORs. If you haven't already established a relationship with a couple of professors that can really nail an LOR for you, then do the Masters and work on that. It's so hard for me to believe, sometimes, that people who are applying to medical school fail to establish these relationships with their professors early on. It's actually a big part of the process that you need to consider from the beginning.

Don't forget about that DO letter too. No, not every school requires one, and it might actually be hard to find a DO in your area who will write you a letter...BUT, that's a big part of the process too. When you are planning your schedule for your sophomore year, you should be already working on this. If you haven't done it yet, then you need to start tomorrow. Yesterday would have been better. And while all schools don't require it, it at least shows that you made the effort and is a bonus in your favor.

Remember, you can't do much about your undergrad GPA right now, and I'm not sure how much you could really do for your MCAT score between now and test time, but those two things automatically disqualify more people than anything else. If you can get those within an acceptable range, and you have the DO letter and good LORs, then you can probably get the interview. I know that there has been some amount of controversy about how important the interview is. A lot of people have said, "I did great at the interview, but still didn't get in, so the interview must not be important." Don't believe that! Everyone who is invited to an interview has a chance of getting into med school. They wouldn't invite you if they weren't OK with having you as a student.

Yes, med schools are "numbers ******" and they are more likely to take the applicants with better scores, but just remember this: If you don't get an interview, you will not get in. Concentrate on that first. Then, take a good long time prepping for the interview. Just because you had a great time laughing with your interviewers, telling jokes and stories, etc. doesn't mean you had a good interview. In past jobs I've had a wonderful time during interviews with some people, and have even been tempted to ask them if they wanted to go out for a beer later since we had such a great time, but I never would have hired them; they were not what I was looking for as an employee. I guess that what I am trying to say is that you need to make sure that you have all the little extras taken care of in order to get the interview. Focus on that first. After you get the interview, sell yourself. Good Luck!