Hi,
From what I understand about your situation, you've settled in for the osteopathic route for you academic situation and I believe that is realistic/practical that you are considering the SMP direction. Keep in mind that I am also applying to SMPs this year and are awaiting decisions myself but from the information that I have read and that has been provided for me, these programs ARE more lenient towards understanding past academic deficienies but you must have other facets in your application that stand out strong for them to consider admission.
SMPs are specialized masters programs intrinsic on "boosting credentials" of potential applicants to healthcare graduate programs, namely medical or dental school. The screening process whether to admit a student is often based on whether they think that after successful completion of such SMP program if they would be a strong candidate to enter and excel in their endeavors. Your MCAT is actually competitive for D.O application, your grades as often is the case with alot of applicants for SMPs are suspect. If I were to judge (could be totally off base), it would depend strongly on your LOR, your CV and your personal statement. Do you have "evidence" in what you have done to suggest that medicine is the right fit for you and just as important, do you have people with credentials and the ability to judge (physicians, professors, etc) that are willing to offer their support in validating you are suitable to pursue medicine.
Remember SMPs are often viewed as a second chance given, but you need to stand out in why you deserve to be given a second chance over the other candidates given that all of you have had a troubled academic record or have a serious deficiency. At the end of the day, it might fall into how much you can convince them. LECOM's post bacc has been around for a while, i have a friend in there currently and it's around 60 some students. 1 year program, many medical school level classes, guaranteed interview at the end, unofficially i hear it's 3.0 gpa average and 22 min mcat is a strong indicator that LECOM itself will offer you acceptance (this may not be true, it's just what I hear from students in the program). PCOM, a "more reputable" program? Whatever that means, I've heard stories of students finishing it and proceeding to both MD and DO programs. I don't know the avg applicant's standards but I assume everything applies.
It's more of what's right for you when you view their curriculum and what each of them offers. ie. PCOM GA focuses heavily on rural medicine, a more suburban environment compared to the PA campus. Long story short (sorry for writing this much, my own thoughts going through my head), look at your resume, look at your transcript, is there anything that you think is a strong point in your mind that an admissions committee would see and convince them that that makes you stand out compared to others? If not, I'd wait a while and boost your E.C. and take some upper div sci courses like neuroscience or toxicology to show that you can not only handle the heavier courseload but have experience to show you truly want to do medicine. my 2 cents.
