In need of guidance

[negrita6996]

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Hello everyone, I have been following SDN for a while now and have not posted much over the years. During the first couple of years in college I did extremely well. In my third year I got sick and was diagnosed with double vision, and instead of taking a leave continued to take classes while I received treatment. Through it all my GPA dropped. I have over seven years of health care experience, will be presenting a research poster (2nd author) at the ASM this week, volunteered at non profits for many years, and over one year of tutoring and mentoring students. I have recently been accepted to a masters program in Medical Microbiology. I applied to the Masters program because I thought it would open more options for me as far as Medical schools, and provide more research experience for me which I do enjoy. My GPA and age lead me to believe that I would never have a chance as MD-PhD. I am scheduled to take the MCAT on the 30th, but I don't know if I should apply this year, or wait? Part of me does not want to wait another year to apply, but I want to increase my chances. I don't mind doing DO, but I also want to keep my options open. Any advice would be appreciated.

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[mirimonster]

It's hard to say anything about your chances without your GPA, and even harder to say anything about MD/PhD without an MCAT. What is the advantage to waiting a year? If you take the MCAT on the 30th, you can still apply day 1, get verified without your MCAT, and your scores will be ready only a few days after AMCAS transfers info to schools. If you're worried, only apply to one school to get the verification rolling, and then add more schools tailored to the MCAT score you receive.

Your experiences are well above average, so it really depends on how low your GPA dropped and how well you do on the MCAT. Unless you have plans to increase your GPA, I see no advantage to waiting a year.

 

[negrita6996]

3.4 cgpa 3.6sgpa last mcat was 8/7/8. I know that I may be able to apply to DO programs, but I also plan on applying to MD. I am applying this cycle as you said, but I was hoping the masters would help show that I can succeed in graduate level work.

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