info about umdnj-som and my stats for school

[DOdan]

Hey guys,


i'm new to sdn. i was wondering if there is anyone out there that knows anything more about umdnj-som other than the info provided in www.aacom.org's site. i have a great interest in family medicine or internal medicine. i've heard a lot of great things about the school and academics. but i want to find out more about it. also, what do you guys think about my stats? i've applied to 3 schools: pcom, nycom & umdnj. i'm a jersey state resident and would like to go to umdnj. i just finished my 1 year post-bac in the biomed sciences at pcom this past year.

undergrad GPA in pharmacy 00'- 2.5-2.6
post-bac at pcom '02-'03- GPA 3.04
taking aug 03 MCATs

worked as pharmacist for the past 2 and 1/2 years at a hospital (in philadelphia) in the cardiac icu.

shadowed a DO in North philly at one of PCOM's affiliate clinical site.

have adequate community service through my church working within w. philly.

i applied early. all of my secondaries were out by beginning of july.

so what do you guys think??

thanks for your input.

DOdan

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[staurry]

Im in the same boat as you in that my stats aren't great. im still applying rightnow. i think your experiences are extensive and that is good. i think it depends on your mcats because most schools wont even loook at you until your file is complete with your mcat scores. so good luck on your mcats!!!! i may retake them ...im still not sure...

 

[DOdan]

thanks staurry for the advice. what is your situation. if that's too personal of a question, feel free to send me private message

 

[Notorious D.O.C.]

DOdan,
For UMDNJ-SOM, your GPA is just too low. The average for my class was about a 3.5. With your GPA you need to rock the MCAT with at least a 30.

Not sure about PCOM. NYCOM is a lot less competitive than UMDNJ.

Good luck

 

[NDESTRUKT]

encouragement is divine...yet honesty is even more beneficial =)

i kind of agree...i'm not an expert on this stuff by any means but it seems as if the GPA is kind of low - but then again you do have a pharmD...but still, i can't really say much

 

[DOdan]

hey guys,

thanks for the input. i guess this puts a lot of pressure on me to do well on the mcats. we'll see. i'm confident that i will be able to get in somewhere. truth hurts and its discouraging but i'm doing my best and that's all that matters

 

[smedly2]

Notorious, What class sre you in?


DOdan, I sent a pm.

 

[Naraku]

Honesty:

Yes, your numbers are low. You knew that already. It's unfortunate, but you have to work with what you have.

Hope:

Don't give up just yet. First of all, you still have time to rock the MCAT. Community service is a plus. Strong interest in family or medicine is a definite plus at SOM. A pharmacy degree and work experience is a strong plus- lots of my classmates have experience in the health fields. The administration seems to like it, so play it up.

Also, while you'll almost certainly be under the mean as regards your numbers... so is 50% of every class. (That's why the median GPA- which I, of course, do not know, is more useful.) The average is probably around 3.5 or so, but I know of people who were significantly under that. I also know of people with MCATs significantly lower than 26 or 27. Some people combine them. Somehow, they were able to impress the adcom, and as far as I can tell, they're all doing quite well now.

It won't be easy, and it's definitely not certain, but it is possible. However, I would recommend applying to more schools if at all feasible. If you're certain that you want this, don't give up... but make sure to keep working on your profile.

Feel free to e-mail me with any questions.

Bests,
Paige

 

[njdesi]

I applied to a total of 10 DO schools (LECOM, PCOM, NYCOM, UNE, UMDNJ, KCOM, AZCOM, Touro, CCOM, UHS, DMU) this year and got interviews almost everywhere including the most prestigious ones - KCOM and PCOM. UMDNJSOM put me on hold for an interview until May and sent me a rejection end of May. Until this day I have no idea why they sent me a rejection so late in the game. If I was such a bad candidate then I dont see why they put me on hold for sooo long. They obviously were considering me for atleast an interview somewhere in the game, or else I would have gotten an outright rejection.

I found UMDNJSOM to be far more numbers oriented than other DO schools of the same calibre (KCOM and PCOM). The fact that they only have 90 open seats and are state affiliated has made them a little cocky for their own good, I believe. In spite of the fact that I had a 3.36 undergrad from Rutgers, 3.2 postbaac, 3.8 Masters in Public Health from the same system (UMDNJ) and 3 years of work experience in public health. My MCAT was a 25
( 9B, 8PS, 8V). I think they are really truly trying to make their admissions on par with allopathic schools (esp with the 2 UMDNJ MD programs).

I am happy with my choice to attend PCOM this August. Good luck!

 

[ScienceMind]

Hey DoDan,

This is Donnell. We were in the PCOM program together. All I have to say is don't worry about what all these people are saying about numbers and such. Just do as well on the MCAT as you possibly can and when you get an interview do well. I know that my undergrad GPA was not the best but I did do well at PCOM. My MCATs were average, but I was well rounded. I did get an acceptance from UMDNJ so hopefully you will too. By the way, turn in your secondaries as soon as possible (a week at the most). This will show them that you really are serious about their school. Don't rule out PCOM either. You did well enough so you should get an acceptance as long as the interview goes well. I know from people that did the program that were not accepted that it was the verbal score that killed them so atleast try for 8's across the board. If you do that then you should expect an acceptance from one of those schools. Oh yeah, NOVA likes to accept PCOM students as well.

Good luck,
Donnell

 

[aspires]

I'm really interested in applying to this school. I'm a little unsure of how gpa is calculated in terms of grade replacement or averaging the two?