It's that time again...

[dinos go moo]

Just wondering what ya'll thought about my chances on getting into DO school...

cGPA: 3.24
sGPA: 3.25

MCAT 1: 21 (8P, 6VR, 7B)
MCAT 2: 24 (8P, 8VR, 8B)

Have shadowed an MD and a DO (letters of rec from both)
Volunteer for the Red Cross and in an ER
Was on varsity Crew freshman year of college
Made the Deans list
Have been working as a certified nursing assistant for 2 years now
WI resident

Any thoughts are appreciated!

Thanks a bunches!

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[aSagacious]

Your clinical experience looks fine, but the rest of your ECs are pretty weak. Have you done any research, non-medical volunteering, teaching/tutoring, etc?

Your GPA and MCAT will be on the lower side for most DO schools, but still generally in the competitive range.

 

[Catalystik]

I think the Red Cross volunteering coukld be considered nonmedical volunteering, since it doesn't usually primarily entail contact with sick people. The sport and clinical experience look good. Do you have plans for research, teaching, or leadership?

Numbers-wise, I could be more reassuring if you had a recent steep upward grade trend with all the poor grades in the freshman year. You might consider taking advantage of the AACOMAS grade forgiveness policy where only the most recent class counts if you retake (provided the credit hours are the same or greater).

What year of college are you in now? Is another year of GPA repair possible?

 

[cliffhuxtableDO]

To be honest, your application looks a little thin. Unless you have a steep upward trend, I agree with Cat that some retakes to quickly boost your gpa would be a good idea. Improving your MCAT is the quickest way to improve your app, if you can stand to sit for it again. How many hours over how long of a period have you logged at the Red Cross and the ER?

 

[dinos go moo]

Unfortunately no I don't have any research or teaching experience. I have logged about 150 hours for volunteering and continue to volunteer. I am in my 6th year and will be graduating this May. I was planning on taking the MCAT again sometime in July or August to get a few months of hardcore studying in. I have taken advantage of the retakes for 3 classes (one of those classes is this semester). I do have an upward trend as far as GPA goes. I was an art major for 2.5 years so there was a lot of back tracking. I will be 24 on May 4th and would really like to get my life moving forward. My plan is to apply this cycle with my current, but to continue improving my application so that I would be prepared if I don't get accepted for the next cycle.

Thank you for the responses.

 

[Catalystik]

One nice thing about AACOMAS is that you can update new grades earned through AACOMAS rather than individually by letter to each med school.

Any improvements or additions to ECs can be sent in by letter (where permitted).

My plan is to apply this cycle with my current, but to continue improving my application so that I would be prepared if I don't get accepted for the next cycle.

This is a good plan no matter how good one's application might be.