Late Application or wait a year?

if you are scoring well on the practice exams then you'd probably get in somewhere, but with those stats (assuming good mcat score to get in somewhere late), i'd probably just wait a year. i think edlongshanks got in pretty late in the cycle (like november) into a DO with a very high gpa and 33 mcat.

but if you are thinking of really destroying the mcat, then why not wait and do it, then apply?

 

lol?

your stats are great! i was saying that i would just wait and kill the mcat to cement your app. but if you're in a hurry, then you can prob make it somewhere (and i listed someone who made it in somewhere with also a high gpa). good luck!

 

Not to push DO, just to quash bad rumors, DOs can work outside the US and participate in aid orgs such as Doctors without Borders and Mercy Corps. Getting licensed to work in a country where you didn't train is difficult no matter the degree.

You have such a killer GPA it would be a shame to apply so late this year. With an app that's complete in mid-October, you might get in somewhere. With an app (with your stats) that's complete on June 1 2012, you could get in anywhere. Also that would take the pressure off and you would be able to skip September if you need more prep time. Don't take the test until you've beaten your goal on multiple practice tests.

Best of luck to you.

 

Why not take the MCAT now and save your application until next year? If you've been doing the studying and are doing well on practice tests NOW, it doesn't make much sense to wait..... plus if you take it now and aren't happy, you have room to retake it if you need to. The more space you leave between now and your test date is more room to get off track from studying for whatever reason.

 

You effectively have 2 years before med school starts. If you want to cherry-pick the state where you most want to be and/or where you will have good chances at cheaper instate tuition, now's the time. There's no way to predict what's going to happen with state budgets, but at this point, Texas still wins in terms of plentiful, cheap public schools. California has the stiffest competition. If you're on the ball you could land in a state that just so happens to be offering free tuition to its first class, as some new schools in FL & VA just did.

Maybe pick up an MSAR (www.aamc.org) and do some state shopping. PM me for tips, I did this for years. YEARS.

 

I agree with DrMidlife. Skip this year and apply next year. It would be a shame to miss out on some great schools just because you were really late applying. If you're where you want to be on practice exams, you can still take the MCAT this year.

You might want to look into getting some more recent shadowing too since you say all of it was in your original undergrad.

 

mzblue, you are in good hands with drmidlife, good luck!

 

Since you already know several docs at your hospital, perhaps you could ask them about any docs they may know outside the hospital that would be willing to let you shadow? Always use your networks! You shouldn't need a ton of shadowing hours anyways since you work in a clinical setting with patient care; just to show you know and appreciate all the work the docs do.

 

I have a friend who had those stats, and a 39 MCAT and he applied late but was only interviewed by the school in his home state... apply next year

 

I ended up cold calling a lot of local clinics in the area and although the vast majority told me no shadowing, a few got back to me and set up some fun shadowing opportunities. The best was getting to shadow residents in a family medicine residency program. They let me follow them around for a couple days on both their inpatient and outpatient service. If there are university hospitals/clinics in the area you might look into contacting the residency program to see if you can shadow.