Life Experiences and DO Schools

[JanikeyDoc]

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How important are life experiences when applying to DO schools? Are there certain activities that can set an applicant apart from the crowd? I am currently working overseas, how would that be viewed by an admissions committee? Would it be positive or negative, or neither?

 

[dangit]

How important are life experiences when applying to DO schools? Are there certain activities that can set an applicant apart from the crowd? I am currently working overseas, how would that be viewed by an admissions committee? Would it be positive or negative, or neither?

i think in general , DOs are more accepting of non-trad students, such as yourself than MD schools.

are there certain activities to set you apart? hmm...i suppose if you did medically related activities that would be helpful. also, perhaps doing international relief work (if you are in that part of the world) would help. basically, anything that shows you have a heart of compassion for people. it doesn't have to be medically oriented, but as long as you can elaborate on it and show your enthusiasm. i went on a medical mission to honduras (week long though), but iwas able to talk about it in interviews and secondaires with enthusiasm and i was able to connect with interviewers using those examples.

i don't think working overseas would be seen as being negative. depends on what you do i suppose. good luck!

 

[ShyRem]

Goodness, Janikey, you're full of vague questions.

bottom line: It all depends on how you present it and what they're looking for. That's it. so many of your questions are incredibly dependent on timing, wording, how you present yourself...and of course a lot of luck. I have known people with 30+ MCATs and good GPAs who didn't get in anywhere, and folks with sub-20 MCATs and 3.0 GPAs who had multiple offers. Sometimes I swear they just let a blind person who was spun around a room throw darts at a wall full of applications to figure out who gets in.

just be yourself and put your best foot forward with what you have.

 

[dangit]

Sometimes I swear they just let a blind person who was spun around a room throw darts at a wall full of applications to figure out who gets in.

haha, good way to put it.

also, i used to think that before i started going to interviews, but after going to 7 interviews, i started to realize everyone has an agenda. especially medical schools. of example, one professor told me that a particular school will flat out reject a student based on their religious affiliation, even if they had a 4.0 and 45T. so to us it seems random, but to the schools, they're pulling in ppl with certain "traits" to meet their needs.

 

[MossPoh]

What school is that? The only school I can think of that truly has a religious agenda is Loma Linda and I still know people not affiliated with the church that go there.