Looking for some advice for MD/DO :)

[sadface]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

Hey guys and girls! I've been flip flopping between trying to do pharm school or MD/DO, so I figured I'd post here for some advice. I'm aware I am not in a great situation in terms of MD school, but I'm not sure about DO.

I had some issues with motivation my first couple years because I didn't have any goals in mind, and didn't really anticipate going to grad school or professional school. My semester breakdown for grades looks like:

Fall 2008: 3.714 (my school forced us to take easy first semesters)
Spring 2008: 3.029
Fall 2009: 3.208
Spring 2009: 3.643
Fall 2010: 3.250
Spring 2010: 3.462 (here is where i start trying more, and finally declared a biochem major, but I took 8 credits of O chem, and biophysical chemistry..)
Summer 2011: 4.0
Fall 2012: 3.833
Spring 2012: ??? Maybe 3.7 or 3.8

My first question, would this count as an upward trend (assuming I do well this last semester)? My later semesters I have stronger grades and more challenging semesters, but I'm not sure if they look at which classes you had together. My cGPA will end up being a high 3.4x and my sGPA will be 3.0-3.1... I go to the university of wisconsin-madison and I dont really know if they do grade padding or whatever, but it's a pretty good school.

I've done about 10 hours of shadowing with a pathologist, 10 with a pharmacist, and a few with a pathologist assistant. My other EC are pre-pharm club this last year year, and teaching a physiology discussion section this semester. Otherwise I was working at a factory to put myself through school.

I have yet to take the MCAT, but I was considering taking it in June after I graduate if I decide to try for MD/DO. I'm not sure if it's worth taking more classes during my year off. Would most schools consider summer/fall grades to help boost my gpa/upward trend? Or would I be better off trying to work/shadow etc.?

To summarize:

Thoughts on grades/upward trend?
How should I boost my EC?
What would you recommend for my time off before applying? Or would I be looking at two years off before school (to get better gpa/experiences before applying)?
Is 1.5 months realistic to prepare for the MCAT? It's been a while since I've had physics and such.

Thanks for your time! I'm a bit sleepy, I hope this made sense 😀

 

[Catalystik]

Hey guys and girls! I've been flip flopping between trying to do pharm school or MD/DO, so I figured I'd post here for some advice. I'm aware I am not in a great situation in terms of MD school, but I'm not sure about DO.

I had some issues with motivation my first couple years because I didn't have any goals in mind, and didn't really anticipate going to grad school or professional school. My semester breakdown for grades looks like:

Fall 2008: 3.714 (my school forced us to take easy first semesters)
Spring 2008: 3.029
Fall 2009: 3.208
Spring 2009: 3.643
Fall 2010: 3.250
Spring 2010: 3.462 (here is where i start trying more, and finally declared a biochem major, but I took 8 credits of O chem, and biophysical chemistry..)
Summer 2011: 4.0
Fall 2012: 3.833
Spring 2012: ??? Maybe 3.7 or 3.8

My first question, would this count as an upward trend (assuming I do well this last semester)? My later semesters I have stronger grades and more challenging semesters, but I'm not sure if they look at which classes you had together. My cGPA will end up being a high 3.4x and my sGPA will be 3.0-3.1... I go to the university of wisconsin-madison and I dont really know if they do grade padding or whatever, but it's a pretty good school.

I've done about 10 hours of shadowing with a pathologist, 10 with a pharmacist, and a few with a pathologist assistant. My other EC are pre-pharm club this last year year, and teaching a physiology discussion section this semester. Otherwise I was working at a factory to put myself through school.

I have yet to take the MCAT, but I was considering taking it in June after I graduate if I decide to try for MD/DO. I'm not sure if it's worth taking more classes during my year off. Would most schools consider summer/fall grades to help boost my gpa/upward trend? Or would I be better off trying to work/shadow etc.?

To summarize:

1) Thoughts on grades/upward trend?
2) How should I boost my EC?
3) What would you recommend for my time off before applying? Or would I be looking at two years off before school (to get better gpa/experiences before applying)?
4) Is 1.5 months realistic to prepare for the MCAT? It's been a while since I've had physics and such.

1) You've made a nice turn-around. Well done. Average DO matriculants had a cGPA/sGPA of 3.47/3.36, so your cGPA will be in the ballpark. It's your sGPA that needs work.

2) You have plenty of time to beef up your activities if you were going to be submitting in 14 months.

Shadowing 50 hours is about average. Be sure to include a primary care doc on your list.

Getting all your clinical experience in just one year isn't ideal, but will probably do (1.5 years being the average listed). I suggest you start as soon as possible, aiming for 150 hours total. Most do this by volunteering, but employment is fine, too.

You don't mention any nonmedical community service, which is very important at some schools. Perhaps you could find a cause you care about and give it 2 hours per week.

Research was listed by 73% of those accepted.

It's good to see you have some teaching. Any leadership? Don't forget hobbies, sports, and artistic endeavors should be listed on the application too.

3) It depends on whether your goal is DO or MD. With a year's time, and some retakes for very low grades to take advantage of the DO grade replacement policy, along with some upper-level Bio and Biochem, you could be good to go in a year. For a shot at MD, if you have a good MCAT score, you could look into (expensive) Special Masters Programs (SMP). This would add another year since you don't have a score yet.

4) 2-3 months of dedicated study seems more typical.

 

[sadface]

Hey- thanks so much for the detailed reply. I guess it does look like I'd be waiting a whole year before applying to get all of that done! Besides some informal sports, and volunteering for pre pharm club, I think the only activity I have is being a semi-professional computer game player bahaha. Is that something I should actually consider including?

 

[Catalystik]

If one is paid, it is employment and could be included. If not, many applicants are hesitant to list it, other than grouped with a bunch of hobbies. One does not want to come across as a one-trick pony uninvolved in the real world. The same would apply to, say, a lab rat with 10 publications, but no ECs requiring interactions with people.