lost hope *unofficially*

[pazan]

I'll give you the cynical take on your situation, since it looks like over-optimism on these forums may have hurt you this cycle. You're applying with a below-average GPA from an undergrad not known for being competitive... I think that's the main issue. Med schools have experience with below-average GPA students from the traditional pre-med factories (Cal, UCLA, etc), and probably have data showing they wind up doing OK. I'm not sure if they have the same experience with CSU students and may not be willing to take the risk. How do they know you'll be able to compete in med school against very academic students if you didn't standout at a school with a not-so-academic reputation? I think your ECs and MCAT are perfectably acceptable for med school compared to what I've seen on SDN. You should definitely look into SMPs or a post-bacc (and especially ones with linkage programs) if you're aiming for a US MD school... doing well in those types of program will show schools you're capable of handling med school coursework.

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[Excelsius]

I'll give you the cynical take on your situation, since it looks like over-optimism on these forums may have hurt you this cycle. You're applying with a below-average GPA from an undergrad not known for being competitive... I think that's the main issue. Med schools have experience with below-average GPA students from the traditional pre-med factories (Cal, UCLA, etc), and probably have data showing they wind up doing OK. I'm not sure if they have the same experience with CSU students and may not be willing to take the risk. How do they know you'll be able to compete in med school against very academic students if you didn't standout at a school with a not-so-academic reputation? I think your ECs and MCAT are perfectably acceptable for med school compared to what I've seen on SDN. You should definitely look into SMPs or a post-bacc (and especially ones with linkage programs) if you're aiming for a US MD school... doing well in those types of program will show schools you're capable of handling med school coursework.

That's pretty much the main problem. I like your avatar - we have the exact same depiction (assuming you put it there knowing what it is).

 

[amikhchi]

If i would've known that going to CSUN would've hurt me this bad I would've just gone to UCLA, i thought it was about what you did, not where you went (but even saying this I know my GPA is lower than average so i'm pretty much shooting myself in the foot). Either way I just have to wait it out, I would prefer USMD over DO and DO over Caribb.

As far as competitive residencies go, can someone list which ones are the *competitive* ones that DOs would have a hard time getting into.

 

[Excelsius]

If i would've known that going to CSUN would've hurt me this bad I would've just gone to UCLA, i thought it was about what you did, not where you went (but even saying this I know my GPA is lower than average so i'm pretty much shooting myself in the foot). Either way I just have to wait it out, I would prefer USMD over DO and DO over Caribb.

As far as competitive residencies go, can someone list which ones are the *competitive* ones that DOs would have a hard time getting into.

Again, if you had done very well at CSUN, it wouldn't have affected you too much. What you do is more important than where you go. But you have below average stats from a very uncompetitive school, at least by adcom standards. If you had the option to go to UCLA and you didn't, you made a big mistake. You should have transferred after your first two years at CSUN into a UC. It is what it is now and you just have to work with it.

Competitive residencies are the "lifestyle" residencies. The acronym is ROAD - Radiology, Opthalmology, Anesthesiology, and Dermatology. Some call it EROAD by adding emergency medicine. Others call it ROADS adding the surgical subspecialties. This thread will help you: Most competitive residencies?

 

[Bacchus]

OP, like I said before... your GPA and MCAT are hampering you... especially for your applications to the UCs. The best thing now would be to boost that GPA. It is low, especially for some of the schools you listed. My GPA is slightly higher than yours and my MCAT is slightly lower. I applied to less competitive MD schools than you did and haven't gotten any love. Sometimes, you have to follow the path of the stream and realize what is now upstream can no longer be changed. However, you can change whats in front of you.

As far as specialties go, understand that you have allopathic and ostepathic residencies that are out there. DO will not be the doomsday for you matching into ROAD. All DO schools have atleast one letter of the acronym fulfilled, many two or three...some four.

The spots for the most competitive residencies in both matches, MD and DO, are extremely competitive and are also limited. The same amount of spots does not exist for dermatology as it does for emergency med, family practice, or even anesthesiology.

I know this got you into trouble before but I will say it again. What happens to you in medical school is based on you. Your program (school) will play a part but will be shadowed and trumped by your board scores, letters of recommendations, interviews, and evaluations. Do your best where you think you will do the best. Cal State isn't what's hurting your app, it is your GPA. Is Calstate viewed as less rigorous? It seems so by replies on here. However, that's not the major trip up on your application.

Work on those ECs too.