MCAT improvement... possible chances

[bautile]

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Hey guys,

so in october i had a thread going about my chances as an international student (but to be really specific, i am a temporary resident with a pending I-485 based on employment, went to school for 4 years in Indiana, and am not living in California). My stats at that time were 3.36 overall (upward trend), 3.28 science, strong letters of recommendation from our school physician who is also the ER physician for the local hospital (he is a DO) as well as one of our premed health advisors, one from a DVM who was a professor my professor for a couple of classes, held two leadership positions, one involving responsible alcohol consumption and education (its not as punitive as it sounds at all), lettered in varsity, had an academic scholarship, academic awards, two research projects, however my MCAT in september was terrible PS7,VR7,BS8 WSM.

Since then, I have taken an EMT accelerated 7 week course (with my national trauma practical tomorrow actually) and will get 7 credits of an A which should bump my gpa up to a 3.4overall (3.3 science, assuming it will fall into that category). My primaries were released on the 24th of december, and I applied to every school that considered international students for a total of 14 schools. Ive received 10 secondary requests (I know its a lot and very expensive) and would like for anyone to shed light on how my new mcat score, as well as everything else would change things. I took the January 30 mcat, walked out of the exam like Eddy from lock, stock and two smoking barrels, but somehow pulled out PS9, VR10, BS9 WSP.

I know this is already a long post but if I could get any news about the following schools/my chances, that would be awesome. Thanks!

these are the schools that asked for secondaries:
KCOM
PCOM-GA
PCOM
KCUMB
LECOM-Bradenton
LECOM-Erie/Seton Hill
NSUCOM
PCSOM
UNECOM
WesternU

 

[Cheshyre]

Well, I'm sorry to say this, but if you haven't submitted secondaries yet your chances aren't good. Many schools have March as a "latest filing date". Even if the official date hasn't been met, I'm not sure that any schools have more than 10% of their seats open. Your best chances obviously would come from applying broadly, but I'm not sure it's worth the cost at this point. You may wish to to consider preparing for the next application cycle and getting those applications out EARLY.

Also, I'm not quite sure if an EMT course would count under science GPA. It's unlikely that AACOMAS will even recognize the course as being from an accredited undergraduate/graduate institution. That said, I'm not sure where you took your course - I took an EMT course from an ambulance company. That definitely wouldn't count on the AACOMAS primary application.

Your new MCAT score seems pretty decent. Good job.

EDIT: If you can afford it, it wouldn't hurt to send a few secondaries out. However, you may wish to call the schools to see which ones are still accepting applicants.

 

[jm192]

If you can afford risking the $, I'd personally try at least a few of them. a 28 MCAT should open some doors for you. It's later, but if the deadline isn't passed, no reason to not try. I understood it that DO schools tend to accept later applicants as MD applicants that didn't get accepted where they had hoped apply later. You're later in the game because you were waiting on MCAT.

 

[Everglide]

http://www.aacom.org/InfoFor/applicants/Pages/Instructions.aspx

Deadlines for secondaries by school listed at the link above. Schools may or may not make an exemption for a late submission, it's unlikely but you never know.

 

[bautile]

i apologize for not including this in my first post but i have met all the secondary request deadlines for the schools with a march deadline. i will also be finishing up, and submitting, the secondaries for the other schools in about a week.

@jm192 that is exactly why im this late in the game. I knew when i got my first mcat score that it was nowhere near good enough for any school but i thought why not see who would give me a secondary request.

@cheshyre my training and certification is coming from a newer school that has been accredited for a while now (i think its around 10 years). it was previously called antelope valley medical college, but is now the university of antelope valley. Before i started the program, i assumed it was just pass fail, no grade, but they have it as an actual class in their curriculum guide.

Edit: so I released my scores to AACOMAS on the MCAT THx page last night and was wondering if there was anything else I would need to do for the schools to see my new MCAT score (or will AACOMAS automatically notify them for me). Thanks

 

[Daedra22]

@jm192 that is exactly why im this late in the game. I knew when i got my first mcat score that it was nowhere near good enough for any school but i thought why not see who would give me a secondary request.

Not to dim your spirits, but just for clarification... most schools will ask you to fill out the secondary. I don't know if any DO schools screen the people they send secondaries to--most don't.

 

[TexasPhysician]

International student + low gpa + applying late will hurt you anywhere in medicine. Good luck, but finish everything early next year.