MD, DO, international schools, take a break? seasoned pre-med seeking advice

[apricot9]

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Hi ya'll,

Like every hopeful applicant who clicks "submit" thinks, this was supposed to be THE year I got into medical school. I was previously on 4 wait lists for great MD schools and when I did not get in I was really bummed out, so I tried one more application cycle (no interviews), and then moved forward and completed a reputable SMP with a competitive (ish) GPA. My undergrad GPA is 3.25sci, 3.34c.

But I've hit another bump in the road. I took the MCAT twice this summer after I finished my SMP classes and got a 26 both times. The first time I got a VR6 so re-took the exam only to drop my PS score from 9 to 7. I'm still scratching my head at the ridiculousness of the situation because I scored a 31 avg on my practices and my expired scores were a 30R and 28Q. I even bought the AAMC Assessment Tests.

I have a long history of insomnia (5 yrs) and stress/anxiety, but I generally manage. I'm a bit tired from being pre-med (I finished undergrad 4 years ago). I still genuinely want to become a doctor though so I hope I haven't done myself in and peaked back 3 years ago when I had those 4 MD interviews.

So now I wonder if I can handle any more setbacks. I feel like each decision I make now is unprecedentedly more important. I'd appreciate some two cents from the lovely SDN community. What can you see from the outside looking in that I can't see? I'm considering continuing my current application: submitting secondaries to less competitive schools like Howard, VCU, EVMS, NYMC. SLU etc. Followed by adding other schools (DO, international schools). Then I'd hope for the best and apply to Americorps (since most similar jobs I want require an MPH) in the mean time.

The other option is to just plain take a break from medicine. Finish up my SMP thesis and get my Master's, take a mini vacay, and get a job (again, thinking Americorps). Don't think about medicine for a year or two (is that possible?). Recuperate, recollect, come back strong. Retake the MCAT, reapply early and broadly to MD schools, and add DO & International schools.

I'm not in a terrible situation because I still qualify for DO schools and I'm interested in international schools (Australia because I have ties there), but I know I am beat and my sleep cycles could benefit from a break of thinking about getting into medical school (again, if that's possible). Questions to the wise: how to weather the storm? have I peaked already? and if my back up is non-MD, do I pick Aussie or DO? Ultimately I know I have to look within myself to answer some of these questions, but I would appreciate your thoughtful insight as well.

Bottom line I just want to go into medicine to work with underserved communities and have an enriching career and life. It's just this early part of the journey is hard to get past...cloudy roads ahead or high activation energy I guess.

Okay, thank you for reading!

 

[cabinbuilder]

I would stop everything, Finish up loose ends. Get a job and bank your money for the next 6 months. YOU NEED TO APPLY DO. Forget the MD side, your numbers are too low. If you want to work in underserved communities you will be primary care doctor anyway. APPLY THE DAY THE CYCLE OPENS. Have a great essay.

 

[NCPremed]

I would stop everything, Finish up loose ends. Get a job and bank your money for the next 6 months. YOU NEED TO APPLY DO. Forget the MD side, your numbers are too low. If you want to work in underserved communities you will be primary care doctor anyway. APPLY THE DAY THE CYCLE OPENS. Have a great essay.

Agreed!

Also, look internationally. I know Universidad Autonoma de Gualdalajara has a solid reputation for turning out MDs with lower stats who go on to practice in the US, and you'd learn Spanish. Could be something to consider.

 

[graduate2be]

It depends on what you want. My situation is similar to yours. My undergrad science GPA is a 3.2 and my overall is a 3.4. I finished my post bac masters with a 3.57; however, my MCAT is a 25 S with a 6 in PS. I have a ton of research and public health experience and I served as an Army, Army Reserve and civilian medic (trained at the EMT-Paramedic level) for almost 20 years. I'm also 41 years old (as of Nov. 10th). I was wait listed by four MD's the first time I applied to medical school and now I'm at a place where I have to decide if I want to reapply to the MD route, apply to some DO's or apply to some international schools. I decided to apply to seven DO's and to hedge my bets so that I will be assured of being in medical school in 2013, I applied to Ross (and was accepted into the Sept. 2013 class on 15-Nov). For me, taking time off is not an option because of my age and I didn't want to waist time and money applying to MD schools again knowing what the likely outcome would be. I'd advise you to apply to some DO's and one or two of the international schools.

 

[VictorAlpha]

I don't know that you can't get in MD. I mean do whatever you want...if you want MD, then I say go for it. But be willing to go through the whole deal. If you want DO, do that.

I don't know how old you are (I am assuming you are about 25-26 / finished UG 4 yrs ago) or what your grad GPA is. But I had the same UG GPA about. I am about that age, had about that GPA, re-took the MCAT after the Kaplan prep course to improve on a score worse than yours and got in.

I mean right now I just think that if you really want to do it; it will happen. I recommend taking the prep course.

-Finish your graduate work with a great GPA
-Schedule the prep course to end around feb / march to have a couple weeks for the april / may test to submit everything right away in June when AMCAS opens
-For the prep: I went through every question of every practice test and made sure I worked through and wrote down on paper the solutions and why I got it wrong...every question I got wrong or got right and wasn't sure about...every single one. You cannot not improve your scores. Don't feel bad about a low score on an application as long as you can bring it up. Every school I applied to saw a previous 24 on my application...but I was able to improve on that.

My advice is to go after what you want and as long as that is what you really want...don't give up.