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You're gonna be doing this career the rest of your life. Pick your passion. DO school is a great option for people with your life experiences. Applicants tend to be older with more "real world experience" than academic stats. I'd go for the MCAT again and try and get into a DO school.Hello,
So..I've always had a passion for the medical and dental sciences and all the similarities that fall between them. More specifically I initially had an interest in neuroscience, hence my degree in it. However that interest in neuroscience evolved into an interest in public health and more so patient care.
I have a biology degree from a community college - a human neuroscience and development degree from an ivy league school and currently working on my master's in a public health related domain at an ivy league school. Tons of research experience and volunteer experience all in either neuroscience, biology, medicine, and pharmacology. Although those ECs seem very different - they all have a common direction towards the medical sciences and public health.
That being said - the plan has always pointed towards medicine as you can see via my academic, research, and volunteer experiences. However, I never done well with standardized tests. Excelled in my science classes, however the MCAT is something I am unable to defeat. When I took it I scored so low it was as if I didn't study, however I took a semester's worth & an online kaplan class to study. I am scheduled to retake it, but it's still not looking good. I haven't taken biochemistry, but I don't think that's the problem - it's the way the questions are framed with the passages.
I however looked at the DAT and found it along the lines of how I study/take exams. I found the questions, although some difficult more straight forward. As well as a math/quantitative section that I can shine in.
I have always had an interest in primary care, facial reconstruction surgery, and the neurological sciences (neurosurg and neurology). So in a nutshell I seem to be giving up on medicine due to their gating process of the MCAT. In other words, I might have had a shot if the MCAT wasn't a factor. I still want to stay in the healthcare realm. Dentistry seems like a good option.
Hence, if I was to do well on the DAT do I have a shot at dental school?
Applying to med school this cycle doesn't even seem likely - what should I do for another gap year? (my master's served as a gap year). This has really been stressing me out. I feel like I worked so hard these past 5 years for nothing.
Associates in Bio - 3.9
BS in Human neuro / development - 3.0 (yes my GPA took a dive due to a transition process to the new school my first semester - upward trend there after)
Master's - currently 3.6+
An important aspect of your GPA would be your Science GPA and how you did on your prereqs, a 3.0 cumulative is pretty low for admission. Also, don't give up on what you truly want just because of one test.
Have you considered osteopathic medicine as well? Most schools take grade replacements which could help tremendously with your low GPA. Most D.O. schools don't require a remarkable MCAT score either.