Need Advice about Whether I should Reapply (3.87, 509)

[SiriC]

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Hi, this is my first time posting on SDN, and I will try to get everything straight and clear.

I'm a senior and first-time applicant to MD/DO schools in the last cycle (2025-2026), yet currently I ended up receiving multiple A from DO, like RVUCOM-colorado and DMU, and only 2 MD school interviews which turned out 1 R and 1 hasn't made decision (brand new school recruiting inaugural class). I applied to 50+ MD and DO schools (IS and OOS), and I was hoping getting into a MD school as I know MD students have larger chance matching into their desired specialties, and I want to keep my specialty option open (currently am interested in derm, opto, radiology, pulmonology, etc.). I hope to get advice about whether I should reapply/take a gap year trying to increase my MCAT scores? If so, what other parts on my application should I improve? Or should I just go with the DO schools?

1. cGPA 3.87, sGPA 3.81
2. MCAT 509 (128, 126, 127, 128)
3. First generation immigrant, NJ resident
4. Asian Female
5. BS in biology -- University of Wisconsin-Madison
6. First-time applicant (2025-2026 cycle)
7. Research: 400+ hours with 1 poster presentation at the symposium
8. Clinical:
   1. Hospice center volunteer (100+ hours by the time I applied)
   2. Local Clinic's volunteer (1300+ hours)
9. Non-Clinical volunteering:
   1. Elementary School Afterschool Program Volunteer (20hrs)
   2. Local Pharmacy's volunteer (1900+ hours)
10. Others: club member, hobbies
11. Shadowing: 119 hours (pulmonology, ophthalmology, dermatology, endocrinology, pediatric surgery)

 

[Faha]

Go with the DO schools. Which ones were you accepted to?

 

[SiriC]

Go with the DO schools. Which ones were you accepted to?

I'm deciding between RVUCOM-colorado and DMU. Both are good schools and have similar tuition though cost of living may be higher for RVU. In terms of weather, I definitely love the sunny and warmer weather at RVU. But my concern is that even though RVU also had quite stellar match rates (derm, orthopedic surgery, radiology) in 3 years, people said the data is inconsistent and they have weaker connections/network. On the other hand, DMU has harsher winter and lower cost of living, but is more well-established and have strong connections that could give me larger chance of matching into a competitive specialty. Do you have any suggestion?

 

[SiriC]

Go with the DO schools. Which ones were you accepted to?

May I know the reason why you don't recommend reapplying?

 

[Faha]

May I know the reason why you don't recommend reapplying?

There is no guarantee you will receive a MD acceptance if you reapply. DMU is an excellent medical school. If you go to DMU, you start medical school in 2026. If you reapply and are not accepted to MD in the 2026-2027 cycle you may not start medical school until 2028. That is $600,000 of lost income as an attending.

 

[SiriC]

There is no guarantee you will receive a MD acceptance if you reapply. DMU is an excellent medical school. If you go to DMU, you start medical school in 2026. If you reapply and are not accepted to MD in the 2026-2027 cycle you may not start medical school until 2028. That is $600,000 of lost income as an attending.

What if my dream specialty is dermatology/ophthalmology/radiology? Will reapplying maximize the chance of matching into these specialties?

 

[PickaGodnPray]

Why did you apply DO if you did not want to attend a DO program? You have an acceptance and in 4 years you WILL be a physician and, based upon how you do as a student, you'll have a chance at those competitive specialties. If you say no now, you will be blacklisted from DO's moving forward and have no guarantee of an MD acceptance in the future. Take the A.

 

[Faha]

What if my dream specialty is dermatology/ophthalmology/radiology? Will reapplying maximize the chance of matching into these specialties?

Those specialties are difficult to match no matter where you attend medical school. Also, if you turn down an acceptance to a DO school it is very unlikely that that school would accept you in the future.

 

[SSAmerica]

Just take the A bro this is a huge first world problem... "Oh I'll be a physician but not the more prestigious kind"

 

[A224B]

Take the DO acceptance: you applied extremely broadly for MD and still didn't get many interviews and your MCAT is four points below the median.

 

[eyeeye_captain]

Numbers-wise, yes, you are more likely to match competitive specialties with an MD, but even then derm and ophtho hover at around only a 70% match rate.

You know who has a 0% match rate? Candidates who haven’t made it to medical school. There’s no guarantee you get anything next cycle.

There’s also a good chance you change your mind - I think I was set on 2 or 3 other specialties before I figured things out.

I’ll join the growing consensus and say take the A where you feel you have the best chance of succeeding in your studies so you can build your best app.

 

[catnip12]

The $600K lost income framing makes more sense when someone is weighing an extra fellowship where the added training may not have a clear payoff — not really for someone who hasn’t started medical school yet. The more relevant financial question at this stage is the cost of school itself. DO tuition isn’t cheap, and that debt follows you into residency and beyond. It’s worth knowing that some state MD schools can actually be quite affordable — UW-Madison cost me less than my own in-state school once institutional aid was factored in, even as an out-of-state student. That was 2019 so things have changed, but the point is that reapplying isn’t purely a loss calculation.

That said, none of this is a knock on DOs — I work with excellent ones across every field.

If she’s young and has the runway, spending a year shoring up the MCAT could open doors to cheaper schools or better aid packages. No guarantee, but the math might look different than it does right now. Ultimately she’s the only one who knows whether that uncertainty is worth it to her.

 

[whichbreath]

I think it boils down to whether you are gonna retake the MCAT, if you aren’t then there’s no reason to reapply hoping for a different outcome. If you are then maybe, but it’s still not guaranteed because there are people with your stats that are getting in. It might help your application personally though.

 

[Med Ed]

What if my dream specialty is dermatology/ophthalmology/radiology? Will reapplying maximize the chance of matching into these specialties?

It depends on how you would approach reapplication. If you spend a couple of years in the Peace Corp and bump your MCAT above 515 then yes, your odds of getting into a MD school would increase substantially. But if you don't do much to improve your application and hope that just taking another swing will generate a different result, then a better outcome is less likely.

 

[Goro]

Hi, this is my first time posting on SDN, and I will try to get everything straight and clear.

I'm a senior and first-time applicant to MD/DO schools in the last cycle (2025-2026), yet currently I ended up receiving multiple A from DO, like RVUCOM-colorado and DMU, and only 2 MD school interviews which turned out 1 R and 1 hasn't made decision (brand new school recruiting inaugural class). I applied to 50+ MD and DO schools (IS and OOS), and I was hoping getting into a MD school as I know MD students have larger chance matching into their desired specialties, and I want to keep my specialty option open (currently am interested in derm, opto, radiology, pulmonology, etc.). I hope to get advice about whether I should reapply/take a gap year trying to increase my MCAT scores? If so, what other parts on my application should I improve? Or should I just go with the DO schools?

1. cGPA 3.87, sGPA 3.81
2. MCAT 509 (128, 126, 127, 128)
3. First generation immigrant, NJ resident
4. Asian Female
5. BS in biology -- University of Wisconsin-Madison
6. First-time applicant (2025-2026 cycle)
7. Research: 400+ hours with 1 poster presentation at the symposium
8. Clinical:
   1. Hospice center volunteer (100+ hours by the time I applied)
   2. Local Clinic's volunteer (1300+ hours)
9. Non-Clinical volunteering:
   1. Elementary School Afterschool Program Volunteer (20hrs)
   2. Local Pharmacy's volunteer (1900+ hours)
10. Others: club member, hobbies
11. Shadowing: 119 hours (pulmonology, ophthalmology, dermatology, endocrinology, pediatric surgery)

derm, opto, radiology, pulmonology
My DO grads have gotten into every one of these specialties. Optho will be hard even for MD grads.
Take the A and run.
Otherwise, you're looking at several years of lost attending salary.