Need Advice On Current Plan

[tuf13119]

I applied to only DO schools this past cycle and received 2 interviews, which ultimately led to post-II rejection. My stats and EC's are listed below:

ORM (Asian)
GPA: 3.50
sGPA: 3.40
MCAT (attempts are in chronological order):

1. 502 (127 / 122 / 127 / 126)
2. 500 (128 / 121 / 125 / 126)
3. 502 (128 / 123 / 127 / 124)

LOR: (2 MD, 1 DO, 2 science, 1 committee letter)

Clinical:

1. Medical Scribe (ER and Urgent Care) ~ 2000 hrs
2. Hospital volunteering ~ 250 hrs

Non-clinical:

1. Tutor at school academic center ~ 150 hrs
2. TA for OCHEM ~ 100 hrs
3. Research (no publications) ~ 1000 hrs
4. Volunteer/mentor for middle school in city ~ 100 hrs
5. Big Brothers Big Sisters ~ 100 hrs
6. Working at parent's restaurant ~ 1000 hrs

School list:
UNECOM
NYITCOM
Touro - Harlem (interview -> R)
CUSOM (interview -> R)
VCOM - Virginia
PCOM - Philly
PCOM - Georgia
LECOM
Rowan - SOM
CCOM
Marian U - COM
NSUCOM
WVSOM
Alabama - COM
DMU

I want to figure out what the best next step would be for my application into medical school. I am currently accepted into the Biomedical Sciences program at PCOM which has certain conditions for guaranteed interview/acceptance into PCOM. HOWEVER I don't necessarily meet 1 of their conditions (MCAT subsections must be greater than 40 percentile), which worries me. Do you guys think that my application will benefit from an academic enhancer program like this or should I do other things this year to improve my application? I know my MCAT is one of my biggest red flags and I would rather not retake it unless that is my last option.

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[deleted859689]

I cannot recommend the PCOM Biomedical Sciences Program unless you know you can take advantage of their direct linkage. The problem is that CARS subsection like you already know. Your GPA is competitive for DO schools which is why you got those interviews. In my opinion, I cant justify the cost of a SMP since your GPA doesn’t need repair AND you cannot take advantage of their direct linkage. If you aren’t considering other linkage programs that don’t need an MCAT retake, I would suggest MCAT retake while working on interview skills. Do not retake the MCAT until you are scoring within your desired range on full length exams.

Another option is doing the PCOM program. I would suggest taking the MCAT before starting, otherwise you may become overwhelmed with studying for the MCAT while stayinG afloat in the program. If you can get that MCAT score up to meet the requirements for linkage, I would change my mind and say it would be worth it.

Yet another option is to reapply now and take a hard look at your personal statement / secondaries. You could also study for another MCAT retake and work on interview skills while applying again. Your current MCAT is within the standard deviation for matriculants.

Your new MCAT though is worrisome just because of having another sub section below 50th percentile. The risk of retaking may not outweigh the benefit given your MCAT history, tbh. Have you looked at other linkage programs that do not care about subsection scores? If you get into Touro’s masters program for instance the direct linkage does not take MCAT into account. If you really don’t want to retake the MCAT, I would look into similar programs to this.

Policy on Admission to
Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine

As an outcome of the MS Program, admission to the D.O. Program at Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine is offered to students who have met the standards listed below. Typically, between 30-35 MS graduates are offered direct admission to TouroCOM each year.

• Completion of the M.S. curriculum
• A GPA of 3.45/4.0 or higher
• A Pass on the Comprehensive Examination

 

[BBQisgood4u]

I would not do the SMP because it's costly and you don't even meet one of the conditions.

Your MCAT and interview skills are what's holding you back from an acceptance.

I suggest aiming for a 507+ and put everything you have into it. Obviously CARS is a difficult section to increase, but P/S should be where you gain a lot of points. For the 4th MCAT attempt, you need to be consistently hitting 507+ before you take it.

You can improve your personal statement and you need to brush up on your interview skills by practicing over and over again with different people. You're very close to an acceptance and do not need an SMP.

Just put all your chips into the MCAT and polish your essays and interview skills (you'll save a lot of time and $$$).

 

[Belphegor]

I agree with the other posters for the most part.

Your GPA is competitive enough for DO where you don't need a repair/SMP.

The Touro MS program that Kumorebi mentioned seems promising if you can get in and be one of the ~35 grads that get into their DO school afterwards.

However, I think if you can increase your MCAT score you will be able to get more interviews your next cycle. I don't know how you studied or if you took one of those MCAT courses, so I can't really give you advice on the MCAT.

 

[tuf13119]

Thanks a lot for the advice, I will reply to all 3 instead of individually: @red_tangoes @BBQisgood4u @Kumorebi

For all of my MCAT attempts, I have been scoring consistently above 505 on NS and AAMC exams so I don't really know how to go from there. I have utilized UWorld, NS, AAMC, Kaplan in-person course, KhanAcademy QB, and JW. I can detail what I did for each attempt via PM, but I really thought my 3rd attempt at studying was the best as that is when I started utilizing more passage-based questions and that is when I started NS 1-4 exams. Walking out of the 3rd attempt, I felt that I was going to score well above my past scores as I was confident on the C/P, B/B, and P/S sections, but I was dead wrong after receiving my score. This is what really worries me about attempting the MCAT a 4th time. On one hand, I feel that I can definitely improve significantly is
i can raise my score on P/S and CARS.. But I also know that if I don't score well on my 4th attempt, then it would be the end of my medical school dreams.

Regarding the Touro masters, I think the application is closed so I would not be able to apply for the entering fall 2020 class.

One of the reasons why I chose to apply to the PCOM BMS is because I want to show medical schools that I can (hopefully) succeed in science classes as I have been out of school for the past 3 years. I don't know how much weight ADCOMS view on success in an SMP. I don't know if this factors much into this, but PCOM is my #1 choice and I want to show my loyalty by attending their program. I have already received a response from 1 of the program directors about how strict they are on the conditions of the guaranteed interview/conditional acceptance and they stated that "PCOM is holistic, so they will consider everything". But after all of your advice, I am reconsidering what to do next year.

 

[Ki-100]

I have a similar stat and got accepted this cycle. I think is your interview skill or apply late cause you the trouble. I think you need to add more schools in the list this cycle and apply early. You should also do more practicing for your interview skill too. I think you do not need to retake MCAT and repair your GPA.

 

[tuf13119]

I have a similar stat and got accepted this cycle. I think is your interview skill or apply late cause you the trouble. I think you need to add more schools in the list this cycle and apply early. You should also do more practicing for your interview skill too. I think you do not need to retake MCAT and repair your GPA.

Thanks for replying. How late is considered late? I submitted my AACOMAS around the end of July and had all secondaries sent in by either the beginning of August or mid August. I will definitely attempt to improve on my interview skills. If I had to guess on the issue with my interview skills, it would probably be that all my answers don't sound genuine and/or they sound rehearsed. I am a very sociable guy, so it's not like I am awkward at my interviews.

 

[Ki-100]

Thanks for replying. How late is considered late? I submitted my AACOMAS around the end of July and had all secondaries sent in by either the beginning of August or mid August. I will definitely attempt to improve on my interview skills. If I had to guess on the issue with my interview skills, it would probably be that all my answers don't sound genuine and/or they sound rehearsed. I am a very sociable guy, so it's not like I am awkward at my interviews.

Oh then you have applied early so the time is not the issue. Because my grade and MCAT is similar and I got accepted. Sometime maybe luck play a role into it. Maybe the recommendation letter is the issue?

 

[dial1010usa]

I think you should have applied to all DO schools. I think you wanted to stay close to your home. As everyone mentioned above your MCAT is an issue. Maybe ask someone to read your PS. Could be interview an issue but you did not get II. I would add every single DO this cycle. Rewrite your PS and get it checked by attest 2-3 people. Add more non clinical hours if you have time because everything else looks good. Add new schools and TUNCOM.