Need some help/thought

[cablen64k]

---

Members don't see this ad.

Here's the vital info:
3.3 GPA, 3.1 sGPA at GWU
28R on 1/31 MCAT (had administration/computer problems, averaged 32-36 on aamc's, retaking April 4th)
Good PS and LOR's
EC: 2 summers of chart review research
6 months clinical research
Lots of volunteer work and shadowing during high school
Worked in Physician's office on and off for a while
Founding Father of Zeta Beta Tau and GW campus, secretary of colony
Lots of philanthropy and community service through fraternity
Intramural sports
Sit on IFC judicial board

My dream school is SUNY Buffalo, and I am a NY resident. I just want to get into med school, so DO or MD, doesn't really matter but would prefer MD. I am worried that a. my GPA is too low (I will probably retake orgo this summer since I got a b- and c over two semesters, easily my lowest grades) and b. I did a ton of volunteering in high school but only research in college. I figured I had done so much and I wanted to try something new. What do you good people think are my chances?

 

[cliffhuxtableDO]

FYI, your high school volunteering doesn't count for any thing.

 

[drizzt3117]

FYI, your high school volunteering doesn't count for any thing.

That's not true, IMO. All volunteering is good. The vast majority of my clinical volunteer hours were in HS (I won a United Way service award). I had ~100 hours of shadowing during undergrad and had substantial clinical research but had no clinical volunteering after HS (only some service volunteering) and I had no problems. The interviewers I spoke with during my cycle praised my clinical experience.

 

[Mobius1985]

For allopathic med schools, your GPA is low, considering the subpar MCAT score, so you need to spend another year or two getting it up, and consider retaking the MCAT. You'd need to focus on taking upper-level science courses to get your BCPM GPA higher.

On the other hand, you'd probably be fine as you are applying to DO medical schools. But with either pathway, your goal is to have an application that will appeal to as many med schools as possible. That means your application has to reflect ongoing exploration of medicine as a career. So you need some recent clinical experience and shadowing before you apply. If you won a service award in high school, which is an extraordinary occurance, go ahead and list it along with what you did. Otherwise the only way to include your high school activity is to continue the same activity in the college years. For example, if you volunteered in high school at the local hospital for 200 hours in the ER, then volunteer in another hospital near campus in the post-op department, you can list the more current experience, then in the narrative describing the experience, add the HS experience and contact info, giving a total of the hours for both experiences at the end of the narrative. Another way to get the high school experience on your application is to discuss it in the Personal Statement.

When you apply to DO schools, you will need a physician Letter of Recommendation. A good number of the DO schools require that it be from a DO physician, but many allow an MD letter.

Don't retake the B- in Orgo I (unless you didn't understand the material sufficiently to do well on the MCAT). You could either retake the C in Orgo II or take Biochem, getting an A, to redeem it. BTW, the DO application service will replace a poor grade with the most recent retake in figuring out your application GPA (if it's the same number of credit hours).