Not Accepted this Cycle...What should I do now?

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So I applied to DO school primarily with a 3.57cGPA and a 3.3sGPA and a 504 MCAT. I haven't had any interviews so far but I was complete mostly in early November so fairly late. I have had no interviews so far so I will reapply next cycle as I have given up hope on this cycle. I applied to NOVA, PCOM-GA, PCOM, CCOM, and WesternU. I know my biggest flaw was not applying early and broadly enough. Next year I will apply broadly and add a considerable amount of more schools. In the meantime, what should I do?

What can I do to improve my application? Should I do a post bacc? If so, which ones are popular among pre-meds?

Should I retake my MCAT? If so, what test date should I aim for?

I feel absolutely terrible as most of my friends have gotten accepted and Im just waiting. I have lost hope on this cycle and I don't know what to do next.

Thanks!

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Don't feel hopeless, many applicants will go through the cycle twice, and a lot of them are here on sdn, so there's always hope. I think both your gpa and mcat are good enough to get you accepted somewhere if you would have applied earlier and broader.
CCOM, PCOM, and western have on average higher mcat score than what you have. I believe it's roughly around 29-30. PCOM-GA has regional bias so if you're not from the south, then your chances decrease substantially. You should apply for this upcoming cycle and add more mid/lower tier schools and wait for the cycle to take its full effect. In the mean time go shadow a DO if you haven't, and continue working on your ECs. I wouldn't recommend retaking the mcat unless you are confident that you can increase your score.
 
So I applied to DO school primarily with a 3.57cGPA and a 3.3sGPA and a 504 MCAT. I haven't had any interviews so far but I was complete mostly in early November so fairly late. I have had no interviews so far so I will reapply next cycle as I have given up hope on this cycle. I applied to NOVA, PCOM-GA, PCOM, CCOM, and WesternU. I know my biggest flaw was not applying early and broadly enough. Next year I will apply broadly and add a considerable amount of more schools. In the meantime, what should I do?

What can I do to improve my application? Should I do a post bacc? If so, which ones are popular among pre-meds?

Should I retake my MCAT? If so, what test date should I aim for?

I feel absolutely terrible as most of my friends have gotten accepted and Im just waiting. I have lost hope on this cycle and I don't know what to do next.

Thanks!

Apply to more schools early next cycle. Also, don't just apply to top tier program schools. CCOM and maybe PCOM wants averages higher than your GPA and MCAT.

Apply early and cast a wide net next cycle. Good luck!
 
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You made a poor decision applying to those schools, especially as late as you did. Your science GPA isn't good. Your GPA is okay to average for DO and your MCAT is below average to average at most of those schools. You didn't apply to a safety school.

It gets kinda old seeing this because for some reason or another, people perceive the oldest DO schools as the only schools worthy of applying to. And that's fine if you have good stats, but your stats aren't stellar. But youd get in somewhere if you weren't picky.

Another thing is you don't list anything on your application other than grades and MCAT. Your competitors have experience in the healthcare field, have volunteered doing whatever, have a DO LOR, have shadowed etc.. Those things mentioned are most important. If you don't have them, you won't have much luck. you might be able to get away with no DO LOR. But you need patient interaction. If you aren't certified to do anything, search for a job as a scribe. If that fails, you should volunteer to push patients around the hospital and do a good amount of shadowing. If you are aiming only for DO, retaking the MCAT probably isn't necessary but you'll want the experiences I outlined above and you'll have to bank on getting into a newer school for a safety. Add WVSOM, KCOM, VCOMs, LECOM x 2, and CUSOM. Pay attention to schools with regional bias (PCOM and PCOM Ga). don't apply to those if you aren't within a state or two away
 
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the new DO schools are surprisingly good (except LUCOM) in terms of residency creation, research emphasis, rotation strength and university affiliations....apply to CUSOM, ACOM, BCOM-New Mexico State, the VCOM-Auburn, NYIT-Arkansas Sate
 
^ Auburn doesn't fall into that category...
 
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It gets kinda old seeing this because for some reason or another, people perceive the oldest DO schools as the only schools worthy of applying to. And that's fine if you have good stats, but your stats aren't stellar. But youd get in somewhere if you weren't picky.

Most premeds who never really researched DO seem to think that an mcat above 20=accepted to DO school and if you have almost a 30 that the best DO schools should just be falling all over themselves to get you to matriculate.

During a break at my mcat, I was talking with another test taker about where I was going to apply and her response was
"DO? Can't you just get in anywhere with a 23?"


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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Most premeds who never really researched DO seem to think that an mcat above 20=accepted to DO school and if you have almost a 30 that the best DO schools should just be falling all over themselves to get you to matriculate.

During a break at my mcat, I was talking with another test taker about where I was going to apply and her response was
"DO? Can't you just get in anywhere with a 23?"


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

My response to her would be "Of course..... 10 years ago!"

A 500 MCAT (25) will probably be the new floor score, while two years ago it would have been a 23.
 
So I applied to DO school primarily with a 3.57cGPA and a 3.3sGPA and a 504 MCAT

Apply to more schools early next cycle. Also, don't just apply to top tier program schools. CCOM and maybe PCOM wants averages higher than your GPA and MCAT.

Apply early and cast a wide net next cycle. Good luck!

Did the DO averages go up or something? I remember a 3.5 was more than good enough to get into a wide range of DO schools last year. OP seems to have a pretty good GPA, unless of course averages went up?
 
Did the DO averages go up or something? I remember a 3.5 was more than good enough to get into a wide range of DO schools last year. OP seems to have a pretty good GPA, unless of course averages went up?

It doesn't have anything to do with it being an average. PCOM wants students from the surrounding states and mostly from PA. If you live in the Midwest you'll need to be above average. His GPA is average. His MCAT is average.

The main point is OP hasn't stated his ECs or ethnicity, or geographic location. If he lived in GA or nearby south he'd problem hear from PCOM-ha.
 
504 is like a 28 on the old score, which is right around for a good amount of schools. I wouldnt retake MCAT. I would just apply pretty early, and improve ur EC's.. I got 5 acceptances and lot of interviews this cycle with just a 26 MCAT, but I was complete in August!
 
Did the DO averages go up or something? I remember a 3.5 was more than good enough to get into a wide range of DO schools last year. OP seems to have a pretty good GPA, unless of course averages went up?

https://www.midwestern.edu/programs_and_admission/il_osteopathic_medicine.html
Average Overall GPA: 3.59; Science GPA: 3.53
Average composite MCAT score: 29.5 (which is about a 506 on the new scale)
These averages were from last cycle for 2015 entering class. I bet these averages went up this cycle and will likely in the next too.

OP has averages for every single stat lower than that of CCOM, especially that sGPA.
OP: 3.57cGPA and a 3.3sGPA and a 504 MCAT

His stats are fine for mid-tier and low-tier/new schools. The top-tier DO schools would be slightly out of reach for him, unless he has stellar EC's.
 
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https://www.midwestern.edu/programs_and_admission/il_osteopathic_medicine.html
Average Overall GPA: 3.59; Science GPA: 3.53
Average composite MCAT score: 29.5 (which is about a 506 on the new scale)
These averages were from last cycle for 2015 entering class. I bet these averages went up this cycle and will likely in the next too.

OP has averages for every single stat lower than that of CCOM, especially that sGPA.
OP: 3.57cGPA and a 3.3sGPA and a 504 MCAT

His stats are fine for mid-tier and low-tier/new schools. The top-tier DO schools would be slightly out of reach for him, unless he has stellar EC's.

COMP-NW has class of 2019 stats at 3.60s/3.65c/27.99 MCAT. This is a 5 year old branch campus. It is definitely not easy to get into DO anymore
 
So I applied to DO school primarily with a 3.57cGPA and a 3.3sGPA and a 504 MCAT. I haven't had any interviews so far but I was complete mostly in early November so fairly late. I have had no interviews so far so I will reapply next cycle as I have given up hope on this cycle. I applied to NOVA, PCOM-GA, PCOM, CCOM, and WesternU. I know my biggest flaw was not applying early and broadly enough. Next year I will apply broadly and add a considerable amount of more schools. In the meantime, what should I do?

What can I do to improve my application? Should I do a post bacc? If so, which ones are popular among pre-meds?

Should I retake my MCAT? If so, what test date should I aim for?

I feel absolutely terrible as most of my friends have gotten accepted and Im just waiting. I have lost hope on this cycle and I don't know what to do next.

Thanks!

Biggest thing you can do, aside from the obvious "apply broadly and earlier, etc" stuff, is to stay positive. Don't let this failure affect you on the next application cycle. Don't be bitter towards your friends, don't "hide" the acceptance Facebook posts that your friends post. Be happy for them, not jealous. Stay motivated and stay happy, and if you work hard and stay positive for next cycle, you'll be fine.
 
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All DO schools are viewed the same (with very few exceptions surrounding specific DO schools that send a lot of grads into specific residency programs). Unless a program knows and has a history of taking grads from a certain school, they consider them all the same.

My program views all DO schools the same. A PCOM grad is on a level playing field with a LECOM, LMUDCOM, DMUCOM grad. To our faculty and residents they're all just DO's, and all viewed as being better than FMG/IMG, but less than USMD with the same stats. This has zero to do with the competitiveness of the schools to get into, and more to do with a perceived lack of standardized clinical training among DO's, even between students of the same school.

So apply broadly, take what you get, and don't stress about top tier vs mid/low tier. There's no such thing in DO school.
 
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https://www.midwestern.edu/programs_and_admission/il_osteopathic_medicine.html
Average Overall GPA: 3.59; Science GPA: 3.53
Average composite MCAT score: 29.5 (which is about a 506 on the new scale)
These averages were from last cycle for 2015 entering class. I bet these averages went up this cycle and will likely in the next too.

OP has averages for every single stat lower than that of CCOM, especially that sGPA.
OP: 3.57cGPA and a 3.3sGPA and a 504 MCAT

His stats are fine for mid-tier and low-tier/new schools. The top-tier DO schools would be slightly out of reach for him, unless he has stellar EC's.
Slight correction. Those are still for class of 2018/entering class of 2014. Ours are slightly different. Still no idea why the website isn't updated :shrug:
 
All DO schools are viewed the same (with very few exceptions surrounding specific DO schools that send a lot of grads into specific residency programs). Unless a program knows and has a history of taking grads from a certain school, they consider them all the same.

My program views all DO schools the same. A PCOM grad is on a level playing field with a LECOM, LMUDCOM, DMUCOM grad. To our faculty and residents they're all just DO's, and all viewed as being better than FMG/IMG, but less than USMD with the same stats. This has zero to do with the competitiveness of the schools to get into, and more to do with a perceived lack of standardized clinical training among DO's, even between students of the same school.

So apply broadly, take what you get, and don't stress about top tier vs mid/low tier. There's no such thing in DO school.

I think established schools put their graduates into a favorable position especially for when it comes to matching local university affiliated IM programs. My school seems to send a ton of students to KU, UMKC, SLU and as such we're represented and the program knows we're taught to a level adequate enough that our graduates don't need a 250 just to not be thrown in the pile.
 
I think established schools put their graduates into a favorable position especially for when it comes to matching local university affiliated IM programs. My school seems to send a ton of students to KU, UMKC, SLU and as such we're represented and the program knows we're taught to a level adequate enough that our graduates don't need a 250 just to not be thrown in the pile.

Most programs that DO's are generally competitive for don't require a 250.

But your point is exactly what I said at the end of the first paragraph of the post you quoted. If a residency program has a familiarity with grads of a certain school then that's one thing. Most don't, and for them a DO is a DO. There are no tiers. They all have the same generally good basic and clinical science education, with inconsistent quality and intensity of clinical experiences.

So while UKMC might have a history with KCU grads, my program doesn't. They'd see a KCU grad and say "a DO, we like DO's, they're generally good" But there would be no thought about whether KCU was a good DO school or not, to our program they're all the same.
 
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