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[littledogrex]

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Schools Applied

 

[GoSpursGo]

What is new this year, other than applying earlier? Did you get any interviews last year? What is your year-by-year GPA trend?

In general, my strong advice is to include DO schools. You moved to a much more competitive state. You have such an overabundance of EC hours that I suspect that any additional hours you accrue will be of very marginal value, leading me to suspect your path forward is to either rehab your GPA/retake the MCAT, or broaden your list of schools to include DO. If you want to take a shot this year at MD only to see if the problem was your application timeline then I suppose that's fine, but you should be thinking now about how you will enhance your app for next year in case you don't get in again.

 

[Faha]

You applied to several state public schools that admit few non residents with your stats and no connection to the state including Illinois, South Carolina, U Wisconsin, Colorado, Utah, Michigan State. You could try these schools instead:
TCU-UNT
Creighton
Loyola
Medical College Wisconsin
Oak;and Beaumont
Wayne State
Drexel
Hackensack
New York Medical College
Albany
Quinnipiac
California University
Also apply to DO schools and I suggest these:
WESTERN
TUCOM-CA
TUNCOM
ATSU-KCOM
KCU-COM
DMU-COM
MU-COM
PCOM
CUSOM
NYIT (both schools)
Touro-NY
UIWSOM

 

[dial1010usa]

Don't you think your MCAT is low for MD schools? Hope you won't be a 3rd year re-applicant next year. All the best and add DO schools.

 

[GoSpursGo]

Upward GPA trend with low junior year, 4.0 senior and 3.8 postbacc. I changed my entire PS which I think was pretty weak. I had multiple doctors work with me on a new PS and I think it’s a lot stronger. Started working as a medical scribe for the last 7 months. Applied to way more schools. Last year I could barely afford apps and submitted 7, two of which accept basically no OOS students (wasn’t aware) and got 1 Interview.

Currently trying to get involved in research as I’ve been told that could also be holding me back. Unsure about DO, worth considering for sure but really wanted to take the MD route.

Thanks for the advice

The concern when someone reviews your application isn't going to be that you aren't committed to medicine--with thousands of hours, you clearly know what you're getting yourself into and have shown yourself to be altruistic. You have done about as much as you realistically can to repair your GPA, but between that and a below average GPA there will be questions that you will be able to handle the academic rigor of medical school and medical licensing exams. You could get another 10k hours of clinical experience and write the most eloquent personal statement, and that still would not reassure anyone about your academic ability. Sorry to put it in such blunt terms, but there is simply no shortcut when it comes to stats. Especially when you are in a very competitive state.

So again, if you feel compelled to try your luck again by applying on time and with a better MD school list, it's not completely crazy, though I see little harm in applying to DO. But I strongly encourage you to consider working an MCAT retake into your gap year plans in case you do find yourself reapplying again.

 

[GoSpursGo]

I appreciate the advice, this is what I came here for. But it feels crummy nonetheless when trying for something so hard for so long. It seems everywhere you turn you get 180 degree conflicting advice and it’s hard to know what is noise and what is guidance. If you know what I mean. People forget how mentally defeating this process is… I want to be an MD more than anything and I’m not sure I can retake MCAT. I can. But not sure I can do better.

Does it make a difference if my science: bio/chem and psych scores were high and cars was my limiting factor in overall mcat score? Does it matter if my science GOA is great if cumulative gpa isn’t good? I had two semesters spent in the hospital junior year and got Cs and first and only D & F. Otherwise I was nearly 4.0. Does any of this matter? Because I can handle the academic rigor and I am a terrific student.

I hear you. It sucks, and it isn’t fair.

The problem that I find a lot of applicants have is that they are framing the application process incorrectly. A prospective school is NOT trying to determine if you are going to be a good doctor; they are asking, is this person MORE LIKELY to succeed in medical school than all of the other applicants that we reject. From that perspective, when you are going up against all of the other stellar applicants from CA who did not have a bad semester… it’s a tough spot.

This is a point I make not to kick you while you’re down, but because it’s a common mistake that I hope future students won’t make—when you are facing health problems, you NEED to withdraw and take an LOA. Everyone thinks they can just bootstrap their way through health problems, and more often than not it is a mistake that does irreparable damage to an otherwise great GPA. To this point, you should check if your undergrad would let you retroactively withdraw from those courses. Occasionally for documented health problems, retroactive withdrawal can be a thing. The answer will likely be no, especially if you did well in other classes that semester and you needed those credits to graduate… but a consideration.

But even if you can do that, with a 509 in CA, I strongly feel you need to either retake or add DO schools. You need to plan as if you’re going to need to reapply, and if you are unsuccessful this year at MD then I think the clear message will be that your MCAT is too low. If you do not want to retake, then I would add DO now so that you will have the opportunity to take a potential acceptance there. The worst case scenario is that you do neither and are sitting in the exact same spot a year from now trying to decide between either adding DO schools vs retaking MCAT.

 

[Faha]

You have excellent ECs and a good sGPA of 3.68 . The GPA-MCAT grid shows you have ~2/3 chance for a MD acceptance. Your only disadvantage is that you are a California resident so you need to apply broadly to OOS MD schools and also DO schools.

 

[GoSpursGo]

You have excellent ECs and a good sGPA of 3.68 . The GPA-MCAT grid shows you have ~2/3 chance for a MD acceptance. Your only disadvantage is that you are a California resident so you need to apply broadly to OOS MD schools and also DO schools.

To be clear and to balance my fairly negative post--I agree, it is within the realm of possibility that you could get into MD as-is. I just always strongly advise people to think of the worst case scenario so that if they DON'T get in they will have meaningfully improved their application over the course of the year, or will have given themselves a chance to get into DO. 1/3 is still a pretty high likelihood of not getting in, and I don't think it's possible to overstate the drawback of being a CA resident which makes me think you're probably closer to 50/50 or slightly below. Thus my advice.

 

[chilly_md]

I agree with GoSpursGo. It would be wise to include Western, Touro CA, Touro NV and a few other strong DO schools to avoid a reapplication. You can always decline the acceptance if you get into MD this year. Many successful applicants in this stat range likely lived in a “lucky” state with a heavy preference for their residents. If you applied last year with your post-bacc GPA on there and Arkansas did not accept you, I think it will be very difficult to get interviews at the schools you applied to this year.

 

[chilly_md]

Thanks for the advice

For reference, Arkansas did not accept me as my residency had officially changed by the time they made final decisions. According to MSAR instate accepted students account for over 97% of their class. Of the 3000 applicants, 5 OOS were accepted.

They would not have gone off your new residency unless they somehow found out mid-cycle about that. Schools go off what you put on your primary and secondary usually.

 

[GoSpursGo]

Thanks. Obviously, in retrospect I would do things differently if I could’ve. When you’re dying in a hospital, undergoing lifesaving procedures for weeks on end, it’s difficult to think about how my grades are being affected. On another note, I self funded my college education and dropping out would have resulted in me losing my scholarship and having to self pay 100% of that semesters tuition. Given my thousands of dollars in medical bills, didn’t seem possible.

I appealed the help out of it all. The state of Arkansas is politically backwards and, as we are currently seeing, don’t GAF about health > money.

That's truly messed up.

Yours is truly the case where the schools which ask about academic hardship on their secondaries should hear about it. Hopefully that will help. Nevertheless, regardless of how unfair this whole scenario has been... given the position you are in I strongly advise including DO schools.

 

[chilly_md]

As they did. I was transparent about moving to CA. I didn’t think it would penalize me at that point but it did. I paid CA taxes for the prior year. Not paying the state money, not given state benefits. Simple concept.

They do save the limited OOS spots for students who have strong ties. Living in the state for 20+ years certainly qualifies. I hope they accept you this time. As GoSpursGo said, I would advise you to add a few DO schools. Having to spend hard-earned money without an acceptance at the end of it is heartbreaking.