I have talked to admissions advisors at 3 different schools and was told that " med school os very competative blah...blah...blah..." and that the lacking element was my GPA. With so many credit hours under my belt, my only shot is to raise my MCAT, which could be better anyway. Im not really looking forward to taking it again though. UIC med even told me to learn another language (I speak German pretty well but they said they prefered Hindi or Spanish!?). As far as EC, I have volunteered for over a year at a hospital, tutor, some other volunteer experiences at a Frank Lloyd Wright house, and I have shadowed 3 different physicians, one of whom wrote me a letter of rec and still e-mails me every now and then to see if I got in yet. I guess that my only real option is to score higher on the May 25 MCAT, but does anyone else have any advise as to ECs that are looked upon favorably, or any other advise. Well 4th times a charm.
Is your cumulative undergraduate GPA (not including graduate work) a 3.4? What is your undergraduate science GPA? Keep in mind that many schools use your undergraduate GPA in admissions, not your graduate.
If your UGPA is indeed 3.4 and your undergraduate science GPA is around the same, then your UGPA is competitive for DO schools. Your MCAT score of 27 is also competitive for DO schools, provided no individual sub-test score is too low, but is below average for Allopathic schools (you really need around a 30, or higher, to be competitive for MD schools); in many cases your overall MCAT score is above the mean for a DO matriculant, or hovering around the mean.
Frankly, I'm very puzzled by your lack of a positive response from the Osteopathic schools you applied to. My statistics aren't that different from yours (MCAT 28, Overall UGPA 3.4, Science UGPA 3.4). Although I applied really late in the cycle (November), I received three interviews from Osteopathic medical schools (applied to 10 schools), resulting in an acceptance at one school, a position high on the waitlist at another school (withdrew from the waitlist), and I withdrew from the interview at the third school. Given my own experience, I don't understand your situation. Did you apply super late in the cycle, or not broadly enough? That can really hurt you. You would do well to apply as early as you reasonably can and as broadly as you can. If you got interviews this cycle, but were rejected or waitlisted post-interview, then it's possible that your interview skills are less than optimal; do some mock interviews with experienced folks and ask them for feedback on your interviewing skills. Refine what you can in regards to that. Also, make sure you are demonstrating to the DO schools, during the interview, that you have knowledge about, and specific desire to learn, Osteopathic medicine.
If your UGPA is the problem, as suggested by the admissions folks, then you would do well to raise that statistic and/or showing your academic prowess through taking advanced undergraduate science classes (not graduate). You may not be able to raise your UGPA much, but if you trend straight A's in a fulltime schedule for at least a year taking difficult undergraduate science classes, you should be demonstrating your academic ability, I would think.
It is a good idea to retake the MCAT if you think you can score higher; it can only help, of course. However, keep in mind that
both your MCAT and UGPA need to be as high as you can get them. It's a myth that one can make up for the other. They demonstrate different aspects of your academic ability. If you are thinking of reapplying to Allopathic schools, you really need to score a 30+ on your MCAT. Take a look at the 30+ study habits in the SDN MCAT forum and diagnose your MCAT to find out how to raise your score.
In terms of EC's, the two most sought after ones, in my experience, are clinical experience and community service/volunteer work.
I'm at a loss to explain the results of your application, based on what you gave us here. I really don't have enough information to really help you. I hope you can find out what is really going on and are able to address it. I wish you best of luck.
