Pay the DO deposit?

[ClockworkDoc]

I currently have an acceptance to a DO school, but they want a nonrefundable $1k deposit in December to reserve the spot. I have interviewed at 4 MD schools and I have 1 more in November.

The question is:

Should I pay and have the opportunity to do DO if I don't get into an MD?

or

Should I take my chances with the MD's?

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[Hardbody]

I currently have an acceptance to a DO school, but they want a nonrefundable $1k deposit in December to reserve the spot. I have interviewed at 4 MD schools and I have 1 more in November.

The question is:

Should I pay and have the opportunity to do DO if I don't get into an MD?

or

Should I take my chances with the MD's?

With a 38 MCAT? I guess you would have to really believe in the philosophy, if not, I doubt you won't get in somewhere this year with those stats.

 

[BellyDancingDoc]

If it were me, I'd wait as long as I could to send the deposit, but if I still didn't have any sure things by the due date, I'd send the $$$. You know the saying, "a bird in the hand..."

Losing a grand would suck big time. But then, think how much reapplying would cost!

Frogs

 

[DrJen]

Wow... That's a ridiculous amount of money! I guess they are really sick of being the safety school. Still...

 

[Law2Doc]

I currently have an acceptance to a DO school, but they want a nonrefundable $1k deposit in December to reserve the spot. I have interviewed at 4 MD schools and I have 1 more in November.

The question is:

Should I pay and have the opportunity to do DO if I don't get into an MD?

or

Should I take my chances with the MD's?

It comes down to the old Dirty Harry quote -- "you've got to ask yourself a question: Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?"

 

[Instatewaiter]

I agree with froggie, wait as long as possible especially since you have such a high MCAT, but DO is better than nothing.

 

[Orthodoc40]

I guess you would have to really believe in the philosophy, if not, I doubt you won't get in somewhere this year with those stats.

You don't really have to believe in the philosophy to go DO - you just have to want to be a doctor, really. Many people do this. And there's never a guarantee based on numbers alone - as you know.

I currently have an acceptance to a DO school, but they want a nonrefundable $1k deposit in December to reserve the spot. I have interviewed at 4 MD schools and I have 1 more in November.
The question is:
Should I pay and have the opportunity to do DO if I don't get into an MD?
or
Should I take my chances with the MD's?

It sounds like you would chose MD over DO no matter what but getting in is better than not, so wait as long as you can to pay the deposit and just make sure if you don't have any other acceptance by the deadline, you're paid. Even losing $1000 will be worth knowing you have somewhere to go next year.

 

[dr.z]

I currently have an acceptance to a DO school, but they want a nonrefundable $1k deposit in December to reserve the spot. I have interviewed at 4 MD schools and I have 1 more in November.

The question is:

Should I pay and have the opportunity to do DO if I don't get into an MD?

or

Should I take my chances with the MD's?

I would pay the deposit just in case. $1k in a long run isn't going to hurt you.

 

[MDstudent101]

Seriously, I would wait about one to three weeks before the due date to the DO school, if you still have not recieved an acceptance to an MD school then you my freind better drop that deposit in their hands.. Guess you might have to start embracing that Philosophy... which in my opinion isn't that bad at all...

 

[p9142]

Should I pay and have the opportunity to do DO if I don't get into an MD?

no freaking way

or

Should I take my chances with the MD's?

uh . . . . yeah. You will definitely get in seeing as how you applied so broadly and have a killer MCAT.

 

[CatsandCradles]

I currently have an acceptance to a DO school, but they want a nonrefundable $1k deposit in December to reserve the spot. I have interviewed at 4 MD schools and I have 1 more in November.

The question is:

Should I pay and have the opportunity to do DO if I don't get into an MD?

or

Should I take my chances with the MD's?

Hi there, I'm in a DO program.

You really are in a tight situation! I take it you are aiming for an MD program.

Some of the other posters said you have a 38 MCAT. I'm sure you'll get into an MD program somewhere. It's only October. Unless the DO program is one of those specialty school oreintated, then I think you can take a gamble and not pay the $1,000 deposit. I guess the DO programs are tired or being used as back up schools, hence the high deposit.

Also take this into consideration: if you declined this DO program, there might be another one in December or January that might interview you, by that time you might have an MD accpetance somewhere. Now there are no guarentees, but that's how the application process is.

I wish you the very best,

C&C

 

[DropkickMurphy]

I currently have an acceptance to a DO school, but they want a nonrefundable $1k deposit in December to reserve the spot. I have interviewed at 4 MD schools and I have 1 more in November.

The question is:

Should I pay and have the opportunity to do DO if I don't get into an MD?

or

Should I take my chances with the MD's?

Hold the money until the last day before it's due......that is assuming you can submit it electronically (via credit card or electronic money transfer).

 

[searun]

I am sure that you will get into an MD program if that is what you want.
38 MCAT, give me a break. Yeah, 3.4 won't blow anyone away, but with your
MCAT, you will be accepted.

Nut up and have some self confidence.

Searun

 

[MadHopsMD]

I currently have an acceptance to a DO school, but they want a nonrefundable $1k deposit in December to reserve the spot. I have interviewed at 4 MD schools and I have 1 more in November.

The question is:

Should I pay and have the opportunity to do DO if I don't get into an MD?

or

Should I take my chances with the MD's?

i bet you 1K bucks that you will get accepted at MD somewhere. Wanna make the wager? I'll give you 5 to 1 odds. aka. give me the money, instead of the school...heck you could make 5G out of it.

 

[viper2fast505]

Hey, I am probably DO bound and I have a 40P MCAT and 3.7gpa, so try to keep your head up DO schools are more then a second place prize. I really do like what they stand for and how they practice in areas that really need doctors. That being said if IU will some day accept me I will have a tough choice.

 

[MadHopsMD]

Hey, I am probably DO bound and I have a 40P MCAT and 3.7gpa, so try to keep your head up DO schools are more then a second place prize. I really do like what they stand for and how they practice in areas that really need doctors. That being said if IU will some day accept me I will have a tough choice.

I am sorry what? That is the first time, DO and 40 MCAT were ever in one sentence together. Glad to see DO isnt second place

 

[DropkickMurphy]

Hey, I am probably DO bound and I have a 40P MCAT and 3.7gpa, so try to keep your head up DO schools are more then a second place prize. I really do like what they stand for and how they practice in areas that really need doctors. That being said if IU will some day accept me I will have a tough choice.

That is unless you get assigned to Terre Haute for your first two years at IU

 

[Guile]

Hey, I am probably DO bound and I have a 40P MCAT and 3.7gpa, so try to keep your head up DO schools are more then a second place prize. I really do like what they stand for and how they practice in areas that really need doctors. That being said if IU will some day accept me I will have a tough choice.

Whoa, would you like to expand on this? Why would you not get an MD and then practice wherever you want, including those underserved areas? Just wow. 40 and 3.7 and DO. Definitely the first time those have been in the same sentence together.

 

[Guile]

That is unless you get assigned to Terre Haute for your first two years at IU

Hey, at least there's a great engineering school in Terra Haute--Rose Hulman. I have a friend who went there and loved it. He's raking it in now, too.

 

[Oculus Sinistra]

I guess the DO programs are tired or being used as back up schools, hence the high deposit.

That is one theory...

Another theory is that the schools want to take on students who want to be there. So "put your money where your mouth is" if you want to hold a seat, otherwise they're moving on to the next person on the list.

As a result, people get accepted to DO schools much faster than MD schools. At MD schools, everyone is putting down their measly $100 to tie up seats in schools while the hold out on the waitlist of a more desirable school.

Come January... maybe even now... that uncertainty is going to be eating people alive here on Pre-MD. So maybe MD schools should do the same -- you want to come to BU? That'll be $2000, otherwise we have 9,000 other people who want your seat.

(It may be important to state that the $2000 goes toward your tuition)

 

[MossPoh]

That is unless you get assigned to Terre Haute for your first two years at IU

Yea.......that is kind of the med school equivalent of being sent to siberia I believe.

 

[MossPoh]

Hey, at least there's a great engineering school in Terra Haute--Rose Hulman. I have a friend who went there and loved it. He's raking it in now, too.

Yea. I was accepted there...but the smell and the fact that the biggest club was the anime club really turned me off...and having to go to the other college in town just to meet moderatley attractive girls...

 

[Guile]

Yea. I was accepted there...but the smell and the fact that the biggest club was the anime club really turned me off...and having to go to the other college in town just to meet moderatley attractive girls...

Biggest club the anime club--that's funny. It's interesting because my friend who went there is actually a really cool guy. I wonder how much he liked it... He went to Virginia Tech for grad school and is enjoying a nice, cushy job in the software industry presently.

 

[somemaybedoc]

You folks are a bunch of bitches!

DO programs are no second place. The averages may be lower but I bet you the EC's and life experiences are double. Screw you little 20 yr punks with 38 mcats that think you are the ****. Get some life experiences under your belt-then we will talk.

if you are not down with the do philosophies than apply four times for md. Dont use it as a backup. I dont want to see you in class.

I have not made up my mind yet but I am looking at then two approaches as unique and equal. If anything, DO is extra info/skills.
dave

Stop bitching, the OP simply has other schools he would rather go to and doesn't want to drop a deposit on one of his less favored schools, his reasons are his own. The academics vs ec/life thing has been done to death, the consensus is whatever the person who is posting has is best.

To the OP wait as long as you can, but pay the deposit.

 

[Law2Doc]

Stop bitching, the OP simply has other schools he would rather go to and doesn't want to drop a deposit on one of his less favored schools, his reasons are his own.

Very true. Even folks who apply to comparably ranked MD schools are going to have one they want to go to over another, so we needn't jump into the whole DO as back-up discussion. The biggest difference here is the grand he needs to drop to keep a back-up he likely won't be attending if he has other options (which he very well might based on his numbers)
So the answer, clearly is to hold off on the deposit until the last possible moment.

 

[8744]

I was going to suggest that we stop questioning people's motivations for going to any medical school or picking any specialty but then I realized that that would shut down SDN.

Never mind.

 

[DropkickMurphy]

Hey, at least there's a great engineering school in Terra Haute--Rose Hulman. I have a friend who went there and loved it. He's raking it in now, too.

Yes, but you should try growing up here......you'd think a town with three universities (Rose-Hulman, Indiana State, and Saint Mary of the Woods) would actually have something to show for it but not here....this place sucks. Rose is a great school if you have the grades to get in there and the money to afford it......the only drawback is the location.

 

[berkshiredoc]

To the OP: I think it comes down to this...if you don't get into one of your MD schools this year, would you rather be at your DO school or apply again? It's as simple as that. After all, you applied to DO, also. Granted, maybe you didn't know you'd get MD interviews at all, but don't think that interviews, even 5 or 6, translate to definite acceptance. Even your MCAT doesn't guarantee that. Look up all the semi-suicidal posts last May and June of those who were shocked they didn't make it anywhere. Pay the deposit, unless you're prepared to do Round 2 next year. Good luck.

 

[MossPoh]

Biggest club the anime club--that's funny. It's interesting because my friend who went there is actually a really cool guy. I wonder how much he liked it... He went to Virginia Tech for grad school and is enjoying a nice, cushy job in the software industry presently.

I am almost starting to think your friend and I might have gotten along.lol I was accepted at VT too..almost did rotc there....yea Rose grads go to some nice positions and grad schools....I know a few that went to cal-tech, MIT, Carnegie Mellon for their masters/phd from rose....it is one of those hidden little gems if you are into engineering, which I found out I wasnted...so I'm glad I didn't go there.lol

 

[MJB]

Stop bitching, the OP simply has other schools he would rather go to and doesn't want to drop a deposit on one of his less favored schools, his reasons are his own. The academics vs ec/life thing has been done to death, the consensus is whatever the person who is posting has is best.

To the OP wait as long as you can, but pay the deposit.

If the OP doesn't want to go there, don't make the deposit...and why apply in the first place? i didn't apply anywhere that i wouldn't go in a heartbeat.

 

[Law2Doc]

If the OP doesn't want to go there, don't make the deposit...and why apply in the first place? i didn't apply anywhere that i wouldn't go in a heartbeat.

While I agree, I guess some people have a "this is better than nothing" attitude about certain schools on their lists. In which case I guess such people would pretty much have to put down the deposit at the due date without much further consideration, as they have already made that determination.

 

[Orthodoc40]

I find it interesting that after 33 posts no responses from the OP...

 

[Law2Doc]

I find it interesting that after 33 posts no responses from the OP...

He's probably practicing for his upcoming interview in hopes that he can save a grand.

 

[somemaybedoc]

If the OP doesn't want to go there, don't make the deposit...and why apply in the first place? i didn't apply anywhere that i wouldn't go in a heartbeat.

He wants to go there, that's why he applied, he just wants to go somewhere else more.

Let's say you got into State U and had to put down a thousand bucks and you also had a great interview at Harvard, let's further assume you care about prestige/rankings; wouldn't you be lukewarm to the idea of having to put down the deposit before you heard from your top choice.

 

[Orthodoc40]

He's probably practicing for his upcoming interview in hopes that he can save a grand.

He wants to go there, that's why he applied, he just wants to go somewhere else more.

Let's say you got into State U and had to put down a thousand bucks and you also had a great interview at Harvard, let's further assume you care about prestige/rankings; wouldn't you be lukewarm to the idea of having to put down the deposit before you heard from your top choice.

"assuming I cared about the big name" yeah - I would be. In reality, I'd be more likely to not want to send Harvard the $1,000 in case I got in to UMass - but that's me. Different priorities, but it's the same idea.

 

[MJB]

I decided going in that if the situation arises, 1000 bucks isn't that big of a deal in the long run.

That being said, I don't consider DO a back up plan...You gotta decide what's best for you. It just sounds to me like this person never had any intention of going DO.

 

[Andre04]

You folks are a bunch of bitches!

DO programs are no second place. The averages may be lower but I bet you the EC's and life experiences are double. Screw you little 20 yr punks with 38 mcats that think you are the ****. Get some life experiences under your belt-then we will talk.

if you are not down with the do philosophies than apply four times for md. Dont use it as a backup. I dont want to see you in class.

I have not made up my mind yet but I am looking at then two approaches as unique and equal. If anything, DO is extra info/skills.
dave

I kinda get the feeling you wouldn't have written this post if you had Cornell or Stanford interviews lined up now.

 

[Guile]

laugh on *****. Funny that I have already decided to not even fill out a secondary for cornell despite the fact I have connections that could help me get in and that I am struggling to even want to apply to stanford...so I guess I would still be saying the same thing if I had interviews there.
cornell: city life
stanford: like the wilderness medicine fellowsips and cool doctors doing environmental exposure/wilderness med but still not really my scene-my father also went there but no super into it

dave

I think that's your loss, buddy. Cornell and Stanford aren't losing sleep over not getting your secondary.

 

[maestro1625]

laugh on *****.

and the flamewar has begun... took long enough.