PCOM VS LECOM (or wait for Allopathics) Post Bac - Help Me Decide

[Aar0n]

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I recently applied to post bac programs at LECOM, PCOM, Cincinati, BU, VCU, Penn, and Drexel. I have a 2.92 science GPA but have retaken a lot of science classes for A's or B's. I have a 28 MCAT but took it 3 years ago (retaking this summer). I graduated Brandeis in 06 and have been coordinating phase 1 clinical trials at Univ of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute for the past 2 years and have strong letters of reccomendation.

So far I have only gotten into PCOM and LECOM Post Bac Programs. I applied less than a month ago and have not heard from any of the allopathic schools. Both DO schools want me to decide by June 1. If I decide and then hear I got into an allopathic post bac will I be able to get my deposit back (not a huge issue)?

I am having trouble deciding what to do. If I had to pick between LECOM and PCOM which one should I choose and why? Will I be able to apply to MD programs after doing a DO post bac? Do I have any shot of getting into an allopathic school? Any advice would be helpful.

Thanks,
Aaron

 

[fireflygirl]

I recently applied to post bac programs at LECOM, PCOM, Cincinati, BU, VCU, Penn, and Drexel. I have a 2.92 science GPA but have retaken a lot of science classes for A's or B's. I have a 28 MCAT but took it 3 years ago (retaking this summer). I graduated Brandeis in 06 and have been coordinating phase 1 clinical trials at Univ of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute for the past 2 years and have strong letters of reccomendation.

So far I have only gotten into PCOM and LECOM Post Bac Programs. I applied less than a month ago and have not heard from any of the allopathic schools. Both DO schools want me to decide by June 1. If I decide and then hear I got into an allopathic post bac will I be able to get my deposit back (not a huge issue)?

I am having trouble deciding what to do. If I had to pick between LECOM and PCOM which one should I choose and why? Will I be able to apply to MD programs after doing a DO post bac? Do I have any shot of getting into an allopathic school? Any advice would be helpful.

Thanks,
Aaron

I really don't think doing a post bac at an osteo school is going to prevent you from getting into an allo one. You could go to Podunk U and make awesome grades and could still get into a great medical school. Only you can shape your profile that you send to med schools - the school from which you do that from isn't really going to help you with that. Pick the program that is going to offer you strong advising, flexibility with your courses, support, a location where you feel comfortable...etc. Think about it like picking any other school - what are the key things you would look for? Don't look at it as allo vs osteo.

What you should be really focusing on is how you're going to get that BCPM up. It's going to take some work and even then, you should figure out what your threshold is going to be....ie. at what GPA given that you get all As will your science GPA plateau at. If it's below 3.5 - you may want to apply broadly and include allo and osteo schools. Also, the MCAT isn't bad so if you retake it, make sure you are confident that you are going to go up and not down, otherwise, you'll have a new challenge in front of you that any med school (allo or osteo) may have a problem with.