Prospective DO Applicant PLEASE HELP!!!

[Iccebreaker]

Hello there, I just recieved my scores for the January MCAT, and I would like to see whether my application is at all competitive or acceptance worth for either Nova Southeastern University DO School, or LECOM DO school, both in Florida.

Honors Biomedical Science Major

My Overall GPA is: 3.83
My Science GPA is 3.62
My MCAT Score is 499 (please note that this was my first attempt at the MCAT, and I am taking it again June 2nd)

SHADOWING:
Over 300 hours of shadowing an Ophthalmologist (writing me a recommendation letter)
60 Hours of shadowing an Orthopedic surgeon (writing me a recommendation letter)

DISTINCTIONS:
Member of the Honors College at the University
Dean's List at my university
Member of AED pre-health honors society
Member of American Association of Medical Colleges at my university
Member of National Society of Collegiate Scholars
Member of Pre-medical student association

Officer & Social Chairman of my university's official soccer club

Languages: English (Native) / Greek (Fluent) / Spanish (Basic)

Advanced Degree in Drum Lessons

RESEARCH/LAB EXPERIENCE:
Professional Work (lab assistant and technician) in Pathology Lab / Hematology Lab / Microbiology Lab

VOLUNTEERING:
Volunteer in Hospital in Low Income & Socially needed area
Volunteer in Veteran's Association Hospital

Obviously going to take the MCAT again in June, with the view of scoring a 506-510 to get into an MD school, but what are my honest chances at gaining acceptance to the schools I mentioned above?

Thank you so very much!!

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[deleted731525]

For MD you would probably need a 510 minimum, but you would want higher(and even then the sub 500 score would look bad). For DO if you get a 506+ and apply broadly you should get in somewhere. Even if you had perfect stats banking your hopes on 2 schools is a bad idea.

 

[Dr. Death]

I am assuming you are a Florida resident, and the Florida MDs have generally more forgiving MCAT scores, so you should be able to get into one with a 506+. As the Mountain said, banking on making it into two schools is a bad bet. Even with ideal scores you would want to apply to 6-10 schools minimum.

 

[NonTrad16]

1) Assuming a 6-10 point mcat increase is unjustified unless you had something explainable happen for your first test (sick, etc). That's an increase from less than 50 percentile to 75-80ish?
2) Many schools average scores, so getting a 510 would put you in safe territory for DO schools... Lesser scores will leave you in an "eh..." position. MD schools would be a tough bet in my opinion (given a 510).
3) Don't put all your eggs in too few baskets. Predicting a single school or two is impossible.

Don't set yourself up to fail. Give the mcat way more than you did last time and apply to a decent number of schools.

 

[Mr. D.O.five]

I am assuming you are a Florida resident, and the Florida MDs have generally more forgiving MCAT scores, so you should be able to get into one with a 506+. As the Mountain said, banking on making it into two schools is a bad bet. Even with ideal scores you would want to apply to 6-10 schools minimum.

I'm not sure that's entirely true seeing as I think only one school (FSU) has an average below 30 (~506-507) with other schools having med-high averages. That being said, it is entirely possible for someone to get in with a 506, but living in FL and having applied this cycle, I don't know anyone by name who was successful at an MD acceptance with an MCAT below 506.

 

[gator2255]

I had a 3.6 cGPA 3.5 sGPA and got a 498 MCAT my first attempt and a 502 my second attempt. I ended up with interviews at over 10 schools including NOVA and Lecom-B even though I got waitlisted at those particular schools which was probably more due to my sucky interview skills and applying late. So as long as you bump up your MCAT a few points, apply early, and apply broadly you'll be golden for DO schools. To have any shot at Florida MDs you'd probably need a 508+

 

[Mr. D.O.five]

I had a 3.6 cGPA 3.5 sGPA and got a 498 MCAT my first attempt and a 502 my second attempt. I ended up with interviews at over 10 schools including NOVA and Lecom-B even though I got waitlisted at those particular schools which was probably more due to my sucky interview skills and applying late. So as long as you bump up your MCAT a few points, apply early, and apply broadly you'll be golden for DO schools. To have any shot at Florida MDs you'd probably need a 508+

Did you get any MD invites?

 

[gator2255]

Did you get any MD invites?

No I didn't I applied to DO and MD late October/early November. I doubt I would have anyways even if I applied earlier bc my lower MCAT