Question(s) about DIY Post-Bacc & General Path

[hippo166]

Hey everyone, I'm a 29 y/o ORM nontrad looking to finally apply to medical school after working through years of debt my father left us when he left our family. Hopefully this is an OK place to post some questions about how my application is looking.

First off, a little background: I graduated with a dismal 3.2 uGPA (BCPM 3.05, AO 3.46) after having long given up on medicine for personal reasons. My grades actually improved after I gave up on med school around junior year, except for a D in physical chemistry 2 because I slept through a big chunk of the final that was worth 50+% (long story). It broke my heart because I was doing very well before that, but I did retake that class for an A which delayed my graduation. RIP DO grade replacement

I've since been working in various hospitals, first as an ER scribe in NJ and GA for a couple years before moving back to my native OH (plus tutoring on the side). I'm currently working as a PCA (tech) at OSU's cancer hospital. This gets me somewhere in the ballpark of 3~4k clinical hours, I believe. I also started taking classes as a sort of DIY post-bacc using the tuition benefit my work offers. My main question is how it looks if I only took 2-3 classes a semester? I didn't take more because I found it hard to balance full-time work (required to maintain the tuition benefit), research/volunteering, and upper level science classes.

I should be ending somewhere around 30 post-bacc credit hours after this fall. I do have a 4.0 post-bacc so far, which I think helps my narrative of reinvention/discovering deeper motivation since my main college years.

I also took last fall semester off to study for the MCAT, and got a 522.

I would absolutely love to go to any medical school in Ohio or surrounding states. I'm also wondering if I have a shot at MD or if I should focus heavily on DO. Any insight or general opinions would be appreciated. Thanks! (Apologies for the wall of text)

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[Nugester]

Hey everyone, I'm a 29 y/o ORM nontrad looking to finally apply to medical school after working through years of debt my father left us when he left our family. Hopefully this is an OK place to post some questions about how my application is looking.

First off, a little background: I graduated with a dismal 3.2 uGPA (BCPM 3.05, AO 3.46) after having long given up on medicine for personal reasons. My grades actually improved after I gave up on med school around junior year, except for a D in physical chemistry 2 because I slept through a big chunk of the final that was worth 50+% (long story). It broke my heart because I was doing very well before that, but I did retake that class for an A which delayed my graduation. RIP DO grade replacement

I've since been working in various hospitals, first as an ER scribe in NJ and GA for a couple years before moving back to my native OH (plus tutoring on the side). I'm currently working as a PCA (tech) at OSU's cancer hospital. This gets me somewhere in the ballpark of 3~4k clinical hours, I believe. I also started taking classes as a sort of DIY post-bacc using the tuition benefit my work offers. My main question is how it looks if I only took 2-3 classes a semester? I didn't take more because I found it hard to balance full-time work (required to maintain the tuition benefit), research/volunteering, and upper level science classes.

I should be ending somewhere around 30 post-bacc credit hours after this fall. I do have a 4.0 post-bacc so far, which I think helps my narrative of reinvention/discovering deeper motivation since my main college years.

I also took last fall semester off to study for the MCAT, and got a 522.

I would absolutely love to go to any medical school in Ohio or surrounding states. I'm also wondering if I have a shot at MD or if I should focus heavily on DO. Any insight or general opinions would be appreciated. Thanks! (Apologies for the wall of text)

OP, you definitely have a shot at MD, especially with the high MCAT. As for only taking 2-3 classes a semester, adcoms aren't mindless, callous robots...they understand you have life commitments outside of classes. As for DO, MD isn't a given so round out your application by applying to them. As for which schools, there are a bunch of lists given by Faha and Goro about schools that reward reinvention on SDN. In the end, make sure you apply strategically! Good luck!

 

[GreenDuck12]

OP, you can look up MD admissions broken down by GPA and MCAT. Based on your profile and according to the matrix, you have a roughly 50% chance. Link However, you are really going to need to do your research and carefully craft a list of schools. I would also include DO programs as well. What is your state of residence?

 

[Faha]

Are you an Ohio resident ? When are you planning to apply ?

 

[hippo166]

Hi all, I really appreciate the feedback. I am an Ohio resident (born & raised), sorry I should have clarified that in my original post. I moved out for a couple years after college to stay near my girlfriend but I'm back now and am working at my alma mater, Ohio State.

I'm relieved to hear that adcoms will hopefully take into consideration my other commitments when they look at my lighter course load in my patchwork post-bacc. Right now I'm thinking of applying broadly with a 50/50 to 60/40 (MD/DO) spread, and will be revising my personal statement for a couple more weeks while working on my school list. I have pretty much everything else ready (2 science prof LORs, 1 MD and 1 DO since OSU doesn't do a committee letter) so I'm planning to apply in the 2020-2021 cycle as early as possible. Any glaring issues with my plan?

 

[Faha]

What are your cGPA and sGPA including your post bacc ?

 

[hippo166]

What are your cGPA and sGPA including your post bacc ?

Currently (as of end of the past spring semester), my AMCAS sGPA is 3.12 and AACOMAS sGPa is 3.20. cGPA is now 3.24. My original post included the first semester of my post-bacc grades so these new numbers are only accounting for one more semester.

I do still plan on doing another 2 semester which should bump up my sGPA's to about 3.2/3.3 and cGPA about 3.28 if I maintain straight A's, but that's hypothetical and I know how people are about those.

Thank you for the feedback, btw!

 

[Faha]

I suggest applying to these MD schools with your stats:
Toledo
Wright State
NEOMED
Ohio State
Cincinnati
West Virginia
Western Michigan
Oakland Beaumont
Indiana
Medical College Wisconsin
Loyola
Rosalind Franklin
Rush
Creighton
TCU-UNT
NOVA MD
USF Morsani
Miami
Wake Forest
Virginia Commonwealth
Eastern Virginia
George Washington
Georgetown
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
Penn State
Seton Hall
Hofstra
Einstein
New York Medical College
Albany
Vermont
Quinnipiac
Tufts
Also apply to several DO schools and I suggest these:
OU-HCOM
WVSOM
UP-KYCOM
LECOM
PCOM
MU-COM
CCOM
DMU-COM
KCU-COM
ATSU-KCOM
AZCOM

 

[hippo166]

Thank you for the list, Faha! Some of these seem like real reaches given my GPA is below the 10th percentile at some schools, but I appreciate the insight regardless. I'll begin hammering out a finalized list based on yours this week

 

[daw05]

Thank you for the list, Faha! Some of these seem like real reaches given my GPA is below the 10th percentile at some schools, but I appreciate the insight regardless. I'll begin hammering out a finalized list based on yours this week

Holy hell that's a long list. 35 schools (plus whatever number of DO) is too many not matter what your stats. Run your list by some of the admins on this site to get a little better narrowing. With a 522 MCAT and 3.25 you should be competitive at enough places to avoid spending many thousands of dollars on applications. For example - WVU has a huge in-state bias, prob not worth it. Again, ask someone more knowledgeable than I am.

 

[Faha]

Thank you for the list, Faha! Some of these seem like real reaches given my GPA is below the 10th percentile at some schools, but I appreciate the insight regardless. I'll begin hammering out a finalized list based on yours this week

Yes, but the applicants accepted who are less than the 10th percentile are often the ones with the MCAT scores greater than 520 !

 

[Faha]

Holy hell that's a long list. 35 schools (plus whatever number of DO) is too many not matter what your stats. Run your list by some of the admins on this site to get a little better narrowing. With a 522 MCAT and 3.25 you should be competitive at enough places to avoid spending many thousands of dollars on applications. For example - WVU has a huge in-state bias, prob not worth it. Again, ask someone more knowledgeable than I am.

West Virginia matriculated 42 non residents last year (and 67 residents), the majority from adjoining states.