"Quick Fix" Reapplicant question/advice

[Rogue42]

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Hey guys, I am going to be a re-applying and I have a couple of questions.

Background:
I applied relatively late - Oct 2nd - and received secondary's at the three of the four schools I applied to. My secondary applications were submitted from Oct 15-25th (one school messed up and though it was submitted they said I was missing material. It took until Nov. 25 to get that sorted out). My MCAT score was also relatively low at a 498. If you want more details on my app, one can go back and look at my previous post from my page. Regardless of these things, I still received two interviews (they are coming up). However, I know that at this late in the game, they are interviews for WL spots, and I am not putting a lot of faith in getting accepted from them. I have been studying and plan to retake the MCAT on April 13th, and my app is ready to go for early submission.

Question:
While I know that there is no such thing as a "quick fix," would it appear that my biggest issues this cycle were my late application with a low MCAT? If so, could increasing my score and applying early be *enough* to get earlier interview dates and increase my chances of acceptance? The only other things I would really have to add to my app this cycle is a completion of a MBA at 4.0 GPA and working 800 additional hours as a GA and 500 hours as a scribe.

What would you do? Any advice welcome!

 

[culturekweenXx]

Why did you only apply to four schools? With a low GPA I would applying to double or triple that.

 

[Goro]

Hey guys, I am going to be a re-applying and I have a couple of questions.

Background:
I applied relatively late - Oct 2nd - and received secondary's at the three of the four schools I applied to. My secondary applications were submitted from Oct 15-25th (one school messed up and though it was submitted they said I was missing material. It took until Nov. 25 to get that sorted out). My MCAT score was also relatively low at a 498. If you want more details on my app, one can go back and look at my previous post from my page. Regardless of these things, I still received two interviews (they are coming up). However, I know that at this late in the game, they are interviews for WL spots, and I am not putting a lot of faith in getting accepted from them. I have been studying and plan to retake the MCAT on April 13th, and my app is ready to go for early submission.

Question:
While I know that there is no such thing as a "quick fix," would it appear that my biggest issues this cycle were my late application with a low MCAT? If so, could increasing my score and applying early be *enough* to get earlier interview dates and increase my chances of acceptance? The only other things I would really have to add to my app this cycle is a completion of a MBA at 4.0 GPA and working 800 additional hours as a GA and 500 hours as a scribe.

What would you do? Any advice welcome!

Oct is not late for DO school. Your problem is the low MCAT.

The MBA will not help you at all for admissions.

 

[Rogue42]

Oct is not late for DO school. Your problem is the low MCAT.

The MBA will not help you at all for admissions.

So in regards to what should I do moving forward; would scoring a higher MCAT (505+) and applying earlier be largely beneficial? Or since I now have a reapplicant stigma, do I also need largely improve my entire application? I ask because I have read that some people should take an entire year between cycles if they have lots of flaws, but those who apply relatively late or with poor MCAT scores can go again if they apply earlier or with better scores.

EDIT: Welcome back.

 

[Faha]

What are your cGPA and sGPA ? State of residence ?

 

[Goro]

So in regards to what should I do moving forward; would scoring a higher MCAT (505+) and applying earlier be largely beneficial? Or since I now have a reapplicant stigma, do I also need largely improve my entire application? I ask because I have read that some people should take an entire year between cycles if they have lots of flaws, but those who apply relatively late or with poor MCAT scores can go again if they apply earlier or with better scores.

EDIT: Welcome back.

Reapplicant stigma is an SDN invention. It definitely doesn't apply to DO schools. Just show us improvement.

Scoring higher on the MCAT will be vastly more helpful than anything else you can do.

Applying from anytime between June 1 and T-giving is fine for any DO applicant. So to reiterate, your rejection was NOT do to your Oct app, which wasn't late.

IF you do not have a DO LOR, get one.
IF you didn't shadow a DO, shadow one. Two would be even better

 

[Rogue42]

What are your cGPA and sGPA ? State of residence ?

TN
Cgpa: 3.59
Sgpa: 3.52

 

[Faha]

Applying earlier, in June, and applying to many more schools will increase your chances for more interviews. I suggest all these schools:
LMU-DCOM
ACOM
ARCOM
NYIT-Arkansas
BCOM
UIWSOM
VCOM (all 3 schools)
UP-KYCOM
WVSOM
LUCOM
CUSOM
ICOM
PCOM Georgia and South Georgia
Most of these schools have MCAT medians in the 498 to 502 range.