School List Help

[DiscusKeeper]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

Hello everyone! A student of mine asked for some help making a school list. He is applying with a 505 MCAT score, so he's mostly looking into DO. I didn't apply DO in my cycle, so I'm completely unfamiliar with what DO schools he should be looking into.

I'll just copy/paste part of his email where he describes his current list and his stats + extracurriculars. I'd really appreciate any suggestions for schools to add and schools to possibly remove from this list. He's a great guy, so I want to make sure I give him the best advice possible, and I figure you guys probably know more than I do about what schools he should be applying to.

"Here is a list of the programs I am planning on applying to:

DO:
University of New England COM
Philidelphia COM
Lake Eerie COM
Virginia COM
AT Stills University COM
Western University COM
Debusk COM
Kansas City University COM
Arizona of Midwestern University COM
Nova Southeastern COM

MD:
UMass School of Medicine
University of Utah
Dartmouth
University of Vermont
Wake Forest
UNC: Chapel Hill
Vanderbilt (total, complete and utter reach)

I am looking at a 3.5 science GPA/3.75 all other GPA going into the cycle. I'll have attained research experience in orthopedics, both academically and practically, and have all the shadowing hours for OB/GYN, Primary Care, Orthopedic surgery, Sports Medicine, and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (about 50 hours total). I will have 300 hours of patient care hours logged as a physical therapist aide (aka physical therapy technician), and recommendations written by the primary care physician, an anesthesiologist (MD), OB/GYN (DO), Organic Chemistry Professor (PhD), and a personal reference from a client/friend/teacher (PhD), and possibly (a big POSSIBLY on this one) a recommendation from the lab director I will be working under who is currently co-authoring/working with Umass Worcester's Orthopedic department."

And just a note, he is a Massachusetts resident, a non-traditional student (majored in English in undergrad, did a self-made postbac), and NOT a URM.

Thank you!!!

 

[bananafish94]

I think that a 505 MCAT is where you begin to get pretty dicey with the MD schools. It should be fine for DO schools, so I'd pick maybe 15 that would be the best fit for your friend. Maybe throw in a handful of new MD schools and state MA schools (I'm not from the area, so unfortunately I don't know a whole lot about the East Coast schools).

 

[DiscusKeeper]

I think that a 505 MCAT is where you begin to get pretty dicey with the MD schools. It should be fine for DO schools, so I'd pick maybe 15 that would be the best fit for your friend. Maybe throw in a handful of new MD schools and state MA schools (I'm not from the area, so unfortunately I don't know a whole lot about the East Coast schools).

thanks for the tip about new MD schools, not sure why that didn't occur to me.

And only state school in MA is UMass, which is already on his list (and is actually where I'll be attending med school this year). I've explained to him that MD is a reach, but he wanted to still apply to some in addition to DO, which I don't see as a problem other than cost. If he got into only DO and no MD, he's not one of those crazy ones who would reject it and reapply next year lol. He plans to go wherever he gets in, and I think he wants to do primary care, so the MD vs. DO matters very little for him.

 

[honey0102]

thanks for the tip about new MD schools, not sure why that didn't occur to me.

And only state school in MA is UMass, which is already on his list (and is actually where I'll be attending med school this year). I've explained to him that MD is a reach, but he wanted to still apply to some in addition to DO, which I don't see as a problem other than cost. If he got into only DO and no MD, he's not one of those crazy ones who would reject it and reapply next year lol. He plans to go wherever he gets in, and I think he wants to do primary care, so the MD vs. DO matters very little for him.

I would also recommend MSUCOM and Alabama. I personally am not going there but I do know of many people who do. I know for a fact MSUCOM is a really good DO school. Haven't heard much about Alabama, maybe he can look into it and see if it interests him

 

[bananafish94]

thanks for the tip about new MD schools, not sure why that didn't occur to me.

And only state school in MA is UMass, which is already on his list (and is actually where I'll be attending med school this year). I've explained to him that MD is a reach, but he wanted to still apply to some in addition to DO, which I don't see as a problem other than cost. If he got into only DO and no MD, he's not one of those crazy ones who would reject it and reapply next year lol. He plans to go wherever he gets in, and I think he wants to do primary care, so the MD vs. DO matters very little for him.

Sounds like a reasonable plan to me. There's no reason to completely discount the prospect of getting into an MD school, but it will be a bit of a reach at this point.

 

[MDProspect]

Hello everyone! A student of mine asked for some help making a school list. He is applying with a 505 MCAT score, so he's mostly looking into DO. I didn't apply DO in my cycle, so I'm completely unfamiliar with what DO schools he should be looking into.

I'll just copy/paste part of his email where he describes his current list and his stats + extracurriculars. I'd really appreciate any suggestions for schools to add and schools to possibly remove from this list. He's a great guy, so I want to make sure I give him the best advice possible, and I figure you guys probably know more than I do about what schools he should be applying to.

"Here is a list of the programs I am planning on applying to:

DO:
University of New England COM
Philidelphia COM
Lake Eerie COM
Virginia COM
AT Stills University COM
Western University COM
Debusk COM
Kansas City University COM
Arizona of Midwestern University COM
Nova Southeastern COM

MD:
UMass School of Medicine
University of Utah
Dartmouth
University of Vermont
Wake Forest
UNC: Chapel Hill
Vanderbilt (total, complete and utter reach)

I am looking at a 3.5 science GPA/3.75 all other GPA going into the cycle. I'll have attained research experience in orthopedics, both academically and practically, and have all the shadowing hours for OB/GYN, Primary Care, Orthopedic surgery, Sports Medicine, and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (about 50 hours total). I will have 300 hours of patient care hours logged as a physical therapist aide (aka physical therapy technician), and recommendations written by the primary care physician, an anesthesiologist (MD), OB/GYN (DO), Organic Chemistry Professor (PhD), and a personal reference from a client/friend/teacher (PhD), and possibly (a big POSSIBLY on this one) a recommendation from the lab director I will be working under who is currently co-authoring/working with Umass Worcester's Orthopedic department."

And just a note, he is a Massachusetts resident, a non-traditional student (majored in English in undergrad, did a self-made postbac), and NOT a URM.

Thank you!!!

All of those MD schools are not even a reach, but a donation. Almost every MD school now has a median that's above a 508 (30 on the old score), except for some of those state schools that hardly take in OOS applicants and the Puerto Rican schools.

As for the DO list, I think LECOM is a sure bet. VCOM has a preference for residents of Virginia and neighboring states. I think Kansas City might have the same preference. I would add NYCOM, DMU, and Rowan.

 

[WedgeDawg]

Moving to WAMC

 

[750335]

The DO schools look fine, but I think he should add a few more. Although his stats are fine for DO schools, could swing either way so just to be safe.

I think those MD schools are a reach though, most anyway. Ask him to get msar, so he can use it to figure out what schools are more likely with his stats, and also to apply to way more MD schools as well. With his stats, I'd suggest applying to 20-25 schools, and as early as possible.

 

[Faha]

UMass and Vermont are the only realistic schools on that MD list. Consider adding these MD schools:
Quinnipiac
New York Medical College
Albany
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
Penn State
GW
Oakland Beaumont
Western Michigan
Rosalind Franklin
St. Louis
Creighton
any new private schools that open in 2018 (Seton Hall, Roseman, etc.)