Schools to apply for with low MCAT

[mathgrl83]

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I am currently applying to medical school for the class of 2015. My GPA is a 3.5, but I got a 25 on my MCAT. I am studying to take it again this March, but was wondering which schools would be the most accepting of my low score and GPA. I do have a lot of other extracurriculars, shadowing, volunteering blah blah blah. Please just list schools and not discouraging things 😀

 

[patel2]

I am currently applying to medical school for the class of 2015. My GPA is a 3.5, but I got a 25 on my MCAT. I am studying to take it again this March, but was wondering which schools would be the most accepting of my low score and GPA. I do have a lot of other extracurriculars, shadowing, volunteering blah blah blah. Please just list schools and not discouraging things 😀

I'm confused. You are applying now but retaking the MCAT in March? I would say your chances are decent at DO programs if you apply broadly (NYCOM, LECOM, NOVA, PCOM) are some examples. And then for MD, right now I can't think of any accepting schools, but if you retake and score a 30+ your chances dramatically increase...most will auto-reject a 25 unless you are a URM. Good luck, I was in a similar position with a 26 MCAT and 3.5 gpa, but I decided to retake before applying and it was definitely the right move for me (assuming I have some success this cycle).

 

[Doubtnichts]

What about some of your instate schools?? And Patel2's right...have you checked out an DO schools? I think you would have a good chance there.

 

[student1799]

Agree with the above. If you want to apply MD, you DEFINITELY need to retake the MCAT. 25 is just too low for MD schools. And if you're applying this cycle for the class of 2015, a March retake won't count--virtually every school I know of won't take scores later than September (a few will accept October).

I know this from experience: my overall MCAT wasn't low (31), but it was unbalanced, with a low PS score. I took the Jan MCAT during the application cycle, and although it went much better (33, with 12 in PS), none of my schools would look at the score because it came after their cutoff. I did get into med school anyway, but had to go far from home. I probably could have been admitted IS if I'd had the better score in hand when I applied.

Depending on where you live, you probably need at least high 20's, and more likely 30+, to have a chance at allo school. But DO school may still be an option, although average scores are going up there as well.

If I were you, I would just withdraw my MD apps right now and apply next year. If you haven't been verified yet (the ideal situation), you won't be considered a reapplicant, but even if you are I would still do it and save yourself the secondary fees, which are quite substantial. If you do get classified as a reapplicant and have to say how you improved your app since last year, the MCAT score is the obvious explanation.

 

[Dartmouth2005]

I am currently applying to medical school for the class of 2015. My GPA is a 3.5, but I got a 25 on my MCAT. I am studying to take it again this March, but was wondering which schools would be the most accepting of my low score and GPA. I do have a lot of other extracurriculars, shadowing, volunteering blah blah blah. Please just list schools and not discouraging things 😀

Have you shadowed a DO physician yet? Also, what is your home state? As another poster said, you may want to look at your state school.

 

[Catalystik]

My GPA is a 3.5, but I got a 25 on my MCAT. I am studying to take it again this March, but was wondering which schools would be the most accepting of my low score and GPA.

If you are completely fluent in Spanish, you might consider applying to some of the Puerto Rican schools (accredited by the same organization as US mainland allo schools). And if you have a strong record of service to under-served populations, you could consider applying to those schools known historically for training African-American applicants.