Schools to avoid and suggestions?

[Scrubs101]

Edit: questions answered

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[oOKawaiiOo]

1) At what schools would my GPA cause my application to be thrown out/severely limit my chances of receiving an II?
2) Suggestions for improving my application prior to this cycle( Credentials and what I plan on working on listed below)
3) Will testing in May (Score not received till late june) hurt my chances? Along with this I'm taking a full course load this summer heavy in sciences, and my school does half semesters for summer so I would have 7 extra (hopefully 4.0'ed) science credits to add to my transcripts late june/early july. So basically will sending in my app in July hurt my chances?

1)None. Some schools have 3.25 cutoffs.
2)Everything (GPA, MCAT, volunteer hours of clinical & nonclinical, LORs)
3)No. I applied in August and was fine. But there is a common saying of "The earlier, the better."

 

[Scrubs101]

1)None. Some schools have 3.25 cutoffs.
2)Everything (GPA, MCAT, volunteer hours of clinical & nonclinical, LORs)
3)No. I applied in August and was fine. But there is a common saying of "The earlier, the better."

Will do, thank you very much for the reply! Edit: What would you consider a safe amount of volunteer hours/do I still need clinical volunteering if I already have clinical experience?

 

[OrdinaryDO]

Hey SDN!
Long time lurker here! Planning on applying this upcoming cycle, and am currently looking into what schools I should avoid considering. I haven't taken the MCAT yet but plan on taking it in May, I'm not really trying to gauge my chances as of right now(my apologies if this does belong in WAMC though) because I don't have my MCAT score yet and I know as of right now destroying the MCAT is detrimental to my application. I am looking forward to posting in there once I get my score (I know, weird thing to look forward to). But I was just wondering if you helpful folks of SDN in answering a few questions.
1) At what schools would my GPA cause my application to be thrown out/severely limit my chances of receiving an II?
2) Suggestions for improving my application prior to this cycle( Credentials and what I plan on working on listed below)
3) Will testing in May (Score not received till late june) hurt my chances? Along with this I'm taking a full course load this summer heavy in sciences, and my school does half semesters for summer so I would have 7 extra (hopefully 4.0'ed) science credits to add to my transcripts late june/early july. So basically will sending in my app in July hurt my chances?

Info:
Junior
Kin major, health promotion minor
cGPA: 3.28(estimated after this semester and half of summer)
sGPA: 3.41(^^^)
Heavy upward trend with strictly science classes all of this year
Shadowed 2 MDs so far, planning on shadowing a DO first week of May(From what I've heard this is quite important)
30~ Hours non-hospital volunteering(My main focus, besides MCAT stuff, is working on this as of right now. Aiming for 100+)
200-250 Hours as a CNA(I believe this counts as clinical experience)
Red Cross Club member
I've retaken about 11 credits already
1 LOR from microbio, planning on asking for one from a exercise physio and an orgo teacher of mine within the month
MI resident

Any suggestions and constructive criticism would be greatly appreciated
Time to go back to MCAT studying

You can't believe CNA work counts as clinical experience? If you are saying that then I question where you have been working. I have worked in the E.R., on a rehab floor, and floated on a regular basis through med. surge and cardiac floors as a CNA and I can say with my 6 years of experience as a CNA I have easily taken part in almost everything a non-professional clinician can take part in. I am not just saying this to toot my own horn, but I wanted to suggest to you maybe you should look for a more qualifying job for clinical hours that will allow you to expand on your clinical experience during interviews if you get any when you apply. This was a major part of my interview at every school I interviewed at.

Also, as for schools to avoid? None...apply to the all if you have to. Some say to avoid Liberty, but it is up to you - others may tell you to avoid newer schools due to their uncertainty. In the end it will come down to your MCAT score since your GPA is on the lower end and your E.C.s aren't really outstanding in any way. You should diversify yourself and find something you are passionate about so you have a platform to stand on when you interview or write your Personal Statement.

 

[drkube]

1) At what schools would my GPA cause my application to be thrown out/severely limit my chances of receiving an II?
2) Suggestions for improving my application prior to this cycle( Credentials and what I plan on working on listed below)
3) Will testing in May (Score not received till late june) hurt my chances? Along with this I'm taking a full course load this summer heavy in sciences, and my school does half semesters for summer so I would have 7 extra (hopefully 4.0'ed) science credits to add to my transcripts late june/early july. So basically will sending in my app in July hurt my chances?

Every school has its pros/cons. It's really hard to tell you what schools to avoid. There were a few schools that I heard bad things about but when I interviewed I ended up liking some of them, so definitely take everything on SDN with a grain of salt.

1. The lowest gpa cutoff is usually around a 3.00 with KCU being a 3.25 so you should be fine. My GPA was lower than yours and I got a secondary from all the DO schools I applied to.
2. Continuing volunteering and try to get a DO LOR as soon as possible.
3. The DO cycle is longer so july/june is still considered early.

 

[Scrubs101]

You can't believe CNA work counts as clinical experience? If you are saying that then I question where you have been working. I have worked in the E.R., on a rehab floor, and floated on a regular basis through med. surge and cardiac floors as a CNA and I can say with my 6 years of experience as a CNA I have easily taken part in almost everything a non-professional clinician can take part in. I am not just saying this to toot my own horn, but I wanted to suggest to you maybe you should look for a more qualifying job for clinical hours that will allow you to expand on your clinical experience during interviews if you get any when you apply. This was a major part of my interview at every school I interviewed at.

Also, as for schools to avoid? None...apply to the all if you have to. Some say to avoid Liberty, but it is up to you - others may tell you to avoid newer schools due to their uncertainty. In the end it will come down to your MCAT score since your GPA is on the lower end and your E.C.s aren't really outstanding in any way. You should diversify yourself and find something you are passionate about so you have a platform to stand on when you interview or write your Personal Statement.

Sorry for the misunderstanding, I have always considered my CNA position to be clinical experience. However I've seen mixed opinions on it based on where you worked, I worked in a rehabilitation/long term care facility and I have seen some people argue that it only counted as clinical experience if it was in a hospital. Usually stating on the ground that there's less presence of physicians at nursing homes. Which while there was a physician that I worked a long side occasionally, I didn't see her as often as you probably saw physicians working in the multitude of places you have. However I do believe my experience as a CNA to be helpful in explaining part of why I want to be a physician and talking about my experience at that job currently makes up a decent amount of my personal statement. But that's awesome! I'd love to talk about my experience there during an interview! I could go on for hours about the skills I've gained, experiences I've had, and incredible appreciative residents that I cared for.

But thank you very much! I am worried about my E.C.'s, since besides my time as a CNA I don't really have much to talk about. No crazy awesome research or passions I've been been able to show longevity in. I will work on them as best as I can, like you said with my low gpa I need to stand out more with something else.

From what I've heard about Liberty, i'm not sure I'd fit in too well and am slightly concerned with some of the things I've heard. But I'll probably end up sending in an app anyways since I'm in a position where if i get in anywhere I'll be happy!

Anyways thanks again, I really appreciate it!

 

[Scrubs101]

Every school has its pros/cons. It's really hard to tell you what schools to avoid. There were a few schools that I heard bad things about but when I interviewed I ended up liking some of them, so definitely take everything on SDN with a grain of salt.

1. The lowest gpa cutoff is usually around a 3.00 with KCU being a 3.25 so you should be fine. My GPA was lower than yours and I got a secondary from all the DO schools I applied to.
2. Continuing volunteering and try to get a DO LOR as soon as possible.
3. The DO cycle is longer so july/june is still considered early.

Sweet! That's good, I'm glad I'll be able to apply as broadly as I financially can then! Thank you very much for the advice, I really appreciate it. I feel a lot better going into this cycle knowing that

 

[OrdinaryDO]

Sorry for the misunderstanding, I have always considered my CNA position to be clinical experience. However I've seen mixed opinions on it based on where you worked, I worked in a rehabilitation/long term care facility and I have seen some people argue that it only counted as clinical experience if it was in a hospital. Usually stating on the ground that there's less presence of physicians at nursing homes. Which while there was a physician that I worked a long side occasionally, I didn't see her as often as you probably saw physicians working in the multitude of places you have. However I do believe my experience as a CNA to be helpful in explaining part of why I want to be a physician and talking about my experience at that job currently makes up a decent amount of my personal statement. But that's awesome! I'd love to talk about my experience there during an interview! I could go on for hours about the skills I've gained, experiences I've had, and incredible appreciative residents that I cared for.

But thank you very much! I am worried about my E.C.'s, since besides my time as a CNA I don't really have much to talk about. No crazy awesome research or passions I've been been able to show longevity in. I will work on them as best as I can, like you said with my low gpa I need to stand out more with something else.

From what I've heard about Liberty, i'm not sure I'd fit in too well and am slightly concerned with some of the things I've heard. But I'll probably end up sending in an app anyways since I'm in a position where if i get in anywhere I'll be happy!

Anyways thanks again, I really appreciate it!

If I were you I would just try to pay attention to what makes you happy or what gets you interested in the field of medicine whether it be in a long term facility or the hospital. You need to find that driving motivational factor that makes you light up when you begin to talk about it. While it isn't a necessity I can assure you it definitely is a plus when you are doing your interview. You seem really nice, I hope you the best of luck! =] I would be more than happy to help with anything should you ever feel the need to ask me!

 

[IntheClouds4ever]

Just remember, 250 hours of CNA experience isnt even two months of full-time work. It's good that you have a little bit of real world experience but dont hang your hat on it.

 

[Scrubs101]

If I were you I would just try to pay attention to what makes you happy or what gets you interested in the field of medicine whether it be in a long term facility or the hospital. You need to find that driving motivational factor that makes you light up when you begin to talk about it. While it isn't a necessity I can assure you it definitely is a plus when you are doing your interview. You seem really nice, I hope you the best of luck! =] I would be more than happy to help with anything should you ever feel the need to ask me!

Thank you so much! Honestly I'll take all the advice I can get, I really do appreciate it. I'll do some soul searching and make sure that whatever I spend my time doing from here on out I'll be able to speak passionately about! I've recently started volunteering for a few things that I'm truly in favor of and enjoy and I hope I get asked a lot about them if all goes as planned and I magically receive an II. Just hoping my lack of longevity with any of my ECs doesn't hurt me too badly. Anyways I probably will be taking you up on that and will be seeking more advice as this cycle quickly approaches. Thanks again, best of luck to you as well!

 

[Scrubs101]

Just remember, 250 hours of CNA experience isnt even two months of full-time work. It's good that you have a little bit of real world experience but dont hang your hat on it.

Yeah I was concerned about that, I only worked part time for some of two semesters. I got certified last summer and started taking time off to prepare for the MCAT in February. Would you suggest spending some time specifically volunteering in a hospital to get those clinical hours up? Thanks for the reply!

 

[Goro]

The only school to avoid as of right now is LUCOM.

Hey SDN!
Long time lurker here! Planning on applying this upcoming cycle, and am currently looking into what schools I should avoid considering. I haven't taken the MCAT yet but plan on taking it in May, I'm not really trying to gauge my chances as of right now(my apologies if this does belong in WAMC though) because I don't have my MCAT score yet and I know as of right now destroying the MCAT is detrimental to my application. I am looking forward to posting in there once I get my score (I know, weird thing to look forward to). But I was just wondering if you helpful folks of SDN in answering a few questions.
1) At what schools would my GPA cause my application to be thrown out/severely limit my chances of receiving an II?
2) Suggestions for improving my application prior to this cycle( Credentials and what I plan on working on listed below)
3) Will testing in May (Score not received till late june) hurt my chances? Along with this I'm taking a full course load this summer heavy in sciences, and my school does half semesters for summer so I would have 7 extra (hopefully 4.0'ed) science credits to add to my transcripts late june/early july. So basically will sending in my app in July hurt my chances?

Info:
Junior
Kin major, health promotion minor
cGPA: 3.28(estimated after this semester and half of summer)
sGPA: 3.41(^^^)
Heavy upward trend with strictly science classes all of this year
Shadowed 2 MDs so far, planning on shadowing a DO first week of May(From what I've heard this is quite important)
30~ Hours non-hospital volunteering(My main focus, besides MCAT stuff, is working on this as of right now. Aiming for 100+)
200-250 Hours as a CNA(I believe this counts as clinical experience)
Red Cross Club member
I've retaken about 11 credits already
1 LOR from microbio, planning on asking for one from a exercise physio and an orgo teacher of mine within the month
MI resident

Any suggestions and constructive criticism would be greatly appreciated
Time to go back to MCAT studying

 

[OrdinaryDO]

Thank you so much! Honestly I'll take all the advice I can get, I really do appreciate it. I'll do some soul searching and make sure that whatever I spend my time doing from here on out I'll be able to speak passionately about! I've recently started volunteering for a few things that I'm truly in favor of and enjoy and I hope I get asked a lot about them if all goes as planned and I magically receive an II. Just hoping my lack of longevity with any of my ECs doesn't hurt me too badly. Anyways I probably will be taking you up on that and will be seeking more advice as this cycle quickly approaches. Thanks again, best of luck to you as well!

Hey, nothing is out of reach so long as you actually put forth effort and try your hardest on this MCAT. I believe you will receive many IIs if you do well on your MCAT ~505 or so would be my personal guess to get you looked at pretty seriously. Of all people, I was shocked to find out not just one school would want me, but 5 schools ended up inviting me for an interview. So far I am 2/2 for interviews/acceptances while I turned the other two down. I have one last interview at my home institution and I am praying for the best

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

I have one last interview at my home institution and I am praying for the best

Hey I know we have had our differences but good luck at your interview at OSU (I think you had posted a while you were from OK so I am assuming here, sorry if I'm wrong!)

I hope to be in your shoes next year!

 

[Scrubs101]

The only school to avoid as of right now is LUCOM.

That seems to be the consensus! I'll be sure to keep them off of my list. May I ask why though? From my understanding I don't think I'd really fit in there or enjoy how they run things, I also hold strong opinions against the SBC(which I've heard this university has ties to). But I'm just not quite sure if I should count out a possible chance at becoming a physician due to this. Or is it more of an accreditation issue?(I'm not too informed on that issue)

Also, do you think I should focus more on non-clinical or clinical volunteering?

Anyways, thanks for the reply! Your advice is very much appreciated!

 

[Scrubs101]

Hey, nothing is out of reach so long as you actually put forth effort and try your hardest on this MCAT. I believe you will receive many IIs if you do well on your MCAT ~505 or so would be my personal guess to get you looked at pretty seriously. Of all people, I was shocked to find out not just one school would want me, but 5 schools ended up inviting me for an interview. So far I am 2/2 for interviews/acceptances while I turned the other two down. I have one last interview at my home institution and I am praying for the best

Congratulations!!!!!! That's awesome, that's really motivating for me I hear a lot of discouraging things especially regarding my gpa from people when I tell them I want to go to medical school. So I love reading all the underdog stories here on SDN, I'm always rooting for them haha. I'm aiming for a 512(but hey aren't we all aiming for 528s?) and have been making some good progress in my practice and studies. I usually do well on standardized tests, but as I've realized the MCAT is in a completely different universe than things like the ACT/SAT lol. But I'll be hoping for the best!

Best of luck to you!! Keep us updated on if you get into your home institution, I'll be rooting for ya! I'd be ecstatic to get into my home institution

 

[kelminak]

That seems to be the consensus! I'll be sure to keep them off of my list. May I ask why though? From my understanding I don't think I'd really fit in there or enjoy how they run things, I also hold strong opinions against the SBC(which I've heard this university has ties to). But I'm just not quite sure if I should count out a possible chance at becoming a physician due to this. Or is it more of an accreditation issue?(I'm not too informed on that issue)

Also, do you think I should focus more on non-clinical or clinical volunteering?

Anyways, thanks for the reply! Your advice is very much appreciated!

They're a hyper-religious school that gets heavily incorporated into their curriculums if I understand correctly. The primary concern is that their strong religious beliefs would interfere with the medical education you receive.

By hyper-religious, I meant anti-gay, etc. http://www.advocate.com/military/20...enies-tuition-discounts-lgbt-military-spouses

I personally would judge someone for going to that school and would avoid them as a patient just as I would with a carrib grad, but many won't do that kind of research in advance.

 

[Scrubs101]

They're a hyper-religious school that gets heavily incorporated into their curriculums if I understand correctly. The primary concern is that their strong religious beliefs would interfere with the medical education you receive.

By hyper-religious, I meant anti-gay, etc. http://www.advocate.com/military/20...enies-tuition-discounts-lgbt-military-spouses

I personally would judge someone for going to that school and would avoid them as a patient just as I would with a carrib grad, but many won't do that kind of research in advance.

Well that's all I needed to hear, I'm fine with schools with religious origins as long as they keep their religous views and education seperate. I strongly believe religous beliefs and medicine/politics should be kept separate. I agree I would feel the same way in a patients shoes, I heard this one story about a hospital near me that denied a patient that was in dire need of treatment and was denied strictly based on the hospitals(or maybe it was the physicians) religious views. Which I was baffled by.(sorry for no source I can find it if you wish, currently at the gym)

Also on a side note if anybody reading this disagrees with my views on the whole religion v politics v medicine thing, my sincerest apologies. Not trying to start a controversial s**t storm, just stating my reasons for being in agreement.

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

I personally would judge someone for going to that school and would avoid them as a patient just as I would with a carrib grad

Well that's naive and a little ignorant. Someone's ability as a doctor is gained in residency and not medical school. I can almost guarantee you have seen a doc who went to the Carib and you never knew. I personally know more than one surgeon who went to the Carib and they are some of the best surgeons at the hospital

 

[kelminak]

Well that's naive and a little ignorant. Someone's ability as a doctor is gained in residency and not medical school. I can almost guarantee you have seen a doc who went to the Carib and you never knew. I personally know more than one surgeon who went to the Carib and they are some of the best surgeons at the hospital

I respect your opinion but don't agree. If you mean "seen" as in been their patient, that would not be the case, but I'm sure I have physically seen a doctor who went to the Carrib. I am aware that perfectly good physicians come out of the Carib. I don't personally want to be seen them and I think I'm allowed to discriminate on whatever rules I want to. Other people are welcome to do as they please.

 

[Goro]

Go to my profile page and search "LUCOM". Look for comments from 8/14 and 8/15.

You have done decent clinical work; now it' time to show off your altruism and humanism with non-clinicals.

That seems to be the consensus! I'll be sure to keep them off of my list. May I ask why though? From my understanding I don't think I'd really fit in there or enjoy how they run things, I also hold strong opinions against the SBC(which I've heard this university has ties to). But I'm just not quite sure if I should count out a possible chance at becoming a physician due to this. Or is it more of an accreditation issue?(I'm not too informed on that issue)

Also, do you think I should focus more on non-clinical or clinical volunteering?

Anyways, thanks for the reply! Your advice is very much appreciated!

 

[Scrubs101]

I respect your opinion but don't agree. If you mean "seen" as in been their patient, that would not be the case, but I'm sure I have physically seen a doctor who went to the Carrib. I am aware that perfectly good physicians come out of the Carib. I don't personally want to be seen them and I think I'm allowed to discriminate on whatever rules I want to. Other people are welcome to do as they please.

Both bring up good points, and it will always be your right to choose your physicians. However I'd just like to add a (possibly worthless) n=2 opinion. I shadowed in a practice where all but one of the physicians were Carib grads (the one that wasn't was a U of M grad, which if you base your opinion off of medical school degree, is in the top 10 I believe.) and spent some time watching them work and talked with them a great deal. They all seemed like competent physicians to me (but like I said my opinion isn't worth much since I'm not a doctor, or even spent a significant amount of time with them). But the u of m doc also gave his opinion on them and said they're all very good competent physicians. And from what I've heard there is a huge stigma against letting foreign grads back into the U.S. so wouldn't you think that'd have to excel above and beyond most standards to get back in the U.S.

Just throwing in my 2 cents :] even if it isn't worth much, however even if the points I made for Caribs counters my argument against evangelical docs I still hold the opinion I do. So like I said it is 100% your right to pick and choose your doc

 

[Scrubs101]

Go to my profile page and search "LUCOM". Look for comments from 8/14 and 8/15.

You have done decent clinical work; now it' time to show off your altruism and humanism with non-clinicals.

Thanks Goro, I'll give it a look! I appreciate the advice, your wealth of knowledge is always appreciated