Seeking some much needed advice

[metoo]

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Dear SDN Family,

I'm here seeking some much needed advice again.
Just to refresh your memory of me:
- sGPA 3.00
- cGPA 3.10
- MCAT 22
- Took one graduate level class, Gross Anatomy at the John A. Burns SOM. Got a B.
- 2 MD shadow (Urologist and Pediatric Surgeon).
- 1 DO shadow (Family Medicine). This doctor works at Hawaii's CHC. She's a preceptor and teaches 2nd year OMM. She let me attend the class, the students were amazing. She has written a LOR for me.
- Have another DO LOR. Only a mentor, did not shadow (Retired).
- Publication. Illustrated a chapter in a college level textbook. The chapter was on the reproductive system.
- Publication. Psychological research concerning stress related illnesses seen in first responders. Findings presented at Utah Legislation Conference.
- Missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
- Volunteer: Emergency Room, Boy Scouts of America-Asst. Scout Master, Hurricane Katrina cleanup (slept in a tent with other individuals who were part of the cleanup team), homeless shelter, play ground construction, medical supplies drives, and Church involvements.
- Phlebotomist at plasma center.
- Research Tech. for pharmaceuticals company.
- URM Native American (Lumbee Tribe).
- First gen. High School grad.
- 30 years old. Married with one child. Perhaps it will show that I am mature; I don't know.

I have added other things to my resume in the area of volunteering. I have not taken any more classes, which is what I want to get your advice on today. And obviously I am retaking the MCAT.

I've emailed every osteopathic medical school admissions office in the country and have explain to them my story. 99% of them have suggested that I do a graduate program of some sort to prove that I can handle the rigors of medical school. I 100% agree! I applied to LMU-DCOM's SMP and was rejected, LECOM's Post Bacc. (still waiting for an answer), and Mississippi College's one year SMP (accepted). I would love to go to LECOM because of its guaranteed interview if I maintain a 3.0 and have a overall 40 percentile on the new MCAT (will be aiming for much higher than that). Mississippi College has no such connection.

My wife does not want to move to Erie or Mississippi, but she agrees that an opportunity like LECOM's program is too good to pass up given my current academic situation. However, she feels Mississippi College is another story. She doesn't want to move because she has a good job with amazing benefits, we have a 3 year old child, and her support system is here.

If I am not accepted at LECOM, do you feel that an online masters in the hard sciences will help me just as much as the program at Mississippi College will? It doesn't have to be just a one year program, I will do a two year program as well if it meant that I could remain with my family.

Has anyone here moved away from a spouse and child to go to school? How did you deal with it? What was the outcome?

I'm sorry for such a long post.

Thank you for your time and advice.

Metoo

 

[PIacebo]

Why don't you apply to other masters programs in your area? Or just retake classes to replace your grades. Lecom's program is pretty hard and strict. Don't you need a 23 or 24 to get in automatically from the program? And if you get 1 C you are out of the running. Seriously consider where you can succeed. Lecom will take your money and tell you to do a 2nd year to get an MS and then it will still be tough. Only half the people last year got into the med school by meeting the requirements for gpa.

Do not take an online program!

 

[SpartanWolverine]

Hey Metoo,

I think what is really holding you back is that MCAT -- because just a few retakes can very likely bring your GPA up to a level where it's not quite as much of a red flag (arbitrarily, I would say kicking each of your GPA scores up a tenth of a point). If I were you, I would focus on doing a couple of retakes if you have any current "C" hard sciences, while putting the bulk of your effort into MCAT work. From my point of view, your GPA is already okay. But it's the fact that you have a 22 in conjunction with the 3.1/3.0 that's a killer. Otherwise, you look like a fantastic applicant who I would happily have as a colleague.

Honestly, I don't think a master's is important and would just take more time and money than you need to spend. However, it the majority of schools you contacted think that is a good idea, I could be very wrong. 🙂

 

[IslandStyle808]

Nice to see my Hawaii brah once again.

Have you applied to Imi Ho'ola? If so, I would suggest you wait and see. It will be March by the time you hear from them.

I really don't think you need another masters. Just do more grade replacement and get your MCAT above the 24-25 equivalent on the new MCAT. The bare minimum would be 3.2/24* and the magic number would be 3.4/26* (* new mcat equivalent).

 

[Awesome Sauceome]

Nice to see my Hawaii brah once again.

Have you applied to Imi Ho'ola? If so, I would suggest you wait and see. It will be March by the time you hear from them.

I really don't think you need another masters. Just do more grade replacement and get your MCAT above the 24-25 equivalent on the new MCAT. The bare minimum would be 3.2/24* and the magic number would be 3.4/26* (* new mcat equivalent).

Quoted for truth.

Whatever you need to do to get there is up to you. But that is the MINIMUM that you need to hit... With how competitive things are getting I would definitely feel more comfortable around the 3.4/26 range.

Otherwise think about podiatry, which I believe is a little hidden gem in the medical field. You can personal message me if you want some more information on that.

 

[chizledfrmstone]

A strong MCAT is more powerful than more classses. Make that your #1 priority.

 

[metoo]

Wow, the advice just started flowing and it has all been well received. Thank you all so much! I have a lot of tough decisions to make about what path I should take to reach my goal.

 

[metoo]

Nice to see my Hawaii brah once again.

Have you applied to Imi Ho'ola? If so, I would suggest you wait and see. It will be March by the time you hear from them.

I really don't think you need another masters. Just do more grade replacement and get your MCAT above the 24-25 equivalent on the new MCAT. The bare minimum would be 3.2/24* and the magic number would be 3.4/26* (* new mcat equivalent).

Hey brah! I wished I qualified for the Imi Ho'ola Program. Unfortunately I don't meet the minimum 3 requirements for kama'aina status in order to apply. The sad thing is I will never be able to meet all of them, I meet 2 of them, but can never meet the 3rd.

What I really worry about is the fact that I have a lot of retakes in undergraduate. I was the first in my family to even graduate high school, and my high school was more concerned about safety (which is understandable because it was the ghetto) than education. Students had to walk through metal detectors, there were constant bomb threats, bathroom trashcans were constantly set on fire (you get the point). Instead of giving up on medical school I just kept pushing on. I'm thinking that medical schools will see all my retakes and say, "Well he has so many retakes that 3.4 sGPA really is meaningless." I have a lot of retakes in general chemistry and organic chemistry.

This is why I think I may have to do graduate work.

 

[Awesome Sauceome]

I agree, if you already have retakes then a grad program might help. There are also some programs that help link you directly into the doctorate program; ie, you keep up a 3.5 GPA and you are in sort of deal. You might want to look into those.

 

[metoo]

Quoted for truth.

Whatever you need to do to get there is up to you. But that is the MINIMUM that you need to hit... With how competitive things are getting I would definitely feel more comfortable around the 3.4/26 range.

Otherwise think about podiatry, which I believe is a little hidden gem in the medical field. You can personal message me if you want some more information on that.

Thank you so much for your post. I've actually been thinking about podiatry a lot lately. After doing my GPA and MCAT remediation I was going to apply to both simultaneously. Thankfully Hawaii has a large scope of practice for podiatrist.

 

[metoo]

Hey Metoo,

I think what is really holding you back is that MCAT -- because just a few retakes can very likely bring your GPA up to a level where it's not quite as much of a red flag (arbitrarily, I would say kicking each of your GPA scores up a tenth of a point). If I were you, I would focus on doing a couple of retakes if you have any current "C" hard sciences, while putting the bulk of your effort into MCAT work. From my point of view, your GPA is already okay. But it's the fact that you have a 22 in conjunction with the 3.1/3.0 that's a killer. Otherwise, you look like a fantastic applicant who I would happily have as a colleague.

Honestly, I don't think a master's is important and would just take more time and money than you need to spend. However, it the majority of schools you contacted think that is a good idea, I could be very wrong. 🙂

Thank you for your post, your last sentence is extremely heartwarming.
What I really worry about is the fact that I have a lot of retakes in undergraduate. I was the first in my family to even graduate high school, and my high school was more concerned about safety (which is understandable because it was the ghetto) than education. Students had to walk through metal detectors, there were constant bomb threats, bathroom trashcans were constantly set on fire (you get the point). Instead of giving up on medical school I just kept pushing on. I'm thinking that medical schools will see all my retakes and say, "Well he has so many retakes that his new 3.4 undergraduate sGPA really is meaningless." I have a lot of retakes in general chemistry and organic chemistry.

This is why I think I may have to do graduate work.

 

[Awesome Sauceome]

Thank you so much for your post. I've actually been thinking about podiatry a lot lately. After doing my GPA and MCAT remediation I was going to apply to both simultaneously. Thankfully Hawaii has a large scope of practice for podiatrist.

Yea its definitely a sweet gig. I worked for a podiatrist for a while. Now adays they are full blown surgeons which is pretty cool. And naturally with the increase in the elderly and diabetic population, its definitely a field to be eyeing. I could have seen myself go into podiatry if I was more certain of what I wanted to do/not do, or if I was older.

 

[metoo]

Why don't you apply to other masters programs in your area? Or just retake classes to replace your grades. Lecom's program is pretty hard and strict. Don't you need a 23 or 24 to get in automatically from the program? And if you get 1 C you are out of the running. Seriously consider where you can succeed. Lecom will take your money and tell you to do a 2nd year to get an MS and then it will still be tough. Only half the people last year got into the med school by meeting the requirements for gpa.

Do not take an online program!

Thank you so much for your post.
The university of hawaii has a monopoly on education here. I applied to graduate school here but was rejected because based on the way they calculate gpa for admissions I do not have the minimum undergraduate 3.0 required. They do have grade forgiveness if you retake a class, but you have to retake the class at the same institution where you took the original. I don't want to move back to Utah, too cold. I can take classes as an unclassified graduate student however. That's how I took gross anatomy. I just won't qualify for any government loans.

As far as LECOM goes you are correct, you do need a 23 on the current MCAT. For the new MCAT a student will need an overall 40 percentile to qualify for the guaranteed interview.

 

[Goro]

Asked and answered in the non-trad forum.

 

[IslandStyle808]

Asked and answered in the non-trad forum.

It is probably a good thing he posted here. I don't go to the non-trad forums too often. I maybe able to help him with any specifics with the state university (since I also went there).

 

[IslandStyle808]

Thank you so much for your post.
The university of hawaii has a monopoly on education here. I applied to graduate school here but was rejected because based on the way they calculate gpa for admissions I do not have the minimum undergraduate 3.0 required. They do have grade forgiveness if you retake a class, but you have to retake the class at the same institution where you took the original. I don't want to move back to Utah, too cold. I can take classes as an unclassified graduate student however. That's how I took gross anatomy. I just won't qualify for any government loans.

As far as LECOM goes you are correct, you do need a 23 on the current MCAT. For the new MCAT a student will need an overall 40 percentile to qualify for the guaranteed interview.

If you are still wanting to stay in Hawaii, I suggest you talk with the chair of each department and ask if there are exceptions that can be made in your case. Try to aim for master programs with a plan B (this way you can focus more on your MCAT and class grades). However, a DIY is the best choice if you want to still stay there and focus solely on stats.

The MCAT is holding you back the most out of anything. If I was in your situation, I would grade replace as much as I could and then do well on the MCAT. Try to be in the 60 percentile to have a good shot at medical school. They will be looking at the overall stats first and foremost (this will get you the interview). Of course a lot of grade replacements won't look good, but a good MCAT score will be your saving grace (this is post-interview).

 

[PIacebo]

Thank you so much for your post.
The university of hawaii has a monopoly on education here. I applied to graduate school here but was rejected because based on the way they calculate gpa for admissions I do not have the minimum undergraduate 3.0 required. They do have grade forgiveness if you retake a class, but you have to retake the class at the same institution where you took the original. I don't want to move back to Utah, too cold. I can take classes as an unclassified graduate student however. That's how I took gross anatomy. I just won't qualify for any government loans.

As far as LECOM goes you are correct, you do need a 23 on the current MCAT. For the new MCAT a student will need an overall 40 percentile to qualify for the guaranteed interview.

Ok then retake science classes at undergrad level to replace your grades for AACOMAS. Don't do a masters in that case. Don't worry about replacing to get into that grad school. UNECOM has online classes that DO schools will accept, will be more expensive but won't have to travel anywhere so look into that.