Medical Should I even apply?

[Goro]

I just graduated with BS in Biomedical Sciences. My cGPA ended up being a 3.3, which I know isn’t necessarily competitive. I had a few personal issues that had to be addressed my junior year and there is a big dip in my GPA from fall of my junior year. There is, however, an upward trend my senior year. With all the covid issues, I have yet to take the MCAT. I was looking into taking the MCAT the end of August for the ‘21 cycle. If I do take the MCAT at that time, what would be the suggested score I get to help balance my low GPA?

I know that I want to go into primary care, so I am more interested in DO than MD. I am just worried, maybe second guessing myself, because I feel like I am not a competitive enough applicant. I was member of a few clubs in undergrad, one of which being on the executive board of PhiDE. A few others include biological anthropology and human anatomy club and neuroscience club. Volunteering was limited, I was a camp volunteer and Camp Bioscience in my local area. Additionally, at my local children’s hospital, I volunteered in the Heart Center helping one of the cardiologists with a project he was working on. In this, I was also able to watch a cardiac catheterization and a children’s echocardiogram. Shadowing was limited, I have ~20 hours under my pediatric PCP, but I worked as a scribe in the ED at a local hospital for 3 years. I am not sure if that is considered shadowing because I was getting paid, but I have well over 2000 hours doing this. I was Scribe of the Quarter Fall 2019 and also am a scribe ambassador, so I train other people coming into the job. I also worked as a pharmacy technician for 3 years. I do have a publication from a research trip, however it is not medical related, as it was published in the Journal of Fish Biology.

Do you think that I should apply?

What are your year by year GPAs?

A high MCAT doesn't balance out a low GPA. That said, a 3.3 GPA will be fine for any DO school, including mine.

Shoot for a 510+

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[TheBoneDoctah]

A 3.3 GPA is low for D.O. schools, but it is not an application killer. If you aren't REALLY interested in M.D., I wouldn't even apply to them (maybe your state schools if you crush the MCAT) cause chances are you wouldn't get interviews with a 3.3 GPA anyways, so you would just be throwing money away.

As stated above, a 510 MCAT would get you around where you need to be to have a solid chance at DO schools. For reference, I had a 31 MCAT (equivalent to a 509-510) and a 3.3/3.4 GPA when I applied and got many interviews and acceptances.

When you do apply, I would apply broadly and then cut back once you get your interviews. You don't want to not apply to enough schools and then sit on your couch for months cause you don't have any interviews. Apply broadly, then if you get lucky and get a ton of interviews, then you can pick and choose.