Texas pre-DO question

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Hi,

I recently got interested in doing a DO, the holistic approach is really appealing =P The thing is that I'm a 3rd year undergrad at UT with a 2.6 GPA (academics came second to work). I know I need to pull that up drastically. I failed Chinese cause of time constraints, I just missed way too many classes. I was wondering for the AAMACS gpa calculation, if I just test out of it, will they still count the F?

I need some help with the other stuff though. I want to find a DO to shadow and also to work in a hospital to get a feel for what it feels like.

Is there anything else I can do and should do?

Additionally, I read that I need a reccomendation letter from a pre-med committee. Does that apply to UNT?

Also, should i be looking out of state also? I know how expensive it can be. 30-40k a year....
Thank you.

 

[jkhamlin]

Hi,

I recently got interested in doing a DO, the holistic approach is really appealing =P The thing is that I'm a 3rd year undergrad at UT with a 2.6 GPA (academics came second to work). I know I need to pull that up drastically. I failed Chinese cause of time constraints, I just missed way too many classes. I was wondering for the AAMACS gpa calculation, if I just test out of it, will they still count the F?

I need some help with the other stuff though. I want to find a DO to shadow and also to work in a hospital to get a feel for what it feels like.

Is there anything else I can do and should do?

Additionally, I read that I need a reccomendation letter from a pre-med committee. Does that apply to UNT?

Also, should i be looking out of state also? I know how expensive it can be. 30-40k a year....
Thank you.

You need to retake whatever gave you such a low GPA, it couldn't be just the Chinese class. If your school gives you an actual letter grade and credit for "testing out," then it might be possible to consider that a retake, but I'm not entirely sure. Also, TMADSAS, or whatever it is called, has an academic renewal provision. You might look into whether you qualify for that. You can use a committee letter if you want, but most schools don't require it. I advise against it, mostly because I and many others have had such bad experiences with it. UNT is definitely the cheapest option for you, but going out of state isn't entirely a bad option to increase your odds at getting in somewhere. Only do it if you really will go, though.

 

[Entgegen]

Hi,

I recently got interested in doing a DO, the holistic approach is really appealing =P The thing is that I'm a 3rd year undergrad at UT with a 2.6 GPA (academics came second to work). I know I need to pull that up drastically. I failed Chinese cause of time constraints, I just missed way too many classes. I was wondering for the AAMACS gpa calculation, if I just test out of it, will they still count the F?

I need some help with the other stuff though. I want to find a DO to shadow and also to work in a hospital to get a feel for what it feels like.

Is there anything else I can do and should do?

Additionally, I read that I need a reccomendation letter from a pre-med committee. Does that apply to UNT?

Also, should i be looking out of state also? I know how expensive it can be. 30-40k a year....
Thank you.

I agree with the poster above in that you need to retake the classes that got you the GPA you currently have...I've heard TCOM is just about as competitive as the MD schools in TX. I don't really know about the whole testing out thing for grades on TMDSAS though.

Now about the committee letter (or HPAC at my undergrad institution), it says on TMDSAS (and subsequently TCOM) that the committee letter is not a requirement, but it is "strongly recommended". While there are people who have had bad experiences in dealing with thier particular college's pre-med committee, I got a letter from mine without too much of a problem (it would have been less stressful if I had gotten on the ball sooner than I did, so anything negative that came from it was my fault), and I think it helped me out. I think if the committee can portray you in a favorable light, then go for it, though some may think it's not worth the hassle.

As for out of state, it depends. Like I said, TCOM has been known be pretty competitive. However, only 10% of its classes are made up of OOS students, so in-state students have sort of a leg up on OOS. Plus, since (for some reason) Texas has its own application service (TMDSAS), you'll have deal with the AACOMAS for any other DO schools elsewhere in the US. But then again, applying all over only increases your chances of getting in somewhere. Hope some of this helps. Good luck!

 

[chaeymaey]

You don't need a committee letter. I got in without one, but I was asked by the admissions dean at my interview why I didn't have one and I gave him a reason. As far as your GPA, TMDSAS won't give you help with that like AACOMAS does by replacing retakes. So my suggestion is to take post-bacc classes to bring it up to a 3.0. Another option is to do TCOM's masters program, but they'll require a 3.5 in that program to guarantee acceptance - so don't do that program unless you are committed to working that hard and making the grade.

 

[Bluemirage]

You don't need a committee letter. I got in without one, but I was asked by the admissions dean at my interview why I didn't have one and I gave him a reason. As far as your GPA, TMDSAS won't give you help with that like AACOMAS does by replacing retakes. So my suggestion is to take post-bacc classes to bring it up to a 3.0. Another option is to do TCOM's masters program, but they'll require a 3.5 in that program to guarantee acceptance - so don't do that program unless you are committed to working that hard and making the grade.

The OP has received some good advice here. Keep in mind the averages for GPA and MCAT have gone up...this year I would not be surprised to see TCOM's averages go to GPA 3.6/3.7 MCAT 29 which is only 0.1 GPA/1 MCAT point lower than MD schools. Also I have a friend that did the TCOM master's program...a 3.5 at this program is hard to get. I was told the material is the same as medical school material and she is struggling. Bottom line: you need to work really hard....a 2.6 will not get you in anywhere, including DO schools. Even at a 3.0 you need a high MCAT score to offset the GPA. Best of luck.

 

[momgracea]

I totally agree with everything said here. While the state of Texas does offer "academic fresh start," this is definitely NOT the same as grade replacement. Basically, that provision in the state's education law allows a person to exclude ALL course work taken more than 10 years ago from consideration. This is equivalent of never having completed any college level work and starting from scratch. (Hence, the name!) To that end, TMDSAS (the Texas Medical and Dental Application Service) is just like AMCAS in that it calculates all grades earned, unless you've elected academic fresh start. So, personally, I think that your best bet is as others have said: get the GPA up to at least 3.0 and do well on the MCAT, even if that means doing a post bac program.

On a final note, I would not bet on TCOM being "easier" to get into than any other Texas medical school. I got an interview at UT-H, which is considered fairly competitive, but was passed over by TCOM.

Good luck!

 

[Lyricist]

On a final note, I would not bet on TCOM being "easier" to get into than any other Texas medical school. I got an interview at UT-H, which is considered fairly competitive, but was passed over by TCOM.

UT Houston interviews half of all applicants. They're considerably more selective in who they accept.

 

[tcom200901]

Actually TCOM interviews far less than 1/2 of all applicants!! Lets just put it this way, in Texas, all our schools (MD and DO) are competitive, and you have to make the grades and a good MCAT to get in.

TCOM200901

 

[studentdoctor2]

just fyi: tmdsas considers "b-" as being equivalent to "b" but it also considers "b+" as "b". so this may or may not help raise your grade

 

[momgracea]

UT Houston interviews half of all applicants. They're considerably more selective in who they accept.

Not true. Actually, the number is 1/3 with approximately 1 in 5 of those interviewed matriculating. This matriculant % (from what I could find) seemed fairly consistent across all TX schools meaning that the number of people interviewed at UT-H had to be larger because of the school's substantially larger class size.

If you've got the full stats feel free to share them!😀

 

[widgets]

Thank you all of you =)

I will definitely retake the courses then. I didn't fail them, I just passed barely, so does that mean that I am unable to retake the course?

Additionally, people have said that getting into TCOM is just as competitive as MDs, is there an implication that abroad is more lenient? If so, then maybe I should be looking there.../shrug. I'm more interested in getting into a DO, Texas would be nice, but abroad is okay I guess.

Thank you again.

Sincerely,
Widget

 

[chaeymaey]

out of state private DO schools are more lenient than TCOM or OSU (another place a lot of Texans apply to). Also, several out of state DO schools have post-bacc programs that guarantee acceptance and are easier than TCOM's masters program.