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Pre-Allo has one and it's got 247 replies, I figured we might as well start one too. Because guess what? ALL the pre-meds applying this year are buzzing about this forum and are going to bombard the forum front page with dumb questions that have been answered a gajillion times before.
I volunteer to head it up. Why? If it wasn't for SDN last year around this time, I would have never figured out what I needed to do to get in!
I have a little extra time and I'd like to compile a list of LINKS to threads that answer questions, and then if they can't figure it out they can ask away here.
Possible topics that always come up:
From the SDN founder himself:
Why did you choose a DO school over an MD school?
MD vs DO vs Caribbean: Hard Facts and Statistics
Some thoughts from someone who considered DO but ended up in MD
Where can I find info on all / specific schools?
2013 Osteopathic Medical College Information Booklet (CIB) available in PDF (1.9mb). You can find, among other statistics: Costs of each school (secondaries, attendance), location, pre-reqs for each school, mission statements, etc.
When should I apply?
Apply early. Apply broadly. These are the only two rules we encourage here on SDN. All schools operate on a rolling admissions basis, so your best chances are if you apply June 1st and begin drastically declining any time in August or later. It takes 4-6 weeks for your primary application to have grades verified (aka, all your transcripts calculated into cGPA and sGPA), so the earlier to you can get this done, the better. You can technically apply to one school that you may not be interested much in, get your grades verified, then add on the rest of your schools later. This helps especially if you're waiting for an MCAT score, as it takes much less time to get the MCAT score linked up with your application. Applications are updated weekly and disseminated to all schools you chose. You can check your final AACOMAS GPA about 10 days after being verified by clicking on the PDF link next to the schools.
Questions about my Personal Statement:
You should spend about a month or two writing, editing, having peers proof-read, and re-writing your personal statement. It is included when you submit your primary application. What do you write about? How you do you make it stand out in a sea of excellent applicants? Check out this gold mine:
The Depakote Guide to Writing a Personal Statement.
There should be a PS reader list out there in the forum somewhere if you want some SDN peers to give you their insight. Anyone who is an english major is a major plus. Also, make sure a LOT of different people give you their advice on it, and make changes as you see fit. You might be spending too many words on a topic that might not be that important, or you might not be writing positively enough about your experiences, etc.
When/Where/How Should I Retake?
Generally speaking, schools like to see your pre-reqs done at a 4-year university. That's not to say that getting them done or retaken at a community college rules you out, but the general rule is if you can, do it at a 4-yr, but if you can't, a CC will do. You'll want to retake and C/D/F's, especially the pre-reqs and less importantly other science classes. Non-science classes are the lowest priority. This is because schools tend to put more weight on your science GPA than your cumulative as it is a better predictor of how well you'll do. Consider that a music major's classes vary wildly from engineering classes, but both are considered non-science and are lumped into the cumulative GPA. Makes sense, right? Do not take any online lab courses through a CC. Take a real-person lab instead. More information on the subject of CC vs uni found here.
A list of what's calculated as science and non-science is found here: ______ (need to find). The most recent retake will replace the previous grade, but only if it is the same class name and same number of credits. This means you can retake a class at another school, but the class names have to be the same or similar, and the credit hours must match. If you took an all-inclusive physics class that included lab and lecture into 4 credits, you're going to have to take the 1-credit lab and the 3-credit lecture at your new school if they don't offer it packaged as one big class. The converse is also true: If you only want to retake the lab or lecture portion and you only have the option of a lab-combined-with-lecture class, you're going to have to bite the bullet and take the whole thing again. You need to get A's on all your retakes. It shows adcoms that you're motivated and mean serious business. If you do poorly and get B's, that's not a very reassuring sign that you're ready, is it? If you have any questions about specifics of this rule (for some obscure engineering class or something), you should just EMAIL AACOMAS with your question (and class descriptions). Finally: how many retakes is too many? Depends on your situation. I personally had over 15 (most during my 4-semester post-bacc), which raised my sGPA up to 3.43. I also made sure to get a straight 4.0 for all these classes 👍
List of online programs for grade-replacement (remember, don't do online labs!)
Letters of Recommendation
Click for a list of schools which require a DO letter . Generally speaking, adcoms want to know that you know what DO is all about and can prove it by spending time with a DO who can write you a great letter. That's the best scenario. A great LOR from an MD who knows you well will trump any mediocre letter from a DO who you barely spent time with. The one thing that held up my application was waiting for my DO letter, so pound the phone and get started with finding a DO to shadow! Like, right now! (Protip: ask to speak with and be real sweet to the office manager, she's your portal into that place) You'll submit your LORs with your secondaries, using a service such as Interfolio or VirtualEvals. You need to keep these confidential (i.e. not read them... at all). You can cherry pick a little bit: have all your letter writers send one in to either service. Then send a copy of each one to your advisor who can pick the strongest ones out for you, keeping your waived status intact.
How many LORs is too many? I'd say 5 or 6. I was in the work-force and had the president of the company write a great letter, along with my immediate boss. If you have a committee letter, then that will do. Keep in mind schools have no qualms about ringing up your letter writers to ask questions about you; therefore, the better they know you, the better this will go.
How much does the application process cost? So how much does applying to med school cost?
International transcripts: if you took any undergrad classes overseas.
Have tattoos? Want tattoos? Read this thread.
I volunteer to head it up. Why? If it wasn't for SDN last year around this time, I would have never figured out what I needed to do to get in!
I have a little extra time and I'd like to compile a list of LINKS to threads that answer questions, and then if they can't figure it out they can ask away here.
Possible topics that always come up:
- Retakes / GPA calculation
- DO vs MD LOR
- Comprehensive MD vs DO threads (not the flame war ones)
- When to take MCAT
From the SDN founder himself:
DO vs MD starter threads: (taking suggestions🙂
Why did you choose a DO school over an MD school?
MD vs DO vs Caribbean: Hard Facts and Statistics
Some thoughts from someone who considered DO but ended up in MD
Where can I find info on all / specific schools?
2013 Osteopathic Medical College Information Booklet (CIB) available in PDF (1.9mb). You can find, among other statistics: Costs of each school (secondaries, attendance), location, pre-reqs for each school, mission statements, etc.
When should I apply?
Apply early. Apply broadly. These are the only two rules we encourage here on SDN. All schools operate on a rolling admissions basis, so your best chances are if you apply June 1st and begin drastically declining any time in August or later. It takes 4-6 weeks for your primary application to have grades verified (aka, all your transcripts calculated into cGPA and sGPA), so the earlier to you can get this done, the better. You can technically apply to one school that you may not be interested much in, get your grades verified, then add on the rest of your schools later. This helps especially if you're waiting for an MCAT score, as it takes much less time to get the MCAT score linked up with your application. Applications are updated weekly and disseminated to all schools you chose. You can check your final AACOMAS GPA about 10 days after being verified by clicking on the PDF link next to the schools.
Questions about my Personal Statement:
You should spend about a month or two writing, editing, having peers proof-read, and re-writing your personal statement. It is included when you submit your primary application. What do you write about? How you do you make it stand out in a sea of excellent applicants? Check out this gold mine:
The Depakote Guide to Writing a Personal Statement.
There should be a PS reader list out there in the forum somewhere if you want some SDN peers to give you their insight. Anyone who is an english major is a major plus. Also, make sure a LOT of different people give you their advice on it, and make changes as you see fit. You might be spending too many words on a topic that might not be that important, or you might not be writing positively enough about your experiences, etc.
When/Where/How Should I Retake?
Generally speaking, schools like to see your pre-reqs done at a 4-year university. That's not to say that getting them done or retaken at a community college rules you out, but the general rule is if you can, do it at a 4-yr, but if you can't, a CC will do. You'll want to retake and C/D/F's, especially the pre-reqs and less importantly other science classes. Non-science classes are the lowest priority. This is because schools tend to put more weight on your science GPA than your cumulative as it is a better predictor of how well you'll do. Consider that a music major's classes vary wildly from engineering classes, but both are considered non-science and are lumped into the cumulative GPA. Makes sense, right? Do not take any online lab courses through a CC. Take a real-person lab instead. More information on the subject of CC vs uni found here.
A list of what's calculated as science and non-science is found here: ______ (need to find). The most recent retake will replace the previous grade, but only if it is the same class name and same number of credits. This means you can retake a class at another school, but the class names have to be the same or similar, and the credit hours must match. If you took an all-inclusive physics class that included lab and lecture into 4 credits, you're going to have to take the 1-credit lab and the 3-credit lecture at your new school if they don't offer it packaged as one big class. The converse is also true: If you only want to retake the lab or lecture portion and you only have the option of a lab-combined-with-lecture class, you're going to have to bite the bullet and take the whole thing again. You need to get A's on all your retakes. It shows adcoms that you're motivated and mean serious business. If you do poorly and get B's, that's not a very reassuring sign that you're ready, is it? If you have any questions about specifics of this rule (for some obscure engineering class or something), you should just EMAIL AACOMAS with your question (and class descriptions). Finally: how many retakes is too many? Depends on your situation. I personally had over 15 (most during my 4-semester post-bacc), which raised my sGPA up to 3.43. I also made sure to get a straight 4.0 for all these classes 👍
List of online programs for grade-replacement (remember, don't do online labs!)
Letters of Recommendation
Click for a list of schools which require a DO letter . Generally speaking, adcoms want to know that you know what DO is all about and can prove it by spending time with a DO who can write you a great letter. That's the best scenario. A great LOR from an MD who knows you well will trump any mediocre letter from a DO who you barely spent time with. The one thing that held up my application was waiting for my DO letter, so pound the phone and get started with finding a DO to shadow! Like, right now! (Protip: ask to speak with and be real sweet to the office manager, she's your portal into that place) You'll submit your LORs with your secondaries, using a service such as Interfolio or VirtualEvals. You need to keep these confidential (i.e. not read them... at all). You can cherry pick a little bit: have all your letter writers send one in to either service. Then send a copy of each one to your advisor who can pick the strongest ones out for you, keeping your waived status intact.
How many LORs is too many? I'd say 5 or 6. I was in the work-force and had the president of the company write a great letter, along with my immediate boss. If you have a committee letter, then that will do. Keep in mind schools have no qualms about ringing up your letter writers to ask questions about you; therefore, the better they know you, the better this will go.
How much does the application process cost? So how much does applying to med school cost?
International transcripts: if you took any undergrad classes overseas.
Have tattoos? Want tattoos? Read this thread.
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