Turning down DO to reapply MD

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I'm 83.7% sure he's kidding
But there's no context for a joke like this, nobody has been claiming any such things to deserve the satire

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But there's no context for a joke like this, nobody has been claiming any such things to deserve the satire

That's why I left the remaining percent, I'm not totally sure. Isn't he accepted to a top 20?
 
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That's why I left the remaining percent, I'm not totally sure. Isn't he accepted to a top 20?
actually srs. DO's are more caring and less money motivated.
And they also have a very holistic view of medicine. I don't want to be seen by a non-holistic MD doctor

op is clearly not in medicine for the right reasons if he prefers MD over DO
 
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But why does doing well on the MCAT preclude you from caring about medicine?
 
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OP is trying to do well on his MCAT so he can avoid DO...
bad, narcissistic mentality
Do you think most DO students would still be DO students if they'd scored 10 points higher on their MCATs?
 
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Curious to know this as well
I think the best way to answer, is to look at how often people with a decent GPA and 36+ MCATs apply/matriculate DO. I'm sure it does happen, eg. a nontrad that lives nearby and doesn't want to move their family. But I doubt the motivation for most people to apply DO is being more holistic, humble, and "in it for the medicine".
 
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I think the best way to answer, is to look at how often people with a decent GPA and 36+ MCATs apply/matriculate DO. I'm sure it does happen, eg. a nontrad that lives nearby and doesn't want to move their family. But I doubt the motivation for most people to apply DO is being more holistic, humble, and "in it for the medicine".

Are there any other reasons besides location?
 
Are there any other reasons besides location?
Parent/role model was a DO? Costs, if they give scholarships? You're a little outside the mainstream and into OMM? Maybe you believe MDs are just in it for the money and prestige? Don't know, really! My current understanding is that DO is pretty indistinguishable from MD in education aside from OMM, is much more accessible in terms of stats, and is an uphill battle for the competitive post-grad spots
 
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Parent/role model was a DO? Costs, if they give scholarships? You're a little outside the mainstream and into OMM? Maybe you believe MDs are just in it for the money and prestige? Don't know, really! My current understanding is that DO is pretty indistinguishable from MD in education aside from OMM, is much more accessible in terms of stats, and is an uphill battle for the competitive post-grad spots

Which leads to the following dilemma: would these reasons still apply if...

Do you think most DO students would still be DO students if they'd scored 10 points higher on their MCATs?

?
 
Which leads to the following dilemma: would these reasons still apply if...?
I think most people that apply DO with a 3.6/26 would have been MD applicants instead with a 3.6/36. I don't believe there's some big difference in humility and holistic views or that MD students are all in it for money and prestige
 
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I'll only say this much, I did an SMP at a MD school, it was so very cold. Everyone was out for their own, didn't want to help anyone, and someone actually deleted the class's dropbox of notes set up by the professor so no one could have it! I also randomly went to visit a few DO schools mid semester so I could ask students walking around about the school. They were very receptive and friendly. I was even told they were a family......the MD students just looked down on me as a SMP student and I felt like it was wrong.

This is just my experience though.
 
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I think most people that apply DO with a 3.6/26 would have been MD applicants instead with a 3.6/36. I don't believe there's some big difference in humility and holistic views or that MD students are all in it for money and prestige

Ya I agree. Really location is the only determining factor, but even then it's still rather flexible.
 
actually srs. DO's are more caring and less money motivated.
And they also have a very holistic view of medicine. I don't want to be seen by a non-holistic MD doctor

op is clearly not in medicine for the right reasons if he prefers MD over DO
:troll:
 
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I think most people that apply DO with a 3.6/26 would have been MD applicants instead with a 3.6/36. I don't believe there's some big difference in humility and holistic views or that MD students are all in it for money and prestige
I have to agree. If I had a 36 instead of a 26 I would probably be at an MD school. Not that I begrudge my degree, I was just realistic in applying to schools.
 
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I was just realistic in applying to schools.
It's great that DO has the kinder retake policy. It sucks that if someone doesn't realize their interest in medicine until late in college, and have accumulated some low science grades, the door to MD is almost certainly shut. Grade replacement makes a lot more sense than averaging to me.
 
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It's great that DO has the kinder retake policy. It sucks that if someone doesn't realize their interest in medicine until late in college, and have accumulated some low science grades, the door to MD is almost certainly shut. Grade replacement makes a lot more sense than averaging to me.

You have to keep in mind though that it is a lot easier to do better in a class when you are retaking it. Sure it isn't time efficient at all to retake a 10 or 16 week class, but you really have a huge head start on your classmates who are taking it for the first time.
 
Do you think most DO students would still be DO students if they'd scored 10 points higher on their MCATs?

I'm the outlier but I will most certainly be going DO even with a MD worthy MCAT, but my problem is my GPA from when I was a stupid freshmen.. :bang: If I had a 3.6 then my list would look a whole lot different. I looked into SMPs but since I have a family I just don't care enough go into extra debt for a non-guarantee. Plus my little heart won't stop if I don't get to be something like say a neurosurgeon. There a lot of fields in medicine and I could be happy in a number of them, unlike some of the other pre-meds who would go postal if they didn't get to be the next Derek Shephard

My current understanding is that DO is pretty indistinguishable from MD in education aside from OMM, is much more accessible in terms of stats, and is an uphill battle for the competitive post-grad spots

And this sums the whole thing up nicely.
 
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I'm the outlier but I will most certainly be going DO even with a MD worthy MCAT, but my problem is my GPA from when I was a stupid freshmen.. :bang: If I had a 3.6 then my list would look a whole lot different. I looked into SMPs but since I have a family I just don't care enough go into extra debt for a non-guarantee. Plus my little heart won't stop if I don't get to be something like say a neurosurgeon. There a lot of fields in medicine and I could be happy in a number of them, unlike some of the other pre-meds who would go postal if they didn't get to be the next Derek Shephard



And this sums the whole thing up nicely.
That's the same thing. The question is would someone choose DO if they could get MD? The answers for almost everyone is no, which means that it's not a noble lack of vanity causing people to choose DO.

The problem is that none of us- at least for younger pre-meds- know which specialty we will get passionate about. I may want to be a family med doctor in a small town or I may want to be a San Fran neurosurgeon. There is no reason to close doors if you don't need to. I actually know one person with MD stats who went DO because her mentor was DO. She wants to be a surgeon, so she now wishes she made a different decision
 
Im a 37/3.45 going to a DO school next year. Am i cutting myself short?
 
yes! Only 1 II that went to WL. :(
I have very similar stats and also never made it off the WL. I'm reapplying this year to both MD and DO (never applied to DO before) and will go to DO if no MD takes me. So in short, I think you are making the right decision.
 
I have very similar stats and also never made it off the WL. I'm reapplying this year to both MD and DO (never applied to DO before) and will go to DO if no MD takes me. So in short, I think you are making the right decision.
Thanks! good to know. Me too!
 
What was your list like?
Mainly focused on all the middle and low tier schools that would accept OOS. and my state schools of course. No like top 20 schools or anything. I applied to 35 plus. I made a thread on here and people said it was good. I applied sort of late secondaries submitted end of july to early september.
 
Mainly focused on all the middle and low tier schools that would accept OOS. and my state schools of course. No like top 20 schools or anything. I applied to 35 plus. I made a thread on here and people said it was good. I applied sort of late secondaries submitted end of july to early september.

If you applied that broadly and only got one II and subsequent wait list then I think going DO is probably the smart choice. Sometimes people with your stats have to shotgun a bunch of schools from all tiers because you don't know who will he interested. I personally might have added a couple of top 20s but I think you can go DO knowing you gave MD your best shot with no regrets
 
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You want to go to medical school, if you get in, accept offer, celebrate and go to medical school. Why the hell would you turn down an acceptance to medical school if your goal is to go medical school? My head hurts
 
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You want to go to medical school, if you get in, accept offer, celebrate and go to medical school. Why the hell would you turn down an acceptance to medical school if your goal is to go medical school? My head hurts

True but DO limits where and what u can match in. I think.
 
Thanks! good to know. Me too!
How many DO schools did you apply to? I'm constructing my own DO list right now and I'm not sure how many would suffice. And I don't know if my list is too top heavy for DO or not lol...
 
How many DO schools did you apply to? I'm constructing my own DO list right now and I'm not sure how many would suffice. And I don't know if my list is too top heavy for DO or not lol...


I applied to 6 DO schools and got interviews at 4. And I applied very late like november/december i think lol. I got interviews to 2 of the 5 old ones CCOM/PCOM.

My list was: PCOM, CCOM, RVU, NYITCOM, LECOM, NOVA. I think there are certain DO schools that will accept you just bc of mcat which are ccom, azcom, rvu and touro. The others like philly and lecom i think want more like work experience and stuff but thats just what i thought based on interviews and stuff.
 
I applied to 6 DO schools and got interviews at 4. And I applied very late like november/december i think lol. I got interviews to 2 of the 5 old ones CCOM/PCOM.

My list was: PCOM, CCOM, RVU, NYITCOM, LECOM, NOVA. I think there are certain DO schools that will accept you just bc of mcat which are ccom, azcom, rvu and touro. The others like philly and lecom i think want more like work experience and stuff but thats just what i thought based on interviews and stuff.
Are you my long lost twin?
 
True but DO limits where and what u can match in. I think.

Yes it makes the super competative stuff more difficult, but honestly if you kill the boards like you killed the MCAT then you will be fine. Like I said, if you applied to that many MD schools and got nothing then it is ok to go DO, probably a solid decision actually.

I applied to 6 DO schools and got interviews at 4. And I applied very late like november/december i think lol. I got interviews to 2 of the 5 old ones CCOM/PCOM.

My list was: PCOM, CCOM, RVU, NYITCOM, LECOM, NOVA. I think there are certain DO schools that will accept you just bc of mcat which are ccom, azcom, rvu and touro. The others like philly and lecom i think want more like work experience and stuff but thats just what i thought based on interviews and stuff.

This confirms it, if you got into one of these then you will be fine.
 
Yes it makes the super competative stuff more difficult, but honestly if you kill the boards like you killed the MCAT then you will be fine. Like I said, if you applied to that many MD schools and got nothing then it is ok to go DO, probably a solid decision actually.



This confirms it, if you got into one of these then you will be fine.
Thanks good to have some peace of mind!!!
 
More books more problems.
yeah lol as if I'm going to start using the library now. Wait I just went to RVUs website why does the building look blue now??
 
Dude just skip the SMP, focus on a nov/dec retake and apply broadly DO. If your score goes up, you can update the really good DO schools and maybe get into one of them if your score goes up. DO schools are expensive so save yourself the money.

The odds of being able to study enough to increase your MCAT 10 points (about 7 on the old scale) while rocking an SMP, a CARS dedicated course, applying and writing secondaries, while potentially traveling all over the country for interviews are almost nonexistent. You had to have had less going on when preparing for your last retake when your score went down, right?

If you do poorly on your SMP it really won't matter what you new MCAT looks like. So either go all in DO this cycle with a possible MCAT retake halfway through the cycle or SMP with MCAT April/May and apply to both next year. Don't do both because it's a recipe for failure and misery.


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I applied to 6 DO schools and got interviews at 4. And I applied very late like november/december i think lol. I got interviews to 2 of the 5 old ones CCOM/PCOM.

My list was: PCOM, CCOM, RVU, NYITCOM, LECOM, NOVA. I think there are certain DO schools that will accept you just bc of mcat which are ccom, azcom, rvu and touro. The others like philly and lecom i think want more like work experience and stuff but thats just what i thought based on interviews and stuff.
Thank you for the info! Hope you enjoy med school.
 
Just from my observations, I would guess that CARS is actually the least likely section to improve with additional studying. Verbal section scores seem to be tied closer to things like early childhood education, reading level, vocabulary, etc. Not things you can make significant contributions to in a few weeks or months. Any of you statistics lovers have some numbers that compare subsection retake improvement means?
 
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