WAMC - non-trad applicant 3.68cGPA 507 MCAT, need help with school list!!

[sheenreen]

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I am applying to MD and DO schools and really need help selecting which to apply to for both.

1. cGPA (undergrad): 3.68
2. My MCAT score is 507 with
126 in Chemical and Physical Foundations
127 CARS
127 Biological and Biochemical Foundations
127 Physiological, Social, and Biological Foundations
3. I’m a Massachusetts resident
4. Ethnically Southeast Asian
5. Graduated from UMass Lowell
6. Clinical experience - EMT 960HRS, Medical assistant 36HRS so far (currently derm MA)
7. Research - Capstone project 150HRS, senior research associate at Pfizer Inflammation and Immunology research unit 2300HRS
8. Shadowing - Anesthesiology 80HRS, Derm medical scribe 972 HRS
9. Volunteering - Nursing home 216HRS, ED and Endoscopy 300HRS

I also worked at a daycare - 300HRS

I graduated with my masters in Biomedical Engineering and Biotech in 2021. I recently took Pharmacology and Immunology HMX courses online and have those certificates.

LORs from 2 MDs (dermatologist I scribed for and anesthesiologist I shadowed) and two science professors from undergrad.

Need advice on these lists!

DO list:
ATSU Kirksville, Arizona
AZCOM
BUCOM
Burrell COM
CCOM
DMUCOM
DUQCOM
EVCOM (all campuses)
KSU
KCOM
LECOM (both campuses)
LMU-COM
MCOM
NYITCOM
Noorda COM
NSUCOM
OCOM
PNU-COM
PCOM (GA. PA)
RVU-COM
Rowan-Virtua
Touro COM– NY, CA
UNECOM
UP-COM
WCU-COM

MD list:
Albany
Brody
Central Michigan
Charles R. Drew
Quinnipiac
Howard
Jacobs
Kirk Kerkorian
Temple
Loyola
Meharry
Mercer
Morehouse
Oregon Health & Science
Queen's
Rush Medical
SUNY
Tulane
University of California, Davis
University of Houston
University of Illinois
University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
Virginia Tech Carilion
University of Massachusetts
Medical College of Wisconsin
TCU Burnett
Northeast Ohio
University of Arizona
University of Louisville

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Right now I have 33 DO schools in my list based off of my stats and removing schools that don't tend to accept OOS. Is it okay to apply to this many not considering how many MDs I might apply to? Need advice!

Uh... can you list them?

That said, you have 972 hours of derm scribing and 80 hours of anesthesiology shadowing. I suppose your EMT could cover "primary care," but these specialties seem rather extreme and don't really give me insight into whether you are in a good position to observe OMM/OMT. I also don't know how your HMX certs are going to help you.

 

[sheenreen]

Uh... can you list them?

That said, you have 972 hours of derm scribing and 80 hours of anesthesiology shadowing. I suppose your EMT could cover "primary care," but these specialties seem rather extreme and don't really give me insight into whether you are in a good position to observe OMM/OMT. I also don't know how your HMX certs are going to help you.

Here is the list (30 DO):

ATSU Kirksville, Arizona
AZCOM
BUCOM
Burrell COM
CCOM
DMUCOM
DUQCOM
EVCOM (all campuses)
KSU
KCOM
LECOM (both campuses)
LMU-COM
MCOM
NYITCOM
Noorda COM
NSUCOM
OCOM
PNU-COM
PCOM (GA. PA)
RVU-COM
Rowan-Virtua
Touro COM– NY, CA
UNECOM
UP-COM
WCU-COM

Yes, my experiences do not include observing OMM/OMT, however my theme is heavily based on perception of pain throughout all my experiences and my interest in mediating it. I believe there is space to tie in concepts of holistic medicine and the potential use of OMM/OMT here. I was an interfacility transport EMT where I was mostly dealing with geriatric and bariatric patients with chronic pain and my main priority due to this demographic of pts was to manipulate them physically to bring them more comfort or support them mentally/spiritually/holistically in a variety of different situations, rather than performing emergency medicine. In derm there are symptoms that appear on pts skin which may indicate problems inside the body, like organ disease or issues with multiple other systems. My father was diabetic (genetic disposition) and I saw how he was able to control it (now is not diabetic) by altering his lifestyle including diet and exercise rather than relying solely on drugs. So, I'm hoping to put more of an emphasis on tying in all my experiences into why is want to practice osteopathic/holistic medicine. Also hoping that speaking about OMM/OMT in theory without direct observation would be ok since the prevalence of DOs using OMM/OMT in practice is very low especially for anesthesiology or derm DOs.

 

[ClashRoyaleKing]

I think you are very competitive for MD schools. Do you have any non-clinical volunteering? Is your 972 hours of derm medical scribe shadowing or clinical experience?

 

[sheenreen]

I think you are very competitive for MD schools. Do you have any non-clinical volunteering? Is your 972 hours of derm medical scribe shadowing or clinical experience?

That's good to hear. From MSAR is have a list of ~30 MD schools that needs a major reduction. Do you have any suggestions as to how you further narrow down the list without reducing the possibility of getting an acceptance? My non-clinical volunteering would be the ~200 hrs at a nursing home. The derm medical scribe would be more under shadowing as I did not touch or speak to the patients, just followed the provider to appts and did all parts of the pt notes.

 

[LunaOri]

Take another look at MSAR. Remove from your list the HBCU and all the state schools that don’t accept many OOS applicants. You could add Drexel and UVM.

 

[Faha]

You have several state public schools on your list that admit few nonresidents with your stats and no connection to the state (Brody does not admit non residents and UC Davis only 2 or 3 per year). I suggest these MD schools with your stats:
UMass
Tufts
Vermont
Quinnipiac
Albany
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
Penn State
George Washington
Eastern Virginia
Virginia Commonwealth
Wake Forest
Belmont
NOVA MD
TCU
Creighton
Rosalind Franklin
Medical College Wisconsin
Oakland Beaumont
Wayne State
Alice Walton (when it opens)
Roseman (when it opens)
I suggest these schools from your DO list:
ATSU Kirksville, Arizona
AZCOM
Burrell COM
CCOM
DMUCOM
EVCOM (all campuses)
KSU
KCOM
LECOM (both campuses)
LMU-COM
NYITCOM
Noorda COM
NSUCOM
PCOM (GA. PA)
Touro COM– NY, CA
UNECOM
UP-COM
WCU-COM

 

[candbgirl]

Take Rush and Loyola off. Your nonclinical focus isn’t what they are looking for. And Rush expects hundreds if not thousands of service hours and they get them. If you aren’t from Illinois be aware that the tuition for OOS students is horrendously high- like the highest OOS in the country.
You should probably focus on DO schools. Your MCAT is low for MD but stats wise you are appropriate for DO.
Good luck.