Weird predicament

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I'm currently a sophmore in college and was hoping for some advice. By the end up junior year, I realistically can expect to have a gpa from a 3.3-3.4. My original plans were to graduate a year early. Would it be wise of me to do this and apply to DO school, or do I stay for a fourth year and try for MD? I know it's similar to DO vs MD, I'm just not sure what would be the best for me in the long run. I can stay and try to raise my gpa (which may or may not go significantly up) or I can save money from senior year and go to a DO school (hopefully and if I'll be accepted).

Thanks for the insight!

 

[InsertMemberNameHere]

First. I'll give you some admissions information about DO and MD programs:
-The mean GPA for a DO matriculate in the 2014 cycle was 3.46. The mean MCAT for a DO matriculate in the 2014 cycle was 26.26. (http://www.aacom.org/docs/default-source/data-and-trends/2011-14-AProfRpt.pdf?sfvrsn=16)
-The mean GPA and MCAT for a MD matriculate in 2014 was 3.69 and 31.4. (https://www.aamc.org/download/321494/data/factstable17.pdf)

Let's say your GPA after your junior year is on the high end of what you realistically expect and ends up being a 3.4. That means you would approximately have the mean GPA for a DO acceptance and be about 0.3 below the average MD GPA acceptance. A 3.4 is pretty low for MD, but certainly not impossible. If you spend an extra year in undergraduate and raise your GPA to 3.5, that would be good, but only raise your chance of a medical school acceptance by approximately 5% in most cases. (http://edge.studentdoctor.net/wamc/All_Applicants.png)

A lot of it will depend on your MCAT score. I don't know your ethnicity, so I'll reference the SDN "What are my chances?" success rate chart again for "all applicants" rather than a particular race. With a 3.4 GPA and ignoring all other factors, in order to have a 50% chance to be accepted to an MD school, you'd have to make about a 32 on your MCAT. With a 3.5 GPA and ignoring all other factors, you'd need about a 31 on the MCAT for a 50% chance of being accepted. Do you think you can score at least a 32 on your MCAT? If so, you'd have about a 50% (+/- 5%) chance of getting accepted into an MD program with a 3.4/3.5 GPA. (http://edge.studentdoctor.net/wamc/All_Applicants.png)

You're deciding between graduating a year early and applying during 2020 cycle (which starts this upcoming May) or staying an extra year to try and raise your GPA and applying during the 2021 cycle (starts in May 2016). If you are leaning toward graduating early, start studying for the 2015 MCAT and try and take your MCAT by this summer. If you are leaning toward waiting an extra year and waiting to apply during the 2021 cycle, you can hold off on the MCAT for now. Also (and I should have addressed this sooner), you can apply to both MD and DO programs. You don't have to pick one or another. In fact, in your case and depending on your MCAT score, applying to both is probably in your best interest.

My advice to you is to wait the extra year. You're a sophomore, and realistically, the GPA gain you could potentially gain in an extra year won't increase your chances by all that much (3.4 to 3.5 is about a 5% increase), but (and more importantly) I think the extra year could help you get your application as a whole in better order. In terms of the MCAT, if you wait an extra year, you won't have to rush to take the new MCAT in a couple of months, you can see what others think of the new test, allow for more and better study materials to come out about it, and will have more time to prepare for the test (a side note, don't take the MCAT unless you are 100% ready!)

I don't know anything about your ethnicity, extracurricular involvement, volunteering, shadowing, etc, so I ignored those factors and looked purely at GPA and MCAT. Essentially, this is your decision to make, and you do not have to make it right at this moment, but if I had to pick between graduating a year early or staying an extra year with a 3.3 GPA, I'd probably wait a year, but I don't have all the information. Also, waiting an extra year doesn't necessarily mean you have to stay an extra year in undergraduate, either. You could graduate after your third year and attend a post-bacc program for a year while you apply. You could also use that extra year to beef up your extracurriculars by working in a hospital or as an EMT or something in order to get some more money if needed and boost your resume.

A lot of this really depends on how you think you can do on the MCAT. If you think you can rock the MCAT by this summer, get a 32 or above, and apply to medical school by this fall, then by all means I'd save the time and money and graduate early. However, if you are feeling any reservations about the MCAT, then I'd wait until next year to apply to medical school. It will give you an extra year to boost your GPA and your extracurriculars (if neeeded) and a chance to see the new MCAT and better prepare for it.

Also, applying to medical school is a ton of work and a huge time commitment. It might be best to wait the extra year for a variety of factors, some of which I just mentioned previously, and additionally to have more time in order to put together and organize your application and essays better so that you can apply early (which is very advantageous), and also not be as stressed at any interviews. If you decided to graduate a year early, you'd be going to potential interviews this fall while simultaneously graduating a year early and trying to raise your GPA. All that combined with taking the new MCAT this summer while also applying to medical school at the same time seems a little too stressful and chaotic to me, but you could be completely different about that.

So, my advice would be to wait an extra year. I think it would be best for your application for a large number of factors. I'm no expert, but those are my thoughts and advice to you. Post here or message me if you have any other questions or concerns! Thanks! =)

 

[bingutothetop]

THANK YOU SO MUCH!
If I were to graduate early, I would still take a gap year. If I were to stay an additional year(senior year), then I would apply after completing my senior year and hence taking a gap year then.

My application, with the exception of grades (which is huge!) is pretty okay IMHO. I started a chapter at my univesity from a national student activism organization that advocates for education reform, and I am apart of a club that takes foster children on field trips. I'm on a club sport. I have done research at a top 20 cancer center and my PI is a graduate from PCOM. I have shadowed for over 100 hours across 2 hospitals, DO and MD.

My gut tells me that staying an additional year may not be the best because anything short of an MD acceptance would be a dissappointment given that I am paying for the college myself(my parents). On the other hand, I feel that if I do work up to 3.4, it is reasonable to be optimistic and hope to raise my gpa to 3.5.

Also, I am white.

Thanks again !

 

[InsertMemberNameHere]

THANK YOU SO MUCH!
If I were to graduate early, I would still take a gap year. If I were to stay an additional year(senior year), then I would apply after completing my senior year and hence taking a gap year then.

My application, with the exception of grades (which is huge!) is pretty okay IMHO. I started a chapter at my univesity from a national student activism organization that advocates for education reform, and I am apart of a club that takes foster children on field trips. I'm on a club sport. I have done research at a top 20 cancer center and my PI is a graduate from PCOM. I have shadowed for over 100 hours across 2 hospitals, DO and MD.

My gut tells me that staying an additional year may not be the best because anything short of an MD acceptance would be a dissappointment given that I am paying for the college myself(my parents). On the other hand, I feel that if I do work up to 3.4, it is reasonable to be optimistic and hope to raise my gpa to 3.5.

Also, I am white.

Thanks again !

No problem. Just trying to throw out some ideas!

I see, so let me get this straight: you are taking a gap year, regardless? So, you are deciding between graduating a year early and applying during the 2021 cycle (application starts in May 2016) or staying an additional year and applying during the 2022 cycle (application starts in May 2017)? Is that right?

If so, then that changes some of what I previously said. You don't have to worry about the MCAT quite yet, as the earliest you would apply would be May 2016, anyways. My recommendation is to take the test sometime during the spring months of 2016 before you apply (of course, you may also have a bigger chunk of free time before then, too). In any case, it's very advantageous to take it a couple of months before you apply for a couple of reasons. One, you have a better idea of where to apply. It's to your advantage to apply to schools with an MCAT score within your range. Two, it gives you some time to retake the test if need be. And three, it will help you be able to focus on just applying rather than applying and studying for the MCAT at the same time (which is what I did, and I definitely don't recommend doing that). Organizing and writing up all of your information for your primary application, getting together letters of rec and transcripts, writing essays, and completing secondaries is a lot of work!

Your extracurricular activities look fantastic. The only thing I'd add (and you may have just not mentioned it) is medical volunteering. Other than that, I'd just like to reemphasize that if you decide to stay an additional year, you don't have to necessarily do undergraduate studies. It might be worth your time into investigating getting a Master's degree or a post-bacc program (if you can afford it), or being an EMT to earn some extra cash. Seeing as your GPA is on the lower side, though, it is probably better to do something school-related in order to get that GPA up a little bit.

I've said it before, though, and I'll say it again: the MCAT is going to be really big for you. It's a big test for everyone, but it's really important for applicants whose GPA's are below the average matriculation mean by a couple of decimals or so. If you score a 32 or above on the MCAT, you will have put yourself in a good position to get into a MD program.

I hope that helps a little, and I wish you luck! Message me or post here again if you have any more questions or ideas. Thanks again!