What are my chances? Applying to ALL DO Schools!

[Chromatic543]

---

Members do not see this ad.

cGPA (grade replace) = 3.46
sGPA (grade replace) = 3.38
cGPA (without replace)= 3.22
sGPA (without replace)= 3.22

MCAT = 502 (126-124-126-126)

Degree = Biochemistry, BS (graduating in June)

Ethnicity = Pacific Islander (Fijian)

Applying: All DO schools (hoping to get into a new school)

Submitting Primary: 1st of June

Home State: California

Letters: 2 Science Professors, 1 Osteopathic, 1 Allopathic (4 TOTAL)

***ECs***

900 Hours Clinical Experience (400 Hours of assisting in care of patients with dementia, cooking for patients with physical limitations, volunteering at hospital, DO and MD shadowing, Medical mission/brigade in Honduras.

Volunteered at an Orphanage in Ghana

Academic Senate Member

Pre-Health brigade club Member

Competitive Chess

 

[MakeLifeHappen13]

Your MCAT and GPA are borderline but I think you will be able to snag some interviews especially with an early app and solid ECs. You're going to need a non-science LOR for some schools.

 

[Chromatic543]

Thank you for pointing out the non-science LOR. How do my ECs look?

 

[MakeLifeHappen13]

They look good but I would continue to buff up those clinical and volunteering hours during your gap year. You can always send new clinical/volunteer experiences as an application update to show ad-coms that you are doing something productive with your gap year. Scribing looks really good so I would apply to some scribe companies. Research would also be a good idea but I think DO schools place less emphasis on this than clinical experience.

 

[Chromatic543]

They look good but I would continue to buff up those clinical and volunteering hours during your gap year. You can always send new clinical/volunteer experiences as an application update to show ad-coms that you are doing something productive with your gap year. Scribing looks really good so I would apply to some scribe companies. Research would also be a good idea but I think DO schools place less emphasis on this than clinical experience.

I did not know that I could do that! Thank you so much!! How early would you consider early in the app cycle for DOs? I am just working on my personal statement, then will send transcripts, and then transcript updates as final grades come out. I was thinking first week of June.

 

[Goro]

cGPA (without replace)= 3.22
sGPA (without replace)= 3.22

MCAT = 502 (126-124-126-126)


There is no grade replacement anymore. Hence, rule out CCOM, and the coastal Touros.

Skip PacNW if not fromt he West Coast

Skip UNECOM if not from the NE

Skip Rowan is not from NJ

Skip MSUCOM if not from MI

Skip LUCOM, period.

 

[Chromatic543]

cGPA (without replace)= 3.22
sGPA (without replace)= 3.22

MCAT = 502 (126-124-126-126)


There is no grade replacement anymore. Hence, rule out CCOM, and the coastal Touros.

Skip PacNW if not fromt he West Coast

Skip UNECOM if not from the NE

Skip Rowan is not from NJ

Skip MSUCOM if not from MI

Skip LUCOM, period.

Thank you for the input. At least I can keep Pacific Northwest since I am from CA.

How are the Arizona schools? I am trying to get into one of them.

 

[Goro]

Thank you for the input. At least I can keep Pacific Northwest since I am from CA.

How are the Arizona schools? I am trying to get into one of them.

502 might be too low for AZCOM. I am not a fan of SOMA given how they handle clinical years..scattering the students all over the state.

 

[AlbinoHawk DO]

Applying to every school is a rookie mistake. Just make a list of 12-15 schools that you can both see yourself going and has schools of various tiers in the mix.

 

[Ho0v-man]

Don't apply to every school. Don't bother with AZCOM/CCOM, or any of the state schools.

 

[Chromatic543]

Don't apply to every school. Don't bother with AZCOM/CCOM, or any of the state schools.

What about AT Still in Arizona?

 

[Ho0v-man]

What about AT Still in Arizona?

Sure. Just keep in mind that they have a rather unique curriculum. It's not for everyone.

 

[Scrubb]

Thank you for the input. At least I can keep Pacific Northwest since I am from CA.

How are the Arizona schools? I am trying to get into one of them.

For PNW, take a good look at their "Most Recent Class Profile" posted on their website here: Fast Facts :: Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences

I am from CA as well, but read on their site that 85% of PNW matriculants to their most recent class are from PNW's "catchment area" (Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington).

You may want to be wary of this when applying there. Perhaps @Goro has some extra insight into this, but I would go so far as to say if you're not from one of those states (graduated high school, college, or born there), it may be extra difficult to get into the school even if you are from another state on the West Coast (e.g. CA).

 

[Anicetus]

cGPA (grade replace) = 3.46
sGPA (grade replace) = 3.38
cGPA (without replace)= 3.22
sGPA (without replace)= 3.22

MCAT = 502 (126-124-126-126)

Degree = Biochemistry, BS (graduating in June)

Ethnicity = Pacific Islander (Fijian)

Applying: All DO schools (hoping to get into a new school)

Submitting Primary: 1st of June

Home State: California

Letters: 2 Science Professors, 1 Osteopathic, 1 Allopathic (4 TOTAL)

***ECs***

900 Hours Clinical Experience (400 Hours of assisting in care of patients with dementia, cooking for patients with physical limitations, volunteering at hospital, DO and MD shadowing, Medical mission/brigade in Honduras.

Volunteered at an Orphanage in Ghana

Academic Senate Member

Pre-Health brigade club Member

Competitive Chess

Seeing you're from California. I'm going to echo others about some of the lower, newer schools.

Additionally, if your goal is to come back to California for residency I highly advise against the newer DO schools, especially the ones who's incentives are to keep you as a rural family med doc in their region of the country. Even some of the newer MD schools made it troublesome for people who wanted to get back to California. Don't make the mistake of thinking you can go anywhere after medical school or even residency if your standards are really that low.

Some people on here will say it's too hard to control where you will go. I'll disagree and say to look at what you really want down the line and modify your application strategy based on that.

 

[Chromatic543]

Seeing you're from California. I'm going to echo others about some of the lower, newer schools.

Additionally, if your goal is to come back to California for residency I highly advise against the newer DO schools, especially the ones who's incentives are to keep you as a rural family med doc in their region of the country. Even some of the newer MD schools made it troublesome for people who wanted to get back to California. Don't make the mistake of thinking you can go anywhere after medical school or even residency if your standards are really that low.

Some people on here will say it's too hard to control where you will go. I'll disagree and say to look at what you really want down the line and modify your application strategy based on that.

Thank you for the advice. I really appreciate that. My goal is not necessarily to do a residency in California. Here are my goals.

Primary Goal

Med School: California
Residency: California
Final Destination: Vancouver, BC

Alternative Goal

Med School: Anywhere in the US
Residency: Anywhere in the US
Final Destination: Vancouver, BC


Based on this, what do you recommend?

 

[Chromatic543]

For PNW, take a good look at their "Most Recent Class Profile" posted on their website here: Fast Facts :: Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences

I am from CA as well, but read on their site that 85% of PNW matriculants to their most recent class are from PNW's "catchment area" (Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington).

You may want to be wary of this when applying there. Perhaps @Goro has some extra insight into this, but I would go so far as to say if you're not from one of those states (graduated high school, college, or born there), it may be extra difficult to get into the school even if you are from another state on the West Coast (e.g. CA).

Oh, California 🙁

Thanks for the advice

 

[MADD!!!]

Apply to every school EXCEPT: CCOM/AZCOM, DMU, NYIT, OSU, MSU, Rowan, UNE, KYCOM, WCUCOM (there may be more but throw these out.)

Apply to the other schools even if you don't see yourself going to them. Keep your options open for now.

I'm from CA and got an interview for PacNW. Apply there.

 

[Anicetus]

Thank you for the advice. I really appreciate that. My goal is not necessarily to do a residency in California. Here are my goals.

Primary Goal

Med School: California
Residency: California
Final Destination: Vancouver, BC

Alternative Goal

Med School: Anywhere in the US
Residency: Anywhere in the US
Final Destination: Vancouver, BC


Based on this, what do you recommend?

I don't know what getting a job in Vancouver is like for one field vs another so I can't comment there. There were some mentions in allopathic that neurosurgery in Canada is particularly welcome since their income difference is supposedly not as exaggerated as it is in the states so no as many people want to do that line of work for less pay.

For your residency goal of California, in terms of DO, try to land westernU or Touro-CA. If not those then AZCOM or Touro-NV. If not those then one of the older more established DO schools. UCLA won't know what MUCOM or WVCOM or ABCDEFG-COM is. Getting back to non-valley California is particularly difficult for MDs too and tends to be pretty competitive based on prestige of med school alone, but if you are okay with anywhere in the U.S. the other method of breaking through the ceiling is an excellent Step 1 (250 or 260+) to get noticed, but even some of the best applicants from some lower DO schools don't make it to California.

If you are near westernU, check out the school and go to those welcome student days. Maybe some of the westernU folks on here can help chip in for tips during the interview.