What are my chances for the 2020-2021 cycle?

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Pre-med123

Pre-med123

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Hey everyone,

I just graduated college this fall (stayed an extra semester) and am looking for advice on if I should apply to medical school this upcoming cycle. I feel as though my ECs are strong but my gpa is lacking and I haven't taken the MCAT yet (taking it April 24th) so I'm not entirely confident in my application. I am confident in my ability to succeed going forward however. In my last semester I got a 3.91 GPA while maintaining volunteering, interning, and working part-time. Here are some of my stats below.

GPA:
sGPA 2.87
cGPA: 3.15

ECs:
2 years volunteering as an EMT
120 hours interning in an operating room
1 summer working as an EMT
1 summer shadowing a nephrologist
1 year serving as VP of communications for the inter-fraternity council
1 year as philanthropy chair for my fraternity

Currently I am working as an EMT, taking classes at a local 4-year college to raise my GPA, and studying for the MCAT. If I am able to do well in these classes (they are all science classes) and raise my GPA to a 3.20/3.05, what are my chances for getting into a DO school. Thank you!
 
Pre-med123 said:
Hey everyone,

I just graduated college this fall (stayed an extra semester) and am looking for advice on if I should apply to medical school this upcoming cycle. I feel as though my ECs are strong but my gpa is lacking and I haven't taken the MCAT yet (taking it April 24th) so I'm not entirely confident in my application. I am confident in my ability to succeed going forward however. In my last semester I got a 3.91 GPA while maintaining volunteering, interning, and working part-time. Here are some of my stats below.

GPA:
sGPA 2.87
cGPA: 3.15

ECs:
2 years volunteering as an EMT
120 hours interning in an operating room
1 summer working as an EMT
1 summer shadowing a nephrologist
1 year serving as VP of communications for the inter-fraternity council
1 year as philanthropy chair for my fraternity

Currently I am working as an EMT, taking classes at a local 4-year college to raise my GPA, and studying for the MCAT. If I am able to do well in these classes (they are all science classes) and raise my GPA to a 3.20/3.05, what are my chances for getting into a DO school. Thank you!
Click to expand...

Check the WAMC template and supply missing information: residency, URM/SED, major, etc.

GPA seems low even for good shot at DO. Service to others not described in detail. What are your biomedical course grades? Also no bets until we see your official MCAT results.

Sent from my SM-N960U using SDN mobile
 
Personal Info:
  • Graduated 2019 from Binghamton as a Biology Major
  • NY resident
  • White male
Clinical experience
  • Two years as a volunteer EMT in my student collegiate ambulance service for 6-12 hours a week
  • 120 hours shadowing doctors and observing surgeries at a primarily orthopedic hospital near my campus
  • A summer working as an EMT at a state park
  • Currently working at a private ambulance service on Long Island
Non-clinical volunteering experience
  • 1 year as VP of communications for the Inter-fraternity council (ran a social media account, created flyers, sent out information regarding meetings, etc.)
  • 1 year on my fraternity's philanthropy committee which organized/participated in events that raised over a two thousand dollars for Boys and Girls club and Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation
Shadowing Experience
  • A summer shadowing a nephrologist at a private practice for 10-20 hours a week
  • 40 hours shadowing an ophthalmologist at a private practice
Other extracurricular activities
  • Assistant manager of security at a bar working 10-15 hours a week
Course grades
  • Gen Bio 1/2 AP credit/B-
  • Gen Chem 1/2 C/B-
  • Cell Bio B-
  • Developmental Bio A-
  • Orgo 1/2 B+/B
  • Orgo Lab B
  • Genetics Lab A-
  • Evolution C
  • Phys 1/2 B+/B
  • Microbio C
  • Microbio lab B
  • Biochem C
 
You need better nonclinical activities. You have to get out of your comfort zone and off campus. Go work at a homeless shelter, soup kitchen, habitat for humanity, coach a team of underpriveledged kids in a team sport, spend time visiting with residents of a senior center. Anything to show your altruism to those less fortunate than yourself-focus on the underserved/unserved in your community. Did you shadow a primary care doc? If not do it now and get some hours. And honestly, have you thought about volunteering at a hospice, clinic or hospital. This would give you a chance to interact with sick, dying and injured people and their families. The only clinical experience you have is EMT. You should try to broaden your scope.
Your GPAs are very low. Whether you MIGHT be okay for some DO schools will depend on your MCAT.
 
You should receive some DO interviews if you score at least 500 on the MCAT. Post your actual score here when available and I will suggest schools.
 
candbgirl said:
You need better nonclinical activities. You have to get out of your comfort zone and off campus. Go work at a homeless shelter, soup kitchen, habitat for humanity, coach a team of underpriveledged kids in a team sport, spend time visiting with residents of a senior center. Anything to show your altruism to those less fortunate than yourself-focus on the underserved/unserved in your community. Did you shadow a primary care doc? If not do it now and get some hours. And honestly, have you thought about volunteering at a hospice, clinic or hospital. This would give you a chance to interact with sick, dying and injured people and their families. The only clinical experience you have is EMT. You should try to broaden your scope.
Your GPAs are very low. Whether you MIGHT be okay for some DO schools will depend on your MCAT.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the advice! The only time I would have free to do some volunteering is on the weekends considering that I’m working and taking classes. Do you think 1 day a week would be enough? Also what do you think the minimum MCAT score I need to get at least some interviews?
 
Faha said:
You should receive some DO interviews if you score at least 500 on the MCAT. Post your actual score here when available and I will suggest schools.
Click to expand...

Will do thanks! If I score >510 would I be able to secure at least some interviews?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Pre-med123 said:
Thank you for the advice! The only time I would have free to do some volunteering is on the weekends considering that I’m working and taking classes. Do you think 1 day a week would be enough? Also what do you think the minimum MCAT score I need to get at least some interviews?
Click to expand...

Just do the best you can, but don’t take it until you are consistently scoring at or above your target goal on several FL practice tests. You only want to take the test one time.
As to your activities, you have to figure it out. I can’t tell you what to do. I personally don’t see how you can get everything done that you need to do, including the MCAT, in the next 4 months. You might want to seriously consider a gap year. This would allow you ample time to build your application and score well on the MCAT. It takes a long time to complete the application . And, again, you only want to apply one time with the best application possible. You are already starting the whole cycle with a very low GPA and non impressive ECs. So slow down and do what it takes to be successful. Do it once, do it right.
 
I'm going to throw in my disagreement that you'd be a shoe-in with DO schools.

Course grades
  • Gen Bio 1/2 AP credit/B-
  • Gen Chem 1/2 C/B-
  • Cell Bio B-
  • Developmental Bio A-
  • Orgo 1/2 B+/B
  • Orgo Lab B
  • Genetics Lab A-
  • Evolution C
  • Phys 1/2 B+/B
  • Microbio C
  • Microbio lab B
  • Biochem C
Click to expand...

As an admissions screener, I see one A in a science lecture course. I don't really put much weight in lab grades or grades earned from independent study/research (and neither would your GPA since they usually count 1-2 credit hours instead of 3-4 for lectures). So there's only one A and two C's in upper-level biomedical science lecture classes. Evolution is not a biomedical science course, but I don't know of that many faculty on admissions committees that feel confident in that academic record for the rigors of medical school at an MD or DO program.

An MCAT score of 510+ would even raise this grade disparity even more in a file review, and I know more people who would default to GPA than test scores as revealing the truth about your preparation.
 
Mr.Smile12 said:
I'm going to throw in my disagreement that you'd be a shoe-in with DO schools.



As an admissions screener, I see one A in a science lecture course. I don't really put much weight in lab grades or grades earned from independent study/research (and neither would your GPA since they usually count 1-2 credit hours instead of 3-4 for lectures). So there's only one A and two C's in upper-level biomedical science lecture classes. Evolution is not a biomedical science course, but I don't know of that many faculty on admissions committees that feel confident in that academic record for the rigors of medical school at an MD or DO program.

An MCAT score of 510+ would even raise this grade disparity even more in a file review, and I know more people who would default to GPA than test scores as revealing the truth about your preparation.
Click to expand...

So what would your recommendation be? I had to stay at Binghamton an extra semester so the idea of taking an extra year off is not ideal. I don’t mean to sound impatient because I do want to apply with the best application possible and I know that my gpa is definitely suboptimal. Would applying this cycle hurt my future chances? Also, would you recommend continuing with a diy post-bacc or applying to a formal/linkage program?
 
Pre-med123 said:
So what would your recommendation be? I had to stay at Binghamton an extra semester so the idea of taking an extra year off is not ideal. I don’t mean to sound impatient because I do want to apply with the best application possible and I know that my gpa is definitely suboptimal. Would applying this cycle hurt my future chances? Also, would you recommend continuing with a diy post-bacc or applying to a formal/linkage program?
Click to expand...
Yeah, you are not close to ready to applying. Your gpas suck, your ecs need to be more diverse and you don't know how you will do on the MCAT. So yeah, you need a gap year. You have a lot of work to do. DO schools don't accept just anyone with a pulse. You need an upward trend in grades and a decent MCAT to alleviate any concerns admission committees may have. You sound impatient as well.
 
Pre-med123 said:
So what would your recommendation be? I had to stay at Binghamton an extra semester so the idea of taking an extra year off is not ideal. I don’t mean to sound impatient because I do want to apply with the best application possible and I know that my gpa is definitely suboptimal. Would applying this cycle hurt my future chances? Also, would you recommend continuing with a diy post-bacc or applying to a formal/linkage program?
Click to expand...
Were you a student at Binghamton? Have you made appointments with the prehealth advising office? Pre-Health Professions Advising - Pre-health | Binghamton University What was their advice? Are you getting an advisor letter? The office holds special sessions for juniors and seniors.

Sent from my SM-N960U using SDN mobile
 
Last edited:
Shotapp said:
Yeah, you are not close to ready to applying. Your gpas suck, your ecs need to be more diverse and you don't know how you will do on the MCAT. So yeah, you need a gap year. You have a lot of work to do. DO schools don't accept just anyone with a pulse. You need an upward trend in grades and a decent MCAT to alleviate any concerns admission committees may have. You sound impatient as well.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the advice. I'm going to spend some time looking into ECs that will improve my application. As for an upward trend, would schools look negatively on me taking post-bacc classes at a community college? I'm taking 2 classes at Farmingdale State college right now (Biotechnology and Nutrition) but these classes ended up being more financially draining than I first thought (>$2000) and I'm not in a position to continue taking them there going forward.
 
Pre-med123 said:
Thank you for the advice. I'm going to spend some time looking into ECs that will improve my application. As for an upward trend, would schools look negatively on me taking post-bacc classes at a community college? I'm taking 2 classes at Farmingdale State college right now (Biotechnology and Nutrition) but these classes ended up being more financially draining than I first thought (>$2000) and I'm not in a position to continue taking them there going forward.
Click to expand...
I don't understand. Do you mean that you can't continue doing your post-bac at the current school you are at because it is pricey or do you mean that you will not finish the semester with those two classes you are currently taking?
 
Shotapp said:
I don't understand. Do you mean that you can't continue doing your post-bac at the current school you are at because it is pricey or do you mean that you will not finish the semester with those two classes you are currently taking?
Click to expand...

I can’t continue doing it at Farmingdale after this semester. I will finish the classes I’m currently taking.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Yeah, you need a DIY postbacc and some reinvention; applying this cycle isn't a good idea IMO. Don't take the MCAT until you get the score you want on two official AAMC tests taken under conditions approximating Test Day: start at 8 AM, 10-minute breaks, keep the clock running if you get up to use the bathroom outside of a break...
 
Pre-med123 said:
Personal Info:
  • Graduated 2019 from Binghamton as a Biology Major
  • NY resident
  • White male
Clinical experience
  • Two years as a volunteer EMT in my student collegiate ambulance service for 6-12 hours a week
  • 120 hours shadowing doctors and observing surgeries at a primarily orthopedic hospital near my campus
  • A summer working as an EMT at a state park
  • Currently working at a private ambulance service on Long Island
Non-clinical volunteering experience
  • 1 year as VP of communications for the Inter-fraternity council (ran a social media account, created flyers, sent out information regarding meetings, etc.)
  • 1 year on my fraternity's philanthropy committee which organized/participated in events that raised over a two thousand dollars for Boys and Girls club and Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation
Shadowing Experience
  • A summer shadowing a nephrologist at a private practice for 10-20 hours a week
  • 40 hours shadowing an ophthalmologist at a private practice
Other extracurricular activities
  • Assistant manager of security at a bar working 10-15 hours a week
Course grades
  • Gen Bio 1/2 AP credit/B-
  • Gen Chem 1/2 C/B-
  • Cell Bio B-
  • Developmental Bio A-
  • Orgo 1/2 B+/B
  • Orgo Lab B
  • Genetics Lab A-
  • Evolution C
  • Phys 1/2 B+/B
  • Microbio C
  • Microbio lab B
  • Biochem C
Click to expand...
Chances for MD and most DO schools lethal. You're in no position to be applying to med school.

Read my post on reinvention for premeds
 
Hello everyone! Just an update about my mcat score. I ended up scoring a 517 (129/130/130/128) and am still planning on applying this cycle. I appreciate all of your advice and will continue to post updates.
 
I suggest these MD schools with your GPAs and MCAT of 517 :
All 4 SUNYs
Albany
New York Medical College
Vermont
Quinnipiac
Seton Hall
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
George Washington
NOVA MD
TCU-UNT
Creighton
Medical College Wisconsin
Western Michigan
Oakland Beaumont
Wayne State
Your chances for a MD admission are only ~40% so apply broadly to DO schools and I suggest these:
LECOM (all schools)
MU-COM
DMU-COM
KCU-COM
ATSU-KCOM
AZCOM
TUNCOM
CUSOM
UP-KYCOM
WVSOM
ACOM
ARCOM
NYIT-AR
UIWSOM
PCOM (all schools)
 
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