MD What are my chances (if any....bombed mcat)?

[mbeus]

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Hi everyone,

Got my MCAT score back on Tuesday and it was 5 points lower than my average...I'm pretty devastated and now I have to revise my school list...looking for some input. Thanks in advance.

Non-traditional applicant with bachelors in Piano Performance at Indiana University; Ohio resident

sGPA: 3.8
cGPA: 3.91
MCAT: 27 (10 V/ 8 PS / 9 BS) My average was a 32...I have no idea what happened

5 stellar LORs:
OChem professor
GenChem professor
President of University Hospitals Cleveland, where I work
Doctor I shadowed
Dietitian for whom I worked

Nonclinical volunteering:
-800 hours of church volunteering including Sunday School instructor, organist, and girls camp director
-200 hours FamilySearch volunteering (index old records for this genealogy organization)
-With two friends, formed classical trio and raised $15000 through concerts and CD sales to build a school for AIDS orphans in Zambia; 1000+ hours)

Work experience
-2000+ hours of patient contact as nutrition services assistant at a hospital
-Nanny to five children for 10 years
-Harvard College Financial Aid Office secretary
-Piano accompanist at Indiana University
-Lifeguard for several summers

Extracurriculars:
-6 years of voice lessons
-3 years of college choir
-1 year of Evensong choir
-3 years of college musical trio with full-length recital

Other clinical experience:
-40 hours of shadowing pulmonary and critical care physician in MICU
-1 week primary care and patient safety internship at Brigham and Women's Hospital
-1 semester of research lab (designed and tested experiment to check EPA and DHA levels in fish oil supplements)


School list:
Albany
Rosalind Franklin
Creighton
Drexel
Eastern Carolina
GW
NEOMED
Rush
Commonwealth
SUNY Buffalo
Minnesota
Wake Forest
Western Michigan
Wright State
Toledo

A few of the schools on my list have 10th percentile scores as 28...should I still apply, since my mcat is 27?

Again, thanks for any help. I really appreciate it!

 

[Great White Buffalo]

Were you able to finish sections of the MCAT?? Need to think about why such a spread in your MCAT practice and actual. Did you stick to the time on your practice tests?? I would recommend you take a gap year, and retake the MCAT as it is bit late to restudy the PS/BS sections and retake the MCAT again. As you are not a science major, this will be a real issue to convince Adcoms you can handle med school curriculum. Sorry for your circumstance, but a 27 will keep you back, and you don't want to be a reapplicant. Good luck

 

[mbeus]

Were you able to finish sections of the MCAT?? Need to think about why such a spread in your MCAT practice and actual. Did you stick to the time on your practice tests?? I would recommend you take a gap year, and retake the MCAT as it is bit late to restudy the PS/BS sections and retake the MCAT again. As you are not a science major, this will be a real issue to convince Adcoms you can handle med school curriculum. Sorry for your circumstance, but a 27 will keep you back, and you don't want to be a reapplicant. Good luck

Thanks for responding. But how do I have an issue convincing Adcoms i can handle the curriculum? I got mostly A's and a few A minuses in all the courses...that shows that I can handle the curriculum better than a standardized test, no?

 

[Heplayer92]

GPA is pretty relative depending on the school. Seems like you could definitely do better on the MCAT. You're probably fine for DO school though. Nice ECs! If you improve the MCAT, more research exposure will definitely help at the top schools.

Check out Oakland University and Central Michigan. They're both relatively new. Good luck!

 

[Great White Buffalo]

Thanks for responding. But how do I have an issue convincing Adcoms i can handle the curriculum? I got mostly A's and a few A minuses in all the courses...that shows that I can handle the curriculum better than a standardized test, no?

Doesn't work that way. MCAT is the grand equalizer across schools. Shows you know the material (though I've heard you never use OChem again in med school).
My sister has a 3.95 GPA is a science major, and bombed MCAT with a 26 (she couldn't finish, has a documented learning disability, so is applying to take MCAT with extra time).
She didn't apply this cycle, as being a reapplicant is a real stigma. 40% of folks retake MCAT, so not a big stigma.

Figure out what the issue is with the MCAT, as the 27 will probably screen you out of interviews. Think about this from an Adcom perspective, they will get 10 applications for every interview spot, why would they take your 27 when 7-8 of the other candidates have 30+ MCAT?? It is not you, it is your competition. Best wishes to you on whatever you decide.

 

[Goro]

A 27 is circling the drain for MD schools, but fine DO programs. Of your list, I recommend only your OH schools, Quinnipiac, U VA, and the newest MD schools except Hofstra and Va Tech.

For Do programs, start with OHU-COM, MUCOM, CCOM, WVCOM, LECOM, Pikesville, and work your way outward geographically.