What are my chances of MD & DO acceptance?

[Mary G’s]

---

Members don't see this ad.

I am a non-trad applicant that just got out of the Army after 12 years of service and four deployments. I'm applying this cycle for 2021 matriculation. Currently, I have a 3.67 sGPA with a 3.51 overall. I have a BS already (graduated with honors) and I'm completing another BS in Chemistry (grad May 2021). I was a combat medic in the Army for the first half of my career and then switched over to Civil Affairs within the Special Operations Community. I have ZERO shadowing hours (due to COVID), 5 years of clinical experience (combat medic), over 100 hours of volunteering, and almost 200 hours of research (1st author on one pub and 2nd on an abstract). I'm applying to both DO and MD. My MCAT is 8/14 and my FL's have been hovering around 500, but they are coming up since I changed my studying to more of an active approach.

 

[M&L]

Thank you for your service!

I would not worry about lack of shadowing too much, since you were a medic. I was a medic in the Army (68X), and i had zero shadowing and only 37 hours of volunteers and no one cared because of military service. Overall your ECs are great, in my humble opinion of a current medical student.

I think it is hard to tell anything without knowing specific MCAT score that you might get. If it stays around 500-505, from what i understand you would definitely be eligible for DO schools at the very least.
BTW make sure that, whatever you get, you definitely apply to ETSU (MD school). They are extremely veteran friendly (if i am not mistaken, they dont even charge for secondary? dont quote me on that one though), and i loved that school. They also give veterans in state tuition rate (even with no ties to TN), if you are planning to use GI bill to cover at least part of the tuition. I got accepted there, and i was going to matriculate there, but had to eventually decline when i got off the waitlist in my state school.

 

[Mary G’s]

Thank you for the insight! I was actually looking at ETSU but I haven't taken the CASPer test yet. I still may take the CASPer and apply though. I am trying to stay in NC since my husband is still active duty and we'd like to be able to stay near Fort Bragg. The DO school in NC is super close to Fort Bragg so it's definitely one of my top choices. Good to know about ETSU and how they are veteran-friendly. I've been trying to find schools that are veteran-friendly, but that information is hard to come by even with the MSAR. Any way to save on tuition is great, especially since I'm using both my and my husband's GI Bill for med school. He says he won't need it since he'll be a trophy husband lol. I'm just kind of freaking out when I see applicants saying, "I have a 6.3 GPA, 7000 hours of shadowing, 540 MCAT score and I didn't get accepted".

Thank you for your service!

I would not worry about lack of shadowing too much, since you were a medic. I was a medic in the Army (68X), and i had zero shadowing and only 37 hours of volunteers and no one cared because of military service. Overall your ECs are great, in my humble opinion of a current medical student.

I think it is hard to tell anything without knowing specific MCAT score that you might get. If it stays around 500-505, from what i understand you would definitely be eligible for DO schools at the very least.
BTW make sure that, whatever you get, you definitely apply to ETSU (MD school). They are extremely veteran friendly (if i am not mistaken, they dont even charge for secondary? dont quote me on that one though), and i loved that school. They also give veterans in state tuition rate (even with no ties to TN), if you are planning to use GI bill to cover at least part of the tuition. I got accepted there, and i was going to matriculate there, but had to eventually decline when i got off the waitlist in my state school.

 

[M&L]

Thank you for the insight! I was actually looking at ETSU but I haven't taken the CASPer test yet. I still may take the CASPer and apply though. I am trying to stay in NC since my husband is still active duty and we'd like to be able to stay near Fort Bragg. The DO school in NC is super close to Fort Bragg so it's definitely one of my top choices. Good to know about ETSU and how they are veteran-friendly. I've been trying to find schools that are veteran-friendly, but that information is hard to come by even with the MSAR. Any way to save on tuition is great, especially since I'm using both my and my husband's GI Bill for med school. He says he won't need it since he'll be a trophy husband lol. I'm just kind of freaking out when I see applicants saying, "I have a 6.3 GPA, 7000 hours of shadowing, 540 MCAT score and I didn't get accepted".

i know exactly what you are talking about. So much scary stuff out there. At this point, all you can do is take one day at a time, you know? One step. RIght now your top priority is to 1) schedule CASPer real quick, 2) take MCAT. thats it.

 

[Philly145]

"I have a 6.3 GPA, 7000 hours of shadowing, 540 MCAT score and I didn't get accepted".

Remember that guy from basic who was a physical superstar but somehow didn't get picked by the cadre at the end of SFAS? Turns out you need the physical and interpersonal ability to succeed. Med school admissions is the same.

 

[Goro]

Thank you for the insight! I was actually looking at ETSU but I haven't taken the CASPer test yet. I still may take the CASPer and apply though. I am trying to stay in NC since my husband is still active duty and we'd like to be able to stay near Fort Bragg. The DO school in NC is super close to Fort Bragg so it's definitely one of my top choices. Good to know about ETSU and how they are veteran-friendly. I've been trying to find schools that are veteran-friendly, but that information is hard to come by even with the MSAR. Any way to save on tuition is great, especially since I'm using both my and my husband's GI Bill for med school. He says he won't need it since he'll be a trophy husband lol. I'm just kind of freaking out when I see applicants saying, "I have a 6.3 GPA, 7000 hours of shadowing, 540 MCAT score and I didn't get accepted".

Getting accepted is 100% on you. However you are on track to be competitive for getting interviews. Your MCAT score will make or break you.