What are the chances?

[DOBound1]

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I have a 3.8 non-science gpa, 3.5 science gpa (overall gpa = 3.65). I have over 300 hours of medical exposure in the emergency room plus physician shadowing. I am either president or vice president of nearly every organization I am a part of. I have done choir all 3 (soon to be four) years of my undergraduate career. I have done many mission trips with my church and my entire application screams "Service". However, my MCAT came back as a 23... I will be retaking it but I was wondering for advice?
How competative would I be with all of that for a DO school? Would I be more secure if I can get my score up 2-3 points the second time around?

 

[baxt1412]

many here will say your service trips will basically give you nothing.

your 300 hours.... what was your actual role? volunteering or shadowing? if your primary role was volunteering, you should not count it as shadowing and you will specifically need to be doing some shadowing.

the choir will look good probably. and the organization P or VP stuff you mention... give us more info on that.


what about research?

if you get a 25-26 you will certainly be much more competitive. what was your score distribution? also, there is a "What are my chances" section that you should have posted this in.

 

[DOBound1]

many here will say your service trips will basically give you nothing.

your 300 hours.... what was your actual role? volunteering or shadowing? if your primary role was volunteering, you should not count it as shadowing and you will specifically need to be doing some shadowing.

the choir will look good probably. and the organization P or VP stuff you mention... give us more info on that.


what about research?

if you get a 25-26 you will certainly be much more competitive. what was your score distribution? also, there is a "What are my chances" section that you should have posted this in.

Sorry I really didn't give much of a breakdown.
The 300 hours are of volunteering in the Emergency room. I have 30 hours of physician shadowing. They are marked seperately on my application, I just put them together on the forum page.
I actually have done research. I have worked in 2 different labs, one studying anerobic microorganism and the other involving breast cancer. The breast cancer lab just submitted our paper for publication to Oncogene and I do hold co-authorship on the paper (we are hoping for good news).
I am president of the Biology Honors society. Vice president of the Leadership honors society. I am a national member of the Pre-Health Honors Society. I am on the executive board of Alpha Phi Omega (which is a co-ed service fraternity).

The breakdown for the MCAT was:
BS - 10
PS - 7
VR - 6
I am currently practicing/studying to get my PS and VR scores up.

I also looked for a section that it related to however I couldn't find it. Thanks for the tip.

 

[baxt1412]

Sorry I really didn't give much of a breakdown.
The 300 hours are of volunteering in the Emergency room. I have 30 hours of physician shadowing. They are marked seperately on my application, I just put them together on the forum page.
I actually have done research. I have worked in 2 different labs, one studying anerobic microorganism and the other involving breast cancer. The breast cancer lab just submitted our paper for publication to Oncogene and I do hold co-authorship on the paper (we are hoping for good news).
I am president of the Biology Honors society. Vice president of the Leadership honors society. I am a national member of the Pre-Health Honors Society. I am on the executive board of Alpha Phi Omega (which is a co-ed service fraternity).

The breakdown for the MCAT was:
BS - 10
PS - 7
VR - 6
I am currently practicing/studying to get my PS and VR scores up.

I also looked for a section that it related to however I couldn't find it. Thanks for the tip.

From what I've seen on here, the fraternity will be ignored. but that is just a generalization.

how long have you been in the P and VP roles in the bio honors and leadership honors? how many years and what are your total number of hours in each?

research sounds on point.

you need more shadowing hours... are those 30 with an MD or DO? you want some with a DO. i'd suggest getting at least that much with a DO also. and make it in a different specialty if you can. also it wouldn't hurt to get more shadowing with another specialty. no need to go crazy, an afternoon here or there with another doctor or two would be great.

 

[kalat]

You basically want over an 8 in every subsection (composite 24) to be within a reasonable range for DO. Your extracurricular activities are beyond what is required. You'll need to retake the MCAT or your chances are low. With even a 24, though, your chances are probably good if you interview well.

 

[tom10]

You basically want over an 8 in every subsection (composite 24) to be within a reasonable range for DO. Your extracurricular activities are beyond what is required. You'll need to retake the MCAT or your chances are low. With even a 24, though, your chances are probably good if you interview well.

Yeah I'd say that 6 is a huge kick in the nuts. You may get away with one 7 (I did), but I don't think a 6 and a 7 is going to cut it. Great app otherwise though man. And fyi, my old college roommate got a 22 on his first MCAT attempt with a 4.0 gpa. He retook it a month later, got a 29, got into Indiana, 260+ Step 1 and is setting himself up nicely for a urology residency at Mayo. So you can do better given your gpa, just gotta work hard at it. Don't spend much time on bio, put everything you've got into PS and VR.