What do I do now?

[MedicalMermaid]

Hello everyone,

I posted here a couple of months ago asking about how to increase competitiveness. I finally received my MCAT score and need your advice again.

Here are my stats before I go on:
3.66 cGPA
3.61 sGPA (I had put 3.59 before, but I found a mistake in my calculations)
(upward trend for both)

MCAT Score: 505 (125/124/128/128)

Extracurriculars
- Musician (multiple instruments) ~12 years
- Can speak Japanese and Korean with basic/intermediate fluency
- Helping cook for church ~2-3 years
- Hospital volunteer (2 departments) ~380 hours over 1.5 years (ongoing)
- Shadowing (2 MDs so far) ~70 hours (still shadowing one of them)

I feel utterly disappointed in myself because of my MCAT score. I had studied for 6+ months and gave it my all, but in the end my score is not exactly great... The score is not very balanced either which may be problematic...

The question is, what do I do now? Do I even have a chance at MD schools at this point? Last time I had mentioned that I was unable to shadow a DO which is mandatory for almost all DO schools. I still have had no luck, unfortunately, so unless I can find a DO that will allow me to shadow by May, my only choices seem to be MD schools.

Another choice could be to take the MCAT again before applying this cycle, however I am afraid of getting a low score again. I have heard that your should only retake the MCAT if you are sure you can get a higher score or else getting a low (or even lower) score will really jeopardize your application. Still, if this seems to be the better option, I would need to take the MCAT by April so I can get my scores by May/June to apply this cycle, which gives my roughly a month or so to study.
I could always post-pone applying this year if my chances look very bleak...

As for a school list, I had not created an official one as I was waiting on my MCAT score which I received today. Prior to the MCAT, though, I had been looking into these schools (all out of state)

Drexel
EVMS
Geisinger Commonwealth
WVU *
VCU *
(pretty sure I lost my chances at these last two)


Thank you as always and please feel free to be brutally honest

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[Goro]

I suggest:


Temple

Jefferson

Drexel

WVU

Rosy Franklin

MCW

SLU

Creighton

Loma Linda (but read their list of don'ts)

Albany

NYMC

VCU

U VM

Oakland-B

Uniformed Services University/Hebert (just be aware of the military service commitment)

Rush (note: very service/experience oriented with a 150hr service requirement. Avg student has 800 hours of community service, and >1800 hours of health care exposure.)

Netter

Your state school(s).

Any DO school. I can't recommend Touro-NY, or LUCOM, for different reasons

Hello everyone,

 

[MedicalMermaid]

I suggest:

Thank you for the response. I will be sure to look into these schools too.

Do you think it would be beneficial to retake the exam or to just go with what I have?

 

[Goro]

See how an app cycle goes, but always have a retake in mind, and prepare accordingly. Do NOT retake until you are 100% ready.

Thank you for the response. I will be sure to look into these schools too.

Do you think it would be beneficial to retake the exam or to just go with what I have?

 

[MedicalMermaid]

See how an app cycle goes, but always have a retake in mind, and prepare accordingly. Do NOT retake until you are 100% ready.

Okay, I will be sure to keep that in mind.
In case this cycle does not go well, do you think a health science masters program would also help increase chances on top of retaking the MCAT? For example, I see that many med schools have 1 year master programs that can help prepare one for professional degrees such as medical/dentistry/pharmacy/etc. I have heard that most students take these to raise their GPA, but is it helpful otherwise?

 

[Goro]

Yes. Either a SMP or a DIY post-bac....but you need to ace these (GPA of 3.7+)
EDIT: Your GPAs are fine and an SMP would be a waste of money for you.

Okay, I will be sure to keep that in mind.
In case this cycle does not go well, do you think a health science masters program would also help increase chances on top of retaking the MCAT? For example, I see that many med schools have 1 year master programs that can help prepare one for professional degrees such as medical/dentistry/pharmacy/etc. I have heard that most students take these to raise their GPA, but is it helpful otherwise?

 

[MedicalMermaid]

Yes. Either a SMP or a DIY post-bac....but you need to ace these (GPA of 3.7+)
EDIT: Your GPAs are fine and an SMP would be a waste of money for you.

Okay, thank you for the info Goro. It seriously means a lot!
Let's just hope for the best

 

[MedicalMermaid]

Hello again! So I have been working on making a list of DO schools (most of the MD schools I am considering ended up being the same as Goro's suggestions) and was wondering how it looks. I realize some schools have state-preferences (I am from AZ), but I might apply anyway, provided if I look competitive enough.

AZCOM

CCOM/MWU

NYITCOM

OU-HCOM

PNWU-COM

RowanSOM

VCOM-VC

Western U/COMP

TouroNevada

UNECOM*

WVUCOM*

I am still reviewing schools, so this is likely not my definite list for DO. I am limited, however, because I have not taken biochem. Although, some schools are lenient in that they will accept second semester of ochem as replacement for biochem...

What do you think? Any other suggestions?

 

[On_The_Way_Up]

What were you expecting to make on the MCAT? What were your practice scores?

 

[MedicalMermaid]

What were you expecting to make on the MCAT? What were your practice scores?

I may have been aiming too high, but I was trying to get at least a 515 on the MCAT. I had used Kaplan, AAMC and Khan Academy for studying and did quite well on Kaplan tests and the Section banks (75%+) which I had used for my initial studying time. I used the official AAMC FLs at the end of my studying and ended with scores near my actual (505ish). I know some have said that only AAMC FLs are predictive of our actual scores, but I really felt the section banks were very similar, which is why I thought I would still do well on the actual despite my practice scores.
Before I took both of the AAMC FLs, my dog passed away and I remember being distraught from that event. My assumption is that I was affected by that event more that I expected and my scores suffered, but I suppose there is no definitive way of knowing. I may have just lacked in terms of studying, although I thought I had put in my best effort.

 

[On_The_Way_Up]

I may have been aiming too high, but I was trying to get at least a 515 on the MCAT. I had used Kaplan, AAMC and Khan Academy for studying and did quite well on Kaplan tests and the Section banks (75%+) which I had used for my initial studying time. I used the official AAMC FLs at the end of my studying and ended with scores near my actual (505ish). I know some have said that only AAMC FLs are predictive of our actual scores, but I really felt the section banks were very similar, which is why I thought I would still do well on the actual despite my practice scores.
Before I took both of the AAMC FLs, my dog passed away and I remember being distraught from that event. My assumption is that I was affected by that event more that I expected and my scores suffered, but I suppose there is no definitive way of knowing. I may have just lacked in terms of studying, although I thought I had put in my best effort.

You should have waited to take it until you were consistently getting over 505 (like 508-510) on the practice tests. Retake it but don't take it until you are getting the score you want on the practice test.

 

[MedicalMermaid]

Bump! (with updated stats)

Hi everyone! I wanted to post one last time for WAMC before applying, especially since MSAR just updated. I realize that I may not be super competitive, but I would appreciate any additional thoughts or suggestions you may have for other schools, fixing my current list, etc.
(I put stars next to the schools that I am the most unsure of applying to.)


State of residence: AZ, ORM

3.66 cGPA
3.61 sGPA
MCAT 505 (125/124/128/128)

Extracurriculars
- Musician (multiple instruments) ~13 years
- Can speak Japanese and Korean with basic/intermediate fluency
- Hospital volunteer (2 departments) ~391 hours over 2 years
- Shadowing (2 MDs and 1 DO so far) ~94 hours (1 family practice MD, 1 ophthalmologist MD, 1 child neuro DO)
- Helping cook for church ~6-7 years (ongoing) [I just realized I had put the wrong number of years in my original post]
- Volunteer for science website for kids ~5 hours (recently started, ongoing)
- Scribe in a clinic ~90 hours (ongoing)

15 MD schools:
Drexel
Jefferson
Geisinger Common*
Albany
Netter
Georgetown*
University of AZ
Loyola Stritch
Oakland Beaumont
Cooper Rowan*
UVM*
VCU
Central Michigan
WVU*
California Northstate*

9 DO schools:
NYITCOM
CCOM/MWU
RowanSOM*
VCOM-VC
Western U/COMP
TouroCalifornia*
AZCOM
ATSU-KCOM
BCOM

Thank you!

 

[Faha]

Cooper Rowan and Central Michigan accept very few non residents with your stats. For MD schools you could add New York Medical College, Temple and Creighton. For DO add ATSU-SOMA and RVU-Utah.

 

[MedicalMermaid]

Thank you @Faha , I will consider these as well!

 

[kneeshoe]

Remove Cal Northstate and Loyola (unless you strongly identify with their mission).