What is a good MCAT for the DO schools?

[dganaden]

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I have a question about what is a good MCAT score. I have always had trouble taking tests. Its not that I don’t know the materials, I think its just that though of this darn test is what is going to determine if I get into school or not.

I am not the typical pre-med student. I am a 32 year old Network Engineer with 15 years of experience in auto mechanics. My degree is in Telecommunications. I go to school part time at night just for my science classes and also do tons of volunteering and shadowing. I think I have about 100+hrs of shadowing time in with a variety of different doctors. I do first aid for the Red Cross, volunteer in the ER at a local hospital, and have also picked up my EMT. Which I have to say in my town is useless.

I have a 3.07 science and a 3.35 total GPA. My first MCAT was 13K, the second was 19O, and this April is yet to be determined. I have quite a few recommendation letters and from what a pre-med advisor says; a great personal statement.

My question to you is, what is the best way to prepare for the MCAT and what would be a competitive score for me to be able to get into a DO school?

 

[dr.z]

You should aim for 25 and above for MCAT to be safe.

In terms of preparation, it really depends on the person. I took a prep course by Kaplan, and I think it did help. I know some people will say that it doesn't so it really depends.

 

[gottalovemilk]

a 45T would be a gooooood score for any school. aim for that

 

[HunterGatherer]

24-26 is average for most DO schools. Try to be above average to make the process smoother.

see the MCAT forum for MCAT advice. Start with reading the 30+ MCAT thread. If you did not start your April studies then I agree that you should start preparing for the August MCAT instead. you will still be able to apply for the class of 2011.

 

[JohnnyOU]

I think you should take it in august...
it's too late to seriously study for the april and bring up your score that much.

 

[mdage]

Are you taking any prep courses. I personally think they are pretty helpful. I am also a nontraditional applicant. I used to be a software engineer, and I took MCAT twice. I feel studying MCAT is more than a full time job.

 

[scpod]

24-26 is average for most DO schools. Try to be above average to make the process smoother.

I'd agree, but when you look at the average GPA for DO matriculating students over the past several years it has been about 3.4 science and 3.5 overall. The average MCAT has been about a 25. Since the OP's GPA is lower, it would not hurt to try to raise that MCAT even a little higher. The single easiest way to get in, in my opinion, is to increase your MCAT score. Of course, as someone else mentioned, that could be a full-time job in itself.

 

[dganaden]

I want to thank everyone for their input on this. I have been doing nothing but work my butt off for the April test. I still plan on taking it in April, that way if I have to again, there is still the Aug test.

 

[scpod]

I want to thank everyone for their input on this. I have been doing nothing but work my butt off for the April test. I still plan on taking it in April, that way if I have to again, there is still the Aug test.

That's a good attitude. At this point, there's not a thing you can do about increasing your GPA (unless you take a bunch of new classes) or your EC's (you've got a bunch already), but you can improve that MCAT score. Good Luck!!!

 

[Jamers]

I have a question about what is a good MCAT score. I have always had trouble taking tests. Its not that I don’t know the materials, I think its just that though of this darn test is what is going to determine if I get into school or not.

I am not the typical pre-med student. I am a 32 year old Network Engineer with 15 years of experience in auto mechanics. My degree is in Telecommunications. I go to school part time at night just for my science classes and also do tons of volunteering and shadowing. I think I have about 100+hrs of shadowing time in with a variety of different doctors. I do first aid for the Red Cross, volunteer in the ER at a local hospital, and have also picked up my EMT. Which I have to say in my town is useless.

I have a 3.07 science and a 3.35 total GPA. My first MCAT was 13K, the second was 19O, and this April is yet to be determined. I have quite a few recommendation letters and from what a pre-med advisor says; a great personal statement.

My question to you is, what is the best way to prepare for the MCAT and what would be a competitive score for me to be able to get into a DO school?

The score you need really depends on the schools and the admin. that looks at your application. Just try to get a score as high as you can and then the rest is in their hands. Also, don't do what I did and not study 🙂.

 

[Kuba]

What about having a 33 MCAT but a 3.1 sci and 3.2-3.3 overall gpa. How are my chances for UNECOM, PCOM, or NYCOM for example.

 

[Jamers]

What about having a 33 MCAT but a 3.1 sci and 3.2-3.3 overall gpa. How are my chances for UNECOM, PCOM, or NYCOM for example.

None of us are admins. we couldnt even begin to give you a real answer. If you want, check for the average MCAT/GPA of accepted students to those schools (U.S. News publishes a great book and MD applicants has a good feature as well). You may get in with that MCAT but you may not. Your safe bet is to punch in a score as high as you can.

 

[HunterGatherer]

What about having a 33 MCAT but a 3.1 sci and 3.2-3.3 overall gpa. How are my chances for UNECOM, PCOM, or NYCOM for example.

That sounds decent enough to get interviews. I got interviews at those 3 schools with those stats. Went to 2 of them and was accepted at both.

 

[Doctor G]

I have a question about what is a good MCAT score. I have always had trouble taking tests. Its not that I don’t know the materials, I think its just that though of this darn test is what is going to determine if I get into school or not.

I am not the typical pre-med student. I am a 32 year old Network Engineer with 15 years of experience in auto mechanics. My degree is in Telecommunications. I go to school part time at night just for my science classes and also do tons of volunteering and shadowing. I think I have about 100+hrs of shadowing time in with a variety of different doctors. I do first aid for the Red Cross, volunteer in the ER at a local hospital, and have also picked up my EMT. Which I have to say in my town is useless.

I have a 3.07 science and a 3.35 total GPA. My first MCAT was 13K, the second was 19O, and this April is yet to be determined. I have quite a few recommendation letters and from what a pre-med aedvisor says; a great personal statement.

My question to you is, what is the best way to prepare for the MCAT and what would be a competitive score for me to be able to get into a DO school?

How prepared are you for the april MCAT? If your practice/mock MCATs have shown in the average an increase in score, then you should do your best on the april test. Medical schools consider improvements in score; it's even better if you can provide a good story behind it. MCAT is a test of not only knowledge but thinking skill. The more you do the practice tests, the better you become. Unfortunately, any score below 20 is too low for any schools. If you have confidence in getting 20+ in april, then you should go for it. If not, then you should take the august one. To be competitive, you need to be at the mid 20's. Good luck!

 

[Doctor G]

I have a question about what is a good MCAT score. I have always had trouble taking tests. Its not that I don’t know the materials, I think its just that though of this darn test is what is going to determine if I get into school or not.

I am not the typical pre-med student. I am a 32 year old Network Engineer with 15 years of experience in auto mechanics. My degree is in Telecommunications. I go to school part time at night just for my science classes and also do tons of volunteering and shadowing. I think I have about 100+hrs of shadowing time in with a variety of different doctors. I do first aid for the Red Cross, volunteer in the ER at a local hospital, and have also picked up my EMT. Which I have to say in my town is useless.

I have a 3.07 science and a 3.35 total GPA. My first MCAT was 13K, the second was 19O, and this April is yet to be determined. I have quite a few recommendation letters and from what a pre-med aedvisor says; a great personal statement.

My question to you is, what is the best way to prepare for the MCAT and what would be a competitive score for me to be able to get into a DO school?

How prepared are you for the april MCAT? If your practice/mock MCATs have shown in the average an increase in score, then you should do your best on the april test. Medical schools consider improvements in score; it's even better if you can provide a good story behind it. MCAT is a test of not only knowledge but thinking skill. The more you do the practice tests, the better you become. Unfortunately, any score below 20 is too low for any schools. If you have confidence in getting 20+ in april, then you should go for it. If not, then you should take the august one. To be competitive, you need to be at the mid 20's. Good luck!

 

[Packamylase]

Numbers aside, what other qualifications are Osteopathic programs looking for? Are they looking for something that a Allopathic program would not?

Thanks y'all!

 

[HunterGatherer]

Numbers aside, what other qualifications are Osteopathic programs looking for? Are they looking for something that a Allopathic program would not?

Thanks y'all!

All of the same things that Allopathic except for:
-Research experience is great to have but it will not help your application as much as it does in Allo schools. The DO schools that more interested in research will look more favorably on you though.
-Life experiences are looked at more closely at DO schools.
-Of course a DO letter helps when applying to DO schools.
-knowledge or experience with DO philosophy practice.

 

[rgerwin]

what schools prefer research experience over others? I have a DO letter and clinical volunteer experience, but also 4 years of research.

 

[HunterGatherer]

what schools prefer research experience over others? I have a DO letter and clinical volunteer experience, but also 4 years of research.

I did not research all of the schools, but the DO schools that seem to have more research opportunities available compared to other DO schools are:
UNTHSC/TCOM seems to be the standout here
PCOM
UMDNJSOM
MSUCOM
OUCOM
KCUMB

Research opportunities will exist wherever you go but these schools have funding, facilities, DO/MS or DO/PhD programs, etc. Basic science professors at any med school will offer research opportunities or you could check out the school's clinical affiliates to do clinical research whether it is through your own iniative or offered by the school.

You should start a thread on this to cover all the schools.

During interviews balance your discussion of your interests in research and medicine unless you are going for a DO/PhD program.

 

[NewNick]

I did not research all of the schools, but the DO schools that seem to have more research opportunities available compared to other DO schools are:
UNTHSC/TCOM seems to be the standout here
PCOM
UMDNJSOM
MSUCOM
OUCOM
KCUMB

KCOM should be added to the list.

 

[Doctor G]

Please ignore this message... I thought my msg didn't go thru.

 

[theraball]

I want to thank everyone for their input on this. I have been doing nothing but work my butt off for the April test. I still plan on taking it in April, that way if I have to again, there is still the Aug test.

DGanaden,

you should not take the April test if you are not sure you're ready for it. Don't use the real MCAT as a practice, thinking "Oh, I'll just take it again if I don't do well". Med schools do not think highly of candidates who take the test repeatedly. They see all your scores, so a dramatic increase on your latest score is much more effective than a 2-3 point boost that you might see from pure repetition.

You can pay $80 for the AMCAS web site downloadable tests or pick up one or two books from Kaplan or Princeton that have practice tests. Take the tests under timed conditions and don't cheat, and see how your scores improve after several such practices. The best thing is to take a Kaplan or Princeton class that is structured and teaches you all the strategies and content you need to do well. Then go take the test in August after you are confident you can do much better than a 20. My humble 2 cents'.

 

[dganaden]

DGanaden,

you should not take the April test if you are not sure you're ready for it. Don't use the real MCAT as a practice, thinking "Oh, I'll just take it again if I don't do well". Med schools do not think highly of candidates who take the test repeatedly. They see all your scores, so a dramatic increase on your latest score is much more effective than a 2-3 point boost that you might see from pure repetition.

You can pay $80 for the AMCAS web site downloadable tests or pick up one or two books from Kaplan or Princeton that have practice tests. Take the tests under timed conditions and don't cheat, and see how your scores improve after several such practices. The best thing is to take a Kaplan or Princeton class that is structured and teaches you all the strategies and content you need to do well. Then go take the test in August after you are confident you can do much better than a 20. My humble 2 cents'.

I have just actually bought the AAMC practice tests 7,8, and 9. I plan on taking 7 this weekend and then seeing how it goes.

Its not that I don't understand the material, its just that I am a bad test taker. I have a problem with always wanting to go back and change my answers. It seems that everytime I do that, I always have the correct one first. 😡

 

[noonday]

standardized tests are games. try to think of them that way. granted, the mcat actually tests more "knowledge" than most other standardized tests, but it's still a game. i mean, i got c's in most all pre-med BCPM classes when i took them, 10 years before i took the mcat, and i did very, very well (96th percentile overall, no score below an 11). yes, i studied material, but you can't learn all the material well enough in 4 months while working two full time jobs to have that be all it is. it's a game. play it well, you do much better.

1.) keep this in mind at all times: this is only a test. it's not life or death. it's not the end all be all of who you are. "this is only a test. were it an actual emergency..." you can take it again. you can postpone applying a year to do it, too. it's not the end of the world. if taking the test that time feels less dire and important, it reduces stress and frees the mind of worries/panic that can lower your score because it makes your mind less distracted.

2.) deep breathing. your brain functions better when it has more oxygen and when you're more relaxed. take a minute in between each passage to do some deep breathing. in between sections, instead of cramming (see cramming below), do some light yoga/stretching.

3.) autopilot. if taking the mcat feels natural, you will do better. spend the 5 or more saturdays before the real test acting like it's test day. get up at the same time you'll have to, go through the same morning routine, and take the whole test just like you'll have to. you will be more comfortable because when it comes to the process of the day, you'll be on autopilot. plus, the mcat is damn long. it's a marathon, and while you might run a sprint easily without training, it would be suicide to do it with a marathon.

4.) nutrition. your mind functions differently when you give it different fuel. over the course of those practice weeks, play around with what you eat when in terms of meals and snacks to keep up your focus and energy.

5.) once you answer something, never, ever doubt yourself and change it. if you finish a section early, don't go back and look at it. your first answer is more often than not the right one.

6.) cramming. don't do it. it increases stress, can cause new confusions in your head, and with all the material covered, the chances that the thing you cram in that few minute break, or the night before, will be tested is slim. stop studying/prepping the wednesday before the saturday. go out thursday night and do something fun. go to bed early friday after a good dinner.

that's my advice.

 

[jonwill]

Admission to osteopathic medical school is competitive. For the 2005 application cycle, the average MCAT scores were 7.96 verbal, 7.77 physical and 8.32 biology. The average overall
grade point average was 3.38 and the average science grade point average was 3.25. Generally, MCAT scores and grade point averages are slightly higher for matriculating students than scores reported for the overall applicant pool.
- AACOM

By School:
http://www.kcom.edu/faculty/chamberlain/ranmcat.htm

 

[Doctor G]

Admission to osteopathic medical school is competitive. For the 2005 application cycle, the average MCAT scores were 7.96 verbal, 7.77 physical and 8.32 biology. The average overall
grade point average was 3.38 and the average science grade point average was 3.25. Generally, MCAT scores and grade point averages are slightly higher for matriculating students than scores reported for the overall applicant pool.
- AACOM

By School:
http://www.kcom.edu/faculty/chamberlain/ranmcat.htm

Wow! I didn't know Western U's avg MCAT is that high! (28) Are those from last year's stats?

 

[Khenon]

I just wanted to throw in my 2 cents, along with all the other advice given here. I'm also an older applicant with a full-time job and family, so I can sympathize with your efforts. 🙂

I totally sucked at the MCAT (see my profile link). The first time I took it, I was under-prepared and got a terrible score. The 2nd time I took I studied my ass off for 2 months straight and only raised it 1 point. I seriously wanted to kill someone. BUT, if I had to take that horror of a test again (thank goodness I don't) I would study completely differently. I would have gotten my hands on every practice test out there, along with practice questions, and just practiced over and over again. I wasted my time studying stupid details in the text books, and hardly spent any time on actual practice questions. I seriously think if I had spent the same amount of time doing practice questions (and of course making sure I understood the concepts behind the questions), rather then how I really did study, I would have had a score closer to 30. So my advice for taking the test this April? Stop everything you're doing and JUST do practice questions. Of course, this is just my experience, so you can ignore me. But seriously, if you can't work through the problems quickly and efficiently (via lots of practice) it doesn't matter how much you study . . . you'll never get a good score on the MCAT. Also, if you're not already familiar with all the mathematical "short-cuts", start practicing that as well. I didn't learn alot of the estimations and conversions I needed to know to get me through the math that's included on the MCAT. So here I am wasting precious minutes doing long division and multiplying out huge numbers. It was just stupid. Make sure you can estimate and convert logrithms, etc.

Okay, I'll stop lecturing. 🙂 Best of luck on the test in April. I believe if you can get your score up to around the mid-20's, and you apply to numerous schools, you will get in somewhere.

 

[drZ]

My stats:
3 years health care experience, MCAT 22 (first and only time, took prior to taking organic chem) , science gpa 3.3. cum gpa 3.2. Interviewed at 1 school and got accepted.

This is what I recommend (if you have to reapply):
1. Apply to all schools (even in the ones in obscure places that you would never want to go to) even if only for primaries
2. Take an MCAT review course. It may/may not help but the 1200 spent + studying decreased my anxiety (and I don't know about you but performance anxiety affects me..or you could be like some that I know who had to use XANAX...your choice).
3. Apply early. (I got an interview in January without submitting a secondary)
4. Play up any achievements ...even if they were from a very long time ago. (I put black belt on my app...that I got in 6th grade and the interviewers asked me about it)

Another tip: it is all in the interview.. Brush up on your interview skills. Wear a really nice suit and shoes, hair cut, manicured nails.. Oh yeah! and remember the interviewers names and send a thank you card. 😍
Good luck!

 

[eldoctoraz]

I wouldn't rely on these numbers too heavily! Based on the increase in D.O. applicants year after year, it is becoming more and more competitive to get into osteopathic schools. I just got accepted into AZCOM and our classes average MCAT was a 30.

 

[DoctorSaab]

Eldoctoraz, who told you that your classes average MCAT was a 30?