What should I do Next?

[Patrick_K]

Hello. I applied to 15 Allopathic Schools and 1 Osteopathic School (NYCOM).
I am a Computer Science Major. I received a 504 on my MCAT. I have a 3.7 GPA and a 3.5 sGPA.
I have 100+ hours of volunteering in my hospitals ER.
I have 100+ hours of shadowing (90 with a M.D and 20 with a D.O)
I have done research in my undergraduate institution and in a hospital setting.
I have received letter of recs from both the M.D and D.O i shadowed and my pre-med committee.
I am an eagle scout, athlete, and worked at a few different jobs since the age of 17 while going to school.
I have been rejected from about every allopathic school but I am still waiting to hear from NYCOM (I completed my application in August and still have heard nothing)


My dream is to become a doctor no matter what happens this cycle. I am currently enrolled in an EMT-Basic training program so that i can work in my local hospital or the FDNY and I would like to retake the MCAT in 2017 to obtain a higher score and apply again. Is there anything else I should be doing to help boost my application to apply again?

Thank you for your time.

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[Faha]

Where did you apply for MD? Where is your state of residence? Any interviews?

 

[candbgirl]

Are you planning to reapply in June 2016? Your MCAT is roughly equal to a 27-28 on the old test. That's sort of low for MD . It would help to see your list of schools. I'm surprised that you didn't hear anything from NYCOM. Start developing a list of DO schools for next time.


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[Patrick_K]

Where did you apply for MD? Where is your state of residence? Any interviews?

i applied everywhere. jersey penn conn virginia new york. im from new york. no interviews

 

[Patrick_K]

Are you planning to reapply in June 2016? Your MCAT is roughly equal to a 27-28 on the old test. That's sort of low for MD . It would help to see your list of schools. I'm surprised that you didn't hear anything from NYCOM. Start developing a list of DO schools for next time.


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I dont want to reapply in june because i dont have the time to study for the mcat and retake it between now and then. I wanted to get emt experience, take the test again and reapply in june 2017

 

[Patrick_K]

Well OP said he was rejected from everywhere but NYCOM. So no interviews so far it seems.
He also says that he wants to work in FDNY and applied to NYCOM, so I am gonna take a stab and say he is from NY.

OP, if you get your MCAT up you could apply to several NY schools and other ones in the area. But right now, your MCAT is really what is holding you back. It is a score that is more competitive with DO schools, so you probably should have changed your balance of MD schools to DO schools, but whatever. Really depends on what you do with your MCAT. I would keep volunteering and doing the EMT is a good idea. Applying a second time is tricky because ADCOMS really like to see a lot of improvement and I have been told it is harder the second time because they have a certain bias against you. Best advice is improve your MCAT, continue volunteering both in and out of clinic, and do your EMT job. Learn from your experiences and try again if it is truly what you want to do.

thanks for the advice. I'm from New York. I only applied to NYCOM because it was the only one I liked in New York and I researched the other DO schools out of state and they all seemed very competitive for out of state students.

 

[Faha]

You should be competitive for DO schools. Instead of applying to 15 MD schools apply to at least 15 DO schools instead. Apply in June and submit all your secondaries by July and you should receive some interviews.
Consider these schools where your stats are competitive:
ACOM
BCOM
UP-KYCOM
LMU-DCOM
MU-COM
WVSOM
CUSOM
LUCOM
VCOM (all 3 schools)
LECOM (both schools)
any new DO schools that open in 2017 (probably new ones in Utah, Arkansas and Texas).

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

thanks for the advice. I'm from New York. I only applied to NYCOM because it was the only one I liked in New York and I researched the other DO schools out of state and they all seemed very competitive for out of state students.

The only DO schools that are truly "difficult" for out of state students are the state schools like Oklahoma State, MSUCOM, Ohio etc. apply broadly and you should have some luck with DO schools. For MD your sGPA is slightly low but your MCAT is fairly lethal for MD schools. For MD you would need a retake and score above 512+