Agree with Jagger's plan. August is not really late in the DO application cycle, especially if you can get the secondaries out very soon. Keep in mind that the essays for many schools do not change from year to year, so you can get a head start on them now. Even if they change, at least you'll have thought about your life and objectives enough to make writing other essays easier.
If you can get a solid MCAT score, I think you'll be fine. My advice for studying for the MCAT is, quite simply, to practice. It will take around two months of preparation, assuming ~2 hours of study time per day. I would start with a review of all the subjects in the MCAT. This may be found in any MCAT prep book, and I personally used Kaplan's ($80). Utilize your old college textbooks if you need extra help. After or even during the review (which should be done in a timely manner), you need to begin practicing problems. I personally believe that doing the practice exams is the most important part of preparation. Kaplan sells a book with three of them. With a prep book, that's 4 exams. Then, the AAMC sells their own practice exams that are done on computer like the real thing, so get a few of those. There's a free one as well from the AAMC, so don't forget that one. Put them on a rotation and do them all. Do sections of them if you don't have 5 hours to set aside. Some people will say that re-doing tests is worthless, but if you re-do your tests after rotating through 7 others and you aren't scoring 44 on every single one, you still haven't learned all the MCAT concepts fully. You can still learn from those completed tests.
Each test prep resource (Kaplan, Princeton Rev., Examkrackers, AAMC) does things differently, so I would suggest getting tests from at least two because their practice tests will have somewhat different difficulties and questions. As far as material review/prep goes, here's my opinion on the different companies:
1) Kaplan: Strategy based. I was very satisfied with my Kaplan prep book. It's also printed on the best paper. This may not seem like a big deal, but I think that some of the grayish crap paper used in other books is really distracting. It makes the text somewhat more difficult for me to read. Also, since their prep strategy involves getting people to become familiar with the test and the usual questions from year to year, do take the time to read the early strategy sections and all of the little notes in the margins.
2) Princeton Review: Info based. I haven't done much with them, but in my opinion their prep strategy is to get you to learn more info than you need to.
3) Examkrackers: I never used them but I hear glowing reviews all the time. There's a guy I know around here who used them and scored a 44. Realize that a 44 is essentially a fluke and that MCAT score will depend more on the individual than anything else, but it's a fun fact I like to mention.
Go to your local bookstore and flip through the books. Figure out which one fits you best. Whatever you do, DO NOT buy Barron's prep books. I bought one before I knew anything about the MCAT and it was a total waste of money. The book reads less like preparation for the MCAT and more like a textbook for the first year of medical school. There's some pretty in-depth anatomy and other science. Whoever wrote the book put some serious effort into it, but they obviously have no idea what the MCAT actually covers. Maybe they've changed since I bought their book, but I've never heard of anybody using them since then.
