what would you choose and why?

[sweetsaja]

Let's just say you feel like you have no hope of getting into a med school in the US even after a gap year and your life situation is such that you can't spend 2-3yrs extra after graduation improving your application. GPA 3.35cum/3.16bcmp/3.21DO. No MCAT/DAT/OAT/anything yet. Help!!

What would you do?

No gap yr and just apply straight to a caribbean medical school?
No gap yr and just apply to optometry school really late(march deadline)?
Take a yr off and then apply to optometry school?
Take a yr off and apply to dental schools?
Take a yr off and apply to DO schools.

 

[drhouse42]

Take a yr off and apply to DO schools.

 

[RySerr21]

Let's just say you feel like you have no hope of getting into a med school in the US even after a gap year and your life situation is such that you can't spend 2-3yrs extra after graduation improving your application. GPA 3.35cum/3.16bcmp/3.21DO. No MCAT/DAT/OAT/anything yet. Help!!

What would you do?

No gap yr and just apply straight to a caribbean medical school?
No gap yr and just apply to optometry school really late(march deadline)?
Take a yr off and then apply to optometry school?
Take a yr off and apply to dental schools?
Take a yr off and apply to DO schools.

you shouldn't apply to optometry/dental school as a back up to medical school. Thats not how it works. They are all very different professions. If you want to be a dentist, apply to dental school. Optometrist? Then apply to optometry programs. But if you want to become a physician, then apply MD, DO, or caribb.

If youve decided that you want to become a doctor, i suggest you 1) take your MCAT and depending on that score i apply to both MD and DO and make sure you apply early. GPA is a little on the low side for even DO schools (average is about 3.45) but if you apply broadly and if the rest of your app is solid, you should be fine. good luck.

 

[iA-MD2013]

you shouldn't apply to optometry/dental school as a back up to medical school. Thats not how it works. They are all very different professions. If you want to be a dentist, apply to dental school. Optometrist? Then apply to optometry programs. But if you want to become a physician, then apply MD, DO, or caribb.

If youve decided that you want to become a doctor, i suggest you 1) take your MCAT and depending on that score i apply to both MD and DO and make sure you apply early. GPA is a little on the low side for even DO schools (average is about 3.45) but if you apply broadly and if the rest of your app is solid, you should be fine. good luck.

 

[halekulani]

Let's just say you feel like you have no hope of getting into a med school in the US even after a gap year and your life situation is such that you can't spend 2-3yrs extra after graduation improving your application. GPA 3.35cum/3.16bcmp/3.21DO. No MCAT/DAT/OAT/anything yet. Help!!

What would you do?

No gap yr and just apply straight to a caribbean medical school?
No gap yr and just apply to optometry school really late(march deadline)?
Take a yr off and then apply to optometry school?
Take a yr off and apply to dental schools?
Take a yr off and apply to DO schools.

none because it seems like i'm not really interested in any of the fields

 

[phospho]

none because it seems like i'm not really interested in any of the fields

 

[hoya09]

I just got into the MD school of my choice (OOS) with your cGPA and a lower sGPA (about 2.97). I didn't take any time off. It's not impossible for you to do the same, but you need to make sure everything else about your app is as close to perfect as you can get it. Also, do quite a bit of thinking about whether or not this is what you really want. You may only get one or two interviews so when you get the chance- you have to sell your ideas with enthusiasm and sincerity. Best of luck

 

[EpiPEN]

I just got into the MD school of my choice (OOS) with your cGPA and a lower sGPA (about 2.97). I didn't take any time off. It's not impossible for you to do the same, but you need to make sure everything else about your app is as close to perfect as you can get it. Also, do quite a bit of thinking about whether or not this is what you really want. You may only get one or two interviews so when you get the chance- you have to sell your ideas with enthusiasm and sincerity. Best of luck

Yes, now all he needs is a 35+ MCAT score, years of research experience, and clinical exposure to prove he is actually interested in doing medicine

 

[hoya09]

Well he (or she) didn't give us much info.. I didn't say it would be easy. In fact, I know from experience how difficult it is to overcome a subpar (my MD standards) GPA. Nonetheless it can be done, and for lack of a complete picture, I have no reason to think that the OP doesn't have research, clinical, experience, and a shot at a decent MCAT. Having a low GPA doesn't exclude someone from having the other pieces of the puzzle...

 

[EpiPEN]

Well he (or she) didn't give us much info.. I didn't say it would be easy. In fact, I know from experience how difficult it is to overcome a subpar (my MD standards) GPA. Nonetheless it can be done, and for lack of a complete picture, I have no reason to think that the OP doesn't have research, clinical, experience, and a shot at a decent MCAT. Having a low GPA doesn't exclude someone from having the other pieces of the puzzle...

yea I know, wasn't trying to say you were wrong, just wanted to bring some realism to the OP too. Hopefully not too much to discourage.

 

[qtMD]

Yes, now all he needs is a 35+ MCAT score, years of research experience, and clinical exposure to prove he is actually interested in doing medicine

That's a bit harsh.... I know ppl who got into both MD and DO school with a 3.0 and 27 mcat. It is harder, you have to apply early and have a good application in regards to extracurrriculars and essays, but it's def possible to get in.

I would take my mcat and work on other parts of ur app while trying to keep my grades up. Hope that helps & best of luck

 

[JJMrK]

That's a bit harsh.... I know ppl who got into both MD and DO school with a 3.0 and 27 mcat. It is harder, you have to apply early and have a good application in regards to extracurrriculars and essays, but it's def possible to get in.

I would take my mcat and work on other parts of ur app while trying to keep my grades up. Hope that helps & best of luck

EpiPEN said that as a response to hoya09, who has a lower gpa but also has a 35 MCAT and ridiculous ECs.

 

[Kaustikos]

That's a bit harsh.... I know ppl who got into both MD and DO school with a 3.0 and 27 mcat. It is harder, you have to apply early and have a good application in regards to extracurrriculars and essays, but it's def possible to get in.

I would take my mcat and work on other parts of ur app while trying to keep my grades up. Hope that helps & best of luck

When your gpa is 1 SD from the mean or more, you have to try harder to prove you want this more than someone with an ave gpa and ave MCAT. That's all Epi was getting at. Also, if you had looked at the profile of the person Epi was quoting, you would understand what was meant by the comment as well.

I would take a year off and go DO. Definitely not Caribbean and definitely NOT any profession outside of being a physician.

 

[dally1025]

i got into 2 MD schools with a 3.3 overall, 3.1 so it's worth a shot (at least with a reasonable mcat). i only took a year off (but i enjoyed it so much i decided to take another)... you probably should figure out what you want before you take one of the exams. shadow some people of each profession and figure out what you want to do.