Where do you think I stand?

[flabs]

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I'd like to get some of you all's opinions on how I look as a candidate. Here's my story: I took the April MCAT my senior year of college(2003) and got a measly 25. I was granted 2 interviews in Texas, waitlisted at one school (supposedly almost made it in - they said my low MCAT held me back). So I retook the MCAT the following August and didn't do that much better, a 26. I interviewed at one school that year, and was again waitlisted.

For 2.5 years while in school (Bio Major, 3.43 GPA), I worked as a Clinical Assistant in the OR at a local Medical Center, where I was able to have some solid first-hand experience with medicine.

I also had a lot of ec's: tutor, mentor, active member in student groups (not just your run-of-the-mill pay $50 and get in some honor society stuff) while in school.

Nonetheless, all this hasn't panned out for me yet as far as the medical school thing goes.

So for the past 1.5 years I've been working as a UCSF Research Associate/Lab Manager (with 2 first authorships, multiple abstracts, poster presentations at conferences) - hoping that all of this will show my devotion and desire to become a physician. I am taking the MCAT (for the very last time!) this April and plan on scoring at least a 30, if not higher (this is my optimism coming through). I'll have some great lor's from the docs here at UCSF and feel I've grown and matured a lot since first applying. I also volunteer with a local international aid group as I think I'd enjoy doing this kind of work someday.

I just wanted to see what you all's input was, as I know a lot of people on the site have succeeded and gone on to do well, even when most thought they couldn't. So any ideas or thoughts would be much appreciated.

Oh, and I'm applying to California,Texas , and some east coast schools.

 

[Sol Rosenberg]

I'd like to get some of you all's opinions on how I look as a candidate. Here's my story: I took the April MCAT my senior year of college(2003) and got a measly 25. I was granted 2 interviews in Texas, waitlisted at one school (supposedly almost made it in - they said my low MCAT held me back). So I retook the MCAT the following August and didn't do that much better, a 26. I interviewed at one school that year, and was again waitlisted.

For 2.5 years while in school (Bio Major, 3.43 GPA), I worked as a Clinical Assistant in the OR at a local Medical Center, where I was able to have some solid first-hand experience with medicine.

I also had a lot of ec's: tutor, mentor, active member in student groups (not just your run-of-the-mill pay $50 and get in some honor society stuff) while in school.

Nonetheless, all this hasn't panned out for me yet as far as the medical school thing goes.

So for the past 1.5 years I've been working as a UCSF Research Associate/Lab Manager (with 2 first authorships, multiple abstracts, poster presentations at conferences) - hoping that all of this will show my devotion and desire to become a physician. I am taking the MCAT (for the very last time!) this April and plan on scoring at least a 30, if not higher (this is my optimism coming through). I'll have some great lor's from the docs here at UCSF and feel I've grown and matured a lot since first applying. I also volunteer with a local international aid group as I think I'd enjoy doing this kind of work someday.

I just wanted to see what you all's input was, as I know a lot of people on the site have succeeded and gone on to do well, even when most thought they couldn't. So any ideas or thoughts would be much appreciated.

Oh, and I'm applying to California,Texas , and some east coast schools.

Sounds like you already know where you stand -- the real weakness in your application was your MCAT score. So, just do your best to get a good score this time.

Good Luck,

Jota

 

[relentless11]

I agree with the above post that your MCAT scores could be higher. My only other recommendation would be take a few upper division courses since it has been a while. This can serve to:

1) Show adcoms you academic abilities have not gone away.

2) Boost your GPA (3.4 is decent, but more is always better).

3) Keep your study habits sharp.

4) If you take applicable science courses, this may help you prepare for the MCAT.

Additionally, you may want to do more volunteering related to or unrelated to medicine (e.g.: community service). You didn't mention that so not sure if you did any of those. Being at UCSF you already know what kind of stats get you into that school. While the remaining UC's aren't too far behind in their high selectivity. Your research experience and LORs should be fine, now you need to reinforce the other aspects of your application.

 

[star22]

Are you opposed to applying to DO programs? You numbers would be really competetive there and ultimately they end up doing the same work.

 

[CatsandCradles]

Are you opposed to applying to DO programs? You numbers would be really competetive there and ultimately they end up doing the same work.

True we're more forgiving on a canidates's stats, but we sometimes face a lot of persecution from the general public. Just check out the latest "Newsweek" article over in the osteo forum - the naval doctor saved so many lives and now the public is debunking him since he's a "lesser doctor" 🙁

 

[CatsandCradles]

To the orginal poster:

I think you can get in somewhere with a 26. I had a friend who did it. She was sort of in your position. My advice to you is to find some sort of community or social work that is not medically related. Perhaps working with a homeless outreach group or at a shelter would help.

You bring some nice research to the table 👍

Best of wishes
C&C

 

[flabs]

I appreciate you all's input on this. I do realize the extremely high standards that a place like UCSF requires of its students, so I don't fool myself into thinking i'm a likely candidate here.

I have thought about DO. But my PI has encouraged me to stay away from DO school (stigma, opportunities, etc.) I see this as all being unfortunate, because as a DO, your heart is in the right place, and you're doing the exact same thing as an MD - it's just the acceptance factor that makes it so difficult.

 

[Raven Feather]

I appreciate you all's input on this. I do realize the extremely high standards that a place like UCSF requires of its students, so I don't fool myself into thinking i'm a likely candidate here.

I have thought about DO. But my PI has encouraged me to stay away from DO school (stigma, opportunities, etc.) I see this as all being unfortunate, because as a DO, your heart is in the right place, and you're doing the exact same thing as an MD - it's just the acceptance factor that makes it so difficult.

I hear that that may be more so true in Cali, however, it has not been my experience here in Indiana where most docs are acutally MDs. DOs and MDs are treated the same and have the same acceptance. I had NEVER heard such blasphemy about DOs until I became a member of this website. The DO vs MD seems to occur mostly between immature premeds, on an anonymous forum. Maybe I'm jaded, but I don't see any problem as far as having the equal opportunities in certain fields---your board scores are going to determine your fate for the most part. In both DO and MD residencies, the most stellar applicants get the upper hand in the competitive residencies. This means that if you are not at the top, be it DO or MD, automatically many doors of opportunities will be closed. Regardless, you have to take the path that you feel will be best for you. I wish you the best of luck.

 

[JamieMac]

I have thought about DO. But my PI has encouraged me to stay away from DO school (stigma, opportunities, etc.) I see this as all being unfortunate, because as a DO, your heart is in the right place, and you're doing the exact same thing as an MD - it's just the acceptance factor that makes it so difficult.

Hopefully, njbmd will offer some opinions on this. Based on everything that I have heard regarding DO's and MD's...the line between the two continues to become more difficult to see, and like another poster said the opportunities available to you will likely be a reflection of how well you perform on the boards. You may find that the stigma and lack of opportunities are becoming a thing of the past. Sure, many people that attend MD schools will label the DO doc as being lesser qualified, but I honestly don't think this is the general public's opinion. You are bound to find great docs that are MDs, and great ones that are DOs...conversely you can probably find sub par docs having attended each as well. I have spoken with so many people that have had great experiences with DOs (I have as well), and I do not plan to let other people's opinions effect my ultimate decision. IF the stigma was what it used to be, AND opportunities were not available to DOs...I might agree with your PI. I just don't think this holds true any longer.

It would be an absolute shame for someone like yourself to let the old school of thought keep you from following what you really want to do.

You should track njbmd (the moderator of this forum) down and ask her opinion about DOs. You may find her comments very interesting mainly because she is an MD.

Good luck to you.

 

[bejeabeez]

I'm not sure if you know this, but unless you are a resident of the state of Texas there's little chance of getting into a Texas medical school. By law they can only accept 10% of any class from out of state and those people have to be excellent candidates. To be a Texas resident you have to live and work in the state for a year prior to application.

 

[snowkhat]

BB is correct. Unless you are a Texas resident you don't have a great chance. Sometimes way less than 10%. I would try DO schools and some lower tier MD schools. Work your graduate program and get some kickass reference letters.

Best of Luck.

 

[slim06]

Hi,
I applied this year with kind of a similar background (although I was out longer and did really well on the MCATs) and got very little love from the Cali schools. In fact, I did better in TX than Cali! I'm md applicants profile #4650.

I suspect that the UC's consider where you were born and where you went to high school / college as part of your 'californianess'.

If it's possible, I'd advise applying to TX schools as a TX resident, unless you really couldn't stand go to one of them. There's just too many cali applicants (half of whom seemed to have worked at UCSF) for you to stand out. Also, some interviewers in NYC and other locations asked me why I might want to leave California. Perhaps they're biased, but I betcha they might not ask that about TX.

Good luck!