Where to apply?

[angwin2020]

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Hello everyone! I've been struggling with this for a while, but I'm not sure if I'm a strong enough candidate to apply for medical school / DO schools. Current senior at UCB, planning for a gap year. California resident. GPA/sGPA is 3.25 right now but let's just say range for 3.0-3.2 since my classes are fairly rough on grading this year. My MCAT was 507. Have 1 LOR, and plan on asking for 2 more by the end of the year.

Extracurricular things: volunteered as an EMT through an organization, 200+ hours; volunteering elsewhere 50+ hours; shadowing 50+ hours (not including the shadowing I did as an EMT); leadership positions in 2 organizations (cultural, pre-medical); teaching 2 classes (one STEM oriented, one SES oriented); did research for two semesters but no publications.

Where should I be applying? Any advice would be helpful!

 

[Kardio]

GPA/sGPA is 3.25 right now but let's just say range for 3.0-3.2 since my classes are fairly rough on grading this year.

Honestly, it sounds like you’re planning on performing poorly.

Why not treat your senior year like a SMP, rock it with straight A’s to get an upward trend, bring your cGPA up to ~3.4 and apply DO broadly?

 

[Faha]

With a MCAT of 507 and your GPA you could receive interviews at any of these DO schools:
ICOM
BCOM
UIWSOM
ARCOM
ACOM
NYIT-Arkansas
PCOM Georgia and South Georgia
UP-KYCOM
WVSOM
CUSOM
VCOM (all 4 schools)
LECOM (all schools)
MU-COM
CHSU-COM
Sam Houston State

 

[futureDocDD]

3.2 GPA and 507 MCAT is not competitive for MD schools, plus you're CA resident. As other said, you should aim to get more A's in your senior year and apply to DO broadly. If that doesn't work out, SMP is next.

 

[angwin2020]

3.2 GPA and 507 MCAT is not competitive for MD schools, plus you're CA resident. As other said, you should aim to get more A's in your senior year and apply to DO broadly. If that doesn't work out, SMP is next.

Sorry if this question has an obvious answer, but what is SMP? I tried googling it, but I don't think those results are correct .. . .

 

[candbgirl]

Sorry if this question has an obvious answer, but what is SMP? I tried googling it, but I don't think those results are correct .. . .

It’s a Special Masters Program that is high stakes-high reward for people trying to get into med school(FYI- DO=med school). You take classes with med students and usually if you meet their requirements you get an interview at the linked med school if there is a linkage. SMPs are sort of a second chance/backdoor in to med school. But if you don’t score 3.7+ you really burn all of your chances. You currently aren’t competitive for MD schools with your projected GPA and MCAT. Work hard this year but focus on DO schools. That’s where your best chances are.