Will I get in?

[AdubYale]

Hi,

I was wondering whether or not I would have a serious chance of obtaining admission to an allopathic medical school, or even a DO school with the following. I'm currently a sophomore, but have run into a bit of a rough patch grade wise. Just this semester I finished with around three B+s as I got screwed out of the next letter grade by about 1% on each class, which kind of ticked me off. Anyway, I was curious as to whether or not I would have much of a chance if things keep turning out the way they are. I have not taken the MCAT yet either and have no way to know how well I might do on it so just assume I get an average score.

GPA: 3.5-3.6
MCAT: ?
Research: 4 semesters
Shadowing: 110 hours
Volunteering: 110 hours
- In two different honors societies and two different clubs at my school. I also played intramural sports my first year.

Thanks guys

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[Mwooster]

I also played intramural sports my first year

You should highlight this in your med school apps. Plenty of med schools need good players in their quest for supremacy over the nursing/pharm/law school students if those schools exist on the same campus

 

[terra330]

We can't really advise you without knowing your MCAT.

With an "average" score (50th percentile), you're likely not getting into an MD school at all, especially with a 3.5. Try to bring that GPA up to a 3.8 by the time you apply, and kill the MCAT. Then you'll have a pretty good shot. But in this world nothing is guaranteed.

 

[GrapesofRath]

Well your first problem is going into this just assuming/thinking you get an "average" score on the MCAT. If in fact you get an "average" score on the MCAT, you will be about 2 SD's below the MD matriculant MCAT score and lucky to get a DO acceptance with an average MCAT.

If you want to know where you stand get MSAR. It'll tell you everything; % of applicants with research exp, average GPA's for schools, average MCAT's etc. Spend this winter break devouring it and you will be able to answer 99.9% of your questions.

 

[Doxorubicin]

Assuming an average score is a 50th percentile score, your chances aren't good.

If you have an average score for matriculating students, then your chances will probably be slightly below average given your GPA. Boost your GPA to 3.7-3.8 if possible and do well on the MCAT. If you can do that and do well in an interview, I think you have a good chance at DO schools and an average chance at MD.

Once you get an MCAT score, people can give you much more useful advice.

 

[Mwooster]

Well your first problem is going into this just assuming/thinking you get an "average" score on the MCAT. If in fact you get an "average" score on the MCAT, you will be about 2 SD's below the MD matriculant MCAT score and lucky to get a DO acceptance with an average MCAT.

If you want to know where you stand get MSAR. It'll tell you everything; % of applicants with research exp, average GPA's for schools, average MCAT's etc. Spend this winter break devouring it and you will be able to answer 99.9% of your questions.

Agreed
Let's assume the OP meant the average of med school applicants, or even better, matriculants

 

[Dr. Death]

You didn't get screwed out of anything. You didn't earn an A and you didn't get one. Your EC are weak sauce unless there is more you aren't telling us. As the others have said your MCAT is more important than anything else.

Just this semester I finished with around three B+s as I got screwed out of the next letter grade by about 1% on each class, which kind of ticked me off.

Damn entitled millennials.

 

[Joyner]

what are you getting on your practice mcat tests

 

[123456123456]

I think you have a good shot (I always recommend applying broadly though), especially if you do well on the MCAT. If anything, I would try to get a little more clinical hours through more volunteering or even something paid because applying to med school/going to interviews is very expensive and unless you have a lot of savings or your family is able to help financially, you will wish you had a clinical job (because clinical jobs hit 2 birds with one stone)

 

[candbgirl]

You're only a sophomore. You have at least 3 semesters to improve your GPAs, get a great (not average) score in the MCAT and work on your ECs which seem to be pretty sparse. You might want to plan on a gap year and not apply until you graduate. Acceptances to med school get harder to come by every year. You have some serious work ahead of you.

 

[Dr Tony T. Chopper]

Hi,

I was wondering whether or not I would have a serious chance of obtaining admission to an allopathic medical school, or even a DO school with the following. I'm currently a sophomore, but have run into a bit of a rough patch grade wise. Just this semester I finished with around three B+s as I got screwed out of the next letter grade by about 1% on each class, which kind of ticked me off. Anyway, I was curious as to whether or not I would have much of a chance if things keep turning out the way they are. I have not taken the MCAT yet either and have no way to know how well I might do on it so just assume I get an average score.

GPA: 3.5-3.6
MCAT: ?
Research: 4 semesters
Shadowing: 110 hours
Volunteering: 110 hours
- In two different honors societies and two different clubs at my school. I also played intramural sports my first year.

Thanks guys

By the time you graduate from UG, DO probably wont be a safe alternative anymore considering the ramping applicant stats and numbers, as well as the acquisitionof aoa and aacom by acgme. Keep your options open by giving your all to keep your numbers attractive.

 

[AdubYale]

You didn't get screwed out of anything. You didn't earn an A and you didn't get one. Your EC are weak sauce unless there is more you aren't telling us. As the others have said your MCAT is more important than anything else.

Damn entitled millennials.

Um... those ECs aren't bad considering Im only a sophomore....

 

[mistafab]

Hi,

I was wondering whether or not I would have a serious chance of obtaining admission to an allopathic medical school, or even a DO school with the following. I'm currently a sophomore, but have run into a bit of a rough patch grade wise. Just this semester I finished with around three B+s as I got screwed out of the next letter grade by about 1% on each class, which kind of ticked me off. Anyway, I was curious as to whether or not I would have much of a chance if things keep turning out the way they are. I have not taken the MCAT yet either and have no way to know how well I might do on it so just assume I get an average score.

GPA: 3.5-3.6
MCAT: ?
Research: 4 semesters
Shadowing: 110 hours
Volunteering: 110 hours
- In two different honors societies and two different clubs at my school. I also played intramural sports my first year.

Thanks guys

Gonna tell you what I told a sophmore friend/classmate that I sorta mentored while I was a senior. Anytime someone gets bitter about a point here or there on a test or in a class and feels entitled to have those points given to them is in the wrong.
You had an entire semester to establish a pattern of consistent excellence that you failed to do. A % lower on a grade means you did not deserve the higher grade; if you did, you would have cleared that threshold easily and wound up comfortably in a higher bracket.

To answer your original question - yes you have a serious chance. Just don't be so serious about chances and work smart to gain the predictable, higher grades if that is the route you want to go. You have time for good EC's if that is the route you want to go. My GPA was pretty mediocre in college but that is because of complete failure on my transcript the first semester of college. You need to be more consistent in your grades to establish a better GPA in the next 2 years while getting real experiences. "Two different honors societies and two different clubs" usually means you don't do jack at those societies or clubs. Get something substantial on your ticket and make sure there are no red flags. Here is a formula for acceptance that a few mentors of mine told me:

1. Get good grades
2. Get solid, X amount of hours in shadowing/clinical experience
3. Get solid, X amount of hours in volunteering
4. Get solid, X amount of hours in some honor society
5. Make one of 1-4 absolutely astounding. So if you got 200 hours in 1,2, and 4 - make 3 like 400-500 hours in something cool.

Good luck, have fun.

 

[lmn]

Um... those ECs aren't bad considering Im only a sophomore....

None of them are "bad", but nothing is making you stand out at all. Sure you worked on checking some of the boxes for shadowing, volunteering, and are in some clubs/honor societies/(honestly who cares unless you were a big part of it, everyone knows most people do jack in their clubs), the problem is everyone has those and honestly even just as a sophomore there are many, many applicants with more hours in those areas. What about any of those are going to make you stand out for a school to want to interview you and accept you? You're grades are average at best, plus any med school could easily fill their classes with pure 4.0's if they really wanted to. Doing research for your entire two years is a good thing though, keep up with that and try your best to complete some projects and get a publication if at all possible.

You aren't in a bad spot, you still have two more years, keep doing the "check box" things, but also find things you are interested in and really commit to those, try to be a leader in them, try to excel, show that you are super passionate about whatever it is and that you really dedicated yourself to it. Give yourself something to write and talk about with schools that will make them interested in you and think that you bring something special/additional to their class composition. Also do your best in classes (complaining about just missing an A- is meaningless and nobody but you cares about the excuse), and make sure you do well on the MCAT.

 

[Doug Underhill]

Assuming your username refers to your alma mater, a 3.6 from Yale is very competitive, especially with a strong MCAT.

 

[Wolf3D]

,

 

[GrapesofRath]

By the time you graduate from UG, DO probably wont be a safe alternative anymore considering the ramping applicant stats and numbers, as well as the acquisitionof aoa and aacom by acgme. Keep your options open by giving your all to keep your numbers attractive.

It's hard to say. There is just too much to predict for how things will be affected in the future.

What we can say is the acquisition could perhaps definitely result in a number of AOA residencies being shut down for not meeting standards. So basically DO's could have fewer residencies with the same number of applicants. Furthermore, it appears likely it will be harder for DO's to match into higher end competitive residencies as those DO residencies are now going to be open to MDs.

What we don't know is how all this will change the DO residencies that do survive. Do they perhaps show even more bias towards their DO's vs IMG's and FMG's as before? How will the number of applicants change in coming years----ie will new DO schools keep opening up or will the merger uplift hte standards so questionable programs like LUCOM can't be created?

Given though however that about 95+% of DO applicants match in residency I do think we are sometime away where DO is endanger of not being a "safe" alternative and the odds of not getting a residency are high enough where it's worth seriously not pursuing the DO route anymore. Only time will tell; there's no good way to predict how the dynamics will change in coming years. What I think is fair to say is where DO's match into specialities will certainly change with this merger.

I do however agree that with the uncertainty of things the MD perhaps has even more advantages to the DO and it is in many applicants best interests to do everything they can to try and go the MD route.

 

[after_the_flood]

Hope you're joking... those ECs are incredibly weak for a sophomore.

Plenty of people around you can clock in > 500 hours of meaningful experiences in an academic year. Other than the sports you basically have nothing.

Na mate you're wrong. It's about what he learned from them - quality not quantity. Clearly there's a difference in how much you get out of a 25 hour experience vs a 50 hour experience vs a 100 hour experience, but it's definitely diminishing returns. I'm curious what makes you qualified to speak with such certainty ("incredibly weak")?

 

[Glandzburg]

Hope you're joking... those ECs are incredibly weak for a sophomore.

Plenty of people around you can clock in > 500 hours of meaningful experiences in an academic year. Other than the sports you basically have nothing.

I disagree. It' s solid start for 3 semesters (it would be a different story for a senior). Not everyone comes into college gunning to get hundreds of EC hours as a freshman. Heck, it's more than I had 3 semesters into college.

But @AdubYale , lose the entitlement mentality regarding getting screwed out of grades by 1%. You get what you earn, and you came up a bit short. Try a little harder next time instead of getting worked up about it.

 

[Goro]

So far, so good for getting an II.

But admission is totally on you.

Hi,

I was wondering whether or not I would have a serious chance of obtaining admission to an allopathic medical school, or even a DO school with the following. I'm currently a sophomore, but have run into a bit of a rough patch grade wise. Just this semester I finished with around three B+s as I got screwed out of the next letter grade by about 1% on each class, which kind of ticked me off. Anyway, I was curious as to whether or not I would have much of a chance if things keep turning out the way they are. I have not taken the MCAT yet either and have no way to know how well I might do on it so just assume I get an average score.

GPA: 3.5-3.6
MCAT: ?
Research: 4 semesters
Shadowing: 110 hours
Volunteering: 110 hours
- In two different honors societies and two different clubs at my school. I also played intramural sports my first year.

Thanks guys

 

[Lost in Translation]

Your ECs are solid for a sophomore. Keep up the average hours per week and they'll be great by the time you apply.

 

[Mad Jack]

You should highlight this in your med school apps. Plenty of med schools need good players in their quest for supremacy over the nursing/pharm/law school students if those schools exist on the same campus

Intramural sports are no ****ing joke. My class has had many a broken bone and sprain over the last year and a half alone.

Seriously though, sports are a great way to demonstrate teamwork and leadership.

 

[Mad Jack]

OP, you'll do fine. You'll get in. Particularly if the Yale in your name isn't just nonsense.