I completely agree. DO is a big NO to my program and many top/mid programs. Look at program websites to get an idea of what they accept. Not a lot out there accept DO. Further, most DO path go into Forensic, which is the least competitive.
That last part seems like you might--just might-- have pulled it out of your arse. But instead of just reiterating his inferiority to the OP, I think it's helpful to break down the reasons underpinning the prejudice and see what s/he can do to overcome them. Just to be clear-- I'm not endorsing the reasons behind these prejudices, just laying them out.
1) DOs "failed" in the medical admissions game in the sense that, almost uniformly, they weren't admitted to allopathic schools. Therefore there is something about their college performance and/or test scores that is inferior to MD applicants (and also to FMGs). They have not demonstrated the lifelong continuous pattern of achievement that the standard MD applicant is expected to have.
2) DO schools are significantly less 'academic' in the sense that they are almost never attached to large, quaternary medical centers; the case mix that the average student sees is inferior; the quality of faculty mentorship is inferior; and they can almost never participate in significant, high-level research since the faculty simply doesn't conduct it.
3) Since-- again, not my view-- the student body is comprised of mediocre students, mentored and evaluated by mediocre faculty, rotating through mediocre small community hospitals in a piecemeal fashion, the grades a particular student achieves relative to these mediocre colleagues and from these mediocre attendings are not worth much.
OK, again I'll reiterate my position: the very top echelon of pathology programs (not more than 5-7 places) are looking *solely* for highly academic applicants. They want people who are MD/PhD and will become researchers OR they want people who will stay in academia and become subspecialty experts. They want people with significant, productive research in addition to good grades and scores. They do NOT want people who are aiming for community practice. This is true in basically every specialty out there, but I think it's especially true in pathology.
OK, breaking it down:
1) there's nothing much you can do about your undergraduate record, choice of college, etc. In your applications try to emphasize anything particularly outstanding about your pre-med record.
2) This is by far your biggest hurdle. Like I suggested above, you have to a) rotate at big famous hospitals in your 4th year to prove you can hack it and b) get some serious, significant research. If you're very serious about wanting to match in the top 5-7 programs, you should take a year off either doing a PSF or getting serious research at a big famous institution like MSKCC or the NIH or something.
3) No one will care about your academic record, though it had better be perfect. But luckily you have awesome test scores which will go a long way to eliminate this particular prejudice.
Good luck! And remember, the next group of programs down (in which I would include my own) tends to be more DO-friendly, especially for great applicants.
