MD & DO WAMC 3.7/3.5, 504, OR, ORM (URM?)

[WestCoastPreMed-1]

Hi folks, I hope everyone is doing well.

I want to start by saying that I fully realize that I am not a competitive applicant. I am under no illusion in that regard. However, I have parental pressure to apply this year, a parent who has no clue how any of this works and can't fathom the idea of taking one gap year, let alone two (which is looking more like what will happen). So, as I stand, just how bad of an idea is applying? Do I have a shot with a MCAT retake this year?

1. cGPA and sGPA as calculated by AMCAS or AACOMAS: don't have the official ones, but from school it's ~3.7 and ~3.55 for sGPA. Engineering major.
2. MCAT score(s) and breakdown: 3/24/2023: 504 (129/123/125/127). FL average was a 509 so this was monumentally disappointing.
3. State of residence or country of citizenship (if non-US): OR
4. Ethnicity and/or race: White, gay male, 23. Am I URM? Everything else about me is very, very ORM.
5. Undergraduate institution or category: state school, R1
6. Clinical experience (volunteer and non-volunteer):
   1. Starting scribe job with Scribe America next month, should have 1000+ hours by matriculation from scribing over the gap year.
   2. Clinical volunteering in out-patient surgery, ~80 hours over a year (they have not been liberal with the available number of hours, took me over a year just to get this with COVID).
7. Research experience and productivity
   1. 400+ hours across pre-clinical models, 1 pub by matriculation, 3 posters, 1 presentation. Work is easy to talk about and different from the mainstream.
8. Shadowing experience and specialties represented
   1. ~80 hours across ENT (including hours in the operating room), orthopedics, and family medicine
9. Non-clinical volunteering
   1. ~60 hours at a local animal shelter.
   2. ~200 hours doing STEM outreach in the community.
10. Other extracurricular activities (including athletics, military service, gap year activities, leadership, teaching, etc)
    1. TA for freshman and sophomore classes, 400+ hours across 3 years, really loved doing this
    2. Captain of a local team of a national competition, along with 3 years on the team before this. Helped to organize the regional conference and competition this year.
11. Relevant honors or awards
    1. Dean's list (8+ terms, 3.75+)
12. Anything else not listed you think might be important
    1. While not clinical experience, I unfortunately have a lot of experience as a patient which has informed my desire to be a doctor. This forms the base of my personal statement and my views on medicine.
    2. PREVIEW score from last year was a 3. CASPER was 1-25th percentile (💀). Retook PREVIEW on the 11th, waiting for that back. Waiting to see what to do about this cycle before doing CASPER again.

Like I said, not great. Lacking in clinical experience and the MCAT score is a meme. So WAMC? In-state schools are OHSU (MD) and COMP-Northwest technically has a regional campus here as well (DO). OHSU is my goal. A friend in my program was waitlisted for an A at OSHU this cycle with an mcat of 498, but with a significant number of scribing hours. I also have ties to other schools (Emory, Carle, UCLA). My preference is MD, but I am well aware that is probably not reasonable as is.

Other questions:

• Would it be worth it to take the MCAT again in, say, the middle of July, to apply this cycle? Obviously I would need to do significantly better (510+, which shouldn't have been tooooo hard this first time, but here we are...).
• General advice? I tried to reach out to OHSU about my application but they said they don't do admissions counseling.
• Schools suggestions (MD and DO) that I could apply to and not have absolutely no chance of getting into?

Thanks for taking the time to help.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[theoceanman]

I believe you are ORM, but your sexuality is something that can be discussed on multiple secondaries as some schools do have specific sections for those. I do understand the pressure for certain, many of my friends have been through that phase where their parents gave them an ultimatum of "get in or get out" which is really unfortunate.

For STEM outreach, what population was that towards? Underserved or rural children/students in your community, or what did that entail?

Would you be able to rack up 150+, non-projected/expected clinical hours before you submit your primary application?

If you answered yes to the above, you have a very good chance at many DO schools and perhaps some MD, although it varies on your mission-fit. You will most likely get interviews from many DO schools and perhaps a few MD schools if you are fortunate enough to submit secondaries early and express yourself well.

DO schools you should look into may entail:
PCOM (all campuses)
NYITCOM (all campuses)
VCOM (all campuses except Monroe)
CCOM
AZCOM
Marian COM
UNECOM
WesternU COMP (both campuses)
Campbell (CUSOM)
LECOM (all campuses)
KCU-COM
DMU-COM
UP-KYCOM
UIWSOM
TUNCOM
Touro-NY

 

[WestCoastPreMed-1]

I believe you are ORM, but your sexuality is something that can be discussed on multiple secondaries as some schools do have specific sections for those. I do understand the pressure for certain, many of my friends have been through that phase where their parents gave them an ultimatum of "get in or get out" which is really unfortunate.

For STEM outreach, what population was that towards? Underserved or rural children/students in your community, or what did that entail?

Would you be able to rack up 150+, non-projected/expected clinical hours before you submit your primary application?

If you answered yes to the above, you have a very good chance at many DO schools and perhaps some MD, although it varies on your mission-fit. You will most likely get interviews from many DO schools and perhaps a few MD schools if you are fortunate enough to submit secondaries early and express yourself well.

DO schools you should look into may entail:
PCOM (all campuses)
NYITCOM (all campuses)
VCOM (all campuses except Monroe)
CCOM
AZCOM
Marian COM
UNECOM
WesternU COMP (both campuses)
Campbell (CUSOM)
LECOM (all campuses)
KCU-COM
DMU-COM
UP-KYCOM
UIWSOM
TUNCOM
Touro-NY

STEM outreach was not directly towards any specific population. We visited local schools and schools up to about two hours away which vary widely in their designation. It would not be unreasonable to say that some of them were underserved and/or rural. I guess that's a good point to bring up.

150+ hours of just scribing. before the end of this month? No. By the end of July? Probably. I know primaries should be submitted by mid-June at the latest so that's probably not going to happen.

Either way I appreciate your perspective. Maybe there's a glimmer of hope, after all?

 

[chilly_md]

You would need to gain the clinical hours first as aquafied mentioned. DO cycle runs later so you could submit in July or August.

MD would be a waste of money in my opinion.

I would suggest:
Western (both campuses)
PNWU
PCOM (all campuses)
LECOM
DMU
Touro NV
KCU
KCOM
ACOM
WCU
AT-SOMA
Marian
VCOM
UIWSOM
West Virginia

AZCOM, CCOM, NYIT and the other Touros all expect higher MCAT scores than yours.

 

[WestCoastPreMed-1]

You would need to gain the clinical hours first as aquafied mentioned. DO cycle runs later so you could submit in July or August.

MD would be a waste of money in my opinion.

I would suggest:
Western (both campuses)
PNWU
PCOM (all campuses)
LECOM
DMU
Touro NV
KCU
KCOM
ACOM
WCU
AT-SOMA
Marian
VCOM
UIWSOM
West Virginia

AZCOM, CCOM, NYIT and the other Touros all expect higher MCAT scores than yours.

Besides the clinical hours and MCAT, what would be the most beneficial in your opinion? Or just those?

 

[theoceanman]

STEM outreach was not directly towards any specific population. We visited local schools and schools up to about two hours away which vary widely in their designation. It would not be unreasonable to say that some of them were underserved and/or rural. I guess that's a good point to bring up.

150+ hours of just scribing. before the end of this month? No. By the end of July? Probably. I know primaries should be submitted by mid-June at the latest so that's probably not going to happen.

Either way I appreciate your perspective. Maybe there's a glimmer of hope, after all?

Since you’re applying DO most likely, you can submit later, but hopefully by the end of June or so, you’ll be able to submit your AACOMAS with 150+ scribing hours.

Since your non-clinical volunteering focused on your community, you could bring that up potentially if necessary, but it’s probably better to recall a genuine reflection of memorable moments of that experience in your primary activity section.

 

[chilly_md]

Besides the clinical hours and MCAT, what would be the most beneficial in your opinion? Or just those?

I am not advocating for you to retake the MCAT. I was just saying to avoid some schools as you do not fit their profile.

Clinical hours should be the main focus of your time. Pick up extra shifts every week. A LOR from a DO is always a nice bonus too. You can volunteer at a homeless shelter or food bank too and potentially provide an update later in the cycle when you gained a noteworthy amount of hours (100 or more).

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Let us know when your new PREview score comes back. You won't really need this for DO schools unless you're applying to Des Moines (for whatever reason). I don't think too many DO schools require Casper, but you will need to do the research on that.

I'd take my time and get more scribing done. You also need service orientation activities like food distribution, shelter work (human not animal), job placement services, transportation services, or housing rehabilitation.

Get connected with Medical Student Pride Alliance .

 

[WestCoastPreMed-1]

Let us know when your new PREview score comes back. You won't really need this for DO schools unless you're applying to Des Moines (for whatever reason). I don't think too many DO schools require Casper, but you will need to do the research on that.

I'd take my time and get more scribing done. You also need service orientation activities like food distribution, shelter work (human not animal), job placement services, transportation services, or housing rehabilitation.

Get connected with Medical Student Pride Alliance .

Thank you!

 

[WestCoastPreMed-1]

I am not advocating for you to retake the MCAT. I was just saying to avoid some schools as you do not fit their profile.

Clinical hours should be the main focus of your time. Pick up extra shifts every week. A LOR from a DO is always a nice bonus too. You can volunteer at a homeless shelter or food bank too and potentially provide an update later in the cycle when you gained a noteworthy amount of hours (100 or more).

Understood, I appreciate your response.