DO WAMC: 500/3.27 cGPA/2.99sGPA + suggested schools?

[Masumi]

Most of this was transferred over from r/premed, so let me know if I need to provide further information!

Ethnicity and/or race: Asian
Year in school: Senior
Country/state of residence: California
Schools to which you are applying: As much DO schools as possible through AACOMAS; considering to apply next cycle instead (see end note); would appreciate suggestions for DO schools to apply to
Cumulative GPA: 3.27
Science GPA: 2.99
MCAT Scores: 500 (127/124/126/123) [August 17]
Research: none
Volunteering (clinical): none
Physician shadowing: 112 hours (Summer 17, MD family medicine + back office)
Non-clinical volunteering: Volunteer at medical center (Mar 17, 16 hours) - organized and supplied medical inventory to various medical departments
Extracurricular activities: Church pianist at a local parish (Sep 14 - Present, 2 hours every Sunday)
Employment history: Stage Crew (Sep 14 - Present, dependent on scheduled events)
Immediate family members in medicine?: No
Shadowing experience: Other than the physician shadowing stated above, PA shadowing (7 hours)
Graduate degrees: Biological Sciences (BS)

Fall 2017* quarter grades lowered my GPA to the point where I don't necessarily feel like I stand a chance in applying for DO this cycle. At the moment, the plan in the interim (if I don't apply this cycle) is unclear. Other than improving my GPA with the upcoming two quarters, I am considering post-bacc as well as other backup plans to improve my standings in preparations for next cycle. That being said, I want to ask whether or not there is a chance (as well as if there's a downside) with applying with the information listed above. I'm thinking of compromising by applying to half the schools I was going to apply to this cycle, with a post-bacc as a backup plan in case I don't get in.

Personally, I don't feel that qualified compared to the average applicants out there, and as a result, I am not necessarily aiming for MD with the current scores I have. However, I do appreciate any feedback/insight given, as well as advice for plans if I don't end up applying this time around.

* - As a result of a nearby wildfire (Thomas Fire) , the finals were postponed until after the winter break. As I have mild asthma, having the air quality decline pre-finals week became really stressful for me. I would like to mention this to explain my Fall 2017 grades, but I'm not sure if that will improve my chances at all.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Rusrus]

Considering your < 3.0 sGPA and lack of clinical/non-clinical volunteer experience, I think it'd be best to postpone applying and look into either a post-bacc or SMP. Keep in mind that a fair amount of DO schools require a DO letter of recommendation and some also pre-screen applicants' c/sGPA at 3.0.

 

[Forever Geebs]

Improve GPA. Improve MCAT. Improve ECs, particularly clinical volunteering (min. 50 hrs) and non-clinical volunteering (min. 50 hrs).

Not doing so and applying any way will likely yield unfavorable results for you, unfortunately. It is not game over, but you have some climbing to do before you become a more competitive applicant. Also, for what it’s worth, stress and other factors that have contributed to your poor grades in ugrad are likely to carry with you in med school unless you address them. That’s something I would spend time on, too.

Best of luck to you.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Faha]

You need 200+ hours of clinical volunteering before you apply and you should increase your sGPA to 3.0. I suggest these schools when that occurs:
ACOM
ARCOM
BCOM
WCU-COM
LMU-DCOM
UP-KYCOM
WVSOM
LUCOM
VCOM (all 3 schools)
NYIT-Arkansas
RVU-Utah
UIWSOM
ICOM (new school)
PCOM-Moultrie (new school)

 

[calivianya]

Don't apply this upcoming cycle. The downside of applying this cycle is that you'll be a reapplicant the next year since you have a very poor chance at all but the newest/weakest schools. You may get into one of those, but wouldn't you rather try for a better, established school with a slightly better application?

Plan on applying in the 2019-2020 cycle, get more of both clinical and non-clinical volunteering, and spend your first gap year studying for the MCAT and retake. I think if you can raise your MCAT score significantly and end up with at least a 3.0 sGPA after your last two quarters, you could reasonably skip a post bacc.

 

[deleted846074]

What qualifies as clinical volunteering? I know there are other threads on this topic, but I personally wasn't able to find much information. I would appreciate it if someone could throw me a bone. Thank you.

 

[Goro]

What qualifies as clinical volunteering? I know there are other threads on this topic, but I personally wasn't able to find much information. I would appreciate it if someone could throw me a bone. Thank you.

Volunteering with patients.

Not all volunteering needs to be in a hospital. Think hospice, Planned Parenthood, nursing homes, rehab facilities, crisis hotlines, camps for sick children, or clinics.

Some types of volunteer activities are more appealing than others. Volunteering in a nice suburban hospital is all very well and good and all, but doesn't show that you're willing to dig in and get your hands dirty in the same way that working with the developmentally disabled (or homeless, the dying, or Alzheimers or mentally ill or elderly or ESL or domestic, rural impoverished) does. The uncomfortable situations are the ones that really demonstrate your altruism and get you 'brownie points'. Plus, they frankly teach you more -- they develop your compassion and humanity in ways comfortable situations can't.

 

[treatem-and-streetem]

You have a lot of work to do buddy and I think applying this year would be a waste. Get clinical experience. Maybe a job as a medical assistant, phlebotomist, etc.

 

[deleted846074]

Volunteering with patients.

Not all volunteering needs to be in a hospital. Think hospice, Planned Parenthood, nursing homes, rehab facilities, crisis hotlines, camps for sick children, or clinics.

Some types of volunteer activities are more appealing than others. Volunteering in a nice suburban hospital is all very well and good and all, but doesn't show that you're willing to dig in and get your hands dirty in the same way that working with the developmentally disabled (or homeless, the dying, or Alzheimers or mentally ill or elderly or ESL or domestic, rural impoverished) does. The uncomfortable situations are the ones that really demonstrate your altruism and get you 'brownie points'. Plus, they frankly teach you more -- they develop your compassion and humanity in ways comfortable situations can't.

Does volunteering with Ronald McDonald House count as clinical volunteering? I would mainly be interacting with children's families while they are in the hospital and their families stay in the house?

 

[Goro]

Does volunteering with Ronald McDonald House count as clinical volunteering? I would mainly be interacting with children's families while they are in the hospital and their families stay in the house?

It's on the borderline. I personally like it as such, but some Adcoms don't view it as truly clinical because you're not dealing with the patients.

 

[Masumi]

Don't apply this upcoming cycle. The downside of applying this cycle is that you'll be a reapplicant the next year since you have a very poor chance at all but the newest/weakest schools. You may get into one of those, but wouldn't you rather try for a better, established school with a slightly better application?

Plan on applying in the 2019-2020 cycle, get more of both clinical and non-clinical volunteering, and spend your first gap year studying for the MCAT and retake. I think if you can raise your MCAT score significantly and end up with at least a 3.0 sGPA after your last two quarters, you could reasonably skip a post bacc.

How bad is it to be a re-applicant in the following cycle, at least for the schools that I will supposedly apply for this year? I am aware that I would need to show significant improvement in GPA, MCAT, and/or ECs (very likely all of them) by the time I re-apply, to which I am planning to do as a backup plan regardless of whether I apply or not.

I'm concerned about how much improvement is expected of me as a re-applicant compared to if I improve myself before applying, and I don't want to necessarily apply to some DO schools in order to find out the hard way.

Thank you all for the feedback so far! I hope that I can continue asking for feedback here or in other parts of the forum.

 

[861843]

How bad is it to be a re-applicant in the following cycle, at least for the schools that I will supposedly apply for this year? I am aware that I would need to show significant improvement in GPA, MCAT, and/or ECs (very likely all of them) by the time I re-apply, to which I am planning to do as a backup plan regardless of whether I apply or not.

I'm concerned about how much improvement is expected of me as a re-applicant compared to if I improve myself before applying, and I don't want to necessarily apply to some DO schools in order to find out the hard way.

Thank you all for the feedback so far! I hope that I can continue asking for feedback here or in other parts of the forum.

Honestly friend, it's really not worth applying this cycle for dozens of reasons that aren't your status as a re-applicant. At least from my perspective, the top of that list is your mental health I mean do you really feel like refreshing your email for 7 months for a fraction of a percent of a chance that you get accepted? Not to mention it's an expensive price to pay for rejection; I lost a decent chunk of my savings applying to schools this year, and I only applied to about 20 schools. If you're looking for justification to apply anyway I doubt you'll find it here. That being said I got accepted with low summary stats and if you need any help about gap year breaks etc. PM away!

 

[calivianya]

How bad is it to be a re-applicant in the following cycle, at least for the schools that I will supposedly apply for this year? I am aware that I would need to show significant improvement in GPA, MCAT, and/or ECs (very likely all of them) by the time I re-apply, to which I am planning to do as a backup plan regardless of whether I apply or not.

I'm concerned about how much improvement is expected of me as a re-applicant compared to if I improve myself before applying, and I don't want to necessarily apply to some DO schools in order to find out the hard way.

Thank you all for the feedback so far! I hope that I can continue asking for feedback here or in other parts of the forum.

I don't know much specifically about reapplicants to DO schools, but many MD schools acknowledge that reapplicants get accepted at lower rates than first time applicants. I doubt very many people just resubmit the same application without any improvements, so I'm assuming high levels of improvement are needed for reapplicants in particular.

 

[Masumi]

I'm not sure if this is a simple question or not, but would I be considered a reapplicant to DO schools I didn't apply to in a previous cycle?

 

[candbgirl]

No you wouldn’t be but frankly you are a very poor candidate. (Did you apply previously?) you have Very low GPAs, horribly weak ECs and an MCAT that should be higher but looking at your sGPA is surprising actually. I understand about the fires and asthma but don’t go trying to put those as the cause of your very low GPAs. One semester didn’t do that to your GPAs. Don’t apply this cycle. If you want to be a doctor start salvaging your application. Fill in the gaping holes you have in your application. Do it right if you are going to do it.

 

[Masumi]

No you wouldn’t be but frankly you are a very poor candidate. (Did you apply previously?) you have Very low GPAs, horribly weak ECs and an MCAT that should be higher but looking at your sGPA is surprising actually. I understand about the fires and asthma but don’t go trying to put those as the cause of your very low GPAs. One semester didn’t do that to your GPAs. Don’t apply this cycle. If you want to be a doctor start salvaging your application. Fill in the gaping holes you have in your application. Do it right if you are going to do it.

Actually, last quarter I had a 3.41 cGPA / 3.21 sGPA. But I'm sure it doesn't mean anything now.

Anyways, thank you all for the feedback and advice so far. Along with the advice I have gotten from my professors, I have decided not to apply this cycle and instead pursue a post-bacc program so that I can improve my overall GPA and MCAT scores. I hope to pursue more ECs as well during the program.

After thinking/stressing about it over the past couple of days, I can probably say that the results last quarter was definitely a wake-up call for me, and I've realized that I need to work harder now in order to recover from this. I can see that the road ahead is long, tough, and perhaps a bit uncomfortable, but I'm going to have to get through that if it means that I'll get into medical school (or at least become a stronger candidate for one).

 

[Thienyl15]

I don't know much specifically about reapplicants to DO schools, but many MD schools acknowledge that reapplicants get accepted at lower rates than first time applicants. I doubt very many people just resubmit the same application without any improvements, so I'm assuming high levels of improvement are needed for reapplicants in particular.

Many, many people resubmit the same app. Source: dean of my state school.