Very low GPA, reapplying. Advisors haven't been helpful. Curious on DO/MD chances, other resources.

[ricefueled]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Hi everyone, new poster, I've read the rules but do bear with me if I'm missing something.

I applied to this application cycle late. I know, I know, around these forums it's almost unanimously agreed that applying late is essentially application suicide, but I was told by my undergraduate institution's designated pre-med advisor that I shouldn't worry about applying late, and at the time I thought they knew best. FWIW I took my MCAT late July, and so was able to apply early September. I know now that that is extremely late. I can blame my advisors all I want, but at the end of the day it's completely my fault for not doing a better job researching the process and trusting blindly.

Anywho, here's the stats, do let me know if there's anything else I should include.

BCPM: 3.25
AO: 3.42
Total: 3.34

My school has my GPA at 3.46 after not considering classes that had been retaken, which is relevant for DO applications, I suppose.

MCAT is 129-128-128-129, 514 total.

ECs include 500+ hours of research experience, only ~100 hours of shadowing, and ~100 hours of other work.

LoCs are hopefully quite strong but possibly not as numerous as they should be? One from my major advisor that's an MD, one from a science instructor, and another from a non-science instructor.

Lastly, I'm a California resident. I take it that where I went for undergrad doesn't really matter, right?

I only received one II, from KUMed. Was ultimately rejected, though I think I made a good number of minor mistakes. I'm fairly certain that at this point in the cycle, I have very little chance left of getting accepted into an MD school (the KUMed invite was for an interview in late Jan 2017, it's been dry since then). Very sad, but still very motivated. I just wanted to make certain before the following cycle what my chances are, and what's the best way to choose schools that are best suited for my qualifications. Do I pick according to LizzyM? How do I pick in such a way that takes my very low GPA into account? MSAR is very handy in that I can see 10th percentiles for GPA...is there a way to look up this information for DO schools? Is there a significant difference in how MD and DO schools view reapplicants in terms of stigma/disadvatages? What activities should I do in the interim? Is it worth it to do post-bac to raise my GPA even if I'm not dead set on MD? Please, any advice or tips are welcome. In the meantime, I'll continue reading the recommended material in this forum and using the search function. Let me know if there's any important information missing.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Magulick81]

Get a job in a hospital setting or similar healthcare field for one year and apply next cycle, you will get in somewhere. I think it's pretty pointless to apply this late in the cycle but people might say otherwise.

 

[ricefueled]

Get a job in a hospital setting or similar healthcare field for one year and apply next cycle, you will get in somewhere. I think it's pretty pointless to apply this late in the cycle but people might say otherwise.

Oh blast, sorry, that wasn't clear at all. I applied *this* application cycle. I'll edit the original post. So I applied this application cycle late, and am prepping for the coming cycle (i.e. matriculating 2008). Thanks for catching that.

 

[Faha]

You are a good candidate for DO schools so apply to at least 12 in June and submit all your secondaries by July. For MD consider all these schools:
Quinnipiac
Albany
New York Medical College
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
GW
Oakland Beaumont
Western Michigan
Creighton
Rosalind Franklin
Tulane
any new schools that open for 2018 (Roseman, Seton Hall, etc.)

 

[bears1992]

Hi everyone, new poster, I've read the rules but do bear with me if I'm missing something.



BCPM: 3.25
AO: 3.42
Total: 3.34

My school has my GPA at 3.46 after not considering classes that had been retaken, which is relevant for DO applications, I suppose.
!

It doesn't matter what GPA your school uses. DO does not use grade replacement anymore and they (and MD) calculate their own GPA independent of what your GPA is on your transcript. Your cGPA should be the same for DO but there are different classes that count toward your science GPA (math is not counted in DO sGPA). As the above poster said, you are a good candidate for DO. Your sGPA and cGPA are about 1 standard deviation below the matriculate mean while your MCAT is roughly 2 standard deviations above the mean for DO.

Many many people on this site post about bad advice from premed advisors and it really seems that they do more harm than good. While you will be labeled a re-applicant for MD and thus at a disadvantage from last year, you will not be a re-applicant for DO. Unless you have the time/money to apply to 60 schools, I would send the majority of your applications to DO schools.

 

[ricefueled]

You are a good candidate for DO schools so apply to at least 12 in June and submit all your secondaries by July. For MD consider all these schools:
Quinnipiac
Albany
New York Medical College
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
GW
Oakland Beaumont
Western Michigan
Creighton
Rosalind Franklin
Tulane
any new schools that open for 2018 (Roseman, Seton Hall, etc.)

Thanks, this list is extremely helpful. I'll take a look at MSAR soon and try to get an idea of what criteria you're using to choose, though I'm sure I'll likely follow the list pretty closely. Do you know if I should still be trying to apply to CA schools since I'm a resident or are the chances simply too slim at this point? I know this state exports most of its premed students, but...?

 

[ricefueled]

It doesn't matter what GPA your school uses. DO does not use grade replacement anymore and they (and MD) calculate their own GPA independent of what your GPA is on your transcript. Your cGPA should be the same for DO but there are different classes that count toward your science GPA (math is not counted in DO sGPA). As the above poster said, you are a good candidate for DO. Your sGPA and cGPA are about 1 standard deviation below the matriculate mean while your MCAT is roughly 2 standard deviations above the mean for DO.

Many many people on this site post about bad advice from premed advisors and it really seems that they do more harm than good. While you will be labeled a re-applicant for MD and thus at a disadvantage from last year, you will not be a re-applicant for DO. Unless you have the time/money to apply to 60 schools, I would send the majority of your applications to DO schools.

Thanks for the heads up on the DO GPA calculation, I guess I've been reading some outdated sources. My fault. I've replied to Faha's post above to ask about applying for CA schools, and once he replies I'll decide what to do. If I can secure another AMCAS fee waiver I may at the very least use the free applications that I have to apply to low tier medical schools. I'll try to keep the total number of schools to a reasonable ~35 or 40?

And I really had no clue about not trusting premed advisor advice. I had done plenty of research prior to meeting with my advisors but for whatever reason it just never occurred to me that they would not be a credible source, especially since I was at a really good school. Definitely my mistake. A good lesson learned for sure, at least.

 

[bears1992]

Thanks, this list is extremely helpful. I'll take a look at MSAR soon and try to get an idea of what criteria you're using to choose, though I'm sure I'll likely follow the list pretty closely. Do you know if I should still be trying to apply to CA schools since I'm a resident or are the chances simply too slim at this point? I know this state exports most of its premed students, but...?

Important things to look for with MSAR are:

Bottom 10th percentile GPA range (don't apply to OOS schools that have a higher 10th percentil than your GPA)
Demographic make up (If you are not a URM try avoiding schools that have high URM yield like Howard)
Don't apply to schools that have a low OOS yield (less than 5%).

The MSAR is a great investment. Schools that have zero OOS matriculates still have 1000+ OOS applicants. Those are applicants that could have saved a good chunk of change by buying the MSAR.

 

[Faha]

Thanks, this list is extremely helpful. I'll take a look at MSAR soon and try to get an idea of what criteria you're using to choose, though I'm sure I'll likely follow the list pretty closely. Do you know if I should still be trying to apply to CA schools since I'm a resident or are the chances simply too slim at this point? I know this state exports most of its premed students, but...?

The only CA schools that are realistic are Loma Linda and Northstate. A common mistake when looking at the MSAR is to assume that the percentiles for state public schools are the same for residents and non residents. Usually the stats for accepted non residents are much higher than for residents. You GPA is not competitive for OOS public schools.