Apply for DO or MD?

[ForgottenPro]

Hey guys, to keep it short:

my gpa is 3.86 (or 3.9 depending on final decision of 1 class)

my current MCAT is 504 (which I plan on retaking)

for research I'll have 100 hours of lab volunteering/researching by june

48 hours volunteering in rehab hospital

probably around 60 hours in a distress center by june as well

and 10-15 hours shadowing by june

 

Assuming I get around 510ish on my MCAT, should I even bother applying for USMD? And if I do bad, like 507 or so, do I have a solid chance at DO or will I have to take another year? And any suggestions as to what I should do?

Any input is greatly appreciated.

[JohnGrisham]

DO more likely, your app seems very week for MD. GPA is good, MCAT is weak so you need to get it up, even for DO, and your ECs are pretty week. Do you have any work experience? Or is what you wrote down pretty much it? 

Still worth applying DO, but you dont exactly have a super strong application, other than a good GPA.

[ForgottenPro]

31 minutes ago, JohnGrisham said:

DO more likely, your app seems very week for MD. GPA is good, MCAT is weak so you need to get it up, even for DO, and your ECs are pretty week. Do you have any work experience? Or is what you wrote down pretty much it? 

Still worth applying DO, but you dont exactly have a super strong application, other than a good GPA.

Well I worked at canada's wonderland (2 seasons) and a phone interview company (2 months). What can I do from now to the application season to be more competitive apart from a good MCAT?

[Serendi]

1 hour ago, ForgottenPro said:

Well I worked at canada's wonderland (2 seasons) and a phone interview company (2 months). What can I do from now to the application season to be more competitive apart from a good MCAT?

For MD, Everything besides GPA. Keep in mind you're competing against American applicants with 1000+ research hours, 200+ Clinical hours, 200+ nonclinical hours, and 50+ shadowing hours. They can be done, but not this year. Similar (excluding research) for DO. 

[ForgottenPro]

11 minutes ago, Serendi said:

For MD, Everything besides GPA. Keep in mind you're competing against American applicants with 1000+ research hours, 200+ Clinical hours, 200+ nonclinical hours, and 50+ shadowing hours. They can be done, but not this year. Similar (excluding research) for DO. 

So if I double my current time commitment in the lab to get around 150 hours and double my shadowing to around 30 hours with around 120 hours for the distress center, and assuming a great case scenario where I get something like 512 on the MCAT, would that be sufficient enough to at least get into DO?

[JohnGrisham]

37 minutes ago, ForgottenPro said:

So if I double my current time commitment in the lab to get around 150 hours and double my shadowing to around 30 hours with around 120 hours for the distress center, and assuming a great case scenario where I get something like 512 on the MCAT, would that be sufficient enough to at least get into DO?

To get to the interview stage, yes. You still have to do well at the interview.

[ForgottenPro]

10 minutes ago, JohnGrisham said:

To get to the interview stage, yes. You still have to do well at the interview.

Understandable. But does that mean that is there no realistic hope for USMD if I try to apply this cycle? Damn, I didn't think I was that far behind

[JohnGrisham]

8 minutes ago, ForgottenPro said:

Understandable. But does that mean that is there no realistic hope for USMD if I try to apply this cycle? Damn, I didn't think I was that far behind

If you have time an energy, you can go ahead and apply still. I just dont see anything special or long-term in your non-academics that would warrant an interview at USMD. USDO will be a bit flexible, as they'll like the strong GPA and hopefully the higher MCAT score. 

Just being realistic, you have very little non-academic hours and involvements, unless you are leaving things out. 

To be competitive for USMD, you have to essentially be competitive for Canadian MD, except there is a bit less strictness on missing MCAT cut-offs and GPA cut-offs in the US.  From a non-academic perspective, you are nowhere near being competitive at any school that looks at non-academics.  Again, you can spend your money and apply to USMD and anything is possible, but its very very slim of getting an interview.

[ForgottenPro]

29 minutes ago, JohnGrisham said:

If you have time an energy, you can go ahead and apply still. I just dont see anything special or long-term in your non-academics that would warrant an interview at USMD. USDO will be a bit flexible, as they'll like the strong GPA and hopefully the higher MCAT score. 

Just being realistic, you have very little non-academic hours and involvements, unless you are leaving things out. 

To be competitive for USMD, you have to essentially be competitive for Canadian MD, except there is a bit less strictness on missing MCAT cut-offs and GPA cut-offs in the US.  From a non-academic perspective, you are nowhere near being competitive at any school that looks at non-academics.  Again, you can spend your money and apply to USMD and anything is possible, but its very very slim of getting an interview.

I see, thanks for letting me know. And one last thing - is there anything that you can think of that I can do until I submit my application this year that will help the most in terms of ECs?

[JohnGrisham]

5 minutes ago, ForgottenPro said:

I see, thanks for letting me know. And one last thing - is there anything that you can think of that I can do until I submit my application this year that will help the most in terms of ECs?

Whatever you have outlined above. ECs arent something you can substantially build in a short period of time. Unless of course that is your main focus, but i assume youre still in classes and will also need to devote time to the MCAT retake,..

[ForgottenPro]

3 minutes ago, JohnGrisham said:

Whatever you have outlined above. ECs arent something you can substantially build in a short period of time. Unless of course that is your main focus, but i assume youre still in classes and will also need to devote time to the MCAT retake,..

I only have 1 class right now, and for the MCAT I don't do more than 4-5 hours (unless taking an FL) per day. Plus my uni might go on strike giving me some free time. So just more of the same as listed above? Or anything else I can add?