I can’t believe that I’m going to be a doctor after 2 gap years with low stats as an ORM!! LETTTSSSS GOOOO

YOUR BOY JUST GOT THE CALL!!! 3.9 Gpa, 505 mcat, canadian applicant early decision.

I wanted to make this post because I know there are people out there with sub-500 MCAT scores who feel like their chances of becoming a physician are over. I was one of those people.

For some background:
MCAT: 495 (retook it and got the same score)
cGPA: ~3.4 with an upward trend
Clinical experience: ~5,000 hours as an ER scribe
Research: ~200 hours, co-author on a publication
Teaching experience: ~200 hours
Shadowing: ~100 hours
Volunteering: Community service and working with underserved populations

I didn’t have the perfect application. I struggled academically during my first semester of college where I failed a class, and had to work hard to bring my GPA up.

When I got my MCAT score back after retaking it and saw that I hadn’t improved, I was devastated. I knew the odds weren’t necessarily in my favor, but I also knew how badly I wanted to become a physician.

I decided to apply anyway.

Fast forward to this cycle, I received multiple interview invitations, and I can finally say that I HAVE BEEN ACCEPTED TO MEDICAL SCHOOL!!
I’m not making this post to tell everyone that a 495 MCAT will get them into medical school. I know how competitive this process is, and I know my experiences played a major role in my application.

I’m making this post because I remember constantly searching Reddit for success stories from applicants with stats similar to mine. Seeing those stories gave me hope when I needed it most.

If you’re in a similar position, please don’t automatically count yourself out. Be realistic about your application, work on your weaknesses, and recognize the strengths you bring to the table.

Your MCAT score is part of your application, but it isn’t your entire story.

I spent so much time wondering whether any medical school would give me a chance. Now I finally get to say that I’m going to be a doctor.
Keep pushing, guys. I’m rooting for all of you!
Feel free to ask me anything about my application or interview experience!

Please help me rank my schools!

Trying to rank bc if I get into a school I rank above others, I wanna pull my app to help shrink the applicant pool somewhere I’m not gonna go over another school, rather than keeping all my apps.

As soon as I got into LMUDCOM, I pulled my apps from about 15 other schools; these 7 schools listed are my top ones, just not sure how to rank them from here.

A: LMUDCOM, RVU MCOM

Waiting to hear, but interviewed at: UNECOM (Interviewed early Oct)

Submitted secondaries in early Aug (no int yet, sent letter of continued interest to all): NOORDA, RVU UT, ATSU SOMA, CHSU COM

I am from so cal, want to end up here for residency. I am thinking EM residency. Each school listed allows 4th-year rotations in any state, so I could just choose Southern CA for all.

How do I rank:

UNECOM

ATSU SOMA

CHSU COM

RVU UT

NOORDA

RVU MCOM and LMU tied

Is it correct to have ranked UNECOM top out of all these? And RVU MCOM or LMU DCOM? I have to decide in 1 week which of the 2 to put my deposit down for.

I could see myself in any of these locations and will pay the required tuition, so it comes down to what is the best school with the best opportunity, or are they all similar, and it’s ok to choose based on location and how much tuition is? I don’t mind moving.

Any current MSUCOM students feel free to correct me.

I have a friend who started at MSUCOM this year. They discovered that although this program are frequently spoken of as P/F it actually is not. On your MSPE (your fancy transcript for residency applications), they list each preclinical course with P/F alongside your percentage grade and the class average percentage grade.

This is not to deride the program or discourage anyone from attending, it's still one of the top DO programs. But I do think it's important to know all of the factors, and for programs to be honest to applicants.

Basically what the title asked. I interviewed there this past Monday and had great experience and would love to attend the school! How long do they usually take to send out decisions? Thank you.

Anyone that got accepted to the valley COM, do they follow the AACOMAS traffic guidelines? Thanks!!

I have one DO acceptance (3.72/510) but been radio silence from other schools. Just getting worried. I got into UIWSOM back in August. Waiting on:

UNECOM, Touro (Harlem), NYITCOM (LI), MSUCOM, Chicago COM, Xavier COM, LECOM Bradenton (applied late july), VCOM (Auburn, submitted late july), Rowan COM (Submitted Sept)

just got back today i was waitlisted

really upset over it since UNECOM is my absolute #1 school and i hate the fact there’s not much to do besides letter of intent at this point

looks like from previous years WL movement doesn’t really start until april/may, really dreading having to do a waiting game for them

anyone know how the WL typically works with UNECOM a bit more ?

I have a 508 MCAT and 3.7 overall gpa and science gpa around 3.4-3.5 and lots of ECs

I submitted secondaries around end of July and so far I only have the two automatic interviews of Illinois com and ICOM

Should I be worried about my chances? I feel like somehow I messed up :(

Hey guys I have an interview from Marian coming up and I feel so unprepared. does anyone have any insights on how this will go? I would love any help. Are the questions pretty easy or did anything throw you guys off

My school's curriculum is worse-than-worthless and I need a reliable source with content and practice questions.

Any advice? Boards and Beyond? Amboss? Bootcamp? Something else?

Basically what the title says. I took the MCAT recently and it was significantly lower than my FL average.

Currently on the fence about a retake, wanted to know what my odds look like with DO schools given my demographic/things I should be mindful of adding in terms of ECs, etc.

3.7cGPA/3.6sGPA

509 MCAT

300-ish hours research (should get a poster out of it)

250-ish clinical hours

250-ish volunteer hours

40 hrs shadowing (I have not had the opportunity to shadow a DO physician yet)

CA ORM :(

Honest thoughts would be appreciated. I'd like to apply smartly to maximize my odds but wanna see where I should strengthen my app where possible.

I am so grateful!

Hey! I know the struggle honestly it is such a rat race, I thankfully finished and got into the residency of my choice in a competitive field and now I want to help others too since I got help when I was in your shoes. For context, I was a low stat applicant and my interviews as well as my essays are what got me accepted after asking the admissions committee.

If you or someone you know needs help with interviews, I’m happy to help. We will sit one on one and I will also take notes during the interview to share at the end for your own growth. We will also do ethical scenarios in the end so you can be prepared for those hard questions that trip most students up. I will go one by one and help craft the response to each question so that way you are ready to crush the interview and hopefully get the A 🙌

Please just post below if you need help or send me a DM, whenever I have time in between residency work or after work I will check messages and arrange a date for us to do one before your interview date!

At what point in the cycle should you seriously consider retaking the MCAT if you scored a sub 500 the first time?

Context: I took the MCAT in Jan of this year. I scored below my FL average due to extreme personal circumstances. I applied to a handful of schools in March/April, received 2 II’s and 2 waitlists out of those.

Now, I applied in July (and added 10 more schools in September) so I’m at ~30 schools. I have not received an II yet this cycle and even though it’s still ‘early’ I’m starting to panic.

Should I plan to retake it this January?

Hey everyone! Im grateful to have IIs to these schools and was wondering if any current students/anyone had some imput on the pros or cons of any of these. Looking to match in the Northeast or Florida. Thank you!

Hoping for an interview!!

How long did it take yall to hear back from ARCOM after an interview? I had mine on a Wednesday!

Asking for a friend

I was curious if anyone else is still waiting to hear back from NOORDA? I submitted my secondary at the end of July and it has been crickets since then. This is one of my top choices so I hope to hear back soon.

As title states thank you in advance!