Hey Im a computer science major with a cGPA of 3.1 and sGPA of 3.6. MCAT of 510. I don’t have research experience but I have shadowed a doctor and a nurse and I have plenty of volunteer experience. What are my chances at entering a DO med school since my overall gpa is kinda low?
Need more info—
Have you shadowed a DO? Do you have DO LOR? (Most osteopathic med schools require one for admission consideration.)
Do you have all of the following:
clinical volunteering? (where? how long?)
physician shadowing? How many hours? You need about 40-80 hours of shadowing (and shadowing a nurse doesn’t count)
community service with the disadvantaged? Where? How long?
leadership?
ECs are just as important for getting an admission to med school as your GPAs and MCAT score.
Do you have a premed adviser at your school? Part of their job is to help you figure out what schools are a possibility for you and to help you figure out where you need to build your resume. You might benefit from a gap year to help improve your chances if you are missing some elements.
@gallentjill
Unfortunately most pre-med advisors at colleges aren’t terribly knowledgable about the process. Many are out of touch with current recommendations and policies. Some HP advisors give absolutely terrible, wrong-headed advice. Even at schools with strong advising, the HP advisor is usually only familiar with the policies and requirements for schools in their local geographic area.
The OP might do better asking for advice at SDN in the osteopathic forum–there are current DO students and applicants and a several actual med school adcomms who will offer advice.
You need a cgpa of around 3.5 to be accepted by a DO school. Don’t worry about the published stats, such as LECOM seems had a lower cGPA. Your 3.1 does not like to cut it unless you are a Minority or having some special hooks. AS WOWM said, how is your medical ECs? Have you shadowed a DO? You do not have to have many hours, my D got away with less than 40 hours, but she is strong in other parts of her application.
There is nothing wrong to try, but don’t expect too high. You need to apply broadly.
The reason why I say you don’t look at the past admission stats for a DO school is because the ACGME and AOA residency merging as of 2020, as a result, the difference between MD and DO in USA is further blurring. It is expected that in the future, there will be only one test for both kind of schools. As of now, the pressure of taking USMLE is so high for DO students that ANY competitive specialties require them to take USMLE.
From the entrance to a med school point of view, AOA also abolished grade replacement policy, therefore a DO school applicant has to be as strong as a MD school applicant to be considered. The published stats is no longer reliable, because you might be looking at pre-grade replacement and pre-Matching merge data.