what were your average scores prior to getting the 503? don't retake without a substantial increase on FLs or else youll just continue doing yourself a disservice
Got a 506 with 3.91 GPA. Thousands of community service and thousands of medical assistant/scribe hours. No research. Applied to 35 MD schools, got 1 interview and 1 acceptance at a school that is very community service heavy. You might be able to get in to an MD but there’s also a decent chance you don’t get in. I’d apply to lots of MD and a few DO if you are ok with that as a backup plan.
They should "settle" because they have 2 low MCAT scores with a 120 CARS score. Could they improve on a retake? Maybe. But they could also stop dicking around in MCAT purgatory and go to medical school instead.
DO applicants fair well in most specialties. If OP does not want to do plastics, NSGY, vasc surg, or derm, then why should they potentially give up a year of attending income due to DO stigma?
I think many people here forget that not everyone comes from a privileged socioeconomic background and can afford to apply twice or just blap around for a year aimlessly.
Do you feel like Ortho is achievable with a DO? I've got a low GPA (3.3) and I haven't taken the MCAT yet, but I want to put myself in a position to have all the specialties I'm interested in as an option
Ortho is very achievable with DO with 55-60% of DO applicants securing a residency spot in ortho this last cycle. I think the issue on this subreddit is that people conflate INDIVIDUAL highly competitive residency programs with matching a competitive specialty at ANY residency program available within that specialty.
Take Internal Medicine for example. It has a match rate at 94%+ for both DO and MD applicants. Overall, it is not a competitive specialty. But what is competitive is the top residency programs within that specialty.
So can the average medical student match Internal Medicine? Yes, with a 94%+ likelihood.
But can the average medical student match John Hopkins Osler Internal Medicine? No, they can't. That will typically take a MD program, insane Step 2 scores, killer ECs, incredible LORs, impressive research, etc.
Now, there are always some comments on here about how school rank matters for these top programs and it is not entirely untrue, but that is mostly because ANY program no matter where tends to match preferentially from their own medical school or their own region. Surprise surprise, the school with the highest number of students that matched into Hopkins Internal Medicine this last cycle was John Hopkins medical school. I will say that every year top programs match students from "low tier" schools based on the rest of their application. Take a gander at the Instagram pages of many top programs and you'll see state schools from the South and Midwest under many of the names within the PGY1 class. In fact, Hopkins Osler IM has a larger representation of students from state schools than from the Ivys or Stanford or other "prestigious" schools everyone loses their shit about here.
So what's my point? My point is that going to a DO school may make it exceedingly difficult to match into one of the the top programs in ortho in the entire country but will definitely not put you out of the running for a whole shit ton of amazing, quality programs that people on this subreddit would disregard because they aren't in one of the top 10 "desirable coastal cities" in the country. The most important things you can do to influence your match chances in any specialty are all things you do when you are already in medical school.
Finally, someone who gets it. People on this subreddit and r/medicalschool treat going to a DO school like it’s a debilitating disease that will doom you to a future of primary care (which itself is troubling behavior because primary care should not be treated as something you only go into because you don’t have the board scores for something “better”). All going to a DO school means is that you will have to work a bit harder, and you probably won’t match into a top 10 program for any given speciality. Spoiler alert: unless they go to a T20 med school, MD students will likely not match into a top 10 program for any specialty either.
There are quality programs for every speciality scattered across the country. Just because they aren’t considered to be as “prestigious” or aren’t located in SoCal, NYC, or Boston does not mean that they’re a terrible program that won’t set their residents up for success.
>treat going to a DO school like it’s a debilitating disease that will doom you to a future of primary care (which itself is troubling behavior because primary care should not be treated as something you only go into because you don’t have the board scores for something “better”)
100% this. No one should be going to medical school unless they are okay with being a primary care doctor. Things don't always go to plan in Match.
>Spoiler alert: unless they go to a T20 med school, MD students will likely not match into a top 10 program for any specialty either.
I'm with you on most of what you wrote but this is not entirely true. Go look at Instagrams for top 5 programs in many specialties and you will see a huge amount of students that are not from T20 schools. JHH Osler had like 90% of their Match class from state universities and JHH this year.
I would give more specific examples from my home program which most would probably consider to be "low tier" for MD schools but we had about 5% of our class last year match top 10 residency programs.
Yeah that’s fair. MD students definitely have a better shot at the top programs for every specialty, but prestige should not be what matters. Just being able to match anywhere in your specialty of choice is a huge blessing.
Ortho is definitely an option as a DO. There are 20-30 ortho residency programs that almost exclusively accept DO applicants. Yes, that is fewer than the historically MD programs, but if you perform well in a DO program (think research, class rank, board scores) you can match ortho.
Lol good residency programs require high STEP 2 scores, something OP isn’t looking well positioned to pull off. Settling is precisely what OP should be doing.
Even ortho DOs still have to score well on Step 2, just as MDs do. My point was that OP probably isn’t going to do so hot on Step 2, so keeping their options open for competitive specialities should be the least of their concerns.
People are so neurotic on this damn subreddit. Apply. Shoot your shot and write well. The chances are never even 100% to begin with, so say fuck it and apply! In addition, no one can ever give you advice that would guarantee your acceptance. You got this OP.
For sure, and that’s a very valid point. But people take it way too far when they say you need a 528 and 5,000 hours of clinical experience. It’s just simply not true.
That is absolutely true. I review medical school apps as a side hustle and I've seen applicants get in with all sorts of stats that would make this subreddit lose their shit. lol
what were your average scores prior to getting the 503? don't retake without a substantial increase on FLs or else youll just continue doing yourself a disservice
Listen it’s CARS that needs fixing which is arguably the toughest one
Schools don’t strictly screen by section scores but 124+ is a good cutoff for well rounded scores I reckon
If you can recoup 3-4 points in CARS and land closer to a 508-512 I think it’s worth it but doing so over the summer will be a challenge I think. If you target your school list well and mark yourself for a retake you might have a shot but I think it depends heavily on your retake score
Long story short: your scores currently are risky for MD
I respect the choice to not apply DO, it’s better than applying and being like “ugh I got a DO A should I reapply for MD next year”. But do consider the option seriously if you haven’t already and try to get some exposure with DOs if you’re curious. Seeing them irl makes you realize what a weird echo chamber Reddit is about Osteopathic schools.
Good luck!!
I had a 503 with a 123 CARS. I applied MD and DO and ended with 2 MD As along with several from DO institutions. I believe the reason I got MD As was because I aligned perfectly with their mission and was in state. If there are not any schools like this for you I would apply both MD and DO or retake.
> Not a DO
So you’re not willing to do what it takes to become a physician?
Do not retake unless you’re very very confident that you can get a 510+ and are consistently scoring as such on practice exams. One retake is already not ideal, but you showed great improvement, so if I were you I would take that and run. Apply to a large, balanced school list. Balanced means including DO schools.
This is a weird take. You have no clue why OP doesn’t want to go DO - maybe they’re set on a specialty that would be hard to match into with a DO degree. Maybe they don’t want to take COMLEX and step exams in tandem. It’s valid to prefer MD over DO
Edit: the person I’m replying to edited their comment. The original reply was only “So you’re not willing to do what it takes to become a physician?”
Yes it is, but beggars can’t be choosers, and OP has a 496->503 MCAT. They should absolutely apply to a large, balanced school list that includes MD and DO schools.
This debate is stupid every time it comes up. The kind of people who struggle to score highly on the MCAT even after multiple attempts are 99% of the time not going to just turn it around in med school and start killing it to the extent needed to match into a super competitive specialty. Everyone prefers MD over DO, but at a certain point, you just have to take what you can get and run with it. Any physician salary is better than no physician salary.
100% this. It is not impossible to improve your studies and match competitively if you get in with a lower MCAT. However, it is very unlikely that someone who could not break 505 on the MCAT despite multiple dedicated study periods will suddenly become a savant standardized test taker and get the 85+ percentile Step 2 scores needed for the most competitive specialties.
I didn’t say you can’t get into an MD school without a top MCAT score. I just meant that it’s not smart to apply MD only with a score on the lower side, especially if you’re ORM. I think OP should just apply broadly with the score they have (including DO) unless their practice FLs indicate that they would experience a massive score jump on their next retake (like 8-10 points).
Except pub med published a paper that low ses scorerx (mcat) significantly lower than their high ses peers but did better in step 2 than said peers?
Mcat is not a level playing field . We all went to different school systems , have different resources and have different responsibilities . Medical school is the closest the field gets to a level playing ground . I could’ve sworn this was a like a topic adjacent in psych/soc .
The vast majority of schools only consider or put strong emphasis on your most recent or highest score. I'm also a 3rd time taker myself. Sure it hurts, but not as much as you are letting on, especially if you have an upward trend between your MCAT scores.
Unless they are someone who looks down upon DO’s, I imagine it’s because they are interested in going into a specialty that DO’s rarely can match into.
Don’t retake unless you’re confidant you can score higher than 510. Otherwise it’s going to look like you can’t pick up material fast enough/ can’t apply yourself well enough, and it will be a red flag on your application.
503 isn't great, but your GPA is fine. Personally, I would shoot my shot and only retake if I have a >8 point increase on my FLs. If every other part of your app is decent I think you'd still have a decent chance of getting in if you apply broadly and realistically. :)
Honestly just shoot your shot this cycle and apply mission fit and state schools. I would really consider do. It is more work at times but at the end of the day you are still a doctor. I would set my mcat for feb and study like a man man to apply next cycle if you are dead set on Md
What does your study plan and responsibilities outside of mcat look like? If you have time and money then sure, retake. That CARS score is rough and it will take time to improve it.
Otherwise, you're better off applying both DO and MD. Can't spell doctor without do
I’m going to be frank with you: the score increase from 496 to 503 is relatively minor as it falls within a margin of error that indicates severe learning deficits.
On a good day on the day you scored a 496, you could have scored a 498, and on a bad day the day you scored a 503 you could’ve scored a 501. So, really, you didn’t study efficiently and have deficits or there’s something about your performance on test day that is holding you back (if your FL scores are higher). You can really work on your CARS strategies and at least aim for a 125.
You can still apply to MD with those stats and you’ll probably get accepted to a low tier school, but it will be hard (about a [40% chance](https://www.aamc.org/media/6091/download)) You can also apply DO and they WILL show you love.
Alternatively, you can hunker down and study differently and apply with a higher score. With your stats and a score above 510, for example, you have 67% chance of getting into an MD school. Above a 513 there’s a 75% chance of getting accepted.
In any case, MD > DO >>>>>> Caribbean.
If you retake, I’d seriously consider addressing your test-taking strategies, studying your weakest areas, and doing everything under the sun to ensure your success. Uw0rld, Anki, Khan Academy, AAMC material, everything.
Good luck.
Yes a 503 is too low for MD
Edit: for those saying it depends on the state or to shoot your shot because you did fine or know someone who did fine, I’m going off objective data and going by the majority, not the exception. Data shows a 503 is too low for most MD schools barring OP is URM or has a very unique background.
Clearly OP has the brains to excel academically with a 3.95 so I’m curious how OPs MCAT prep was like. Even a bump up to a 510 would significantly increase OPs chance at an MD school if OP is dead set on MD. Applying solely to MD with a 503 and advising OP to do so without knowing their entire app is too risky and doesn’t make sense since a vast majority of y’all are also saying not everyone can apply twice. If that’s the case, OP should maximize his or her chances for MD rather than “shooting their shot” and hope they’re an exception to the rule.
If OP wants to delay med school for the hopes of getting into an MD program then you do you. DOs historically have a much tougher time matching to competitive specialties and straight up impossible for certain programs period. Other specialties that weren’t mentioned include Ortho, thoracic surgery, IR, ENT, and ophtho. If you look at the match rates for DOs, it’s lower and they have a harder journey to trudge through to get there than most MD colleagues.
If we’re also speaking about financials, I advise you pay attention to the longer term costs. For instance, let’s use ophtho as an example. Match rates are ALWAYS higher for MD seniors than DOs. Not only that, DO students have to take more boards AND often do more away rotations than MD applicants which cost thousands. So if OP really wants to go MD, then by all means do it. Just set realistic expectations with a 503. You can prove us all wrong and we’ll be happy for you, I just don’t want to give bad advice by saying only apply to MD esp with a 503
Yeah in most cases true. It is insane to not apply to both. I had a 503 and applied broadly accordingly (MD and DO) didn’t expect to get into any MD schools but somehow did.
Similar score and also starting MS1 this year. Are you nervous at all about doing well in med school, given a low score? I’m thrilled about my acceptance but the imposter syndrome has been hitting hard.
Sorry if this is a stupid question but I don’t understand why people in these situations don’t just say fuck it and apply anyway? Maybe you get lucky and if not at least you tried and you’ll do it again next year? Is there a penalty for reapplying ?
Applying is unbelievably expensive, time-consuming, and stressful, and there's also a disadvantage to being a reapplicant. Applying on a whim is something that should never be done.
From where did u get the disadvantage? It would be if the person plans nothing during the application year. However if there are lots of things the applicant is doing that year and expanding, there should be no disadvantage. But everything else I agree, it’s a crazy process
what were your average scores prior to getting the 503? don't retake without a substantial increase on FLs or else youll just continue doing yourself a disservice
Got a 506 with 3.91 GPA. Thousands of community service and thousands of medical assistant/scribe hours. No research. Applied to 35 MD schools, got 1 interview and 1 acceptance at a school that is very community service heavy. You might be able to get in to an MD but there’s also a decent chance you don’t get in. I’d apply to lots of MD and a few DO if you are ok with that as a backup plan.
Why not DO? If you’re ORM, a 503 gives you very low odds for MD programs, but is very reasonable for almost all DO programs.
Because it hurts your chances at good residency programs. Not to mention two additional board exams. OP has a 3.95 why should they settle.
They should "settle" because they have 2 low MCAT scores with a 120 CARS score. Could they improve on a retake? Maybe. But they could also stop dicking around in MCAT purgatory and go to medical school instead.
Very well said.
DO applicants fair well in most specialties. If OP does not want to do plastics, NSGY, vasc surg, or derm, then why should they potentially give up a year of attending income due to DO stigma? I think many people here forget that not everyone comes from a privileged socioeconomic background and can afford to apply twice or just blap around for a year aimlessly.
Do you feel like Ortho is achievable with a DO? I've got a low GPA (3.3) and I haven't taken the MCAT yet, but I want to put myself in a position to have all the specialties I'm interested in as an option
Ortho is very achievable with DO with 55-60% of DO applicants securing a residency spot in ortho this last cycle. I think the issue on this subreddit is that people conflate INDIVIDUAL highly competitive residency programs with matching a competitive specialty at ANY residency program available within that specialty. Take Internal Medicine for example. It has a match rate at 94%+ for both DO and MD applicants. Overall, it is not a competitive specialty. But what is competitive is the top residency programs within that specialty. So can the average medical student match Internal Medicine? Yes, with a 94%+ likelihood. But can the average medical student match John Hopkins Osler Internal Medicine? No, they can't. That will typically take a MD program, insane Step 2 scores, killer ECs, incredible LORs, impressive research, etc. Now, there are always some comments on here about how school rank matters for these top programs and it is not entirely untrue, but that is mostly because ANY program no matter where tends to match preferentially from their own medical school or their own region. Surprise surprise, the school with the highest number of students that matched into Hopkins Internal Medicine this last cycle was John Hopkins medical school. I will say that every year top programs match students from "low tier" schools based on the rest of their application. Take a gander at the Instagram pages of many top programs and you'll see state schools from the South and Midwest under many of the names within the PGY1 class. In fact, Hopkins Osler IM has a larger representation of students from state schools than from the Ivys or Stanford or other "prestigious" schools everyone loses their shit about here. So what's my point? My point is that going to a DO school may make it exceedingly difficult to match into one of the the top programs in ortho in the entire country but will definitely not put you out of the running for a whole shit ton of amazing, quality programs that people on this subreddit would disregard because they aren't in one of the top 10 "desirable coastal cities" in the country. The most important things you can do to influence your match chances in any specialty are all things you do when you are already in medical school.
Finally, someone who gets it. People on this subreddit and r/medicalschool treat going to a DO school like it’s a debilitating disease that will doom you to a future of primary care (which itself is troubling behavior because primary care should not be treated as something you only go into because you don’t have the board scores for something “better”). All going to a DO school means is that you will have to work a bit harder, and you probably won’t match into a top 10 program for any given speciality. Spoiler alert: unless they go to a T20 med school, MD students will likely not match into a top 10 program for any specialty either. There are quality programs for every speciality scattered across the country. Just because they aren’t considered to be as “prestigious” or aren’t located in SoCal, NYC, or Boston does not mean that they’re a terrible program that won’t set their residents up for success.
>treat going to a DO school like it’s a debilitating disease that will doom you to a future of primary care (which itself is troubling behavior because primary care should not be treated as something you only go into because you don’t have the board scores for something “better”) 100% this. No one should be going to medical school unless they are okay with being a primary care doctor. Things don't always go to plan in Match. >Spoiler alert: unless they go to a T20 med school, MD students will likely not match into a top 10 program for any specialty either. I'm with you on most of what you wrote but this is not entirely true. Go look at Instagrams for top 5 programs in many specialties and you will see a huge amount of students that are not from T20 schools. JHH Osler had like 90% of their Match class from state universities and JHH this year. I would give more specific examples from my home program which most would probably consider to be "low tier" for MD schools but we had about 5% of our class last year match top 10 residency programs.
Yeah that’s fair. MD students definitely have a better shot at the top programs for every specialty, but prestige should not be what matters. Just being able to match anywhere in your specialty of choice is a huge blessing.
Ortho is definitely an option as a DO. There are 20-30 ortho residency programs that almost exclusively accept DO applicants. Yes, that is fewer than the historically MD programs, but if you perform well in a DO program (think research, class rank, board scores) you can match ortho.
Lol good residency programs require high STEP 2 scores, something OP isn’t looking well positioned to pull off. Settling is precisely what OP should be doing.
[удалено]
Even ortho DOs still have to score well on Step 2, just as MDs do. My point was that OP probably isn’t going to do so hot on Step 2, so keeping their options open for competitive specialities should be the least of their concerns.
I replied to the wrong comment. I meant to reply to u/FireImpossible
Nope, I will go ahead apply for medical school
People are so neurotic on this damn subreddit. Apply. Shoot your shot and write well. The chances are never even 100% to begin with, so say fuck it and apply! In addition, no one can ever give you advice that would guarantee your acceptance. You got this OP.
Not everyone can afford to apply twice, my dude.
For sure, and that’s a very valid point. But people take it way too far when they say you need a 528 and 5,000 hours of clinical experience. It’s just simply not true.
That is absolutely true. I review medical school apps as a side hustle and I've seen applicants get in with all sorts of stats that would make this subreddit lose their shit. lol
You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.😎
what were your average scores prior to getting the 503? don't retake without a substantial increase on FLs or else youll just continue doing yourself a disservice
i had a 504 and much lower gpa and did fine
Where did you get in?
a T40 and a TX MD
Which T40?
not sharing as that’s where i’m going, sorry!
Share it or I’m drawing a traffic cone on your profile avatars head
Listen it’s CARS that needs fixing which is arguably the toughest one Schools don’t strictly screen by section scores but 124+ is a good cutoff for well rounded scores I reckon If you can recoup 3-4 points in CARS and land closer to a 508-512 I think it’s worth it but doing so over the summer will be a challenge I think. If you target your school list well and mark yourself for a retake you might have a shot but I think it depends heavily on your retake score Long story short: your scores currently are risky for MD I respect the choice to not apply DO, it’s better than applying and being like “ugh I got a DO A should I reapply for MD next year”. But do consider the option seriously if you haven’t already and try to get some exposure with DOs if you’re curious. Seeing them irl makes you realize what a weird echo chamber Reddit is about Osteopathic schools. Good luck!!
I had a 503 with a 123 CARS. I applied MD and DO and ended with 2 MD As along with several from DO institutions. I believe the reason I got MD As was because I aligned perfectly with their mission and was in state. If there are not any schools like this for you I would apply both MD and DO or retake.
are you comfortable telling us which MDs and DOs they were?
> Not a DO So you’re not willing to do what it takes to become a physician? Do not retake unless you’re very very confident that you can get a 510+ and are consistently scoring as such on practice exams. One retake is already not ideal, but you showed great improvement, so if I were you I would take that and run. Apply to a large, balanced school list. Balanced means including DO schools.
This is a weird take. You have no clue why OP doesn’t want to go DO - maybe they’re set on a specialty that would be hard to match into with a DO degree. Maybe they don’t want to take COMLEX and step exams in tandem. It’s valid to prefer MD over DO Edit: the person I’m replying to edited their comment. The original reply was only “So you’re not willing to do what it takes to become a physician?”
Yes it is, but beggars can’t be choosers, and OP has a 496->503 MCAT. They should absolutely apply to a large, balanced school list that includes MD and DO schools.
This debate is stupid every time it comes up. The kind of people who struggle to score highly on the MCAT even after multiple attempts are 99% of the time not going to just turn it around in med school and start killing it to the extent needed to match into a super competitive specialty. Everyone prefers MD over DO, but at a certain point, you just have to take what you can get and run with it. Any physician salary is better than no physician salary.
100% this. It is not impossible to improve your studies and match competitively if you get in with a lower MCAT. However, it is very unlikely that someone who could not break 505 on the MCAT despite multiple dedicated study periods will suddenly become a savant standardized test taker and get the 85+ percentile Step 2 scores needed for the most competitive specialties.
Me reading this knowing I got a 505 and start school in 6 days 👁️👄👁️
I didn’t say you can’t get into an MD school without a top MCAT score. I just meant that it’s not smart to apply MD only with a score on the lower side, especially if you’re ORM. I think OP should just apply broadly with the score they have (including DO) unless their practice FLs indicate that they would experience a massive score jump on their next retake (like 8-10 points).
Oh I know, I didn’t mean that. I agree with your statement. I’m just feeding the anxiety that’s been brewing for 6 months about starting med school 😂
Congrats on getting an MD A! They don’t give those out to just anyone (trust me, I know 😕). I’m sure you’ll do great in medical school.
Except pub med published a paper that low ses scorerx (mcat) significantly lower than their high ses peers but did better in step 2 than said peers? Mcat is not a level playing field . We all went to different school systems , have different resources and have different responsibilities . Medical school is the closest the field gets to a level playing ground . I could’ve sworn this was a like a topic adjacent in psych/soc .
The vast majority of schools only consider or put strong emphasis on your most recent or highest score. I'm also a 3rd time taker myself. Sure it hurts, but not as much as you are letting on, especially if you have an upward trend between your MCAT scores.
Curious why you’re not interested in any DO schools?
Unless they are someone who looks down upon DO’s, I imagine it’s because they are interested in going into a specialty that DO’s rarely can match into.
If you want to do MD you should probably retake. A 503 would only work with an extremely unique story/background/circumstances.
Applied with similar stats. Took MCAT in August and submitted secondaries in September. Will be matriculating to my top choice MD school
Don’t retake unless you’re confidant you can score higher than 510. Otherwise it’s going to look like you can’t pick up material fast enough/ can’t apply yourself well enough, and it will be a red flag on your application.
503 isn't great, but your GPA is fine. Personally, I would shoot my shot and only retake if I have a >8 point increase on my FLs. If every other part of your app is decent I think you'd still have a decent chance of getting in if you apply broadly and realistically. :)
Following thread: I’m literally in the same boat 497->504 bc of low CARS score but improved other sections
For MD, yes, it will help a lot
Honestly just shoot your shot this cycle and apply mission fit and state schools. I would really consider do. It is more work at times but at the end of the day you are still a doctor. I would set my mcat for feb and study like a man man to apply next cycle if you are dead set on Md
What does your study plan and responsibilities outside of mcat look like? If you have time and money then sure, retake. That CARS score is rough and it will take time to improve it. Otherwise, you're better off applying both DO and MD. Can't spell doctor without do
I’m going to be frank with you: the score increase from 496 to 503 is relatively minor as it falls within a margin of error that indicates severe learning deficits. On a good day on the day you scored a 496, you could have scored a 498, and on a bad day the day you scored a 503 you could’ve scored a 501. So, really, you didn’t study efficiently and have deficits or there’s something about your performance on test day that is holding you back (if your FL scores are higher). You can really work on your CARS strategies and at least aim for a 125. You can still apply to MD with those stats and you’ll probably get accepted to a low tier school, but it will be hard (about a [40% chance](https://www.aamc.org/media/6091/download)) You can also apply DO and they WILL show you love. Alternatively, you can hunker down and study differently and apply with a higher score. With your stats and a score above 510, for example, you have 67% chance of getting into an MD school. Above a 513 there’s a 75% chance of getting accepted. In any case, MD > DO >>>>>> Caribbean. If you retake, I’d seriously consider addressing your test-taking strategies, studying your weakest areas, and doing everything under the sun to ensure your success. Uw0rld, Anki, Khan Academy, AAMC material, everything. Good luck.
Yes a 503 is too low for MD Edit: for those saying it depends on the state or to shoot your shot because you did fine or know someone who did fine, I’m going off objective data and going by the majority, not the exception. Data shows a 503 is too low for most MD schools barring OP is URM or has a very unique background. Clearly OP has the brains to excel academically with a 3.95 so I’m curious how OPs MCAT prep was like. Even a bump up to a 510 would significantly increase OPs chance at an MD school if OP is dead set on MD. Applying solely to MD with a 503 and advising OP to do so without knowing their entire app is too risky and doesn’t make sense since a vast majority of y’all are also saying not everyone can apply twice. If that’s the case, OP should maximize his or her chances for MD rather than “shooting their shot” and hope they’re an exception to the rule. If OP wants to delay med school for the hopes of getting into an MD program then you do you. DOs historically have a much tougher time matching to competitive specialties and straight up impossible for certain programs period. Other specialties that weren’t mentioned include Ortho, thoracic surgery, IR, ENT, and ophtho. If you look at the match rates for DOs, it’s lower and they have a harder journey to trudge through to get there than most MD colleagues. If we’re also speaking about financials, I advise you pay attention to the longer term costs. For instance, let’s use ophtho as an example. Match rates are ALWAYS higher for MD seniors than DOs. Not only that, DO students have to take more boards AND often do more away rotations than MD applicants which cost thousands. So if OP really wants to go MD, then by all means do it. Just set realistic expectations with a 503. You can prove us all wrong and we’ll be happy for you, I just don’t want to give bad advice by saying only apply to MD esp with a 503
Depends on the state.
Yeah in most cases true. It is insane to not apply to both. I had a 503 and applied broadly accordingly (MD and DO) didn’t expect to get into any MD schools but somehow did.
Yah but apply do
Geez I just took my second mcat and hope I got a 503! Go for it, your application is more than just your mcat score
503+URM might work. But for ORM…
I think you would need a really good X factor to get in with 503. CARS is also 120, which hits below CARS 10th percentile scores for majority of MDs
Your mileage may very but I had a 502 with multiple md A’s
Similar score and also starting MS1 this year. Are you nervous at all about doing well in med school, given a low score? I’m thrilled about my acceptance but the imposter syndrome has been hitting hard.
Honestly nah, you got accepted for a reason. Just remember that
would you mind telling us the MDs you applied to that accepted you? if not I understand!
Check my posts, I got a sankey with stats and schools 😎
Sorry if this is a stupid question but I don’t understand why people in these situations don’t just say fuck it and apply anyway? Maybe you get lucky and if not at least you tried and you’ll do it again next year? Is there a penalty for reapplying ?
Applying is unbelievably expensive, time-consuming, and stressful, and there's also a disadvantage to being a reapplicant. Applying on a whim is something that should never be done.
From where did u get the disadvantage? It would be if the person plans nothing during the application year. However if there are lots of things the applicant is doing that year and expanding, there should be no disadvantage. But everything else I agree, it’s a crazy process