He needs to continue with research and professional experience in medicine/health care.
Apps need to be out as soon as application cycle starts.
Does his college do “committee letters” and if so did he get one?
High GPA + high MCAT + activities + early application should work. If it doesn’t this year, and he continues research/experience, he’ll be fine in the next cycle.
One potential issue. A MCAT score of 34 implies the OP’s son took the old MCAT, not the MCAT 2015 version which has a different scoring scale.
There are a number of med schools that will not accept the the old MCAT for the 2017-18 application cycle, including most of the Ohio publics.
[Medical school policies for accepting scores from the current and the new MCAT® exams](http://www.aacom.org/become-a-doctor/applying)
(NOTE: the 2018 application cycle mean applying for admission in Fall 2018, not applying in 2018 for Fall 2019 admission.)
Ohio has a public instate DO med school (with extremely strong in-state admission bias) that costs about the same or less than other Ohio public MD schools.
[Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine: Cost of Attendance](https://www.ohio.edu/medicine/admissions/financing/attendance-cost/index.cfm)
Good point that this might be the last cycle to apply with the “old” MCAT. If so, then he may need to quickly apply to some DO schools, including the instate one, so that he can still use his MCAT score. Otherwise, he’ll have to take the new MCAT, which would require a new prep.
I’m confused. Has this student already graduated from undergrad school? If so, what is he doing THIS year?
Note that fewer than half of MD medical school applicants get admitted to even one MD medical school. So pre-meds should always consider that they are more likely to be shut out than not, and consider their other post-graduation options that do not involve going to MD medical school.
He is finishing four years at Kent - premed we will be looking for a graduate school
No DO schools
So he is a senior in college NOW? Graduating in May?
Does he want to go to grad school?
Did he make the decision to apply to medical school himself?
If he doesn’t get accepted this year to medical school, and intends to apply next year…there are many other things he could do besides getting a graduate degree.
Thank You for the advice trying to get info from my son is like pulling teeth he did tell me what his MCAT score was and I know he his on the Golden Key International Honour Society
??
Sounds like this is his senior year since she uses the words “finishing”.
If so, it’s too bad that he took his MCAT so early because it’s going to be worthless after this year, it seems.
Well, he needs to quickly get some DO apps in. If he applies to the instate one and to some others, he’ll likely get an acceptance. It may not end up being necessary if his interview that is coming up works out. Best wishes for that.
Yes it was his decision and yes a senior in college now.
Do you know if you are a DO are you able to work in the ER
DO’s can be any specialty
His dream is to work in the ER he has told me that.
A DO doctor can become an ER doctor. A DO Doctor can become any specialty.
My daughter shadowed a D.O. ER doctor for over a year. So…yes. DOs can and do work in emergency rooms.
It’s nice to have a goal…but really, choosing a specialty area before you even get accepted to medical school is a little premature…in my opinion. Many medical school students find their specialty when doing rotations.
For your son to apply to DO schools, I think he needs to first shadow at least one DO Doctor.
Can others chime in and clarify
@thumper1 is right. Few premeds really know what they’ll end up specializing in. The reality of clinical rotations often clarifies what a student can mentally handle and want. Some think they will love surgery, but find out they don’t once they actually have a surgical rotation.
My own son didn’t “find” his specialty until his 3rd year of med school.
My kid applied to both MD and DO schools. The DO schools my kid applied to required the applicants to shadow a doctor, and their preference was a DO.
in addition, the DO schools my kid applied to also recommended a LOR from a doctor, and again, a DO,was preferred by these schools.
This student would need to read the requirements for Ohio University to see what that DO school requires.
As an aside, I’m am OU alum (speech pathology) and I was there a year ago. That new DO school is fabulous. I believe there are now a couple of locations in the state. In addition, lots of work with allied health professions which is almost right across the street.