Application Cycle One: 2003

• Undergraduate college: Carnegie Mellon University
• Undergraduate Area of study: Engineering/Technology

• Institution: Carnegie Mellon University
• Area of Study: Foreign Language/International Studies
• Degree Obtained: BA/BS
• Institution: Technical Univ. of Brunswick, Germany
• Area of Study: Biological/Life Sciences
• Degree Obtained: none

• Total MCAT SCORE: 514
• MCAT Section Scores: B/B 127, C/P 129, CARS 129   Detailed Breakdown
• Overall GPA: 2.92
• Science GPA: 2.73

Summary of Application Experience

I spread myself too thin at CMU doing a BS in Electrical and Computer Engineering, a BA in Russian Studies, a minor in Chemistry, a minor in Biomedical and Health Engineering, a German Language and Culture Certificate, plus all my extracurricular activities. In my five years of full-time (18 hours/sem) undergrad I had 15 As, 20 Bs, 12 Cs, 7 Ds, 0 Fs, 2 Ps and 1 W and a final GPA of 2.76 (2.25 Sci). I obviously wasn't nearly as focused and responsible as I should have been (and should have dropped several of those classes half-way through, but I let fatal optimism and procrastination get the best of me). At the end of undergrad I started getting my act together and working seriously towards medical school as I got engaged and married and realized the seriousness of starting a family. After graduation I retook O-Chem I & II at MTSU (got 2 As instead of 2 Ds) and then went with my wife to her hometown of Brunswick, Germany and commenced on a two-year full-time informal post-bac based purely in the biomedical sciences. There (here) I have taken many classes geared toward medical school and done well (almost all As). The grades from MTSU and my first year at Brunswick brought my undergrad GPA up, but not enough of course for the four M.D. schools I took a shot at, even with a solid first-try MCAT (taken August 2003 on a fun family 'vacation' to London). Other than with my grades, I also hurt my application by submitting shortly before the schools' application deadlines. (Germany has a different semester system, but my post-bac grades were crucial to my application, so I kinda had to wait for them before applying.) Plus, I had to have one transcript replaced even though AACOMAS at first told me they had everything for me, so that set me back another month and a half before I could even get secondary apps for the D.O. schools. BTW, since AMCAS doesn't verify foreign coursework, my AMCAS GPA was 2.81 (2.43 Sci), but I wrote a letter to the individual MD schools explaining how my year of study in Germany has raised my GPA and asking them not just to look at my AMCAS GPA, but I don't think they considered my foreign work much, a 15-month post-bac (34 hours) wasn't enough to put much of a dent in my pitiful GPA from 5 years at CMU. Fortunately AACOMAS does factor in foreign grades and also counts only the 2nd grade for repeated courses, so my AACOMAS GPA ended up being a (relatively) decent-looking 3.14 (3.04 Sci).

I have been planning on going to UMDNJ-SOM for its small class size, great faculty and facilities, cheaper tuition, choice of PBL curriculum, and the very nice & open people there, but since my pleasant visit to KCOM and my acceptance by them 3 weeks later, my wife and I have become very excited about going to Kirksville. We really want the friendly, small-town life, the clean air and water, the solid curriculum & reputation, the support of the many other young families there (many LDS), the chance to explore the roots of osteopathy (and of my ancestors and our church, both of which also have deep roots right around Kirksville). I was also impressed that KCOM invested three 1-on-1 interviews in me, two of which took a full hour, while the other schools just had 20-minute panel interviews. Still, I felt overall that the D.O. schools were honestly interested in the 'whole applicant.' Plus, osteopathic medicine fits right in with my holistic outlook on health care and has strongly interested me for a long time. I have seem OMM help alot of people, and I definitely want to be able to offer it to my patients someday. I probably would have gone D.O. even if I had gotten in my cheaper state M.D. schools. (Hopefully I get the NHSC Scholarship I'm interviewing for soon - then tuition won't mean a thing!) I am very grateful for the chance to become a D.O. and fulfill my dream of becoming a rural family doc someday. Thanks for reading this; I hope you can learn from my story, and I wish you all the best in fulfilling your own dreams. Perseverance, faith and love conquer all.