I don't think I've ever been so depressed. I had so much hope applying this cycle. I applied for the first time in 2022, which I honestly shouldn't have because I wasn't confident in my application back then. I didn't fully understand the difficulty of getting into medical school back then and I don't have any doctors in my family. Since then, I've retaken my MCAT and gained 2000+ hours of clinical experience. I have community service as well, the only aspect I feel could be lacking is research experience. I don't have any publications or thousands of hours but I do have like 2 semesters worth of research. I had one MD interview back in September. I received a post-II rejection, which stung a lot because I felt like the interviews went amazing and the medical student told me I did great as well. I applied to few DO medical schools during the last week of January in case I don't get into any MD programs, and I got an interview invite yesterday to Western COMP. I'm grateful for the interview invite, but at the same, I am worried that I won't be able to match into competitive residencies in medical school because of the DO stigma. I heard that for ophthalmology, it is basically impossible. They won't even look at your application because you're a DO. My anxiety continues to grow every day, and I just want to move forward with my life. It's been very painful feeling like I've been stuck in the same place since graduating in 2021. I've taken more gap years than I've wanted to. But at the same time, I want to do this correctly so it doesn't feel like I have an uphill battle with the odds stacked against me in medical school. Sorry this is so long. I still have to hear back from more than half of the schools I applied to, and I'm trying to stay hopeful while preparing for the worst. If you were me, would you study again for the MCAT (506)/gain more research experience and try applying a third time? Is the MCAT the biggest predictor of getting into MD programs? I feel like almost all the MD interview invites go to applicants who have like 515+.