^ You DO know that tantacles is an RFU student and a student ambassador so he has contacts with the admissions department and probably has a great input on the RFU admission process.
I know you may be bitter but schools might change their target applicant or maybe you just had a harsher reader. But medical school applications are a crapshoot and you're never guaranteed a small pool/II/acceptance.
Sorry if it seems like I'm putting you on blast. I'm sure you'll still have a successful cycle and I hope for the best!
I have ZERO input into the admissions process and have no contact with the admissions committee, nor do I make any remarks about applicants to anyone. I have no idea of the details of anyone's applications, but that is the advice that I give to every single person considering reapplication. ZERO. ZERO.
Many people who apply to medical school two years in a row, myself included (I applied three times before getting in) find it difficult to get interviews; hopefulmd, you're absolutely right in that it's VERY DIFFICULT to improve an application significantly in a year; medical schools want to see longitudinal involvement AND, ideally, an increase in GPA or MCAT.
Applying to medical school is a difficult process, but there's absolutely no way for anyone but the school's admissions department to give you feedback on your application.
Some possible things that went wrong:
1. Your interview was mediocre or bad last year and admissions committees don't care to interview you again
2. They don't see your application as having changed
significantly, regardless of whether or not it has, and they thus want to see more changes in your application, which is why I recommend applicants take a year or two in between application cycles instead of applying two years in a row.
3. The random nature of medical school admissions hit you this time instead of someone else
4. Medical school admissions got a lot more competitive.
Or it could be some combination of these factors.
Either way, I honestly wish you good luck and I hope you're accepted somewhere this year.