3rd time Reapplicant - solid stats - Need Advice

[spicysashimi]

Hello, thanks for taking the time to read this and help me out.

I'm 25 years old, I graduated in 2011, and applied for the 2011 and 2012 cycles. I was young, naive, immature, didn't really know what I wanted to do with my life, shy, and feeling a bit down. I can provide my school list later, but from my own analysis: I aimed way too high, I applied late for both primaries and secondaries, did not significantly improve my application the second time around, my PS wasn't particularly strong, and thus did not receive any interviews. I also did not ask for feedback from any schools. Major **** ups, I understand.

After a few years of working (in biotech industry) and maturing, I've made some big decisions and decided to move into healthcare. I will try my best and I want to reapply to medical school, but I will pursue a different career in healthcare if MD or DO does not pan out.
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Here are my major questions...

1. Should I apply for the 2015 cycle and only have a few months of additional clinical volunteering and doctor shadowing, although I will continue throughout the year? Or should I apply for the 2016 cycle and strengthen my clinical volunteering and shadowing and other parts of my application?
2. What sort of schools look more favorably upon reapplicants and somewhat older applicants? Which schools favor research experience like mine more heavily? What kind of school list should I be looking at, 25 MD and 5 DO schools? How many in state and out of state? (School lists just confuse me..)
3. So I've been out of school for 4 years, how many letters of rec need to come from professors? I plan on getting letters of rec from my UCSD research mentor/professor, current scientist employer, LYF Camp advisor, and one from a future doctor I shadow or volunteer with.

A Little About Myself...
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CA Resident
MCAT:
38 (2015| P14, V10, B14)
36 (2011| P12, V10, B14)
Education: UCSD Bioengineering cum laude honors
cGPA: 3.74
sGPA: 3.83

Work Experience:
Tutor/Teacher: Since graduation 2011 - present. Tutored one-on-one and small classes in Biology, Physics, and Chemistry up to the AP level. Volunteered with the company's low income/minority student tutoring program in San Jose.
Assay Development Scientist: 2013 - present. Developed biochemical assay products for research, drug discovery, and diagnostic use. Collaborated with third-party nutrition and health companies for custom assay development to screen urine for potential malabsorption, liver disease, and other metabolic disorders.

Extracurriculars:
I've been part of #1 for over a decade now, #2 was in 2013, and #3-6 are all prior to 2011 while in college

1. 2000+ hours LYF Camp, currently president of non-profit summer youth leadership camp
2. 400 hours Traumatic Brain Injury research studying electrophysiological properties neural impusles of TBI rat models in Taipei, Taiwan. (poster and award at conference)
3. 500 hours Pancreatic Hypoxia research studying electrophysiological properties of pancreatic cell membrane ion channels
4. 200 hours UCSD Teaching Assistant in upper division genetics and organic chemistry courses
5. 200 hours teacher/classroom assistant for low income/minority student charter school
6. 200 hours Red Cross Club: coordinated, volunteered, and fundraised for blood drives and Measles Initiative charity

I have scattered hospital volunteering in various locations that may add up to ~75 hours. I realize I'm lacking significant clinical volunteer experience and shadowing hours. I believe this is one of the biggest weaknesses on my application.

My biggest investment is definitely the summer camp. I've grown the organization from 60 campers/year to 150 campers/year, developed camp programming, recruited and trained counselors, talked to donors, etc. I grew up through this camp and its a large part of the reason why I enjoy giving back to the community, mentoring campers and students, and helped me become the person I am today. This subject has appeared on previous PS and secondary essays, and will definitely appear on future ones.
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[Goro]

Fix this or you will not get into medical school. You need to show Adcoms that you know what you're getting into.


I have scattered hospital volunteering in various locations that may add up to ~75 hours. I realize I'm lacking significant clinical volunteer experience and shadowing hours. I believe this is one of the biggest weaknesses on my application.

 

[spicysashimi]

Thank you for taking the time to read my post.

How much volunteering and/or shadowing is sufficient to demonstrate this to adcoms? I'm volunteering approximately 4 hours per week at a hospital, but I only started recently. Will this be enough for the upcoming application cycle? I'm slightly concerned about my age and 3rd time reapplicant, will delaying a year be worth the additional shadowing and volunteering hours?

I've found elsewhere on these forums that " AMCAS asks you to extrapolate your hours out to when you expect to matriculate, not censored at the time of filling out the application." Is this true? Wouldn't this cause inflated numbers on applications? Assuming I continue 4 hours/week for the next year, I can add an additional 200 hours to my existing numbers?

Any comments on my other questions?

1. What sort of schools look more favorably upon reapplicants and somewhat older applicants? Which schools favor research experience like mine more heavily? What kind of school list should I be looking at, 25 MD and 5 DO schools? How many in state and out of state? (School lists just confuse me..)
2. So I've been out of school for 4 years, how many letters of rec need to come from professors? I plan on getting letters of rec from my UCSD research mentor/professor, current scientist employer, LYF Camp advisor, and one from a future doctor I shadow or volunteer with.

 

[VictorAlpha]

If i understood things correctly it seems that your application is good but you may want to do as Goro says and build a more sizeable and consistent volunteering and shadowing experience. Your grades and test scores were both better than mine and I made it. If you are ready for another run through the application process you can definitely do it

 

[bruwin2011]

I was a 3rd time applicant this cycle for allopathic schools, first time applicant for DO schools and I was also 25. Your numbers are a lot higher than mine, and if you do the necessary steps you should get in.

I suggest that you:
1. Address the red flags, start volunteering now and continue through the application cycle. You need to show a continuous commitment to your community and to the profession, which is why clinical experience is so important. Call schools you previously applied to and ask them what you can do to improve. Schools like to see a change and improvement in your application.
2. Get new letters for rec. Even if they are the same author, you want them to be fresh. Some schools wont accept letters older than 2 years old.
3. Apply EARLY, turn your primary in the first day to get verified, and aim to have a 24 hour turn around time for secondaries. My 2nd application cycle I was tired and turned in secondaries about a week or two after I got them and had no interviews. This year I turned in apps within 24-48 hours turn around and had 7 interview invites by midseptember (3 interviews in sept).
4. Apply broadly with both DO and MD schools. As a 3x reapplicant some schools wont accept your application (UCs specifically), but other schools will. Apply beyond the ranked schools and to new schools. If you can get a DO letter you will improve your chances a lot for DO schools (I only had MD letters and could apply to only 11 or 12 DO schools).

All of these steps will help you by biggest suggestion is this: ask your self honestly the reason why you think you didnt get in, and ask for help. Have people ready your essays and personal statement to make sure the grammar is correct, tone is appropriate, and that you don't come off as a crazy premed. You're numbers are there, so if you didn't get an interview, its either because of your EC or your essays. If you got interviews, than its possible it's interviewing skills and nerves and you need to practice more. The biggest mistake reapplicants make in reapplying, is not changing anything. You want to show that you are improved and have worked on your weaknesses and that you are ready for medical school! Best of luck!