Application year plans appropriate?

[abcjmz]

Hello all,
I am a reapplicant for this current cycle. My AMCAS has already been submitted and verified, and I am in the process of completing secondaries. I currently have 10 sitting in my inbox and have already done 2 so far. I just graduated undergrad this past May. I applied last year and received 4 interviews, with 3 waitlists and 1 direct rejection (eventually rejected from other waitlists).

I have a few questions:
1) I am working as a TA this summer to make money and keep up my EC (have been doing this for 2.5 years now). My school is offering me a full-time TA position during the academic year and it will be pretty good money for the work involved. Would this be OK to do during the year? I could possibly pick up some volunteering on the weekends as well. When calling the schools from which I was rejected, none mentioned that my clinical experience was lacking, so I am assuming that wasn't the problem.

2) I obtained a phlebotomy certificate at the beginning of June. It is listed on my AMCAS, but I do not have a job as a phlebotomist right now. I was thinking about doing something part-time in addition to my TA work, but I am worried that it would not be flexible enough for interviews. With my TA job, I can easily find someone to cover for me the days I will be going to interview.

3) Do you think it would be OK to reuse the main ideas for those secondaries at the schools from which I interviewed last year? Again, I assume that these were not the problem since I get an interview. I am more inclined to think that my late app combined with an average interview was the issue.


Any insight would be appreciated!

Thank you!

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[chewy2008]

Hello all,
I am a reapplicant for this current cycle. My AMCAS has already been submitted and verified, and I am in the process of completing secondaries. I currently have 10 sitting in my inbox and have already done 2 so far. I just graduated undergrad this past May. I applied last year and received 4 interviews, with 3 waitlists and 1 direct rejection (eventually rejected from other waitlists).

I have a few questions:
1) I am working as a TA this summer to make money and keep up my EC (have been doing this for 2.5 years now). My school is offering me a full-time TA position during the academic year and it will be pretty good money for the work involved. Would this be OK to do during the year? I could possibly pick up some volunteering on the weekends as well. When calling the schools from which I was rejected, none mentioned that my clinical experience was lacking, so I am assuming that wasn't the problem.

2) I obtained a phlebotomy certificate at the beginning of June. It is listed on my AMCAS, but I do not have a job as a phlebotomist right now. I was thinking about doing something part-time in addition to my TA work, but I am worried that it would not be flexible enough for interviews. With my TA job, I can easily find someone to cover for me the days I will be going to interview.

3) Do you think it would be OK to reuse the main ideas for those secondaries at the schools from which I interviewed last year? Again, I assume that these were not the problem since I get an interview. I am more inclined to think that my late app combined with an average interview was the issue.


Any insight would be appreciated!

Thank you!

I think it's a good idea to do something during this application cycle, which would be your TA position. Why would you want to add a part-time job to your schedule if you will be working a full-time job already?
I don't think you need to do any volunteering. You already had 4 interviews, but somehow did not get a straight acceptance from any of them. I think the main problem is that you did not interview well. Did you do any mock interviews at your school or career counseling services before going to the med school interviews?
For any schools that you are reapplying, it would be best to change your secondaries up a bit. I hear that schools will compare your old and new secondaries to see if you have changed or learned from your experiences. Especially for the questions that ask you what has changed since you last applied to their schools.
Hopefully with your earlier application, you will have more interviews this round. However, work on your interview skills.

 

[abcjmz]

I think it's a good idea to do something during this application cycle, which would be your TA position. Why would you want to add a part-time job to your schedule if you will be working a full-time job already?
I don't think you need to do any volunteering. You already had 4 interviews, but somehow did not get a straight acceptance from any of them. I think the main problem is that you did not interview well. Did you do any mock interviews at your school or career counseling services before going to the med school interviews?
For any schools that you are reapplying, it would be best to change your secondaries up a bit. I hear that schools will compare your old and new secondaries to see if you have changed or learned from your experiences. Especially for the questions that ask you what has changed since you last applied to their schools.
Hopefully with your earlier application, you will have more interviews this round. However, work on your interview skills.

Thanks for your insight chewy2008. I just received an MD interview last Friday, and a DO interview on Monday. I feel like my application is validated for this year, though I got rejected straight away at Oakland, where I interviewed last year, which was weird. I have almost all MD secondaries done now, but am still a few weeks behind on the DO essays.

Thanks for your reassurance!

 

[abcjmz]

Also, I did do 2 mock interviews last cycle and the feedback was mainly that I rambled too much. I think I'll prep by reading some interview books and practicing on front of a mirror, would you have any suggestions?

 

[chewy2008]

Also, I did do 2 mock interviews last cycle and the feedback was mainly that I rambled too much. I think I'll prep by reading some interview books and practicing on front of a mirror, would you have any suggestions?

It would be good to practice in front of a mirror so you can see any inconsistencies with what you are saying vs. your facial expressions/hand gestures/body posture. About interview books, I think it would be good to cover the basics such as being positive, providing examples for answers, etc. basically some common sense stuff. But don't read the interview book like it's the bible. From my experience, my mock interviews with the post-bacc director were very helpful because he was honest with the feedback and challenged me with certain questions which forced me to pause and think instead of just blabbering. Interviewers want to see that you think things through but not blurt out.
Also, I read that you should not start a sentence with "to be honest," "actually," "honestly," "well," because that implies that whatever you said before was not true!
Let me know if you want anymore tips. You can always pm me.