Currently Applying- Help me prepare for a (hopefully not needed) 3rd Cycle!

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dazedandconfused__

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Hi!

I am currently applying to medical school in the 2023-24 cycle, and had one previous application during 2021-22 (23 schools, one II from NYULI which turned into a hold, then an R). I have a WAMC from earlier this year that has, for the most part, stayed consistent. I'll put my school list down at the bottom of this post. My WAMC tldr is as follows: 3.7xcgpa/3.5xsgpa/516/T10 undergrad/ heavy clinical, good research w 1 pub, meh service, good LORs

I have one II that I just had literally yesterday, and although I thought it went well, the school only admits about 30-40% of its applicants. This school being my only II, I'm hopeful but trying to stay realistic/prepared. My first cycle (2021-2022) I didn't prepare for the possibility of being a reapplicant at all, and ended up taking a gap year before applying again. If I need to reapply a second time, I would prefer to do so without taking a gap year and going into the 2024-2025 cycle. At this point, I'm not sure if I can take a 4th cycle- this is my 2nd cycle and I intend to make my third one, if it happens, my last. I'm not sure what I'll do if I'm unsuccessful a third time honestly- go PA? Give up and do something with a linguistic degree? Who knows. But hopefully, thanks to all of you, this won't be an issue!

I know that, for most schools, my MCAT will have expired if I need to apply again, which means that I'll need to start studying for the MCAT probably in December/January of this 2023/24 if I want to have a chance of applying for the 2024-2025 cycle. The thought of that is absolutely terrifying, but I guess it's better to think about it now than take another gap year?

I know, as well, that one other thing that I should be focusing on if I need a 3rd cycle is service. I have volunteered, but it was for a non-profit and not for a community organization. I've worked with vulnerable communities before, but it's in the context of clinical research.

That being said, a couple questions:

1. I need money (lol). I'm probably not going to be living at home with parents, so I need a way to make enough money to pay rent. Considering that I have a gap in service and by the next time I apply I'll have thousands and thousands of clinical hours, is there a way to do service-oriented things while making enough money for rent- or, another side-question, will spending an entire year without clinical work be looked at as a red flag? I'm not keen on research so I don't intend on doing that.

2. I'm aware of the Thanksgiving Rule, and I'm also aware that I've cleared the thanksgiving rule because I have one II already. However, when should I aggressively think about reapplying? I'd love a gameplan now, but I'd also like to remain hopeful for another month or two since it's only October. Or, should I prepare as if I will be reapplying anyway?

3. the answer is probably no, but I'll ask anyway. Is there any merit in submitting more applications? I'm open to DO as well as MD, but I'd need to completely rewrite my app.

And finally, my official school list! all applications were complete by early-mid August, and I'll write any updates to the application in parentheses. If there are no parentheses, I have heard nothing (lol). My application centers around patient empowerment and medical literacy as a linguistics major, and I have little interest in research.

UChicago (my undergrad. R)
UMass (my instate. II on 9/10, and my interview was 10/17)
Georgetown (R)
Mayo (R)
VCU (R)
BU (R)
GW
Loyola
Rosalind Franklin
Rush
Temple
Drexel
Geisinger
NYULI
Hackensack (I got a weird email about "your app is still under consideration." most people on SDN received an II after. I have not, lol)
UWI
URochester
Mt Sinai
Northwestern
Dartmouth
UVM
Tufts
Cooper Rowan
Quinnipiac


Thank you everyone for all of your feedback! If your feedback is "you're being neurotic calm down," feel free to write just that. It's probably true lol!

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If you do not want to be a reapplicant then apply to DO schools this month. I suggest these schools:
UNECOM
LECOM
Touro-NY
NYITCOM
PCOM
CUSOM
DMU-COM
KCU-COM
ATSU-KCOM
MU-COM
 
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If you do not want to be a reapplicant then apply to DO schools this month. I suggest these schools:
UNECOM
LECOM
Touro-NY
NYITCOM
PCOM
CUSOM
DMU-COM
KCU-COM
ATSU-KCOM
MU-COM
Hi Faha, thank you for your reply! I'll absolutely consider applying DO in the next comjng days/weeks. Is there concern that I won't receive other interviews from my list due to gaps in my application? Thank you!
 
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Low volunteering and state of residency leads me to believe your chances would be limited to the below going forward. I do not know if NYULI is interested in re-interviewing you:

UMass (my instate. II on 9/10, and my interview was 10/17)
GW
Rosalind Franklin
Temple
Drexel
NYULI
Hackensack
URochester
Dartmouth
UVM
Tufts
Quinnipiac
 
You should receive more interviews with your stats though it is not possible to predict where.
Good to know! Thank you- that provides me with a little relief. I'd be happy to go to any of the schools on my list.

In the meantime, I'll look into the logistics of applying DO right now. I had my recommenders use the AMCAS letter service, so I would need to have them resubmit to AACOMAS. Would you say it's too late to add on any MD schools now that we're in oct?
 
Good to know! Thank you- that provides me with a little relief. I'd be happy to go to any of the schools on my list.

In the meantime, I'll look into the logistics of applying DO right now. I had my recommenders use the AMCAS letter service, so I would need to have them resubmit to AACOMAS. Would you say it's too late to add on any MD schools now that we're in oct?
It is too late to add more MD schools except Belmont, a new school that will be accepting applications in November.
 
Low volunteering and state of residency leads me to believe your chances would be limited to the below going forward. I do not know if NYULI is interested in re-interviewing you:

UMass (my instate. II on 9/10, and my interview was 10/17)
GW
Rosalind Franklin
Temple
Drexel
NYULI
Hackensack
URochester
Dartmouth
UVM
Tufts
Quinnipiac
Chilly MD, thank you! I agree- schools like Rush may not have been the best fit. I have 700 hours of volunteering, but all of it is with a non-profit and not actually community based. if I need a third cycle, are there any schools that you would have added? That being said, I do intend on expanding community service if/when i do need that 3rd cycle.
 
Chilly MD, thank you! I agree- schools like Rush may not have been the best fit. I have 700 hours of volunteering, but all of it is with a non-profit and not actually community based. if I need a third cycle, are there any schools that you would have added? That being said, I do intend on expanding community service if/when i do need that 3rd cycle.
You should get that community service now instead of waiting till the last minute in case you do need it. You could have these instead of schools like University of Chicago, Northwestern, Wisconsin (Madison), Rush, Geisinger, Cooper etc

Albany
NYMC
Nova MD
VCU
EVMS
Oakland
Wayne State
Penn State
MCW
 
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I'm aware of the Thanksgiving Rule, and I'm also aware that I've cleared the thanksgiving rule because I have one II already. However, when should I aggressively think about reapplying? I'd love a gameplan now, but I'd also like to remain hopeful for another month or two since it's only October. Or, should I prepare as if I will be reapplying anyway?
Focus on your interview. If you don't get an offer by March 1, I would think about your reapplication. If you have to retake the MCAT, you could consider your plans earlier (February 15) to include an MCAT attempt in May. I'm not sure if a January attempt helps you if you wind up being an offer in February or March.
 
You should get that community service now instead of waiting till the last minute in case you do need it. You could have these instead of schools like University of Chicago, Northwestern, Wisconsin (Madison), Rush, Geisinger, Cooper etc

Albany
NYMC
Nova MD
VCU
EVMS
Oakland
Wayne State
Penn State
MCW
Thank you, Chilly MD! I'm looking to start volunteering on weekends in the next couple weeks- I meant that I may take on a more full-time community-oriented position after I finish my worn with the the clinic I'm currently at.

Thank you for all of the suggestions- I'm laughing a little because several of these were at one point on my list, and I removed them in favor of the ones you disliked!

Do you believe that it's feasible (or really, likely enough that I can have hope for this cycle) that i could still gain more IIs this cycle?
 
Focus on your interview. If you don't get an offer by March 1, I would think about your reapplication. If you have to retake the MCAT, you could consider your plans earlier (February 15) to include an MCAT attempt in May. I'm not sure if a January attempt helps you if you wind up being an offer in February or March.
Thank you, Mr. Smile! My interview has already passed- I'm happy with my performance, but I also understand that that decision isn't up to me.

I think thats a good game plan- I'll start studying early next year if I don't hear anything by then, and aim to retake my MCAT in May. Same question that I asked Chilly MD- how feasible do you think it is that I could still receive more IIs this cycle?

Thank you again for your feedback!
 
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Thank you, Mr. Smile! My interview has already passed- I'm happy with my performance, but I also understand that that decision isn't up to me.

I think thats a good game plan- I'll start studying early next year if I don't hear anything by then, and aim to retake my MCAT in May. Same question that I asked Chilly MD- how feasible do you think it is that I could still receive more IIs this cycle?

Thank you again for your feedback!
It's always possible, but there's no way to predict when you could get more II's without a sense of your mission fit from your application. You could get an II this weekend, or you can get one in March. The matriculating student questionnaire notes that the majority of matriculants got only one II.
 
Thank you, Chilly MD! I'm looking to start volunteering on weekends in the next couple weeks- I meant that I may take on a more full-time community-oriented position after I finish my worn with the the clinic I'm currently at.

Thank you for all of the suggestions- I'm laughing a little because several of these were at one point on my list, and I removed them in favor of the ones you disliked!

Do you believe that it's feasible (or really, likely enough that I can have hope for this cycle) that i could still gain more IIs this cycle?
Can't really say. If you don't get any additional ones by Thanksgiving, might be better to assume that the one IS II is all you will get. As Faha said, applying to Belmont since they will start taking apps in Nov would be a good idea.
 
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FYI op Belmont is accepting apps now on amcas
 
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Low volunteering and state of residency leads me to believe your chances would be limited to the below going forward. I do not know if NYULI is interested in re-interviewing you:

UMass (my instate. II on 9/10, and my interview was 10/17)
GW
Rosalind Franklin
Temple
Drexel
NYULI
Hackensack
URochester
Dartmouth
UVM
Tufts
Quinnipiac
Super super late reply, but I just wanted to let you know you were SPOT ON with this prediction- I ended up receiving three more IIs at Quinnipiac, Drexel, and Hackensack.

I'm unfortunately still waiting to hear from all IIs (they were received Jan-Feb so I probably won't know until April), but really really hoping for good news. I am studying for the MCAT for a retake in the meantime, and have gained some community-based volunteering :)

I just wanted to thank everyone for their help once again. It hasn't been easy and I still may not be successful, but you all have helped keep me sane these past couple of years. :)
 
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I got the A 🥹 thank you so much for keeping me sane to everyone who commented here. It means so much more than you know.
 
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