Likely a re-applicant, advice for second gap year

[applecidervinegar]

Hey everyone,

I applied rather late this cycle (October) and have received 0 interviews so far. I am unsure whether I should apply this June or first pursue a masters and apply next year. If I choose the latter, I will have to write the new MCAT, and it would be my FOURTH one. Very disappointed with the earlier, brash me. I don't think SMP is right for me, but perhaps a blend of research and coursework (such as Mt Sinai's MS).

This past year I've been working as a lab assistant (not research though) and volunteering at a local hospital (3 hours/week).

I feel like my weakest point is lackluster ECs and lack of LORs from non-research professors, but as a graduate, I can't really do much now. If I don't pursue a masters, I would probably look for a research assistant position and pursue more community involvement activities. Thoughts?

[stats deleted for anonymity]

Thanks!

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[s5260205]

Personally, I would not pursue a Master's degree unless I am really interested in the research area and would potentially be interested in academic medicine in the future. Also, I wouldn't want to retake and risk scoring a lower MCAT. If you applied early with a wide range of schools this coming June, I'm sure you will receive multiple interviews. Are you a Canadian citizen as well?

 

[road2md]

I would also advise against retaking the MCAT. As you already know, it requires significant commitment and at this point, there is way more to lose than to gain, unless you're consistently scoring 37+. Even still, adcoms will wonder why you took it again when you might have been able to do something else with this time.

Are you still volunteering at any of those places?

LORs are incredibly important and undervalued by many premeds. How strong do you think they were on the scale of 0-10?

Applying earlier will certainly help. Were you able to get secondaries at any of the schools that screen?

 

[applecidervinegar]

Thanks for your responses so far!

To answer the first question, yes, I am also a Canadian citizen. I am still volunteering at the local hospital, which I plan to continue and in the summer hopefully up the hours and get different placements for a bit of variety. As for outreach programs, I have not been involved in any yet this year, but was going to apply for this summer and September if I forego the masters route..which I just realized would be after June should I re-apply this year :S

I only applied to one school that pre-screened (Vanderbilt), and unfortunately I did not receive a secondary from them.

Regarding my letters, I would say 2/3 are 10/10. The third letter (summer research), however, I am a bit iffy about. I'd probably give it a 5 as I fear it might be a bit generic. I would be able to replace the third with a strong one from my current employer, but as a lot of schools require letters from professors, I fear this would be a major issue.

 

[road2md]

Great job. I would definitely continue to volunteer at these places.

As the application cycle progresses, especially when it's that late, the stats you need to pass the screens and ultimately land you interviews increase significantly. Applying early is a must. How many times did you take the MCAT, and what were the scores? I ask this because many schools avg scores.

re: LOR - If you think it's a 5, you should definitely not use that unless you really have no other choices. I take it one of the 10/10 letters is from your bioE research PI?

 

[s5260205]

Thanks for your responses so far!

To answer the first question, yes, I am also a Canadian citizen. I am still volunteering at the local hospital, which I plan to continue and in the summer hopefully up the hours and get different placements for a bit of variety. As for outreach programs, I have not been involved in any yet this year, but was going to apply for this summer and September if I forego the masters route..which I just realized would be after June should I re-apply this year :S

I only applied to one school that pre-screened (Vanderbilt), and unfortunately I did not receive a secondary from them.

Regarding my letters, I would say 2/3 are 10/10. The third letter (summer research), however, I am a bit iffy about. I'd probably give it a 5 as I fear it might be a bit generic. I would be able to replace the third with a strong one from my current employer, but as a lot of schools require letters from professors, I fear this would be a major issue.

Did you apply to some Ontario schools? You could land an interview at Western or McMaster if your verbal is 11+. You may also have a chance at schools like UManitoba or USaskatchewan that place heavy emphasis on MCAT (Manitoba uses a formula to calculate MCAT and GPA, I believe it's 75%/25% and Saskatchewan select applicants for interviews based on their MCAT scores if your cGPA is >84%.) I think you applying in October is the sole reason you didn't receive any interview. I think you will have a good chance of landing an interview in the next cycle if you submitted everything right away and apply to a mix of high to low tier schools.

 

[applecidervinegar]

Great job. I would definitely continue to volunteer at these places.

As the application cycle progresses, especially when it's that late, the stats you need to pass the screens and ultimately land you interviews increase significantly. Applying early is a must. How many times did you take the MCAT, and what were the scores? I ask this because many schools avg scores.

re: LOR - If you think it's a 5, you should definitely not use that unless you really have no other choices. I take it one of the 10/10 letters is from your bioE research PI?

I took the MCAT 3 times, and my previous scores were 24P (2012) and 27 (2013). And yes, one of the stellar letters is from one of my research PIs.

Did you apply to some Ontario schools? You could land an interview at Western or McMaster if your verbal is 11+. You may also have a chance at schools like UManitoba or USaskatchewan that place heavy emphasis on MCAT (Manitoba uses a formula to calculate MCAT and GPA, I believe it's 75%/25% and Saskatchewan select applicants for interviews based on their MCAT scores if your cGPA is >84%.) I think you applying in October is the sole reason you didn't receive any interview. I think you will have a good chance of landing an interview in the next cycle if you submitted everything right away and apply to a mix of high to low tier schools.

Haha oh trust me, I applied eeeverywhere I could in Canada. Unfortunately my verbal is 10 so I didn't meet cutoffs for Western and McMaster. Outside of Ontario, the majority of seats go to in-province applicants and so unless you have a 3.9+ GPA and V11+, on top of excellent well-roundedness, chances are not that great for Ontarians. So here I stand, with rejections everywhere in Canada, except my alma mater. They're a bit more forgiving GPA-wise (adjusted GPA) but I'm still waiting for their decision.