Pretty much a reapplicant... advice?

[Cytonic1378]

Hi friends,

I graduated last year, submitted primary beginning of July and completed secondaries mid-August. I have 0 interview invites (woohoo) with around 10 rejections; pre-interview hold at like 3 schools and 17 silences. Really didn't want to write something like this but it's a new year and well, gotta face reality. Although there might be some hope for later on in this cycle, I think it's better to know what I can improve on/do better on for the next cycle before it's too late.

3.83 GPA - upward trend
33/32 MCAT (scoring higher on practice so took it another time.... who knows what happened but can't change that. 32 is second time; both taken in 2014 (may and august))
300+ hours of clinical experience (working with homeless/disadvantaged/API communities)
400+ hours of research (in two different labs, no big achievements/paper, just a poster ... nothing spectacular to talk about despite hours, pretty much learned I don't really like research as much or maybe my research experiences were just bad - _ -)
300+ hours of nonclinical experience (leadership roles here, tutoring/mentoring disadvantaged communities, general volunteer work)
~60 hours of shadowing
300 hours of working as an administrative assistant, non-medical
Hobby activities/organizations on the side
A decent PS (it's not the best, but it's not the worst)
Pretty confident in secondaries.
LOR - this is where something might have went wrong possibly due to some miscommunication (longgggg story) but who knows, I probably would've been rejected right off the bat if it was a bad LOR?

Currently working as a full-time scribe.

So I guess I have a bunch of questions.

1) What went wrong here to not get me a single interview?
2) Should I retake the MCAT?
3) What could I improve on for next cycle?

Thanks~

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[GrapesofRath]

What state of residence?
When were you complete?
Where all did you apply?

I see two problems off the bat
1) If you yourself are concerned about your LORs, there's a not so insignificant chance there was a problem there. And no, you cant read into when schools are rejecting you as to whether or not your LORs are an issue. Many schools could have dumped your application a long time ago and will only tell you in coming months. The fact you dont have a single II with this application is indicative of something going wrong and a flawed LOR is exactly the type of thing that can go wrong to cause something like this.
2) Re-taking and doing worse. I won't harp on this too much but you'll see on SDN all the time ADCOMs talking about how retaking good scores can come across as poor judgment. Retaking a 33 and doing worse is precisely that and doesn't telegraph positive things to ADCOMs. On its own, it's not what will explain the no IIs but you cant ignore it at all either.

Going forward
a) If it's not apparent already do not retake the MCAT. You already made that mistake once. Don't make it again.
b) Figure out your LOR issues and assume if you are a reapplicant they werent a positive and get new ones. There's a big difference between a truly bad letter and one that actually makes a difference. It doesnt sound like you have the latter at all and are worried about having the former.
c) Compare your application you have now to what you had a year ago? What has changed if you are a re-applicant? You have scribing experience which is nice, but I doubt clinical exposure was ever your problem. You have to be aware of the fact the standards in many ways are higher for re-applicants and you the burden on you is to show significant improvement from your last app. Many schools will compare your re-app to your first app. If there arent significant changes, why should the results be different on your reapplication?
d) All in all this sounds like a somewhat generic app. I hate using the word "checking boxes" but on the surface from the outside there are elements of that here. There's just nothing that stands out and there is no one activity where you had a particular productivity that would stand out.
The ECs aren't poor enough that they would keep you out of med school and I would have expected more interest from schools given this application, but now that you have got none you have to show significant improvement for a reapp and in many ways the standards will be higher as a re-app. Your numbers are fine and what they are; your ECs are the area where this will have to direclty come in along with your LORs.
e) Ultimately you always gotta ask what is it on my application that would make an ADCOM want to vouche for me amongst many other applicants? The answer is this cycle there was nothing. You gotta make there be something next time you apply and honestly if you want to reapply to MD programs it might be worth waiting 18 months until summer 2017 to give yourself 1.5 years to really give yourself a chance to boost your ECs. Being a reapplicant is already somewhat of a disadvantage; you really dont want to be a third time reapplicant.
f) If you are looking to get into med school fast, consider DO programs.

 

[candbgirl]

Where did you apply?

 

[Kaz]

His app doesn't look "generic" to me tbh. It just might be the LOR/Essays or a poor school list or something like that... If I were you, I'd get new LORs and go talk to someone more knowledgeable about the process to look over your app/essays. Especially the PS.

 

[Cytonic1378]

What state of residence?
When were you complete?
Where all did you apply?

I see two problems off the bat
1) If you yourself are concerned about your LORs, there's a not so insignificant chance there was a problem there. And no, you cant read into when schools are rejecting you as to whether or not your LORs are an issue. Many schools could have dumped your application a long time ago and will only tell you in coming months. The fact you dont have a single II with this application is indicative of something going wrong and a flawed LOR is exactly the type of thing that can go wrong to cause something like this.
2) Re-taking and doing worse. I won't harp on this too much but you'll see on SDN all the time ADCOMs talking about how retaking good scores can come across as poor judgment. Retaking a 33 and doing worse is precisely that and doesn't telegraph positive things to ADCOMs. On its own, it's not what will explain the no IIs but you cant ignore it at all either.

Going forward
a) If it's not apparent already do not retake the MCAT. You already made that mistake once. Don't make it again.
b) Figure out your LOR issues and assume if you are a reapplicant they werent a positive and get new ones. There's a big difference between a truly bad letter and one that actually makes a difference. It doesnt sound like you have the latter at all and are worried about having the former.
c) Compare your application you have now to what you had a year ago? What has changed if you are a re-applicant? You have scribing experience which is nice, but I doubt clinical exposure was ever your problem. You have to be aware of the fact the standards in many ways are higher for re-applicants and you the burden on you is to show significant improvement from your last app. Many schools will compare your re-app to your first app. If there arent significant changes, why should the results be different on your reapplication?
d) All in all this sounds like a somewhat generic app. I hate using the word "checking boxes" but on the surface from the outside there are elements of that here. There's just nothing that stands out and there is no one activity where you had a particular productivity that would stand out.
The ECs aren't poor enough that they would keep you out of med school and I would have expected more interest from schools given this application, but now that you have got none you have to show significant improvement for a reapp and in many ways the standards will be higher as a re-app. Your numbers are fine and what they are; your ECs are the area where this will have to direclty come in along with your LORs.
e) Ultimately you always gotta ask what is it on my application that would make an ADCOM want to vouche for me amongst many other applicants? The answer is this cycle there was nothing. You gotta make there be something next time you apply and honestly if you want to reapply to MD programs it might be worth waiting 18 months until summer 2017 to give yourself 1.5 years to really give yourself a chance to boost your ECs. Being a reapplicant is already somewhat of a disadvantage; you really dont want to be a third time reapplicant.
f) If you are looking to get into med school fast, consider DO programs.

State of Residence: CA, doesn't help that I'm an Asian male huh.
Completed: Primary July 1st, Secondaries beginning - mid August
Schools:
All the UCs
Einstein
Boston
Case Western
Drexel
Dartmouth
Georgetown
Hofstra North Shore
USC
Mount Sinai
NYU
Penn State
Rosalind Franklin
Rush
Thomas Jefferson University
Ohio State
Tufts
UCLA Prime
U of Illinois
U of Michigan
U of Rochester
U of Washington
Brown
A few reach schools just because, obviously not applying next cycle if anything haha...

 

[GrapesofRath]

Getting shut out with a 3.8/32 unfortunately isnt all that uncommon a occurence in CA

Your school list isnt great but its not the primary reason for getting totally shut out. It was "meh"; could have been better but many people get in with relatively similar quality lists. The bigger point is that these are schools where you are competing with a VERY large group of applicants for relatively few OOS seats. There should be something in your app to stand out from this group, particularly when it's not your MCAT doing that. I don't really see it from what you listed; you dont really stand out from a pool of 10+k applicants.

Like I said above even having said all this it's still somewhat surprising that you haven't gotten a single II. If there were an issue with your LORs, that is the type of thing that could explain the disconnect and explain alot of your problems, because frankly, problems there are a good way for schools to lose interest in you. If you dont have any success this cycle consider calling some of these schools asking for feedback. Likewise address your weaknesses a) LORs b) activities and experiences that can make you stand out amongst 10+k applicants. Like I said above, it might be a good idea to wait another year to really give time to build such experiences before reapplying again right away.

 

[gyngyn]

I count 8 schools on your list where you had a fair chance at an interview. That is not usually enough for a CA applicant. New stats for IS CA matriculation went from 14.7% down to 14%.
OOS matriculation also decreased from 24.3% to 23%...
https://www.aamc.org/download/321466/data/factstablea5.pdf

 

[Goro]

Here is a more realistic list. You would likely get rejected from gyngyn's school for retaking a perfectly good MCAT on such short notice.


U VM
Miami
St. Louis
Albany
Rochester
Rush
Rosy Franklin
Hofstra
NYMC
VCU
EVMS
Wake Forest
Jefferson
Temple
Drexel
Creighton
George Washington
Tulane
Dartmouth
Loyola
Any new MD school. Skip Central MI and the three new FL schools. I can't recommend CNU.
UCD
UCI
UCR IF you're from the Inland Empire
Any DO program, starting with Western and Touro-CA

 

[happyfit]

.

 

[Goro]

Don't get fooled by those numbers...you have to look at how many OOS applicants wrangled an interview. For FAU, it's 76 out 1225 applicants. a rate of 6%. So you're far more likely to land an II if you as IS. I surmise that those lucky OOSers have some significant ties to the Sunshine State.

@Goro, can you elaborate why one should skip three new FL schools? From MSARS, OOO matriculation: Florida Atlantic 28%, Florida International 18%, UCF 29%. ARE 28% and 29% still considered as OOO unfriendly, or is it something else? Thanks