Re-applicant: 36 MCAT and 3.68 GPA. What's the likelihood?

[Asclepius734]

Hello,

After a very discouraging cycle I decided to sign up here and get your opinions on my chances. My cGPA was a 3.68, sGPA a 3.55, I got a 31R the first time I took the MCAT and a 36O a couple months later (the first one was the hardest test I have ever taken). My five LORs were from a human phys professor (took the class and TA'd), a biochemistry professor, my research PI, a physician I shadowed, but who knew me fairly well as he audited my year long Latin class, and a philosophy professor. I was told that they were good and a couple were "beautiful." I completed about 175 hours of clinical volunteering which I now see is very little, but it included a lot of patient contact. About 25 hours of shadowing; family practice and clinical research physician. A little over 200 hours of molecular genetics research. Now the only community volunteering I had was 8 hours of Habitat (I know, I know red flag). Over the past 8/9 months I have worked as a lab assistant at a pre-clinical research company (animal lab) and have about 2000 hours logged. In the past couple months I have started working with Habitat again but my hours are very limited by the fact that I have to work every other weekend (which means 12 days in a row, two days off, 12 days in a row). That should be down to every third weekend soon so I will be able to volunteer more, but I will only have another 40-ish hours of Habitat to add though I absolutely plan on continuing for as long as possible. I was a Canadian citizen but permanent US resident last cycle which seems to be fine, though this cycle I will be a US citizen. I got rejected from 16 schools and HPWL by Jefferson. Is there a point to me re-applying? This past cycle was very depressing.

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[el_duderino]

8 hours of volunteering is pretty dismal, and your sGPA is below average.

What schools did you apply to?

 

[DrMidlife]

If you do some reading in this subforum you'll find a lot of people in exactly the same situation who got great advice for their common app problems. You haven't given enough information to get good help, but you don't even have to ask for help since it's been discussed here so many times.

 

[Asclepius734]

8 hours of volunteering is pretty dismal, and your sGPA is below average.

What schools did you apply to?

I am aware, that's why I said I know it is a "Red Flag." Yes I have looked at many of the people in the same situation, but since these people are not going to have exactly the same application that I do, I thought I might ask for advice specific to me. What other information should I provide to get "good help?"

Some schools I applied to are: Temple, Jefferson, Drexel, Dartmouth, Northwestern, Georgetown, UCLA, Pitt, Penn, Alabama, Washington, Boston U, Penn State, Mich, and I forget a couple others. This time around I would not bother applying to the upper-tier schools obviously and go with schools like Rush and VCU that I actually have a chance with if I apply.

 

[Goro]

Concur, apply to low-tier and new MD schools, and consider DO programs as well. MSAR Online is your friend. Avoid state schools, they favor the home team.

I am aware, that's why I said I know it is a "Red Flag." Yes I have looked at many of the people in the same situation, but since these people are not going to have exactly the same application that I do, I thought I might ask for advice specific to me. What other information should I provide to get "good help?"

Some schools I applied to are: Temple, Jefferson, Drexel, Dartmouth, Northwestern, Georgetown, UCLA, Pitt, Penn, Alabama, Washington, Boston U, Penn State, Mich, and I forget a couple others. This time around I would not bother applying to the upper-tier schools obviously and go with schools like Rush and VCU that I actually have a chance with if I apply.

 

[BeancheBlanco]

was the lab assistant position new (full-time over the past year)? What was your role in it and did you present anything? Your ECs look very thin and were probably the reason for your unsuccessful cycle. Are you able to articulate why you are a unique prospective student? Usually this can only be done through significant ECs. If this research position is completely new, it might be worth re-applying immediately.

 

[kthxbai]

I don't know if I'd call 175 hours of clinical volunteering dismal, but I'd try to diversify my clinical involvement if I were you. Your GPA is barely scraping the bottom of the barrel, which is likely another reason for last year's results. Don't rush this time; take another year to strengthen your app as much as possible and apply next year knowing it'd be different.

 

[BeancheBlanco]

I don't know if I'd call 175 hours of clinical volunteering dismal, but I'd try to diversify my clinical involvement if I were you. Your GPA is barely scraping the bottom of the barrel, which is likely another reason for last year's results. Don't rush this time; take another year to strengthen your app as much as possible and apply next year knowing it'd be different.

3.68 is not "barely scraping the bottom of the barrel". It is pretty much the median GPA for medical school matriculants and would only hurt him at the top schools. His sGPA is lower, but still not terrible.

 

[kthxbai]

3.68 is not "barely scraping the bottom of the barrel". It is pretty much the median GPA for medical school matriculants and would only hurt him at the top schools. His sGPA is lower, but still not terrible.

My fault for vagueness; I was referring to his sGPA. Also, when you've got a 0.2 point discrepancy between your cGPA and sGPA it seems to suggest filler classes. I could be totally wrong, but that's where my mind jumps.

 

[Plecopotamus]

My fault for vagueness; I was referring to his sGPA. Also, when you've got a 0.2 point discrepancy between your cGPA and sGPA it seems to suggest filler classes. I could be totally wrong, but that's where my mind jumps.

Please look at the data before you say things that are so harsh -- bottom of the barrel? The average applicant has a .2 gap (avg matriculant still has .13), and OP would not have stood out at all for that:
www.aamc.org/data/facts/applicantmatriculant/

I am aware, that's why I said I know it is a "Red Flag." Yes I have looked at many of the people in the same situation, but since these people are not going to have exactly the same application that I do, I thought I might ask for advice specific to me. What other information should I provide to get "good help?"

Some schools I applied to are: Temple, Jefferson, Drexel, Dartmouth, Northwestern, Georgetown, UCLA, Pitt, Penn, Alabama, Washington, Boston U, Penn State, Mich, and I forget a couple others. This time around I would not bother applying to the upper-tier schools obviously and go with schools like Rush and VCU that I actually have a chance with if I apply.

Are those your only ECs? Have you committed yourself to anything as a hobby, etc.? If all of your ECs are related to med school apps, you come across as a person who won't be an enjoyable/interesting peer and who may not have a good mechanism for stress relief.

Also, while you know the quality of your LORs is good, how have you assessed your PS?

How did you pick.your school list? It may in and of itself be your problem -- did you look at the MSAR? your school list is top heavy with some schools that don't take many OOS applicants (and assume those they do take are above average), and others that are not high tier but that receive so many apps that they can't be used to back up all those reaches.

 

[QofQuimica]

Concur, apply to low-tier and new MD schools, and consider DO programs as well. MSAR Online is your friend. Avoid state schools, they favor the home team.

Yeah, agree that the school list was likely a major issue here.

OP, looking at your school list, I'm guessing you're from the Northeast (PA resident?). Based on your ECs + stats, you're a solid but not stellar candidate, so if you want to stay in that region, you should apply to more like twice that number of schools (around 30).

As Goro suggested, use the MSAR to help you determine which schools don't take many OOS applicants, and avoid applying to those. In general, don't apply to any of the Southern state schools like UAB unless you're an AL resident or have extremely strong ties to the state. Nearly all state schools here in the South protect their seats for in-state residents and only take a handful of OOS people with strong apps and strong state ties. I got accepted to UAB OOS, but I was a former state resident, an Alabama alum, and living in a neighboring state (FL) at the time I applied. So when I say you should have "strong ties" to AL and other Southern states if you want to apply to their state schools as an OOS applicant, that's the level of strong ties I'm talking about.

I'd also recommend you consider adding some schools in the Midwest. There are many excellent schools there that take large numbers of OOS residents and that get far fewer apps than schools on the coasts simply due to geographic location. OH in particular is not too far away from you, and most of their schools are welcoming to OOS applicants. Again, use the MSAR to help you make a suitable list.