Reapplicant advice: what should I do for the next gap year?

[gigapremedcringelord]

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[Mr.Smile12]

This can be moved to WAMC.

1) I presume you are a Texas resident?

2) what community service have you done where you actually are working face to face with other Texans (so not your crisis text line, not your Gambia work)?

 

[gigapremedcringelord]

This can be moved to WAMC.

1) I presume you are a Texas resident?

2) what community service have you done where you actually are working face to face with other Texans (so not your crisis text line, not your Gambia work)?

1) I am not a Texas resident for the next cycle. I could take 2 more gap years and establish a domicile but I'd rather not take another 2 gap years.

2) Good point. I forgot to add fundraising hours to my post, however I don't think that experience counts as face-to-face w/ a local population. I moved to Tx only for 2 years during COVID. I would say I have no local community service.

 

[wysdoc]

moved thread to WAMC Medical

 

[candbgirl]

We’re you a Texas resident when you applied last spring?
Your Gambia work won’t be impressive to ADCOMS . Your service to those less fortunate should be face to face in the US.
Your shadowing is fine as long as it was done in America.

Where did you apply and have you heard back from your interview? Was it a Waitlist or a rejection?

 

[gigapremedcringelord]

We’re you a Texas resident when you applied last spring?
Your Gambia work won’t be impressive to ADCOMS . Your service to those less fortunate should be face to face in the US.
Your shadowing is fine as long as it was done in America.

Where did you apply and have you heard back from your interview? Was it a Waitlist or a rejection?

Yes, I was a texas resident when I applied. What is your reasoning for the Gambia volunteering?
Shadowing was done in America.

The interview was at a Tx medical school, haven't heard back but assuming it will be up to the match.

 

[candbgirl]

A

Yes, I was a texas resident when I applied. What is your reasoning for the Gambia volunteering?
Shadowing was done in America.

The interview was at a Tx medical school, haven't heard back but assuming it will be up to the match.

nd I don’t know or understand the Texas system at all but you might be accepted. When do hear about the match?
I say that about Gambia because it is well known that many ADCOMS consider mission trips like that as voluntourism . The focus should be on helping those in need right here in the US. There are also feelings/beliefs that sometimes people doing mission work are actually taking jobs away from local residents. And that’s not good.

 

[gigapremedcringelord]

A

nd I don’t know or understand the Texas system at all but you might be accepted. When do hear about the match?
I say that about Gambia because it is well known that many ADCOMS consider mission trips like that as voluntourism . The focus should be on helping those in need right here in the US. There are also feelings/beliefs that sometimes people doing mission work are actually taking jobs away from local residents. And that’s not good.

March. I think my hesitation is that I don't think I performed well during the interview (from my perspective). Additionally, the school as a relatively low post interview acceptance rate at about ~20%.

Ah gotcha I think those are valid criticism. TY for the feedback

 

[candbgirl]

March. I think my hesitation is that I don't think I performed well during the interview (from my perspective). Additionally, the school as a relatively low post interview acceptance rate at about ~20%.

Ah gotcha I think those are valid criticism. TY for the feedback

Well hold a good thought. Nobody really knows how they did on interviews. There are hundreds of people on here that are gobsmacked when they aren’t acepted because they”killed the interview”. So really never know. Let us know what happens. Good luck.

 

[ese2]

March. I think my hesitation is that I don't think I performed well during the interview (from my perspective). Additionally, the school as a relatively low post interview acceptance rate at about ~20%.

Ah gotcha I think those are valid criticism. TY for the feedback

What school? I didn't think any school in TX was that low-yield.

Also, as a TX applicant, I feel like you should have gotten far far more interviews. Especially with those stats. Do you think there's a red flag (besides the IA) in your app that you're missing?

 

[gigapremedcringelord]

What school? I didn't think any school in TX was that low-yield.

Also, as a TX applicant, I feel like you should have gotten far far more interviews. Especially with those stats. Do you think there's a red flag (besides the IA) in your app that you're missing?

I came into the cycle feeling optimistic with those thoughts as well. Overall I think my writing could have been better, reading my stuff now I'm not too happy with it and rewrote my PS.

Honestly in my application, I think I write too much about non medical, but medical adjacent things (e.g. mental health, business administration). I think the red flag could be that I'm sure if I really want to be a clinical physician. I worked with a lot of physicians who do stuff medically adjacent (activism, CMO-types, etc.) so I drew a lot of inspiration from those people.

Other than that I think it could be what candbgirl said with my Gambia volunteering being seen as voluntourism.

Could be something else that I'm entirely missing as well.

 

[Faha]

Where will your new state of residence be when you reapply in June ? What states have you lived in previously ?

 

[ese2]

I came into the cycle feeling optimistic with those thoughts as well. Overall I think my writing could have been better, reading my stuff now I'm not too happy with it and rewrote my PS.

Honestly in my application, I think I write too much about non medical, but medical adjacent things (e.g. mental health, business administration). I think the red flag could be that I'm sure if I really want to be a clinical physician. I worked with a lot of physicians who do stuff medically adjacent (activism, CMO-types, etc.) so I drew a lot of inspiration from those people.

Other than that I think it could be what candbgirl said with my Gambia volunteering being seen as voluntourism.

Could be something else that I'm entirely missing as well.

I very highly doubt that the Gambia thing is what held you back like this. I have a friend who did something similar who was very successful. How are your LORs? Is there a chance one of them is negative?

 

[gigapremedcringelord]

Where will your new state of residence be when you reapply in June ? What states have you lived in previously ?

Not sure, I can't establish domicile in texas since their deadline is Nov. 1. There's a few states like Washington and colorado where the deadline is just 1 year before their med school start date, so i still have time to move to those places.

I very highly doubt that the Gambia thing is what held you back like this. I have a friend who did something similar who was very successful. How are your LORs? Is there a chance one of them is negative?

LORs are pretty solid. One is from the lab where I worked for 2 years. one LOR is from a very high up professor who liked me a ton. The final LOR asked me what to highlight in the LOR so I think it's positive.

One thing a mentor said is that my application is mental health focused, which there could be some stigma about. I sort of believe it because he faced a similar issues as a psychiatrist, but I'm not sure if this criticism applies for all medical schools.

 

[alwaysrunning]

Stateless applicant (had to move back to home state to figure out family stuff)

What state is this and why can't you be in state there?

 

[Faha]

If your new state of residence is not Texas and you need to reapply I suggest these schools:
TCU-UNT
Tulane
Miami
USF Morsani
NOVA MD
Wake Forest
Duke
Virginia Commonwealth
Eastern Virginia
George Washington
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
Pittsburgh
Cincinnati
Hackensack
Hofstra
Einstein
Mount Sinai
Rochester
New York Medical College
Albany
Vermont
Quinnipiac
Boston University
Tufts
Oakland Beaumont
Western Michigan
Medical College Wisconsin
Rosalind Franklin
St. Louis
Kaiser

 

[gigapremedcringelord]

What state is this and why can't you be in state there?

I definitely could be in state here, but honestly I can't see myself living in the state I'm currently in long term for personal reasons.

 

[gigapremedcringelord]

If your new state of residence is not Texas and you need to reapply I suggest these schools:
TCU-UNT
Tulane
Miami
USF Morsani
NOVA MD
Wake Forest
Duke
Virginia Commonwealth
Eastern Virginia
George Washington
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
Pittsburgh
Cincinnati
Hackensack
Hofstra
Einstein
Mount Sinai
Rochester
New York Medical College
Albany
Vermont
Quinnipiac
Boston University
Tufts
Oakland Beaumont
Western Michigan
Medical College Wisconsin
Rosalind Franklin
St. Louis
Kaiser

Thanks! This is super helpful

 

[Mr.Smile12]

One thing a mentor said is that my application is mental health focused, which there could be some stigma about. I sort of believe it because he faced a similar issues as a psychiatrist, but I'm not sure if this criticism applies for all medical schools.

I don't know what you mean by this. It would have been nice if you were advised about this before applying. Where did you volunteer in the hospital? Didn't you include any observations from your shadowing or scribing?