Waitlisted, no acceptances, best way to improve application before June 1st?

[Goldentide]

Hi all,

I was just waitlisted at my state school and I currently have no acceptances anywhere. My state school was also my only interview. It is likely that I may have to reapply for next cycle, so I was wondering what was the best way to improve my application.

A little bit about me: I am currently working at a well-known EHR (electronic health record) company full-time testing software and I am also an advisor for several chapters of a national college organization.

I am a Hawaii resident, but went to a public Big10 school. My stats are: 513 MCAT, 3.75 cGPA, 3.65 sGPA (though according to AMCAS it was a 3.5 sGPA due to me not entering my neuroscience classes as BCPM).

I applied later in the 2015-2016 cycle (mid July for primary, late August - early September for secondaries) and I applied to 10 or so mid or low-tier medical schools. I have some decent research experience (no publications), 180 clinical hours, 40 hours of shadowing, 85 hours of outside community service. I also have good leadership experience. I think my letters were good, and I believe my personal statement and secondaries were decent (though in hindsight, they probably didn't impress too many people).

I am planning to reapply much earlier for the next cycle and I'm also planning to get more shadowing experience. Is there anything else I should or could do to improve my app?

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[gyngyn]

You look like a very strong candidate for your state school.
I do not know if Burns will give you a consult on your application but you should ask for one (when the cycle ends). It may have been the interview...

 

[Goldentide]

Yes, one of my interviews did not go so well. There were 3 interviews, but I think I did well or at least decent for 2 of them (I realize that I may not be the best judge of how I actually did for my interviews)

I just want to see if there was anything I could do to strengthen my application when I reapply so that I have a better shot to receive more interviews from the low-tier/mid tier private medical schools like Creighton or the Medical College of Wisconsin.

I got some feedback from Creighton saying that I should have provided them with more updates over the cycle and that their interviews spots were all filled before they got to my application.

I was thinking about volunteering again since I'm more settled into my new job but I realize that this might look like a desperate attempt at improving my application last minute.

 

[BigBoss]

Did you let your in-state school know about the BCPM GPA error? I wonder if that's why you're on the waitlist? Anyways, I have to go with gyngyn and say your app is pretty strong and you should try to attain feedback after the cycle is over (assuming you don't get in). If you don't receive feedback after not getting in, then gaining shadowing experience as well as working in a clinical setting (scribe, pharm tech, patient tech, etc) would tremendously aid your app in the following cycle.

 

[Im76at711]

I got some feedback from Creighton saying that I should have provided them with more updates over the cycle and that their interviews spots were all filled before they got to my application.

damn. well that stinks. I didn't know schools had the cajones to admit this. lol

 

[NotaCop]

damn. well that stinks. I didn't know schools had the cajones to admit this. lol

Yeah to be honest this really ticks me off... as a first time applicant with no real role model or mentor in this process I was always under the assumption that a pre-II update comes across as needy and is actually a BAD thing! (I think I read that a few times on here, but idk... just goes to show it's hard when SDN is your only form of knowledge on this process) So I didn't send my updates until February when it was basically a last-ditch who cares kinda effort. Had I known schools like them pre-II, could have been a much different cycle. Alas.... hindsight is 20-20

 

[DokterMom]

I was thinking about volunteering again since I'm more settled into my new job but I realize that this might look like a desperate attempt at improving my application last minute.

Whether or not it looks 'desperate' do it anyway. Remember, you're trying to look like you're volunteering because you want to, NOT just to get into med school.