WAMC/looking for advice on how to improve my app

[yayparty112]

Hi! I'm currently mid-cycle and haven't heard much from the schools I applied to (1 II from a difficult school to get in OOS, 2 interview holds, 7 pre-II rejections, and 24 schools to hear from). I don't really have any close family/friends in the medical field so would love to hear thoughts on how to improve my application as I start to prepare to reapply next year.

GPA
total: 3.78
science: 3.82

MCAT: 513 (128/126/131/128)

CA resident

Activities
Clinical Volunteering: 25 hours
Shadowing: 26 hours
Research (lab): 2500+ hours
Clinical employment (medical assistant): 91 hours
Non-medical volunteer: 210 hours
Leadership position in a club, membership in the American Medical Women's Association

Only have 1 science letter of rec

About to publish as second-author on a scientific paper
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I'm thinking about retaking my MCAT or taking a non-degree science class somewhere to get an additional letter of rec/maybe transitioning out of a lab job and back to a clinical job? Idk where to go from here, any help would be appreciated

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[ablanco]

Did you apply broadly and did you manage to get some additional eyes from pre-health advising on the written portion of your app? (Work/activities + PS)

 

[maindoctor42]

I would advise bumping up your clinical hours in some way.

Coming from a fellow lab rat - see if you can find clinical research or use connections from your lab to find consistent shadowing/volunteering? I don't think you have to give up your lab if you love it, but I see that as a potential area to improve.

Decide if you can really improve on the MCAT. If you will be hammering away on clinical hours + lab work, then think about timing and if you can dedicate yourself to a higher MCAT score. I think your GPA is strong though, so be sure that any additional coursework would definitively strengthen your app.

You've got this!

 

[candbgirl]

1. What were your 200+ hours of nonclinical volunteering?
2. You need at least 100 more hours of clinical, face to face patient contact. Be careful of trying to tie it in with clinical research. In fact find something that is clinical . You are already going to have to explain why not a PhD with all of your research hours.
3 you need about 25 more hours of shadowing.Makecsure some is with a primary care doc.
4. Don’t retake the MCAT unless you feel confident you can increase your score .
5. Many schools want 2 science letters.

 

[yayparty112]

1. What were your 200+ hours of nonclinical volunteering?
2. You need at least 100 more hours of clinical, face to face patient contact. Be careful of trying to tie it in with clinical research. In fact find something that is clinical . You are already going to have to explain why not a PhD with all of your research hours.
3 you need about 25 more hours of shadowing.Makecsure some is with a primary care doc.
4. Don’t retake the MCAT unless you feel confident you can increase your score .
5. Many schools want 2 science letters.

I tutored a third-grade student at an impoverished school. Thanks for the helpful advice!

 

[yayparty112]

Did you apply broadly and did you manage to get some additional eyes from pre-health advising on the written portion of your app? (Work/activities + PS)

yes I worked with an external company because the pre-health advising from my undergrad was incredibly unhelpful in areas relating to the actual application and pre-application prep

 

[GoSpursGo]

Moving to WAMC

 

[candbgirl]

I tutored a third-grade student at an impoverished school. Thanks for the helpful advice!

Tutoring/teaching are usually listed separately. And almost e eryone has this as an activity. Get out of your comfort zone. Get your hands dirty. Deal with people very unlike yourself.

 

[Hollow Knight]

Other than needing more shadowing (which is actually pretty important) your app is fine man

But California is a different level of competitive apparently. Or so I've learned recently from reading SDN. You'd be competitive for my school (except for the fact that you're not in-state, and again, try to get more shadowing)

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Nail the interview and get the offer to quickly make this concern disappear (or be replaced with other concerns about starting and paying for medical school).

What did your prehealth advisors say before you applied?