What can I do during my gap year to improve my app other than retaking my MCAT? ORM, low-income, 3.48 cGPA, 3.42 sGPA, 490 MCAT.

[Cemetra]

1. cGPA 3.48 and sGPA 3.42
2. MCAT: 490
3. White male from low-income background
4. Clinical experience (volunteer and non-volunteer)
   1. EMT for 911 EMS; 1500 hours; adding ~ 24 hours per month during gap year
   2. EMT for private services; 1,020 hours
   3. Medical Assistant for urgent care; 770 hours; adding ~ 120 hours per month during gap year
   4. Volunteer Medical Assistant for nonprofit clinic focused on primary health services; also the Lab Coordinator, responsible for the logistics behind patient labs, scheduling, related paperwork, etc; 50 hours; adding ~ 24 hours per month during gap year
5. Research experience
   1. Undergraduate psychology (addiction) and ecology (conservation) research; 100 hours; no wet lab research
6. Shadowing experience
   1. Internal Medicine physician shadowing; 20 hours
7. Non-clinical volunteering
   1. STEM club member who helped with various campus events throughout undergrad; 100 hours
   2. Owner of a company that donates goods throughout the state; started in 2018; decent social media presence and a website with more info
   3. Tutor for EMS students and proctor for licensing exams (hands-on skills); 40 hours
8. Leadership
   1. Interim supervisor at previous Fortune job for 1 month; 160 hours
   2. Owner of charitable company (mentioned above)
9. Other extracurricular activities
   1. Ultra marathon runner
   2. Avid reader with another website that has personal book reviews (200+)
10. Miscellaneous information
    1. I come from a low-income background. Ended up getting a really nice job with a Fortune 100 company but decided to leave it to pursue medicine after dietary/lifestyle changes and realizing how much better I felt, ultimately becoming obsessed with nutrition, longevity, health, etc. So, I basically left a great paying career to put myself back into a low income status to work as an EMT throughout undergrad.
    2. As a non-trad with no money, I worked full-time throughout my degree. Even with this, I was eligible for FAP.
    3. My bachelor degree program was dissolved and students were given an 18-month warning to finish our degree in time. This caused me to take 20+ credit hours each semester to finish out senior year. For reference, my last semester was 23 credit hours with 7 classes and 4 labs. I made 1 C, 1 B, and 5 A's (classes included Physics II, Genetics, Plant Biology, etc). The summer prior, I took Orgo I and II simultaneously. This is just for clarification as to why I had some B's and C's along the way. Again, I was working full-time throughout this.
    4. I received 4 scholarships during undergrad and 1 service-oriented award (the highest award given at my college).
    5. I have good LORs but none from a physician.

I am from Georgia and have an interest in working in rural medicine.

I obviously need to retake the MCAT and score much higher, but I'm unsure what other direction I should take my application.

Here are some potential ideas I'm considering:

1. Taking 4 more science classes and receiving A's will bring both my cGPA and sGPA to a 3.52. I have the money and flexibility with my schedule to pay for this out of pocket but am unsure if it's worth doing.

2. Getting a masters degree. Although I'm unsure of which major, I could use this to gain relevant research experience. My local university has programs that also allow student researchers to have tuition waved. Even if I were not able to get accepted to this program, I would have the finances and flexibility with my schedule to pay for the degree out of pocket. I also have no undergraduate debt due to multiple scholarships/grants.

3. Gaining some more shadowing hours in various specialties.

4. Now that I'm working more with physicians (especially at the nonprofit clinical job), hopefully get an LOR from a physician for the next cycle.

5. Possibly start a new, nonclinical volunteer position now that things are opening up more from COVID precautions. I live in a small, rural area and don't have many options to volunteer to, but they are opening up again

I'm unsure if there's anything else I should aim for. Does anyone have any thoughts/suggestions? Sorry for the long post but I wanted to have as much information as possible for someone to comment on.

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[gyngyn]

1. Trend is important. What is your year by year gpa?
2. Master's degrees have little effect on an MD application. DO's see this differently.
3. As long as you have at least 40 shadowing hours with a good bit of that in primary care, you would do well to use that time elsewhere.
4. We really don't want an "MD" letter! There are a few MD schools that ask for a clinical" letter, but those can come from anyone. DO's do love a DO letter, though.
5. ok

The most important advice is:
A string of unsuccessful MCAT scores is far more damaging than one.
The MCAT is as much a test of judgement as knowledge. Persistence is not a core competency, resilience is.
I cannot recommend even one re-take until one is confident of a much better score. Hope is not enough.

What were your AAMC FL's?

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Yes, doing actual non-clinical community service where you are face-to-face with those in distress is important. You founded/owned an organization that serves the community, so I'm not sure how faculty will consider this (without going into detail about what it does, but that would breach privacy). You may want to ask admissions officers prior to applying if you can.

 

[Cemetra]

1. Trend is important. What is your year by year gpa?
2. Master's degrees have little effect on an MD application. DO's see this differently.
3. As long as you have at least 40 shadowing hours with a good bit of that in primary care, you would do well to use that time elsewhere.
4. We really don't want an "MD" letter! There are a few MD schools that ask for a clinical" letter, but those can come from anyone. DO's do love a DO letter, though.
5. ok

The most important advice is:
A string of unsuccessful MCAT scores is far more damaging than one.
The MCAT is as much a test of judgement as knowledge. Persistence is not a core competency, resilience is.
I cannot recommend even one re-take until one is confident of a much better score. Hope is not enough.

What were your AAMC FL's?

1. sGPA went 3.47 freshman, 4.00 sophomore, 3.4 junior, 3.4 senior. All other GPA went from 2.42 freshman year and 4.0 every year afterwards. I went to college 10 years ago and dropped out incorrectly and got a bunch of F's, so my cumulative GPA is about 0.2 points lower from that. I then went to a technical college for my EMT license. So my hours are all over the place. I spent my first year at university completely online (only doing core classes - no sciences) while preparing to leave my job, so I ended up taking all my sciences together for a long period versus spreading them out over 4 years, especially due to our degree dissolving.
2. I feel like even with a good MCAT, I may be more of a DO fit but would love to apply to Mercer since it's close to home and fits my message as well. I'm unsure if I should get my cumulative/science GPA to 3.52 by taking 4 postbacc classes or consider a master's. Or not even worry about it and spend August - December preparing for the MCAT and taking it in January for the next cycle.

I only took 4 FL's. 486 and 498 for Blueprint exams. Then 498 and 500 for AAMC exams. I was being dumb and thought I'd get lucky, somehow pulling off a 505+ on the real deal. However, my expectations are much more reasonable now. I'm planning to take all AAMC FL exams and use all their practice material since I am a FAP recipient and have access to everything. I won't make the same mistake again and will only test when I know I'll do much better.

Wow, sorry for the long posts. I'm a bit of a rambler today.

 

[Cemetra]

Yes, doing actual non-clinical community service where you are face-to-face with those in distress is important. You founded/owned an organization that serves the community, so I'm not sure how faculty will consider this (without going into detail about what it does, but that would breach privacy). You may want to ask admissions officers prior to applying if you can.

Thank you for the advice! I will look into local opportunities to help in other organizations. When you go from 7 classes, MCAT studying, and working full time to being graduated, it seems like I have all the time in the world. I will prioritize studying for my retake but will absolutely look into non-clinical volunteer opportunities as well.

 

[gyngyn]

I'm planning to take all AAMC FL exams and use all their practice material since I am a FAP recipient and have access to everything. I won't make the same mistake again and will only test when I know I'll do much better.

There are only 4 AAMC FL's. Have you used them all?

 

[gyngyn]

I'm unsure if I should get my cumulative/science GPA to 3.52 by taking 4 postbacc classes or consider a master's.

A Master's does not remediate undergrad performance for MD schools (except some SMP's for some schools).

 

[Cemetra]

There are only 4 AAMC FL's. Have you used them all?

Nope, I took 2 full-lengths through a third party company and 2 AAMC full-lengths. But I have access to all the extra AAMC material as well (question packs, section banks, etc) and I also have UWorld. I may skip the masters and post grad classes all together and focus on working/saving, getting a new volunteer position, and raising my MCAT as much as possible. Not sure if a jump from a 3.4x to a 3.52 is worth paying out of pocket for 4 more classes, but at the same time, I could see schools having a 3.50 cutoff.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Mercer would be a great fit for you (I agree). Have you talked with admissions staff there? Students?

 

[Cemetra]

Mercer would be a great fit for you (I agree). Have you talked with admissions staff there? Students?

Not admissions but students, yes. It would be the most ideal for me due to it being so close to home. They also seem to have a good culture there and almost all of the students I know had scholarships that were paying for large chunks of their tuition due to wanting to work rural.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Not admissions but students, yes. It would be the most ideal for me due to it being so close to home. They also seem to have a good culture there and almost all of the students I know had scholarships that were paying for large chunks of their tuition due to wanting to work rural.

Find out how they prepared for the MCAT and any other feedback you can get on raising your academic credentials for an application. I have a feeling this needs to be your focus while maintaining your community service/service orientation activities and some clinical (little more shadowing) in the interim, but I don't see your actual application to know for sure.

 

[gyngyn]

I took 2 full-lengths through a third party company and 2 AAMC full-lengths.

Use the remaining ones wisely. They are the best predictors of outcome.
Most test-takers do a bit better on these than on the real thing, though (anxiety, strange surroundings, high stakes). Were the two you burned predictive of the 490?

 

[Cemetra]

Find out how they prepared for the MCAT and any other feedback you can get on raising your academic credentials for an application. I have a feeling this needs to be your focus while maintaining your community service/service orientation activities and some clinical (little more shadowing) in the interim, but I don't see your actual application to know for sure.

I believe I have a good study strategy in place now to prep for it! It takes me a little longer for things to stick sometimes, so I think starting over in my MCAT prep from now until late December would be really good for me. I really just shouldn't have taken it yet. But it is what it is. I'm not going to justify the dumb decision. I will learn from it and do much better.

I'm also planning to shadow more and in different specialties as well. I think it would be best to do great on the MCAT, build up my hours on my current responsibilities (clinical work/volunteering), and add a new volunteer experience in the mix. Although I think a master's would be interesting and possibly offer some research experience, it would also be time consuming and I guarantee take a few points off my potential MCAT, which I feel is the biggest flaw in my application as of now. Current students also mention the importance of applying early, so if I improve my impact substantially and am one of the first applicants, I'd feel much more confident. Although I'm not underestimating how difficult a medical school acceptance is!

 

[Cemetra]

Use the remaining ones wisely. They are the best predictors of outcome.
Most test-takers do a bit better on these than on the real thing, though (anxiety, strange surroundings, high stakes). Were the two you burned predictive of the 490?

I'm going to begin MCAT prepping again and use all the material (including the FLs) prior to my next MCAT. I think studying from now to December and taking the MCAT in January is a good strategy. I have all the AAMC material for free due to being a FAP recipient (low-income), so I need to take advantage of that.

The two I did were 498 and 500, but I didn't review them properly. I was a bit nervous but I would blame a poor knowledge base more than the anxiety/stakes of the exam. I will absolutely get a better foundation before taking it again. It seems the MCAT is the biggest detriment to my app, but I'll continue increasing the clinical hours and likely take a new volunteer position (nonclinical) as well in the meantime.

 

[MyOdyssey]

I'm going to begin MCAT prepping again and use all the material (including the FLs) prior to my next MCAT. I think studying from now to December and taking the MCAT in January is a good strategy. I have all the AAMC material for free due to being a FAP recipient (low-income), so I need to take advantage of that.

The two I did were 498 and 500, but I didn't review them properly. I was a bit nervous but I would blame a poor knowledge base more than the anxiety/stakes of the exam. I will absolutely get a better foundation before taking it again. It seems the MCAT is the biggest detriment to my app, but I'll continue increasing the clinical hours and likely take a new volunteer position (nonclinical) as well in the meantime.

Have you purchased MCAT review materials? Most people do and it helps (both for content review & extra full length practice).

UWorld helps a lot.

There is also a free 300 page outline of all the Khan Academy psychology/sociology videos thst is helpful. If you post on the MCAT forum to SDN, someone will send you a download link.

 

[Cemetra]

Have you purchased MCAT review materials? Most people do and it helps (both for content review & extra full length practice).

UWorld helps a lot.

There is also a free 300 page outline of all the Khan Academy psychology/sociology videos thst is helpful. If you post on the MCAT forum to SDN, someone will send you a download link.

I am a Fee Assistance Program recipient, so I have access to all the AMCAS prep material for free due to my low income. Due to wanting to apply early, I shot myself in the foot by only using ~ 10% of the available material. I'm going to finish 100% of the AAMC material before my next retake.

I also have UWorld and the 300 page doc. Planning to use them as well! That's essentially my test prep in the meantime: Review material, Anki, practice questions with UWorld, AAMC FL, review/correct mistakes, rinse & repeat.

 

[LeaveNoTrace]

Use the remaining ones wisely. They are the best predictors of outcome.
Most test-takers do a bit better on these than on the real thing, though (anxiety, strange surroundings, high stakes). Were the two you burned predictive of the 490?

I worked for a couple of years as an MCAT tutor. Here's what I found:

Most of my students performed the same or a little better on the real thing on Test Day. There was usually a steady increase of around 5-8 points from the initial diagnostic to the last FL. Actual scores were usually -1 point to +2, sometimes +3. The average was dragged down by the 10 or so percent of students that would do much worse on Test Day - usually -5 points, sometimes worse. This was usually due to testing anxiety.

Third party material is good for nothing but content review fodder and getting you used to taking the 7-hour practice test.

 

[gyngyn]

Third party material is good for nothing but content review fodder and getting you used to taking the 7-hour practice test.

Sadly, it's all they have left.

 

[LeaveNoTrace]

Sadly, it's all they have left.

Fair enough. Of the third-party material I've looked at: Kaplan's scores are usually deflated 3-5 points. Blueprint is good but the wording and style is different. Princeton Review is OK; their tutors' test-taking strategies (leaving hard questions aside) are not the best IMO. If I was OP I'd use the 3rd party as fodder. They still have Question Packs and Section Banks that they can use from the AAMC; I've had my students do 50 questions from those and made a rough score conversion. It gets you in the ballpark. Once I was solid on content review from using the fodder, I'd use the last of my AAMC FLs.