ReApp Progress 2012-2013

Courtjester8 · Aug 7, 2012

For those of us who are reapplying now, how is it going? If things are looking better than they did in the past, what were your former application weaknesses and what did you do to improve your candidacy? I'll start.

Things are much improved. This time last year I had just submitted my AMCAS which wasn't verified till early September. Last year's app cycle (17 allo schools) yielded zero interviews. This year I have two II's (one is at my top choice school) so far with most of my schools having not even started offering interviews yet. I've applied to 32 schools this cycle covering the full range of the allopathic admissions spectrum.

Weaknesses:

I have a horrendous undergrad GPA which, even after incorporating my post-bac GPA of 3.9, still left me at a 3.2 cGPA and a 3.4 sGPA. I also had minimal community service, had barely started my research, and had no clinical experience.

What I did differently:

I completely revamped my AMCAS application, having invested 8 weeks into the personal statement alone. Instead of writing i dialogue, I began writing little anecdotes to sell myself. I made it a point to submit my AMCAS on the day it opened. I also taught an MCAT prep class, resumed volunteering that I haven't been able to do since high school, and also shadowed at an infectious disease clinic. I made it known to the schools I applied to that I'd be completing a Biomedical Sciences masters program at UMDNJ in Spring 2013.

I hope people who are or will be reapplying in the future will find this thread helpful.

-cj8

Courtjester8 · Aug 12, 2012

First and last bump by me. Share your stories guys. Help other ppl out with your experiences and advice.

cj8

neural432 · Aug 14, 2012

Hey! I love this idea!

Last year, I applied super late (like October, verified November). I had a horrendous MCAT score but thought my ECs and grades would outweigh it (kind of holding on to the notion of viewing candidates holistically). I applied to 6 schools, interviewed at 3 (post-bacc offer from Ohio State), and WL at those three. My biggest regret was trying to do WAY too much my senior year that ultimately delayed me in applying as early as I wanted to. I also should have applied to DO schools as back up (state just started one recently). So I am now re-applying this cycle with new updates to my application!

My stats:

SC Resident, URM female, BS in Biology and English. 3.7cGPA, 3.6 sci-GPA. 2.5 years of bench-research, 1 year of clinical,psychology, autism research. Lots of first-author presentations at several conferences. Wrote successful $10K grant for clinical research, academic/research awards, etc. Led a lot of clubs, worked part-time throughout undergrad, in honor society XYZ. Volunteered clinically for two summers and one summer at a local hospital. RA for pre-med students (2 yrs) and mentor to first year minority students. Other outside volunteering. Random stuffs.

Weaknesses:
At the time of application, NO SHADOWING! Didn't think much of it since I sat in on several appointments with volunteer physicians at Free Clinic. So during the spring (and this summer), shadowed OB/GYN in Miami, Cardiac surgeon, Neurologist, and Family Physician (DO). Note: although I realized that I didn't have any shadowing, the adcom member I spoke to did not even mention this as a drawback to my app. So take what you will from that.

Biggest Weakness (brought up in EVERY interview): MCAT! Scored the min for interviews and while I did have great feedback from interviewers, my score was that detrimental to my app to warrant waitlists at those schools. Studied, retook, 30R (6+jump).

Other stuff I did in the meantime:

Volunteered at two additional Free Clinics near my hometown and at the major hospital. Looked for a job in the healthcare sector (this peds clinic looks promising after interview

). Volunteered at humane society and I am currently co-writing a TV pilot for a children's science ed show.

I think the biggest thing to remember after getting the boot from schools is to call them. Ask them what went wrong in terms of not giving you an acceptance. For me, they all said my MCAT and looked forward to my app this upcoming cycle. Also, I think the one thing people don't tell you if you don't get in the first try is to not be bitter about the whole process. Applying to med school can be emotionally draining (esp if you hear of other people getting in with lower stats than yourself) and sometimes the explanations for not being admitted are somewhat....fuzzy. I'd recommend keeping the results of the process to yourself or a few people. My disappointments this year were blasted to all the pre-med underclassmen in a very big way which made the whole experience that much more horrible lol.

I'm applying to my in-state schools again with about 10 other schools and my in-state DO school.

skipdivided · Aug 14, 2012

Hey guys,

Sort of a different situation for me. Applied last year to 11 allo schools (all mid to lower tier) with good stats (3.7 undergrad, 4.0 grad, 35Q mcat) and 2 years of research and was straight up rejected from 9, interviewed at 2, and waitlisted at one of those two. Didn't get in. Initially I was kind of surprised given my decent stats and extracurriculars, but this year I focused a lot more on things that I believe were my downfall.

1) Personal statement: last year it SUCKED. Went back and read it, and thought "Wow, I wouldn't have given me an interview." Spent a solid month on it this year getting lots of feedback and I think it's quite a bit better.

2) Applied late last year. Didn't finish most secondaries til October. I think was a big problem, especially at the state schools I applied to. Thankfully this year I've already submitted 9 secondaries!

3) Clinical Experience: National and State-certified EMT but not a whole lot of experience. Did volunteer at the local ED for two years but definitely a weak point in my application (my state school apparently LOVES clinical experience). Going to try to either work or volunteer as an EMT as soon as I finish my IV course. Also definitely need to shadow more this year.

4) Volunteering: Though I've volunteered at a summer camp for pediatric cancer patients for years, I'm going to volunteer at hospice and tutor underprivileged children this upcoming year.

5) Application updates: I think this was a big downfall - didn't keep up with my apps or express enough activity and interest last year.

6) Schools: Applying to way more schools this year - 23 MD, 3 DO. And lots of these are private schools that are OOS friendly.

7) Strengths: Last year I think my primary app seemed like a list of stuff I'd done without saying why it made me a good candidate or how I'd use it in my career. Also, this year I put in a lot more stuff about my research, teaching experience, etc. and applied it to why it would make me a strong student/doc.

Good luck to everyone! It's an awful process to go through again, but hopefully things will work out for us this round!!

Member 609482 · Aug 19, 2012

I applied two years ago and got no interviews whatsoever. Here are things I did differently:

1. Applied much earlier. I have all my secondaries in since last week as opposed to having them in by mid to late September.

2. 5 point increase in my MCAT 28 --> 33

3. More clinical experience and abroad clinical experience

4. I focused my personal statement an secondaries on wanting to learn as opposed to wanting to change what I found wrong I medicine.

And with that I have 4 interviews at MD schools so far! Thank God! PM me if you have any other questions!

robertch8 · Aug 21, 2012

Good Luck all! I was in your shoes last year and when you all get in this year, you'll probably appreciate it more than had you gotten in the first cycle.

giants25 · Aug 24, 2012

I applied two years ago and got 2 interviews and two waitlists. What I did differently:

1. Applied on the very first day, first minute AMCAS opened, was later verified that day (rather than verified on September 5th)

2. Finished all of my secondaries as soon as I received them and because of the slow schools got all of them in/complete August 10th max (rather than in late September-October)

3. Undergraduate gpa raised .02 cumulative, and science gpa from 3.31 to 3.47

4. Retook MCAT because first one expired from 34--->35

5. Completed an SMP program at one of the best programs and received a 4.0

6. A years worth of volunteering in the hospital, over 150 hours of shadowing 4 different physicians, and volunteering with the poor/homeless

7. Spent months before amcas opened prepping my PS and activities section, and got my LOR sent out the first day possible by my schools

So far I have 8 interviews at MD schools, with many being on the first day the school starts to interview. So if you spend time strengthening your application it really does help!

Edit: so far I've got a top 25 interview, interviews at all 3 of my state schools and 3 of 8 places I was a reapplicant (with 2 interviews in the past)

giants25 · Oct 20, 2012

Hey just an update, I've been accepted to 2 schools so far, waiting on 3 more decisions. I've had 10 II so far in this cycle and couldn't be happier!!
If you put in the work after your first cycle and send in everything early, the process becomes a lot lot lot less fearsome.

Member 609482 · Oct 26, 2012

giants25 said:
Hey just an update, I've been accepted to 2 schools so far, waiting on 3 more decisions. I've had 10 II so far in this cycle and couldn't be happier!!
If you put in the work after your first cycle and send in everything early, the process becomes a lot lot lot less fearsome.

BroPasta · Oct 26, 2012

skipdivided said:
Hey guys,

Sort of a different situation for me. Applied last year to 11 allo schools (all mid to lower tier) with good stats (3.7 undergrad, 4.0 grad, 35Q mcat) and 2 years of research and was straight up rejected from 9, interviewed at 2, and waitlisted at one of those two. Didn't get in. Initially I was kind of surprised given my decent stats and extracurriculars, but this year I focused a lot more on things that I believe were my downfall.

1) Personal statement: last year it SUCKED. Went back and read it, and thought "Wow, I wouldn't have given me an interview." Spent a solid month on it this year getting lots of feedback and I think it's quite a bit better.

2) Applied late last year. Didn't finish most secondaries til October. I think was a big problem, especially at the state schools I applied to. Thankfully this year I've already submitted 9 secondaries!

3) Clinical Experience: National and State-certified EMT but not a whole lot of experience. Did volunteer at the local ED for two years but definitely a weak point in my application (my state school apparently LOVES clinical experience). Going to try to either work or volunteer as an EMT as soon as I finish my IV course. Also definitely need to shadow more this year.

4) Volunteering: Though I've volunteered at a summer camp for pediatric cancer patients for years, I'm going to volunteer at hospice and tutor underprivileged children this upcoming year.

5) Application updates: I think this was a big downfall - didn't keep up with my apps or express enough activity and interest last year.

6) Schools: Applying to way more schools this year - 23 MD, 3 DO. And lots of these are private schools that are OOS friendly.

7) Strengths: Last year I think my primary app seemed like a list of stuff I'd done without saying why it made me a good candidate or how I'd use it in my career. Also, this year I put in a lot more stuff about my research, teaching experience, etc. and applied it to why it would make me a strong student/doc.

Good luck to everyone! It's an awful process to go through again, but hopefully things will work out for us this round!!

There are a couple parallels between my experience and his. This is my 3rd time applying though, so i'll go through both time periods.

Original stats: 3.64 cum GPA (top 5%), 3.45 science GPA, 23 MCAT, 8 months part time clinical volunteering, no research experience, fresh college grad (major in accounting/finance + biology minor).

Results: 25 schools applied to, 0 interviews <-- not surprising

Improvements:
1) After 2 years, finally got extended time for scientifically proven, well documented reading disability --> Retook MCAT to improve what I considered my greatest weakness. I had previously only been able to finish about 65% of the MCAT exam. First time being able to actually finish the exam, I scored a 36P.

Results: 30 schools applied to, 2 interviews, Placed on alternate list at 1.

Following year improvements:
1) Quit job in accounting to work full time voluntarily in research. Close to 1 year research experience, and hopefully working towards a first author publication in basic research by this time next year.

2) Application timing! -- Applied in June this year (compared to AMCAS being verified in mid november last year). Last year, I based re-application choices on my conditional MCAT score, which wasn't received until late September.

3) Personal Statement: I spent about 6 weeks preparing a totally new one, including several re-writes based on feedback. Confident my current statement is very strong now.

4) More Clinical Experience: Volunteered 7 months part time at a local hospice. Starting next week to volunteer at a local health clinic for more first hand experience collecting patient medical histories and presenting my diagnosis opinion to the attending physician.

5) Letters of Recommendation: Received very strong recommendation from my principle investigator (an assistant professor of medicine).

6) Application updates: Planning to be much more proactive about expressing interest to admissions committees with updates & letters of intent/interest.

Best of luck to everyone! I'm hoping I have much better results this year. I can see plenty of flaws with my previous applications, yet I'm pretty confident about my current application

. Any constructive thoughts on how I can further improve my application are welcome.

uphillBattle · Nov 6, 2012

giants25 said:
I applied two years ago and got 2 interviews and two waitlists. What I did differently:

1. Applied on the very first day, first minute AMCAS opened, was later verified that day (rather than verified on September 5th)

2. Finished all of my secondaries as soon as I received them and because of the slow schools got all of them in/complete August 10th max (rather than in late September-October)

3. Undergraduate gpa raised .02 cumulative, and science gpa from 3.31 to 3.47

4. Retook MCAT because first one expired from 34--->35

5. Completed an SMP program at one of the best programs and received a 4.0

6. A years worth of volunteering in the hospital, over 150 hours of shadowing 4 different physicians, and volunteering with the poor/homeless

7. Spent months before amcas opened prepping my PS and activities section, and got my LOR sent out the first day possible by my schools

So far I have 8 interviews at MD schools, with many being on the first day the school starts to interview. So if you spend time strengthening your application it really does help!

Edit: so far I've got a top 25 interview, interviews at all 3 of my state schools and 3 of 8 places I was a reapplicant (with 2 interviews in the past)

What was your cGPA when you first applied btw?

giants25 · Nov 6, 2012

Guero · Nov 14, 2012

neural432 said:
Hey! I love this idea!

Last year, I applied super late (like October, verified November). I had a horrendous MCAT score but thought my ECs and grades would outweigh it (kind of holding on to the notion of viewing candidates holistically). I applied to 6 schools, interviewed at 3 (post-bacc offer from Ohio State), and WL at those three. My biggest regret was trying to do WAY too much my senior year that ultimately delayed me in applying as early as I wanted to. I also should have applied to DO schools as back up (state just started one recently). So I am now re-applying this cycle with new updates to my application!

My stats:

SC Resident, URM female, BS in Biology and English. 3.7cGPA, 3.6 sci-GPA. 2.5 years of bench-research, 1 year of clinical,psychology, autism research. Lots of first-author presentations at several conferences. Wrote successful $10K grant for clinical research, academic/research awards, etc. Led a lot of clubs, worked part-time throughout undergrad, in honor society XYZ. Volunteered clinically for two summers and one summer at a local hospital. RA for pre-med students (2 yrs) and mentor to first year minority students. Other outside volunteering. Random stuffs.

Weaknesses:
At the time of application, NO SHADOWING! Didn't think much of it since I sat in on several appointments with volunteer physicians at Free Clinic. So during the spring (and this summer), shadowed OB/GYN in Miami, Cardiac surgeon, Neurologist, and Family Physician (DO). Note: although I realized that I didn't have any shadowing, the adcom member I spoke to did not even mention this as a drawback to my app. So take what you will from that.

Biggest Weakness (brought up in EVERY interview): MCAT! Scored the min for interviews and while I did have great feedback from interviewers, my score was that detrimental to my app to warrant waitlists at those schools. Studied, retook, 30R (6+jump).

Other stuff I did in the meantime:

Volunteered at two additional Free Clinics near my hometown and at the major hospital. Looked for a job in the healthcare sector (this peds clinic looks promising after interview ). Volunteered at humane society and I am currently co-writing a TV pilot for a children's science ed show.

I think the biggest thing to remember after getting the boot from schools is to call them. Ask them what went wrong in terms of not giving you an acceptance. For me, they all said my MCAT and looked forward to my app this upcoming cycle. Also, I think the one thing people don't tell you if you don't get in the first try is to not be bitter about the whole process. Applying to med school can be emotionally draining (esp if you hear of other people getting in with lower stats than yourself) and sometimes the explanations for not being admitted are somewhat....fuzzy. I'd recommend keeping the results of the process to yourself or a few people. My disappointments this year were blasted to all the pre-med underclassmen in a very big way which made the whole experience that much more horrible lol.

I'm applying to my in-state schools again with about 10 other schools and my in-state DO school.

This is essentially my exact story, minus the URM female aspect. I made a 23O last year and applied to 12 MD schools, landing two interviews and one WL. I too thought my ECs and GPA would compensate (check out my MDApps at the bottom for old GPAs). I retook and jumped to a 29Q, still not nearly what I expected or wanted, but definitely the only major thing I changed, taking me from 2 interviews last year at my state schools to 7 interviews all over the country this year and counting, as well as a somewhat early acceptance (10/23).

Other things I changed: (1) slightly edited my PS and ECs, nothing too major, (2) applied AACOMAS, AMCAS, and TMDSAS for a grand total of 34 schools. I also went from presenting a first-author national talk last year to publishing a first-author manuscript this year. I'm sure that helped with GWU.

Feel free to PM me if you have any personal questions. I'll try to keep an eye here, too, if anyone responds within the forum. Good luck everyone!

811031488s · Nov 20, 2012

Hey guys,
So since you were reapplying, how long did it take for AACOMAS to verify everything?

Guero · Nov 20, 2012

811031488s said:
Hey guys,

So since you were reapplying, how long did it take for AACOMAS to verify everything?

Reapplying doesn't affect the time it takes to verify your app. That's always a function of when you submit and how many students are in line at that time. Nevertheless, my verification timelines are in my MDApps. But the site has been down for weeks. So I haven't been able to update interviews and such. Meharry is incorrectly listed.

Sent from my BlackBerry 9800 using my crap-happy Tapatalk app

ReApp Progress 2012-2013

Courtjester8

Full Member

Courtjester8

Full Member

neural432

Full Member

skipdivided

skipdivided

Member 609482

Full Member

robertch8

Full Member

giants25

Full Member

giants25

Full Member

Member 609482

Full Member

BroPasta

New Member

uphillBattle

Full Member

giants25

Full Member

Guero

2QT2Bcis Plaidapus

811031488s

Full Member

Guero

2QT2Bcis Plaidapus

Similar threads