Hey, does anyone have any experience with using a medical school application counseling service? I was hoping to get some help with the reapplication process, but as most of them are crazy expensive, was wondering if anyone found it really helpful and would recommend it.
Not worth it.
1) redo your school list. The more schools you apply to the better. I got an interview at the school I considered my most reach on my list. You never know. Use msar in a very detailed manner.
2) reach out to every school that you applied to. See if any will give feedback. I had my Virginia state schools say yes, Loyola, a few D.O. schools, NYMC gave me some advice. At two of my state schools I got feedback from the dean of admissions. At one I chose to go in person, the dean sat for 45 minutes and read through my new primary giving me handwritten feedback. And him telling me exactly what the committee looks for. That’s some good ****.
3) rewrite everything. Rewrite your personal statement. You can keep stories but make sure you have a strong story, have a detailed reflection, and a clear reason why you want to be a doctor. Having a target population you want to help that you’ve Identified in your interests and activities can be a good way to round it out.
4) get new / updated letters of rec. i got rid of two, had two much better ones added from new mentors/ experiences during my gap year. I also had many of my old letter writers rewrite the date and add a sentence or two. My pre health committee letter was updated by my school.
5) rewrite all of your activities. This is a huge chance for you to redefine who you are as an applicant. 1st it’s March. You have until June 1st to add new activities. I was able to volunteer more, get a different job, and just add in 2 or 3 more activities to my list of 15. I regrouped things like grouping all my shadowing together. I grouped my non clinical volunteering together and had a little blurb. I changed which 3 activities were my most meaningful and I rewrote all of them. Obviously you can keep some from the last app but change it up enough, reflect more and find a new purpose. Some of the feedback that i got was to add in 1 or 2 hobbies. I got that at every school. You can waste one activity on hobbies, schools loved to know I coached sports and cooked.
6) identify the schools that repeat their secondary so that you can prewrite them. You can even ****ing start now it’s never too early. For me once MAY 1st came around I was in full reapp mode. Flipped a switch that night. So rewrite your personal statement. Rewrite your activities and have your primary done by June 1. Most secondaries come out mid July. A few come early July even late June. I prioritized the schools I had gotten interviews at my first unsuccessful cycle and the rest of my Virginia state schools. From there I targeted schools with longer secondaries, earlier deadlines, and a huge mission fit with me. I used my app as a real demonstration of the mission I had towards caring for certain underserved populations. It’s no mistake I got II at Drexel, rush and Loyola. They’re all hugely mission driven with a focus on community service.
7. You are going to be asked an incredibly important question in every. Single. Secondary:
If you’re a reapplicant: what have you done to improve your application.
You’re going to get a version of that question and you need to KILL IT. So you need to find a new gap year job. At least just have it you can project hours out and don’t even need to have started. You need a really impressive answer with this. This is the bread and butter of ur reapp file one of the most important aspects.
7. THE MOST IMPORTANT THING YOU CAN DO IN THE WHOLE PROCESS. is you need to APPLY EARLY. It is truly the only real tangible thing you can do that actually gives you an advantage. Loyola for example was giving people interviews In January to still July applicants. Tulane only really takes early applicants. These are extreme examples but it’s true at every school there are simply more interviews to be given the earlier you apply. You apply early there are more seats to be given. If you’re deferred they will view your app more times. It’s good all around.
Don’t dm me cause I’m super busy right now with the corona bull**** but I hope this helps a little. Don’t buy the services be genuine.