stop it i'm crying this was so sweet. thank you for taking the time to reply
inspiring to hear from someone in the same boat as me still chugging along. i also think it's important to consider, and hopefully they will, the immense personal growth/maturation that comes along with a few gap years. and as far the personal experiences you've mentioned, i think that just speaks to how compassionate and empathetic of an individual you are- something so invaluable when it comes to the career path we've chosen. and i'll think they'll recognize that in you! as far as the MCAT goes, congratulations first off that's score is indicative of incredibly hard work. i'm not sure when you took it, but if you're in the same boat as me: it was recently enough for the majority of the content to still be fresh in my brain, so as i see it there's no harm in maybe doing some light studying/daily brushing up and possibly taking it again by january (would still be within the DO range for this cycle, would put us back a cycle for MD tho) while we wait to hear back, but like why not. definitely an option if we feel like we can get an even better score-and maybe take some of the pressure off our lower tier GPAs. regardless: you've made it this far and that's something to be so so proud of. wishing you ALL the luck, keep me posted!
**also disclaimer: when i say definitely an option to retake, i didn't even realize how much of a privilege it is that i can re-register for the exam and uworld (thank u nana :'). this process is so expensive :')**
- a hopefully future UB classmate!