2nd time applicant, rejected again... next year?

[WoWdoc]

This is my second year in a row to try to get into medical school... and to fail. Can you guys help me to identify where in my application I am deficient, and what I should work on next time around?

MCAT: 31m (10 bio 8 phys 13 VR)
GPA: 3.91 BS in Biology
EC: Treasurer Pre-Med Club, Member Biological Honor Society, Vice President of of Hall government, Teaching assistant (1 year), Undergraduate research (1 summer semester, 1 spring semester), Regular Blood Donor

Clinical experience: 6mo volunteering in an ER, 21mo as a registration clerk in the same emergency room

Applied: University of Arkansas Medical Sciences 2 times, OU, Tulane, University of Missouri at Columbia, USUHS

I realize that I haven't really applied to a ton of schools. I just don't have the money. My parents went bankrupt when I was in college. I haven't had a "great paying" job, and I had to buy a new car right before the application season this cycle because my sister totaled the one I was going to use.

I'm considering retaking the MCAT. I only took it once, and got that score. Its been years since I took general chem or physics, but I'm hoping to do better on the physical science part this time around.

Any other suggestions?

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[IRpremed]

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[MiniMoo]

So how many schools exactly did you apply to? Just those 5? Yeah you really should apply more broadly.

Retaking the MCAT could strengthen your application if you can get at least a 9-10 in each subsection. Yes, the 8 in PS is low, but it's still above the 10th percentile for accepted students at University of Arkansas (I'm assuming that's your state school?). And your GPA is a lot higher than their median. Did you get an interview at UA at least? And did you get any feedback from schools on why you were rejected?

Also, have you looked into applying for the AAMC Fee Assistance Program? If you qualify, that could really help. Otherwise, I've heard of people taking out loans just to apply to medical school. Yes, it sucks, but you're going to have to take out loans for tuition regardless. Not to mention that getting accepted would save you the cost of having to apply again.

 

[J ROD]

Your number look fine....the problem I see is the lack of clinical experience and other ECs.

Also, could be LORs, PS

 

[Catalystik]

Did you call schools that rejected you to get feedback on what you could do to improve your application? This is a good way to get a hint about red flag LORs, weak PS, poor interview skills, or an essential EC that you overlooked, etc.

 

[illegallysmooth]

The problem is your list of schools. If you had applied to 15 schools, broadly, i think you would have had multiple interviews. I know the financial burden is tough. Continue to work in a clinical setting, save money and apply again. Add a few DO schools if you can't apply to more than 8 or 10.

 

[drizzt3117]

Isn't it more expensive to keep applying and not getting in and wasting time than doing it right the first time?

 

[88pich14]

make sure you apply early too

 

[J ROD]

Def call the schools and ask....

 

[WoWdoc]

So is the consensus that I should not retake my MCAT, just apply more broadly and work on my ECs/LORs? I took the MCAT March of 08' so it should still be good for another cycle right?

 

[J ROD]

So is the consensus that I should not retake my MCAT, just apply more broadly and work on my ECs/LORs? I took the MCAT March of 08' so it should still be good for another cycle right?

there is another thread going right now talking about this exact subject....

it depends and schools seem to have different dates....

 

[MiniMoo]

there is another thread going right now talking about this exact subject....

it depends and schools seem to have different dates....

Here's a response I wrote to someone asking if their January 2008 MCAT was still valid:

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showpost.php?p=9356134&postcount=7

So for University of Arkansas, your MCAT would likely be expired for next cycle.

 

[Bernoull]

This is my second year in a row to try to get into medical school... and to fail. Can you guys help me to identify where in my application I am deficient, and what I should work on next time around?

MCAT: 31m (10 bio 8 phys 13 VR)
GPA: 3.91 BS in Biology
EC: Treasurer Pre-Med Club, Member Biological Honor Society, Vice President of of Hall government, Teaching assistant (1 year), Undergraduate research (1 summer semester, 1 spring semester), Regular Blood Donor

Clinical experience: 6mo volunteering in an ER, 21mo as a registration clerk in the same emergency room

Applied: University of Arkansas Medical Sciences 2 times, OU, Tulane, University of Missouri at Columbia, USUHS

I realize that I haven't really applied to a ton of schools. I just don't have the money. My parents went bankrupt when I was in college. I haven't had a "great paying" job, and I had to buy a new car right before the application season this cycle because my sister totaled the one I was going to use.

I'm considering retaking the MCAT. I only took it once, and got that score. Its been years since I took general chem or physics, but I'm hoping to do better on the physical science part this time around.

Any other suggestions?

If you are still in school, take out loans and apply to more schools. See if you qualify for AMCAS fee waiver. U're numbers and good enough to get in somewhere. Rack up more clinical hours, shadow if u can, apply earlier and to minimum 20 schools!!

It's an expensive proposition, applying to med sch that is, but the opportunity cost of not matriculating for 2-3 yrs is much higher (think about future income that's foregone...)

 

[MilkmanAl]

UAMS will definitely tell you what they didn't like about your app. Mr. South was very frank about how much my GPA sucked (and was also fairly transparent about how likely I was to get in off the waitlist, in retrospect).

I'm really not sure what went wrong with your app. An 8 in PS is a tad low, but it's not crippling. I can't see why that'd get you tossed out without an interview. I guess your essays or LOR's were mediocre. That's really the only thing that stands out as a possibility unless you can get some feedback about blowing interviews.

 

[WoWdoc]

I interviewed twice at UAMS. Also was granted interviews at USUHS, and University of Missouri at Columbia (Mizzou).

Flat out rejection from everywhere except Mizzou. There I'm waitlisted, but in the bottom third of the waitlist so matriculation is highly unlikely.

 

[MiniMoo]

I interviewed twice at UAMS. Also was granted interviews at USUHS, and University of Missouri at Columbia (Mizzou).

Flat out rejection from everywhere except Mizzou. There I'm waitlisted, but in the bottom third of the waitlist so matriculation is highly unlikely.

I'd highly recommend contacting the schools that rejected you to get feedback on your app. You got an interview, so the 8 in PS didn't kill you, something else did.

 

[J ROD]

Call the schools...

 

[WoWdoc]

I've gotten into contact with most of the schools. However, my MCAT score is too old for next season for most of them so I will have to take it regardless. Started study yesterday for the June mcat! Hoping for a 35 this time.
With two years of working in an ER under my belt do you think that is enough clinical experience? It's just that my pay kinda blows. I really need to try and make more than 22k this year if I can, and the hospital just isn't the place to do it.

 

[Catalystik]

Getting any kind of job is fine, so long as you keep your hand in, clinically-speaking, with a volunteer position giving you patient contact for 2-4 hours per week. I don't really see nonmedical community service, which you should have been doing while working in the ER. You might want to get that started now. And you do have physican shadowing, right?

 

[WoWdoc]

Getting any kind of job is fine, so long as you keep your hand in, clinically-speaking, with a volunteer position giving you patient contact for 2-4 hours per week. I don't really see nonmedical community service, which you should have been doing while working in the ER. You might want to get that started now. And you do have physican shadowing, right?

I've got little small community service type things that I'm not sure how to put on the application. For instance I volunteered twice at pancake breakfasts to raise money for saint judes. Is that EC in an of itself even worth noting on the application? When it comes to shadowing doctors I don't have any hours dedicated to shadowing per say. The problem is everywhere I've ever called has told me no on grounds of a HIPA violation. However I really want to go EM. I volunteered at my ER for six months, before I got hired on. I've worked there for close to two years now. The entire time the doctors have been aware of my ambitions. They let me in the room with them when I have time to observe them in action. Does that count as shadowing? Would it be fair to include on the application the procedures I've been able to observe as an additional EC as they don't have anything to do with my job, but they happen while I'm at work. For example, its my primary job function to input insurance information. If a doctor lets me into the room while he's reinserting a peg tube, and I'm on the clock could that be included as an additional EC?

 

[Catalystik]

Yes, that counts as shadowing. You'll need to extract the number of hours you've done that and list it separately.

All the short-term community service can be listed in one slot (you can name it short-term volunteerism). You really need something regular though as it's not going to be enough.

You might consider volunteering to help in a private doc's office with the understanding that you'd get to do some shadowing, too.

 

[WoWdoc]

So for University of Arkansas, your MCAT would likely be expired for next cycle.

I'm in luck. My score was from 04/08. It will still be accepted by Arkansas

Here's my plan. I'm gonna study like I don't have a 31 right up until June. Take a pretest and see how I score. If I get a +35 I'll go ahead and take the June 17th exam. If I'm not doing so hot I'll just stick with the 31.

I found a thread which links to all the secondary's from last year. I plan on figuring out which schools I'm interested in now, and having the secondary essays ready to go by June.

Also, gonna apply to some DO schools while I'm at it this year.
In the meantime I've made arrangements to shadow a few doctors of the doctors I work with at their other clinics.

As SDN as my witness I WILL be accepted with the class of 2015!

 

[Morsetlis]

The pre-med EC's to aim for include clinical experience, volunteering, and research. You're very light on volunteering and research and are average on clinical. Your GPA is great! But your MCAT is just average for matriculants. There's also club leadership, which is nice. I frankly think your problem is that you didn't apply broadly enough!

 

[Catalystik]

As SDN as my witness I WILL be accepted with the class of 2015!

So witnessed. Report back.