2nd time Reapplicant seeking advice w/school list

[redbeetle_333]

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I only got one A this cycle from a school I disliked so I ended up not going( I know this can be seen as foolish, no argument there). I am seeking advice on next steps here. Please be as honest as you kindly can because clearly I was delusional and need to hear what went wrong.

NJ resident
3.3 undergrad GPA,3.1 Science GPA w/upward trend
3.9 SMP GPA
MCAT: 504[126/122/128/128] in 2022 to 511[128/124/131/128] 2023

3000+ hrs total outpatient clinical experience,200+ hrs non medical volunteering, 200 hrs hospital volunteering, very little research experience

School list MD
Albany
Charles Drew
Rosalind Franklin
Cooper
Drexel
FIU
Geisinger
Hackesack
Temple
Loma Linda
NYMC
Nova(only MD interview to WL)
Penn state
RUsh
RWJMS
NJMS
Sidney Kimmel
Tulane

DO:
Rowan interview to WL
LECOM interview to acceptance
PCOM(ghosted)

In hindsight I shoud have applied to way more DO schools despite the financial burden. I thought my DO list was solid but I was wrong. I have yet to get clarity on what went wrong with my interviews but I will be investing time and possibly money to practicing interviews. Research is very weak but difficult to get especially out of college for a few years. I think the most realistic next step forward for me is to attain in patient clinical experience so I can get a more realistic understanding of being a physician.

My new school list will probaby be 95% DO schools that I will apply to firstand then maybe 1 or 2 MD schools(still huge maybe)

In addition to general advice about what went wrong and how I could improve I would also appreciate a new school list.

Appreciate your help thanks

 

[coffeeconnoisseur]

Research - you don't need research unless you're applying to a research heavy school.

What was the outpatient clinical work and what did it entail? 3k is near a years worth of time.

What was the hospital volunteer?

Sure your sGPA is a little lower but intelligently talking about it along with the upward trend + upward trend on MCAT makes it a bit of a moot point.

Based on your stats, your list is fine? When did you apply to these schools and how long did you take to submit secondaries? I'd argue you didn't do anything wrong, not knowing how you presented your story. You got 3 interviews which is solid. And a reapp to Nova would likely earn you an acceptance based on making the WL.

Your bigger problem on reapp is going to be having an answer to "have you ever been accepted to another school?" It's pointless/waste of money to apply to a school you don't like and have no intention of going to, even worse to accept an interview, and a massive negative up refuse an acceptance.

 

[redbeetle_333]

Research - you don't need research unless you're applying to a research heavy school.

What was the outpatient clinical work and what did it entail? 3k is near a years worth of time.

What was the hospital volunteer?

Sure your sGPA is a little lower but intelligently talking about it along with the upward trend + upward trend on MCAT makes it a bit of a moot point.

Based on your stats, your list is fine? When did you apply to these schools and how long did you take to submit secondaries? I'd argue you didn't do anything wrong, not knowing how you presented your story. You got 3 interviews which is solid. And a reapp to Nova would likely earn you an acceptance based on making the WL.

Your bigger problem on reapp is going to be having an answer to "have you ever been accepted to another school?" It's pointless/waste of money to apply to a school you don't like and have no intention of going to, even worse to accept an interview, and a massive negative up refuse an acceptance.

Outpatient clinical was medical scribe for pain management(1 year) and opthalmology technician after that (2 years)
hospital volunteer was play room volunteer for childrens hospital and non medical volunteering was soup kitchen/homeless shelter
I am not applying to that school I got accepted to again. Because of the school list I had I didnt anticipate that being my only A. On top of that when they accepted me they texted me before mispelling my name and asking for the 2000 deposit. So that to me was unprofessional thus I did not proceed with it.

I applied to every school on time the second day apps were open essentially. I am not getting clarity from most schools on what went wrong but I will find out later in July. I think my interview did not go well. Also I did not try any unique activities on top of the other stuff I was doing.

Overall its unfortunate but I want to move forward.

 

[Faha]

You are competitive for most DO schools and I suggest these:
PCOM (all schools)
ROWAN
Touro-NY
NYITCOM
MU-COM
CCOM
DMU-COM
ATSU-KCOM
KCU-COM
AZCOM
TUNCOM
CUSOM
WVSOM
UIWSOM
ACOM
WCU-COM
For MD schools I suggest these:
Your 3 New Jersey state public schools
Albany
Quinnipiac
Drexel
Eastern Virginia
George Washington
Wake Forest
Methodist (when it opens)
NOVA MD
Belmont
Alice Walton
Roseman
Ponce (St. Louis)
Rosalind Franklin
Medical College Wisconsin
Oakland Beaumont
Wayne State

 

[coffeeconnoisseur]

Outpatient clinical was medical scribe for pain management(1 year) and opthalmology technician after that (2 years)
hospital volunteer was play room volunteer for childrens hospital and non medical volunteering was soup kitchen/homeless shelter
I am not applying to that school I got accepted to again. Because of the school list I had I didnt anticipate that being my only A. On top of that when they accepted me they texted me before mispelling my name and asking for the 2000 deposit. So that to me was unprofessional thus I did not proceed with it.

I applied to every school on time the second day apps were open essentially. I am not getting clarity from most schools on what went wrong but I will find out later in July. I think my interview did not go well. Also I did not try any unique activities on top of the other stuff I was doing.

Overall its unfortunate but I want to move forward.

Yea it makes sense not to reapply to a school you don't want to go to. But, it's true that you earned 3 interviews. Your metrics are probably fine, and you applied early in the cycle.

From that sense, you can improve on the interview by reflecting on your answers, spending more time revising secondaries, etc.

You're not likely to get direct feedback from schools (too many applicants, not enough staff). And how you feel about an interview doesn't mean you did poorly. One of my acceptances was from an interview I thought was terrible. But you can still spend some time considering how best to answer. Reaching the interview stage does mean you're doing fine.

As an aside, that 2k deposit is an EXCELLENT reason to say why you refused an acceptance. You can easily justify it by saying you simply didn't have the funds.

 

[redbeetle_333]

Yea it makes sense not to reapply to a school you don't want to go to. But, it's true that you earned 3 interviews. Your metrics are probably fine, and you applied early in the cycle.

From that sense, you can improve on the interview by reflecting on your answers, spending more time revising secondaries, etc.

You're not likely to get direct feedback from schools (too many applicants, not enough staff). And how you feel about an interview doesn't mean you did poorly. One of my acceptances was from an interview I thought was terrible. But you can still spend some time considering how best to answer. Reaching the interview stage does mean you're doing fine.

As an aside, that 2k deposit is an EXCELLENT reason to say why you refused an acceptance. You can easily justify it by saying you simply didn't have the funds.

Would u say additionally having more clinical experience on the in patient side would help ?

 

[Wamuu]

Would u say additionally having more clinical experience on the in patient side would help ?

Not the person you asked at all, but I am someone who will have about 5,000 hours across the span of 3 total years in inpatient medicine. The answer is yes, it can help, because depending on what you're doing, you will see people from all walks of life. You gain a unique perspective on the medical system as a whole, you get to understand the roles everyone plays from top to bottom, you connect with professionals that want to see you succeed, and build stories from experiences that ADCOMs want to hear.

Of course, I think that you can get away with outpatient work too as a good number of folks work as MAs, EMT, etc.. but I was someone who got into it as a means of accruing hours for PA school and one year in decided I needed more. So, it can also help you figure out whether the field is for you or not. As a bonus, I have done things many people wouldn't want to do and it's thickened my skin quite a bit, so I have a leg up.

 

[redbeetle_333]

Not the person you asked at all, but I am someone who will have about 5,000 hours across the span of 3 total years in inpatient medicine. The answer is yes, it can help, because depending on what you're doing, you will see people from all walks of life. You gain a unique perspective on the medical system as a whole, you get to understand the roles everyone plays from top to bottom, you connect with professionals that want to see you succeed, and build stories from experiences that ADCOMs want to hear.

Of course, I think that you can get away with outpatient work too as a good number of folks work as MAs, EMT, etc.. but I was someone who got into it as a means of accruing hours for PA school and one year in decided I needed more. So, it can also help you figure out whether the field is for you or not. As a bonus, I have done things many people wouldn't want to do and it's thickened my skin quite a bit, so I have a leg up.

Thanks for your insight I appreciate it.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

What do your SMP faculty think?

 

[redbeetle_333]

What do your SMP faculty think?

I guess I should reach out and take their input but they are hard to reach and I'm in a bit of a time crunch

 

[Mr.Smile12]

I guess I should reach out and take their input but they are hard to reach and I'm in a bit of a time crunch

Considering you may have told them you got accepted and are now deciding to turn it down, they would like to keep their "stats" regarding admitting people into medical school up. You might still be counted as an admissions "success" even if you don't win up taking the A you were offered... but then they would need to support you for another cycle. That's why I was curious how they took your news that you were reapplying.

 

[redbeetle_333]

Considering you may have told them you got accepted and are now deciding to turn it down, they would like to keep their "stats" regarding admitting people into medical school up. You might still be counted as an admissions "success" even if you don't win up taking the A you were offered... but then they would need to support you for another cycle. That's why I was curious how they took your news that you were reapplying.

I am in touch with them for my letters so they are still supporting

 

[Goro]

You are competitive for most DO schools and I suggest these:
PCOM (all schools)
ROWAN
Touro-NY
NYITCOM
MU-COM
CCOM
DMU-COM
ATSU-KCOM
KCU-COM
AZCOM
TUNCOM
CUSOM
WVSOM
UIWSOM
ACOM
WCU-COM
For MD schools I suggest these:
Your 3 New Jersey state public schools
Albany
Quinnipiac
Drexel
Eastern Virginia
George Washington
Wake Forest
Methodist (when it opens)
NOVA MD
Belmont
Alice Walton
Roseman
Ponce (St. Louis)
Rosalind Franklin
Medical College Wisconsin
Oakland Beaumont
Wayne State

Agree with the list of the wise Faha