My cycle isnt over yet but I want advice on what to do if it doesnt go as planned. I had 2 II with 1 WL and waiting to hear from the other. I applied to a lot of schools where I had no chance (my dad kinda pushed me to add the top schools cuz he said "you dont know unless you try") and ended up doing 38 secondaries. I have put in bold the changes I have made over my gap year to strengthen my app and have also gotten comments from a top 10 adcom as to what to work on but she didnt give any advice on when to apply again.
-23, While male, LGBT, Rural/Underserved Ohio, current 1st gap year at well known state school
-505 (128/123/128/126)-->511 (130/126/128/127)
-3.61cGPA/3.45sGPA.
-cGPA Trend: 3.77 in post secondary-->3.25 avg first 2 years at my main school-->3.82 my last 2 years
-sGPA trend: 3.80 in post secondary-->3.11 avg first 2 years at my main school-->3.78 my last 2 years
-Research: none on primary-->approx 1200 hours paid clinical research in high visibility radiology lab, 1 abstract at an international conference
-Shadowing: (46 total, 16 on primary) 16 General surgery, 5 Allergist, 10 Ortho Surgery, 10 Gen Surgery, 5 endocrinologist, will be adding at least 10 hours of IM
-Non Clinical Volunteering: 15 hours red cross outreach, 100 hours LGBT Youth Center helping with trans/queer youth with some experiencing homelessness, 20 hours HIV community outreach, outreach during Gay Pride events
-Clinical volunteering: 15 hours scribe at free clinic (may start again next week, 30 more hours by next app), 80 hours hospital ambassador/transporter, 30 hours ortho floor nurse aid, 30 hours HIV testing (added about 100 more hours to this, would add 30 hours by next app)
Leadership: 20 hours as mentor to LGBT undergrad student, various training positions at jobs Ive had (forgot to put the jobs on app), Lead for 1 trail and sub lead for 2 trials at current job where I have UG students working on the trial and am corresponding with institutions from all over the country.
-Hobbies: Snowboarding (USASA affiliated team), yoga, skateboarding, photography for 10+ years, bodybuilding, running. Probably like 3000 hours total.
-Awards: Small scholarship from hs cross country team, Honors society while in post secondary, deans list 2 years post secondary, 1.5 years at main school, cum laude graduate.
-LORS: Gen bio professor and gen chem professor (both know me very well), associate dean of me school here (transferred to top 5 school), PI at current job (may add other PI and youth center coordinator letters and see if I can get a non science professor who taught me)
-School list:
-Rejected: Columbia, Cornell, UCSF, UMich, Georgetown, Vandy, Indiana, UChicago, MCW, Vermont, Geisel, Hofstra, Mt Sinai, SUNY Down, NYMC, Temple, USC, Colorado, Utah, Mayo AZ, Mayo, Cinci, CCLCM, Case, Wayne State, Wright State, Pitt, BU, Tufts, Emory
-Silence: OSU, Toledo, Jefferson, GW, UCLA, Rosalind, Einstein
-Interviewed: NEOMED (WL), Drexel (waiting to hear)
This is basically what I got from the top 10 adcom:
-Some ECs seemed to be "checking boxes" such as low hours and low commitment. Said to work on ECs and being able to convey what I got out of them (I mostly just said what my role was, not how it gave me any perspective or anything)
-PS said "why medicine" but said it took her a while to get to find it so to make it more apparent sooner
-Stats are competitive and she doesnt advise a MCAT retake
-My experiences over the gap year have been significant and show long term commitment to few activities instead of low commitment to a lot
-Apply earlier. I submitted primary on 6/28 and was verified by 7/27 (the school that gave me feedback I had in that day but most were done before 8/10)
Im having a hard time deciding if my application will be strong enough now that I have had all of these experiences over my gap year (all 3 will now be my MMEs for sure) will be enough to warrant a reapp this cycle. I am still working on getting some more shadowing especially in primary care and think these activities will benefit from being on my primary instead of updates sent in Nov/Jan. If I have to reapply, I will be focusing on mostly mid/low tier along with a reach or 2 but will probably stick to 25 schools and do away with schools like Columbia/Vandy/Cornell/UChicago/etc. I want to stay in/near a large city which is why you dont see many schools in rural/suburban areas.
EDIT: Also another dilemma is that the WL school tends to pull from the WL in July/August and I would have my primary and secondaries in by then. Would it look bad to decline the acceptance if it is offered after I have reapplied? I know declining an offer is seen as a red flag but if I have gone through with applying again and have committed to another cycle, would this still be a red flag?
-23, While male, LGBT, Rural/Underserved Ohio, current 1st gap year at well known state school
-505 (128/123/128/126)-->511 (130/126/128/127)
-3.61cGPA/3.45sGPA.
-cGPA Trend: 3.77 in post secondary-->3.25 avg first 2 years at my main school-->3.82 my last 2 years
-sGPA trend: 3.80 in post secondary-->3.11 avg first 2 years at my main school-->3.78 my last 2 years
-Research: none on primary-->approx 1200 hours paid clinical research in high visibility radiology lab, 1 abstract at an international conference
-Shadowing: (46 total, 16 on primary) 16 General surgery, 5 Allergist, 10 Ortho Surgery, 10 Gen Surgery, 5 endocrinologist, will be adding at least 10 hours of IM
-Non Clinical Volunteering: 15 hours red cross outreach, 100 hours LGBT Youth Center helping with trans/queer youth with some experiencing homelessness, 20 hours HIV community outreach, outreach during Gay Pride events
-Clinical volunteering: 15 hours scribe at free clinic (may start again next week, 30 more hours by next app), 80 hours hospital ambassador/transporter, 30 hours ortho floor nurse aid, 30 hours HIV testing (added about 100 more hours to this, would add 30 hours by next app)
Leadership: 20 hours as mentor to LGBT undergrad student, various training positions at jobs Ive had (forgot to put the jobs on app), Lead for 1 trail and sub lead for 2 trials at current job where I have UG students working on the trial and am corresponding with institutions from all over the country.
-Hobbies: Snowboarding (USASA affiliated team), yoga, skateboarding, photography for 10+ years, bodybuilding, running. Probably like 3000 hours total.
-Awards: Small scholarship from hs cross country team, Honors society while in post secondary, deans list 2 years post secondary, 1.5 years at main school, cum laude graduate.
-LORS: Gen bio professor and gen chem professor (both know me very well), associate dean of me school here (transferred to top 5 school), PI at current job (may add other PI and youth center coordinator letters and see if I can get a non science professor who taught me)
-School list:
-Rejected: Columbia, Cornell, UCSF, UMich, Georgetown, Vandy, Indiana, UChicago, MCW, Vermont, Geisel, Hofstra, Mt Sinai, SUNY Down, NYMC, Temple, USC, Colorado, Utah, Mayo AZ, Mayo, Cinci, CCLCM, Case, Wayne State, Wright State, Pitt, BU, Tufts, Emory
-Silence: OSU, Toledo, Jefferson, GW, UCLA, Rosalind, Einstein
-Interviewed: NEOMED (WL), Drexel (waiting to hear)
This is basically what I got from the top 10 adcom:
-Some ECs seemed to be "checking boxes" such as low hours and low commitment. Said to work on ECs and being able to convey what I got out of them (I mostly just said what my role was, not how it gave me any perspective or anything)
-PS said "why medicine" but said it took her a while to get to find it so to make it more apparent sooner
-Stats are competitive and she doesnt advise a MCAT retake
-My experiences over the gap year have been significant and show long term commitment to few activities instead of low commitment to a lot
-Apply earlier. I submitted primary on 6/28 and was verified by 7/27 (the school that gave me feedback I had in that day but most were done before 8/10)
Im having a hard time deciding if my application will be strong enough now that I have had all of these experiences over my gap year (all 3 will now be my MMEs for sure) will be enough to warrant a reapp this cycle. I am still working on getting some more shadowing especially in primary care and think these activities will benefit from being on my primary instead of updates sent in Nov/Jan. If I have to reapply, I will be focusing on mostly mid/low tier along with a reach or 2 but will probably stick to 25 schools and do away with schools like Columbia/Vandy/Cornell/UChicago/etc. I want to stay in/near a large city which is why you dont see many schools in rural/suburban areas.
EDIT: Also another dilemma is that the WL school tends to pull from the WL in July/August and I would have my primary and secondaries in by then. Would it look bad to decline the acceptance if it is offered after I have reapplied? I know declining an offer is seen as a red flag but if I have gone through with applying again and have committed to another cycle, would this still be a red flag?
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