This may be a bit premature since I am waiting for a school to get back to me. Nevertheless, I have a strong feeling I am going to have to reapply a 3rd time. I thought I had fixed most of my problems and I'm not exactly sure what to do at this point.
I have a 3.70 cumulative GPA/3.69 science GPA and a 33 MCAT (10 PS, 11 VR and 12 BS). I also have 4 years of volunteering in the hospital (4hrs/week), 1 year of hospice volunteering (4hrs/week), 30 hrs of shadowing, 1 summer chem lab internship and 1/2 a year of tutoring when I applied last year.
This year I worked as an english teacher in China (which was one of the best experiences I've ever had). Now that I am back in the states, I'm starting to shadow another doctor and I'm working as a SAT tutor at a learning center. All in all, I interviewed at only 2 schools. I've been waitlisted at one, and I'm still waiting for the decision at the other. To be honest, I thought this was going to be my year and I'm crushed at the thought of having to reapply again.
The first time I applied, I had a poor MCAT of 29. I applied late and didn't write the best personal statement. This cycle I made sure I applied early and broadly (to 25 schools), and submitted my primary in June. I didn't have access to internet in July when I was in China, however, I got most of my secondaries sent in by August and September.
Now looking back, I'm trying really hard to think what I could've done differently. I know one thing I can improve on is sending all my secondaries in July but I don't believe August/ September is late enough to warrant such few interviews. I thought perhaps my personal statement wasn't strong, however, the first thing one of my interviewers told me was how great my PS was and how it was one of his favorites. I thought about my interviewing skills nevertheless that wouldn't explain why I only received 2 interviews.
There has to be a major red flag somewhere and I can't put my finger on it. I'm starting to suspect it is my recommendations (my non-science rec is from a professor I didn't know well and I never really got close to any of the faculty). However, now that I've been out of school for a while, is there anything I can do to procure a new recommendation? I've arranged to talk to 2 of the admission officers (at schools I've been rejected at), so maybe I can figure more out.
I'm sure another thing I could've improved on is sending updates out earlier. Schools didn't know I was abroad until November. Another weakness I have is the lack of meaningful research (I got asked about why I didn't do research during my interviews).
Still, I am not sure what I should do at this point. I haven't had any luck so far in finding a meaningful research job due to my lack of experience (plus my current job pays well). Obviously, I am going to apply to D.O. schools this time and I'm shadowing D.O.s. A part of me wants to go back and teach English in China (since it was such a great experience and made great conversation material during the interviews). However, going overseas probably wouldn't demonstrate a commitment to medicine.
All in all, I feel a bit lost and I am paranoid that I won't even get into a D.O school. What course of action do you guys thing I should take? Any advice or opinions would be helpful.
I have a 3.70 cumulative GPA/3.69 science GPA and a 33 MCAT (10 PS, 11 VR and 12 BS). I also have 4 years of volunteering in the hospital (4hrs/week), 1 year of hospice volunteering (4hrs/week), 30 hrs of shadowing, 1 summer chem lab internship and 1/2 a year of tutoring when I applied last year.
This year I worked as an english teacher in China (which was one of the best experiences I've ever had). Now that I am back in the states, I'm starting to shadow another doctor and I'm working as a SAT tutor at a learning center. All in all, I interviewed at only 2 schools. I've been waitlisted at one, and I'm still waiting for the decision at the other. To be honest, I thought this was going to be my year and I'm crushed at the thought of having to reapply again.
The first time I applied, I had a poor MCAT of 29. I applied late and didn't write the best personal statement. This cycle I made sure I applied early and broadly (to 25 schools), and submitted my primary in June. I didn't have access to internet in July when I was in China, however, I got most of my secondaries sent in by August and September.
Now looking back, I'm trying really hard to think what I could've done differently. I know one thing I can improve on is sending all my secondaries in July but I don't believe August/ September is late enough to warrant such few interviews. I thought perhaps my personal statement wasn't strong, however, the first thing one of my interviewers told me was how great my PS was and how it was one of his favorites. I thought about my interviewing skills nevertheless that wouldn't explain why I only received 2 interviews.
There has to be a major red flag somewhere and I can't put my finger on it. I'm starting to suspect it is my recommendations (my non-science rec is from a professor I didn't know well and I never really got close to any of the faculty). However, now that I've been out of school for a while, is there anything I can do to procure a new recommendation? I've arranged to talk to 2 of the admission officers (at schools I've been rejected at), so maybe I can figure more out.
I'm sure another thing I could've improved on is sending updates out earlier. Schools didn't know I was abroad until November. Another weakness I have is the lack of meaningful research (I got asked about why I didn't do research during my interviews).
Still, I am not sure what I should do at this point. I haven't had any luck so far in finding a meaningful research job due to my lack of experience (plus my current job pays well). Obviously, I am going to apply to D.O. schools this time and I'm shadowing D.O.s. A part of me wants to go back and teach English in China (since it was such a great experience and made great conversation material during the interviews). However, going overseas probably wouldn't demonstrate a commitment to medicine.
All in all, I feel a bit lost and I am paranoid that I won't even get into a D.O school. What course of action do you guys thing I should take? Any advice or opinions would be helpful.