3rd time reapplicant

[RJ McReady]

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It is honestly terrifying to me that someone with a 4.0 and 519 can’t get into med school after two cycles.

 

[Vivladi]

It is honestly terrifying to me that someone with a 4.0 and 519 can’t get into med school after two cycles.

Again, I was hampered by a relative lack of clinical experience as well as not having a particularly great selection of schools in my geographic radius in relation to what I had on my application. It can arguably be said that at least one of those cycles I should not have applied, if not possibly both.

Almost no one is going to be excellent or even great in every category that is important to adcoms, you just have to try to suss out what your strengths are and target schools that are willing to provide particular weight to those in their considerations (then add some more for extra statistical advantage). I obviously don't know what your application is like, but just because I didn't get in with great on paper stats doesn't mean you wont get in if you don't have those stats, so don't despair too early. Its a naturally scary process

 

[chlorocruorin]

Do you have any volunteering in underserved communities? Also does your PS come off as arrogant and self-serving? Your problem may be that adcoms can’t get a grip on who you are as a human instead of being just a good test taker. Also, due to your small school list You may able be getting yield protected by the smaller state schools and mission protected by the bigger named schools too. You need to devise a POA when applying. I feel like you were almost winging it. Adcoms can see through that.

 

[RJ McReady]

Again, I was hampered by a relative lack of clinical experience as well as not having a particularly great selection of schools in my geographic radius in relation to what I had on my application. It can arguably be said that at least one of those cycles I should not have applied, if not possibly both


I get it. Be that as it may, I think a lot of it is just bad luck. I feel bad for you having to go through this s*** again but I admire your perseverance. I don’t think I could do it. I really hope you’re successful this time and wish you the best.

 

[Vivladi]

Do you have any volunteering in underserved communities? Also does your PS come off as arrogant and self-serving? Your problem may be that adcoms can’t get a grip on who you are as a human instead of being just a good test taker. Also, due to your small school list You may able be getting yield protected by the smaller state schools and mission protected by the bigger named schools too. You need to devise a POA when applying. I feel like you were almost winging it. Adcoms can see through that.

Thank you for the advice. I think that my PS is pretty sincere and explanatory, my reasoning being that my undergrad has multiple absolutely killer advisers whose services I'm still able to use and I've spent a long time working on that statement with a number of them. This is definitely my strongest and most coherent application so at this point I'll do my best and see what happens. I'm satisfied with the 23 schools on my list at this point.

 

[Faha]

Okay I'll add both Boston and Washington, thank you; this is exactly the kind of stuff I was hoping to get out of this thread. I was initially nervous to apply to Boston because it seems like it receives a lot of applications and has higher stats comparative to others

To be clear, this is Washington in St. Louis, correct?

Yes, Washington University in St. Louis.

 

[Vivladi]

Yes, Washington University in St. Louis.

Great. Thank you Faha, the school/# of school suggestions you've made have been a big help, I appreciate it.

At this point I think I've gotten what I need out of this thread, so I'll probably ghost it.

Thank you again everyone for both the comments and criticisms.

 

[RJ McReady]

I’d suggest adding creighton, Rosalind Franklin, wake forest, and Vermont

 

[Vivladi]

I’d suggest adding creighton, Rosalind Franklin, wake forest, and Vermont

Already have Wake
Creighton/Rosalind have service requirements/heavily favor service. I don't have a non-science faculty letter for Vermont

 

[RJ McReady]

I think your stats make up for lack of service. And if you write secondaries on what you’re doing this year to improve service it shouldn’t matter.
I didn’t apply to Vermont so idk but Is the non sci faculty letter a hard requirement?

 

[Goro]

It is honestly terrifying to me that someone with a 4.0 and 519 can’t get into med school after two cycles.

Stats get you to the door; ECs get you through.

I get it. Be that as it may, I think a lot of it is just bad luck. I feel bad for you having to go through this s*** again but I admire your perseverance. I don’t think I could do it. I really hope you’re successful this time and wish you the best.

This has nothing to do with luck, and everything to do with poor choices.

I think your stats make up for lack of service.
The OP's track record would say otherwise.

We're also not looking for merely for good medical students, we're looking for people who will make good doctors, and 4.0 GPA robots are a dime-a-dozen.

I've seen plenty of posts here from high GPA/high MCAT candidates who were rejected because they had little patient contact experience.

 

[Vivladi]

Stats get you to the door; ECs get you through.

This has nothing to do with luck, and everything to do with poor choices.

I think your stats make up for lack of service.
The OP's track record would say otherwise.

We're also not looking for merely for good medical students, we're looking for people who will make good doctors, and 4.0 GPA robots are a dime-a-dozen.

I've seen plenty of posts here from high GPA/high MCAT candidates who were rejected because they had little patient contact experience.

Rather presumptuous categorizing people like me as robots.
The problems in my application have been duly noted, Goro, and RJ was obviously only offering words of encouragement.
You don't need to shut down a gesture of empathy by pointing out how much you think I've screwed up.

 

[RJ McReady]

2 publications (not primary author), ~100 hrs clinical volunteering and shadowing, full year of working as a clinical research tech, ~250 hours non clinical volunteering, long term involvement in a professional chemistry fraternity,

I think @ Goro 's intentions are only to help. He/she is a stand up guy who i think would do anything to help people get into a medical school.
But from your original post, Im no expert obviously but I think those are not bad EC's...? I mean how much more can schools expect, really?

 

[Vivladi]

I think @ Goro 's intentions are only to help. He/she is a stand up guy who i think would do anything to help people get into a medical school.
But from your original post, Im no expert obviously but I think those are not bad EC's...? I mean how much more can schools expect, really?

Just try your best, RJ. Put forth a good faith effort into acquiring and building up your experiences. No stories or advice or evaluations on this site will tell you whether you'll actually get in.

 

[RJ McReady]

Thanks vivladi,
I'll be fine. I'm not worried about myself but rather, just wondering with your EC's and stats why you or other high stat applicants havent been successful.

 

[Goro]

Rather presumptuous categorizing people like me as robots.
The problems in my application have been duly noted, Goro, and RJ was obviously only offering words of encouragement.
You don't need to shut down a gesture of empathy by pointing out how much you think I've screwed up.

I'm not saying you were those people, but you haven't interviewed with them either. I have. My comments were directed at him, not you!

 

[MyOdyssey]

@Vivladi Northwestern, U Chicago, Duke and Vanderbilt are other schools where your profile might really fit in insofar as your stats are competitive there, they like high stats and lots of research and they're not quite like Penn, UCSF, Harvard, Stanford, Hopkins in requiring such exquisite ECs on top of all that. High GPA/high MCAT applicants who post reapplicant threads here typically apply too low, to too few and have too little clinical/nonclinical volunteering.

Just keep in mind that LizzyM has posted on more than one occasion that a 3.9+ GPA, 520+ MCAT candidate has the stats to apply anywhere. Best of luck. Hopefully, you'll report back in several months with good news.

 

[DirtyNewYorker]

I’m not sure what to tell you boss TBH. Your clinical hours are good, good stats, good research. I would have suspected you to be well on your way to a T20. Only advise I can give to you is apply to some DOs this cycle so your MCAT doesn’t expire. I’ve known literally so many students get into medical school with less than you. It’s puzzling

 

[deleted966008]

I’m not sure what to tell you boss TBH. Your clinical hours are good, good stats, good research. I would have suspected you to be well on your way to a T20. Only advise I can give to you is apply to some DOs this cycle so your MCAT doesn’t expire. I’ve known literally so many students get into medical school with less than you. It’s puzzling

It has to be interviews. Not saying OP is a bad interviewer - maybe they’re just not getting interviewers who they connect well with, but something is wrong regardless. Wisconsin is generally very friendly to its residents

 

[candbgirl]

I think your stats make up for lack of service. And if you write secondaries on what you’re doing this year to improve service it shouldn’t matter.
I didn’t apply to Vermont so idk but Is the non sci faculty letter a hard requirement?

His stats haven't made up for lack of service in the past two cycles. Why would they now?

 

[candbgirl]

It has to be interviews. Not saying OP is a bad interviewer - maybe they’re just not getting interviewers who they connect well with, but something is wrong regardless. Wisconsin is generally very friendly to its residents

If it was interviews he would have had more than he has had. From what OP shared it seems he’s only had a couple each cycle. I know his lists were small but with those stats you’d think he’d have more. OP did you have people read your Secondaries? Did you rewrite them each cycle?
I agree about WI being very friend to its residents. The two WL at WI are confusing.

 

[medasez]

Wow with your stats how did you not even get an interview? Like there are still medical researchers that need an MD to progress, can't believe they would stop you from getting in based on clinical experience. Lol if you need 150 hours clinical experience, that's like 1 month of full time (40 hrs/week) commitment, why do you let that stop you, when it is multiple times longer to get a 4.0 and high MCAT score? Because of the fact that you can't change your app now, you should still get involved in clinical exp greatly rn, so you can talk about it for your interviews

 

[MyOdyssey]

Wow with your stats how did you not even get an interview? Like there are still medical researchers that need an MD to progress, can't believe they would stop you from getting in based on clinical experience. Lol if you need 150 hours clinical experience, that's like 1 month of full time (40 hrs/week) commitment, why do you let that stop you, when it is multiple times longer to get a 4.0 and high MCAT score? Because of the fact that you can't change your app now, you should still get involved in clinical exp greatly rn, so you can talk about it for your interviews

Peeps, OP has said s/he spent the past year working full time in a clinical position. Please read.

Yes, high stats applicants with high research numbers get stereotyped and yield protected. It’s not a fair process.

 

[LeaveNoTrace]

Pick up a volunteering shift at a hospice or something; talk about it at interviews. It'll be something to talk about; hopefully, you don't become a fourth-time reapplicant.