3x Reapp Prep- WAMC and advice

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

dawgs_

Full Member
Joined
Aug 30, 2021
Messages
38
Reaction score
60
  • State/Country of Residence: GA
  • Ties to other States/Regions: n
  • URM? (Y/N): N
  • Year in School: Graduated, about to start gap year #2
  • Undergraduate Major(s)/Minor(s): Biochem,
  • Graduate Degrees (if applicable): N/A
  • Cumulative GPA: 3.74
  • Science GPA: 3.66
  • MCAT Score(s): 517 (128/129/130/130 from 7/2021), 508 (128/125/126/129 from 4/2021)
  • Research Experience: Immunology Research in undergrad (1,000 hours), HIV/AIDS research (est 550 hours by reapp)
  • Publications/Abstracts/Posters (include how you were credited e.g. first author, second author, etc.): 1 first author pub
  • Clinical Experience (paid or volunteer): MA (1350 hours), Hospital Volunteering (150 hours), family med volunteering (100 hours)
  • Physician Shadowing: 75 hours family med, 25 ob/gyn, 12 PM&R, and a few virtual shadowing in various other specialties
  • Non-Clinical Volunteering: 150 hours in student org where I was a team lead for a flu vax drive for a homeless shelter, organized and led covid-related presentations to middle schoolers), 300 hours in student org for HIV/AIDS
  • Other Employment History: Lifeguard (250 hours), office assistant (200)
  • Relevant Awards or Honors: research award
  • Immediate family members in medicine? (Y/N): N
  • Interest in Primary Care (Y/N): Y (90% of clinical experience is
  • Interest in Rural Health (Y/N):
  • Medical School List:
  • MCG (WL 2022, no ii received this cycle and rejected)
  • Mercer (3x)*
  • Emory (3x)*
  • Wake Forest (3x)* (WL 2022, silence this cycle so far)
  • NYMC (2x)*
  • Drexel (2x)*
  • TCU (2x)*
  • Quinnipiac (2x)*
  • Albany (2x)*
  • Penn State (2x)
  • Eastern Virginia (2x)*
  • Jefferson (2x)*
  • VCU (3x)*
  • Einstein (2x)*
  • USF (2x)*
  • Vermont (3x)*
  • Miami (3x)*
  • Tulane (2x)
  • George Washington (2x)
  • USC Greenville (2x)
  • Wayne State (would be new this year)
  • Hackensack (new)
  • Geisinger (new)
  • Oakland Beaumont (new)
  • Western Michigan (new)
  • PCOM (all campuses, new)
  • VCOM (all campuses, new)
    • The schools that have asterisks by them are schools I haven't been rejected from yet, but i have low expectations. although this time last year, i had not received an II from wake yet. no holds from any school as well.
    • this is not my full school list from this past year but i took schools out that i think i shot too high with
    • looking for recs for additional schools
  • Anything else that is relevant:
  • I have an alcohol IA. It doesn't appear on my transcript or dean's cert (did not know this at time of first app), it was very very early into my freshman year. Thinking maybe my IA statement is lacking? I changed it from last year and have had less success II-wise.
  • I am also thinking maybe my writing is the issue in general. I have always been a pretty strong writer, but I think my PS was pretty basic even after rewriting it for this cycle, and probably made it hard for me to stand out among the 1000s of other applicants.
  • I was not able to add my family med MA experience to my primary this past year. was on two waitlists that typically get a lot of movement, and I held out too long. I was able to mention it somewhere in all of my secondaries, though. (big mistake i know i probably should have waited a year to reapply to accumulate more clinical hours but with 2 interviews last year, i thought my deficiencies were mostly in my interview skills as i felt like they could have gone significantly better)
  • should I take any post-bac classes this summer? my GPA isn't low by any means, but I feel like it could be better. earned a B- in my first biochem class but scored well in the science sections on my second MCAT

Members don't see this ad.
 
Last edited:
Sorry to hear about having to be a reapplicant again. Do you have a downward trend in grades? That could be a major concern if it applies. Otherwise, the GPA is fine.

Have someone review the IA statement and all of your written materials. You may want to reconsider who you use for your letters of rec. I am surprised MCG did not extend an interview again. Did you contact them last cycle to see if they could provide any feedback? This is difficult for schools to provide, but sometimes a state school with fewer applicants will provide the service.

Some of the schools you are considering are service heavy (Tulane, Wayne, Oakland). You would need significant hours helping those less fortunate (ie homeless shelter, food bank, soup kitchen, working with refugees etc). It might have come across in your descriptions that you don’t have much hands-on experience working outside a school environment.

PS should answer why medicine and why you want to be a physician. It should not keep you out by itself but there have been some bad personal statements. The MA experience probably would have been a big help.

I suggest:

MCG
Einstein (if you only applied once before)
Dartmouth
Western Michigan
Colorado
Hofstra
Rochester
Hackensack
Belmont (if it opens up)
Ohio State
Creighton
Tufts
Temple
Stony Brook (maybe)
USF
Quinnipiac
Nova MD

Add Oakland and Wayne only if you get >=200 hours of non-clinical volunteering along the lines I mentioned. You likely will need at least 150 for all schools in general.

For DO, you are competitive for all of them and I suggest:

PCOM (PA campus)
VCOM (only the main campus)
LECOM
CCOM (high tuition FYI)
Campbell
DMU
KCU
NYITCOM
Touro NY
Marian
West Virginia

You will need a physician LOR for Hackensack and the DO schools. It is a plus if it is from a DO for the latter.
 
thank you for the school list!

I don't have a major downward trend in my GPA. it has been relatively stable since sophomore year:
Here are my GPA totals for each year- BPCM for the year is in parenthesis
  • Freshman: 3.79 (3.55)
  • Sophomore: 3.72 (3.7)
  • Junior: 3.71 (3.68)
  • Senior: 3.74 (3.68)
  • Cumulative: 3.74, BPCM: 3.66
Yeah, gaining meaningful nonclinical volunteering has been a struggle, but I am making it a priority these next 6 months. I have a physician LOR from a family med physician.

MCG states that they do not give individualized feedback in both their Pre-II and post-WL rejection letters, but I will maybe try to reach out and see if I can find someone who is willing to help.

I am also hoping to add two additional LOR from professors who had me my senior year. 2/4 were from sophomore year classes. I am pretty confident that my other 2 were strong, and plan to use them again.
 
Members don't see this ad :)
Also, I haven't looked much into Belmont, but I do know the undergrad has a religious affiliation. Is this also the same with the med school, and would it be similar to Loma Linda in terms of the environment and code of conduct?
 
Also, I haven't looked much into Belmont, but I do know the undergrad has a religious affiliation. Is this also the same with the med school, and would it be similar to Loma Linda in terms of the environment and code of conduct?
You will be have to see what their secondary questions are like. But the undergrad does not seem to be like Loma Linda. It is more like Loyola and Campbell.

You are in the region, so that might help you there.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Top