MD 514/3.76 Reapplicant School help / Overall

[behrmeister]

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I am a reapplicant and am retaking the MCAT June 15. I have been taking the AAMC practice tests and scoring between 518-520. The schools listed are the ones I applied to last cycle. I interviewed at Rutgers, Hawaii and Utah and am currently HPAL at Rutgers (I'm from NJ originally). Planning on reapplying on the 15th if I don't hear back by then. Any advice on school list? Should I apply DO?

• Year in school: Graduated
• Country/state of residence: Utah
• Schools to which you are applying:
  • Albert Einstein College of Medicine
    Chicago Medical School at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine & Science
    Cooper Medical School of Rowan University
    Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell
    Drexel University College of Medicine
    George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences
    Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California
    Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University
    Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine
    Rush Medical College of Rush University Medical Center
    Rutgers New Jersey Medical School
    Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University
    The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University
    Tufts University School of Medicine
    University of California, San Diego School of Medicine
    University of Hawaii, John A. Burns School of Medicine
    University of Utah School of Medicine
• Cumulative GPA: 3.76
• Science GPA: 3.82
• MCAT Scores: 514 (130/127/129/128 CP/CAR/BB/PS)
• Research – include any abstracts/posters/publications and how you were credited: I presented a poster at Biochemical Engineering Conference (listed author but not 1st or 2nd) 100+ hours
• Volunteering (clinical) – include hours/sites:
  • Hospital (ER/OR/Wound Clinic) : 100+
  • Spanish Community Clinic: 40
• Physician shadowing – include hours/specialties:
  • 27 - Anes
  • 8- General surg
  • 6 Plastic surg
  • 10 - Ortho
  • 2 - Family Med
  • 4- Pain Management
  • 2 Neuro
  • 6 - ENT
  • 3 - Rheumatology
  • 3 - Oncology
  • 2 - Psychiatry
  • 3 - Ophthalmology
  • 2 - GI
  • 2 - Urology
  • 4 - Gyn
• Non-clinical volunteering:
  • 2-year church volunteer in the Dominican Republic
  • Community Tutor= 20
  • Anatomy teacher at middle school = 30
  • MCAT tutor - 200+
• Clinical Employment history:
  • Lab Ass. at Cancer Institute: 1000+
  • Orderly OR: 500+
• Immediate family members in medicine? (y/n): N
• Specialty of interest: Surgical Field, not sure which one
• Graduate degrees: N
• Interest in rural health (y/n): N

 

[907914]

To start, the MCAT retake is silly. Your issue is not your MCAT, it was your school list, shadowing and Volunteering.

You need a fair amount (20+ hours) more primary care shadowing. Onesy-twosy in a dozen different specialties doesn’t really show an understanding of what a doctor does.

Your non-clinical Volunteering looks to just be missions trip and peer tutoring, neither of which is that valuable for an applicant. You need a significant amount more actual underserved type Volunteering.

Also, Lab Assistant is not a clinical position, even if it is in a hospital.

 

[deleted972488]

You got 3 interviews out of 17 applications even though you mostly applied to low-yield schools. And you managed to get an interview at Hawaii, which is not OOS-friendly.

Your issue was not the MCAT. Your issue was your school list and your interviewing skills.

 

[Faha]

You do not need to retake the MCAT. I suggest these schools if you reapply:
Utah
Rutgers
Hawaii
Vermont
Quinnipiac
Albany
New York Medical College
Seton Hall
Penn State
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
George Washington
Georgetown
Virginia Commonwealth
Eastern Virginia
NOVA MD
Oakland Beaumont
Western Michigan
Wayne State
Medical College Wisconsin
Loyola
Rosalind Franklin
St. Louis
Creighton
Tulane
TCU-UNT
Loma Linda
Kaiser
California University

 

[behrmeister]

You do not need to retake the MCAT. I suggest these schools if you reapply:
Utah
Rutgers
Hawaii
Vermont
Quinnipiac
Albany
New York Medical College
Seton Hall
Penn State
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
George Washington
Georgetown
Virginia Commonwealth
Eastern Virginia
NOVA MD
Oakland Beaumont
Western Michigan
Wayne State
Medical College Wisconsin
Loyola
Rosalind Franklin
St. Louis
Creighton
Tulane
TCU-UNT
Loma Linda
Kaiser
California University

At this point, if I am already signed up to take the MCAT this Saturday, will it help if I get a better score or will it not do much?

 

[907914]

At this point, if I am already signed up to take the MCAT this Saturday, will it help if I get a better score or will it not do much?

In order for it to help you have to be greater than a 520. In all honesty, most schools will probably look at you and think you’re a perfectionist because you should not retake a 94th percentile test.

 

[907914]

At this point, if I am already signed up to take the MCAT this Saturday, will it help if I get a better score or will it not do much?

All of this time wasted to restudy for the MCAT would have been better directed towards more volunteering and polishing your application/redoing your essays.

 

[jamaica jan sun princess]

In order for it to help you have to be greater than a 520. In all honesty, most schools will probably look at you and think you’re a perfectionist because you should not retake a 94th percentile test.

Why the cutoff at 520? Wouldn't going from 90th(514) to 97th(519) percentile be impressive enough?

 

[deleted972488]

Why the cutoff at 520? Wouldn't going from 90th(514) to 97th(519) percentile be impressive enough?

Anything 3 or more points above the previous score would at least be outside of the margin of error. Still probably wasn't the smartest thing to retake, but it's kinda too late now.

 

[jamaica jan sun princess]

Anything 3 or more points above the previous score would at least be outside of the margin of error. Still probably wasn't the smartest thing to retake, but it's kinda too late now.

I agree that a retake isn't necessary. I'm trying to understand the logic behind a seemingly arbitrary cutoff of 520.

 

[907914]

Why the cutoff at 520? Wouldn't going from 90th(514) to 97th(519) percentile be impressive enough?

Anything 3 or more points above the previous score would at least be outside of the margin of error. Still probably wasn't the smartest thing to retake, but it's kinda too late now.

Agreed, 3 points or higher would be outside the margin of error and would indicate a real improvement. Maybe I am just overestimating how much ADCOMs will be turned off by the silly move of retaking a 514

 

[907914]

I agree that a retake isn't necessary. I'm trying to understand the logic behind a seemingly arbitrary cutoff of 520.

Maybe 518+. OP is statistically not likely to extend beyond their margin of error.

https://aamc-orange.global.ssl.fastly.net/production/media/filer_public/3f/81/3f81cfe5-9882-403d-8825-d11e533dbc25/retest_gain_2015_and_2016_total.pdf

 

[907914]

I agree that a retake isn't necessary. I'm trying to understand the logic behind a seemingly arbitrary cutoff of 520.

But it is too late now, I don’t know why I am putting the act down when it is too late. Just silly.

OP, regardless of how you do on your retake I would recommend another year for application building, because the ECs are pretty lack-luster. And since you will have a new MCAT score, I new school list/school list advice given now will be of no value to you.