[518 MCAT, 3.86 GPA, no IIs] Advice needed for reapplication timing & strategy

[animlafs]

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Hello SDN,

As this cycle wraps, I am sitting on no IIs and no acceptances. Before applying, I had lurked threads to prepare, but I'm afraid that confirmation bias blinded me to defects in my application strategy. I know now that my school list and timing were abysmal, but I would welcome any and all feedback from the SDN community.

I have solicited input from both mentors and premed advisers, but have received conflicting advice. My main concerns are as follows:

• Should I reapply this upcoming cycle or wait a year?
• If I were to reorient and apply to MD/PhD for the upcoming cycle, would this be seen as a desperate move by adcoms?
• What is a good approach to contacting admissions offices for feedback?

Here are my application details:

• Basic profile:
  • CA resident, ORM
  • 518 MCAT, 3.86 cGPA
  • Graduated 2015 with B.S., currently completing Master's program
• ECs:
  • 50 hrs with hospital companion program
  • 40 hrs women in science mentorship/involvement
  • 1 yr (2000+ hrs) as research tech; contributed data but project is not close to publishing
  • 350 hrs working in urgent care (front desk, clerical)
  • 80 hrs shadowing (path, ICU)
  • 200/300/800/500 for undergrad research; 800 was main lab experience that yielded one poster and senior thesis
  • 150 hrs as trained mental health volunteer
  • former EMT certification (obtained but never used due to horrible motion sickness and uncertainty regarding career goals at the time)
  • 250/250 hrs significant leadership in student groups (one advocacy, one debate)
  • Research scholarships & hobbies
• Application timeline:
  • Pushed MCAT back to mid-June and submitted secondaries around end of August to mid-September
  • Received committee letter; sent out late August
  • Received secondaries from all schools
• School list:
  • California: all except Loma Linda
    • Pre-interview waitlist at Davis and UCSD
  • OOS: Miami, VCU, Colorado, UChicago, UPenn, Brown, Dartmouth, Carle Illinois, Baylor, Emory, Vanderbilt, Duke, UNC
    • No luck whatsoever
• [If reapplying] Updates to application:
  • Master's research project
  • Work-study job (customer service)
  • 50 hrs working with children with disabilities
  • 50 hrs at free clinic (more depending on next year plans)
  • 4 awards for innovation/idea-based competitions
  • Additional shadowing
  • Employment (not sure whether to go clinical or research...???)
• Other details:
  • I was thinking about MD/PhD originally but chickened out due to lack of pubs
  • PS focused on personal journey to medicine (overcoming doubt)
  • I sent paragraphs to LOR writers about my ECs due to taking gap years

If reapplying, I would submit early and widely, but I'm unsure whether or not to take another year to strengthen my application. Thoughts, comments, and/or advice are appreciated, and I thank you in advance for your time!

 

[curbsideconsult]

What was your sGPA?

 

[animlafs]

What was your sGPA?

Hello!

My sGPA was 3.83 with 4.0 for AO.

 

[curbsideconsult]

Your GPA/MCAT are very competitive. Your weaknesses may have been due to:

• Not enough service to the needy hours
• PS/activities/secondaries not well-written/fun to read
• Not appearing well-rounded - did you have any ECs that weren't related to activities that you thought would get you into med school?
• Did you get a committee letter if your school has a committee? Sometimes this doesn't matter, but sometimes this does.

 

[el_duderino]

Your school list is top heavy. You need to apply far more broadly.

 

[Faha]

You applied to many very competitive schools. I suggest applying broadly the next time and consider all these schools:
Vermont
Quinnipiac
New York Medical College
Hofstra
Eisntein
Rochester
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
George Washington
Eastern Virginia
West Virginia
Oakland Beaumont
Western Michigan
Medical College Wisconsin
Rosalind Franklin
St. Louis
Creighton
Tulane
California University
Seton Hall
NOVA MD
Arizona (both schools)
Kaiser and Roseman if they open for 2109

 

[DubbiDoctor]

I think you just got unlucky. Get more volunteering, and apply for the 2018-19 cycle on day one to a broader school list - faha gave you good suggestions. Penn State, Albany, Creighton, Wake and Loyola are also good safeties.

 

[Isoval]

Agree with the above.

I think your application is fine, but your school list was very top-heavy. Apply to more schools, and tack on schools with lower stats and lower yields.

With your stats, you’re definitely competitive for top schools. But you need to expand your net beyond them a good bit.

 

[Nunuxx]

Hello SDN,

As this cycle wraps, I am sitting on no IIs and no acceptances. Before applying, I had lurked threads to prepare, but I'm afraid that confirmation bias blinded me to defects in my application strategy. I know now that my school list and timing were abysmal, but I would welcome any and all feedback from the SDN community.

I have solicited input from both mentors and premed advisers, but have received conflicting advice. My main concerns are as follows:

• Should I reapply this upcoming cycle or wait a year?
• If I were to reorient and apply to MD/PhD for the upcoming cycle, would this be seen as a desperate move by adcoms?
• What is a good approach to contacting admissions offices for feedback?

Here are my application details:

• Basic profile:
  • CA resident, ORM
  • 518 MCAT, 3.86 cGPA
  • Graduated 2015 with B.S., currently completing Master's program
• ECs:
  • 50 hrs with hospital companion program
  • 40 hrs women in science mentorship/involvement
  • 1 yr (2000+ hrs) as research tech; contributed data but project is not close to publishing
  • 350 hrs working in urgent care (front desk, clerical)
  • 80 hrs shadowing (path, ICU)
  • 200/300/800/500 for undergrad research; 800 was main lab experience that yielded one poster and senior thesis
  • 150 hrs as trained mental health volunteer
  • former EMT certification (obtained but never used due to horrible motion sickness and uncertainty regarding career goals at the time)
  • 250/250 hrs significant leadership in student groups (one advocacy, one debate)
  • Research scholarships & hobbies
• Application timeline:
  • Pushed MCAT back to mid-June and submitted secondaries around end of August to mid-September
  • Received committee letter; sent out late August
  • Received secondaries from all schools
• School list:
  • California: all except Loma Linda
    • Pre-interview waitlist at Davis and UCSD
  • OOS: Miami, VCU, Colorado, UChicago, UPenn, Brown, Dartmouth, Carle Illinois, Baylor, Emory, Vanderbilt, Duke, UNC
    • No luck whatsoever
• [If reapplying] Updates to application:
  • Master's research project
  • Work-study job (customer service)
  • 50 hrs working with children with disabilities
  • 50 hrs at free clinic (more depending on next year plans)
  • 4 awards for innovation/idea-based competitions
  • Additional shadowing
  • Employment (not sure whether to go clinical or research...???)
• Other details:
  • I was thinking about MD/PhD originally but chickened out due to lack of pubs
  • PS focused on personal journey to medicine (overcoming doubt)
  • I sent paragraphs to LOR writers about my ECs due to taking gap years

If reapplying, I would submit early and widely, but I'm unsure whether or not to take another year to strengthen my application. Thoughts, comments, and/or advice are appreciated, and I thank you in advance for your time!

add more schools! if you do, you should get in with a breeze this cycle 🙂..

 

[animlafs]

Your GPA/MCAT are very competitive. Your weaknesses may have been due to:

• Not enough service to the needy hours
• PS/activities/secondaries not well-written/fun to read
• Not appearing well-rounded - did you have any ECs that weren't related to activities that you thought would get you into med school?
• Did you get a committee letter if your school has a committee? Sometimes this doesn't matter, but sometimes this does.

Thanks for the feedback! I'll definitely work on the volunteering and make sure my school sends my committee letter again when I apply.

As for the rest of my ECs...this is interesting to hear? I mean, I definitely started undergrad thinking about premed, but halfway through I realized I needed to make sure I was pursuing medicine for the right reasons. So I actually walked away for a while, and explored research & computer science during my gap year. But I suspect there's a better way for me to present my activities...

Your school list is top heavy. You need to apply far more broadly.

Good to know, and will do!

You applied to many very competitive schools. I suggest applying broadly the next time and consider all these schools:
Vermont
Quinnipiac
New York Medical College
Hofstra
Eisntein
Rochester
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
George Washington
Eastern Virginia
West Virginia
Oakland Beaumont
Western Michigan
Medical College Wisconsin
Rosalind Franklin
St. Louis
Creighton
Tulane
California University
Seton Hall
NOVA MD
Arizona (both schools)
Kaiser and Roseman if they open for 2109

Thank you for all the suggestions! I'll add them to my list.

 

[animlafs]

I think you just got unlucky. Get more volunteering, and apply for the 2018-19 cycle on day one to a broader school list - faha gave you good suggestions. Penn State, Albany, Creighton, Wake and Loyola are also good safeties.

Agree with the above.

I think your application is fine, but your school list was very top-heavy. Apply to more schools, and tack on schools with lower stats and lower yields.

With your stats, you’re definitely competitive for top schools. But you need to expand your net beyond them a good bit.

add more schools! if you do, you should get in with a breeze this cycle 🙂..

Got it! Thank you all for the encouraging comments!

 

[Pokepokee]

Your stats were similar to mine, and activities a lot better so I'm surprised you didn't get any iis. That being said, it was most likely the school list (I ended up getting interviews from a couple reach schools and the rest were from mid tiers). And perhaps try being complete sooner. September is getting towards the late end.
But I think you'll definitely be able to get in this upcoming cycle.

 

[futuredocsquared17]

I am in a similar situation as well, and was considering posting a similar thread before I saw this. Will I actually have a tougher time getting interviews at the schools I reapply to even though when I initially applied I didn't get an interview? What about schools I already interviewed for? Any advice would be much appreciated!

 

[curbsideconsult]

I am in a similar situation as well, and was considering posting a similar thread before I saw this. Will I actually have a tougher time getting interviews at the schools I reapply to even though when I initially applied I didn't get an interview? What about schools I already interviewed for? Any advice would be much appreciated!

I think, in general, schools (and people, myself included) love a good comeback story. Isn't that why the Rocky movies are so popular? So if you reapply, even at the schools you interviewed at, make sure you have significant improvements and write about them in a compelling manner.

 

[el_duderino]

I am in a similar situation as well, and was considering posting a similar thread before I saw this. Will I actually have a tougher time getting interviews at the schools I reapply to even though when I initially applied I didn't get an interview? What about schools I already interviewed for? Any advice would be much appreciated!

If you're going to reapply to a school, have a good reason for them to make a different choice this year. Maybe you got a lot more experience, raised your GPA, got a new degree, etc. I don't think you'll necessarily have a tougher time, but they will wonder "what's so different this time that will make us change our minds?"

 

[JugglesMed]

I think you applied to a lot of tougher schools. If you had a more balanced list I am sure you would have gotten in somewhere

 

[dillydilly2]

I agree with the school list part but also, you may believe you have several EC's but they seem to be short stints. What are the time frames for them? Longevity shows commitment. If they are all a few months the adcoms could have seen this as a red flag.

Also, an EMT cert means nothing without it being put to use. So you can take that off of the EC list. The few hours you have for ride alongs to get certified will not count because it was in the training program...not official employment.

 

[animlafs]

I agree with the school list part but also, you may believe you have several EC's but they seem to be short stints. What are the time frames for them? Longevity shows commitment. If they are all a few months the adcoms could have seen this as a red flag.

Also, an EMT cert means nothing without it being put to use. So you can take that off of the EC list. The few hours you have for ride alongs to get certified will not count because it was in the training program...not official employment.

I see... For the EMT cert, I did the ride-alongs, but due to very bad motion sickness (e.g. literally threw up multiple times both days) along with personal doubts about medicine at the time, I ended up not using the cert. But you are correct; I should not list it if I didn't do anything with it.

I didn't think about the commitment thing. For the hospital volunteering, for example, I fit this in between leaving my job and starting my Master's, which were not in the same geographic location. Same for the free clinic & children; these are things I started this year (1 year Master's) so I'm not sure if I can continue them if I end up moving again. And the mental health: the site moved while I was in undergrad, making it harder to access without a car. Do you think there are ways to work around these (e.g. explaining in primary), or should I just not list them at all?

 

[dillydilly2]

I see... For the EMT cert, I did the ride-alongs, but due to very bad motion sickness (e.g. literally threw up multiple times both days) along with personal doubts about medicine at the time, I ended up not using the cert. But you are correct; I should not list it if I didn't do anything with it.

I didn't think about the commitment thing. For the hospital volunteering, for example, I fit this in between leaving my job and starting my Master's, which were not in the same geographic location. Same for the free clinic & children; these are things I started this year (1 year Master's) so I'm not sure if I can continue them if I end up moving again. And the mental health: the site moved while I was in undergrad, making it harder to access without a car. Do you think there are ways to work around these (e.g. explaining in primary), or should I just not list them at all?

Definitely list them! Those are all experiences. When describing them, you can say that you would have continued the work but X organization moved locations. Honestly, I'm not sure what the best way would be for addressing the time commitment. But, I would mention it forsure otherwise it does look like you're hopping around (despite what really happened.)