72 LizzyM not getting in this cycle. What to do to improve by this coming cycle?

[freedmun]

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Not looking good for me this cycle. I sent in my app July 3rd or so to about 30+ schools, most of which were mid tier. So far I've only received 2 II's, one of which waitlisted me and the other is pending. My MCAT was taken Aug 2014 so it looks like this coming cycle will be my last shot with my current MCAT. So basically, I'm trying to see what I can do right now to get into shape for this June's applications.

Stats:

36 MCAT
3.6 cGPA

EC's
Hospital Volunteering: 40 Hrs
Non Clinical Volunteering: ~170 Hrs
(Note this may be less depending on what you consider volunteering to be. About half of these hours are me as the fraternity national philanthropy chair directing/administrating our various chapter philanthropy chairs for volunteer campaigns)
Shadowing: ~110 hrs
No research

3 LoR's. They're probably mediocre since I never got to know my Prof's. (I did get A-/A's in those classes though)

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So far the only things I can think of are to volunteer and also get a job.

RE volunteering, I've already applied to the only two local hospitals, both of which did not respond. Not sure if I should call them and ask what's up. I'm thinking about volunteering at the animal shelter instead, which I think I'd enjoy, though I don't know if it's hard or not to get accepted as a volunteer there. I might try boys and girls club as well since I've done that before, but I think I'd like animal shelter more. Thoughts?

RE a job, not sure what to go for that I could get in time reliably to make a difference for June. I could maybe try to get a tutoring job with my old SAT score or current MCAT score. I'd even be down for getting certified in something to get a job, as long as it doesn't take too long. Pay doesn't really matter too much, I'd rather take a minimum wage job that looks better on an app than a high paying one that ADCOM's don't care about. Note that overall, it seems like I can get a tutoring job somewhat easily, but anything else like a scribe may be difficult for me to find, though I can still try.

Also, I'm going to try to shadow a surgeon to get a few more hours under my belt.

I'm even willing to do something rather drastic like Americorps and get placed somewhere far from home for a year tutoring in an underprivileged area (for the record, I'm pretty sure I'd enjoy it at least a little).

Anyway, that's about it. Any advice?

 

[GrapesofRath]

Weak LORs+ little volunteering experience + little clinical exposure+ no research experience: there shouldnt be much question where the flaws in your application are. They are unfortunately rather glaringly apparent and multi faceted.

The best plan going forward is to address them. Americorps would be a good step. Getting research experience and being productive with it would also be beneficial. Getting hospital/hospice volunteering is another good step to take. As a re-applicant if you become one, there is a clear burden to show significant improvement from your first app. In some ways you could say your held to a higher standard than you would be as a first time app. You cant have all these flaws as a re-applicant and hope for a different story. There is no point re-applying until you can rather clearly address these flaws even if that means having to retake that MCAT due to expiration.

 

[LuluLovesMe]

Weak LORs+ little volunteering experience + little clinical exposure+ no research experience: there shouldnt be much question where the flaws in your application are. They are unfortunately rather glaringly apparent and multi faceted.

The best plan going forward is to address them. Americorps would be a good step. Getting research experience and being productive with it would also be beneficial. Getting hospital/hospice volunteering is another good step to take. As a re-applicant if you become one, there is a clear burden to show significant improvement from your first app. In some ways you could say your held to a higher standard than you would be as a first time app. You cant have all these flaws as a re-applicant and hope for a different story. There is no point re-applying until you can rather clearly address these flaws even if that means having to retake that MCAT due to expiration.

Grapo gives the best advice.

 

[candbgirl]

You don't need more shadowing. You have more than enough. You do need clinical experience before you reapply! It doesn't have to be at a hospital. Think nursing homes, health clinics, hospice. You probably shouldn't reapply before you solve some of the issues with your application. And you probably need to do some non clinical Volunteering.Like food kitchens, habitat for humanity , tutoring etc. And if at all possible find newsletter writers.

 

[freedmun]

Thanks for the help so far guys. I'm trying to plan out my options based on the input so far. Also, are you sure I don't need more shadowing? I should be able to get this one opportunity pretty easily, and I am willing to put in the time if it'll help my app. But, if it's really not going to help me then I would be happy to spend the time elsewhere.

So far I've only been looking at hospitals to volunteer at, didn't think of hospices, etc. Thanks for that guys.

I'm ranking these options based on how easy it is for me to make it a reality, based on job/volunteer availability.

Option 1 (Easiest to get):
Tutoring job
Volunteer @ Boys and Girls Club/Animal Shelter (something non-clinical)
OR
Volunteer at both a non-clinical and clinical field, but no paid job

Option 2:
Tutoring job
Volunteer in a clinically related field
Possibly also volunteer in a non-clinical field in addition to all of these

Option 3:
Medical Scribe
Volunteer in a clinically related field (or non-clinical, if it doesn't matter since the job is clinical)

Option 4 (Hardest to get):
Research Assistant
Volunteer in a clinically related field

Wildcard:
Americorps? Or something similar

Any thoughts on how these options stack up? Are any of these enough to get me in decent shape by June? Any of these options in particular I should shoot for? Or is there anything/any combination I haven't thought of I could do?

 

[baratheonfire]

Weak LORs+ little volunteering experience + little clinical exposure+ no research experience: there shouldnt be much question where the flaws in your application are. They are unfortunately rather glaringly apparent and multi faceted.

The best plan going forward is to address them. Americorps would be a good step. Getting research experience and being productive with it would also be beneficial. Getting hospital/hospice volunteering is another good step to take. As a re-applicant if you become one, there is a clear burden to show significant improvement from your first app. In some ways you could say your held to a higher standard than you would be as a first time app. You cant have all these flaws as a re-applicant and hope for a different story. There is no point re-applying until you can rather clearly address these flaws even if that means having to retake that MCAT due to expiration.

dude did you even get accepted

 

[BluMist]

waiting for @GrapesofRath to post and then answer his own WAMC thread this cycle 😛

Grapo gives the best advice.

 

[Eddy342]

If I were you I'd probably try to get a job as a medical scribe. It's not a hard job to get, you'd be getting paid to beef up your clinical experience, and you'd likely be able to get a strong LOR out of it.

Source: I was in a very similar situation last year. Even if you don't start the job till spring, you'll have tons of experience to talk about by the time interview season rolls around.

 

[neekzg]

Did you graduate already? What have you been doing this past year during application season?

If you plan on applying this upcoming cycle, you need to start putting in hours asap since the stuff you've accomplished prior to submitting your app will carry more weight than jobs/activities you "anticipate doing" throughout your next cycle.

40 hours clinical volunteering is very low compared to the average successful applicant. Are there any free clinics around you or other clinical opportunities outside of volunteering at major hospitals?

 

[freedmun]

If I were you I'd probably try to get a job as a medical scribe. It's not a hard job to get, you'd be getting paid to beef up your clinical experience, and you'd likely be able to get a strong LOR out of it.

Source: I was in a very similar situation last year. Even if you don't start the job till spring, you'll have tons of experience to talk about by the time interview season rolls around.

Thanks for the advice. I'll try to find one, but the pickings around here seem a bit slim. ATM I only see one opening. Would you mind saying what source you used to find a scribe job? Right now I'm using craigslist and indeed.com, but I'm hoping there's something better.

Did you graduate already? What have you been doing this past year during application season?

If you plan on applying this upcoming cycle, you need to start putting in hours asap since the stuff you've accomplished prior to submitting your app will carry more weight than jobs/activities you "anticipate doing" throughout your next cycle.

40 hours clinical volunteering is very low compared to the average successful applicant. Are there any free clinics around you or other clinical opportunities outside of volunteering at major hospitals?

Actually, now that you mention it there's a free clinic nearby. Thanks for that. Does it count as clinical experience/volunteering if I volunteer at a free clinic but don't actually get patient interaction? If I were to volunteer at a free clinic, I'd actually want to help in the most effective way I can, and that's probably involving computers/data entry since I can type well, rather than shoehorning in patient interaction for the sake of my app.

 

[VegasPreMed]

Grapo gives the best advice.

Grapo reminds me of Grappa and now I want some.

In other news, above advice is good. Scribing is where it's at. You get to know the doc's really well and I was able to get a phenomenal letter of reference attesting to work ethic, desire to learn, etc.