Advice for nervous possible re-applicant

[DoctorWatson57]

Hello everyone!
I would greatly appreciate some advice from those who have been in my position. I applied for the 2010-2011 cycle to 30 schools. My first MCAT in 06/10 was 24Q and my second MCAT in 09/10 was a 30R. My undergrad degree was BS in Psych/Biology minor with cGPA 3.57 and BCPM GPA 3.23 (yea, low, I know!). I have done about 200 hours of volunteer work in 2005-2006 and, since graduation, have been working full time as a Medical Assistant, so I have over 2 years of clinical experience. I have about 60 hours of physician shadowing and 3+ years of research, with 2 poster presentations, 3 national neuroscience conference visits, and I am currently working on a draft for my research project. I am also finishing up a Master's Degree in Forensic Psychology with a cGPA of 3.82 so far and science GPA of 3.7 (just one Stats course, nothing crazy; currently enrolled in a Molecular Bio course as well).

My application at all the schools I applied to was complete around 11/1. I have yet to hear back from about 12 schools with regards to interviews bu have ZERO interview invites thus far. I applied broadly and to lower tier medical schools. At this point, I'm completely unsure of what to do for the next year, since I'm fairly certain that I won't be receiving any interview invites this late in the game and, even if I do, it would be a miracle if I get an acceptance. I'm juggling the idea of re-taking my MCAT with 3 months preparation but with a full time job and full time courseload for my Master's degree I wonder if my grade will improve drastically. I've considered applying for SMP programs but won't even have any grades to show for it when I begin the re-application process in June.

Any help would be tremendously appreciated and I'm sorry that this post is so long! Thank you, everybody!

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[DrMidlife]

The only thing I can see is that you applied late. Doesn't matter why, just apply early next time. General reapp advice:
1. get at least one new LOR (from your grad program)
2. get at least one new EC (your grad degree)
3. rewrite everything (everything)

Your grad degree isn't going to strongly affect anything. That grad GPA isn't lumped in with undergrad coursework. What it gives you is something interesting to talk about in interviews, but it's basically an EC. If your grad GPA is low that's a red flag, but if it's high it's just not a red flag. An exception to this is if you do an SMP, where you do the first year of med school to prove you can handle med school. For you I think an SMP is overkill - your GPA's not that low.

Don't retake the MCAT unless you have the time to gain points. I'd suggest that you want to leave the MCAT alone if you're reapplying June 2011. If you want to take the time to really improve your chances, then do another year of undergrad, taking all upper div hard science (no psych, no ethics, no pub health), and get a 4.0, while you do MCAT retake prep.

Best of luck to you.

 

[DoctorWatson57]

The only thing I can see is that you applied late. Doesn't matter why, just apply early next time. General reapp advice:
1. get at least one new LOR (from your grad program)
2. get at least one new EC (your grad degree)
3. rewrite everything (everything)

Your grad degree isn't going to strongly affect anything. That grad GPA isn't lumped in with undergrad coursework. What it gives you is something interesting to talk about in interviews, but it's basically an EC. If your grad GPA is low that's a red flag, but if it's high it's just not a red flag. An exception to this is if you do an SMP, where you do the first year of med school to prove you can handle med school. For you I think an SMP is overkill - your GPA's not that low.

Don't retake the MCAT unless you have the time to gain points. I'd suggest that you want to leave the MCAT alone if you're reapplying June 2011. If you want to take the time to really improve your chances, then do another year of undergrad, taking all upper div hard science (no psych, no ethics, no pub health), and get a 4.0, while you do MCAT retake prep.

Best of luck to you.

Thank you for your advice!! I guess I need to start re-writing everything- I'd really love to reapply this upcoming year. I'll definitely look into post-bacc classes to improve the undergard science GPA as well- I do think that is my sore spot on the application.

 

[cabinbuilder]

Apply June 1st (if that is the day it still opens) Apply on the first day - period. You don't need to change anything. You should have all your secondaries finished by mid July at the latest.

 

[DoctorWatson57]

Apply June 1st (if that is the day it still opens) Apply on the first day - period. You don't need to change anything. You should have all your secondaries finished by mid July at the latest.

I am absolutely submitting my AMCAS on June 1st (that is the day!) but it seems that other SDN posters indicate that their crucial mistake as a reapplicant was not updating their application enough. I will have my Master's Degree completed at this point and will have further clinical experience with patients working at an externship (something I indicated in update letters so several schools) but am nervous about being rejected everywhere the second time around and losing yet another year. Is the 3.23 science GPA good enough to secure a few interviews?

Thank you for your advice!

 

[ScorpioSphinx]

I am a reapplicant and got in to LECOM this year. My advice... Don't apply to so many schools. Secondary applications are a bitch. Your resume and everything looks good to me, so I would check on your personal statment and your letters of recommendation. I got in with a 29N MCAT and a 3.5 BS in Biomedical Photographic Communications and ~3.4 post bacc gpa (science pre-reqs and writing). I have almost no volunteer experience (no time as I've had to work my whole college career), I've worked as a PCA (like a medical assistant) for going on three years now, not full time either.

You have to show them you CAN do medical school and that you WANT to do medical school.

Good luck. apply early, that was my mistake both times I applied. luckily it worked out ok the second time.

 

[cabinbuilder]

I am absolutely submitting my AMCAS on June 1st (that is the day!) but it seems that other SDN posters indicate that their crucial mistake as a reapplicant was not updating their application enough. I will have my Master's Degree completed at this point and will have further clinical experience with patients working at an externship (something I indicated in update letters so several schools) but am nervous about being rejected everywhere the second time around and losing yet another year. Is the 3.23 science GPA good enough to secure a few interviews?

Thank you for your advice!

Send me your personal statement. I look at many that are really boring and give you glassy eyes. It needs to be interesting and flow well. That may be your weakness.

 

[DoctorWatson57]

I am a reapplicant and got in to LECOM this year. My advice... Don't apply to so many schools. Secondary applications are a bitch. Your resume and everything looks good to me, so I would check on your personal statment and your letters of recommendation. I got in with a 29N MCAT and a 3.5 BS in Biomedical Photographic Communications and ~3.4 post bacc gpa (science pre-reqs and writing). I have almost no volunteer experience (no time as I've had to work my whole college career), I've worked as a PCA (like a medical assistant) for going on three years now, not full time either.

You have to show them you CAN do medical school and that you WANT to do medical school.

Good luck. apply early, that was my mistake both times I applied. luckily it worked out ok the second time.

Thank you for the encouragement. It's so easy to get horribly discouraged throughout this application cycle. I was devastated at first when I realized that I most likely need to re-apply but at this point I'm getting used to the idea. I'm going to send everything in as early as possible and just hope for the best the second time around. As Dr MidLife suggested, I also plan on re-writing everything as well. Did you drastically alter your application the second time around?

 

[whouse]

Thank you for the encouragement. It's so easy to get horribly discouraged throughout this application cycle. I was devastated at first when I realized that I most likely need to re-apply but at this point I'm getting used to the idea. I'm going to send everything in as early as possible and just hope for the best the second time around. As Dr MidLife suggested, I also plan on re-writing everything as well. Did you drastically alter your application the second time around?

Early is good. I hated having to reapply, but applying early was key and I got in to my top choice (after turning down SGU, which I applied to in a moment of weakness). Get everything done early. It pays off.

 

[Nevryn]

Hello everyone!
I would greatly appreciate some advice from those who have been in my position. I applied for the 2010-2011 cycle to 30 schools. My first MCAT in 06/10 was 24Q and my second MCAT in 09/10 was a 30R. My undergrad degree was BS in Psych/Biology minor with cGPA 3.57 and BCPM GPA 3.23 (yea, low, I know!). I have done about 200 hours of volunteer work in 2005-2006 and, since graduation, have been working full time as a Medical Assistant, so I have over 2 years of clinical experience. I have about 60 hours of physician shadowing and 3+ years of research, with 2 poster presentations, 3 national neuroscience conference visits, and I am currently working on a draft for my research project. I am also finishing up a Master's Degree in Forensic Psychology with a cGPA of 3.82 so far and science GPA of 3.7 (just one Stats course, nothing crazy; currently enrolled in a Molecular Bio course as well).

My application at all the schools I applied to was complete around 11/1. I have yet to hear back from about 12 schools with regards to interviews bu have ZERO interview invites thus far. I applied broadly and to lower tier medical schools. At this point, I'm completely unsure of what to do for the next year, since I'm fairly certain that I won't be receiving any interview invites this late in the game and, even if I do, it would be a miracle if I get an acceptance. I'm juggling the idea of re-taking my MCAT with 3 months preparation but with a full time job and full time courseload for my Master's degree I wonder if my grade will improve drastically. I've considered applying for SMP programs but won't even have any grades to show for it when I begin the re-application process in June.

Any help would be tremendously appreciated and I'm sorry that this post is so long! Thank you, everybody!

A 30MCAT is not a deal breaker depending on the schools applied. Nor is the GPA. However, together they could cause a problem.

I say retake the MCAT only if you feel you can bring up the score more than just a couple points. Consider Caribbean schools (St. George) or DO schools. They practice in every specialty and state. Find a 1 year masters program that can overshadow your undergrad GPA. There are plenty of 1 year transitional programs out there. You have many options.