Advice for reapplicants

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What advice would you give reapplicants regarding how to spend the few months between application cycles?

Reapplicants who had success their second time around, are there any recommendations or insights you have?

 

[Seihai]

Ideally you would have continued doing research as you applied in one cycle and would continue doing so (unless you had a glaring gap elsewhere, like having zero clinical hours whatsoever).

 

[cavesnakess]

Current reapplicant (fortunately with an acceptance)!

Overall what helped me the most was being honest about my application. Since I had a few interviews last cycle, I was able to meet other applicants and see how amazing + accomplished they were. That really forced me to consider my own competitiveness and adjust this cycle's school list accordingly.

It's my opinion, that if you're doing back to back cycles, there's very little you can do to make major changes to your application (especially if you're trying to start new activities now). And unless you have really amazing updates, I feel like school list and interview performance will be the most substantial areas for improvement. At the very least, those two were the main things I changed/worked on.

Obviously, things vary between people so feel free to DM me if you have any specific questions.

Oh, also I agree about continuing research in the meantime.

 

[Thriver_MD]

Current reapplicant (fortunately with an acceptance)!

Overall what helped me the most was being honest about my application. Since I had a few interviews last cycle, I was able to meet other applicants and see how amazing + accomplished they were. That really forced me to consider my own competitiveness and adjust this cycle's school list accordingly.

It's my opinion, that if you're doing back to back cycles, there's very little you can do to make major changes to your application (especially if you're trying to start new activities now). And unless you have really amazing updates, I feel like school list and interview performance will be the most substantial areas for improvement. At the very least, those two were the main things I changed/worked on.

Obviously, things vary between people so feel free to DM me if you have any specific questions.

Oh, also I agree about continuing research in the meantime.

May I ask what were your metrics when you applied the first time and then the second time?

 

[cavesnakess]

May I ask what were your metrics when you applied the first time and then the second time?

sure! If you DM me, I'd be more than happy to talk about them.

 

[JessMD2020]

Hi everyone! I am a successful reapplicant. I am a nontraditional student who took years off to do research and complete a post-bacc. I took the MCAT twice last cycle and it was definitely below average for a US MD med school. My experiences were very solid (5 years of clinical research, volunteering) and my GPA was within scope for medical school. I applied to all US MD schools, was waitlisted at one, and eventually rejected. At first I was incredibly discouraged- but then I was reading and hearing how many students are reapplicants because getting in is difficult!
- I took an MCAT course, took time off from work and improved my third time around
- I kept my research job (because they were flexible and supportive while I studied), but also found new experiences within that job to talk about on interviews and in applications
- be sure to stay humble, recognize what you need to fix, and don't be afraid to talk about this in secondaries and interviews. Many people have to reapply, and schools appreciate a student who doesn't give up and makes improvements.
- Carefully plan your school list. Apply to your state school (if you have one- I unfortunately do not), look for schools that appreciate the type of applicant you are (e.g. nontraditional, high stat, researcher, etc.).

I have been accepted to a few US MD schools this cycle! Do not give up- many people go through reapplying and I am very glad I stuck with it. Feel free to DM me if I can help anyone in this situation! All the best.

 

[CaliforniaAsian]

Hi everyone! I am a successful reapplicant. I am a nontraditional student who took years off to do research and complete a post-bacc. I took the MCAT twice last cycle and it was definitely below average for a US MD med school. My experiences were very solid (5 years of clinical research, volunteering) and my GPA was within scope for medical school. I applied to all US MD schools, was waitlisted at one, and eventually rejected. At first I was incredibly discouraged- but then I was reading and hearing how many students are reapplicants because getting in is difficult!
- I took an MCAT course, took time off from work and improved my third time around
- I kept my research job (because they were flexible and supportive while I studied), but also found new experiences within that job to talk about on interviews and in applications
- be sure to stay humble, recognize what you need to fix, and don't be afraid to talk about this in secondaries and interviews. Many people have to reapply, and schools appreciate a student who doesn't give up and makes improvements.
- Carefully plan your school list. Apply to your state school (if you have one- I unfortunately do not), look for schools that appreciate the type of applicant you are (e.g. nontraditional, high stat, researcher, etc.).

I have been accepted to a few US MD schools this cycle! Do not give up- many people go through reapplying and I am very glad I stuck with it. Feel free to DM me if I can help anyone in this situation! All the best.

Congratulations for your acceptance! This is just for clarification, but are you an MD or MD/PhD applicant? I ask this because this is the physician-scientist forum and the advice is very different between the two paths. For example, an MD-only would probably do well to do more clinically-oriented activities during a reapplication gap year, whereas an MD/PhD should do research.

 

[JessMD2020]

Congratulations for your acceptance! This is just for clarification, but are you an MD or MD/PhD applicant? I ask this because this is the physician-scientist forum and the advice is very different between the two paths. For example, an MD-only would probably do well to do more clinically-oriented activities during a reapplication gap year, whereas an MD/PhD should do research.

Oops my apologizes! I am an MD only applicant, but also was looking at/accepted into MD/MS programs. Doing very clinically-based research served me well for med school apps, and I am sure this experience would help reapplicants for research-based programs. I am sure you are right that MD/PhD should definitely focus on research experiences!

 

[tp53]

If you applied during your last year of college, I would recommend that you actually hold off a year before submitting your application again unless you will be spending your gap year in the same lab you worked in during undergrad. If you are starting in a new lab, you should really wait a year before resubmitting your application so that your new PI can get to know you a bit better and write a solid LOR. This will also give you time to grow a bit more and figure out what your interests really are.

 

[Fencer]

PM me if needed. Reflect on why you didn't get pick. Top-heavy list, mismatch of your benchmarks with those of the programs that you applied, too few programs, too late, perhaps not compelling essays, and certainly you could have a bad LOR (s). Most times, it is a combination of all of the above.