Advice on areas of application to improve on

[pattycake2904]

Hi everyone, I'm looking for some advice on areas of my application that I should focus on improving upon. For some background, I am a Michigan resident and currently a senior, projected to graduate at the end of this semester. I applied during the 2022-2023 cycle and am currently on the waitlist at Wayne State. I'm also still waiting to hear back from two schools regarding interviews but given the time of year, I felt that I should begin to look at my application for this coming cycle.
Stats:
-Cumulative GPA: 3.947
-Science GPA: 3.978
-MCAT: 509 (126/126/129/128)
Clinical Experience: 795 hours
-Medical Scribe (Feb 2022-April 2023): 570 hours as of now, will be 675 by the time I graduate
-Phlebotomist (July 2022): 120 hours
Shadowing: 121 hours
-These hours are distributed across five specialties and came primarily over the course of the summer of 2022, with 16 coming in the summer of 2021
Volunteering: 101 hours
-Community soup kitchen (Summer 2022): 65 hours
-Community assisted living facility (Summer 2022): 36 hours
Miscellaneous: 2231 hours
-All of these hours came from my position at a commercial grain farming operation.
-Some background on my farming position: I was employed at an operation that farmed roughly 6000 acres and specialized in wheat, corn, and soybeans. During my time here, I operated large tractors on the roadways and in fields during spring tillage and fall harvest seasons. I also regularly serviced and worked on heavy machinery and tractors in the fields and during periods between planting and harvest. Additionally, I drove semi-trucks and other large vehicles to transport grain to the grain elevator as well as transport fuel to machinery during planting and harvest seasons. Due to the farm being short on workers, I would often travel back home to work Friday-Sunday during harvest season (harvest typically lasts from late October to early December), in conjunction with doing school work and working at my scribing position during the week.

Looking at my application, I believe I fall short when it comes to my volunteering experiences. I tried going to my university's academic advisors for their advice on possible improvements that could be made to my application, but they offered little input on the matter so I figured this would be the best place to come next for advice. Feel free to ask any questions and thank you all in advance!!

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[Frigidcold]

Probably too late for this upcoming cycle, but the MCAT is below average for matriculants.
Pretty low volunteering hours like you identified. Also, seems to all be during one summer. Something longitudinal would be nice.
Not necessary, but any leadership or hobbies you could add?
Might be nice to share your school list too.

Wishing you luck that the WL turns to an A.

 

[pattycake2904]

Probably too late for this upcoming cycle, but the MCAT is below average for matriculants.
Pretty low volunteering hours like you identified. Also, seems to all be during one summer. Something longitudinal would be nice.
Not necessary, but any leadership or hobbies you could add?
Might be nice to share your school list too.

Thanks for the response and the best wishes!

-School list: Jefferson, VCU, Wayne State, Wake Forest, Toledo, MSU, UofM (huge reach), Oakland, CMU, Vermont, Loyola, Illinois, Penn State, Medical College of Wisconsin, and Indiana

-As you mentioned, I was concerned about not being able to do much to improve prior to the upcoming cycle. I was almost curious if it might be better for me just to sit this upcoming cycle out and get more experience throughout the year as well as possibly retake the MCAT.
-As far as hobbies go, I go skiing quite a bit in the winter but not sure if that counts as a "hobby." For leadership, I don't have any roles from college that I could add.

 

[jhmmd]

Hi everyone, I'm looking for some advice on areas of my application that I should focus on improving upon. For some background, I am a Michigan resident and currently a senior, projected to graduate at the end of this semester. I applied during the 2022-2023 cycle and am currently on the waitlist at Wayne State. I'm also still waiting to hear back from two schools regarding interviews but given the time of year, I felt that I should begin to look at my application for this coming cycle.
Stats:
-Cumulative GPA: 3.947
-Science GPA: 3.978
-MCAT: 509 (126/126/129/128)
Clinical Experience: 795 hours
-Medical Scribe (Feb 2022-April 2023): 570 hours as of now, will be 675 by the time I graduate
-Phlebotomist (July 2022): 120 hours
Shadowing: 121 hours
-These hours are distributed across five specialties and came primarily over the course of the summer of 2022, with 16 coming in the summer of 2021
Volunteering: 101 hours
-Community soup kitchen (Summer 2022): 65 hours
-Community assisted living facility (Summer 2022): 36 hours
Miscellaneous: 2231 hours
-All of these hours came from my position at a commercial grain farming operation.
-Some background on my farming position: I was employed at an operation that farmed roughly 6000 acres and specialized in wheat, corn, and soybeans. During my time here, I operated large tractors on the roadways and in fields during spring tillage and fall harvest seasons. I also regularly serviced and worked on heavy machinery and tractors in the fields and during periods between planting and harvest. Additionally, I drove semi-trucks and other large vehicles to transport grain to the grain elevator as well as transport fuel to machinery during planting and harvest seasons. Due to the farm being short on workers, I would often travel back home to work Friday-Sunday during harvest season (harvest typically lasts from late October to early December), in conjunction with doing school work and working at my scribing position during the week.

Looking at my application, I believe I fall short when it comes to my volunteering experiences. I tried going to my university's academic advisors for their advice on possible improvements that could be made to my application, but they offered little input on the matter so I figured this would be the best place to come next for advice. Feel free to ask any questions and thank you all in advance!!

Your app looks great! Anything that you think you can do in order to get off of the waitlist?

 

[pattycake2904]

Your app looks great! Anything that you think you can do in order to get off of the waitlist?

Thanks for the response! I thought about possibly sending a letter of interest as I haven't sent one yet. I've seen mixed reviews on those so I wasn't sure if I should or shouldn't send one.

 

[jhmmd]

I would write a LOI, actually. Make sure to update WSU about all the things that you've been doing since you submitted your app, and try to tie it in with your "theme." Maybe try to meet with an admissions advisor, additionally.

*Edited to add: Oops, you beat me to it.

 

[jhmmd]

Thanks for the response! I thought about possibly sending a letter of interest as I haven't sent one yet. I've seen mixed reviews on those so I wasn't sure if I should or shouldn't send one.

Definitely a good idea in your case. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. You don't want to have to re-apply all over again. You almost have your foot in the door! Good luck.

 

[gyngyn]

Thanks for the response! I thought about possibly sending a letter of interest as I haven't sent one yet.

Make it a letter of intent and send it within the next few weeks.
Check to make sure that they accept such letters first...

 

[pattycake2904]

Make it a letter of intent and send it within the next few weeks.
Check to make sure that they accept such letters first...

Definitely a good idea in your case. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. You don't want to have to re-apply all over again. You almost have your foot in the door! Good luck.

I will definitely look into that and send it if they accept. Thank y'all for the input on this, it's greatly appreciated!!

 

[jhmmd]

I will definitely look into that and send it if they accept. Thank y'all for the input on this, it's greatly appreciated!!

No prob. I've never heard of a school that doesn't accept letters of intent.
Only pro tip, don't send a letter of intent to more than one school!! It's a small world.

 

[LindaAccepted]

Hi everyone, I'm looking for some advice on areas of my application that I should focus on improving upon. For some background, I am a Michigan resident and currently a senior, projected to graduate at the end of this semester. I applied during the 2022-2023 cycle and am currently on the waitlist at Wayne State. I'm also still waiting to hear back from two schools regarding interviews but given the time of year, I felt that I should begin to look at my application for this coming cycle.
Stats:
-Cumulative GPA: 3.947
-Science GPA: 3.978
-MCAT: 509 (126/126/129/128)
Clinical Experience: 795 hours
-Medical Scribe (Feb 2022-April 2023): 570 hours as of now, will be 675 by the time I graduate
-Phlebotomist (July 2022): 120 hours
Shadowing: 121 hours
-These hours are distributed across five specialties and came primarily over the course of the summer of 2022, with 16 coming in the summer of 2021
Volunteering: 101 hours
-Community soup kitchen (Summer 2022): 65 hours
-Community assisted living facility (Summer 2022): 36 hours
Miscellaneous: 2231 hours
-All of these hours came from my position at a commercial grain farming operation.
-Some background on my farming position: I was employed at an operation that farmed roughly 6000 acres and specialized in wheat, corn, and soybeans. During my time here, I operated large tractors on the roadways and in fields during spring tillage and fall harvest seasons. I also regularly serviced and worked on heavy machinery and tractors in the fields and during periods between planting and harvest. Additionally, I drove semi-trucks and other large vehicles to transport grain to the grain elevator as well as transport fuel to machinery during planting and harvest seasons. Due to the farm being short on workers, I would often travel back home to work Friday-Sunday during harvest season (harvest typically lasts from late October to early December), in conjunction with doing school work and working at my scribing position during the week.

Looking at my application, I believe I fall short when it comes to my volunteering experiences. I tried going to my university's academic advisors for their advice on possible improvements that could be made to my application, but they offered little input on the matter so I figured this would be the best place to come next for advice. Feel free to ask any questions and thank you all in advance!!

First of all I hope you get off the Wayne State waitlist onto the accepted list. I also encourage you to submit a letter of intent there.

As you and others have pointed out, your community services seems on the low side And your MCAT also seems on the low side especially for some of the schools you applied to. You either need to raise your MCAT or focus more on schools with lower average MCATs. Also consider DO programs.

if you need a little more time and feel you would be better to wait a year to reapply, that sounds like a good idea.

Best,
Linda

 

[LunaOri]

Your MCAT score shouldn’t be what’s holding you back. Don’t retake it unless you are sure you will improve your score. Increase the volunteer hours. Your farming story sounds interesting and unique.
When you rewrite your app, be sure to describe the “why” for your activities (at least the MMAs) and have someone read your PS and secondaries for content.

 

[jhmmd]

Your school list was very short, you could have applied to way more, targeted schools. And with being graduate soon, you should (hopefully) have a ton of time to work on secondaries. I would apply to as many as you can reasonably afford (so long as they make sense).


I would spend the summer retaking the MCAT (if you feel prepared to spend the ~100 days studying) and increasing your volunteer hours, then doing a later application Hopefully by late August. If you get a great MCAT score your ~4.0 should get your app in front of some people, even though it's later in the season.

You would also still be very much "in time" for DO schools.

It would be an interesting question to ask though, if it would be more prudent to apply earlier to many schools on day 1, vs waiting and hopefully getting a much better score + more volunteer hours and applying later.

I would personally go for the latter, but I'm not an expert. And if you aren't confident in your ability to raise your score another ~5 points, then perhaps it wont be.

Early is always better. Admissions are always rolling (first come, first served). You should have your entire app ready to go on day 1. Don't rush and make mistakes. Haste makes waste. EVERYTHING needs to be outstanding, so if there is even one area of weakness, buff it up and wait another year. Your wallet will thank you.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Fingers crossed. I agree more community service/soup kitchen would help you as would more in assisted living. If you can, try to be more consistent than just doing summers, but your employment makes your current schedule understandable. More scribing after you graduate would be great.

I also don't have a sense of your purpose as a physician. You got interviews with your MCAT so you are doing something right with mission fit. Isn't WMU/Stryker on your list? Did CMU interview you?

 

[pattycake2904]

Fingers crossed. I agree more community service/soup kitchen would help you as would more in assisted living. If you can, try to be more consistent than just doing summers, but your employment makes your current schedule understandable. More scribing after you graduate would be great.

I also don't have a sense of your purpose as a physician. You got interviews with your MCAT so you are doing something right with mission fit. Isn't WMU/Stryker on your list? Did CMU interview you?

-I chose not to apply to WMU/Stryker as I felt it my stats didn't give me much of a chance there. I did not receive an interview from CMU, which was honestly the most disappointing rejection of them all.
-Touching on your thoughts on continuing scribing, I was planning on moving back home after graduation and would have to quit my scribe position to do this. I was, however, planning on applying for a phlebotomy position at local hospitals to make up for this. Pertaining to scribing vs phlebotomy, do you think it would be a mistake to make this swap after graduation?

I also don't have a sense of your purpose as a physician. You got interviews with your MCAT so you are doing something right with mission fit. Isn't WMU/Stryker on your list? Did CMU interview you?

-Pertaining to your comment on my sense of purpose as a physician, would you be able to possibly provide more information on this?

 

[Mr.Smile12]

-Touching on your thoughts on continuing scribing, I was planning on moving back home after graduation and would have to quit my scribe position to do this. I was, however, planning on applying for a phlebotomy position at local hospitals to make up for this. Pertaining to scribing vs phlebotomy, do you think it would be a mistake to make this swap after graduation?

It's not a mistake if you have to move. Life happens.

-Pertaining to your comment on my sense of purpose as a physician, would you be able to possibly provide more information on this?

I was hoping you would be able to provide an answer. I can't answer this question for you.

 

[pattycake2904]

It's not a mistake if you have to move. Life happens.


I was hoping you would be able to provide an answer. I can't answer this question for you.

Sorry for the miscommunication on this, I definitely agree that I'm the only one who can answer that. I more so was curious if there were any questions you had in particular that I could answer to provide more insight on the matter.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Sorry for the miscommunication on this, I definitely agree that I'm the only one who can answer that. I more so was curious if there were any questions you had in particular that I could answer to provide more insight on the matter.

I guess if you want a different way to phrase the question, "Why must you be a physician?"

(From your first post: you have a 3.9x GPA, so I was pretty sure you wouldn't get much help from your academic advisors. )