Am I doing enough?

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Hi,
I have a quick question about my chances in Medical school. I got rejected last year because of both my GPA and MCAT I guess.

This year My GPA is 3.3, I am currently in a SMP program
MCAT: 35 (12, 10, 13)

I have extensive research experience:
4 yrs of research experience including 1 summer research at medical school and the other one at Harvard related to cancer
I have been involved in a leadership position for three years.
Also I am involved with a group at my school that works to eliminate global health disparity and had an opportunity to travel to a third world country for a month to volunteer this summer.
Also I have a year of clinical experience


I am not sure if this is enough? or what else I can do?
Do I still have any chances....cuz I have not heard from schools
( I had applied in mid October)
It would be very nice of you all if you could help me out....I want an honest opinion.............

Did you send in your primary or secondary in mid oct.? Either way it's pretty late, and you really should've known better as a reapplicant. Your stats and EC's are all pretty solid, and even as it stands now, you still have a good shot at gaining admittance this year. However, if you had applied earlier, I'd say that you would've been almost guaranteed to get in somewhere.

Now, though, you should keep up your EC's and prepare to reapply earlier next year. That is NOT to say that you have no shot this year--I still think you have a solid shot depending on your school list, but there's a good chance it won't work out so it won't hurt to start preparations for next year earlier just in case.
 
Did you send in your primary or secondary in mid oct.? Either way it's pretty late, and you really should've known better as a reapplicant. Your stats and EC's are all pretty solid, and even as it stands now, you still have a good shot at gaining admittance this year. However, if you had applied earlier, I'd say that you would've been almost guaranteed to get in somewhere.

Now, though, you should keep up your EC's and prepare to reapply earlier next year. That is NOT to say that you have no shot this year--I still think you have a solid shot depending on your school list, but there's a good chance it won't work out so it won't hurt to start preparations for next year earlier just in case.


I send in my secondaries in October. I had got my primary done in Early August. I know I should have got them done in early June/July.....But I was out of the country .......I have applied broadly.....but I have a feeling that I am not going to get in this time and have to prepare for the next cycle.

I will start preparing from now, I have all the stuffs for the AMCAS, but I will redo my personal statement and add some additional research experience. I might get a publication out by that time as well.
The GPA that I have stated is my UG.......(I have all A's in my SMP and probably will gradaute with atleast 3.9 in the SMP)

Looking at my status, what are some good schools that You would suggest me applying next year where I will have a good shot?

The reason I am asking this is beacuse, i want to work on the seondaries (esp the prompt that that usually gets repeated) from now..... I take a very long time writing those seondaries and end up turning it in late...which I do not want to repeat.

Anyways, thank you for all of your honest and helpful advice. I really apprecaite then! 🙂
 
This looks like a WAMC thread to me.

Adcomms will want to see ongoing clinical experience. All you have is a year and a month, so keep building your hours. Secondaries usually ask how you've improved your application since last applying. Be sure you have an excellent answer.

You didn't mention physician shadowing. If you don't have it, I'd consider that a major oversight. All schools don't value it, but most do. Your 4 years of research and leadership are above average. Spending time on more research instead of academics is not in your best interests.

I'm not surprised you haven't heard from schools. When you're doing an SMP, you'll need to let them know about your first semester grades before they make any decision. Your grades had better be sterling, considering your low cGPA. How are your grades so far?

If you end up applying again next year, be sure to include DO schools on your list to enhance your chance of getting in somewhere.
 
The problem is not your MCAT, it's your GPA.
It's still kind of early so you may still hear from schools.
It sounds like you are doing great in your SMP program. Congrats. Is there anything your program can do in terms of helping you get interviews, or at least suggesting places that have taken students from your SMP program in the past? The latter might help you decide where to apply next year.

I agree w/above comments about needing to keep up the clinical volunteer work...I know it's hard when you're also studying, but you need a regular volunteer gig.

I also agree about cross-applying to MD and DO if you have to do this again next year.

Also, be careful about your application essays, etc. and have somebody proofread them. It's hard to fine one's own spelling mistakes, etc. I notice you misspelled "appreciate" above, for example.
 
When you're doing an SMP, med schools will often sit on your application until they have first semester grades. As long as you haven't been rejected, you're in fine shape. During my SMP year I didn't go on any interviews until January and ended up getting into my top 3 programs. It's definitely stressful, but all is not lost. Just do WELL at your SMP...thats the info schools are waiting for!

Good luck!!
 
I send in my secondaries in October. I had got my primary done in Early August. I know I should have got them done in early June/July.....But I was out of the country .......I have applied broadly.....but I have a feeling that I am not going to get in this time and have to prepare for the next cycle.

I will start preparing from now, I have all the stuffs for the AMCAS, but I will redo my personal statement and add some additional research experience. I might get a publication out by that time as well.
The GPA that I have stated is my UG.......(I have all A's in my SMP and probably will gradaute with atleast 3.9 in the SMP)

Looking at my status, what are some good schools that You would suggest me applying next year where I will have a good shot?

The reason I am asking this is beacuse, i want to work on the seondaries (esp the prompt that that usually gets repeated) from now..... I take a very long time writing those seondaries and end up turning it in late...which I do not want to repeat.

Anyways, thank you for all of your honest and helpful advice. I really apprecaite then! 🙂

You're welcome 🙂 Tell me your state of residence and/or states you have strong connections to, then I can give you more detailed advice on school lists. It sounds like you're from the east coast, so I can probably help you some in this regard, since I've studied just about all the schools east of the Mississippi for my reapplication year 😀
 
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