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Hello everyone. This may be a very long post. I am looking for any advice or guidance about possible reapplication.
For this cycle (my first), I am currently on hold at one state school. I got rejected from another state school post II. I sent my primary to 10 schools, but only completed secondaries for my two state schools. I think this may have been a mistake, but I am moving forward as best as possible. I elected to not submit secondaries for three main reasons.
1) I completed my app late, submitting primary in August. I know this was a mistake. This was primarily due to lack of ECs in Undergrad and obtaining LORs.
2) I did not know if my app would be competitive OOS.
3) I did not want to spend a few thousand dollars, in debt, due to 1 and 2.
I did not apply DO because of the above reasons, mostly financial. The one school I am on hold for is wait list friendly. I think 10-25% get off the waitlist based on previous years. However, I want to be prepared to submit as soon as AMCAS opens if I need to. I am fully committed to reapplying either this year or next year post rejection. I have talked to my parents, and I am willing to take on additional debt/find a new job/accept some of their assistance to apply broadly including DO.
I graduated last year with a degree in engineering. My GPA was ~3.7 with a sGPA of ~3.7. I scored a 512 on the MCAT (128 across the board, 2017). I have 2200 hours of work as an ED scribe with projected 2500-4500 depending on if/when I quit. I had 100 hours of clinical volunteering on my app. I have 150 hours clinical and 50 hours nonclinical currently. I have 25 hours of physician shadowing (planning on having 100-150 by June). I recently picked up a job working with high school kids in a leadership position (not on my app this cycle, 300 hours). I have 600 hours of research in undergrad. One publication is in the making, but it is likely a year out. I have 4000 hours of restaurant work during undergrad. I play a few sports recreationally and run. I have reasonably strong LORs. My personal statement has received good feedback. I am a traditional ORM male.
I have two primary questions.
1) When should I reapply.
2) Should I consider rewriting my PS/activities since I only submitted two secondaries with two II. Also, should I reconsider my LORs.
The improvements to my app would be the leadership experience, additional volunteering hours (+50 clinical, +50 nonclinical with projected 200 more hours by June 2018. I could also project hours further into August as both are ongoing), 50-150 shadowing hours (I have a couple of Physicians that have already agreed, and I have a couple more that I think would allow me), and additional hours as ED scribe. I feel as if my GPA/MCAT do not need to be improved. I would be open to this if suggested. However, I have heard that retaking a 512 is not smart, and that a ~3.7 is somewhat competitive/not worth the additional time and tuition.
I have four main concerns to reapplying this upcoming cycle.
1) Are these improvements good enough to reapply for my in state schools. I have not contacted them yet (recently rejected and on hold). I will definitely contact them. Both of the schools seem genuinely happy to help rejected applicants.
2) Will my reapp look bad for the 8 schools I sent a primary to but did not complete secondary? These 8 were my favorite schools barring my state schools. I do not know if the financial concern/strength of app is a good enough reason.
3) Is a second unsuccessful cycle extremely harmful for my chances. I.e. is it worth it to take an additional year off.
4) How strong is my app for OOS? I want to be extremely careful with decreasing my IS chances with back to back applications if my app is not competitive for OOS.
I am currently volunteering, working as a scribe, and working with the leadership experience. Ideally, I would like to quit scribing in July/August (2 month notice, and I will likely hear back in May from the one school on hold). I feel like after 2000 hours it offers diminishing returns, and the hours are not healthy for me. The pay is terrible. I do love the job, and I would be willing to continue scribing. However, I feel the erratic schedule is not worth additional benefit. I am also strongly considering working 1-3 shifts a month. Is volunteering, shadowing, and working a nonclinical job (business/engineering) a good plan for an additional gap year or during the upcoming cycle? Is scribing past 2000-2500 hours worth it? I would love to get back to a somewhat regular schedule if the benefit to my application is small.
Ultimately, I do not want to wait an additional year to reapply. However, I have heard that two unsuccessful cycles close together is a red flag. Any advice is greatly appreciated. Feel free to PM me for additional details or questions.
Thank you all very much for taking the time to read this far.
For this cycle (my first), I am currently on hold at one state school. I got rejected from another state school post II. I sent my primary to 10 schools, but only completed secondaries for my two state schools. I think this may have been a mistake, but I am moving forward as best as possible. I elected to not submit secondaries for three main reasons.
1) I completed my app late, submitting primary in August. I know this was a mistake. This was primarily due to lack of ECs in Undergrad and obtaining LORs.
2) I did not know if my app would be competitive OOS.
3) I did not want to spend a few thousand dollars, in debt, due to 1 and 2.
I did not apply DO because of the above reasons, mostly financial. The one school I am on hold for is wait list friendly. I think 10-25% get off the waitlist based on previous years. However, I want to be prepared to submit as soon as AMCAS opens if I need to. I am fully committed to reapplying either this year or next year post rejection. I have talked to my parents, and I am willing to take on additional debt/find a new job/accept some of their assistance to apply broadly including DO.
I graduated last year with a degree in engineering. My GPA was ~3.7 with a sGPA of ~3.7. I scored a 512 on the MCAT (128 across the board, 2017). I have 2200 hours of work as an ED scribe with projected 2500-4500 depending on if/when I quit. I had 100 hours of clinical volunteering on my app. I have 150 hours clinical and 50 hours nonclinical currently. I have 25 hours of physician shadowing (planning on having 100-150 by June). I recently picked up a job working with high school kids in a leadership position (not on my app this cycle, 300 hours). I have 600 hours of research in undergrad. One publication is in the making, but it is likely a year out. I have 4000 hours of restaurant work during undergrad. I play a few sports recreationally and run. I have reasonably strong LORs. My personal statement has received good feedback. I am a traditional ORM male.
I have two primary questions.
1) When should I reapply.
2) Should I consider rewriting my PS/activities since I only submitted two secondaries with two II. Also, should I reconsider my LORs.
The improvements to my app would be the leadership experience, additional volunteering hours (+50 clinical, +50 nonclinical with projected 200 more hours by June 2018. I could also project hours further into August as both are ongoing), 50-150 shadowing hours (I have a couple of Physicians that have already agreed, and I have a couple more that I think would allow me), and additional hours as ED scribe. I feel as if my GPA/MCAT do not need to be improved. I would be open to this if suggested. However, I have heard that retaking a 512 is not smart, and that a ~3.7 is somewhat competitive/not worth the additional time and tuition.
I have four main concerns to reapplying this upcoming cycle.
1) Are these improvements good enough to reapply for my in state schools. I have not contacted them yet (recently rejected and on hold). I will definitely contact them. Both of the schools seem genuinely happy to help rejected applicants.
2) Will my reapp look bad for the 8 schools I sent a primary to but did not complete secondary? These 8 were my favorite schools barring my state schools. I do not know if the financial concern/strength of app is a good enough reason.
3) Is a second unsuccessful cycle extremely harmful for my chances. I.e. is it worth it to take an additional year off.
4) How strong is my app for OOS? I want to be extremely careful with decreasing my IS chances with back to back applications if my app is not competitive for OOS.
I am currently volunteering, working as a scribe, and working with the leadership experience. Ideally, I would like to quit scribing in July/August (2 month notice, and I will likely hear back in May from the one school on hold). I feel like after 2000 hours it offers diminishing returns, and the hours are not healthy for me. The pay is terrible. I do love the job, and I would be willing to continue scribing. However, I feel the erratic schedule is not worth additional benefit. I am also strongly considering working 1-3 shifts a month. Is volunteering, shadowing, and working a nonclinical job (business/engineering) a good plan for an additional gap year or during the upcoming cycle? Is scribing past 2000-2500 hours worth it? I would love to get back to a somewhat regular schedule if the benefit to my application is small.
Ultimately, I do not want to wait an additional year to reapply. However, I have heard that two unsuccessful cycles close together is a red flag. Any advice is greatly appreciated. Feel free to PM me for additional details or questions.
Thank you all very much for taking the time to read this far.
