Applied very late/few schools, reapplying with mostly unchanged app

[Midas Mulligan Magoo]

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I am currently waitlisted at the only school that gave me an interview, so I'm getting ready to reapply. It's no secret why my application this cycle wasn't successful: I didn't get my MCAT and LORs squared away until October, and since I have a low GPA/high MCAT combo, I knew my chances with applying so late were slim, so I only applied to a handful of schools. So, the issues were:

-low GPA
-late application
-very few schools applied to

My MCAT at >35 is as good as it's gonna be. I graduated a couple years ago and have been working an intense consulting job since, so my GPA is not going to go up. I had 150hrs of clinical volunteering when I applied last time and in the interim I've added 5o more, but that's not really a material change to my profile. In other words, I will be reapplying with more or less an identical profile.

Really, the only significant change is that I'll be applying on day 1 this time around. To me, that's fine. If I had applied day one last year to 20 schools and received rejections all around, that would have been a pretty clear message that I must significantly rework and improve my app, whether it be through a post-bac or something equally dramatic. But since I applied very late and to only a few schools, it's reasonable in my mind to think that I'm significantly improving my application this time around simply by applying very early and to a reasonable number of schools.

The question is, will schools buy that logic, or will they instead expect to see major changes to my application, since I'm a reapplicant? At this point there really isn't anything I can do to make these changes, but I was just wondering what you guys think.

 

[MerciMerci]

I don't think anybody can answer this without knowing how low of a GPA "low" is.

 

[Goro]

So what's your GPA???

 

[Midas Mulligan Magoo]

My GPA is between 3.2 and 3.5 for AMCAS, higher for AACOMAS. As I mentioned in my OP, it is what it is at this point. It used to be a lot, lot worse, and when all was said and done I burned through nearly 200 credit hours during undergrad in an effort to raise it above the cutoffs. There is no moving that behemoth now even if I were to take more classes.

 

[tdubst]

Apply early and broadly, all IS and DO schools (@Goro can give you more detailed info). You will not be a re-applicant for the schools that you have not applied to.

 

[GrapesofRath]

Between 3.2 and 3.5 is a huge window. 3.2/35+ and the odds are still stacked against you of receiving an MD acceptance even with an early application. 3.4+/35+ and if you apply early then there is definitely reason to believe you have shot. An upward trend will work in your favor but if your old enough that you have over 200 credits you probably don't want to have to waste another year applying so whatever it is that caused you to apply late, don't for the love of god let it be a factor again this time around, apply early and broadly with a good mix of DO schools and see what happens.

 

[gostfhery]

There is no moving that behemoth now even if I were to take more classes.

 

[GrapesofRath]

I would suggest it may be a bit better odds than that if the OP has a strong upward grade trend and if any separate postbacc GPA shows up.

True a 3.41 with no upward trend vs taking another year and doing post vac and ending up 3.43 with 2-3 most recent semesters of 3.8 caliber work can definitely change how your application is looked upon.

But if the OP is doing an intense consulting job as it is said then going back to a school might not be a realistic option at all. As is with an MCAT greater than 35 it's at least worth applying to MD schools and seeing what happens as long as a sufficient and thorugh list of DO schools are also being applied to

 

[Midas Mulligan Magoo]

Thanks for the feedback guys. As per my OP, what I'm trying to specifically figure out is not the overall strength of my application or what I must do to improve it, but rather how schools will look at my status as a reapplicant.