Completed Application not much interviews, serious considerations

[kevlar22]

Hey everyone,

I wanted to get everyones opinion on what I should do at this point at the med school application process.
Should I have a backup plan just in case I don't get accepted anywhere?

Quick Bio:
East Asian male
just graduated from Cornell University in Neurobiology and Behavior
uGPA: 3.65
sGPA: 3.61
MCAT: 28( 10-9-9), 33(12-10-11)

Clinical and Basic science research (each 1 year respectively) no publications
Significant volunteering in free clinic near school and shadowing experience in Mount Sinai Hospital, Columbia Presbyterian. Currently a research associate at a program in St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital doing emergency medicine research.
Received a scholarship for a 3 summer extended SMDEP-like program at Columbia P&S, and Icahn School of Medicine 2010-2012.

LoR Writers: 1 from basic science research, 1 from faculty advisor, 1 from the the physician who i did research with at Mt Sinai, and 1 from the associate dean of diversity at Mt Sinai

I submitted my application June 23rd after coming back from an extended Asia trip as a graduation present. The one thing that bugs me is that my school's health careers committee did not send out most of the letters for all of us applying until early september (9/10/13 for me). I received a couple of secondaries mostly at the end of August, but thank goodness I was pre-writing everything and was able to send them out as soon as I received them. My application was not complete until 9/13/13 after AMCAS FINALLY received the committee letter (I really do think that our committee dropped the ball on this for us, since they gave us a deadline to give all of our LoRs by March 2013. They said that when they sent our committee letters never affected an applicant's chance, but what's done is done.)

Applied to
Einstein
Stony Brook
Downstate
Columbia
Icahn at Mount Sinai
USUHS
Albany
Hofstra
Duke
Duke-NUS
University of Miami
Cooper
UMDNJ
RWJMS
NYU
Georgetown

From September until now, I have only received 4 interview invites: Duke-NUS, Albany, USUHS and Hofstra. I've received an email from Downstate to send an update on what I'm doing for this gap year, but I haven't heard from them in 6 weeks. I want to ask how my prospects are looking, since I haven't received another interview for a month now. I'm really keen on going to NYU, Downstate, Einstein, Stonybrook etc.

Since everything on my application was late, do I still stand a chance in receiving interviews from other schools? Especially since NYU has only 4 more weeks of interviewing left and I haven't heard a word from them.

I know that I'm still going to go through the process, but what is your honest evaluation of my situation right now? In the event that I might have to reapply again, what would you suggest that I do to make my application more competitive? Should I retake the MCATs/take post-bacc classes etc/get more research experience etc.? Please let me know what you guys recommend.

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[eizeral]

Do you not want to attend any of the 4 schools you currently have interviews at? If so, then yeah, I guess try your luck next year with an earlier application. You don't need more research experience. My advice to you would be to extend your experiences outside of the clinical realm. Do something totally different. Work at a retail store, work as a waiter...something where your personal skills are tested and which will show you are not only adept academically, but personally as well since you are relatable.

That said, I think you have a good chance of being accepted to at least one of the four schools you have interviews at and all of them are good, so you should consider going to one of them if you're accepted. Good luck!

 

[justAstudent]

I'd be more than happy to be in the position you're in =P I only have 2 interview invites at the moment and haven't heard back from 25+ schools since completing my secondaries early/mid October. I think you're in a pretty good position right now. Good luck!

 

[kevlar22]

@eizeral It's not that, It's just that I'm not too keen on going to Singapore after finding out the accreditation details and I'm not sure if I want to commit the next 15 years of my life to the military. I would definitely consider Hofstra and Albany, however another question I would like to ask is, what is the likelihood of me receiving more interviews? It's just disheartening that I see all my friends getting accepted yet I have not gone to a single interview yet. I am happy for them but I still have to look out for myself. What do you think? Also do you think my school list was unrealistic?

@mdhopeeful ooo Where? Also what is your school list ? Thanks for the encouragement, Best of luck to you too.

 

[justAstudent]

@eizeral It's not that, It's just that I'm not too keen on going to Singapore after finding out the accreditation details and I'm not sure if I want to commit the next 15 years of my life to the military. I would definitely consider Hofstra and Albany, however another question I would like to ask is, what is the likelihood of me receiving more interviews? It's just disheartening that I see all my friends getting accepted yet I have not gone to a single interview yet. I am happy for them but I still have to look out for myself. What do you think? Also do you think my school list was unrealistic?

@mdhopeeful ooo Where? Also what is your school list ? Thanks for the encouragement, Best of luck to you too.

I'll be interviewing at UCR and UCLA. I applied to a lot of schools but off the top of my head....albany, creighton, all the UCs, stanford, Temple, drexel, hofstra, st. Louis, quinnipiac, wisconsin, penn state, chicago medical college, boston university, new york medical college, and Washington university. I'm sure I'm leaving some out, but that's most of it. Sorry for the weird caps...I'm writing from my phone.

 

[Goro]

In the worst case scenario of a shutout, make sure to contact Admission Deans to get feedback on why you got rejected.

Reconsider your school list and apply more strategically.

Consider DO programs.

But in reality, I think you'll do fine. Do let us know how things turn out.

Hey everyone,

I wanted to get everyones opinion on what I should do at this point at the med school application process.
Should I have a backup plan just in case I don't get accepted anywhere?

Quick Bio:
East Asian male
just graduated from Cornell University in Neurobiology and Behavior
uGPA: 3.65
sGPA: 3.61
MCAT: 28( 10-9-9), 33(12-10-11)

Clinical and Basic science research (each 1 year respectively) no publications
Significant volunteering in free clinic near school and shadowing experience in Mount Sinai Hospital, Columbia Presbyterian. Currently a research associate at a program in St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital doing emergency medicine research.
Received a scholarship for a 3 summer extended SMDEP-like program at Columbia P&S, and Icahn School of Medicine 2010-2012.

LoR Writers: 1 from basic science research, 1 from faculty advisor, 1 from the the physician who i did research with at Mt Sinai, and 1 from the associate dean of diversity at Mt Sinai

I submitted my application June 23rd after coming back from an extended Asia trip as a graduation present. The one thing that bugs me is that my school's health careers committee did not send out most of the letters for all of us applying until early september (9/10/13 for me). I received a couple of secondaries mostly at the end of August, but thank goodness I was pre-writing everything and was able to send them out as soon as I received them. My application was not complete until 9/13/13 after AMCAS FINALLY received the committee letter (I really do think that our committee dropped the ball on this for us, since they gave us a deadline to give all of our LoRs by March 2013. They said that when they sent our committee letters never affected an applicant's chance, but what's done is done.)

Applied to
Einstein
Stony Brook
Downstate
Columbia
Icahn at Mount Sinai
USUHS
Albany
Hofstra
Duke
Duke-NUS
University of Miami
Cooper
UMDNJ
RWJMS
NYU
Georgetown

From September until now, I have only received 4 interview invites: Duke-NUS, Albany, USUHS and Hofstra. I've received an email from Downstate to send an update on what I'm doing for this gap year, but I haven't heard from them in 6 weeks. I want to ask how my prospects are looking, since I haven't received another interview for a month now. I'm really keen on going to NYU, Downstate, Einstein, Stonybrook etc.

Since everything on my application was late, do I still stand a chance in receiving interviews from other schools? Especially since NYU has only 4 more weeks of interviewing left and I haven't heard a word from them.

I know that I'm still going to go through the process, but what is your honest evaluation of my situation right now? In the event that I might have to reapply again, what would you suggest that I do to make my application more competitive? Should I retake the MCATs/take post-bacc classes etc/get more research experience etc.? Please let me know what you guys recommend.

 

[Espadaleader]

You did not disclose if you're international or not. If you're a US citizen you should have had more interviews man. You're application is stellar

 

[kevlar22]

You did not disclose if you're international or not. If you're a US citizen you should have had more interviews man. You're application is stellar

Hi @Espadaleader , I am a US citizen. What do you think of my situation? The major reason is because my application was held up due to the committee letter being sent in September, which led to my application being "late". I submitted on June 23, 2013 but my application was not complete until September 13th, 2013.

Would you or anyone here suggest sending out pre-interview letter of interest?

@Goro thanks for the words of encouragement. How would you suggest proceeding from here? Do you also believe in sending out letters of interest?

 

[kevlar22]

You did not disclose if you're international or not. If you're a US citizen you should have had more interviews man. You're application is stellar

Hi @Espadaleader , I am a US citizen. What do you think of my situation? The major reason is because my application was held up due to the committee letter being sent in September, which led to my application being "late". I submitted on June 23, 2013 but my application was not complete until September 13th, 2013.

Would you or anyone here suggest sending out pre-interview letter of interest?

@Goro thanks for the words of encouragement. How would you suggest proceeding from here? Do you also believe in sending out letters of interest?

 

[funniful]

I highly doubt that your application is "late." Brown didn't send in my committee letter till September as well so I was not complete at some schools until the end of September but I thankfully received a quick turnaround with interviews. There are people who don't even send in their secondaries till October and get interviews in Jan/Feb with acceptances later on, so I would not lose all hope.

If anything, your stats are a little low and below average for some of the schools on your list. I would try to think strategically about what you could do in the next year in the worst case scenario where you don't get in. Definitely consider retaking the MCAT, possibly supplementing with more coursework to bring up your GPA, and including more safeties in your school list.

 

[stranger1]

I think your big problem is with your school list. Are you a NY resident (since you are so keen on going to Downstate or Stonybrook)? If so, NJ schools are pretty IS heavy. Georgetown gets a ton of applications. Sinai, Columbia, NYU, and Duke are reaches.

 

[eizeral]

I think your school list could be better. To be honest, you'd have much more luck applying to more mid-tier and low-tier schools. Also, you applied to a lot of NY and NJ schools, and the NJ schools accept mostly IS. You should've applied to more private colleges, or schools that accept a lot of OOS. Also, next time make sure you apply to 20+ schools. I only applied to 13 this year and boy do I regret it! My application was also late and my MCAT is lower than yours (27, 8PS, 10VR, 9BS), and I have only received 3 II's. I know it's hard, but only focus on what you're doing! My best friend is acing everything in vet school, meanwhile I'm at home slaving away while trying to get into medical school, so I know how you feel. Just try and only worry about you for now. Having to reapply is not the worst thing in the world, but just make sure if you DO reapply, that you make a significant change to your application so you're not just submitting the same thing twice.

 

[commserver]

You did not disclose if you're international or not. If you're a US citizen you should have had more interviews man. You're application is stellar

There are many surprises this year. Interviews are sometimes rare this year. There are many more applicants.

 

[Mt Kilimanjaro]

Did you already complete these interviews? I don't understand why you would assume that 4 interview invites before 1 Dec will likely yield zero acceptances.