Current cycle applicant slowly becoming a re-applicant, please help fix my app.

[WillOfTheSon]

As the title says, I am a current applicant this cycle. I am a senior finishing my now final semester of undergrad, and it is safe to say that this cycle has not gone as I had hoped. As of now I only have had one II from my state school, to which I won't find out the final decision until March. I know that there is still some small semblance of hope, but I am trying to prepare myself for the worst (especially as my family continually pounds how much I need to prepare because they do not think that I am good enough for it yet).

As I look at my app more and more now having gone through this process, I know there are holes, but I am not sure what to do now. I know the likelihood is that I may need to retake the MCAT, but I desperately do not want to do that if I do not have to, but it is one of the main reasons I am making this post in the first place.

Stats/Activities:
- 3.72 cGPA/3.51 sGPA
- 508 MCAT (127/127/127/127)
- 500 Hours Various Leadership/Campus Volunteering Positions: Includes three different leadership positions working with my university's student developmental services organizations for incoming undergraduate students and being a resource before and after they start their college experience and help them adjust to the pressures of college. Also includes my work on my university's Peer Conduct Board where students can appeal violations if they feel that they have not been heard or that events have been misrepresented so that the school's code of conduct can be upheld while also allowing students a voice.
- University Pre-Health Ambassador: I serve as a Pre-Health Ambassador for my University's Pre-Health Office, mostly I talk with incoming or prospective students about our Pre-Health Programs, or talk with alumni and letting them know all about what our Pre-Health Program has been achieving in the most recent years. We work to put on different volunteering events throughout the semester and connect the students at our university to different programs around the local community.
- ~450 Hours of Shadowing/Clinical Hours: The reason that I put both shadowing and clinical hours is that this was a bit of a unique experience that I had my summer of my Freshman year pre-covid. I reached out to a neurosurgeon at a local hospital that I had followed during an internship in high school and looked to continue it for the summer. I spent the entire summer waking up and meeting the patients pre-op with the PA, being able to talk to them and help calm their nerves a bit while they got the OR ready, before then shadowing the actual surgery. After the surgery is when I'd go to the clinic, and get to follow him around the clinic where I would not only just shadow actual physician/patient meetings, but I would also help greet people and get them settled in, if patients were getting admitted I would be the one to wheelchair them from the neurosurgical clinic to the main admissions all the way across the hospital. Overall, it was an amazing one-of-a-kind internship that allowed me to really get to both watch and witness the entire process from pre-op to post-op, but also gave me experience in a clinic and interacting with patients.
- ~260 Hours of Student Teaching: I have been a student TA for three semesters, two for non-major biology labs, and then one semester as an upper-division Biochemistry where I worked to both help teach classes, but also grade assignments for the lab class. For Biochemistry, I worked with the students throughout the class to help explain concepts after the professor had assigned them as the class was done in a more interactive worksheet format meant to provide experience to understand the class rather than just basic lecturing.
- ~100 Hours of A Student Escort Service Driver: This was a work experience that I had my freshman year, where I worked night shifts in a golf cart driving students that felt-unsafe across campus so that students did not have to walk far at night if they felt unsafe. The job ended up conflicting with my schedule going into my second semester freshman year which is why I only worked for a short time, I don't know if this is worth putting on the app or not.
- 30 Hour Family Medicine Preceptorship: This last semester I completed a family medicine preceptorship with a local doctor who created a whole curriculum to show the intricacies and different aspects of family medicine and how it meets at the crossroads of virtual medicine and advocacy.
- Crisis Text Line: I just finished the thirty-hour training course for Crisis Text Line, and am planning to do the 200 hours required of volunteers, but I also plan to continue to do it past that date. This is going to be one of the volunteer activities that I can do at night so that it does not interact with my classes (yes I know it's also cookie-cutter with Covid-19, but it was something that I really felt could make a difference and work for me).
- Pop-Up Vaccine Clinic Experience: During the initial rollout of the vaccine in March of 2020 I served as a volunteer to help get the patients checked in and through the long drive-thru process for a clinic run by my university and a local hospital, specifically during this clinic targetting at-risk individuals. It was a one-day 8-hour clinic during one of the weekends, but it was a clinical volunteering experience that I found important as it was my first-time post-pandemic that I was really able to help my community in that way.

Random Other Things
- I received a scholarship award before my senior year for volunteer and leadership service in pre-health from my university's pre-health advisory committee (who writes our committee letters).
- Not during college, but during my senior year of high school, I performed at Carnegie Hall as part of a select-vocal chorus. Music has always been a passion of mine, so it is something that I talk about to show that I am not just only focused on medicine but have my own other passions and pursuits. I learned a lot from pursuing this whole experience, and it has shaped a lot of my mindset for pursuing medicine now.

Thank you to whoever may read this and provide me with some feedback. I know that this was a lot, and it was written pretty quickly as I wanted to be able to post this before I had to do work for the day. I really am feeling lost right now, and unsure of where to go from here. I plan to get some sort of clinical job or position after I graduate if I do have to reapply like I think I will have to. I really have wanted to go MD, but I am planning to apply half DO this next time if I reapply. My thoughts are that if I do not get into the school I am still waiting on, I will likely have to take two gap years as I do not think that I will be adequately prepared to turn around and apply again this next upcoming cycle. Anyways, thank you again in advance.

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[Mr.Smile12]

Did you apply to any DO programs? Usual rule of thumb is the MCAT for MD programs should comfortably be 510+. You aren't ineligible for MD, but you should have leveraged your chances with DO programs. If you applied to AACOMAS, have you heard back yet?

I didn't see that you posted a WAMC before the start of the cycle so we don't know where you applied and from whom you received decisions so far.

Based on what you wrote, what is the one activity you listed that shows me you are comfortable being uncomfortable (i.e., stretched beyond your comfort zone)? You have a lot of activities based or related to campus.

 

[WillOfTheSon]

Did you apply to any DO programs? Usual rule of thumb is the MCAT for MD programs should comfortably be 510+. You aren't ineligible for MD, but you should have leveraged your chances with DO programs. If you applied to AACOMAS, have you heard back yet?

I didn't see that you posted a WAMC before the start of the cycle so we don't know where you applied and from whom you received decisions so far.

Based on what you wrote, what is the one activity you listed that shows me you are comfortable being uncomfortable (i.e., stretched beyond your comfort zone)? You have a lot of activities based or related to campus.

I admittedly did not apply to DO programs like I likely should have. I relied a lot on my pre-med advisors, and they told me that they thought that I'd be okay with my interview skills and all my other extracurriculars, that with applying very broadly I might have a good chance of making it somewhere. Thus I did not do AACOMAS but I plan to do that on a re-app.

I am a bit new to SDN really, so I did not make a WAMC. The school I am waiting to hear back from on their final post-II decision is University of Oklahoma, my IS school. I still have also yet to hear back from UNT-TCU which is my alma-mater. There are a few more I have yet to hear from either, but obviously it is late in the cycle.

As for the activity I'd say pushed me out of my comfort zone. I didn't really get to explain it all more but my work in one specific organization is where we serve as counselors and facilitators for discussions at incoming student camps for 3 day spans. Here, we have to go through multi-day QPR Suicide Prevention, Drug and Alcohol Training, and much more to be able to handle very hard conversations that come up. As counselors, our job was to facilitate discussion on phobias of college, goals, identities and experiences, and more and opened up a lot of very tough discussions. Not going into detail, the position trained me and put me in positions that were quite serious in regards to dealing with students bringing up suicidal ideation and past experiences of sexual assault, and what my job was both as a mandatory reporter and as a facilitator. All the while running tight schedules and carrying out 18 hour days. While it is related to students, it was not on campus and is much more focused on working with individuals. So I'd say overall that really pushed me out of my comfort zone.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

I'll definitely say let's hope for the best. Planning for the MCAT retake though would be a good idea for April/May if you think you can get higher than 510-515.

I also disagree that Crisis Text Line activities are "cookie cutter". They may have gotten more prevalent with COVID-19, but they are not overrepresented like tutoring or teaching always is.

 

[mrbean600]

As a re-applicant who has had a much more successful cycle this time around, i think your GPA is good (pending ur not showing some significant downward slope). MCAT could be better but there are definitely MD programs out there that would consider you. If you really don't want to retake your MCAT, I would suggest re-applying but definitely include some DO programs. I would also recommend maybe doing research or getting some experience working with diverse, underserved communities where you can observe health inequities or disparities.

- If money isn't an issue, apply as broadly as you can while remaining purposeful in the programs you choose. Really take the time to consider your goals in medicine and tailor your personal statement to paint a story/trajectory.
- Getting secondaries in fast is important but you really want to make sure you tell the school why you are a good fit and vice versa. Ideally your schools should have a common thread. I applied to schools mostly in urban locations that had some research opportunities and emphasized working with underserved communities. For example, I had significant experiences working in urban academic healthcare centers that were safety net hospitals and the schools that fit that responded really well 🙂

Hope this helps if you find yourself re-applying.

 

[WillOfTheSon]

As a re-applicant who has had a much more successful cycle this time around, i think your GPA is good (pending ur not showing some significant downward slope). MCAT could be better but there are definitely MD programs out there that would consider you. If you really don't want to retake your MCAT, I would suggest re-applying but definitely include some DO programs. I would also recommend maybe doing research or getting some experience working with diverse, underserved communities where you can observe health inequities or disparities.

- If money isn't an issue, apply as broadly as you can while remaining purposeful in the programs you choose. Really take the time to consider your goals in medicine and tailor your personal statement to paint a story/trajectory.
- Getting secondaries in fast is important but you really want to make sure you tell the school why you are a good fit and vice versa. Ideally your schools should have a common thread. I applied to schools mostly in urban locations that had some research opportunities and emphasized working with underserved communities. For example, I had significant experiences working in urban academic healthcare centers that were safety net hospitals and the schools that fit that responded really well 🙂

Hope this helps if you find yourself re-applying.

Thank you, I definitely have shown an upward trend and not a downward trend, I ended up with a 4.0 this last semester including the Physics 1 pre-req. I will be applying more broadly for MD, and DO. My plan is, if I reapply, I'll take two gap years and get some sort of clinical job of sorts that will give me more of those experiences working with underserved communities (I also now have three shifts a week of the Crisis Text Line). Unfortunately, my school doesn't really have any research opportunities for me this late in my time in undergrad. I will definitely take your advice to heart, thank you so much!

 

[TragicalDrFaust]

From this chart courtesy of SDN user paradoxic_toxic, which is ripped from the choose DO website, last cycle's average GPA was 3.57 and average MCAT was 504.18. with some of the more competitive DO schools reporting MCAT averages as high as 509. According to the AAMC's report, the average matriculant GPA and MCAT last cycle was 3.74 and 511.9 respectively. As such I would recommend retaking the MCAT and/or adding DO schools to your list.

 

[mudfud26]

I hope you do get the A from your interview.
If not, your academics are pretty solid. I think your MCAT could be stronger, especially if it would expire after 1-2 gap years. Your ECs really need something more longitudinal. I would advise getting a gap year position where you could get significant research and/or clinical exposure. Getting publications and being productive in your gaps year(s) shows commitment to science and medicine, which is what a lot of MD AdComs look for now. Additionally, try to keep a long term volunteer gig, something you do weekly or monthly to show commitment over a long period of time. Last, craft your school list based on MCAT average and GPA, making sure you look at IS vs OOS A rate. I am a reapplicant, and my interviews have mostly come from schools with averages below my strong score, but above my weak score.