Does being a reapplicant to a certain medical school give you an advantage?

[vitanuova]

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I have a hypothetical question.
Say someone applies to a school with slightly below average stats for the school, perhaps one prerequisite course that was in progress, and decent but not extraordinary extracurriculars and is not accepted the first time. This person then spends a year boosting GPA and mcat and getting more clinical experience. The person then applies again to the same school where he originally applied. Would this applicant have an advantage because he had applied to the same school the previous year and improved his application? Or would it have been better for the applicant to not have applied the first time?

 

[QofQuimica]

I have a hypothetical question.
Say someone applies to a school with slightly below average stats for the school, perhaps one prerequisite course that was in progress, and decent but not extraordinary extracurriculars and is not accepted the first time. This person then spends a year boosting GPA and mcat and getting more clinical experience. The person then applies again to the same school where he originally applied. Would this applicant have an advantage because he had applied to the same school the previous year and improved his application? Or would it have been better for the applicant to not have applied the first time?

Better for the applicant not to have applied the first time. If you know that your app is subpar, then get it up to par before you apply. It's a waste of time, money, and energy to apply with a subpar app, and it doesn't make you a better candidate in the eyes of the med school.

 

[RegisBioMedMS]

Agreed, applying with a sub-par application is really not recommended. Many schools will see it as a sign that you don't understand or take the process seriously and it will downgrade your applications in the future. Be sure you are in the range of possibility before applying.

 

[vitanuova]

What would be considered the "range of possibility"?
How do you distinguish between applying to a reach school that is within a "range of possibility" and applying to a school that is so far above you that it will make you look bad?
.2 GPA points? 2-3 Mcat points?

 

[QofQuimica]

What would be considered the "range of possibility"?
How do you distinguish between applying to a reach school that is within a "range of possibility" and applying to a school that is so far above you that it will make you look bad?
.2 GPA points? 2-3 Mcat points?

It's impossible to make a blanket statement like that because your competitiveness depends on other things besides just your MCAT and GPA. But you can calculate your LizzyM score to get an idea of what schools you might be competitive for based solely on stats.

 

[reviliver]

From personal experience, even with an SMP completed, new MCAT scores, and additional research, there were some schools that I re-applied to that still did not even look at my application for a second time. Definitely, definitely try to avoid applying multiple times if you can. That way, they can still see everything that is great about you but they don't have the memory of rejecting you previously.

All med schools are very competitive. If you have an application that would certainly get you accepted somewhere, then go ahead and apply to a range of schools where you would be happy. If you only want to get in to a highly competitive school, do not apply unless your stats are within their range because they may not take you seriously in the future, even if you improve your application.

 

[Gfliptastic]

I applied & interviewed at a large private school in Chicago and was waitlisted. After not being called off the list, I reapplied the following year and did NOT even get another interview!

Once accepted at another school I went back to discuss this, out of curiosity, and the AdCom member told me that reapplicants are scrutinized even more. They expect large improvements to any subsequent applications.

A substantial jump in MCAT score (meaning like +3-4 pts) and a stronger LOR from a newer EC does count. Either/or it was relayed to me that it wasn't "substantial" to warrant a new look at the app.

 

[gyngyn]

I have a hypothetical question.
Say someone applies to a school with slightly below average stats for the school, perhaps one prerequisite course that was in progress, and decent but not extraordinary extracurriculars and is not accepted the first time. This person then spends a year boosting GPA and mcat and getting more clinical experience. The person then applies again to the same school where he originally applied. Would this applicant have an advantage because he had applied to the same school the previous year and improved his application? Or would it have been better for the applicant to not have applied the first time?

No. Yes.