EC Advice needed: Am I doing enough in my year off to improve my app..

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swman

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...or do I need more?

Here's the deal with last app:
3.7, 30MCAT, 1 yr. research, applied late (had to take Aug MCAT)
Applied to 6 schools, 4 interviews, 4 waitlists, 0 acceptances.

When I look back I see two reasons that I did not get in:

1. Aug MCAT set me back by making my application late (3 of my 4 interviews were on the very last day of the interview season for the respective school)
2. Not enough clinical experience (at the time of my first interview I had 5 months volunteering in ER, one night a week and had not shadowed any physicians.
Not to make excuses, but I come from a disadvantaged situation and had to work 25 hours a week during school to pay for college by myself.

Now that I've graduated, I can fit in many new things in my life, despite working 40 hours a week at a grocery store where I make too much money to quit. I plan to do the following:

1. Continue to work full-time to pay for apps
2. Continue shadowing as many docs as I can (as I have been since March)
3. Continue to volunteer in the ER but increase to maybe 10-15 hours a week
4. I am about to start a program where I get to interact with grieving children and their families by counseling them in order to help them cope with the child's medical situation.

Also:
-Considering getting involved with a volunteer service called "improving care through the end of life" which sounds pretty self-explanatory
-Considered taking an EMT course and becoming an ER patient care tech but decided it wasn't worth the $800, classes during interview season, and not getting the actual job until towards the end of the applicaiton cycle.

What do you all think? Am I doing enough or do you have other suggestions?

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I think what you're doing is fine, and I think your numbers are good enough to get in. Next time, definitely apply EARLY and apply to more schools!
 
It must have been a fluke you didn't get in before. My guess is you didn't apply to enough schools or were too selective. Apply to at least 20 schools...you should get plenty of interviews. Because of the number of applicants, there is way too much chance and I think you just had a touch of bad luck. Most people who GET IN to med school don't have numbers as good as yours.

Remember...more than 20...25 would be good!

I wish I were in your shoes...enjoy your time off...trust me!

-s
 
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PhDtoMD said:
It must have been a fluke you didn't get in before. My guess is you didn't apply to enough schools or were too selective. Apply to at least 20 schools...
Remember...more than 20...25 would be good!

-s

I agree 100%. You're doing well in strengthening your application. Obviously, you will not have to worry about the August MCAT this time around, so you should be able to get your applications completed sufficiently early in the cycle.

And, yes, apply to more schools. Occasionally, I see comments that say you should apply to just a handful of schools, which is the worst advice possible. Your goal is to maximize your chances of getting an acceptance, not to be the most efficient applicant. The application fees are short money in the long run; use credit card debt if you have to. No reason to apply to 50 but you should certainly apply to more than 6; 25 is a reasonable target.
 
like the others said, there were two things that you can change EASILY this year.
1) apply early.
2) apply to more school.

im sure with those two things changed, you will be a med student next fall!
 
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