Extremely confused Reapplicant

[sch]

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I am a texas resident and submitted TMDSAS, august 10th. I have a 3.56 gpa and 32 mcat. I have applied for md at all of the texas school and have not heard from single so far. I am graduating in Fall 2011 with physics major. I am considering taking admission in University of North texas Master in medical science programme or give me suggestion what I should do to improve my application for next cycle or should I be applying at all for 2011 cycle. I have no volunteering experience but done some job shadowing and have some EC. I have looked into other threads and have not found case simmilar to my situation.Please help.

 

[doctor freak]

Hey sch! I think the thing that really killed your chances was applying so late. I know the deadline to apply is Oct 1, but people start sending in their apps in May and schools start reviewing apps from when they're submitted. So if you applied in August, your app was probably transmitted over a month later, with means mid-September, and that's smack dab in the middle of the interview season, which means a whole lot of people have already been scheduled for interviews. Also, healthcare and volunteering experience is CRUCIAL. I can't tell you how many times admission people have told us at interviews that even if you have stellar GPA/MCAT, you won't be considered unless you really know what you're getting into, which you can get an idea of with EXTENSIVE shadowing AND volunteering in a healthcare setting (hospital, clinic, nursing home). They also need to know that you really want to dedicate your life to serving people, which can be evidenced by volunteer work even outside of the healthcare field.

I don't think getting a masters at UNT will help you that much, it seems to me like getting some quality shadowing and volunteering hours in (I did about 200 hours volunteering at a hospital and 200 shadowing three different physicians) would really make your application next year competitive because then you can prove to them that you really want to be a doctor. Who knows, you might even decide that you don't like the profession once you really see what it's all about.

Best of luck!!!

 

[sch]

Thanks a lot doctor freak, I really appreciate your advise. Yes, I am planning to do volunteer and community service for about six months next semester before I apply. I job shadowed two doctors and got 100 hours each. But I got a feeling my gpa is not competitive and that is why I was thinking of doing post bac. I am graduating in three years and I was 19 when I applied. May be that killed my chance too. So I should take a shot to apply for next cycle. That clears my plan and will start working on it to give my best shot.

 

[fahimaz7]

I am a texas resident and submitted TMDSAS, august 10th. I have a 3.56 gpa and 32 mcat. I have applied for md at all of the texas school and have not heard from single so far. I am graduating in Fall 2011 with physics major. I am considering taking admission in University of North texas Master in medical science programme or give me suggestion what I should do to improve my application for next cycle or should I be applying at all for 2011 cycle. I have no volunteering experience but done some job shadowing and have some EC. I have looked into other threads and have not found case simmilar to my situation.Please help.

You are graduating in fall 2011? School starts in August of 2011.........................................

PS. How are you a re-applicant? You don't even have a bachelor's degree yet?

 

[sch]

Sorry, by mistake I wrote fall 2011, I am actually graduating spring 2011. I had a lot of ap credits and took lot of college classes during high school. So I am finishing a year early. I took mcat 2010 august and applied to med school too. But so far heard nothing, and have a feeling nothing is going to come up anymore. My fear is my gpa is not competitive as physics was really a hard major.

 

[fahimaz7]

Sorry, by mistake I wrote fall 2011, I am actually graduating spring 2011. I had a lot of ap credits and took lot of college classes during high school. So I am finishing a year early. I took mcat 2010 august and applied to med school too. But so far heard nothing, and have a feeling nothing is going to come up anymore. My fear is my gpa is not competitive as physics was really a hard major.

You realize that medical school interviews go until mid March, right? If a school's class averages a 3.7/31, how many people do you think were accepted with stats around that?

are you even a re-applicant?

 

[sch]

Thankes fahimaz7 for taking the time to reply to my question. I applied to med school for the first time this cycle, but I see myself as reapplicant for june 2011 cycle. My question was intended for that, whether I should go for a post bac or not. My gpa is not 3.7, it is 3.57. In that regard I was thinking my gpa is not competitive so should I improve my chance by taking a post bac course.

 

[fahimaz7]

Thankes fahimaz7 for taking the time to reply to my question. I applied to med school for the first time this cycle, but I see myself as reapplicant for june 2011 cycle. My question was intended for that, whether I should go for a post bac or not. My gpa is not 3.7, it is 3.57. In that regard I was thinking my gpa is not competitive so should I improve my chance by taking a post bac course.

1) You really do need to relax, and that was the point that I was trying to make. You have very competitive numbers for most of the US schools, and I would be highly surprised if you don't get any interviews this cycle.

2) You are not a re-applicant until you apply next year.

3) If you end up not getting any love (interviews) by February, apply to an informal post bacc. Take summer classes and Fall classes (heavy science loads), while you are reapplying to medical school. Doing a SMP would be a waste of time for someone with your grades.

4) While a 3.7 is not a 3.57, it's damn close. My point is that with an average GPA of a 3.7, half of the matriculating class is going to have a GPA below a 3.7. So, to put this in perspective...

My school matriculates 240 student, and we have an average GPA of a 3.71. In case you failed statistics, that means that 120 people had a cumulative GPA below a 3.71. What does this mean for you? You would be competitive at my school (at least on the GPA side). We also average a 31.3 MCAT, so...

5) Your lack of volunteering would be an enormous red flag at my medical school. Most medical schools want to matriculate students who have a track record of caring for their community, and an interest in someone other than themselves. Our committee constantly argues about the "quality" of these volunteer experiences, and what is a "sufficient" amount of volunteering. You might want to consider joining a few organizations around campus, as well as getting involved with a few programs outside of your pre-med group.

PS. This forum is for re-applicants. This is not the place for neurotic pre-meds, who haven't even made it past Thanksgiving without freaking out about their application (even though they have perfectly good numbers). I hope you are more relaxed around you letter writers, so they don't comment on your anxiety in their letters

 

[sch]

Hey fahimaz7, I take your point, I really need tof relax. I am on my way to add some meaningful volunteering experience.

Yes I think, I need to take some classes to improve my gpa.

 

[dragonfly99]

1) lack of volunteering experience hurts your application
2) younger age may hurt your application (if they think you aren't that mature, not much life experience, etc.)
3) try to enjoy college somewhat, even can stay in an extra semester if you want. Join some clubs, study Shakespeare, etc. That's just my opinion
4) I don't think you need to waste a year doing a postbac, though the GPA could come up a little...hopefully some interviewers are smart enough to know that physics is a hard major

 

[Ursa]

You realize that medical school interviews go until mid March, right? If a school's class averages a 3.7/31, how many people do you think were accepted with stats around that?

are you even a re-applicant?

Texas schools only interview until mid-december

 

[fahimaz7]

Texas schools only interview until mid-december

Thanks Mr. President.

 

[sch]

Thanks to all of you, who took the time to reply to my post. The reason I am unsure about my being a competitive applicant, as I see all this applicant on SDN with high gpa. Hopefully, next cycle will yield some result. I just need to stay positive.

 

[fahimaz7]

Thanks to all of you, who took the time to reply to my post. The reason I am unsure about my being a competitive applicant, as I see all this applicant on SDN with high gpa. Hopefully, next cycle will yield some result. I just need to stay positive.

Out of curiosity, what is your first language?

 

[sch]

My first language is not english, it is hindi.