Feeling down as discouraged

[coolkid311]

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3.4 gpa with 30 MCAT (10-10-10). I applied and I have just received rejections so far from all my schools. I genuinely volunteered at the hospital and shadowed a few doctors as well as enthusiastically participated in research and my hobbies but I feel like that wasn't enough. I didn't bs any volunteer hours or activities and I feel like I should have padded my resume for the sake of the application. To add, I graduated several months ago and I couldn't find a job either so I have been living in uncles house doing nothing. Help on future plans or what I should do. I don't have the money to do a masters program and I studied biomedical engineering to challenge myself which led to the bad gpa. I feel so down and depressed. My father is a successful opthamalogist and he is extremely disappointed in me as well. Ah...

End rant

 

[DrHart]

Applying broadly to DO schools?
You aren't alone in feeling the pressure of being successful. I recommend finding some activities and hobbies to keep your mind and body occupied throughout the cycle. Doing nothing at you uncle's house will not make you feel better.
Maybe volunteer more at the hospital? You could get a min wage job to earn some money. Try exercising every day
If you know in your heart that medicine is right for you, then keep the faith and go with the flow.

 

[Dr. Death]

I agree with the good DrHart. You probably haven't been accepted because you aimed too high. Stop doing nothing and start padding your application and earning money for the next cycle.

 

[SOMBound13]

Get a job. There's really no excuse unless you live in some rural area. This is holiday time and so many have been hiring.

If it's not too late to apply for DO schools, then do so NOW. If it is too late, then next year apply to the best DO schools.

What state are you in?

Eng'g is a risky major for premeds. Too many end up with GPA's that aren't high enough. I respect that a person wants to challenge themself, but at some point, when the GPA first starts suffering, a decision needs to be made....change major to keep MD hopes alive, or stick with the challenging major and go the DO route or a different career path.

Talk to your dad. Sure he's disappointed, but TBH, his admissions process decades ago, was probably far less competitive.

You don't need a SMP. You may need to take some BCPM classes this spring semester to boost your GPA a little....if that's possible. See if dad will fund those classes. If not, then apply to DO schools next cycle.

 

[ConfusedChemist]

Your GPA and MCAT are BOTH below average for MD, so this should not have come as a suprise thb. Apply DO next year, you should be ok

It's not your volunteering/other ECs as you suggest, it's 90% your low GPA and MCAT

 

[RudyRude]

YOu're pretty much guarenteed an acceptance to a DO if you apply next year. If you want to apply MD, you should really consider retaking your mcat. Reapplying isn't the end of the world man, I'm a reapp myself.

 

[SOMBound13]

@coolkid311 Your dad is a physician, likely MD. Would he be annoyed if you applied DO? Does he expect you to go MD? Would he be funding any of your med school?

 

[mimelim]

3.4 gpa with 30 MCAT (10-10-10). I applied and I have just received rejections so far from all my schools. I genuinely volunteered at the hospital and shadowed a few doctors as well as enthusiastically participated in research and my hobbies but I feel like that wasn't enough. I didn't bs any volunteer hours or activities and I feel like I should have padded my resume for the sake of the application. To add, I graduated several months ago and I couldn't find a job either so I have been living in uncles house doing nothing. Help on future plans or what I should do. I don't have the money to do a masters program and I studied biomedical engineering to challenge myself which led to the bad gpa. I feel so down and depressed. My father is a successful opthamalogist and he is extremely disappointed in me as well. Ah...

End rant

~30% of applicants with your scores get into an MD program. (https://www.aamc.org/download/321518/data/factstable25-4.pdf) You have to extrapolate a little because you have the bottom level GPA/MCAT for the 3.4-3.59/30-32 group.

The advice is generic, but it is still very true.
#1 Your academics leave a lot to be desired and does not do you any favors. By the same token, plenty of people with the same or worse stats get into medical schools every year. Out of 23,758 white applicants over the last 2 years, 2355 (~10%) had worse stats than you did.
#2 There are plenty of BME/physics/other engineering/other 'typical hard majors' that do well. There is zero guarantee that you would have done better in a different major. A low GPA is a reflection of the student, NOT the major.


Regarding constructive advice going forward.
#1 The pity party needs to stop. It reeks of entitlement. You are in this position because you are not a strong student. It has nothing to do with your major or people padding their resumes. There is a lot of "woe is me", "I played the game and checked the boxes". What have you produced since you left high school? You say, "I've volunteered, I've done research, etc" what have you produced, how have others been positively impacted, etc? While it isn't required for getting into medical school, with poor stats, it is hard to rationalize weak ECs and then ranting about not getting into medical school.
#2 You need to plan out the next 3 years. You need to think about contingencies for not getting in next year or the year after. You need to think about a plan B. You need to explore DO schools. If you decide to reapply, you need to think, "Why should a school accept me? How am I valuable to their class?" If you can't answer those, then you should strongly explore other options. With 10th percentile scores, schools are looking for 80th percentile+ ECs.
#3 You need to have an honest conversation with your father about this cycle and your current state. As uncomfortable as it might be, this is something that you should all be on the same page for.

 

[DoReMiFaSo]

~30% of applicants with your scores get into an MD program. (https://www.aamc.org/download/321518/data/factstable25-4.pdf) You have to extrapolate a little because you have the bottom level GPA/MCAT for the 3.4-3.59/30-32 group.

The advice is generic, but it is still very true.
#1 Your academics leave a lot to be desired and does not do you any favors. By the same token, plenty of people with the same or worse stats get into medical schools every year. Out of 23,758 white applicants over the last 2 years, 2355 (~10%) had worse stats than you did.
#2 There are plenty of BME/physics/other engineering/other 'typical hard majors' that do well. There is zero guarantee that you would have done better in a different major. A low GPA is a reflection of the student, NOT the major.


Regarding constructive advice going forward.
#1 The pity party needs to stop. It reeks of entitlement. You are in this position because you are not a strong student. It has nothing to do with your major or people padding their resumes. There is a lot of "woe is me", "I played the game and checked the boxes". What have you produced since you left high school? You say, "I've volunteered, I've done research, etc" what have you produced, how have others been positively impacted, etc? While it isn't required for getting into medical school, with poor stats, it is hard to rationalize weak ECs and then ranting about not getting into medical school.
#2 You need to plan out the next 3 years. You need to think about contingencies for not getting in next year or the year after. You need to think about a plan B. You need to explore DO schools. If you decide to reapply, you need to think, "Why should a school accept me? How am I valuable to their class?" If you can't answer those, then you should strongly explore other options. With 10th percentile scores, schools are looking for 80th percentile+ ECs.
#3 You need to have an honest conversation with your father about this cycle and your current state. As uncomfortable as it might be, this is something that you should all be on the same page for.

I was going to offer something since I too struggled with grades and had a hard time living up to expectations. But this ^^^^^^^^
This is as good and genuine of an advice as you will find. Take it to heart. The medical journey is humbling.

 

[Padfoot]

I would be very proud if I graduated with a 3.4 in biomedical engineering. There's many great job opportunities with that type of degree

 

[studpremed]

I'm a disappointment child too. From high school to freshman year in college my parents always remind me how I don't live to their expectations and tell me how their friend's child is already a superstar in X academic or EC. Though things are definitely better now it was definitely rough in the beginning. I think the best advice I can give is things will get better and have a positive attitude. You're not in a terrible place and other people have been in a much worse shape.

 

[Glazedonutlove]

graduating with an engineering degree and not finding a job strikes me as odd. Do you live in a rural area?

 

[jl lin]

Applying broadly to DO schools?
You aren't alone in feeling the pressure of being successful. I recommend finding some activities and hobbies to keep your mind and body occupied throughout the cycle. Doing nothing at you uncle's house will not make you feel better.
Maybe volunteer more at the hospital? You could get a min wage job to earn some money. Try exercising every day
If you know in your heart that medicine is right for you, then keep the faith and go with the flow.

 

[jl lin]

~30% of applicants with your scores get into an MD program. (https://www.aamc.org/download/321518/data/factstable25-4.pdf) You have to extrapolate a little because you have the bottom level GPA/MCAT for the 3.4-3.59/30-32 group.

The advice is generic, but it is still very true.
#1 Your academics leave a lot to be desired and does not do you any favors. By the same token, plenty of people with the same or worse stats get into medical schools every year. Out of 23,758 white applicants over the last 2 years, 2355 (~10%) had worse stats than you did.
#2 There are plenty of BME/physics/other engineering/other 'typical hard majors' that do well. There is zero guarantee that you would have done better in a different major. A low GPA is a reflection of the student, NOT the major.


Regarding constructive advice going forward.
#1 The pity party needs to stop. It reeks of entitlement. You are in this position because you are not a strong student. It has nothing to do with your major or people padding their resumes. There is a lot of "woe is me", "I played the game and checked the boxes". What have you produced since you left high school? You say, "I've volunteered, I've done research, etc" what have you produced, how have others been positively impacted, etc? While it isn't required for getting into medical school, with poor stats, it is hard to rationalize weak ECs and then ranting about not getting into medical school.
#2 You need to plan out the next 3 years. You need to think about contingencies for not getting in next year or the year after. You need to think about a plan B. You need to explore DO schools. If you decide to reapply, you need to think, "Why should a school accept me? How am I valuable to their class?" If you can't answer those, then you should strongly explore other options. With 10th percentile scores, schools are looking for 80th percentile+ ECs.
#3 You need to have an honest conversation with your father about this cycle and your current state. As uncomfortable as it might be, this is something that you should all be on the same page for.

That's some tough love talk right there.

 

[SOMBound13]

graduating with an engineering degree and not finding a job strikes me as odd. Do you live in a rural area?

two possibilities.

1) BioMedE degrees often need a grad degree for the career. It may be the only E discipline that often needs a MS.

2) He/she may not have looked for a BioMedE job since it appears that med school is the goal, so not looking for a career job. It appears that the OP meant that he/she couldn't find "just a job" while waiting for SOM decisions.

That said, I don't think the OP looked very hard for "just a job," because those aren't that hard to find these days unless he/she lives in some rural area.


@mimelin I don't agree with your assessment that a different major wouldn't have yielded a higher GPA. Eng'g is one of the most-demanding majors. I was ChemE. I had classmates who changed from ChemE to something else and their GPAs improved.

I do agree that the OP has a sense of entitlement, likely because having a medical family can lead one to believe that they're "next in line to the MD coat."

 

[22031 Alum]

@mimelin I don't agree with your assessment that a different major wouldn't have yielded a higher GPA. Eng'g is one of the most-demanding majors. I was ChemE. I had classmates who changed from ChemE to something else and their GPAs improved.

It isn't that he's saying it wouldn't. He's saying you can't automatically assume it would. That is an important distinction.

 

[mimelim]

two possibilities.

1) BioMedE degrees often need a grad degree for the career. It may be the only E discipline that often needs a MS.

2) He/she may not have looked for a BioMedE job since it appears that med school is the goal, so not looking for a career job. It appears that the OP meant that he/she couldn't find "just a job" while waiting for SOM decisions.

That said, I don't think the OP looked very hard for "just a job," because those aren't that hard to find these days unless he/she lives in some rural area.


@mimelin I don't agree with your assessment that a different major wouldn't have yielded a higher GPA. Eng'g is one of the most-demanding majors. I was ChemE. I had classmates who changed from ChemE to something else and their GPAs improved.

I do agree that the OP has a sense of entitlement, likely because having a medical family can lead one to believe that they're "next in line to the MD coat."

I was Physics and graduated with a 3.4. I have two brothers who did Applied Math and the other did Physics + MechE. My personal opinion is that my major made my course load more difficult than your average pre-meds. I think that I probably could have done better in other people's majors than they could have in mine. But, that is an assumption. There is also something to be said for doing better in something that you enjoy. My science grades were much better than my Gen Ed grades and I've seen the same pattern in others as well.

The main issues is, your GPA is just a number. It doesn't mean a ton by itself. But, with major, school, and course load added in, you get a better picture of what that number means. It is the data point that we get when it comes to your overall grades in undergrad. People make a bigger deal out of 3.4 vs. 3.5 or 3.5 vs 3.55 than they should. The main question is, BME w/ 3.4/30 is competing with thousands of people with the same or better scores. There are hundreds, of BMEs applying to medical school every year and many if not most have better scores. Which is fine, if you are excelling in other realms that make schools want you.

 

[Goro]

National Guard or the other services.

3.4 gpa with 30 MCAT (10-10-10). I applied and I have just received rejections so far from all my schools. I genuinely volunteered at the hospital and shadowed a few doctors as well as enthusiastically participated in research and my hobbies but I feel like that wasn't enough. I didn't bs any volunteer hours or activities and I feel like I should have padded my resume for the sake of the application. To add, I graduated several months ago and I couldn't find a job either so I have been living in uncles house doing nothing. Help on future plans or what I should do. I don't have the money to do a masters program and I studied biomedical engineering to challenge myself which led to the bad gpa. I feel so down and depressed. My father is a successful opthamalogist and he is extremely disappointed in me as well. Ah...

End rant

 

[cantankerous]

graduating with an engineering degree and not finding a job strikes me as odd. Do you live in a rural area?

Although there are many jobs in engineering, just having a degree at any school isn't enough. Many employers care about where you went as it often tells the rigor of your program.
Considering how hung up this guy is on prestige, he wouldn't just take any job at a tiny company.

 

[Glazedonutlove]

Although there are many jobs in engineering, just having a degree at any school isn't enough. Many employers care about where you went as it often tells the rigor of your program.
Considering how hung up this guy is on prestige, he wouldn't just take any job at a tiny company.

any job in his field would be a better alternative than wasting a year doing nothing no?

 

[cantankerous]

any job in his field would be a better alternative than wasting a year doing nothing no?

Engineering employment is not as easy as people with liberal arts degrees seem to make it out to be

 

[Glazedonutlove]

Engineering employment is not as easy as people with liberal arts degrees seem to make it out to be

I think you have that switched lol.

 

[SOMBound13]

I think it's time to have a calm and serious talk with dad. He likely wants you to become a physician. He may not know how much more competitive admissions has become. For all you know, his stats were worse than yours, but the atmosphere back then was different. Certainly, the need to have medically-related ECs, research, and volunteer hours has changed.

Tell your dad that you are determined to become a doctor (if that is true), and that you're at a crossroads right now. You either have to improve your profile (maybe take 6-10 BCMP credits next semester) to boost your GPA, and maybe move to a more friendly state to establish residency, or abandon the medical career route and find employment with BME. If he still wants you to become a doctor (and so do you), then he may then offer to help you.

Right now, you're floundering.

 

[raiderette]

You either have to improve your profile (maybe take 6-10 BCMP credits next semester) to boost your GPA

And rewrite the MCAT after solid preparation.

 

[TexasPostBaccPreMed]

I disagree that you need a masters to find work with a biomedical engineering degree. All of my friends with BME degrees have great jobs and are very well paid, mostly working in medical devices. It wouldn't be a bad idea for you to use your degree and try and find a "real job". Do it for a year, it will be great experience especially if you can work in the med device world. If medicine is still the route you want to go, then take some extra classes to boost your gpa. Continue to volunteer, and reapply. Imo your situation could be a lot worse. Tell your dad to chill.

 

[jl lin]

Maybe it's as simple as working a few years and figuring out what YOU really want. Meantime, volunteering and clinical exposure can only help you in weeding through this. Also, if you love music, study music. Sounds silly at this point, but why not? I have no idea if you love music, art, whatever. I don't know what you enjoy. Do you? And you could certainly find work and take art, music, IDK, photography, whatever, on the side. If you can't have some passion for what you are doing, what is the point?

My friend desperately wanted to study music, but he excelled in mathematics and physics. His father said that he would not help him finance a degree in music, so, he got his degree in mathematics. He's pragmatic to a fault I think. At any rate, his dad has his own business, and he works in it as a technician. I will not say what type, but it's a good line of work if your daddy owns the company and isn't a complete jerk to you--or even if you as a tech are unionized.

So he has his nice mathematics degree w/ honors. He plays piano quite well on the side, works for his dad--and will probably inherit the company, and he is happily married with children. He is there for his kids' games and events. He has a nice vacation home out of state and loves fishing. He enjoys tinkering with things and is very intelligent. Things worked out for him, but he may well regret not pursuing music in the future. IDK. Maybe yes. Maybe no. But he seems satisfied, for now. Personally as talented as he is, his pragmatism or simply desiring a more balanced life is what caused him to make his decisions. And that may be OK too.

But I wonder if he resents not pursuing music further b/c of his father's POV and the expense of education. I mean he was certainly young enough when he started, such that he could have continued to do many things if music didn't pan out for him.

I do not think he particularly enjoys doing what he is doing in his father's business. But there were practical concerns, and well, maybe at the end of the day, he was too left-brained anyway. Artsy people usually have strong right-brain functioning.

And then there is life and wanting a wife and family and to have normal vacations and such.

You've got to find out what you want. After you work for a while, you may find out what you think you want is no longer the same or that it's not really your thing in the first place.

I've tried not to influence my kids too much in this regard. They have to figure this stuff out for themselves. Give your dad a hug and tell him you need some space. OTOH, for some cultures, this doesn't work so well; so you may have to write him a letter, go off on your own, and keep in touch. Dad has his life, and you have yours.

 

[jl lin]

I disagree that you need a masters to find work with a biomedical engineering degree. All of my friends with BME degrees have great jobs and are very well paid, mostly working in medical devices. It wouldn't be a bad idea for you to use your degree and try and find a "real job". Do it for a year, it will be great experience especially if you can work in the med device world. If medicine is still the route you want to go, then take some extra classes to boost your gpa. Continue to volunteer, and reapply. Imo your situation could be a lot worse. Tell your dad to chill.

Yea, my Chem-E friends are cleaning up, and I am not kidding--no grad degrees.

 

[CowboyNiceguy]

I would be very proud if I graduated with a 3.4 in biomedical engineering. There's many great job opportunities with that type of degree

The job market in bioE is much worse than other engineers like electrical and mechanical.

 

[Doug Underhill]

Don't engineering masters degrees pay you in exchange for research or TAing? I know mechanical engineering and biology do, so it'd be weird if bioengineering did not.

 

[jl lin]

http://money.cnn.com/pf/best-jobs/2012/snapshots/

If nothing else with a biomed engineer UG degree, you can think "sales, sales, sales."

 

[SOMBound13]

Yea, my Chem-E friends are cleaning up, and I am not kidding--no grad degrees.

My undergrad degree is in ChemE major. I didn't say that ChemE needs a grad degree; I saw many of my fellow ChemE grads walk into $85k+ jobs. The OP is not a ChemE major.

That said, if BioMedE grads are easily finding jobs without masters degrees, then the OP should go that route while deciding what to do.

 

[jl lin]

My undergrad degree is in ChemE major. I didn't say that ChemE needs a grad degree; I saw many of my fellow ChemE grads walk into $85k+ jobs. The OP is not a ChemE major.

That said, if BioMedE grads are easily finding jobs without masters degrees, then the OP should go that route while deciding what to do.

LOL, what is going on today? I didn't say grad degrees are needed to make a nice income. I wasn't disagreeing w/ you. I was just saying other Chem-E majors I know are doing fine--more fine than $85K. I know two friends that went to 5 year program, where they got two 6 mo.s internships--co-ops, and that helped moved them ahead tremendously. They've both gotten huge promotions, several times.

I also know that if nurses with bachelor degrees can get into nice pharm or bio-med device sales jobs, certainly a person with a BioMed E can get into sales too. You may have to prove your ability to sell, and you may have to travel a lot, but you can make a nice income.

 

[Slave to the Game]

I'm assuming you chose your BME major because you thought it would impress med schools, and not to become an actual BME, which would explain your failure to have a very obvious plan b - a career as a BME. Pretty huge mistake on your part, as well as continuing to neglect your BME career prospects by not doing any summer internships and instead focusing (one would hope) on pre-medical EC's while knowing that your GPA was well below the average matriculant's.

Lucky for you, you are still young and have plenty of time before calling your life a complete failure. You can opt to re-apply next year to DO schools and take your chances there (~80% match rate), or even Carribean schools (~50% match rate?). You can also do an SMP/post-bacc to boost your GPA (I honestly don't know what specific program you would apply to since you just graduated, but there are numerous threads on them). You can also re-take the MCAT.

You can also pursue a career in BME. Look through craigslist/indeed/monster for BME openings. Get some experience in the field. If need be, offer your services as an unpaid intern and take a part-time job as a waiter/bartender (service jobs = $$ if you're attractive), and in a year or two you can apply for actual positions because you have actual experience.

You can apply for a job at UPS and make ~$70,000 in a few short years as a driver. You can be a full-time bartender, go to vocational school and become a plumber or electrician. Do whatever else you want.

All of these options suck, but that's only because your time in college seemed to have been wasted on a career track for which you were wholly unprepared. Also, the fact that your dad's an ophthalmologist is even more pathetic, because you don't even know how to spell the specialty correctly and a large majority of medical school matriculants have a parent or parents who are physicians themselves that were able to give their kids better opportunities than children of deli owners or car salesmen could offer, both in the general sense of being more affluent, and their connections in the field of medicine.

 

[SOMBound13]

I'm assuming you chose your BME major because you thought it would impress med schools, and not to become an actual BME, which would explain your failure to have a very obvious plan b - a career as a BME. Pretty huge mistake on your part, as well as continuing to neglect your BME career prospects by not doing any summer internships and instead focusing (one would hope) on pre-medical EC's while knowing that your GPA was well below the average matriculant's.

I know several premeds who chose BME as their major because they thought that it would sound impressive to med school adcoms. I hope that's not why this applicant chose that major.

Either way, I still believe that this applicant has a calm and mature discussion with his/her father. He likely has the means to help during whatever needs to be done to improve the application for a future cycle. That said, unless he's very aware of how the process currently works, he may not understand what needs to be done, so this student may need to bring him up to speed.

 

[coolkid311]

I'm assuming you chose your BME major because you thought it would impress med schools, and not to become an actual BME, which would explain your failure to have a very obvious plan b - a career as a BME. Pretty huge mistake on your part, as well as continuing to neglect your BME career prospects by not doing any summer internships and instead focusing (one would hope) on pre-medical EC's while knowing that your GPA was well below the average matriculant's.

Lucky for you, you are still young and have plenty of time before calling your life a complete failure. You can opt to re-apply next year to DO schools and take your chances there (~80% match rate), or even Carribean schools (~50% match rate?). You can also do an SMP/post-bacc to boost your GPA (I honestly don't know what specific program you would apply to since you just graduated, but there are numerous threads on them). You can also re-take the MCAT.

You can also pursue a career in BME. Look through craigslist/indeed/monster for BME openings. Get some experience in the field. If need be, offer your services as an unpaid intern and take a part-time job as a waiter/bartender (service jobs = $$ if you're attractive), and in a year or two you can apply for actual positions because you have actual experience.

You can apply for a job at UPS and make ~$70,000 in a few short years as a driver. You can be a full-time bartender, go to vocational school and become a plumber or electrician. Do whatever else you want.

All of these options suck, but that's only because your time in college seemed to have been wasted on a career track for which you were wholly unprepared. Also, the fact that your dad's an ophthalmologist is even more pathetic, because you don't even know how to spell the specialty correctly and a large majority of medical school matriculants have a parent or parents who are physicians themselves that were able to give their kids better opportunities than children of deli owners or car salesmen could offer, both in the general sense of being more affluent, and their connections in the field of medicine.

Lol, its called i didn't care about spellcheck and was typing quickly. What's is actually pathetic is someone who thinks success in life is based on a paycheck and their career. There's things called family, hobbies, and dare I say it, friends. I can't believe some people on SDN have such terrible personalities, its crazy.

 

[huskygirl123]

OP, how many schools did you apply to? Did you apply to DOs? How many hours of community service? If I were you I'd go to your UG's counselor and figure out what your app is missing. Maybe you just need to apply more broadly, maybe you just need to get more exposure. As people noted your grades are not a huge issue and people with stats way bellow yours (myself included) get in every year. Look at school's mission statement and see where you fit in. Last year I applied to 2 MD, 6 DO and didn't get any II. This year I applied to 40 schools and got 5 II (3 attended) and 2 acceptances.
Although, do you want to go to medical school for your or for your dad? Schools can sense that on your app too....

 

[Dr Tony T. Chopper]

3.4 gpa with 30 MCAT (10-10-10). I applied and I have just received rejections so far from all my schools. I genuinely volunteered at the hospital and shadowed a few doctors as well as enthusiastically participated in research and my hobbies but I feel like that wasn't enough. I didn't bs any volunteer hours or activities and I feel like I should have padded my resume for the sake of the application. To add, I graduated several months ago and I couldn't find a job either so I have been living in uncles house doing nothing. Help on future plans or what I should do. I don't have the money to do a masters program and I studied biomedical engineering to challenge myself which led to the bad gpa. I feel so down and depressed. My father is a successful opthamalogist and he is extremely disappointed in me as well. Ah...

End rant

Start preparing for next cycle now. Keep up with your shadowing and look for new LORs from strong writers who know you well. If you have the time, keep job hunting because being a reapplicant is expensive.