Future Re-Applicant. Tips from accepted re-applicants?

[OtisO]

Hi all,

My cycle has been not good. Essentially just 1 II and today I got the R from that. The rest of the schools I just think aren't going to happen (3 Pre-II Holds/soft R whatever you wanna call it). I will input my stats below.

Academics (3.99 sGPA; 3.98 cGPA)
MCAT: 508 (130/124/127/127)
Volunteering: 200 hrs non-clinical through various organizations and through clubs on campus
Shaddowing: 100 hrs
Leadership:
Worked as a peer mentor and RA for three years.
SI Leader and led study sessions for Gen Chem 1 for a year.
President of a cancer awareness organization and organized a Relay for Life
Various clubs
Hobbies: winemaking, photography (was a student photographer for our organization on campus)
Some other things that are on my app, not putting in here.

I will say this, I understand I lack clinical exposure. To what degree schools weight that is not to my knowledge. I know it is something I need. Something I had set up and was going to start last february/march. IF you remember, that was the start of COVID-19. Not many opportunities out there during a pandemic unless I worked.

Anyways, I know I will retake my MCAT. While I study for it I would like to volunteer somewhere. I graduate in May. My main focus is to finish with As (no Bs). I feel scared. I feel pressured to get in soon.

More background: come from a rural area (not a lot of opportunities out here). I worked in ResLife [primarily for the fact that it pays for my housing (10k)]. My hours, especially as the mentor were all in the evening so it was hard to fit in a lot of other stuff to do, especially with my second jobs that I had. I had a lot of experiences and worked with primarily college kids, and I understand that it is not a clinical setting.

I would like to retake my MCAT (to myabe at least +4 -> 512) and get more volunteering experiences/maybe a job of some sorts and apply for next year (I qualify for FAP). I know this is all over the place. I am trying to condense my app cycle and stats in a post, and right after bad news but I can't help but think ahead. Thank you all <3

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[vanilla_fubar]

Just want to say that I was in your position last cycle and I know how hard it is. Worst thing I've ever had to do was go through this hellish process twice back to back... Like you, I realized that I had a major shortfall in clinical experience. That led me to getting my EMT license and practicing in the field. EMS isn't for everyone and might not be a realistic option for you, but I'd recommend looking into it. Lots of my interviewers this time around seemed genuinely impressed that I took the initiative to challenge myself in that field of medicine.

I'll also say that timing is everything. My first cycle I applied late and took 4+ weeks to turnaround my secondaries. This time around I submitted everything as early as possible and believe that strongly contributed to a better cycle.

 

[souravdada]

I think you know where your shortfalls are, however, I don’t know if your MCAT is the one holding you much at all. I was a reapplicant too, in a somewhat similar situation, I was lacking non clinical volunteering. What’s schools really want to see, and what I think completely changed my life, was volunteering for the underserved and someone less fortunate than you outside your comfort zone in the real world, away from RA, students, college campus. Admittedly hard to do as a full time student, but a gap year is a good time to do it. Clinical shadowing or volunteering is also needed as you mentioned, if I was you, I’d prioritize those over the MCAT, however I am going to let my more learned friends on SDN to comment on the academic needs.
PS: when choosing a gap year opportunity do what you think you’ll be more interested in, it’s important to like what you are doing because that will affect you how interview and talk about yourself and what you’re doing during your interview. It was a game changer for me.

 

[pately]

I think you have a pretty good grasp on the strengths and weakness of our application. I was a reapplicant too and my shortfall was the MCAT score but I had a lot of clinical hours which was something that helped me during interviews. I retook my MCAT and then during my gap year I was in an MPH program which was something I discussed along with my clinical experiences during my interviews. I think some schools really emphasize clinical experiences, so if possible see if you can email some physicians who would be willing to let you shadow virtually. Because of the current situation we are in, I'm sure that schools may be more understanding, but if possible, I'd try to find some clinical shadowing opportunities virtually, and if you do plan on taking a gap year be sure to answer WHY you ended up taking a gap year and how that gap year enhanced your application.

 

[stillwaiting1234]

You definitely need clinical experience, much more than you need a higher MCAT. To put it in a different perspective, how would someone without clinical experience be able to know for sure they want to be a doctor? It's a tough question that adcoms will definitely ask about all applicants, not just you, and possibly held you back from getting interviews. Unfortunately, when a school gets over 10,000 applicants for about 150 seats, there are plenty of applicants with good stats who also managed to get clinical/ volunteer experience despite the pandemic. While we all were hoping they would be understanding, it's tough to realize they likely are not going to change their recommendations in the slightest.

What I would recommend, and what helped me immensely, is to take a look at your application and ask yourself "what story am I trying to tell". This helped me formulate somewhat of a theme (ish), which I think helped my application seem more thought out. If you haven't already, check out Dr. Gray on youtube/ spotify. He has amazing breakdowns of applications just like yours which can help for when you are reapplying in the future!