Help me get re-accepted

[qqq]

---

Members don't see this ad.

hello, 25 yo non-urm male here. avg stats 3.8/31R from a *not* top tier undergrad. applied and was accepted to several schools. in the military currently and was planning on being released to go to med school by getting the military scholarship that everyone talks about. was medically disqualified and submitted two waivers, both were shot down so it's not happening this year or any other year. the uniformed services univer subsequently rescinded my acceptance after my multiple waiver attempts. so, now i just have to do my time and get out of the military in 2008, hopefully to enter with the fall 08 class. tried to get the schools i was accepted to to defer my commitment for 3 years, explained my situation and what not, but it didn't pan out. got emails back from deans saying basically, "we can't do it, too long, we're sorry, hope you apply again in the future." so, with that being said, i will have to retake the mcat in Apr 07 (this will be my fourth time) since the 2004 mcat will not be good for 2008 matriculation at the majority of schools (with my stats i cannot afford to apply to a select and few number). my question for all you pre med guru's is what should i do in the meantime? i'm going to continue Big Brother's Big Sisters and also working in a hopsice. What else should i do? How about research? (i work fulltime so this is going to be hard to swing unless i set up a clandestine lab in my basement). nevermind i dont have a basement, and i've never done that much research either, though i'd like to start!. but should i try to get some type of research assistant job? do you think shadowing (more) docs will help? thanks guys and gals for your valued input! 😀

 

[qqq]

oh, i forgot to mention another major concern for me is LORs. I obviously don't wanna be blowing the dust of my old ones, and since i'll be 5 years removed from school by the time i reapply i will likely need new ones from current academic people. so how should i go about this? stay in touch with my old profs and hope they remember that i was always attentive during biochem? or try to do a master's soley for the sake of getting some LORs? (doing a masters would put med school even further off since i could never do it while i'm still serving out my military commitment), or try to get into research to get the LORs? Thanks. 😀

 

[ntmed]

Here's what I suggest. If you had a good premed advisor back in 2004, ask this person what he/she thinks, too.

1. Talk to your LOR writers now. Let them know of your situation, and that you'd like updated letters for 2008. Even better, touch base with them periodically until 2008.

2. You should augment these LORs with at least one letter covering the time between 2004 and 2008. (Maybe one from a professor from point 3 below and/or one from the military?)

3. I think you should take 1 or 2 science classes during this time. If you can, skip the labs to save time. Most medical schools want you to have taken some science classes within 5 years of applying to medical school. A couple classes will fulfill this requirement, and may also help to keep things fresh for the MCAT.

4. I think it's reasonable to assume you'll be a competitive applicant in 2008, so I don't think you need to do research or anything else to beef up your application. But I think continuing some type of clinical volunteer work or MD shadowing (like you are considering) is a nice way to demonstrate that you are still interested in medicine. I wouldn't do too much, since you may be busy working full time, taking a class or two, and retaking the MCAT -- all of which, I think, are more important than additional EC's.

Best of luck.

 

[qqq]

Thanks for the good advice. I agree with all of your points. As far as taking a few extra classes, what classes should i take? I assume u are talking about grad level science classes, so how does one get into these? Your post assumes that I don't have to be accepted to a master's program or anything, so do I just go to the local university where ever I happen to be stationed at and sign up for a few classes? Since I'll only be able to go to class at night, I'm thinking one class a semester so I can make sure I get a good grade. What do think? Chemistry, biology, physics? Thanks. oh, do you think if i were doing some kind of part time research that I would still need to take course work?