High MCAT Reapplicant Advice/School List Help

[warriorofworry]

Hello!

I applied this cycle and am either waitlisted or waiting to hear back from the schools I interviewed with. In the meantime, I am preparing to reapply 2022-2023 cycle and am trying to figure out what I need to prioritize moving forward and am looking for help rebuilding a school list. The clinic I scribe for right now is most likely going to shut down the scribe program due to financial reasons/low patient volume, so I would also greatly appreciate employment ideas!

Stats: 3.75 cGPA/sGPA, 522 MCAT (130/128/132/132)

State Residency: OR

Clinical Employment:
Scribe (3000 hours, currently working here)
Behavioral Technician (350 hours, worked part time for 1 year after graduating while taking a couple classes)
Caregiving in senior assisted living (250 hours for ~1 year in college)

Research:
Clinical research assistant (250 hours), was mostly doing patient visits and not as involved with the research side of things

Leadership:
Lead scribe (1000 hours, currently working here)

Non-clinical Employment:
Community outreach/safety officer (400 hours, during summer break)

Shadowing:
Multiple specialties, but no primary care (65 hours)

Clinical Volunteering:
Hospice (200 hours, currently volunteering here)

Non-clinical Volunteering:
Making/handing out meals for homeless (200 hours, currently doing this)
Special Olympics Coach (100 hours, not currently doing but planning to restart next season if possible)

Extracurriculars:
Teaching Assistant for anatomy lab and bio stats (100 hours)
Administrative assistant in regulatory department for clinical research (90 hours)
Guitar (1000 hours, just a hobby)

Additional Information:
Upward trend in GPA (3.25 Freshman year then 3.9+ in the rest of my coursework)
Suffered a skull fracture and subdural hematoma my junior year of college that played a big role in my motivation to become a physician and altered my application timeline (took more gap years than I had planned)
One interview complimented my writing, however I think that my personal statement could have been organized a bit better to make it more clear

LORS:
Everyone who ended up writing me a letter was very enthusiastic about it, and I know them all well.
1 science professor (other one ghosted me, but that is my fault for not having a back up, I have 3 that have agreed to write one for the coming cycle if needed)
1 non science professor
1 physician that I scribe for
1 volunteer supervisor

School List:
I think this may be my biggest issue. My fiancé and I were fairly selective about where we want to live. He works for a national company and would like to stay with them, so we chose places that would allow him to do so and that had med schools that I felt were at least a decent fit. His company has a lot of locations in TX and he has family there so I applied TMDSAS in addition to AMCAS. If I don’t get in this cycle we are going to be more flexible with where we are willing to live.

I applied to OHSU, Case Western, Duke, Quinnipiac, Yale, Cincinnati, Ohio State, Jefferson, Maryland, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Vanderbilt, VCU, Wash U, Indiana, Drexel, Penn State, UTSW, Baylor, Long, TAMU

I interviewed at Case Western (waitlisted), OHSU (awaiting decision), and Long (awaiting decision but assuming waitlisted at this point)

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[Goro]

I'm amazed that you didn't have better luck! For starters, work on your interview skills

 

[warriorofworry]

I'm amazed that you didn't have better luck! For starters, work on your interview skills

Definitely going to focus on more mock interviews next year! Most of my volunteer experiences were started the year or year and a half before I applied, so I’m not sure if the lack of long term commitment may have hurt me.

 

[chilly_md]

I feel you had a strong application and should get off the waitlist at Case and/or OHSU. I am surprised too as some of Ohio State, Cincinnati, Vanderbilt and Jefferson should have extended an interview offer. Quinnipiac will try to practice resource stewardship and save the limited interview slots for students more likely to attend. Likewise with Drexel and Penn State. The following are somewhat near locations of the schools you applied to and may be worth considering:

UVA
Northwestern
Saint Louis (SLU)

Outside this, I would add Hofstra, Einstein Western Michigan, Rochester, Sinai, Cornell, Michigan, USF, Iowa, and Columbia if you can expand your area. I included New York schools as they seem a good fit and there should be corporate locations there for a nationwide company.

 

[warriorofworry]

I feel you had a strong application and should get off the waitlist at Case and/or OHSU. I am surprised too as some of Ohio State, Cincinnati, Vanderbilt and Jefferson should have extended an interview offer. Quinnipiac will try to practice resource stewardship and save the limited interview slots for students more likely to attend. Likewise with Drexel and Penn State. The following are somewhat near locations of the schools you applied to and may be worth considering:

UVA
Northwestern
Saint Louis (SLU)

Outside this, I would add Hofstra, Einstein Western Michigan, Rochester, Sinai, Cornell, Michigan, USF, Iowa, and Columbia if you can expand your area. I included New York schools as they seem a good fit and there should be corporate locations there for a nationwide company.

Thank you so much for the suggestions! We’re definitely willing to apply more broadly next go around if needed so this is super helpful.

 

[stinkycheeseperson]

check your essays and letters, too. something is keeping you from getting that far.

 

[LindaAccepted]

Hello!

I applied this cycle and am either waitlisted or waiting to hear back from the schools I interviewed with. In the meantime, I am preparing to reapply 2022-2023 cycle and am trying to figure out what I need to prioritize moving forward and am looking for help rebuilding a school list. The clinic I scribe for right now is most likely going to shut down the scribe program due to financial reasons/low patient volume, so I would also greatly appreciate employment ideas!

Stats: 3.75 cGPA/sGPA, 522 MCAT (130/128/132/132)

State Residency: OR

Clinical Employment:
Scribe (3000 hours, currently working here)
Behavioral Technician (350 hours, worked part time for 1 year after graduating while taking a couple classes)
Caregiving in senior assisted living (250 hours for ~1 year in college)

Research:
Clinical research assistant (250 hours), was mostly doing patient visits and not as involved with the research side of things

Leadership:
Lead scribe (1000 hours, currently working here)

Non-clinical Employment:
Community outreach/safety officer (400 hours, during summer break)

Shadowing:
Multiple specialties, but no primary care (65 hours)

Clinical Volunteering:
Hospice (200 hours, currently volunteering here)

Non-clinical Volunteering:
Making/handing out meals for homeless (200 hours, currently doing this)
Special Olympics Coach (100 hours, not currently doing but planning to restart next season if possible)

Extracurriculars:
Teaching Assistant for anatomy lab and bio stats (100 hours)
Administrative assistant in regulatory department for clinical research (90 hours)
Guitar (1000 hours, just a hobby)

Additional Information:
Upward trend in GPA (3.25 Freshman year then 3.9+ in the rest of my coursework)
Suffered a skull fracture and subdural hematoma my junior year of college that played a big role in my motivation to become a physician and altered my application timeline (took more gap years than I had planned)
One interview complimented my writing, however I think that my personal statement could have been organized a bit better to make it more clear

LORS:
Everyone who ended up writing me a letter was very enthusiastic about it, and I know them all well.
1 science professor (other one ghosted me, but that is my fault for not having a back up, I have 3 that have agreed to write one for the coming cycle if needed)
1 non science professor
1 physician that I scribe for
1 volunteer supervisor

School List:
I think this may be my biggest issue. My fiancé and I were fairly selective about where we want to live. He works for a national company and would like to stay with them, so we chose places that would allow him to do so and that had med schools that I felt were at least a decent fit. His company has a lot of locations in TX and he has family there so I applied TMDSAS in addition to AMCAS. If I don’t get in this cycle we are going to be more flexible with where we are willing to live.

I applied to OHSU, Case Western, Duke, Quinnipiac, Yale, Cincinnati, Ohio State, Jefferson, Maryland, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Vanderbilt, VCU, Wash U, Indiana, Drexel, Penn State, UTSW, Baylor, Long, TAMU

I interviewed at Case Western (waitlisted), OHSU (awaiting decision), and Long (awaiting decision but assuming waitlisted at this point)

I'm still optimistic you'll get in this year. But if you don't, frankly I'm surprised you only got 3 interview invitations. I'd take a very critical look at your essays both on the primary and secondaries. Your GPA is competitive, your MCAT stellar, and your experience is very impressive. I wonder if you presented your experience effectively. I also agree about interview prep if you don't get in this cycle.

In the meantime, I hope none of that feedback is relevant because you do receive good news based on this year's application!

 

[warriorofworry]

check your essays and letters, too. something is keeping you from getting that far.

I definitely will go over them carefully and have people with knowledge on medical admissions take a look as well!

 

[warriorofworry]

I'm still optimistic you'll get in this year. But if you don't, frankly I'm surprised you only got 3 interview invitations. I'd take a very critical look at your essays both on the primary and secondaries. Your GPA is competitive, your MCAT stellar, and your experience is very impressive. I wonder if you presented your experience effectively. I also agree about interview prep if you don't get in this cycle.

In the meantime, I hope none of that feedback is relevant because you do receive good news based on this year's application!

Thank you for your comments! I am still hoping for good news as well

I know some of the schools I applied to required or strongly preferred a second science letter, which I will make sure to have back ups for this year. Other than than I am also going to focus more on my writing and have people with more knowledge on medical school admissions review it (as opposed to just general essay editing, grammar, etc.).

 

[LindaAccepted]

Thank you for your comments! I am still hoping for good news as well

I know some of the schools I applied to required or strongly preferred a second science letter, which I will make sure to have back ups for this year. Other than than I am also going to focus more on my writing and have people with more knowledge on medical school admissions review it (as opposed to just general essay editing, grammar, etc.).

Sounds like a solid plan.