High Stat Potential Reapplicant Wondering Where to Improve?

[med12443i]

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Hi, I am a current applicant this cycle with 3 interview invites after applying to 38 schools. I would like to start really focusing on a potential reapplication since I currently have no acceptances and am wondering where to focus my efforts in the next 4 months before the cycle opens.

I think my writing will be something that can definitely be improved. Would you recommend a full rewrite of the personal statement and activity descriptions? One of my main concerns is also whether it will be sufficient to have more hours in my activities or whether I need to start new activities which will be difficult since cycle starts in a few more months. Also, would it be advised to change my gap year job?

Thank you in advance for taking the time to read this!

3 II: Cooper(waitlist), NJMS(pending), Einstein(pending)

(ORM, NJ Resident)
GPA: 3.9
MCAT: 524

Clinical:
Medical Assistant (Gap year job) - applied with around 800 hours, will have 3000 by the end of May
EMT - applied with around 400 hours, will have 600 by the end of May

Shadowing: 60hrs ( primary care)

Non Clinical:
Prison tutor- 50hr
Hospice- 100hr, will have maybe 50 more by the end of May
Big Brothers Big Sisters - 100 hr

Research: 2700, first author manuscript in review at a decent journal, hopefully published by May

School List:
[COLOR=rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.6)]Einstein (II received, pending)[/COLOR]
NJMS (II received, pending)
Rowan Cooper (II received, waitlisted)
WVU (Pre II R)
NYMC
Yale
Georgetown (Pre II R)
RWJMS
NYU (Pre II R)
Rochester (Pre II R)
Mayo (Pre II R)
Wash U (Pre II R)
U Penn
U Chicago (Pre II R)
U Michigan (Pre II R)
Hofstra
Cornell
Icahn (Pre II R)
Northwestern
Dartmouth (Pre II R)
Tufts
Harvard
Drexel
Columbia
UVA
Cincinatti (Pre II R)
U Pitt
Vanderbilt (Pre II R)
Case Western (Pre II R)
Jefferson
Emory
Johns Hopkins
Ohio State
Penn State
Brown
Duke
VTech
Hackensack

 

[morak]

Honestly, your app seems fine to me, and your school list seems fine as well. I had similar stats, hours, and a similar-ish list, and I've been fortunate to have a lot more success. I'd err towards this being a writing or LOR issue. I'd be happy to help via DMs if you want a review of your writing.

 

[med12443i]

Honestly, your app seems fine to me, and your school list seems fine as well. I had similar stats, hours, and a similar-ish list, and I've been fortunate to have a lot more success. I'd err towards this being a writing or LOR issue. I'd be happy to help via DMs if you want a review of your writing.

Thanks for the advice and congrats on the cycle! I guess one of my main concerns is whether improving mainly the writing and leaving everything else similar will be sufficient or if more change is expected from a reapplicant simply because they are a reapplicant.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Previously,

M

Thread 'WAMC (3.93 / 524), Senior taking gap year'

Nov 4, 2024

Hi, I am currently a senior in college, and I am planning on applying in the upcoming cycle next May.

cGPA: 3.93, sGPA: 3.93
MCAT: 524 (130 BB, 132 CARS, 130 CP, 132 PS)
State of residence: NJ
Ethnicity and/or race: ORM Asian
Undergraduate: T50
*All hours are expected hours at time of application (end of May)

Clinical experience (volunteer and non-volunteer)

• volunteer EMT (500 hours)
• medical assistant or scribe (600 hours)
  • I will be graduating early, so I will be working full time from Jan onwards

Research...

• med12443i
• Replies: 4
• Forum: What Are My Chances? WAMC Medical

Post in: '-'

May 24, 2025

With your stats, you don't need 40 schools. You need a well-matched list of 25-35, and the fewer but more matched the better. At least pick places where you want to live and practice as a resident.

You need to build up your non-clinical service orientation activities to stay on par with other high-metrics applicants. Get BBBS closer to 250 total hours (+150 if you can). More work with incarcerated people too (maybe bring it up to 100 hours).

• Mr.Smile12

You have 3 pending decisions after interview (we'll treat this as a waitlist until further confirmation). Please mark your outcomes on your list. It's smart to plan for a reapplication, but it's not over.

 

[med12443i]

Previously,

M

Thread 'WAMC (3.93 / 524), Senior taking gap year'

Nov 4, 2024

Hi, I am currently a senior in college, and I am planning on applying in the upcoming cycle next May.

cGPA: 3.93, sGPA: 3.93
MCAT: 524 (130 BB, 132 CARS, 130 CP, 132 PS)
State of residence: NJ
Ethnicity and/or race: ORM Asian
Undergraduate: T50
*All hours are expected hours at time of application (end of May)

Clinical experience (volunteer and non-volunteer)

• volunteer EMT (500 hours)
• medical assistant or scribe (600 hours)
  • I will be graduating early, so I will be working full time from Jan onwards

Research...

• med12443i
• Replies: 4
• Forum: What Are My Chances? WAMC Medical

Post in: '-'

May 24, 2025

With your stats, you don't need 40 schools. You need a well-matched list of 25-35, and the fewer but more matched the better. At least pick places where you want to live and practice as a resident.

You need to build up your non-clinical service orientation activities to stay on par with other high-metrics applicants. Get BBBS closer to 250 total hours (+150 if you can). More work with incarcerated people too (maybe bring it up to 100 hours).

• Mr.Smile12

You have 3 pending decisions after interview (we'll treat this as a waitlist until further confirmation). Please mark your outcomes on your list. It's smart to plan for a reapplication, but it's not over.

I have updated my school list with outcomes. 3 II: Cooper(waitlist), NJMS(pending), Einstein(pending)

 

[Mr.Smile12]

I have updated my school list with outcomes. 3 II: Cooper(waitlist), NJMS(pending), Einstein(pending)

How many pre-II R's?

Interesting: both your in-states are waitlisting you (assuming that's how NJMS will go, but you could get an A). I don't know if they're playing chicken, thinking you might be more inclined to attend a program that takes candidates with higher stats (they won't know, but I'm looking at Einstein if they go with an A plus their free-tuition...). The question is whether you have enough holistically for an A at Einstein (in general I think your service orientation hours are still on the lower end, but the research looks solid).

 

[med12443i]

How many pre-II R's?

Interesting: both your in-states are waitlisting you (assuming that's how NJMS will go, but you could get an A). I don't know if they're playing chicken, thinking you might be more inclined to attend a program that takes candidates with higher stats (they won't know, but I'm looking at Einstein if they go with an A plus their free-tuition...). The question is whether you have enough holistically for an A at Einstein (in general I think your service orientation hours are still on the lower end, but the research looks solid).

Sorry, forgot to include pre-IIR, but they are in the school list now.

 

[morak]

Sorry, forgot to include pre-IIR, but they are in the school list now.

I would say WashU giving you a pre-II R despite your stats is a sign that there’s a glaring issue with either your writing or something else not immediately visible in your hours. Your non-clinical hours are fine for this cycle, but ideally you should get them higher before the next cycle as Mr Smile says in the unfortunate situation that you need to reapply. Def fix your writing though, I think that should be priority #1 for you once you find out your decisions from the other II schools.

 

[pierty]

I would say WashU giving you a pre-II R despite your stats is a sign that there’s a glaring issue with either your writing or something else not immediately visible in your hours. Your non-clinical hours are fine for this cycle, but ideally you should get them higher before the next cycle as Mr Smile says in the unfortunate situation that you need to reapply. Def fix your writing though, I think that should be priority #1 for you once you find out your decisions from the other II schools.

No, that does not immediately indicate that there is "a glaring issue" with the writing. They would not have 3 interviews if that were the case.

I have seen several students with similar benchmarks not get an interview with WashU, but get interviewed at other competitive programs, as OP has. Those all converted to competitive acceptances.

There is time left in the cycle. On average, you are likely to get an acceptance from 3 interviews. If not, you can improve your interview skills and rework the narrative of your application (which appears strong on paper). Good luck!

 

[polymerization]

No, that does not immediately indicate that there is "a glaring issue" with the writing. They would not have 3 interviews if that were the case.

I have seen several students with similar benchmarks not get an interview with WashU, but get interviewed at other competitive programs, as OP has. Those all converted to competitive acceptances.

There is time left in the cycle. On average, you are likely to get an acceptance from 3 interviews. If not, you can improve your interview skills and rework the narrative of your application (which appears strong on paper). Good luck!

Not sure I agree with this. With this profile and a strong narrative, OP should have pulled interviews from at least a few Ivy or Ivy-adjacent programs, which comprise a pretty sizable proportion of their list. I'm surprised to see no interest from the marquee schools close to them (NYU, Columbia, Cornell, Icahn), but even more surprised to see upper-mid tier schools like Rochester pass them by. Their interview skills didn't earn them pre-II Rs there.

My suspicion is that, at the highest levels of competitiveness, students are less likely to take risks and veer too far off well-trodden paths EC-wise. Consequently, not having a vision/brand/theme that consolidates experiences and shows evidence that they are willing to go beyond box-checking could be viewed as naive or basic by adcoms.

There's got to be a reason. Falling through the cracks with a probability of acceptance exceeding 80% is hard to do.

Should've applied to the #1 medical school in the country, USF.

 

[morak]

No, that does not immediately indicate that there is "a glaring issue" with the writing. They would not have 3 interviews if that were the case.

I have seen several students with similar benchmarks not get an interview with WashU, but get interviewed at other competitive programs, as OP has. Those all converted to competitive acceptances.

There is time left in the cycle. On average, you are likely to get an acceptance from 3 interviews. If not, you can improve your interview skills and rework the narrative of your application (which appears strong on paper). Good luck!

All I'm saying is that with a 524, the OP could have done much better than 2 IS IIs and 1 OOS but still regional II. Not to say that these are not great programs -- they are fantastic, and Einstein is even free tuition! But, I feel like something is holding OP back from reaching their application's full potential. My basis for saying this (obv n=1) is my own results (similar stats and hours) and many other similar applicants in the past few cycles. I say this not to minimize OP’s current success but to simply state that there may still be untapped potential. I hope OP pulls an A from the IIs!

 

[pierty]

Not sure I agree with this. With this profile and a strong narrative, OP should have pulled interviews from at least a few Ivy or Ivy-adjacent programs, which comprise a pretty sizable proportion of their list. I'm surprised to see no interest from the marquee schools close to them (NYU, Columbia, Cornell, Icahn), but even more surprised to see upper-mid tier schools like Rochester pass them by. Their interview skills didn't earn them pre-II Rs there.

My suspicion is that, at the highest levels of competitiveness, students are less likely to take risks and veer too far off well-trodden paths EC-wise. Consequently, not having a vision/brand/theme that consolidates experiences and shows evidence that they are willing to go beyond box-checking could be viewed as naive or basic by adcoms.

There's got to be a reason. Falling through the cracks with a probability of acceptance exceeding 80% is hard to do.

Should've applied to the #1 medical school in the country, USF.

They did not "fall through the cracks." They were interviewed by 3 programs, which includes one of the most competitive programs in the country.

I've seen similar applications over several years. A few have had to reapply, usually due to a late application, short school list, lack of clinical experience, or some perceived arrogance or other concern in the narrative. Those applications tended not to be interviewed, or interviewed by 1 program. Being interviewed by 3 programs is generally a good indicator that they passed review from multiple committee members consistently.

Some others with similar benchmarks will reach 3-6 interviews (even with an appropriate length school list). It is not that uncommon. There is a positive reporting bias on forums like these.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

To the OP's request to consider a strategy for a reapplication, one has to do the work when there's no A on the table. Trust the process, and let's hope an offer is forthcoming. But the OP has to plan to rewrite personal essays and obtain references to resubmit if needed (and, my general advice, find a new reference to cover any updated activities). We have given advice about activities, so continue those anyway.

 

[polymerization]

They did not "fall through the cracks." They were interviewed by 3 programs, which includes one of the most competitive programs in the country.

I've seen similar applications over several years. A few have had to reapply, usually due to a late application, short school list, lack of clinical experience, or some perceived arrogance or other concern in the narrative. Those applications tended not to be interviewed, or interviewed by 1 program. Being interviewed by 3 programs is generally a good indicator that they passed review from multiple committee members consistently.

Some others with similar benchmarks will reach 3-6 interviews (even with an appropriate length school list). It is not that uncommon. There is a positive reporting bias on forums like these.

I'm gathering that we may define success for this particular applicant differently. While I agree the community on SDN is not representative of the broader pre-med population, we have examples of applicants this cycle with 10+ interviews mainly in the T40, often, with lower metrics than OP. Given OP's school list, I think they also had very different expectations for how this cycle was going to go.

 

[med12443i]

Thank you for the advice everyone! My plan is to update my writing as many have mentioned. I will also have more hours as an MA, EMT, and hospice volunteer. Is that sufficient or should I try to find a new activity?

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Thank you for the advice everyone! My plan is to update my writing as many have mentioned. I will also have more hours as an MA, EMT, and hospice volunteer. Is that sufficient or should I try to find a new activity?

You had enough hours to get three interviews, but if you don't get in, I would suggest you keep going.

Have you talked to other admissions officers (not the schools that are interviewing you) about areas of improvement?

 

[AJ25]

The answer comes down to mission fit. Some schools will value the high stats, some will see that as a disadvantage actually.

You also do not have significant volunteering hours that some schools will want to see.

That being said, you should apply to schools that value what you are bringing to the table.

 

[med12443i]

Does anyone have any advice for applying to DO schools next cycle? Is DO shadowing and/or letter of rec necessary?

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Does anyone have any advice for applying to DO schools next cycle? Is DO shadowing and/or letter of rec necessary?

Your metrics are very high for a DO applicant, so many schools are going to think you're either putting them on, or you could be damaged goods (if MD schools are passing you, why should we take you?). I would talk with DO's and shadow them because they will be around you in the clinic, but unless you show a very strong affinity and mission fit, DO schools will likely be wary of your sincerity to attend their programs.

I mentioned before your non-clinical service orientation activities must be above 250 hours to be on par with other high-metrics applicants for brand-name programs. It's great that a few schools overlooked this, but as others mentioned, you probably should have been busier. Address the most obvious red/yellow flag in your application; that's what the MD schools will want to see in your reapp.