higher stats nontrad with a later submission and a lot of angst... advice from anyone with the patience to read it?

[ana.stomosis]

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Hey y'all, looking for admissions folks/med students perspectives on this one.
I am 35, non-traditional even by nontrad standards. 3.93 graduating GPA from state school in CA, probably ~3.99 now that I've done all my postbacc work.
520 MCAT (first attempt) that I took June 13, so just submitted at 2:30AM July 17th, with typos I didn't catch.
Sources of angst:
- typos.
All 3 are activities typos: incorrect email for my clinic supervisor @ work, but what's much worse is that I ended the activity description with an incomplete sentence. It's nonsensical. The description ends with ". I am ". Lastly, in describing my capstone research I used the term meta analysis instead of lit review, which I fear will kick my ass when being looked at by research heavy T10s
I am applying to research positions.

- later submission (anticipating a mid-to-late August verification)

- 3 semesters of medical Ws from early edu; been consistent for 5 years since going back to school

I know 3 of my LORs are strong, and have medium hopes for the 4th.
I have volunteered where I could throughout the years, hours in the high hundreds for what I included, I've done more.
Plenty of clinical and non-clinical paid work. And honestly, none of this was done with the ulterior motive of med school apps, things just fell into place and I realized it's still what I want to do all these years later. I have 40 recent shadowing hours, probably 1000 older shadowing hours from 2007-2009 that I didn't put on there but can speak about, and a good understanding of healthcare from several diff perspectives. Waiting on Preview and Casper scores but I feel like they'll be decent. My PS isn't conventional, but I've been told it's good. No, it's not as annoying to read as this vent/anxiety post.

Not verified, received a secondary invite from Tufts presumably bc I met a minimum threshold. I want to be excited about secondaries, I want the chance to share my vision for a better future (damn don't we all need that rn) and how I can participate in generating it through medicine and public health, but several of the prompts focus on the past, and it has been adding to the din of self-doubt that I have ruined my chances to become a physician. I already addressed those Ws and gaps to the extent I could in my primaries. How much more do I need to say in secondaries? Are medical withdrawals PHI? Are adcoms allowed to ask for in-depth detail?

So the advice I'm seeking? I guess... should I give up and withdraw my app from the most competitive programs? The mistakes I made in my activities section feel minor, but they also don't. Should I keep on and just hope my app is given a chance somewhere? I have applied to ~43 allopathic schools.
Idk. I just feel like for what I'm shooting for, I'm too late, have too little research (capstone and microbio wet lab only no pubs like 300-400hrs), and the careless mistakes are nails in the coffin. I am less keen on DO schools purely due to finances, but am planning to apply to ~10 DOs if I can get the $ together.

So if any admissions savvy folks didn't die of boredom and somehow got to the end of this, am I being dramatic or realistic?
How do I address the 1000 character prompts about challenges, Ws and time off from school without making my failures a central focus over what I have done for the past 10 years? I already addressed a lot of this in the primary, and 1000 characters is not enough to fully explain. Can I skate over them and just refocus their attention on what I have demonstrated since?

Should I withdraw my apps from T10s? Should I withdraw it altogether and try again next year for better odds at full funding? I will already be starting residency at 40 if I get in this year. I am ready--I've been ready--to do so much more for my patients. But, I'm concerned adcoms won't see it, or won't care; concerned that I'll never be chosen over greener pastures, with more years to labor, and fewer incomplete sentences.

 

[Goro]

Eliminate the life story, it will make the missive easier to read.

Ask your specific questions at the end.

My oldest student to matriculate was 53. Your age won't be a difference. If you scroll through MSAR Online, you'll see people admitted > 30-40+.

Challenges? Tell the truth, be reflective, and mention who you showed grit and resilience.

 

[eigen]

If you’re seriously asking if you should withdraw your app over a few minor typos and submitting mid-July, despite having a 520 MCAT and a near-perfect GPA…my answer is a very strong “heck no”.

But yes, you’re being very dramatic. Dangerously so. I’d also suggest you maybe suffering from a pre-med tendency to be very myopic about the process, and might be spending too much time in online premed spaces that are filled with… less than realistic takes from worried students.

I wouldn’t even consider this late to submit. It will still get verified in time for you to have secondaries in by Labor Day? And from your comment that you got secondaries, I’m not even sure if you mean you submitted this late or were verified this late.

 

[ana.stomosis]

If you’re seriously asking if you should withdraw your app over a few minor typos and submitting mid-July, despite having a 520 MCAT and a near-perfect GPA…my answer is a very strong “heck no”.

But yes, you’re being very dramatic. Dangerously so. I’d also suggest you maybe suffering from a pre-med tendency to be very myopic about the process, and might be spending too much time in online premed spaces that are filled with… less than realistic takes from worried students.

I wouldn’t even consider this late to submit. It will still get verified in time for you to have secondaries in by Labor Day? And from your comment that you got secondaries, I’m not even sure if you mean you submitted this late or were verified this late.

Submitted. I am ready for review. Tufts is the only secondary invite I've gotten. I assume it was just an automatic send when you meet some minimum criteria even though verification is a long way off. Quite nice of them, to be honest.

And, I am inclined to agree with your assessment, hah. I was caught off guard by so many things early on in this process that I now err on the side of hyper-vigilance. I feel late based on what I read, but don't have an advisor or anyone like that, so my primary source of information is unfortunately the exaggerated internet of stressed out strangers. Plenty of people can advise not to trust the internet, but not everyone makes constructive suggestions about where else to go for info specific to my situation. People I know who have gone to med school went in the 90s or 2010s, so I truthfully don't know what to expect, or what kind of shot I have given my multiple withdrawals.

This cycle seems to be getting verified slowly compared to the norm, and I do think I will be on the later side. For the schools I'd be happiest with, I think I have a few marks against me that could really hurt among thousands of other perfect applicants without silly errors and late(r) apps. I feel like I could have a good shot at a T10 that would give me a full ride- IF I was early and had more research. I wasn't saying I'd throw in the towel because of the errors alone, it was just like an "UGH I CAN'T BELIEVE I MISSED THAT. Have I further ruined my chances of reaching the *ideal* outcome? Would it be better to scrap this and try again next year, now that I know what to expect, rather than possibly being a reapplicant?" train of thought. All that's to say, this was my intention in posting here - genuinely hoping to get an informed answer, not a panic-induced one. So thank you! That was what I needed to hear.

 

[eigen]

Yeah, I get that. Honestly at least half of my time as an advisor is talking my students out of doom spirals that started from peers or online.

Can I ask why you care about a T10 school? Are you particularly focused on on a career in academic medicine or in a highly competitive specialty?

If you are, that’s fine, but I find a lot of people are overly focused on rank when it will make little if any difference in their careers.

 

[ana.stomosis]

It is 100% because those are the most famously generous schools when it comes to low-income students. That's it. I don't care about rank, it's unimportant to me. But I do care about the fact that getting a full ride would mean my vision of practicing medicine is slightly less unrealistic. Without as much debt, it's more likely I won't be tied to a job/work structure that feels antithetical to the hopes I have for my career. And yes, I know there are still many barriers beyond money that dictate where someone's career goes, but one thing's for sure- less debt would make it much easier to work according to my ethic rather than my need to pay off predatory loaners. Especially with federal loan forgiveness ending for a hefty portion of med school costs, these are genuine concerns for someone who has only ever wanted to work in public and nonprofit systems. I am not motivated by money, rather by the ability to be free to use my hard earned skills for the good of community, not only the interests of corporate medicine. Maybe I'm dreaming and when I graduate every health system in the country will be owned by private equity, but dear lord, I hope not.

So that's the reason. If someone else wants to give me a full need-based scholarship, I more than welcome it, but my understanding is that these top tier schools are among the few who can?

 

[Mr.Smile12]

It is 100% because those are the most famously generous schools when it comes to low-income students. That's it. I don't care about rank, it's unimportant to me. But I do care about the fact that getting a full ride would mean my vision of practicing medicine is slightly less unrealistic. Without as much debt, it's more likely I won't be tied to a job/work structure that feels antithetical to the hopes I have for my career. And yes, I know there are still many barriers beyond money that dictate where someone's career goes, but one thing's for sure- less debt would make it much easier to work according to my ethic rather than my need to pay off predatory loaners. Especially with federal loan forgiveness ending for a hefty portion of med school costs, these are genuine concerns for someone who has only ever wanted to work in public and nonprofit systems. I am not motivated by money, rather by the ability to be free to use my hard earned skills for the good of community, not only the interests of corporate medicine. Maybe I'm dreaming and when I graduate every health system in the country will be owned by private equity, but dear lord, I hope not.

So that's the reason. If someone else wants to give me a full need-based scholarship, I more than welcome it, but my understanding is that these top tier schools are among the few who can?

Have you talked with admissions officers at the schools where you want to apply? How do they respond about your expectations (granted, they don't know about the impact of the current upheaval of the student loan system)?

S

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A sweeping new federal budget bill, dubbed the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” became law on July 4th after a dramatic final passage through Congress and signature of the President Trump. While headlines have focused on the bill’s massive tax cuts and border security provisions, the new law also contains far-reaching changes to medical education, physician workforce development, and access to care that are already generating...

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• Forum: Financial Aid

Very very few applicants withdraw their AMCAS. You never know what the end of the cycle brings to you. You have a decent shot if you fit their mission. That's where a WAMC profile helps.