Hold off on Reapplying?

[spark28]

Hello all,
After an unsuccessful application cycle, I'm unsure whether to apply again this upcoming cycle or hold off until the next cycle to work on boosting my application. I understand that a lot of 3rd time applications are discouraged so I really want to make my second attempt my last and successful attempt. Here is my background:
Nontrad, Female Latina residing in CA.
I applied to mostly MD schools: all the UCs (no secondary from Davis or UCLA, pretty sure they laughed at my app lol) UCSF did give me a secondary though but ultimately I was rejected. USC, LLU, Loyola, NW, Rosalind Franklin in Chicago, and NYMC in NY.
I only ended up completing a secondary for Western but very late and didn't get in.
I was verified in august. Started getting secondaries in September-October.
I applied late. I received no II.

I graduated with a degree in Nutrition. Took a gap year to work and study for my MCAT which I ended up getting a 506 in.
AMCAS calculated my GPAs as follows: GPAcum= 3.48, GPAsc=3.54

Cumulative is low but my grades show a very strong upward trend.
I am aware, my GPA is on the weaker side for MD. I also am (I think?) more unusual in that my science GPA is higher than my cumulative. It was my understanding that the average applicant's cumulative is usually higher than their science. This is mostly because I took ~97% of my science coursework at my university and did well there. I've been considering do a post-bacc or something of the sort to take more classes to improve my GPA. I have so far taken a soc class (for the DO behavior science pre req) and am currently taking an Anatomy class.

So I've made mistakes. I realize this. I should've done more extensive research on schools and I applied to a lot of reach schools. I also should have applied more DO. I should have applied earlier.
I have since done more DO research and see that it is definitely a good option and plan on applying to a wider selection of both DO and MD schools.
Should I skip out this cycle to better and more thoroughly re-evuluated my school options and have time to boost my grades/ECs or should I reapply with what I have and give myself a better chance at the DO schools and maybe some MDs?

Thank you all in advance!

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[JibsGuy52]

Biggest mistake was not applying DO. Apply to all of them next time around.

I can't see you getting a MD acceptance with your stats.

 

[Faha]

When you reapply it is very important that you apply in June and complete all your secondaries by July. Consider all these MD schools:
Quinnipiac
Albany
New York Medical College
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
GW
Georgetown
Oakland Beaumont
Medical College Wisconsin
Rosalind Franklin
Loyola
St. Louis
Creighton
Tulane
Miami
any new schools that open for 2018 (Roseman, Seton Hall, etc.)
You are competitive for all DO schools so apply to at least 10 in June and you should receive several interviews.

 

[DokterMom]

Agreed -- While reapplying too soon is a common problem, I don't think that's true in your case. Your application season's problems were not due to inadequate ECs, but rather to poor school selection and late applications combined with 'fair' numbers.

If you apply broadly to lower-tier and new schools, add lots of DO schools (shadow some DOs ASAP!), and forget about CA (sorry - out of reach) I'd suspect you'll have a successful outcome on Take 2. You mentioned you're Latina. If you're reasonably fluent in Spanish and have experience in Hispanic communities, I'd also suggest you apply to schools in areas with heavily Hispanic populations -- southwest, Florida, Puerto Rico, etc. (But skip TX as they're insanely IS)

 

[precisiongraphic]

Agreed -- While reapplying too soon is a common problem, I don't think that's true in your case. Your application season's problems were not due to inadequate ECs, but rather to poor school selection and late applications combined with 'fair' numbers.

If you apply broadly to lower-tier and new schools, add lots of DO schools (shadow some DOs ASAP!), and forget about CA (sorry - out of reach) I'd suspect you'll have a successful outcome on Take 2. You mentioned you're Latina. If you're reasonably fluent in Spanish and have experience in Hispanic communities, I'd also suggest you apply to schools in areas with heavily Hispanic populations -- southwest, Florida, Puerto Rico, etc. (But skip TX as they're insanely IS)

You've gotten good advice from two experts. My only suggestion is to make sure that you have your PS (and potentially some auto-biographical secondary responses) read and edited by multiple people familiar with med school essays. You want a PS that will showcase your positives and tell your story well.

 

[spark28]

Thank you so much everyone for taking the time to respond to me and for the great advice/wisdom.
I truly appreciate it!
This has been quite the humbling journey but I definitely will be restrategizing in order to reach my goals