Medical How can I best plan for reapplication?

[Mr.Smile12]

---

Members do not see this ad.

I graduated from college in 2012 with a biology degree (cGPA 3.73 sGPA 3.62) and a master's degree in 2017 (GPA 3.12).

I was an international student during undergrad so went back to my home country for 2 years, enrolled in a master's degree (GPA 3.9 but doesn't matter) and came back to the states to pursue PhD since my status still made it really difficult for me to pursue MD in America.
Prior to my enrollment in a PhD program, my father had a stroke, which left our family homeless and jobless. I had committed my time fully in caring for his needs for a few years. Fearful that I was passing meaningless years past me, I decided to enroll in school, thinking education was the only way to keep my life going.
However, repercussions of my dad's stroke was still raw and I was fully financially responsible for my little sister, my non-English speaking mom and I. As a result, I was working 2 jobs along with my PhD courses and research, which led me to a C in my first 10 credit interdisciplinary course, hence the low grad GPA (all of this briefly mentioned in my primary application - this endeavor eventually led me to become passionate about becoming a physician). After two hard years of schooling, I decided this was not a good time for me to continue my PhD program, which was undoubtedly overwhelming at the time, and graduated with a master's degree.

So far in my med school application,

uGPA 3.73, gGPA 3.15, MCAT 510 (127,124,129,130)
6000+ hours of research
1000+ hours of medical assistant and scribe
~1000 hours of clinical volunteering at a University hospital
~600 hours of clinical volunteering at a hospice where my father currently resides
~500 hours of non-clinical volunteering
TA experiences
1000+ paid non-clinical employment
2 years of experience as a research specialist after graduating with master's
fluently bilingual
experience as a family member of incapacitated stroke patient

I have not had any interview invites and am getting ready to reapply and was wondering what I should improve and how.
I considered taking graduate level courses to make up for my grad GPA but it's REALLY expensive (~7K for a SINGLE class).
Is the low grad school GPA detrimental to a point that's worth the financial investment?

here's my school list this cycle

• Albany Medical College
• Central Michigan University College of Medicine
• Chicago Medical School at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine & Science
• Cooper Medical School of Rowan University
• Emory University School of Medicine
• George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences
• Howard University College of Medicine
• Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine
• Meharry Medical College
• Mercer University School of Medicine
• Michigan State University College of Human Medicine
• New York Medical College
• Rush Medical College of Rush University Medical Center
• University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson
• University of Louisville School of Medicine
• Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine
• Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine
• Wake Forest School of Medicine of Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center
• Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine

THANK YOU SO MUCH

I don't have a sense of why you are interested in medicine as a career, given your outcome as a master's or PhD student.

Why did you not apply to DO schools?

Sent from my SM-N960U using SDN mobile

 

[Goro]

International applicants need to be superstars for MD. Your MCAT and GPAs, plus academic history rule that out.

Focus on the 14ish DO schools that accept noncitizens

 

[Goro]

Which is exactly why I couldn't apply while I was international.
I am now a permanent resident in the US with a green card.

Even with perm resident status, the low gGPA will be lethal for MD.

Not good at my DO school either. I suggest an SMP or DIY POSTBAC.
See my post on premed reinvention

 

[Mr.Smile12]

[QUOTEI've always had a passion for medicine, hence the pre-med undergraduate track, but my immigration status consistently made it difficult for me to pursue medical school - I chose graduate school as second closest option to medicine since it was a related field. I do admit I was a bit naive in the nature of execution of science in MD vs PhD. I do much rather enjoy patient contact versus bench/mouse work.

During my father's hospitalization and continued stay at the nursing home, I've closely interacted with his physicians, who really helped our family get back on our feet, which confirmed my desire to give back the kindness to others who are in my shoes. I've also been able to gain more meaningful patient contact as I looked after my father as well as volunteered to also care for other patients around him and knew this is what I wanted to do for life. (I am also now a permanent resident in the US)

As for applying to DO schools, I was really limited in my financial capacity and wanted to give MD a devoted shot by applying to as many schools allowed.

Also to be honest, I didn't correctly gauge how much impact my graduate GPA will make on MD school applications, which is why I really want to get an accurate sense of where my application stands and take my steps from there, whether to successfully Ace graduate level science courses or switch my directions to DO schools.[/QUOTE]

What would be your state of legal residence?

Just reminding us: you do have a solid undergrad GPA, but your grad GPA is not so hot as you mastered-out of your Ph.D. program. Not all schools are going to see that as a negative, especially given your strong MCAT performance. We don't know who wrote support letters for you from your graduate program or undergraduate courses, but I would expect a very supportive letter even from your graduate program (thesis advisor, department chair) reaffirming a mentoring relationship and that you may have had such discussions with them as a long-term goal. I say this because you can have an impact with patients even if you are in a Ph.D. program (admittedly the "right" ones), but you would need to balance the line with your answer of wanting to have more patient connection vs. research. Research is still very important for desired specialties, and some of the people on the committees may be Ph.D.'s. You never know the audience you are speaking to, so carefully stating why this particular research program did not work out is very important to get vetted before you apply.

I also got an impression from your answer to my important question of why medicine is the right path for you that you can give us a resume description of what you did, but I don't know much about what you learned about effective caregiving and doctoring. We don't have your application in front of us, and hopefully you had your evaluators go over your essays a few times before you submitted your application to explain this, and hopefully your impression was broad enough to get someone's attention. It's also a possibility that there are just that many applications in the queue ahead of you, and it's nothing you did.

I always fall back to networking before applying to schools: which schools on your list did you connect with beforehand, either with students currently at the school or recently graduated? What admissions staff members know about your situation and have advised you? How did you come up with your list (why I asked for state residency above)? Did you create a folder for each school you submitted to as for the top 5 reasons you would enjoy being a student at that school for at least the two preclinical years of your study?

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Currently, I'm a tax payer at the state of Georgia since 2018. So I was eligible to apply to Mercer, not MCG due to their stricter guidelines as to what qualifies you as a resident. Also applied to Morehouse (rejected) and Emory (I knew it was a long shot but still applied due to proximity).

I did get my rec letters from thesis advisors, PIs from my paid research position, current primary care MD that I'm working with as an MA.
I was lacking non-science faculty letter, as I graduated college 7 years ago, so opted to apply to schools that didn't require them.

Genuinely appreciate your input on appropriately wording my thoughts on research vs medicine. I'll need to craft a more thoughtful answer in case I encounter an interview - always feel like it makes sense in my head but not so much once I put them into words. And also good tips on the networking. I honestly didn't network extensively prior to applying. I did email a few adcoms if I had questions regarding the application, but not much past it.

As for the school list, I initially narrowed it down to a window that fit my stats, then chose areas I would like to stay (not too far from family), went through school's missions that align with mine, then their preferences of IS vs OOS, then financial burdens of tuition.

I waited to answer this last, since "why medicine" is such a simple, yet soul searching question. With the sudden absence of my father and financial instability, I had a lot to carry on my shoulder as the first born of an immigrant family. All of my family members were depending on me to make the calls regarding my father's health, legal issues, guardianship, etc and this lasted for YEARS. I also was only 23 when this all happened and my world really fell below my feet. Truthfully, I wanted to just run from my own life multiple times. But his doctor's didn't. My father was initially diagnosed completely incapacitated and brain dead and we were told to consider pulling the plugs on him. He couldn't sustain his own breathing. Then almost like a miracle, he twitched his finger one day. We might not even have noticed. Then we were sure he could hear us. Then he started showing emotions like crying. All through this process, his neurologists were there with us. They visited multiple times a day, sometimes as a group, sat my oblivious 23 year old self and walked me through his MRIs. I know it wasn't because they didn't have anything better to do. They cared. They just really really cared.

My father's placed at a nursing home now. still with a feeding tube and tracheostomy, immobile, but relatively healthy. As I've spent years visiting him and tending to him, I was naturally exposed to the patients there, either disabled or neglected. Honestly, if it was during my college years, I might have felt uncomfortable washing these people's hair or clipping their nails, or helping them change diapers. But when your own father lies there as well, they're all your family. I care, as my father's physicians did. I really really care.

I've been working as an MA at a primary care office for about a year now and also have had personal and enlightening moments there as well.

Without trying to not make this too long, I've also had service jobs as a bartender and a waitress to support myself as well as his lawyers and hospital fees. It was in the midst of my graduate work but I actually really enjoyed serving others even in a non-medical environment. I enjoy connecting with people. I enjoy providing their needs and satisfying them. I know there are a lot of ways to help others. But I choose medicine because I value health and I enjoy this field of study. and I really am committed to becoming one. I'm confident that I'll be a good one.

-----
You did mention, my uGPA and MCAT was solid enough.
What would your opinion be on retaking the MCAT and/or doing an SMP program?
I'm more willing for an MCAT retake because 510 was a few points below my regular practice exam scores.
But SMP, with the monetary and time commitment, I'm more hesitant to enroll.

Also, I wanted to thank you again for your good heart. Your time is so valuable and it really is so kind of you to sacrifice that asset purely for others' sake.

With a 510, I wouldn't retake the MCAT unless I knew the score was "too old" for some of the schools I wanted to apply to. Hence, networking and researching schools is key for a strategic application (e.g., Morehouse: what is their mission, and how did you fit?). I'm wary about an SMP because you already have a masters degree, and I'm not sure that with your high undergraduate GPA that it's worth it. If time and money are important, networking is fundamental.

I would also say that many Georgia residents wind up in schools in Florida and Alabama, though I would check the MSAR to confirm my impressions. I would also say that DO schools generally have a better reputation of embracing those who enjoy patient contact as motivation to pursue medicine.