How to make the most of my next two years?

[exquisitemelody]

I'm not expecting any love this cycle (haven't heard back from anyone), so I'm looking ahead and trying to plan out the next two years (I'm planning on skipping a cycle to give myself time to refocus and get a different perspective). I'll be moving to California after I graduate, and I know being a Cali premed is a whole new beast I have to deal with and understand (the two years will also let me establish residency).

I currently have a 3.87cGPA/3.82sGPA and a 28L (yeah, I'm pretty sure the MCAT score KILLED me), so I'm thinking I won't be asked by any med schools to do any coursework...right? I'm not too far away from UCLA, but that'll be a bit inconvenient.

Quick specs:
120+ hrs tutoring
60+ hrs hospice
~50+hrs oncology practice volunteering (I just started this...these hours include what I think I'll get next semester...this wasn't on my current amcas)
VP of sorority last year (also held webmistress, art & design, and merchandising chairs)
30ish hrs shadowing (2 specialties)
7mo research, but 1 pub in a pretty decent journal

I know I need to improve my MCAT score, but what do you think I could do during the two years to improve my application? I'm hoping to get a scribing job that'll help me really understand how things work and help me focus.

What do I do about LORs? Two of my LORs are from freshman professors. Do you think med schools will think those letters too old by the time I apply? I think my current institution will hold my packet, but they won't separate the letters in that packet. Do I just ask everyone I want to write a letter for me before I graduate and have them send it to something like interfolio and then at least I have them on file? (pardon my ignorance...I have no idea how interfolio works).

I'd really appreciate any help!

(if you're curious, I didn't apply to many schools for financial reasons, and I recently learned that my state school won't take me instate because my parents claimed me dependent and they live in cali...and i got rejected from all the cali schools i applied to)

PS - the other option is staying in my current state and finding a research job at my school. The only reason I was excited to do that would be because I'd be able to stick around my school and my friends who go to professional schools here...I thought choosing a social life over a job that could give me more clinical experience was a bad idea...but if you guys think a research job would be okay, I'd like to hear your opinions!

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[Catalystik]

I currently have a 3.87cGPA/3.82sGPA and a 28L

Quick specs:
120+ hrs tutoring
60+ hrs hospice
~50+hrs oncology practice volunteering (I just started this...these hours include what I think I'll get next semester...this wasn't on my current amcas)
VP of sorority last year (also held webmistress, art & design, and merchandising chairs)
30ish hrs shadowing (2 specialties)
7mo research, but 1 pub in a pretty decent journal

1) what do you think I could do during the two years to improve my application? I'm hoping to get a scribing job that'll help me really understand how things work and help me focus.

2) if you guys think a research job would be okay, I'd like to hear your opinions!

You have an opportunity to think strategically about where to establish state residency so as to improve your odds of an acceptance at a less expensive state school. Rather than California, consider Texas, Ohio, Florida, the state you currently reside in, etc.

If you can get a scribe position, that would be an ideal activity for gaining clinical as well as shadowing experience. It would not cover the need for community service, so you'd maybe want to do tutoring of kids after school or some other involvement with a cause you care about for 2-4 hours per week.

A research job is another activity that would strengthen your application, in which case you also want to continue with hospice or some other form of clinical volunteering.

You have some leadership, but you could be stronger yet in that area by taking on an organizational role off campus, perhaps within whatever community service organization you stay involved with.

 

[exquisitemelody]

I have thought about being able to choose wherever I want to live based on the med schools there, but that also requires that I find a job and a place to live, and I'm really not sure how well that would go. I feel like the only employable and marketable skills I have are made for a lab and even then, I don't have THAT much experience. I have at least lived in Ohio before, but that was a while ago...

Is there a disadvantage for being a Cali resident for non-Cali schools that I don't know about?

 

[Catalystik]

Is there a disadvantage for being a Cali resident for non-Cali schools that I don't know about?

No. But it's difficult for even superbly qualified Californians to get into their more-economical state schools because there just aren't enough seats to satisfy the demand.