I am an international student with a complete app in August and have not heard from a single schoo. Do I prep for a reapp?

[s.nd]

Hi everyone!



I'm a junior in college planning on applying to medical school this May and was wondering if I should take a gap year before applying given my app:



- International student at HYP studying Biology

- Gpa is around 3.88-3.89

- MCAT is 512 (127,129,128,128)



- ECs: (I had my first year of college online from home but I started the ECs during my sophomore year when I came to the U.S)

• work as a course assistant and tutor students on organic chemistry, general chemistry, biochemistry, and biology (I work around 8-10 hours/week)
• volunteer at a nursing home that also has some patients on hospice care (I do room visits, play card games with them, sing, and just listen to their stories!): around 200hr by the time I apply
• volunteer at a hospital doing patient transport (200 hr by the time I apply)
• volunteer at a homeless shelter playing with kids (180 hr by the time I apply)
• blood donor ambassador at Red Cross (150 hr by the time I apply)
• Shadowing (50 hr)

- Research:

• I haven't calculated my hours but I have been doing research in the same lab consistently since I came to the U.S around 6-16 hr/week (25 hr/week during the summer), and got some funding/fellowship for the research too.

- Letters of Rec:

• my PI (he knows me pretty well and also the PI and his assistant reached out to me to join the lab after I took an intro bio class with him (had around 400 students)
• the nursing home volunteering director
• my biochem professor (I'm a course assistant for this class)
• my chemistry professor (I'm a course assistant for this class and students have written positive comments about my performance last year)
• a non-science LOR

I would really appreciate some insight!



Thank you so much

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[Nontrad_FL_LGBT]

If you were a US citizen you could easily apply without a gap year, but being international stacks the odds entirely against you. I'd try for gap year(s) with like, Teach for America, Peace Corps, Fancy Fellowship XYZ or something along those lines to set you apart.

 

[stebgbby]

It is your life. If there are things you want to do before med school begins, take a year. Just don't let your MCAT expire. Life is not all about rushing to the finish line.

 

[s.nd]

Stats:

GPA: 3.9

MCAT: 51x

clinical: 250 hospital volunteering, 350 hospice volunteering

nonclinical: 300 homeless shelter, 300 red cross blood donor ambassador

leadership in mentoring international students, TA for organic chemistry, held English language classes for PhD students from my country

Research: 3 years bench lab research, no pubs

Had my essays and PS checked by my advisor, completed all secondaries within 1-2 weeks.

Applied to +23 schools (the ones that accept international students)

At this point I have just given up.. I haven't even received the email that Tulane sends to all applicants when they're under review. I feel like a failure. Do I just start a reapp? at this point I'd be happy to get even a rejection instead of this radio silence.



I appreciate any help

 

[chilly_md]

Applied to +23 schools (the ones that accept international students)

I have merged your threads and moved it to WAMC to provide better context. Where did you apply and did you check to see if the schools accepted more than 3-4 international students? Many end up only taking 1-2 internal applicants.

If you did not retake the 512, that likely held you back. It is very difficult for international students to be admitted to US MD programs.

 

[s.nd]

I have merged your threads and moved it to WAMC to provide better context. Where did you apply and did you check to see if the schools accepted more than 3-4 international students? Many end up only taking 1-2 internal applicants.

If you did not retake the 512, that likely held you back. It is very difficult for international students to be admitted to US MD programs.

Thank you!

I applied early June and completed all secondaries within 1-2 weeks.
My app was complete early August (that’s when my school sent the committee letters)
I honestly added most of the schools that accept internationals but did exclude some that accepted 0 internationals

Do you think taking two gap years, retaking the MCAT, and getting a job like clinical research coordinator could help my app? Or will being an international student reapplication just not let me get in?

 

[s.nd]

Thank you!

I applied early June and completed all secondaries within 1-2 weeks.
My app was completed early August (that’s when my school sent the committee letters)
I honestly added most of the schools that accept internationals but did exclude some that accepted 0 internationals

Do you think taking two gap years, retaking the MCAT, and getting a job like clinical research coordinator could help my app? Or will being an international student reapplication just not let me get in?

Sorry I just realized you asked where I applied. This is the list:

Cornell

Columbia

UIC
TCU
Case Western
Sidney Kimmel
HMS
SUNY Norton
UVA
Tulane
Uconn
Dartmouth
Yale
JHU
UNC
Stanford
Emory
Colorado
coumbia
Mount Sinai
LSU
Northwestern
stonry brook

NYU

Vanderbilt

 

[chilly_md]

UIC
TCU
Sidney Kimmel
SUNY Norton
Tulane

Realistically, only the above were the schools you possibly had a chance at and that's before checking to see if MSAR shows that they actually admitted more than a couple international students. You would want to apply to the DO schools that accept international students next time. If you are a Canadian resident, there are some other schools, but I assume that is not the case for you.

It is obviously difficult, but obtaining a green card would be the best thing you can do to improve your chances. Successful international applicants usually have very strong stats, so you would need a large jump on an MCAT retake. Some schools average scores as well, so you'd really need to knock it out of the park.

 

[Premed132]

Hey there! I'm an international re-applicant. Received two IIs last year (both in December) which turned into waitlists. Currently have 6 IIs and 1 A. I'm not sure what advice to give you as to whether you should take 1 or two gap years, but don't lose hope and keep working hard! Best of luck.

 

[s.nd]

Hey there! I'm an international re-applicant. Received two IIs last year (both in December) which turned into waitlists. Currently have 6 IIs and 1 A. I'm not sure what advice to give you as to whether you should take 1 or two gap years, but don't lose hope and keep working hard! Best of luck.

congrats!! would you mind sharing how you improved your app?

 

[Premed132]

Yes, definitely.
1. Improved my writing.
2. Gained more research experiences (got a few publications) and started new experiences.
3. Gained clinical exposures through my job. I think my lack of clinical exposures could have initially been one of my weaknesses.
I think this is mostly it.

congrats!! would you mind sharing how you improved your app?

 

[s.nd]

Yes, definitely.
1. Improved my writing.
2. Gained more research experiences (got a few publications) and started new experiences.
3. Gained clinical exposures through my job. I think my lack of clinical exposures could have initially been one of my weaknesses.
I think this is mostly it.

Hi! Is it fine if I private message you to ask a few questions?

 

[Premed132]

Hi! Is it fine if I private message you to ask a few questions?

Yes, definitely!