I just graduated this June and spent some time debating whether or not I should apply this cycle, and now it's September. Do I bother submitting my primary at this point?
I probably shouldn't bother submitting my primary this late in the cycle?
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This depends on how strong your application is, how much you want to go to medical school as soon as possible, and what you would otherwise be doing. More information, perhaps?
How many months and hours do you have for clinical experience, shadowing, and community service? Any research? Any leadership?
How long would it take to write a Personal Statement and collect your Letters of Recommendation?
How long would it take to write a Personal Statement and collect your Letters of Recommendation?
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If your application isn't stellar and you're weak in some areas, I would just wait to apply. Take it from someone who knows -- I'm a reapplicant and wish I had done it right the first time around. Just take the next year to get more clinical experience or even take some post-bacc classes to boost your GPA. If you apply now, it's going to take 4-6 weeks to even get your primary verified. Even if you do your secondary essays ahead of time and crank those out asap, the earliest you're going to be complete at schools is probably mid-October... and your application is going to be at the bottom of a very large pile to be reviewed. Not saying it's impossible to get in, but why take the chance and possibly waste thousands of dollars just to submit a "meh" application? Make your application the best it can be, apply early next year, and you'll dramatically increase your chances of getting into a great school on your first try.
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Don't bother. Being one year older when you're finished with residency makes no difference.
I haven't had any hospital volunteer time since high school, I played on a sports team in college and my lab required a certain number of hours per week so I was unable to volunteer/shadow.
In terms of community service, I did a week long medical volunteer trip to a South American country, and I served as a chair for the American Cancer Society Relay for Life fundraiser at my school. I regret not doing more community service in college though.
I've done 2 years of research, and have several other extracurriculars including TAing and grading.
Also, will my letters of rec be less valid if they are older?
In terms of community service, I did a week long medical volunteer trip to a South American country, and I served as a chair for the American Cancer Society Relay for Life fundraiser at my school. I regret not doing more community service in college though.
I've done 2 years of research, and have several other extracurriculars including TAing and grading.
Also, will my letters of rec be less valid if they are older?
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You need more clinical experience. At this point you have none, aside from your one-week medical missions trip. Unfortunately, high school experiences do not count, unless it was an activity which continued onto your undergrad years. I would aim for at least 150 hours of some type of hospital volunteering, which is relatively average. Physician shadowing would also be good to have. You need to show adcoms that you know what being a physician entails and that you've recently worked with patients for an extended period of time.
Letters of rec can be a couple years old. If they're 3-4 years old or older, you should get more recent ones, imo. They don't necessarily have to be from all new writers, but at least contact the people that wrote your older letters and get them to update things.
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I am proof that a late application isn't a death knell to one's hopes (verified Novemeber 7 in my cycle), but without the basic essentials in ECs, you have no chance. I think your numbers are fine, and your other ECs look good. The abroad medical volunteerism is a great experience, but it cannot stand alone. I completely agree with calimed about the amount of clinical volunteering to get in, and it will be best if done at 4 hours per week all year, not 50 hours per week for three weeks. I'd specifically suggest the shadowing be with 2-3 types of physician for 8-40 hours each. You want your application to appeal to as many med school adcomms as possible.
As far as your LORs. If you can track some of the writers down and have the letter reprinted with a new date, that would be great.
As far as your LORs. If you can track some of the writers down and have the letter reprinted with a new date, that would be great.
