I really need help with my gap year

[MedGuy692]

Exactly what the thread title says.

I applied for the 2013-2014 cycle, got on several waiting lists but never received any acceptance offers. Here are some highlights of my stats (I can provide more info if needed):

3.96 overall, 32 (10 VR, 11 PS, 11 VS)
Worked as a summer intern at the NIH and an academic semester doing influenza vaccine work at DHHS
Worked as a TA for 3 semesters in college
Volunteered as an after-school tutor 2 hours a week for 2 years (in addition to several other volunteer activities)
Worked in a surgery center full-time over a summer break and two winter breaks
Volunteered in a primary clinic for a year and a half (~300 hours)

I'm planning to reapply for the Fall 2016 class. I already know I need to work on my interview skills and I'm planning on retaking the MCAT. However, my gap year so far has been a disaster. I've applied for quite a number of jobs, especially for lab assistants and clinical jobs, but I've received nothing but rejections. I even applied for a scribe position at an area hospital and was rejected from that. I'm afraid that by the time I have to apply again, I will not only be broke but have nothing to add to my application.

Any advice? It's been a frustrating summer and I don't know what else I can (or should) do.

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[QofQuimica]

At this point, you should apply for a job, any job, that is legal and will pay your bills, even if it's not medically related. You can (and should) keep doing clinical volunteering on the side.

And def do introspect about what went wrong last year. With those stats and ECs, you should have been able to get in somewhere assuming you applied properly. Agree that interview performance was likely an issue given that you were wait listed at several schools.

 

[NPI]

Keep volunteering, keep shadowing, keep looking into opportunities to sit in at seminars or network with professionals. You should also consider CME seminars and courses to help gain an edge on some of the competition and maybe steer you in the direction of a specialization. In the meantime, work is work. Any job history is better than none. Best of luck!

 

[DJones13]

I agree with everything said above, but would highly discourage taking the MCAT again unless you're shooting for Top 25 schools. Your score right now is good and there's always a chance that it could go down on the second go around.

 

[cabinbuilder]

Do not take the MCAT again. Work and save as much money as you can. Apply smarter.

 

[TactFR44]

Exactly what the thread title says.

I applied for the 2013-2014 cycle, got on several waiting lists but never received any acceptance offers. Here are some highlights of my stats (I can provide more info if needed):

3.96 overall, 32 (10 VR, 11 PS, 11 VS)
Worked as a summer intern at the NIH and an academic semester doing influenza vaccine work at DHHS
Worked as a TA for 3 semesters in college
Volunteered as an after-school tutor 2 hours a week for 2 years (in addition to several other volunteer activities)
Worked in a surgery center full-time over a summer break and two winter breaks
Volunteered in a primary clinic for a year and a half (~300 hours)

I'm planning to reapply for the Fall 2016 class. I already know I need to work on my interview skills and I'm planning on retaking the MCAT. However, my gap year so far has been a disaster. I've applied for quite a number of jobs, especially for lab assistants and clinical jobs, but I've received nothing but rejections. I even applied for a scribe position at an area hospital and was rejected from that. I'm afraid that by the time I have to apply again, I will not only be broke but have nothing to add to my application.

Any advice? It's been a frustrating summer and I don't know what else I can (or should) do.

Why retake MCAT?

Consider getting more clinical hours. Maybe working as a Tech in the ER for some time. Grab a quick CNA license and do that. Maybe RedCross as well. You can be trained as a DAT responder which is a good experience. I'm surprised with your stats that this happened.

 

[aalamruad]

Don't retake the MCAT unless your score will expire by the time you reapply (not sure when you took it).

 

[ThisCouldBeYou]

@MedGuy692, has anything changed for you since you started that thread in August?

 

[MedGuy692]

Hey all.

I apologize for not updating everyone-life has been busy and I've been trying to stay focused. Thankfully, I did eventually get a lab tech position, which is what I've been working at since early September. I also joined my local fire department and started working towards my EMT certification.

I read a lot of the comments about the MCAT, and I certainly understand the concern. What I should have mentioned was that while I was looking for a job, I've been studying for it all summer. I actually got a 38 on a recent practice test I took in mid October. My rationale was that I only studied for about a month when I took it the first time, and I always felt that I could have done better had I given myself more time to study for it. I still have time to cancel it if I still don't feel ready, but I'd much rather take this one than the 2015 version if I can help it.

I'm still thinking about applying again for the 2016 cycle, but I'm still open to deferring another year to 2017 depending on how things work out (hence part of the reason for wanting to retake the MCAT). I definitely think that I would have the credentials to get in this time around-it's just more an issue of when I feel ready to apply again.

Sorry that it was long, but I felt that I owed as in-depth of an update as I could provide since I've been away for so long. Thanks for your support.

 

[Hockeyguy]

Travel. With those numbers you will get in somewhere. Do not skip another year. The soon you get going the sooner you get your life going.

 

[Louis C.K.]

Exactly what the thread title says.

I applied for the 2013-2014 cycle, got on several waiting lists but never received any acceptance offers. Here are some highlights of my stats (I can provide more info if needed):

3.96 overall, 32 (10 VR, 11 PS, 11 VS)
Worked as a summer intern at the NIH and an academic semester doing influenza vaccine work at DHHS
Worked as a TA for 3 semesters in college
Volunteered as an after-school tutor 2 hours a week for 2 years (in addition to several other volunteer activities)
Worked in a surgery center full-time over a summer break and two winter breaks
Volunteered in a primary clinic for a year and a half (~300 hours)

I'm planning to reapply for the Fall 2016 class. I already know I need to work on my interview skills and I'm planning on retaking the MCAT. However, my gap year so far has been a disaster. I've applied for quite a number of jobs, especially for lab assistants and clinical jobs, but I've received nothing but rejections. I even applied for a scribe position at an area hospital and was rejected from that. I'm afraid that by the time I have to apply again, I will not only be broke but have nothing to add to my application.

Any advice? It's been a frustrating summer and I don't know what else I can (or should) do.

You have great academics and service activities, and your clinical volunteering is very good. The biggest thing I see (on paper) is a lack of shadowing. You should definitely try to shadow a wide variety of specialties. It can be difficult to set up shadowing experiences, but you can always ask your PCP if they will let you shadow, and talk with family and friends to see if they know any doctors willing to let you shadow - odds are somebody does. Aside from this, there could be a number of other factors. Did you get the MSAR and apply strategically? Did you apply to schools with averages well above your stats? Perhaps your application materials weren't well written (although, if you are getting interviews, this is probably not the case). Finally, it could very well be poor interviewing skills. Studies show that people are very poor judges of how well they do in an interview. Some people feel like they are killing an interview, and in reality, the interviewer thinks they are doing very poorly (the reverse is also sometimes the case). I would suggest doing mock interviews, videotaping yourself, etc. Typically, your interviewers conduct many interviews, so they are EXCELLENT judges of character. Perhaps you are coming off as arrogant or overconfident and you don't even realize it? Another critique I've heard during interviews is when people have a flat affect, or display little emotion or passion. Take this with a grain of salt because I don't actually know you, I am just trying to suggest possible issues with your application that may be preventing you from gaining an acceptance. It is most certainly not your balanced MCAT and absolutely not your GPA.

 

[ridethecliche]

When you last applied, how many schools did you apply to and how was the spread in terms of selectivity?