Is there any point in applying?

[toronto123]

I have prewritten all of my secondaries. I just got my MCAT back today and I got a 9/9/9 O. This was my second retake. I have a 3.75 cGPA plus average extracurriculars (research, shadowing, part time work, volunteering, exec of clubs).

Ive worked so hard these past few years and was really hoping for a good MCAT score, but now I dont know whether or not I should even bother sending these secondaries to other schools. On top of that, I am a Canadian student but I do have strong ties with the US (I have lived there for quite some time, but I doubt this will help me with my application).

Can anyone give me advice? Should I go ahead and try some schools? Or is it just a waste of money. I'd greatly appreciate any honest advice. Thanks.

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[MedPR]

I have prewritten all of my secondaries. I just got my MCAT back today and I got a 9/9/9 O. This was my second retake. I have a 3.75 cGPA plus average extracurriculars (research, shadowing, part time work, volunteering, exec of clubs).

Ive worked so hard these past few years and was really hoping for a good MCAT score, but now I dont know whether or not I should even bother sending these secondaries to other schools. On top of that, I am a Canadian student but I do have strong ties with the US (I have lived there for quite some time, but I doubt this will help me with my application).

Can anyone give me advice? Should I go ahead and try some schools? Or is it just a waste of money. I'd greatly appreciate any honest advice. Thanks.

Waste of money

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[TheShaker]

Are you URM? Applying DO or MD?

A 27 doesn't look good for an MD, especially for an international applicant.

 

[toronto123]

I appreciate the honesty, I am a non-URM applying MD

 

[MedPR]

I appreciate the honesty, I am a non-URM applying MD

You can get into DO easily.

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[sinombre]

Yeah, I would re-take it and apply next year.

 

[kpcrew]

Being an international student limits your options and it's also more difficult to get interviews. I think a 27 is probably too low to make you a competitive applicant.

 

[ClemsonFirst]

It can't hurt to apply, just some extra money (and I know money can be tight especially traveling from Canada). If you are really passionate about becoming a doctor, then go ahead and apply now and see if you get in. If you don't get in, apply again and again. You have to be determined to get in with lower scores and show some serious shadowing experience that you can get in a year or two off. MCAT isn't all they adcoms look at, and your GPA is pretty average for many medical schools.

If you would rather not go through that time, trouble and stress, you could always apply for PA school or become a nurse practitioner and do close to the same thing just less independent. These are both very real options for people passionate about medicine who cannot quite get into medical school.

 

[Lanolin]

These guys are all nuts. Just apply and also sign up to take the MCAT again. I think what many fail to recognize is that the national average is indeed just that, an average, meaning that many people get in with scores well above and below that number. Our average was a 31 and I know plenty of people that got in with scores around where you are.

 

[MedPR]

It can't hurt to apply, just some extra money (and I know money can be tight especially traveling from Canada). If you are really passionate about becoming a doctor, then go ahead and apply now and see if you get in. If you don't get in, apply again and again. You have to be determined to get in with lower scores and show some serious shadowing experience that you can get in a year or two off. MCAT isn't all they adcoms look at, and your GPA is pretty average for many medical schools.

If you would rather not go through that time, trouble and stress, you could always apply for PA school or become a nurse practitioner and do close to the same thing just less independent. These are both very real options for people passionate about medicine who cannot quite get into medical school.

Yea theres no reapplicant stigma or anything like that to worry about.

These guys are all nuts. Just apply and also sign up to take the MCAT again. I think what many fail to recognize is that the national average is indeed just that, an average, meaning that many people get in with scores well above and below that number. Our average was a 31 and I know plenty of people that got in with scores around where you are.

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[music2doc]

I have prewritten all of my secondaries. I just got my MCAT back today and I got a 9/9/9 O. This was my second retake. I have a 3.75 cGPA plus average extracurriculars (research, shadowing, part time work, volunteering, exec of clubs).

Ive worked so hard these past few years and was really hoping for a good MCAT score, but now I dont know whether or not I should even bother sending these secondaries to other schools. On top of that, I am a Canadian student but I do have strong ties with the US (I have lived there for quite some time, but I doubt this will help me with my application).

Can anyone give me advice? Should I go ahead and try some schools? Or is it just a waste of money. I'd greatly appreciate any honest advice. Thanks.

To be frank, as an internat'l applicant, a 27 would be not likely to receive any attention from US MD programs. I would suggest, perhaps, applying broadly to DO programs. AAMC data suggests your Canadian status is equivalent to a 2 point MCAT deduction and a .1 GPA deduction, so you could think of yourself as an OOS candidate at any given US medical school with a 3.65/25*. That puts you in the pretty much "fair game for DO schools to consider interviewing" category.


* ON MCAT RETAKE

 

[toronto123]

I really appreciate the feedback everyone. I will apply to a few schools and try again next year if things don't work out. The only thing I'm concerned about is getting the same references again for the next cycle, I wouldn't want to annoy the hell out of my referees lol

 

[cinamin]

I really appreciate the feedback everyone. I will apply to a few schools and try again next year if things don't work out. The only thing I'm concerned about is getting the same references again for the next cycle, I wouldn't want to annoy the hell out of my referees lol

IMO it is kind of late in the cycle.. are you even verified by AMCAS yet? If you haven't even submitted AMCAS, I would say to wait until next year. Improve your app through clinical experiences, and retake the MCAT in January.

Apply in June next year and consider including DO schools to avoid having to reapply the following year. That's just my 2 cents. G'luck!

 

[toronto123]

I have been verified, I was waiting for my MCAT scores to come in so that I could decide how many places to apply to.

 

[def1]

IMO just go for it.

I was very disappointed with my mcat score and didn't want to apply at first, but i did anyway and have 4 interviews. so you just never know.

 

[Fivo]

I have been verified, I was waiting for my MCAT scores to come in so that I could decide how many places to apply to.

In that case, just apply right now. At worst you're in the hole a few thousand (lol).

 

[ClemsonFirst]

Yea theres no reapplicant stigma or anything like that to worry about.

As far as I have heard, the more times you apply (up to 3), the more dedicated you look and each time you apply your chance for that cycle goes up.

 

[music2doc]

As far as I have heard, the more times you apply (up to 3), the more dedicated you look and each time you apply your chance for that cycle goes up.

You are sorely misinformed. It may make you look desperate, but "dedication" is only of value if you were a strong candidate to begin with. Think of it like getting a girlfriend. Sure, she wants your "dedication" IF she is interested (and AFTER she has shown interest through a few dates, etc.), but your extreme interest when she is not interested is going to get the label of "creepy" and "desperate." Likewise, your "dedication" by reapplying over and over does little for increasing a school's interest.

Further, the fact that you are reapplying means EVERY school to which you applied turned you down the previous year. That makes you far less worthwhile to offer an interview to because, in essence, a "super-committee" (i.e., a committee of admissions committees) has already vetted and made a unanimous decision to eliminate you from the medical profession. Why should they consider you when everyone else said, "NO!"? It's a waste of time, so unless you give them a solid reason to reconsider, being a reapplicant can easily break you. It's a mark of stigma, not of commitment. (On the other hand, some people do get in despite the stigma of being a reapplicant, but they are the exception, not the rule.)

 

[ClemsonFirst]

You are sorely misinformed. It may make you look desperate, but "dedication" is only of value if you were a strong candidate to begin with. Think of it like getting a girlfriend. Sure, she wants your "dedication" IF she is interested (and AFTER she has shown interest through a few dates, etc.), but your extreme interest when she is not interested is going to get the label of "creepy" and "desperate." Likewise, your "dedication" by reapplying over and over does little for increasing a school's interest.

Further, the fact that you are reapplying means EVERY school to which you applied turned you down the previous year. That makes you far less worthwhile to offer an interview to because, in essence, a "super-committee" (i.e., a committee of admissions committees) has already vetted and made a unanimous decision to eliminate you from the medical profession. Why should they consider you when everyone else said, "NO!"? It's a waste of time, so unless you give them a solid reason to reconsider, being a reapplicant can easily break you. It's a mark of stigma, not of commitment. (On the other hand, some people do get in despite the stigma of being a reapplicant, but they are the exception, not the rule.)

Ah. Thanks for the info.

 

[Geebeejay]

You will more than likely not get in this late in the cycle with very borderline scores. It will be a waste of money to apply, and you do not want to be a reapplicant if you don't have to. Just relax, do something to improve your application for the next 9 months, retake mcat probably, and apply early next cycle. You've got the rest of your life to be a doctor, so what's the rush if you're not completely prepared?

 

[Praefectus]

You could still apply to DO. If you're dead-set on an MD, retake the MCAT and apply as early as possible next year.

 

[Ser Demetrius]

I have prewritten all of my secondaries. I just got my MCAT back today and I got a 9/9/9 O. This was my second retake. I have a 3.75 cGPA plus average extracurriculars (research, shadowing, part time work, volunteering, exec of clubs).

Ive worked so hard these past few years and was really hoping for a good MCAT score, but now I dont know whether or not I should even bother sending these secondaries to other schools. On top of that, I am a Canadian student but I do have strong ties with the US (I have lived there for quite some time, but I doubt this will help me with my application).

Can anyone give me advice? Should I go ahead and try some schools? Or is it just a waste of money. I'd greatly appreciate any honest advice. Thanks.

agree. Waste of money.