Looking for advice on retaking MCAT & gaining extra gap year experiences

[KnightTalking]

Deleted

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Reasonstocontinue]

Just giving my food for thought, but I wouldn't retake unless all of your practice exams were around your goal score of "520+." If you look on MSAR, I suspect a 514 is on the low side, and if you truly want to potentially attend NYU, then you may need to retake. However, even if you get a 528, this doesn't guarantee admission anywhere, especially NYU. I would continue to work on your application, continue with initiatives you are proud of, and create a school list based on your GPA, MCAT, and "mission fit. "

Once again, these are my thoughts and you can accept them or reject them, the choice is yours. Please also consider the advice of others.

 

[KnightTalking]

Just giving my food for thought, but I wouldn't retake unless all of your practice exams were around your goal score of "520+." If you look on MSAR, I suspect a 514 is on the low side, and if you truly want to potentially attend NYU, then you may need to retake. However, even if you get a 528, this doesn't guarantee admission anywhere, especially NYU. I would continue to work on your application, continue with initiatives you are proud of, and create a school list based on your GPA, MCAT, and "mission fit. "

Once again, these are my thoughts and you can accept them or reject them, the choice is yours. Please also consider the advice of others.

I appreciate your input. Do you have any school list recs based on what I described? Assuming I don't retake

 

[YodaPineapple]

If your definition of success is getting into NYU you’re setting yourself up for failure. I’d venture to say you would need to score at least 523-524 in order to produce an average MCAT score of around 518-519 which is probably their bare minimum for screening purposes for those who are not URM or another extreme X-Factor. In fact, the singular lowest score in their class this year was a 516. I agree with the above advice to only retake the MCAT if your practice scores are consistently averaging 520+.

Your professional singing background is interesting, and will probably intrigue some admissions committees

What is your “why medicine” and/or overall impact statement that you plan to propose to schools?

 

[KnightTalking]

If your definition of success is getting into NYU you’re setting yourself up for failure. I’d venture to say you would need to score at least 523-524 in order to produce an average MCAT score of around 518-519 which is probably their bare minimum for screening purposes for those who are not URM or another extreme X-Factor. In fact, the singular lowest score in their class this year was a 516. I agree with the above advice to only retake the MCAT if your practice scores are consistently averaging 520+.

Your professional singing background is interesting, and will probably intrigue some admissions committees

What schools would you recommend with my stats and ECs? Thanks so much!

 

[YodaPineapple]

I will defer to the experts for school lists

 

[Mr.Smile12]

I would not retake a 514. You are solidly in the top 10th percentile of test-takers. Yes, maybe NYU loves high metrics, but they are not the only NYC medical school if your goal is to stay around the tri-state. Your involvement with community service in the area is helpful, though you could always use more. Do your networking with schools around there or in other metro areas like Boston or Philly. I don't have a clear mission fit in you other than your involvement with NYC communities.

 

[chilly_md]

Get another 25 hours of shadowing in another specialty or two. You will want 50 hours total before applying.

Try:

All 4 SUNY schools
Einstein
Rochester
Hofstra
NYMC
Albany
Vermont
Hackensack
Jefferson
Temple
Drexel
Tufts
Dartmouth
Quinnipiac
George Washington
VCU
EVMS
Wake
Emory
Miami
Nova MD
Creighton
Saint Louis
Rosalind Franklin
MCW
Colorado

 

[KnightTalking]

Thanks, everyone! Anything else I can do during my gap year to make my application stand out? I think my X-factor will be my nonprofit work and my narrative has to do with mentoring the underserved starting from my teaching assistant role, on to the peer success coach role, to more of an executive role on creating more of these mentorship/volunteer opportunities with this nonprofit post-grad. Obviously, for me service is a lot more important than research - will this keep me out of certain schools that are known to be research-heavy? What schools are these?

 

[KnightTalking]

Get another 25 hours of shadowing in another specialty or two. You will want 50 hours total before applying.

Try:

All 4 SUNY schools
Einstein
Rochester
Hofstra
NYMC
Albany
Vermont
Hackensack
Jefferson
Temple
Drexel
Tufts
Dartmouth
Quinnipiac
George Washington
VCU
EVMS
Wake
Emory
Miami
Nova MD
Creighton
Saint Louis
Rosalind Franklin
MCW
Colorado

Hey, thanks so much for this! Will my volunteering with Project Healthcare at Bellevue not suffice for this? How can I look for shadowing opportunities outside internal medicine and emergency medicine? These are the ones I currently have ongoing

 

[chilly_md]

Hey, thanks so much for this! Will my volunteering with Project Healthcare at Bellevue not suffice for this? How can I look for shadowing opportunities outside internal medicine and emergency medicine? These are the ones I currently have ongoing

You can formally shadow a few days in emergency medicine if you are still volunteering there. Shadowing is different from clinical experience unless you are a scribe since they follow the physician as part of their job.

 

[KnightTalking]

You can formally shadow a few days in emergency medicine if you are still volunteering there. Shadowing is different from clinical experience unless you are a scribe since they follow the physician as part of their job.

I think everything I have done so far would fall under shadowing then, wouldn't it? Would the Weill job I mentioned count as clinical experience or should I look for a different clinical role to replace that job?

 

[chilly_md]

I think everything I have done so far would fall under shadowing then, wouldn't it? Would the Weill job I mentioned count as clinical experience or should I look for a different clinical role to replace that job?

No. The Weill job is clinical experience though.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

I think my X-factor will be my nonprofit work and my narrative has to do with mentoring the underserved starting from my teaching assistant role, on to the peer success coach role, to more of an executive role on creating more of these mentorship/volunteer opportunities with this nonprofit post-grad.

Be careful about this because I would want to know why you would leave this for medical school. Clearly there is a need to help underprivileged students in their schooling and career planning. And financial stability is a big factor when it comes to one's health.

 

[KnightTalking]

Be careful about this because I would want to know why you would leave this for medical school. Clearly there is a need to help underprivileged students in their schooling and career planning. And financial stability is a big factor when it comes to one's health.

It's a nonprofit to help more students in these communities consider medicine as a career path by leveling the playing field so the directors are all physicians. In this way, I wouldn't necessarily be leaving but going onward in my academic journey to help others go through theirs.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

It's a nonprofit to help more students in these communities consider medicine as a career path by leveling the playing field so the directors are all physicians. In this way, I wouldn't necessarily be leaving but going onward in my academic journey to help others go through theirs.

So this is more mentoring/tutoring than alleviating other's distress, which is non-clinical community service.

 

[KnightTalking]

So this is more mentoring/tutoring than alleviating other's distress, which is non-clinical community service.

Yes, we do fundraising and create job opportunities for them as well by training them to lead our school programs, getting them into shadowing and mentoring programs, etc. The goal is to help empower them in STEM fields as well as help diversify the biomedical workspace. I would have a hard time categorizing this as either clinical or non-clinical because it has aspects of both

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Yes, we do fundraising and create job opportunities for them as well by training them to lead our school programs, getting them into shadowing and mentoring programs, etc. The goal is to help empower them in STEM fields as well as help diversify the biomedical workspace. I would have a hard time categorizing this as either clinical or non-clinical because it has aspects of both

It will fall under promotion of science careers, so it's coeducational non-clinical nature. But it won't satisfy community service in terms of "service orientation" in alleviating other's distress.

 

[KnightTalking]

Yes, we do fundraising and create job opportunities for them as well by training them to lead our school programs, getting them into shadowing and mentoring programs, etc. The goal is to help empower them in STEM fields as well as help diversify the biomedical workspace. I would have a hard time categorizing this as either clinical or non-clinical because it has aspects of both

It will fall under promotion of science careers, so it's coeducational non-clinical nature. But it won't satisfy community service in terms of "service orientation" in alleviating other's distress.

I understand. I volunteered weekly with a soup kitchen for three years with my organization when I was in college (up until graduation this past May) so it looks like I should continue with this to fulfill that aspect. Do you see any weaknesses with my ECs that I can work on until I apply this coming spring?

 

[Mr.Smile12]

I understand. I volunteered weekly with a soup kitchen for three years with my organization when I was in college (up until graduation this past May) so it looks like I should continue with this to fulfill that aspect. Do you see any weaknesses with my ECs that I can work on until I apply this coming spring?

Well that's too bad you didn't include it in your application. Or your WAMC. But you also had leadership responsibilities with it so it's not clear how much your impact is. Do more, especially off campus.

You need at least 150 hours. Better if you had 300 before applying.

 

[KnightTalking]

Well that's too bad you didn't include it in your application. Or your WAMC. But you also had leadership responsibilities with it so it's not clear how much your impact is. Do more, especially off campus.

You need at least 150 hours. Better if you had 300 before applying.

Oh I had leadership responsibilities along with volunteering weekly - it was both (its number 9 on WAMC; should've put more detail mb). I am going to try to do more now during my gap year. I haven't applied yet. I am applying this upcoming cycle. Thanks for your help

 

[LeaveNoTrace]

As you are now: your having been a professional singer is a pretty decent X-factor. However, with a 514 and your other ECs you're pack fodder on a good day for top-20 schools. If you were doing well on official AAMC material - 520 or close to it, multiple times in a row, timed and in one sitting - you may consider a retake. However, you'll need to at least break a 518 and preferably get 520 or better for that retake to do you any good.

Why do you want to go to a top-20 school so badly?