Looking for some reapplication advice

[mishyfishy333]

Hi everyone,

I applied for med school (MD programs only) in the 2019-2020 cycle for the first time. I got 2 IIs (one in early December, one in late January), but both turned into straight post-II Rs. I was hoping if the community could help me decide whether to keep only applying to MD programs or to also apply to DO programs in the upcoming cycle.

For some context, here’s a brief overview of my stats/activities from the 2019-2020 cycle:

Undergrad: graduated in June 2016 from a UC, CA resident
GPA: 3.69 cGPA / 3.72 sGPA
MCAT: 519 (130/129/130/130)
Schools I applied to (all MD): USC, Stanford, UCD, UCI, UCR, UCSD (II), Emory, Dartmouth, Geisinger (II), GWU, Rush, Rutgers, SUNY Downstate, Brown, Tufts, Tulane, U Colorado, Rochester, VCU, Wake Forest, Western Michigan, Cornell, Yale, Columbia, Central Michigan, Rosalind Franklin, Northeast Ohio, U Cincinnati, Mayo, U Michigan, U Pittsburg, U South Carolina, Kaiser

Research/Employment: 2200 hours as a research/production assistant in a biotech company
Volunteering (clinical): 450 hours as a clinical volunteer at hospital
Volunteering (non-clinical): 20 hours as a reading/math tutor for students from underserved families, 50 hours at a local food pantry
Employment: 4000 hours as a scribe in the ER
Leadership: 300 hours in the training branch at my clinical internship, 75 hours as a TA for an upper div bio class
Extracurriculars: 750 hours as a founder and board member of an undergraduate a cappella group
Misc: no institutional actions, LORs from my boss at the biotech company, physician with whom I have a good working relationship with in the ER, 1 science professor
Personal Statement: overall was about my decision to go into the medical field (I wasn’t a premed during undergrad), what aspects of medicine drew me in, and my goal to prioritize emotional healing alongside physical healing for patients

Some miscellaneous things that may have affected my cycle:

• I wasn’t able to pre-write my secondaries in June, as my parents decided June would be the *perfect* time to take a 3-week family trip out of state. (*lets out an aggravated groan*)
• My professor didn’t submit his LOR until mid-August, which meant that the majority of my secondaries were “complete” later than intended.

Gap Year activities:
Volunteering (clinical): additional 50 hours as a clinical volunteer at hospital
Volunteering (non-clinical): additional 25 hours as a reading/math tutor, additional 30 hours at a local food pantry (note: cannot accumulate any more hours from these sites, as they are now closed due to COVID-19)
Leadership: additional 800 hours in executive leadership at my clinical internship
Employment: additional ~1000 hours as an ER scribe, including hours as a scribe trainer
Misc: hoping to add an LOR from the program manager at my clinical internship, with whom I worked very closely with over the past 6-8 months during my time in executive leadership

I’m planning on reapplying this cycle, and will probably remove all of the T20 schools from my list (unless that's not a good idea?). Any suggestions on mid/lower range schools to add / should I reapply to the mid/lower range schools already on my list? Are there any gaping holes in my application that would require me to delay my reapplying? (Want to try to avoid this though, as this would mean I’d have to retake my MCAT since it expires after the 2020-2021 cycle)

Also, any recommendations as to whether I should add DO schools to my school list, and if so, which ones?

I also don’t know anyone who has had to reapply (all my friends got in the first time, sigh). I’m not sure if I have to rewrite my PS/activities/secondaries if I do reapply to schools that I applied to last year – I’ve heard that people tend to just recycle their secondaries from the previous year? If anyone could provide guidance on that, that’d be super helpful.

I didn’t think this post would turn out this long, and I apologize. However, as I stated before – all of my friends got in on their first try, so I’d appreciate any type of advice/guidance/recommendations from the community – the more blunt and honest, the better. Thanks, and I hope you’re staying safe!

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[MedHopeful09]

I would have killed for an app like yours haha. Honestly, just seeing your school list automatically made me think you focused too high. It's always a crapshoot, even with a "perfect" app. It also seems like you already know what to do. Submit your app the first second it opens and since your letters are already written, get those submitted ASAP. Depending on the strength of your connection to your letter writers, maybe even have them add something about your gap year stuff? Not necessary, but could add more color to the letter if needed.

I had wayyy lower stats than you and my only change on my second app was that I submitted the second AMCAS opened and had two new letters. Prewrite your secondaries as much as possible too. Other than that, you should have a better go around the second time. It's honestly not a big deal.

 

[Faha]

I suggest these schools when you reapply in June:
Boston University
Tufts
Vermont
Quinnipiac
Hofstra
Einstein
Mount Sinai
Rochester
New York Medical College
Seton Hall
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
Georgetown
George Washington
Virginia Commonwealth
Eastern Virginia
Miami
USF Morsani
NOVA MD
Tulane
TCU-UNT
Creighton
St. Louis
Washington University
Loyola
Medical College Wisconsin
Western Michigan
Oakland Beaumont
Wayne State
California University
Kaiser
The UCs
USC Keck
You should rewrite your PS and all your secondaries.

 

[Blueprint Med School]

You have an incredible application, which makes me think the only reason you're reapplying is due to your school list. You don't need to rewrite your PS/secondaries, but I'd consider editing them a second time and maybe changing the wording in places.

I'd also really think about your two interviews and what went wrong that led you to the post-II Rs, as this means the schools were satisfied with your stats but very unsatisfied with your interview.

Kevin W, MCAT Tutor
Med School Tutors

 

[GetAdmittedMD]

I'd also really think about your two interviews and what went wrong that led you to the post-II Rs, as this means the schools were satisfied with your stats but very unsatisfied with your interview.

this^^^. I would also do some practice interviews before the next application.

I wouldnt remove all of your top 20 schools but maybe keep a couple of them. Regarding DO, you shouldnt need to add any as you are a competitive MD candidate with the right school list.

 

[MyOdyssey]

Hi everyone,

I applied for med school (MD programs only) in the 2019-2020 cycle for the first time. I got 2 IIs (one in early December, one in late January), but both turned into straight post-II Rs. I was hoping if the community could help me decide whether to keep only applying to MD programs or to also apply to DO programs in the upcoming cycle.

For some context, here’s a brief overview of my stats/activities from the 2019-2020 cycle:

Undergrad: graduated in June 2016 from a UC, CA resident
GPA: 3.69 cGPA / 3.72 sGPA
MCAT: 519 (130/129/130/130)
Schools I applied to (all MD): USC, Stanford, UCD, UCI, UCR, UCSD (II), Emory, Dartmouth, Geisinger (II), GWU, Rush, Rutgers, SUNY Downstate, Brown, Tufts, Tulane, U Colorado, Rochester, VCU, Wake Forest, Western Michigan, Cornell, Yale, Columbia, Central Michigan, Rosalind Franklin, Northeast Ohio, U Cincinnati, Mayo, U Michigan, U Pittsburg, U South Carolina, Kaiser

Research/Employment: 2200 hours as a research/production assistant in a biotech company
Volunteering (clinical): 450 hours as a clinical volunteer at hospital
Volunteering (non-clinical): 20 hours as a reading/math tutor for students from underserved families, 50 hours at a local food pantry
Employment: 4000 hours as a scribe in the ER
Leadership: 300 hours in the training branch at my clinical internship, 75 hours as a TA for an upper div bio class
Extracurriculars: 750 hours as a founder and board member of an undergraduate a cappella group
Misc: no institutional actions, LORs from my boss at the biotech company, physician with whom I have a good working relationship with in the ER, 1 science professor
Personal Statement: overall was about my decision to go into the medical field (I wasn’t a premed during undergrad), what aspects of medicine drew me in, and my goal to prioritize emotional healing alongside physical healing for patients

Some miscellaneous things that may have affected my cycle:

• I wasn’t able to pre-write my secondaries in June, as my parents decided June would be the *perfect* time to take a 3-week family trip out of state. (*lets out an aggravated groan*)
• My professor didn’t submit his LOR until mid-August, which meant that the majority of my secondaries were “complete” later than intended.

Gap Year activities:
Volunteering (clinical): additional 50 hours as a clinical volunteer at hospital
Volunteering (non-clinical): additional 25 hours as a reading/math tutor, additional 30 hours at a local food pantry (note: cannot accumulate any more hours from these sites, as they are now closed due to COVID-19)
Leadership: additional 800 hours in executive leadership at my clinical internship
Employment: additional ~1000 hours as an ER scribe, including hours as a scribe trainer
Misc: hoping to add an LOR from the program manager at my clinical internship, with whom I worked very closely with over the past 6-8 months during my time in executive leadership

I’m planning on reapplying this cycle, and will probably remove all of the T20 schools from my list (unless that's not a good idea?). Any suggestions on mid/lower range schools to add / should I reapply to the mid/lower range schools already on my list? Are there any gaping holes in my application that would require me to delay my reapplying? (Want to try to avoid this though, as this would mean I’d have to retake my MCAT since it expires after the 2020-2021 cycle)

Also, any recommendations as to whether I should add DO schools to my school list, and if so, which ones?

I also don’t know anyone who has had to reapply (all my friends got in the first time, sigh). I’m not sure if I have to rewrite my PS/activities/secondaries if I do reapply to schools that I applied to last year – I’ve heard that people tend to just recycle their secondaries from the previous year? If anyone could provide guidance on that, that’d be super helpful.

I didn’t think this post would turn out this long, and I apologize. However, as I stated before – all of my friends got in on their first try, so I’d appreciate any type of advice/guidance/recommendations from the community – the more blunt and honest, the better. Thanks, and I hope you’re staying safe!

Apply to the high MCAT schools that may not be T10 in stature: Northwestern, Wash U, U Chicago, Wash U, Vanderbilt, NYU, Case Western.

You can do crisis hotline volunteering from the comfort of your home that would count as clinical volunteering.

There is also non clinical volunteering available online: tutoring for example.

 

[_Cloud9]

nah you should definitely rewrite your PS/secondaries for sure. that many applications/few interviews means your application itself needs work + a more targeted school list.

great stats and ECs though!!! Good luck OP, I know it's hard that your friends all got in but you can do this! sometimes it just takes a fresh strategy!