May need to re-apply next cycle. Do I need to re-take the MCAT/gap year options?

[zarfot]

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[candbgirl]

What exactly did the 1000 hours of clinical research entail?
Some specific shadowing might be helpful.
You didn't list your school list so it's hard to say if you over reached or even under reached. If you don't get it in this year you probably shouldn't reapply next cycle unless you have significantly improved your application. I don't think you should retake the MCAT. Maybe next year you could take some high level science classes, shadow and increase your clinical hours and get a job. Have you considered DO?

 

[DaMedDude]

GPA is low. Wouldn't advise re-taking the MCAT...retaking a good MCAT is suspect to committees. If you have to take a gap year then yes for sure beef up those ECs even more, even though they are very good as of now. Did you apply to just MD schools? You would be a great applicant for any DO school.....your GPA may keep you out of many, if not all, MD schools. But I suspect if you applied to lots of low-tier schools that you should land a couple interviews and then it will just come down to that.

 

[Doug Underhill]

You have a DO-level GPA, despite the MCAT being good enough for MD. I would recommend reapplying DO. If you want to do MD, you could always do some GPA repair to establish an upward trend and bring your cumulative up to 3.6.

 

[MDdream777]

Here is my advice. Take the gap year, don't retake the mcat. It's funny that people are saying not to reapply without making drastic changes to your app, but I am a reapplicant, and I basically just submitted the exact same app I did in the previous year. The only difference in my application was that I had a full time job as a research assistant and was working on some publications. But I got into one of my state MD schools this year! I honestly think a lot of schools give preference to reapplicants. So don't give up! Try it again. I honestly am so glad I took this year off (It will be the last break you will get from here on out)

 

[Goro]

I see three problems and a fourth that's unsaid: the schools you applied to. Did you aim too high?
Problems are:
1) GPA is a tad below avg, and sGPA well below avg
2) unbalanced MCAT (although this shouldn't be lethal)
3) biggest problem: no patient contact experience. Have actually talked to patients? Taking data from charts is not the same.

 

[zarfot]

I see three problems and a fourth that's unsaid: the schools you applied to. Did you aim too high?
Problems are:
1) GPA is a tad below avg, and sGPA well below avg
2) unbalanced MCAT (although this shouldn't be lethal)
3) biggest problem: no patient contact experience. Have actually talked to patients? Taking data from charts is not the same.

The one patient-contact experience I listed in AMCAS was being an EMS responder and volunteering with the emergency team. I could use the rest of this school year and the summer to find other clinical volunteer experiences.

Am leaning towards doing a post-bacc to boost GPA and re-applying.

 

[Goro]

Sounds like a plan!

The one patient-contact experience I listed in AMCAS was being an EMS responder and volunteering with the emergency team. I could use the rest of this school year and the summer to find other clinical volunteer experiences.

Am leaning towards doing a post-bacc to boost GPA and re-applying.