Approach it as a non-traditional applicant, which you are. I didn't have a clue how med school admission really worked, when I began this process a year ago, but I've seen people with a 3.2 GPA and MCAT of 505 get into a MD program or DO program and sometimes both, and I've seen people with a 4.0 and 524 MCAT who didn't get into a single program. I suspect they applied to top schools and didn't have enough volunteering or clinical exposure. Every applicant is a unique case. Did you go to a very competitive undergrad school or take a difficult major such as engineering. All I can say is EVERYTHING matters. When they say holistic review, they are not joking around. Otherwise, those with near perfect records would have 10-15/25 schools accepting them (vs zero). Do yourself a favor and start looking at the Tier 3 schools from this year now.
2019-2020 Allopathic School Specific Discussions. You can learn a ton by looking at the schools you plan to apply to now vs. waiting later in the cycle. One thing I learned is most people apply as soon as the cycle opens. Start writing your personal statement and 12 broad topic essays NOW, not when it is a month from the due date. Many had essays written before they actual prompts even came out, causing some frustration because they focused so heavily on the prior year's essays rather than writing the 12 broad based essays. Its much easier to tailor from a general broad based essay than taking it school by school, which you will end up doing anyways once you realize that 95% of essays can be easily tweaked for another school. Duke and Vandy are the exceptions, due to Duke requiring 9 500 word essays and Vanderbilt requiring a 1200 word autobiography.
