Might need to reapply for 2nd time, 38 old MCAT 3.7 GPA

[carbsarelife]

First time posting, hope I did this right.

1. cGPA 3.7 sGPA 3.7 no real trend up or down
2. old MCAT 38 (14 PS 11 VR 13 BS)
3. State of residence North Carolina
4. Ethnicity and/or race: Asian
5. Undergraduate institution or category: Duke
6. Clinical experience (volunteer and non-volunteer) hospice: 200 hrs, hospital: 120 hrs
7. Research experience and productivity: undergrad research lab for 2.5 years, no publications but defended an honors thesis. Currently working as a research tech in a (different) translational lab for my gap year.
8. Shadowing experience and specialties represented: Pulm 40 hrs, ophtho: 30hrs
9. Non-clinical volunteering: don't want to be too specific but was involved with four groups during undergrad, hour breakdowns are 315, 130, 60, 50, also volunteered abroad 315 hrs
10. Other extracurricular activities (including athletics, military service, gap year activities, leadership, teaching, etc) TA: 300 hrs, leadership in three different exec groups one I was president of 650 hrs, dance team: 600 hrs, mentioned gap year already under research
11. Relevant honors or awards: not really beside dean's list a couple of semesters and honors thesis that I mentioned before, but don't think these count for much
12. Anything else not listed you think might be important

I first applied the 2016 cycle but applied late (primary verified late July, secondaries slowly completed throughout the fall some as late as Nov.). Only got an interview at ECU which I was then rejected from. I know I should have gotten in those applications earlier. I then talked to my prehealth advisor she said to take a gap year and apply again and early. So I applied again this 2017 cycle (primary complete mid July, and secondaries to schools I really wanted to go to (aka UNC, Wake Forest) and schools with easy secondaries were done by early-mid August and others were done in September). Only got an interview from UNC and I am still waiting to hear back from them (but at this point likely to be waitlist if not rejection). In general, I think I am an average writer and average interviewer, nothing shockingly awful but nothing mind-blowingly amazing either. I do think that I need a much better and longer school list to apply to this time around (help needed!).

Applied to: UNC, Duke, Wake Forest, ECU, WashU, Mayo, Tufts, Boston, Miami, Rosalind, Case, UVA, GW
(not going to apply to Boston/Tufts/GW? again)

So basically I have a couple of questions
1. What is wrong with my app that I am not getting more interviews? I think it could be that I am not applying early enough, a bad rec letter (all of them seem excited to write one for me, but maybe this did not translate to the actual letter, of course neither my advisor nor interviewers will tell me if I have a bad letter), my school list is not optimal, or need to add something to my app. (I have no institutional action, no arrests, never been in trouble with the administration)

2. I took the old MCAT that some schools will no longer accept for the 2018 cycle. Should I take the MCAT again this May before reapplying? Or just apply to schools that will still take the old MCAT.

3. What schools should I apply to if I do end up having to reapply? Should I get new letters? I am going to talk to my pre-health advisor in a couple of weeks to see what they have to say as well.

I want to believe that I can get into a medical school if send in my primary on the first day, pre-write my secondaries, practice practice practice for interviews, and keep my research job and weekly clinical volunteering but if any of you have any other ideas about what I should change please let me know!

Thank you so much for any help/advice you have to give! Would love some adcom input!

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[Faha]

You will need to retake the MCAT so you can apply broadly to more medical schools. Ideally you should apply in June and submit all your secondaries by July. Apply to at least 20 schools and include most of these:
UNC
ECU
Wake Forest
Eastern Virginia
Virginia Commonwealth
West Virginia
GW
Georgetown
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
Penn State
Hofstra
Einstein
New York Medical College
Vermont
Quinnipiac
Rochester
Cincinnati
Oakland Beaumont
Western Michigan
Medical College Wisconsin
Rosalind Franklin
St. Louis
Creighton
Tulane
any new schools that open for 2018 (Seton Hall, Roseman, Henricopolis, etc.)
If your new MCAT is at least 512 (32 on old scale) you should be able to receive some interviews.

 

[tarheelpenner]

I'm a little bit confused. If you knew you applied late in the 2016 cycle, why did you wait so long to apply in the 2017 cycle? And why is it taking so long to submit your secondaries? Things like this have huge impacts on your number of II.

 

[carbsarelife]

I'm a little bit confused. If you knew you applied late in the 2016 cycle, why did you wait so long to apply in the 2017 cycle? And why is it taking so long to submit your secondaries? Things like this have huge impacts on your number of II.

Thanks for your comment, and you're right, there's no good excuse for submitting late. In my case, I get anxious about my writing, and it's hard to make myself sit down and write the essays - I realize this is self-defeating behavior. In general, I do better with strict deadlines instead of rolling, but that's not how life works. I also was waiting to submit my secondaries until I had my gap year position as to not leave that portion of my app empty - that was a tradeoff I made thinking that as long as I submitted my secondary within two weeks of receiving it I would have a good shot at an interview (this worked out with UNC not so much with Wake/ECU).

Anyway, I made this post to get help deciding a new school list and whether or not to take the new MCAT and get new LORs and to just generally get a sense of whether I have a chance at schools if I apply early (aka is there anything glaringly wrong with my app).

@gyngyn @Goro do you have any advice about new MCAT, LORs, school list that Faha posted?

 

[QuakerRay]

Given your very strong MCAT score I would see which schools will still accept the old exam next year. If you can find 20-30 or more schools you're interested in applying to that'll accept it then I think you should just keep the old score.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

 

[tarheelpenner]

Thanks for your comment, and you're right, there's no good excuse for submitting late. In my case, I get anxious about my writing, and it's hard to make myself sit down and write the essays - I realize this is self-defeating behavior. In general, I do better with strict deadlines instead of rolling, but that's not how life works. I also was waiting to submit my secondaries until I had my gap year position as to not leave that portion of my app empty - that was a tradeoff I made thinking that as long as I submitted my secondary within two weeks of receiving it I would have a good shot at an interview (this worked out with UNC not so much with Wake/ECU).

Anyway, I made this post to get help deciding a new school list and whether or not to take the new MCAT and get new LORs and to just generally get a sense of whether I have a chance at schools if I apply early (aka is there anything glaringly wrong with my app).

@gyngyn @Goro do you have any advice about new MCAT, LORs, school list that Faha posted?

Also, I am also waiting for a decision from UNC. Word on the street is, they might be meeting again before handing out WL and rejections. Go read the school specific thread, it gives me some hope

 

[carbsarelife]

Also, I am also waiting for a decision from UNC. Word on the street is, they might be meeting again before handing out WL and rejections. Go read the school specific thread, it gives me some hope

haha trust me, I've been reading it just wanted to let you know that I'm really hoping you get into Duke!

 

[tarheelpenner]

haha trust me, I've been reading it just wanted to let you know that I'm really hoping you get into Duke!

Ahhhh thank you! It's my top choice. I'm not too convinced about my chances though. But thank you

 

[Goro]

On paper you look great. Your app might be poorly written, or the simple answer is that you applied too late. A bad LOR is also possible.

And your advisor is a *****!! No need for a gap year. just apply early!

1. What is wrong with my app that I am not getting more interviews? I think it could be that I am not applying early enough, a bad rec letter (all of them seem excited to write one for me, but maybe this did not translate to the actual letter, of course neither my advisor nor interviewers will tell me if I have a bad letter), my school list is not optimal, or need to add something to my app. (I have no institutional action, no arrests, never been in trouble with the administration)

How many schools will take the old exam???? If < 15, then you should strongly consider retaking.
2. I took the old MCAT that some schools will no longer accept for the 2018 cycle. Should I take the MCAT again this May before reapplying? Or just apply to schools that will still take the old MCAT.


3. What schools should I apply to if I do end up having to reapply? Should I get new letters? I am going to talk to my pre-health advisor in a couple of weeks to see what they have to say as well.
All NC schools for sure, and a mix of top (Harvard/Stanford class) and medium (Hofstra/Einstein/BU class), plus U Miami, Tulane, Jefferson, U VM, maybe VCU and EVMS to keep you close to home. IF you live in rural, western MC, add East TN to the mix

Drop the ego, please.
I want to believe that I can get into a medical school if send in my primary on the first day, pre-write my secondaries, practice practice practice for interviews, and keep my research job and weekly clinical volunteering but if any of you have any other ideas about what I should change please let me know!

 

[carbsarelife]

I’m looking for help creating my list of schools.
Schools are organized based on WedgeDawg’s Applicant Rating System
Stats are 38 MCAT (14/13/11) 3.69 sGPA, 3.71 all other, 3.7 overall
Schools mentioned in previous replies that do not take the old MCAT and therefore are not included: Hofstra, WVU, CMS, MCW
Bolded are schools I’ve already added, the others are in consideration.

Top: Duke, WashU, JHU, Yale, Columbia

High: Mayo, Emory, Case Western, Mt. Sinai, Cornell, Pitt, Northwestern

Mid: UNC, Keck, Rochester, Dartmouth, Einstein, Ohio State

Low: Wake Forest, UVM, Creighton, Oakland, SLU, Cincinnati, Miami, VCU, W Michigan, EVMS, Quinnipiac

Low Yield: GW, Georgetown, Jefferson, Tulane, Tufts, Brown, Boston, Loyola, Drexel, Temple, NYMC, Penn St.

State/other: ECU, Rutgers, Wright, USC – Greenville, USC – Columbia

I’d appreciate any advice – even if the school is not listed above

@Goro

 

[Goro]

I suggest:


Top: Duke, WashU, JHU, Yale, Columbia
High: Mayo, Emory, Case Western, Mt. Sinai, Cornell, Pitt, Northwestern
Mid: UNC, Keck, Rochester, Dartmouth, Einstein,
Low: Wake Forest, UVM, Creighton, SLU, Cincinnati, Miami, VCU, EVMS, Quinnipiac
Jefferson, Tulane, Boston, Loyola,
ECU,

Both of these are maybes:
USC – Greenville, USC – Columbia

 

[carbsarelife]

Thank you so much! Two more questions.

Do you think it would be wiser to take out Hopkins, Yale, and/or Columbia and either add (1) more “low” schools like Drexel, Temple, NYMC, Tufts, Brown, Wayne, Oakland, Stony Brook, Downstate, Penn St. or (2) more “high/mid” schools such as UVA, Vanderbilt, NYU, Michigan, UCLA, UCSD (or should I stay away from the highly selective OOS state schools)?

I already submitted a primary to Rutgers – are you suggesting saving my money on the secondary?

@Faha @Goro (sorry, not sure if I’m supposed to keep tagging you each time) @gyngyn @efle @WedgeDawg

 

[Faha]

Rutgers accepted 19 non residents 2 years ago, many who have connections to the state of New Jersey (ie: attended Rutgers undergrad, former residents, legacies, etc.).