Most important things to do before reappying?

[misformichigan]

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I applied to four M.D. schools this last year and even though I didn't get accepted, I was surprised to not even be interviewed. I've already began working on my application for this next year, but be prepared, I was not a premed student coming into college. In fact I decided on premed my fourth year into school before returning for a fifth (08-09) and working on a masters I will complete after a sixth year(09-10).

Here's a quick rundown of what my app will have going for it this next time around:

31M MCAT (12BS 11PS 8VR)
BS Molecular and Cellular Biology (UMich) GPA: ~3.3 (about same in sci)
MS Biomedical Engineering (Umich)
May 08 - Present working in Neurology Lab
~30 hours volunteering in Children's Hospital
~30 Hours Volunteering in Post Anesthesia Care Unit
1 internship experience after 2nd year in pharmaceutical research

Non-med Activities(remember I wasn't full-out premed until a year ago):
3 Years Club Water Polo Team
Fraternity (3 fraternity of the year awards and raised over $150,000 for cancer research during my involvement - not that I directed it, but I think it is important to point out it wasn't a party frat)
1 Summer water polo youth assistant coach

- I'll also have a better Personal Statement since my previous one was ridiculed to bits by an English Prof of mine.
- I'll also have a few more letters of rec (Definitely 2 - Do I need more?)

So a lot of people's first insight might be my GPA, but I am 5 years deep into it and a full semester of A's doesn't really move it very much with 3 years of B's holding it down.

My goal is to get into a University of Minnesota (top target) or a Michigan State type school. I'm not going to a Stanford echelon school anytime soon, but I like bigger schools in more urban areas, instead of smaller more rural schools.

My Concerns:
1. Should I retake my MCAT? (low writing and VR - but worth my time when I could do something else?)
2. What other volunteer/shadowing type activities should I be looking at and for how many hours? (am I at or above what can be expected?)
3. Any other ideas? Suggestions?

Thanks guys.

 

[Chuck's Right Foot]

I applied to four M.D. schools this last year and even though I didn't get accepted, I was surprised to not even be interviewed. I've already began working on my application for this next year, but be prepared, I was not a premed student coming into college. In fact I decided on premed my fourth year into school before returning for a fifth (08-09) and working on a masters I will complete after a sixth year(09-10).

Here's a quick rundown of what my app will have going for it this next time around:

31M MCAT (12BS 11PS 8VR)
BS Molecular and Cellular Biology (UMich) GPA: ~3.3 (about same in sci)
MS Biomedical Engineering (Umich)
May 08 - Present working in Neurology Lab
~30 hours volunteering in Children's Hospital
~30 Hours Volunteering in Post Anesthesia Care Unit
1 internship experience after 2nd year in pharmaceutical research

Non-med Activities(remember I wasn't full-out premed until a year ago):
3 Years Club Water Polo Team
Fraternity (3 fraternity of the year awards and raised over $150,000 for cancer research during my involvement - not that I directed it, but I think it is important to point out it wasn't a party frat)
1 Summer water polo youth assistant coach

- I'll also have a better Personal Statement since my previous one was ridiculed to bits by an English Prof of mine.
- I'll also have a few more letters of rec (Definitely 2 - Do I need more?)

So a lot of people's first insight might be my GPA, but I am 5 years deep into it and a full semester of A's doesn't really move it very much with 3 years of B's holding it down.

My goal is to get into a University of Minnesota (top target) or a Michigan State type school. I'm not going to a Stanford echelon school anytime soon, but I like bigger schools in more urban areas, instead of smaller more rural schools.

My Concerns:
1. Should I retake my MCAT? (low writing and VR - but worth my time when I could do something else?)
2. What other volunteer/shadowing type activities should I be looking at and for how many hours? (am I at or above what can be expected?)
3. Any other ideas? Suggestions?

Thanks guys.

How's the MS GPA? Apply to more schools, keep up the research and clinical experience.

 

[fizzle]

1. Try to look for a longer-term clinical opportunity. ~30 hours in each of two clinical activities sounds somewhat near the bare minimum.

2. Definitely improve your personal statement. I think it is more important than many people regard it to be.

3. If you're scoring higher on practice MCAT tests, then try to raise your score. a 31 MCAT is around the average for matriculants, and combined with a below-average GPA, it may not get much attention. Note the "if you're scoring higher on practice tests"; don't attempt it if you don't feel that you can get a higher score.

 

[ruraldr]

1) Make sure you apply as early as you can this next year. (2 months of difference in application timing shifted me from 2 interviews (and 2 waitlists last year) to 9 interview offers (and so far 3 acceptances this year).

2) Make sure you know that your LORs are as strong as they can be.

3) Consider talking to the schools you are especially interested in about what you can do to be a strong applicant for their school. (I would call the admissions office and see if they would be willing to share this information--they may ask you to wait until the spring when things calm down for them).

4) Get your research together now for what you like about the schools--this should help you make your secondary essays stronger. This might also stimulate you to think about what you like most about medicine and get you thinking about some new volunteer/shadowing experiences to gather.

 

[nontrdgsbuiucmd]

suggestions -

1) probably retake the mcat for 2 reasons - make up for lower than many schools' average gpa, and most importantly boost that section score from an 8 - a single low score impacts what many schools would decide re: an interview in my experience as a reapplicant. 8 is about the lowest interviewable section score; couple that w/gpa and I'd bet that'd hurt you.

2) LOTS more volunteer clinical hours - I'd heard 100 was pretty much a miniumum; one school inferred 500 was preferred; I went w/over 100 hrs each in 2 clinical settings and that seemed to not raise any questions from any school regarding sufficiency.

3) as mentioned above, timing of app submission - in my experience, secondaries in Sept was too late. Maybe July secondaries?

also - I'd suggest applying to more schools -- after speaking w/many schools that I'd applied to and was turned down from, I reapplied to 9 mid-tier schools, all of which stated I'd be a strong applicant if I fixed certain areas (which I did) -- this resulted in 2 interviews so far. This is a tough process!

 

[LIMed2007]

I applied to four M.D. schools this last year and even though I didn't get accepted, I was surprised to not even be interviewed. I've already began working on my application for this next year, but be prepared, I was not a premed student coming into college. In fact I decided on premed my fourth year into school before returning for a fifth (08-09) and working on a masters I will complete after a sixth year(09-10).

Here's a quick rundown of what my app will have going for it this next time around:

31M MCAT (12BS 11PS 8VR)
BS Molecular and Cellular Biology (UMich) GPA: ~3.3 (about same in sci)
MS Biomedical Engineering (Umich)
May 08 - Present working in Neurology Lab
~30 hours volunteering in Children's Hospital
~30 Hours Volunteering in Post Anesthesia Care Unit
1 internship experience after 2nd year in pharmaceutical research

Non-med Activities(remember I wasn't full-out premed until a year ago):
3 Years Club Water Polo Team
Fraternity (3 fraternity of the year awards and raised over $150,000 for cancer research during my involvement - not that I directed it, but I think it is important to point out it wasn't a party frat)
1 Summer water polo youth assistant coach

- I'll also have a better Personal Statement since my previous one was ridiculed to bits by an English Prof of mine.
- I'll also have a few more letters of rec (Definitely 2 - Do I need more?)

So a lot of people's first insight might be my GPA, but I am 5 years deep into it and a full semester of A's doesn't really move it very much with 3 years of B's holding it down.

My goal is to get into a University of Minnesota (top target) or a Michigan State type school. I'm not going to a Stanford echelon school anytime soon, but I like bigger schools in more urban areas, instead of smaller more rural schools.

My Concerns:
1. Should I retake my MCAT? (low writing and VR - but worth my time when I could do something else?)
2. What other volunteer/shadowing type activities should I be looking at and for how many hours? (am I at or above what can be expected?)
3. Any other ideas? Suggestions?

Thanks guys.

absolutely apply to more schools. even people with stellar stats ultimately get rejected from medical schools, so applying to only four schools was a mistake. with your stats, the number of schools you should apply to should be close to 20 or even more. that will give you a realistic shot at getting in somewhere.

 

[dragonfly99]

You need more volunteer hours.

The MCAT essay score is terrible, and the verbal score is also low, which likely is hurting you. I would think about retaking if there is any way you think you can get a better score. You can fix the essay score just by studying and memorizing how they want you to write the essays.

If you want to get in, I'd apply to at least 20 schools...30 would be better. And be ready to take any offer of admission, no matter where the school is, if you want to be a doctor.