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Since I have received so much help on these forums, I would like to contribute a little. I don't know if it will help, but I'll put my own reapp story out there for what it's worth.
Hi,
*I'll break my dissertation on my med school reapplication down into a timeline.
1.) The first app--I applied late (verified in September), picked low tier schools with a heavy IS bias, and applied to too few schools. My stats were average- 32 MCAT, 3.65 cGPA/ 3.5 sGPA--and I'm an ORM, things which did not work in my favor. Added to that, I had very limited clinical experience--just 40 hours of hospital volunteering-- and my ECs were few and far between. My interviewing skills were also poor and I didn't really practice; I went to one mock interview (set up by my school), and my interviewer told me that 'I was guaranteed an acceptance somewhere.' So I went in overconfident to my interviews and returned dejected--one interviewer went so far as to flat- out tell me I wasn't going to get into med school--ever.
*It was basically a recipe for rejection; I was lucky (lol) in that I was rejected immediately post-interview at three schools, which meant I knew that I would be reapplying in the beginning of March.
2.) Improvements - I wanted an entirely new app to bring to the table; I also wanted to reapply right away. Aware of my mediocre grades, I pushed myself the last semester in college, took only upper-level bio courses, and pulled my first 4.0 ever. That left me at a 3.7 cGPA/3.6 sGPA, which was better. I also retook the MCAT, and scored an unbalanced 34. In terms of clinical experience, I was lucky to have started shadowing while I was applying; I also began volunteering in a free clinic in May.
Not knowing really what to do with my gap year, too cowardly to look for a job, I applied and was accepted to a master's program at my alma mater's school of public health. This was stupid, I realize now; regular master's grades count for next to nothing on your app,* the courses were too easy for me to learn much, and it was expensive. If your grades need a boost, don't apply to a regular master's: apply to an SMP. I continued my volunteering while in my master's and started tutoring, which didn't last long--I had to attend interviews so frequently it interfered my teaching schedule. Between studying and the clinic, I ran out of time.
3.) Applying- I submitted my AMCAS June 5, and was verified June 19 or so. My school has a committee letter, which they lovingly decided to delay sending for me (if you have the same problem, keep pestering your pre-prof office until they send it). Panicking, I pre-wrote secondaries, and was complete at most schools early August.
*I feel my school selection was really my strongest point--I picked 34 schools whose GPA/MCAT averages hovered around mine (GPA was within .1 of mine, MCAT within 2 points), had an OOS interview rate of at least 7%. I chose some a strong research emphasis (MSAR showed a high percent of applicants with research experience)--since I had more research than community or clinical volunteering. Some people want 'fit,' where the 'school's mission' matches their own--I think this is impossible to ascertain without knowing the school thoroughly--you can't get this info from scrolling through a school's website. Honestly, I didn't care about it--I only glanced at the webpages of the schools when I had to write secondaries.
My interviews lasted from September to April; I realized mid-cycle that my app still really didn't have enough clinical experiences on it (remember, I began volunteering in May), I had no leadership experiences, and interview skills were atrocious (I am very shy and have a tendency to say stupid things during interviews, apparently). I just sat back and hoped for the best, and I was fortunate enough to get into a school I really liked and could afford.
If I change my reapp:
1.) I would have taken a year or two off. I had the grades and MCAT to get into mid-tier schools, but I didn't have the clinical experience, and barreling through a summer sitting in a clinic wasn't enough. I would probably look for a job in a clinical field (at our clinic, the main secretary was a post-bac student who was applying the same year to med school, and she got accepted to some top tier institutions).
You don't have to spend a ridiculous amount of money, and you get spare cash for applications and interviews. You also have more to talk about when you reapply, and your application looks much better than someone who just dived back into the app cycle again.
2.) No master's program--for me, it just wasn't worth it.
3.) Leadership experiences-Recently, I called the schools were I was rejected post-interview this cycle, and they told me one problem with my app was 'lack of leadership' and that I demonstrated 'no experiences working in a group.' I would have tried to find something to counter this if I knew about it.
4.) Called schools where I was rejected for feedback in my first cycle--I would have known about my app problems earlier.
5.) More interview practice, with med students and professors at my college--these are the species who interview you, so it's best to get feedback from them on your interview skills.
6.) Updated schools more in my second cycle, earlier--some schools take update letters and invite the person for an interview the next week. I believe that if I had sent updates in December to my schools--Vermont, GWU, Wake, and Wisconsin--I would have had received one or two interviews more. Don't ignore the power of an update letter- SDN school-specific threads will let you know if an update letter helps. Also, send in-the-area emails if you get an invite to a nearby school-this is how I got my Cincy invite.
7.) Found out more about the COST of each school--I began my second cycle just praying I would get in anywhere--I didn't care where. This is a dangerous attitude, because the first school I was accepted at had a sky- high tuition which would have kept me in debt for a long, long time. When I found this out, I almost decided to forget about med school. If I had researched cost, I would also have chosen schools more carefully--I would probably have applied to TCOM, a DO school which is quite cheap. I was kicking myself when I realized how ignorant I had been regarding cost.
8.) No backups--There is no such thing as a backup when you apply to med school. You have to be willing to attend every school that you apply to--it may very well be that you only get into one school. I considered the two DO schools I applied to as backups; I was fairly confident I would get accepted at an MD school. Thus, I didn't consider cost.
Everyone has a specific place where they draw the line when applying to med school, even if they do it subconsciously. Some won't go to a high cost school (which was mine), some won't consider DO schools, some won't live in a rural area, and some won't go to a school that's not in the top 50 of USNews Med school research rankings list. These things may seem silly to someone who just wants in, but believe me, they're very important. Know where you draw the line when applying, and don't pick schools you wouldn't be happy attending.
SilverCat
Hi,
*I'll break my dissertation on my med school reapplication down into a timeline.
1.) The first app--I applied late (verified in September), picked low tier schools with a heavy IS bias, and applied to too few schools. My stats were average- 32 MCAT, 3.65 cGPA/ 3.5 sGPA--and I'm an ORM, things which did not work in my favor. Added to that, I had very limited clinical experience--just 40 hours of hospital volunteering-- and my ECs were few and far between. My interviewing skills were also poor and I didn't really practice; I went to one mock interview (set up by my school), and my interviewer told me that 'I was guaranteed an acceptance somewhere.' So I went in overconfident to my interviews and returned dejected--one interviewer went so far as to flat- out tell me I wasn't going to get into med school--ever.
*It was basically a recipe for rejection; I was lucky (lol) in that I was rejected immediately post-interview at three schools, which meant I knew that I would be reapplying in the beginning of March.
2.) Improvements - I wanted an entirely new app to bring to the table; I also wanted to reapply right away. Aware of my mediocre grades, I pushed myself the last semester in college, took only upper-level bio courses, and pulled my first 4.0 ever. That left me at a 3.7 cGPA/3.6 sGPA, which was better. I also retook the MCAT, and scored an unbalanced 34. In terms of clinical experience, I was lucky to have started shadowing while I was applying; I also began volunteering in a free clinic in May.
Not knowing really what to do with my gap year, too cowardly to look for a job, I applied and was accepted to a master's program at my alma mater's school of public health. This was stupid, I realize now; regular master's grades count for next to nothing on your app,* the courses were too easy for me to learn much, and it was expensive. If your grades need a boost, don't apply to a regular master's: apply to an SMP. I continued my volunteering while in my master's and started tutoring, which didn't last long--I had to attend interviews so frequently it interfered my teaching schedule. Between studying and the clinic, I ran out of time.
3.) Applying- I submitted my AMCAS June 5, and was verified June 19 or so. My school has a committee letter, which they lovingly decided to delay sending for me (if you have the same problem, keep pestering your pre-prof office until they send it). Panicking, I pre-wrote secondaries, and was complete at most schools early August.
*I feel my school selection was really my strongest point--I picked 34 schools whose GPA/MCAT averages hovered around mine (GPA was within .1 of mine, MCAT within 2 points), had an OOS interview rate of at least 7%. I chose some a strong research emphasis (MSAR showed a high percent of applicants with research experience)--since I had more research than community or clinical volunteering. Some people want 'fit,' where the 'school's mission' matches their own--I think this is impossible to ascertain without knowing the school thoroughly--you can't get this info from scrolling through a school's website. Honestly, I didn't care about it--I only glanced at the webpages of the schools when I had to write secondaries.
My interviews lasted from September to April; I realized mid-cycle that my app still really didn't have enough clinical experiences on it (remember, I began volunteering in May), I had no leadership experiences, and interview skills were atrocious (I am very shy and have a tendency to say stupid things during interviews, apparently). I just sat back and hoped for the best, and I was fortunate enough to get into a school I really liked and could afford.
If I change my reapp:
1.) I would have taken a year or two off. I had the grades and MCAT to get into mid-tier schools, but I didn't have the clinical experience, and barreling through a summer sitting in a clinic wasn't enough. I would probably look for a job in a clinical field (at our clinic, the main secretary was a post-bac student who was applying the same year to med school, and she got accepted to some top tier institutions).
You don't have to spend a ridiculous amount of money, and you get spare cash for applications and interviews. You also have more to talk about when you reapply, and your application looks much better than someone who just dived back into the app cycle again.
2.) No master's program--for me, it just wasn't worth it.
3.) Leadership experiences-Recently, I called the schools were I was rejected post-interview this cycle, and they told me one problem with my app was 'lack of leadership' and that I demonstrated 'no experiences working in a group.' I would have tried to find something to counter this if I knew about it.
4.) Called schools where I was rejected for feedback in my first cycle--I would have known about my app problems earlier.
5.) More interview practice, with med students and professors at my college--these are the species who interview you, so it's best to get feedback from them on your interview skills.
6.) Updated schools more in my second cycle, earlier--some schools take update letters and invite the person for an interview the next week. I believe that if I had sent updates in December to my schools--Vermont, GWU, Wake, and Wisconsin--I would have had received one or two interviews more. Don't ignore the power of an update letter- SDN school-specific threads will let you know if an update letter helps. Also, send in-the-area emails if you get an invite to a nearby school-this is how I got my Cincy invite.
7.) Found out more about the COST of each school--I began my second cycle just praying I would get in anywhere--I didn't care where. This is a dangerous attitude, because the first school I was accepted at had a sky- high tuition which would have kept me in debt for a long, long time. When I found this out, I almost decided to forget about med school. If I had researched cost, I would also have chosen schools more carefully--I would probably have applied to TCOM, a DO school which is quite cheap. I was kicking myself when I realized how ignorant I had been regarding cost.
8.) No backups--There is no such thing as a backup when you apply to med school. You have to be willing to attend every school that you apply to--it may very well be that you only get into one school. I considered the two DO schools I applied to as backups; I was fairly confident I would get accepted at an MD school. Thus, I didn't consider cost.
Everyone has a specific place where they draw the line when applying to med school, even if they do it subconsciously. Some won't go to a high cost school (which was mine), some won't consider DO schools, some won't live in a rural area, and some won't go to a school that's not in the top 50 of USNews Med school research rankings list. These things may seem silly to someone who just wants in, but believe me, they're very important. Know where you draw the line when applying, and don't pick schools you wouldn't be happy attending.
SilverCat
