Need Advice on whether I should Reapply this year or retake MCAT

[Roboninjacoffee]

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Stats:
Top 10 Undergraduate University
3.80 cGPA
3.77 sGPA
30R MCAT (11 physical, 11 biological, 8 verbal).
California Resident.

Here are my ECs:

Volunteer work:
-Various errands working in hospitals abroad in Taiwan (2 summers)
-Front Desk Clerk for HIV/AIDS Prevention Center (1 year)
-Volunteer at Children's Hospital (March - present)

Physician Shadowing:
-Shadowed OB-GYN both inpatient and outpatient (81 hours).

Leadership:
-Residential Assistant (1 year)
-Gen Chemistry Tutor (2 years)

Research:
-Neuro-acoustic Research (3 years)
-Stem Cell research Abroad in Taiwan (summer)
-iPSC research at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center (April 2010 - present)

Misc:
-Fraternity (4 years)
-Intramural Sports

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I applied relatively late this previous cycle with all my secondaries done at the start of September. I received 3 interviews (1 early and 2 late) and was rejected from 1 school while wait-listed to 2 schools. I was wondering what course of action I should take if I were to reapply. I don't think I would need to attend a SMP because my GPA is pretty solid, but my only flaw I can see is my MCAT score (that 8 is just bad). However, it appears that it would be too late for me to apply this cycle without taking the MCAT and if I did take the MCAT this summer and apply then I would be considered a late applicant. I was wondering whether it would be advisable to apply this upcoming cycle with my current stats and ECs or wait another year and take the MCAT again.

Please help me!

 

[MiniMoo]

May I ask which schools you applied to last cycle?

 

[phantomx87]

I would also like to see to which schools you've applied... I have learned (unfortunately) that school selection is as much a part of the admissions game as all of an individual's stats.

On to your specific question:

I think you could benefit from retaking the MCAT, but I think the major "deficiency" (if you want to call it that) that jumps out at me is that clinical experience. Simply put, you are going to need a lot more. The importance on clinical experience for a school is not so much on whether you have had contact with actual patients (at this point in the game, any interaction is virtually meaningless in the outcome of their treatment), but rather that you've taken the time to see what a career in medicine really entails. Spending a large amount of time in the office, in the OR, in the units, on the floors, etc... These will all give you an accurate picture of the commitment required if you choose to enter the profession.

Not only will this experience help your cause (as far as admissions goes), but it will also benefit you personally as you'll find out for yourself if this is what you really want to do.

Just my $0.02...

 

[Food]

Definitely get some feed back from the school that rejected you. The WL schools may not give you feedback yet since you're still technically up for consideration. Do those schools take updates? You could aggressively work on updating them with new activities, etc. I really don't see anything too bad with your application, but a stronger MCAT would help. You should definitely re-apply if you don't get in this year. You can take the MCAT July or August if you need to.

 

[Kittee]

Found this post via twitter!

I think your MCAT is fine, and you just need to apply more broadly. Also, if you do retake the MCAT, make sure to register for a July test. I was told by one admissions that as long as I take my MCAT before August (even like July 31st), it wouldn't be genuinely detrimental.

 

[Roboninjacoffee]

Thanks for all your responses. I was a little ambitious and did not apply as broadly as I should have with my low MCAT verbal score --- 17 schools in total but only 3 schools were within my MCAT average. I was interviewed at BU, Drexel, and George Washington. Overall, I was WL to BU and GW. I'm trying to remain optimistic but I know BU's WL movement has been stagnant for the past 3 years and I hope GW's will move this year.

As for reapplying, I don't know how much it would help me to reapply straight away. I wrote regular updates to my schools with updated activities --- mainly in working at a pediatric unit and doing more stem cell research during my year off, so I'm afraid that schools would see that my application would not have changed all that much since the last cycle. As for clinical experience, what volunteer work would you recommend? I thought I had plenty of clinical experience under my belt from volunteering at the children's hospital, shadowing physicians, and working at a nonprofit HIV/AIDS center, but obviously it wasn't enough.

 

[Roboninjacoffee]

Definitely get some feed back from the school that rejected you. The WL schools may not give you feedback yet since you're still technically up for consideration. Do those schools take updates? You could aggressively work on updating them with new activities, etc. I really don't see anything too bad with your application, but a stronger MCAT would help. You should definitely re-apply if you don't get in this year. You can take the MCAT July or August if you need to.

Thanks for the response. I have sent a total of 3 letters to each of my WL schools (2 thank you letters, one for the interview and one for WL, and an update letter). I don't know whether I should send another update letter this late into the game since there hasn't been much changes since my last update. I could potentially write about my experiences working in the pediatric unit, but I don't know if that would appear to be too overly aggressive in sending them letters. What do you think? I could also send them a letter of intent but I know BU's Dr. Witzburg stated specifically that he doesn't like students who write to them stating that they are their first choice but rather talk about how you'd be a good fit, which I already have. Man, this medical school process is stressful.

 

[MiniMoo]

I think applying late and not broadly enough were your 2 major downfalls. I've seen enough examples of people who have gained acceptances in the pre-Allo "Low MCAT" thread to think that an 8 in Verbal will not kill you, especially with the solid GPA. If you reapply this year, do it in June and expand your school choices. Use the MSAR and be truthful and realistic with your expectations for yourself.

I would also not send another update unless I had something meaningful to add. It's going to be readily transparent that you're writing another letter just for the sake of writing one - and that always reeks of desperation. If you have new grades, new research, new employment, etc then for sure go for it. If everything has been the same, then I would say don't bother.