NO Interview so far, anyone?

[happymania]

Hi, I always read threads but never left a post. it's my first time and
it feels quite weird.
Congratulations to those of you who have got accepted and/or interviewed.
I'm just wondering if there is any one who has not heard anything from the schools yet, like me. I need some encouragement... Half the school that I applied to sent me rejections (buff... ), but from the other half of the schools, i haven't heard anything yet... except for the interim-mail from howard last week. my stats are not stellar, but i'm in graduate school finishing my master this year in experimental medicine with 5 publications, 1 with first authorship. due to my weak stats (28R, 3.42GPA, 3.8gradGPA), i don't know if should give up the hope from the "silent" schools. do most schools stop interviewing ppl now? do they no longer give out interviews? am i rejected?



----->> just realized that i had left threads quite some time ago. ooops

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[Law2Doc]

Hi, I always read threads but never left a post. it's my first time and
it feels quite weird.
Congratulations to those of you who have got accepted and/or interviewed.
I'm just wondering if there is any one who has not heard anything from the schools yet, like me. I need some encouragement... Half the school that I applied to sent me rejections (buff... ), but from the other half of the schools, i haven't heard anything yet... except for the interim-mail from howard last week. my stats are not stellar, but i'm in graduate school finishing my master this year in experimental medicine with 5 publications, 1 with first authorship. due to my weak stats (28R, 3.42GPA, 3.8gradGPA), i don't know if should give up the hope from the "silent" schools. do most schools stop interviewing ppl now? do they no longer give out interviews? am i rejected?

Unfortunately graduate GPA carries little to no weight in this process. No need to "give up hope" but I would start giving serious thought to what you plan to do to improve your app for a subsequent cycle. You clearly need to up your MCAT and maybe bolster your ug GPA a bit -- what is the BCPM? Possibly consider an SMP. Do you have adequate clinical experience? Did you apply to enough schools with enough of a broad range, apply early enough?

 

[Timmythemic22]

Hi, I always read threads but never left a post. it's my first time and
it feels quite weird.
Congratulations to those of you who have got accepted and/or interviewed.
I'm just wondering if there is any one who has not heard anything from the schools yet, like me. I need some encouragement... Half the school that I applied to sent me rejections (buff... ), but from the other half of the schools, i haven't heard anything yet... except for the interim-mail from howard last week. my stats are not stellar, but i'm in graduate school finishing my master this year in experimental medicine with 5 publications, 1 with first authorship. due to my weak stats (28R, 3.42GPA, 3.8gradGPA), i don't know if should give up the hope from the "silent" schools. do most schools stop interviewing ppl now? do they no longer give out interviews? am i rejected?

Experimental medicine? I'm intrigued as to what that covers. Please explain.

 

[Patel1268]

It also depends on what types of schools you applied to. Are they schools that are out of reach? Are they public and out of state?

 

[Shejeboshease]

Hi, I always read threads but never left a post. it's my first time and
it feels quite weird.
Congratulations to those of you who have got accepted and/or interviewed.
I'm just wondering if there is any one who has not heard anything from the schools yet, like me. I need some encouragement... Half the school that I applied to sent me rejections (buff... ), but from the other half of the schools, i haven't heard anything yet... except for the interim-mail from howard last week. my stats are not stellar, but i'm in graduate school finishing my master this year in experimental medicine with 5 publications, 1 with first authorship. due to my weak stats (28R, 3.42GPA, 3.8gradGPA), i don't know if should give up the hope from the "silent" schools. do most schools stop interviewing ppl now? do they no longer give out interviews? am i rejected?

take the mcat again....thats the only solution. you gotta have a 30 in your mcat with your gpa.

 

[Law2Doc]

take the mcat again....thats the only solution. you gotta have a 30 in your mcat with your gpa.

That's likely part of the solution. But there can be a multitude of things OP may need to fix, ranging from PS, essays, LORs, ECs, school selection, timing. It's dangerous to assume you know why you are getting rejections. What you think is important or an issue might not be what adcoms are focusing on. If possible After the application cycle is over (May), see if you (OP) can speak to an admissions person at one of the schools you were rejected at to see what you can do to improve things for the upcoming cycle. Some admissions folks are candid and will help you fix things. (some won't).

 

[RSAgator]

Any speculation about the reason is rather irrelevant without further information. The most obvious reason would be the low stats, but there are other things to consider as well such as the application date as well as the schools the OP applied to. Regardless of that other information though, I think retaking the MCAT is definitely an appropriate course of action given the GPA. Clinical ECs?

edit: bah...law2doc said it all

 

[154465]

I didn't have a single invite until Tuesday. I know this might not help because I felt like **** until I did hear some good news, but keep your head up. Sometimes it comes out of nowhere.

 

[Perrotfish]

I didn't have a single invite until Tuesday. I know this might not help because I felt like **** until I did hear some good news, but keep your head up. Sometimes it comes out of nowhere.

Or sometimes it takes an extra year to get your stats up. It did for me. OP, stay optimistic but also start studying for the MCAT. If good news doesn't this come you want to have your new and improved MCAT in hand by the time you start sending in your secondaries (assuming you send in your AMCAS on the first possible date).

 

[154465]

Or sometimes it takes an extra year to get your stats up. It did for me. OP, stay optimistic but also start studying for the MCAT. If good news doesn't this come you want to have your new and improved MCAT in hand by the time you start sending in your secondaries (assuming you send in your AMCAS on the first possible date).

This is of course also true, I was (and still am) prepared to retake the MCAT and do more EC's for next year's cycle. But sometimes good things happen, and I'm really grateful for that.

 

[happymania]

my bcmp is the same as my gpa which is 3.42 and i have some serious extracurricular activities, like VP for student body, Meal Exchange, Unicef, and voluteering at hospital dialysis unit. i'm also a part of hospital choir.
my pi is a cardiologist, so i shadowed him a couple of times and closely worked with other doctors(mds) in our lab. LORs seem good (can't guarantee since i can't read them), but i finished my app quite late (according to sdn stadard). all finished by oct. but for nymc it was late dec. (bc of 1 LOR that took forever to get there). i also think my mcat score severely hurts my chance... probably will have to take it again.

btw, experimental medicine is like interdisciplinary approach ie. bridging basic and clinical science. my project is related to HDL, aka the good cholesterol.

thanks all for the sincere and warm comments. deeply appreciated! ^^;;

 

[happymania]

i'm korean (received undergraduate degree in canada though), but now i'm canadian resident. however, the time when i applied to medical schools i was considered as international. ;-)

 

[bozz]

I'm not as experienced.. but it seems like many people suggest tweaking your PS, recs etc... but it seems like your problem is the MCAT score.

How can you ensure that your PS is better than someone elses? Even if you do, they'll say, "hey this other guy has a good essay too.. but he has a 33 MCAT"
You absolutely have to get that MCAT up... the people that got 5 acceptances with a 29 MCAT are the exception, not the norm.... it's probably more important now, assuming you aren't a URM... and the average MCAT is around a 31... it may even be creeping up.

 

[Depakote]

Speaking through experience (it took me 3 attempts to get in). I would start making plans for a reapplication cycle now.

I know this sucks, but it is better to be prepared and apply early than to scramble and get your apps in late.

As mentioned above, I would re-take the MCAT. That would be the easiest way to improve your profile.

(Also, I applied to DO schools on my 3rd round of applications, it really increased my options and they are generally more forgiving of earlier academic difficulties)

 

[Depakote]

i'm korean (received undergraduate degree in canada though), but now i'm canadian resident. however, the time when i applied to medical schools i was considered as international. ;-)

Were you applying to Canadian or US schools? or both?

 

[mdgator]

Don't give up, people get in with your stats. At the same time, many people don't get in with better stats. I would say there is still a chance you may get an interview, but that window is closing fast.
I wouldn't count on fixing the problem by doing just one thing, (i.e., retaking the MCAT). I would try to improve my app from several angles, just to show adcoms you really want this. Start studying now for the MCAT. Do some more shadowing or other clinical work on the side. Take a few classes, if you're finished with your grad program, like anatomy, microbio, biochem, etc. If it comes to reapplying, start NOW. Improve your personal statement, even if you already thought it was good. Do as much as you can to help yourself.
Maybe most important of all, go back and analyze the schools you applied to. You may need to apply more broadly, and you may need to find some schools that are more OOS friendly. Maybe you should apply to quite a few more schools.
I think the most important thing you can do, possibly, is contact adcoms and ask THEM how to improve your standing. I don't think it's too early to start, at some schools. They may not be ready to talk to you about it yet, but they can set up a time to do so. Good luck.

 

[happymania]

i broadly applied to 16 US schools plus 1 canadian school (mcgill, in fact i do my master in this school). thanks for all the advices
above all the med app related problems, the biggest was that i was out of touch with ppl like you guys who can motivate me and give me constructive opinions. relentless endeavour is certainly what gets us into med school in the end, but i think it has to be accompanied with good information too (like the ones i'm getting NOW).
anyways, my philosophical interpretation ends here. all the best!

 

[Brown8472]

Don't give up, people get in with your stats. At the same time, many people don't get in with better stats. I would say there is still a chance you may get an interview, but that window is closing fast.
I wouldn't count on fixing the problem by doing just one thing, (i.e., retaking the MCAT). I would try to improve my app from several angles, just to show adcoms you really want this. Start studying now for the MCAT. Do some more shadowing or other clinical work on the side. Take a few classes, if you're finished with your grad program, like anatomy, microbio, biochem, etc. If it comes to reapplying, start NOW. Improve your personal statement, even if you already thought it was good. Do as much as you can to help yourself.
Maybe most important of all, go back and analyze the schools you applied to. You may need to apply more broadly, and you may need to find some schools that are more OOS friendly. Maybe you should apply to quite a few more schools.
I think the most important thing you can do, possibly, is contact adcoms and ask THEM how to improve your standing. I don't think it's too early to start, at some schools. They may not be ready to talk to you about it yet, but they can set up a time to do so. Good luck.

I could not have said it better. Also I will repeat that you should not linger too much on your MCAT score although in some schools it has to balance or corroborate your gpa. If your school has a pre-med office/committee, get in touch with them; they can give you really good advice on how to improve your application. So to conclude (my essay), apply broadly.