Sorry for this long post! I feel that I am a bit complicated as a non-traditional applicant, so a little context is helpful rather than simply posting my stats.
Here is my background. I am a physical therapist who is embarking on his second career change. After working for 2 years as a PT, I began to feel "stuck." I am a very ambitious person who thrives when I have a goal to work towards. When a friend of mine who is a franchisee of a successful quick-service restaurant offered to help me become a franchisee, I jumped at the opportunity. For a year and a half I ran her restaurant as a general manager before realizing that the business world was not a good fit for me. After some contemplation, I decided to seek a career that I hope will combine the favorite parts of my two careers and allow me to care directly for patients while using the leadership skills I have developed as a general manager.
I made this decision last July (2020) and unfortunately jumped to action before properly researching the process. I immediately registered for the latest MCAT possible (Sept 28) to give myself ample time to study. My assumption was that the best order of things would be to take the MCAT before completing my application (oops). I did not start my AMCAS application until October and submitted it with much anxiety on the 12th of October. I then worked full time on secondaries for the next month, submitting 23 secondaries between 10/22 and 11/22.
Of course now I realize that I have submitted my applications way, way too late. I cringe writing this, but I admit I arrogantly believed that my grades from undergraduate, holding a graduate degree and achieving a moderately strong MCAT score would make me a "shoe-in." To add to my hubris, the schools I decided to apply to included Dartmouth, Brown, Georgetown, Yale, Vandy, Duke and BU.
My results this cycle have certainly been enough to humble me. So far, I have received two interview-waitlists (SUNY Upstate, WVU) and one rejection (Georgetown). As the cycle winds to a close I try to remain optimistic about receiving a late interview, but have mostly accepted that I applied too damn late and my "just go for it" strategy was not effective. Here are my current stats:
I plan to focus on these weaknesses in the following months, but am worried that 4-5 months does not give me enough time gain the proper amount of experience, especially with COVID-19 continuing to limit shadowing experiences. Any other comments about possible weaknesses in my application would be helpful! Thank you!
TLDR: Physical therapist, finished secondaries in Oct/Nov 2020, no shadowing or non-clinical volunteering hours, will I have enough time to improve this by May/June 2021?
Here is my background. I am a physical therapist who is embarking on his second career change. After working for 2 years as a PT, I began to feel "stuck." I am a very ambitious person who thrives when I have a goal to work towards. When a friend of mine who is a franchisee of a successful quick-service restaurant offered to help me become a franchisee, I jumped at the opportunity. For a year and a half I ran her restaurant as a general manager before realizing that the business world was not a good fit for me. After some contemplation, I decided to seek a career that I hope will combine the favorite parts of my two careers and allow me to care directly for patients while using the leadership skills I have developed as a general manager.
I made this decision last July (2020) and unfortunately jumped to action before properly researching the process. I immediately registered for the latest MCAT possible (Sept 28) to give myself ample time to study. My assumption was that the best order of things would be to take the MCAT before completing my application (oops). I did not start my AMCAS application until October and submitted it with much anxiety on the 12th of October. I then worked full time on secondaries for the next month, submitting 23 secondaries between 10/22 and 11/22.
Of course now I realize that I have submitted my applications way, way too late. I cringe writing this, but I admit I arrogantly believed that my grades from undergraduate, holding a graduate degree and achieving a moderately strong MCAT score would make me a "shoe-in." To add to my hubris, the schools I decided to apply to included Dartmouth, Brown, Georgetown, Yale, Vandy, Duke and BU.
My results this cycle have certainly been enough to humble me. So far, I have received two interview-waitlists (SUNY Upstate, WVU) and one rejection (Georgetown). As the cycle winds to a close I try to remain optimistic about receiving a late interview, but have mostly accepted that I applied too damn late and my "just go for it" strategy was not effective. Here are my current stats:
- cGPA and sGPA as calculated by AMCAS or AACOMAS 3.98 cGPA/3.99 sGPA, Graduate: 3.87 (Undergrad GPA does not include O Chem 1 and Biochem which I took at a community college in the fall and made A's in both. Taking O Chem II this semester.)
- MCAT score(s) and breakdown 515. CHM/PHYs: 126, CARS: 130, Bio/Biochem: 128, Psych/Soc: 131
- State of residence or country of citizenship (if non-US) North Carolina
- Ethnicity and/or race White male
- Undergraduate institution or category Appalachian State University (Public State School)
- Clinical experience (volunteer and non-volunteer) 2000+ working full time as a PT for 2 years, 50 volunteer in the past month at the health department assisting with COVID-19 testing/vaccinations
- Research experience and productivity ~500 as a graduate research assistant in a biochemistry lab. I presented a poster as a regional PT conference as my capstone for my graduate program
- Shadowing experience and specialties represented 0 due to COVID-19
- Non-clinical volunteering Nothing in the past 3 years. 40 hours a volunteer basketball coach for middle school boys, 15-20 in PT school at a soup kitchen and Habitat for Humanity (I did not include these in my application because I did not consider them recent enough)
- Other extracurricular activities (including athletics, military service, gap year activities, leadership, teaching, etc) Recreational Runner, I run 60-100 miles per week and have ran 5 marathons. Year and a half working full time as a general manager leading a team of ~100. Resident assistant for 3 years in college, resident assistant council president for one year.
- Relevant honors or awards Received the annual academic award for my major (exercise science) in 2014, spoke at my college graduation in 2014
- Anything else not listed you think might be important Married to a very supportive wife! I feel very confident that my references know me well and wrote strong references for me (2 graduate professors (one basic science), 1 undergrad science professor, 1 clinical instructor and 1 PT work colleague)
I plan to focus on these weaknesses in the following months, but am worried that 4-5 months does not give me enough time gain the proper amount of experience, especially with COVID-19 continuing to limit shadowing experiences. Any other comments about possible weaknesses in my application would be helpful! Thank you!
TLDR: Physical therapist, finished secondaries in Oct/Nov 2020, no shadowing or non-clinical volunteering hours, will I have enough time to improve this by May/June 2021?
