- Joined
- Jun 13, 2017
- Messages
- 317
- Reaction score
- 59
I am a nontrad applicant who applied during this application cycle. I graduated from college in 2014 and have 3.9+ GPA and 513 MCAT (I have 3 scores but this one is the most recent one). I was fortunate enough to receive 4 interview invitations. However, I was rejected from one and waitlisted at three. I talked to admission officer at one of the schools I am currently waitlisted at for some tips. They told me that
GPA : 3.9+ Science GPA : 3.8+ from a large state university
Residency : Texas but grew up and went to college in another state
MCAT : 513 (two previous scores were something like below 505 and 28 on the old scale)
Research : 5 pubs with one that has me as a second author, worked in full time setting and did summer internships at various institutions such as NIH, two top 25 medical schools, and my undergrad so I have thousands of hours in this area
Non clinical volunteering : I did things such as teaching at church, mentoring youth, playing music at church, helping out at homeless clinic from 2010~2016 for a total of 800+ hours
Clinical experiences : I volunteered at a hospital and hospice and shadowed physicians in various specialties. Majority of my clinical experiences were obtained during my undergraduate years (2010~2014). I did a little bit of shadowing and hospital volunteering in 2018~2019.
Total hours of hospital volunteering : 308 hours
Total hours of shadowing : 148 hours
Employment : worked at couple research labs in full time setting for several years after college. I didn’t work for couple years and took a break due to personal issues. I am currently working now as a lab tech. I will be vague here just to hide my identity.
Leadership : comes from one of my nonclinical volunteering activities
I think my rec letters and essays were good : science prof letters, research PI letter, non science prof letter
I applied to a little bit over 20 schools (Texas schools, Florida schools, and schools in other states). I turned my application kinda late but I did receive 4 interviews idk.
I thought about ways to address my flaws based on what they said and came up with the following.
What do you guys think? What steps would you take in my situation? Out of the options I listed above, which ones would you do? I always thought that my interview skills were bringing me down because I did receive 4 interview invitations but this is what the school told me.
I have applied multiple times and it’s taking a lot of toll on me emotionally so I would really love some help. Thank you!
- My clinical experiences and volunteering are weak. They are outdated (last major non clinical volunteering was done in 2016 and a little bit of shadowing and hospital volunteering in 2018~2019) and I could definitely do more => Do more in this area.
- I haven’t taken courses since 2014 =>Do 1 year masters program in biomedical science
GPA : 3.9+ Science GPA : 3.8+ from a large state university
Residency : Texas but grew up and went to college in another state
MCAT : 513 (two previous scores were something like below 505 and 28 on the old scale)
Research : 5 pubs with one that has me as a second author, worked in full time setting and did summer internships at various institutions such as NIH, two top 25 medical schools, and my undergrad so I have thousands of hours in this area
Non clinical volunteering : I did things such as teaching at church, mentoring youth, playing music at church, helping out at homeless clinic from 2010~2016 for a total of 800+ hours
Clinical experiences : I volunteered at a hospital and hospice and shadowed physicians in various specialties. Majority of my clinical experiences were obtained during my undergraduate years (2010~2014). I did a little bit of shadowing and hospital volunteering in 2018~2019.
Total hours of hospital volunteering : 308 hours
Total hours of shadowing : 148 hours
Employment : worked at couple research labs in full time setting for several years after college. I didn’t work for couple years and took a break due to personal issues. I am currently working now as a lab tech. I will be vague here just to hide my identity.
Leadership : comes from one of my nonclinical volunteering activities
I think my rec letters and essays were good : science prof letters, research PI letter, non science prof letter
I applied to a little bit over 20 schools (Texas schools, Florida schools, and schools in other states). I turned my application kinda late but I did receive 4 interviews idk.
I thought about ways to address my flaws based on what they said and came up with the following.
- Medical scribing to beef up my clinical experiences
- Americorps for nonclinical volunteering experiences: I am particularly interested in mentoring but I am open to other opportunities
- Doing a masters program in biomedical science but I have no idea how I can afford it. I am a lab tech and do not get paid well.
- Or just looking for more general volunteering opportunities in my area
What do you guys think? What steps would you take in my situation? Out of the options I listed above, which ones would you do? I always thought that my interview skills were bringing me down because I did receive 4 interview invitations but this is what the school told me.
I have applied multiple times and it’s taking a lot of toll on me emotionally so I would really love some help. Thank you!
Last edited: