NY Reapplicant, 34 MCAT, 3.7 sGPA, 3.78 cGPA, weak extracurriculars

[rhymnenoceros]

So I am a NY state resident, and I will be reapplying for fall 2013. I have a 34Q mcat, with 12-BIO, 11-VR, and 11-PS and 3.78 cGPA, and 3.7 sGPA. My grades are quite competitive, but my extracurriculars are very weak. In terms of volunteering, I have almost 100 hours of non-clinical volunteer work and that is it. Other college activities were TAing for 3 courses, being in 2 honor societies, and working part-time as a tennis instructor. I have no experience working with patients in a medical setting, and I think that is what really set my application back, as well as lateness, I had my apps complete in December . I wanted to know what suggestions people would have in terms of getting clinical experience. I will be applying broadly to schools in the North East, both MD and DO. I will skip schools like NYU, Columbia, Mt. Sinai, Cornell, etc. My goal is a SUNY!

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[FrkyBgStok]

did you do anything during the year to beef up your ECs or are you stupidly applying now with absolutely no change to your app? you are a perfect example of how numbers aren't everything. you need everything. clinical volunteering, shadowing, etc. you have absolutely no clinical experience so you are perfect example of someone who has the scores but has absolutely no clue what they are getting into (and I mean this strictly from an admission perspective).

 

[DocHawk117]

Are you shooting to apply this summer? If yes, then you need to submit your AMCAS asap and have all secondaries done by mid-aug latest. Honestly, how do you know if you even want to be a doctor if you have no clinical experience with patients!?!?! I think your best bet is to wait a year, get a job working with patients (clinical research assistant, na, etc.) or at LEAST volunteer weekly, set up shadowing. None of your experiences have anything to do with medicine, and you will be applying against people who have all 15 AMCAS extracurriculars filled in, many of them related to medicine, with the same numbers as you have. Right now, it just looks like you are a smart kid who thought "hmm, i like science, medicine is hard, i'll give it a try."

 

[cherrykissel]

Unless you were actively working on your clinical EC's while you were applying, I think you would benefit from taking a year off to get more clinical experience.

Are you still a student? Maybe you can join a pre-med group on campus...they should have some info on where to find clinical volunteering hours in your area. If not, you can try contacting hospitals/clinics nearby, I think many of them will have volunteering programs that you can join. You could also look into medical scribing. It's a great way of getting clinical experience and getting to know doctors (who might be willing to write you a LOR).

Good luck!

 

[weezynation]

did you do anything during the year to beef up your ECs or are you stupidly applying now with absolutely no change to your app? you are a perfect example of how numbers aren't everything. you need everything. clinical volunteering, shadowing, etc. you have absolutely no clinical experience so you are perfect example of someone who has the scores but has absolutely no clue what they are getting into (and I mean this strictly from an admission perspective).

+1. If you haven't done clinical volunteering or shadowing yet, you should not be applying this cycle.

 

[Dharma]

If you are in the city, definitely contact places like Sloan-Kettering and Hospital For Special Surgery; they are usually more than willing to take on pre-med volunteers. In fact, I believe Sloan even has research positions. Just start cold-calling and emailing places. It may take a bit for them to get back to you, but they will when they have a chance. Getting your hands dirty in a medical sense will be a huge plus for your app.

Also think about applying for tech and patient transport jobs in your area. Employment is tight in most places right now but maybe you'll get lucky. Worth a shot. Either of those positions will give you direct patient contact, which is something that goes far beyond most volunteering and shadowing gigs.

Solid stats though. I'm sure you'll land a seat in a SUNY school if you jump on the EC game with vigor.

 

[rhymnenoceros]

Thanks for the help guys. I was planning on joining my local ambulance service and volunteering with them, as well as volunteering at a hospital (clinical stuff now, of course). I've also been applying to full-time clinical research positions, and spoke to my doctor about shadowing him. Hopefully all that stuff works out

 

[NYCMS2]

Thanks for the help guys. I was planning on joining my local ambulance service and volunteering with them, as well as volunteering at a hospital (clinical stuff now, of course). I've also been applying to full-time clinical research positions, and spoke to my doctor about shadowing him. Hopefully all that stuff works out

You may be missing the point: adcoms expect to read about ECs you have done before submitting AMCAS, not after. Your PS would ideally reflect what you learned from your ECs and how those experiences shaped your desire to attend medical school.

You are approaching this as a box to check, and adcoms will smell that from a mile away...

 

[KaseyA]

So I am a NY state resident, and I will be reapplying for fall 2013. I have a 34Q mcat, with 12-BIO, 11-VR, and 11-PS and 3.78 cGPA, and 3.7 sGPA. My grades are quite competitive, but my extracurriculars are very weak. In terms of volunteering, I have almost 100 hours of non-clinical volunteer work and that is it. Other college activities were TAing for 3 courses, being in 2 honor societies, and working part-time as a tennis instructor. I have no experience working with patients in a medical setting, and I think that is what really set my application back, as well as lateness, I had my apps complete in December . I wanted to know what suggestions people would have in terms of getting clinical experience. I will be applying broadly to schools in the North East, both MD and DO. I will skip schools like NYU, Columbia, Mt. Sinai, Cornell, etc. My goal is a SUNY!

Could you tell us where you applied for the 2012 cycle?

 

[rhymnenoceros]

I applied to all the SUNY (upstate, buffalo, downstate, stony brook), drexel, temple, penn state, umdnj, hofstra, uconn, albert einstein, nymc, albany, and for DO just NYCOM.

 

[pietachok]

I don't think you should apply until you have significant EC's in a clinical setting. When I interview an applicant whose only experience with physicians is as a patient, I'm rarely if ever convinced the applicant actually has the basis to truly decide this is the right path. Because many schools hold re-application against you, I wouldn't submit this round. When it does come time to explain how your application has changed, you're going to sound foolish if you say you applied twice before bothering to shadow or volunteer in a clinical setting. And while EMT-ing is medical, it doesn't validate your decision to become a *doctor* in the same way as an EC where you work alongside a physician & become familiar with his/her daily experiences in work &/or impact to life outside work...so make sure you get substantial shadowing in at the very least. This isn't about satisfying expected EC's, it's about proving you know what you're getting into & thus aren't going to waste their investment in your education by later deciding you don't like medicine after all.

 

[columbiapostbac]

I applied to all the SUNY (upstate, buffalo, downstate, stony brook), drexel, temple, penn state, umdnj, hofstra, uconn, albert einstein, nymc, albany, and for DO just NYCOM.

Did you get any interviews?

Did you apply on time? Or were you late in the cycle, like September or so?

To everyone out there yelling at rhymnenoceros for not having any clinical experience, you're getting me nervous. I only have 120 hours ER volunteering. I do have 2 years of non-clinical work in a research group. I didn't get in last cycle, but I applied very late, November/December. I'm looking for clinical work this cycle, but haven't found any paying jobs yet. I'll start volunteering in September if nothing turns up. Last cycle I applied to 11 schools, got 5 interviews, 4 waitlists. This cycle I'm applying to 24 schools and my secondaries will be done in July. My PS is much improved. Nothing else has changed. What do you think? Is not having any new clinical work on my primary going to hurt a lot?

 

[Courtjester8]

To give you an idea about the importance of the clinical exposure aspect of the application, let me tell you my story.

Last cycle I didn't end up with clinical experience because of some awful law in NJ about people in hospitals needing to be affiliated with a hospital or med school in order to shadow. I applied and got absolutely nothing. Not even an interview.

This cycle, all that has changed is that I've rewritten my PS, and gotten clinical exposure in and I already have an interview at a top 20 MD school. I also wrote an anecdote about my clinical experience into my PS. That kind of stuff is admissions gold. And no, my clinical exposure hasn't been lengthy. In fact, its probably totaled no more than 120 hours so far. Adcoms just want to know that you are aware of what you're getting into by becoming a doctor.

Moral of the story: Clinical experience is a big deal.

-cj8

 

[rhymnenoceros]

To give you an idea about the importance of the clinical exposure aspect of the application, let me tell you my story.

Last cycle I didn't end up with clinical experience because of some awful law in NJ about people in hospitals needing to be affiliated with a hospital or med school in order to shadow. I applied and got absolutely nothing. Not even an interview.

This cycle, all that has changed is that I've rewritten my PS, and gotten clinical exposure in and I already have an interview at a top 20 MD school. I also wrote an anecdote about my clinical experience into my PS. That kind of stuff is admissions gold. And no, my clinical exposure hasn't been lengthy. In fact, its probably totaled no more than 120 hours so far. Adcoms just want to know that you are aware of what you're getting into by becoming a doctor.

Moral of the story: Clinical experience is a big deal.



-cj8

Wow that is great to hear. I've also been doing some hardcore shadowing lately, over 150 hours, AND I've lined up some clinical research for me beginning late August. Hopefully I'll be getting some more interviews as well.