Official "I Reapplied and Now I'm Accepted" Thread 2005

[Tre Cool]

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just joined this site. some of your posts in this thread have brought me nearly to tears. i just hope i can be in your shoes someday.

my story: i'm re-applying this june for class 2006. i applied for class 2004 but didn't get in (obviously).

my background: i went to a very well known school for undergrad. i was premed and while there i began having major health problems that majorly affected my schoolwork. i continued taking premed courses (regret that) and did about average in the classes. thought i could handle the MCAT while being on a ton of meds and of course did poorly on that (low 20s). took care of all my health issues (they are all resolved now). 6 months after graduation i got a good research job and worked there for 1.5 years. really liked the work (found out recently i'm 3rd author on the accepted paper) but decided that med school really was my dream and i decided to do a post-bac. so i'm finishing up a post-bac right now (done in may) and then i have the glide year. since college i've been involved in volunteering (big brothers big sisters, hospitals) and shadowing docs. in college i wrote for the school newspaper and was one of the choreographers for a dance troupe (that's leadership right?)

My overall undergrad GPA = 3.18, science was about 2.8.
the postbac has significantly improved that (last semester = 3.9). i retook the MCAT last summer and got a 27 (BS=11, PS=10, V=6, N).

a few questions:
1. does it make sense to retake the MCAT (would be the third time)? i would work hard of course. would it look bad if the BS and PS went down but V went up? how could i improve on my verbal? i got tutoring from a kaplan instructor and i was doing VERY well on the practice tests (from 31 to 37). but the real thing screwed me over. did you all study using kaplan, princeton, or neither?

2. what did you all do during your glide year? how can i get good leadership experience during that year? by teaching?

3. if i don't get in for 2006, what would your advice be to me? reapply or go to a caribbean med school?

4. anything else i could add to my application to improve my chances of getting in somewhere?

i CAN'T WAIT to feel the sense of relief some of you are feeling after having gotten in!!! CONGRATS!!!!!!!

 

[KiKat37]

Hi medgirl,

First of all, congrats on all the hard work! You went through a lot of though stuff and you still managed to build a good application for yourself. I'll give you my honest opinion on your situation: the only problem that I see is your MCAT, especially the verbal section. My MCAT was not much better than yours, and I also had a low verbal... but, I think I got away with it because english is not my first language.

If english is your first language, your verbal score is going to be a problem because most med school have a cut-off of 8 for each section (yes, it's not official - but it's there). This means that you probably won't get interviews at many schools just because of that verbal score.

So, to asnwer your questions:

1. does it make sense to retake the MCAT (would be the third time)? i would work hard of course. would it look bad if the BS and PS went down but V went up? how could i improve on my verbal? i got tutoring from a kaplan instructor and i was doing VERY well on the practice tests (from 31 to 37). but the real thing screwed me over. did you all study using kaplan, princeton, or neither?

I think you should re-take it and improve the verbal... at least up to an 8. I can't really give you advice on how to do that though. As I said, my own verbal score wasn't great. However, I can tell you NOT to trust Kaplan's tests. When I took the Kaplan class, I consistently scored 30+ and I never made that score on the real thing (not the first time, not the second time). Try to study by yourself and do the AMCAS tests. They are the best and most helpful! I don't think that it matters if your BS or PS go down a little. I mean, it would obviously be best if you could keep them where they are or improve them... But, it's better to have a 9-9-9 than a 11-10-6. You know what I mean?

2. what did you all do during your glide year? how can i get good leadership experience during that year? by teaching?

I found a research position in a hospital and continued teaching undergrads. I also enrolled in a masters program in bioethics (something I had always been interested in). I also tried to continue doing some volunteer work, but nothing heavy (a couple of hours/week). I think that teaching is very good for leadership experience. I think that my teaching experience helped my app a lot. Working in residence halls as an RA/GA (whatever you call them at your school) is really good, too.

3. if i don't get in for 2006, what would your advice be to me? reapply or go to a caribbean med school?

Don't say "what if I don't get in". You will get in if you improve that 6 in VR. And, the decision is up to you anyway. Personally, I would not go to the caribbeans. I would - maybe - consider european schools... but that's just me.

4. anything else i could add to my application to improve my chances of getting in somewhere?

If you have the opportunity, go abroad. Med schools LOVE that! They really really do. And, if you can do some humanitarian work while there, it's even better. 😉

i CAN'T WAIT to feel the sense of relief some of you are feeling after having gotten in!!! CONGRATS!!!!!!!

Best of luck to you! I felt the same way last year... and I made it. You'll make it, too.

 

[Tre Cool]

thank you KiKat37 for answering my questions! may i ask what you got on the MCAT all times you took it (just to see how you improved)? i'd appreciate it.

i will think about retaking the MCAT. since i got a 6 twice on the verbal, i talked to someone else and they said that it's not likely to go up. how can one work to improve verbal? btw, english is my first language so i can't play the foreigner card. as for the practice tests, i took all the kaplan tests and all the AAMC ones and got a 30+ on all of them. i feel like nervousness and lack of sleep the night before (from being nervous) caused my score to decrease. i don't have any other explanation other than the test was much harder than all those practice tests.

 

[KiKat37]

thank you KiKat37 for answering my questions! may i ask what you got on the MCAT all times you took it (just to see how you improved)? i'd appreciate it.

i will think about retaking the MCAT. since i got a 6 twice on the verbal, i talked to someone else and they said that it's not likely to go up. how can one work to improve verbal? btw, english is my first language so i can't play the foreigner card. as for the practice tests, i took all the kaplan tests and all the AAMC ones and got a 30+ on all of them. i feel like nervousness and lack of sleep the night before (from being nervous) caused my score to decrease. i don't have any other explanation other than the test was much harder than all those practice tests.

Hey Medgirl,

It's no problem. I got 7 VR- 7 PS- 9 BS the first time around (hum.. I think... can't remember! 😛 ), and 8 VR- 10PS-10BS the second time. Btw, my profile is in my signature if you need more info.

I really don't know what to tell you about the verbal. As you can see, mine didn't really improve the second time around... I have *heard* that speed reading classes help, but I haven't tried it myself. So, I don't know if it's effective. I think you gotta figure out what your weakness is. For me, it was really a time issue. I don't read as fast as native speakers, so I NEVER finished the verbal section. If you also have a timing issue, then the speed reading classes may help... Maybe someone else has a better idea? Anyone??

Gluck!

 

[xadmin]

KitKat,

Congratulation on getting that acceptance 🙂.

 

[jiggaman]

hey guys..this is my second time applying as well...last year i applied to 30 some odd schools and got 2 interviews and was waitlisted..and obviously nothing happened.

this year i applied much earlier and applied to the same 30 some odd schools and had so far 8 interviews and have been waitlisted at 7 of them and still waiting to hear back from 1 post-interview. nothing changed from either app cycle it was just that i was earlier. but im hoping i get that acceptance. i have been writing letters and all that stuff. so hopefully something will happen. and i can post up here again with an acceptance.

congrats to those who got in and gluck to those waiting.

 

[drmanyee999]

Hello, yes this is my second time applying also and I'm in🙂 In an odd way having to try again was a good thing because it made me really examine what I wanted. I researched the schools much better and I think I've found a place where I will not just be getting the education, but a place I will actually enjoy attending.

For those in the reapp boat, if you want advice as to what to do, I'll tell you what I did, in case it helps. This time my GPA was a little bit higher (I did better my senior year), and in this year off I did clinical research. I started off volunteering and then got highered on. I think the research was the critical aspect as it gave me lots to talk about both in the application and the interview.

Hope that helps.

 

[Amxcvbcv]

As much as it sucked, I too have to agree that being a reapplicant has made me a better person.

In retrospect, I wouldn't have accepted me two years ago either.

😛

 

[nne97080]

How did you do it? I wish to retake the mcat and I would like to score in the 30's please give me an advice on how to approach it. Thanks

 

[SticknRudder]

Okay here is the short version:

2nd time applicant.

3 MCATS: 1st 2003 - 26 (9,8,9,P); retake in August 2003 - 22 (sick that day, ****!: 7,8,7,P) - decided not to apply that year. 3rd taken April 2004: (10,9,9,Q), applied to 11 schools for 2004. 5 interviews, 3 waitlists; high waitlsit and probably would have gotten in but I decided it was too expensive and withdrew.

2005: Did a lot more volunteering, starting working full time in a more medically-related field of research (went from insect biochem. to kidney transporter molecular biology), got three new letters of recommendation to bring total of LORs to 6 (2 lab PIs, 2 post-docs, 2 volunteer coordinators), altered my personal statement, took a few more classes (all A's), and applied to 28 total schools.

This cycle: 7 interviews, 3 waitlists, 1 rejection, 1 acceptance, and I didn't go to my last two interviews after my acceptance to the University of Arizona.

It's been a long, hard, expensive, self-doubting road, but when that first letter arrives with the words congratulations, it's all worth it. To those of you discouraged or still waiting: it's hard now, but later, it will be such an asset to your character and soooo sweet. It's tacky but the proverb,
"no one knows sweet until they have tasted bitter,"
is absolutely true.

 

[2tall]

BUMPing for recent successes and those of you who are going to get off those stinkin' waitlists. 👍

 

[dreamer17]

Hello everyone,
This is my second time applying. I applied to 12 schools last year and 0 interviews. Applied to 20 schools this year and 0 interviews.
My stats are: 3.9 (overall) GPA and 3.8 science
MCAT: took it three times 1st: 11PS 7 VR P 8 BS
2nd: really screwed up 22 total dont even remember the break down
3rd: 11PS 5 VR O 10BS

This is I did clinical research since Sept 2004 and was a GREAT experience. I have been accepted to the AP program at Rosalind Franklin program this year and been accepted to Ross University, Carribean school.

A lot of your stories are encouraging. I have given all my effort to raise that MCAT score 😱 I am totally confused and am losing faith in getting into Med school here. Should I just go off to Carribean?
I appreciate your opinions!!!

 

[Seagal]

Hello everyone,
This is my second time applying. I applied to 12 schools last year and 0 interviews. Applied to 20 schools this year and 0 interviews.
My stats are: 3.9 (overall) GPA and 3.8 science
MCAT: took it three times 1st: 11PS 7 VR P 8 BS
2nd: really screwed up 22 total dont even remember the break down
3rd: 11PS 5 VR O 10BS

This is I did clinical research since Sept 2004 and was a GREAT experience. I have been accepted to the AP program at Rosalind Franklin program this year and been accepted to Ross University, Carribean school.

A lot of your stories are encouraging. I have given all my effort to raise that MCAT score 😱 I am totally confused and am losing faith in getting into Med school here. Should I just go off to Carribean?
I appreciate your opinions!!!

Dreamer, where are you applying? There are some schools that don't require MCATs. I think Johns Hopkins is one. With your GPA and ECs you should have a great shot there. 🙂

 

[nockamura]

Hopkins doesn't require MCAT's? Weird. Didn't know that.

 

[KiKat37]

Hopkins doesn't require MCAT's? Weird. Didn't know that.

Dreamer, ignore the above post. Seagal doesn't know what s/he is talking about, or s/he is a troll. All US medical schools require the MCAT and Hopkins is most certainly one of them.

You say your ECs are good and your GPA is great. So, obvisouly, your MCAT score is holding you back. You already took it 3 times and didn't do great on it... So, if I were you, I wouldn't waste more time - unless you really think that you can achieve a good score by taking the test a 4th time.

Personally, I would go to Ross and work my ass off there. If you manage to get a good score on step 1, you'll be able to come back to the US for your residency and eventually practice here. It's clearly harder to match when you are a foreign medical graduate, but it's not impossible to do. Plenty of people do it.

If I were you, I would ask Ross to give me the contact info of some of their graduates. Then, I would email them and see how they did on the residency match. You might want to consider some European schools as well. I'm not sure which ones are better.

Best of luck!

 

[dreamer17]

If I were you, I would ask Ross to give me the contact info of some of their graduates. Then, I would email them and see how they did on the residency match. You might want to consider some European schools as well. I'm not sure which ones are better.

Best of luck! [/QUOTE]

Thanks Much...really appreciate it!!

 

[2tall]

One last BUMP! 😀

 

[doctorjoy]

This is a great thread. Just the motivation I need. My problem has always been applying late. I hop eto be able to post to this thread soon myself. I am completing my MD and DO application. The only thing holding me back is money. Well a little about me graduated in 2000 with a 3.11 GPA (3.3 Science GPA) I went to graduate school and left with a 4.0 GPA and reserach work. Now for the big flaw. I have taken the MCAT more than once. The last time August 2003(3rd one) I was crazy to take the test. I recently had gained a new family, moved 3 weeks before... Anyway I only got a 23. I talked to different deans of admissions and the only thing they told me that was holding me back from school was my MCAT score and the time in which I applied. Well hopefully after this last MCAT in Agust 2005 and praying that I can submit my application by June 15th I will be posting my acceptance to medical school
Thanks for the inspiration and congratulations to all.

 

[deuist]

2nd time applying. Accepted to three schools.

Man, I feel great---especially after the hell that I went through the last time. I'm sure that many of you have similar experiences to what I had.

 

[Weinz]

hey all,
-2nd time applying...first time was right out of college with dismal GPA (2.9) and MCAT scores (25) and I also applied really late - these factors, needless to say, did not garner any interviews
-joined the Americorps VISTA program at a health center, did a post-bac program at Hunter College where I took about 12 courses (re-did orgo I & II, biochem, microbio, genetics, calc I & II, and a bunch of upper level bio and chem classes) and ended with a 3.85 GPA...retook the MCAT and scored a 29 (BS 10, PS 9, VR 10)...also worked in endocrinology lab, volunteered, and worked as a writing tutor (undergrad major was english)
-applied last year to ~20 schools, got two interviews and was accepted at SUNY Upstate for this fall!

THERE IS HOPE!! Don't give up if you know this is what you want to do with your life...i worked hard and made it happen...you can too! Sorry for the
motivational talk, but it can work...why does this fell like therapy?!

Anyway, good luck to you all and stay strong

Stephen

 

[jeravi]

hey to all you reapplicants im just wondering how many of you reapplied right away for the following cycle- i have been working on my amcas and will be doing an smp next year but im just unsure if it would be more beneficial to take two years off. My gpa is 3.4 about a 3.2 science gpa and i got a 27 on the mcat.... what do you think is it dumb to reapply right now?

 

[knownothing]

2003: 3.8 GPA
MCAT 22 (x2)
Great EC, LORs, and all that jazz, clinical experience but no research
11 applications, 1 interview, 1 WL

2004: Same everything + 2 volunteer adds & 1 year of work
MCAT 29
8 applications, 6 interviews, 3 WL, 1 acceptance

 

[MDhopeful023]

Prospective applicants should learn from this thread. I know too many applicants who have problems getting off the fastrack. They need to understand that it is ok to take years off if their first attempt at medical school admission is unsucessful. Too many fastrackers go into Carribean schools, other programs, etc without giving themselves another chance.

I applied two years ago to 20 schools, received 1 interview, and 0 acceptance. I had a 3.8gpa and a 26mcat. At the time, I seriously considered going out of country or giving up medicine. I also considered applying the very next cycle, and doing so without significantly improvements on my application.

At the end, I took two years off. I spent a year studying for the mcat and ended up with a 33. I gained more research experience and published a paper. I gained more clinical experience. This cycle, I received 12 interview invitations, 1 acceptance (so far).

Bottom line, re-apply when you're ready. It may take you a year to be ready, it may take you five years. Your route to medicine is not a sprint, but a maraton.

Inspiring story SDNstud!

Hope that the message gets across to more people.... gave me some HOPE 🙂

 

[blkprl]

This is also my 2nd time reapplying.

I always knew that I wanted to be a doctor and I knew that I would do it no matter what. My grades and MCAT in college were not very good. I didn't take the time in college to sort myself out and figure what I really wanted from life. So, after being rejected from a few schools I realized that it was a bad, bad idea to blow my money on secondary app fees when I probably wouldn't get in.

I spent some time working at this crap hospital job and essentially freaking out about how my life was over. Then I found a wonderful research job, my boss allowed me to take classes during work and I also signed up for an MCAT course (which I didn't do the first time around) and re-took that horrendous test.

And, now, finally, I had 5 interview offers, 1 waitlist, and 1 acceptance into my top choice. I am so happy... this is the first time in years I've been able to breath.


👍

I can't wait to exhale either....

 

[blkprl]

Hi medgirl,

First of all, congrats on all the hard work! You went through a lot of though stuff and you still managed to build a good application for yourself. I'll give you my honest opinion on your situation: the only problem that I see is your MCAT, especially the verbal section. My MCAT was not much better than yours, and I also had a low verbal... but, I think I got away with it because english is not my first language.

If english is your first language, your verbal score is going to be a problem because most med school have a cut-off of 8 for each section (yes, it's not official - but it's there). This means that you probably won't get interviews at many schools just because of that verbal score.

So, to asnwer your questions:

1. does it make sense to retake the MCAT (would be the third time)? i would work hard of course. would it look bad if the BS and PS went down but V went up? how could i improve on my verbal? i got tutoring from a kaplan instructor and i was doing VERY well on the practice tests (from 31 to 37). but the real thing screwed me over. did you all study using kaplan, princeton, or neither?

I think you should re-take it and improve the verbal... at least up to an 8. I can't really give you advice on how to do that though. As I said, my own verbal score wasn't great. However, I can tell you NOT to trust Kaplan's tests. When I took the Kaplan class, I consistently scored 30+ and I never made that score on the real thing (not the first time, not the second time). Try to study by yourself and do the AMCAS tests. They are the best and most helpful! I don't think that it matters if your BS or PS go down a little. I mean, it would obviously be best if you could keep them where they are or improve them... But, it's better to have a 9-9-9 than a 11-10-6. You know what I mean?

2. what did you all do during your glide year? how can i get good leadership experience during that year? by teaching?

I found a research position in a hospital and continued teaching undergrads. I also enrolled in a masters program in bioethics (something I had always been interested in). I also tried to continue doing some volunteer work, but nothing heavy (a couple of hours/week). I think that teaching is very good for leadership experience. I think that my teaching experience helped my app a lot. Working in residence halls as an RA/GA (whatever you call them at your school) is really good, too.

3. if i don't get in for 2006, what would your advice be to me? reapply or go to a caribbean med school?

Don't say "what if I don't get in". You will get in if you improve that 6 in VR. And, the decision is up to you anyway. Personally, I would not go to the caribbeans. I would - maybe - consider european schools... but that's just me.

4. anything else i could add to my application to improve my chances of getting in somewhere?

If you have the opportunity, go abroad. Med schools LOVE that! They really really do. And, if you can do some humanitarian work while there, it's even better. 😉

i CAN'T WAIT to feel the sense of relief some of you are feeling after having gotten in!!! CONGRATS!!!!!!!

Best of luck to you! I felt the same way last year... and I made it. You'll make it, too.

THAT' S GOOD STUFF!!!!

 

[blkprl]

How did you do it? I wish to retake the mcat and I would like to score in the 30's please give me an advice on how to approach it. Thanks

PRACTICE......PRACTICE.....PRACTICE......PRACTICE.

I CAN'T STRESS THAT ENOUGH!!!!
WHEN I FINALLY DECIDED TO TAKE IT I ALMOST VOIDED THE TEST BECAUSE I THOUGHT I WASN'T READY.
BUT THANKS TO GOD, I KEPT THE SCORE AND ALMOST DOUBLED MY PERCENTILE SCORE BY ADDING 6 PTS TO MY SCORE.

I PRACTICED AND PRACTICED UNTIL IT BECOMES SECOND NATURE AND CAN PREDICT WHAT QUESTIONS ARE GOING TO BE ASKED. BASED ON THE PASSAGE.

I DID KAPLAN BECAUSE I NEEDED THE PRACTICE MATERIAL....
WELL, THAT'S MY TWO CENTS

 

[PBMaxx]

Re-applicant who just got in!!!! Talk about your close plays at the plate!!!