Ok quick checkup before I get started

[63768]

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Hey everyone,

I'm about to start reapplying as soon as my finals are done on Thursday and before I go back into it, I wanted to kinda throw out my ideas to y'all and see what I can do to maximize my attractiveness to med schools.

Last year, I applied and didn't get a single interview. I believe my problem was that I explained an Honor Code violation in my PS and kinda brought a downer to my application. It sounded like I was asking for sympathy when that wasn't my intent. So now I've rewritten my PS in a more positive light, showing myself off, and I'm leaving my cheating story for the little box at the end of the app. In this way, I'm thinking they can read through my whole app and get a good impression of me and then read about my cheating and (hopefully) see that I've reformed my ways and am more mature.

Here are my stats:
Graduating from a fairly presigious school
GPA 3.2 (with the 2 Fs for cheating), science GPA 3.57 (again with the 2 Fs);
MCAT 32Q (12V, 10P, 10B);
do a lot of extracurriculars in both my school and the community;
have shadowed two physicians;
currently volunteer in a public health research organization;
hopefully will have some sort of clinical fellowship or phlembotomy job in the next year.

Currently, I am trying to stay positive and trying to make my app as positive as possible. I think I'll be applying to the following schools:

UT-Southwestern
UT-Houston
Texas A&M
UTMB
UTSA
Texas Tech
Baylor COM
Drexel
Loyola Chicago
Boston Univ
NY Med
NYU
UCSF

Should I go ahead and cross off any? I'm looking to add a few more but don't know enough about the schools.

Finally, can anyone look at my personal statement and give me some pointers on it? I still have to fix it up a little but I would appreciate it.

Thank you guys so much. I'm so glad I discovered this forum and even though I made only a few posts in my time here, I think I'll frequent it more often and hopefully will be able to bestow and take up as much knowledge as possible. Thank you for your help again.

 

[prana_md]

I'm assuing you're a Texas resident ...
Your list looks pretty good. Why only UCSF? Lots of amazing schools in CA, if you can afford the out-of-state price tag.
Good to keep the cheating out of the PS. I talked about being depressed in mine, and I think it cost me some interviews.

 

[63768]

yes i am a TX resident.

and i'm keeping cheating out of my PS by not mentioning it. i believe that in this way, i'll put my best foot forward. also this is why they have that special box for such circumstances. i figure they don't require it because i'll be speaking about it on another section of the app anyway.

thanks for any comments.

 

[2tall]

School list looks fine...just remember what I said in your last thread about the LORs.

 

[deuist]

While the MCAT looks great, your GPA is pretty low. And with two F's for cheating, you're going to have to show admissions committees that you're an honest person. Either take up some extracurriculars or find some way that shows that cheating not once---but twice---is not such a bad thing.

Drexel is a good place to start. You could also try applying to Albert Einstein and Temple, the usual backup spots.

 

[qqq]

While the MCAT looks great, your GPA is pretty low. And with two F's for cheating, you're going to have to show admissions committees that you're an honest person. Either take up some extracurriculars or find some way that shows that cheating not once---but twice---is not such a bad thing.

Drexel is a good place to start. You could also try applying to Albert Einstein and Temple, the usual backup spots.

apply to more schools!!!!

 

[crazy_cavalier]

How about some DO schools in there as well? - Well, some of your Texas schools might be DO (I don't know about the Texas school system since I don't live there...)

Ya put some more schools on the list 🙂

 

[BaylorGuy]

I'd have to agree....the scores and all look good. Go ahead and apply to TCOM in fort Worth....yeah, its a DO school, but it doesnt hurt. besides, its not going to cost you a whole lot more.

 

[63768]

alright, i finished finals today and am ready to tackle this PS and apps.

my question is: what do you all think my chances are? will i get interviews with this plan? if not, what can i do to strengthen my app? thanks a lot.

 

[DrBowtie]

It seems like your overall GPA and the cheating incident are the only thing keeping you down. Raising it is the only thing you really have any control or chance of improving on. IMHO, you need to take on your past head on in your PS. If the cheating is listed under instituitonal action, you can't pretend like it isn't there. Show that you've learned greatly from your mistakes and hope the ad coms take pity on you. EC"S and MCAT are solid. Apply to a lot of lower schools and limit yourself to only ONE dream school (to save money).

 

[Megalofyia]

I'd have to agree....the scores and all look good. Go ahead and apply to TCOM in fort Worth....yeah, its a DO school, but it doesnt hurt. besides, its not going to cost you a whole lot more.

Also TCOM has a better reputation than some of the other MD schools in Texas.

 

[BaylorGuy]

i would agree with you, TCOM is a good school...i actually never really knew about it until after i applied the first time. It has a decent reputation, especially among MD schools and is quite possibly better than some texas MD schools. Plus, since this is your second time applying...it really wouldn't hurt to think about DO. A med school is a med school

 

[riceman04]

alright, i finished finals today and am ready to tackle this PS and apps.

my question is: what do you all think my chances are? will i get interviews with this plan? if not, what can i do to strengthen my app? thanks a lot.

I think the cheating incident hurts alot (integrity issue). But that does not mean that you should not pursue this. Hope for the best and just believe in your ability. And if the cheating thing comes up in an interview or can be explained in secondaries, then by all means discuss it in a light that will ultimately persuade people to view you favorably.

Show that ou have learned from it. I am just a little concerned for you about the cheating thing.

Just keep on chugging!!! 😀

What school did you attend by the way?

 

[Law2Doc]

I think the cheating incident hurts alot (integrity issue). But that does not mean that you should not pursue this. Hope for the best and just believe in your ability. And if the cheating thing comes up in an interview or can be explained in secondaries, then by all means discuss it in a light that will ultimately persuade people to view you favorably.

Show that ou have learned from it. I am just a little concerned for you about the cheating thing.

Just keep on chugging!!! 😀

What school did you attend by the way?

I still think you are really going to need to put a lot more time between your cheating and your application, so that you can chalk it up to a mistake of youth, address it head on, and be able to talk convincingly about how you have matured since then. But good luck.

 

[63768]

i know things are hard. it's not as if i'm trying to imagine that this isn't happening. i'm not denying that i cheated. i'm just not including it in my PS and only in the box at the end of the application and/or secondary app.

that and i am going to talk about how i've matured over the years and how this was a mistake of naivete and youth. i'm not going to tiptoe around it when i have to write about it on the app or when i'm asked about it in the interview simply because i know this isn't a trivial matter. thanks for all the help guys. keep it coming!

btw i'm graduating from rice university in houston.

 

[DrBowtie]

i know things are hard. it's not as if i'm trying to imagine that this isn't happening. i'm not denying that i cheated. i'm just not including it in my PS and only in the box at the end of the application and/or secondary app.

that and i am going to talk about how i've matured over the years and how this was a mistake of naivete and youth. i'm not going to tiptoe around it when i have to write about it on the app or when i'm asked about it in the interview simply because i know this isn't a trivial matter. thanks for all the help guys. keep it coming!

btw i'm graduating from rice university in houston.

When are you planning on talking about it? I hope you realize that you may not even make it to an interview with a cheating incident. You should definitely talk about it in your PS, so they know beforehand that you know it was a huge mistake. The box is for you to elaborate on the "charge" not so much a mini PS.

 

[63768]

well i've talked to a lot of people on this issue. the fact there is a box on the application indicates to me that that's where they want everything. bringing it up in my PS 1) brings a negative tone to my PS 2) makes it look like i'm asking for sympathy and 3) doesnt allow me to show myself off. if they want to know about the cheating incident, they can look in their designated box.

finally, i know i may not even make an interview. i tried this year and got nothing. and i put my story in my PS. so i'm trying it in a different way. in addition in the past year, i've done a lot of research (economics in the fall and spring, orthopedic for the summer and beyond, and public health spring and beyond), obtained much better letters of recommendation, improved my cum GPA to 3.32 (with the 2 Fs) and have overall matured more.

oh yea, and for those who have PMed me saying they'll look over my PS for me, first of all, thank you very much. second, i'm working on it so i'll have a copy of it sent to you ASAP. thanks.

 

[bioteacher]

I have a 3.04 GPA and a 32S MCAT. I applied to 47 medical schools and only got one interview. I do not have anything less than a C on my transcripts. I would apply to more schools.

 

[smellycat22]

well i've talked to a lot of people on this issue. the fact there is a box on the application indicates to me that that's where they want everything. bringing it up in my PS 1) brings a negative tone to my PS 2) makes it look like i'm asking for sympathy and 3) doesnt allow me to show myself off. if they want to know about the cheating incident, they can look in their designated box.

finally, i know i may not even make an interview. i tried this year and got nothing. and i put my story in my PS. so i'm trying it in a different way. in addition in the past year, i've done a lot of research (economics in the fall and spring, orthopedic for the summer and beyond, and public health spring and beyond), obtained much better letters of recommendation, improved my cum GPA to 3.32 (with the 2 Fs) and have overall matured more.

oh yea, and for those who have PMed me saying they'll look over my PS for me, first of all, thank you very much. second, i'm working on it so i'll have a copy of it sent to you ASAP. thanks.

Hey I just wanted to wish you luck and urge you to not give up! It seems that if it wasnt for the cheating incident you would be a very competitive candidate,...Is the cheating incident stated on your transcript. my boyfriend went through a similiar thing... Just wandering and good luck

 

[63768]

I have a 3.04 GPA and a 32S MCAT. I applied to 47 medical schools and only got one interview. I do not have anything less than a C on my transcripts. I would apply to more schools.

How did that happen? Why 47? Isn't that overkill? Schools can look down on that as a sign of insecurity. I dunno for sure though. Also keep in mind that we're all different candidates.

I know my incident hurts me a lot, but I hope that my year off doing both public health AND orthopedic/sports medical research shows that I've matured. In addition, in my LORs, I've made sure to ask them to mention how I've been able to take on responsibilities and be trusted to work independently.

Finally, if I should apply to more, where else should I apply? I don't know anything about schools outside of the ones I'm already applying to. (7 TX system schools, Baylor COM, Loyola Chic, Drexel, NYU Med, Boston Univ, UCSD, Albert Einstein, and maybe Temple). Thanks for the feedback!

 

[sakura181]

How did that happen? Why 47? Isn't that overkill? Schools can look down on that as a sign of insecurity. I dunno for sure though. Also keep in mind that we're all different candidates.

I know my incident hurts me a lot, but I hope that my year off doing both public health AND orthopedic/sports medical research shows that I've matured. In addition, in my LORs, I've made sure to ask them to mention how I've been able to take on responsibilities and be trusted to work independently.

Finally, if I should apply to more, where else should I apply? I don't know anything about schools outside of the ones I'm already applying to. (7 TX system schools, Baylor COM, Loyola Chic, Drexel, NYU Med, Boston Univ, UCSD, Albert Einstein, and maybe Temple). Thanks for the feedback!

I would suggest not applying to any of the UC schools. They're hard to get into even for CA residents and it's virtually impossible to get an interview if you're not a stellar out-of-state applicant. Why waste good money applying to schools that will almost undoubtedly reject you?

Have you thought of Rosalind Franklin or Saint Louis University? They're both good schools that look at a diverse range of applicants. You could also check mdapplicants.com and see what schools past applicants with your stats and/or similar background have applied to.

 

[63768]

thanks for the referral to mdapplicants. i doubt many people on there will say they've cheated. and i'll take your advice on the CA schools. i might still apply to one, but we'll see.