Only 2 interviews, Need advice please

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OGMD

OGMD

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I doubt I’ll be receiving any more invites this cycle, so I was hoping you guys could give me some direction of what to work on for the next few months in anticipation of reapplying.

Stats:
3.67 c and sGPA (had a 3.3ish average 1st year but have maintained 3.7-3.85 every quarter since)
35Q (lowest score of 11, so fairly balanced)
CA Undergrad (UC)/CA resident
Almost 2 years research (two different projects) – publication/poster/grant expected in Spring
Leadership positions in multiple on campus orgs
300+ hours clinical volunteering
150+ hours shadowing
Work near full-time for last 5 years straight
LOR’s I know 3 were strong, 1 I didn’t get to read but it should be strong as well.
PS was read by my PI who was on an admissions committee.

I really thought I had all aspects of the application covered pretty well, but after applying broadly to 20-30 schools, I only heard back with 2 interviews. One from a UC where I was waitlisted and one from a top 10 private school where I have yet to hear back. Both interviews seemed to go really well. I know being a cali resident sucks with regards to easy public medical schools.

PS. My primary was verified early August and secondaries were sent as received, so August-Late September.

I know a lot of people get accepted off waitlists and all, but I would rather be prepared and not have to apply to have to reapply and not be ready.

So, what would you recommend I focus on or do differently? I am perplexed at what went wrong.
 
Hmm.. cases such as yours always leave me scratching my head a little. 😕

What schools did you apply to? Mind giving a list?

And although August-September isn't early by SDN standards, I don't think it's late either. Definitely not enough to hold you back at least since your stats and activities all seem to be pretty solid.
 
Send LOI to schools you were waitlisted at. If nothing pans out this cycle, call the schools where you were rejected and ask what was lacking in your application. It sounds like a really solid application - it's possible your AMCAS was worded poorly and didn't highlight your accomplishments well. Also is it possible you have several weak LORs or one really bad one? If you call schools they might hint at this so you can get different letters for next year. Good luck!
 
Many would say that becoming complete so late in the cycle is a big problem, however, with such a strong MCAT score, I'd have expected you to get more attention than you did regardless. I'm wondering if there was a red flag in the LOR you have no input on. Perhaps your advisor could give you some feedback on whether it needs to be replaced. Or maybe you aimed too high in the schools you chose. If you were rejected anywhere, you might want to call and make an appoinment to talk with a dean, and ask what you can improve on for the next cycle. Of course, I hope you DO have improvements from last cycle, as that is an inevitable question you'll need to answer.

Nonmedical community service would be an area to work on.
 
What is odd to me is that you got offers from highly competitive schools but not lower ranked. I think it may be the fact that the low tier schools think that you may not take them seriously and are taking an interview spot away, but it's all speculation. I would try to send a few LOI and see how that goes.
 
Wow with your stats I'm really surprised you didn't get more interviews. I'm really sorry to hear that. Did you send in your secondaries as soon as you got them? With your semi late app, a late secondary wouldn't help.
 
I submitted my primary July 10th, which I didn't think was too late, but my career office messed up one of my letters causing the delay. It got verified sometime around August 2nd or 3rd. I don't see why the LOR I didn't read would be bad persay; I got the high score in a class of 400 students and knew the professor fairly well as he was my lab TA also.


Schools List:
UCI
UCLA
UCSF
UCSD
UCD
Stanford
USC
NYMC
NYU
Mount Sinai
Columbia
Wake Forest
Albert Einstein
Georgetown
BU
UPenn
Temple
Rochester
Tufts
SUNYs
Mayo
Drexel
Cornell
Jefferson
+ Probably a couple others I can't recall off the top of my head.

I got secondaries from every UC and got the secondary fee request and LOR request from Mayo. Other than that, rejections (I assume, though I haven't heard from 4-5 schools still) from all but two. I sent all my secondaries in within 2 weeks tops, maybe a few went 3 weeks.

As for improving, I will have an additional year of research, a pub + 2 poster presentations, about 50 more shadowing hours, GPA will be a few tenths higher, about 50 more clinical hours. Would you guys advise getting a 4th LOR if possible? Would this be significant enough improvement for med schools? Keep in mind I've been in my senior year so it's not like I'm out of school and not doing anything.

And I'll submit my AMCAS June 2nd and not a day later J
 
Which schools decided to interview you?
 
iamxp said:
Which schools decided to interview you?
Click to expand...

I'd prefer to keep it somewhat anonymous, so its one of the UC's and a well-ranked private school like I noted in my OP.
 
He only has Stanford, Upenn and Columbia to hear from in the top10. so its just one of those schools.

Just wait OP.

your gpa is low, but your research made up for it.
the lower tier schools u applied to dont care abt your research.
 
bannie22 said:
He only has Stanford, Upenn and Columbia to hear from in the top10. so its just one of those schools.

Just wait OP.

your gpa is low, but your research made up for it.
the lower tier schools u applied to dont care abt your research.
Click to expand...


OP's GPA is not low.
 
That's a fairly average medical school gpa. I definitely wouldn't consider it low. Especially considering the OP got a 35 - the stats look fine.

Are you sure there are no issues with the PS and LOR's? I can't see any immediate red flags.
 
3.67 may be on the low end of things for top 10's, but it definitely doesn't explain the OP getting only 2 interviews. I had the same MCAT, submitted secondaries around the same time, and a GPA nearly 2 tenths lower and I still got 5+ interviews to MD schools (albeit not to top 10's).

OP, I don't know what to tell ya. Your application looks good to me and your school list seems reasonable. I'm vexed, terribly vexed. 😕😕
 
I'm with you. Your GPA/MCAT should have made you a shoe-in for a few of the schools on your list. You might be getting screened out for being far about the stats for a few places (they don't think you are likely to come if you are accepted... happened to me in undergrad... made it to an Ivy League, but got rejected from my mediocre state school).

My only suggestion is to contact schools and ask them for feedback and prepare for next cycle.



fatty19 said:
3.67 may be on the low end of things for top 10's, but it definitely doesn't explain the OP getting only 2 interviews. I had the same MCAT, submitted secondaries around the same time, and a GPA nearly 2 tenths lower and I still got 5+ interviews to MD schools (albeit not to top 10's).

OP, I don't know what to tell ya. Your application looks good to me and your school list seems reasonable. I'm vexed, terribly vexed. 😕😕
Click to expand...
 
are you a non-traditional applicant? I couldn't help but notice that you mention you've been working full-time the last 5 years. It's hard to imagine you managed to do that and balance your school schedule this entire time. If you have, then I'd have to say that's very impressive. I agree with the general consensus which is that your stats are good to impressive. Based upon your list of schools, you should've had more interviews I would think. However, you did mostly aim for upper tier schools with much fewer middle tier. All I can say is apply more broadly and earlier.
 
bravofleet4 said:
are you a non-traditional applicant? I couldn't help but notice that you mention you've been working full-time the last 5 years. It's hard to imagine you managed to do that and balance your school schedule this entire time. If you have, then I'd have to say that's very impressive. I agree with the general consensus which is that your stats are good to impressive. Based upon your list of schools, you should've had more interviews I would think. However, you did mostly aim for upper tier schools with much fewer middle tier. All I can say is apply more broadly and earlier.
Click to expand...

yep, as I thought, OP went to high without enough safety.

3.67 GPA is average....period.
 
OGMD said:
As for improving, I will have an additional year of research, a pub + 2 poster presentations, about 50 more shadowing hours, GPA will be a few tenths higher, about 50 more clinical hours. Would you guys advise getting a 4th LOR if possible? Would this be significant enough improvement for med schools? Keep in mind I've been in my senior year so it's not like I'm out of school and not doing anything.
Click to expand...
Yes, it's probably sufficient. Did any leadership position continue through this year? Any chance of some nonmedical community service before you apply? (Yes, it will be suspiciously last-minute, but I'd do anything not to have to go thorough a third cycle. Even two hours every other week would help, like in a soup kitchen.) Be sure you include your employment so adcomms know how many work hours you had, and still remained as involved as you have.

Another stellar letter can't hurt. Be sure the writer is a strong advocate in accord with your career goals.

More than three safety schools would be a good strategy next round.
 
I will venture a guess: your PS is not getting the job done. I think a well written PS is critical for getting the interview invites.

Are you currently a senior? Did you apply after your junior year? If so, I think that med schools may just be "taking a pass" on you this cycle, waiting to see 4 years of grades...your 3.67 is average.

Another problem: CA resident. Such a tough state for instaters.

Finally: give yourself the best possible chance by applying early this next cycle, if it indeed is necessary.
 
Consider DO schools.

Explain your 5 years of work in your PS.

I'm in the same situation as you, minus the work. Same results.

We have the 3.6 GPA curse 🙁
 
Morsetlis said:
Consider DO schools.

Explain your 5 years of work in your PS.

I'm in the same situation as you, minus the work. Same results.

We have the 3.6 GPA curse 🙁
Click to expand...

With a 35 and what I considered decent EC's I'm not really willing to even consider DO schools right now.

I will venture a guess: your PS is not getting the job done. I think a well written PS is critical for getting the interview invites.

Are you currently a senior? Did you apply after your junior year? If so, I think that med schools may just be "taking a pass" on you this cycle, waiting to see 4 years of grades...your 3.67 is average.

Another problem: CA resident. Such a tough state for instaters.

Finally: give yourself the best possible chance by applying early this next cycle, if it indeed is necessary.
Click to expand...
I worked pretty hard on the PS and had it read by multiple people but I guess I can work even more on it if I need to reapply.

And yes, I am currently a senior, my average this year has been a 3.75ish.

are you a non-traditional applicant? I couldn't help but notice that you mention you've been working full-time the last 5 years. It's hard to imagine you managed to do that and balance your school schedule this entire time. If you have, then I'd have to say that's very impressive. I agree with the general consensus which is that your stats are good to impressive. Based upon your list of schools, you should've had more interviews I would think. However, you did mostly aim for upper tier schools with much fewer middle tier. All I can say is apply more broadly and earlier.
Click to expand...
I am a traditional applicant, when I say "near-full time" I mean 26-32 hours/week. Been working like that since I was 16.

I want to thank you all for the help. I think the general consensus is:

  • Call deans and query about my rejections first.
  • Continue my activities and get a little volunteering on the side.
  • Highlight important activities in my AMCAS and polish the PS
  • Possibly get a 4th LOR
  • Apply early and to more lower tier schools (do you guys have recommendations at schools that would be applicable? Some of you have said my MCAT might get me screened out of those "safety" schools)
I really don't know what else to do, this is not how I expected the application cycle to go at all. 🙁
 
What kind of job are you working?
 
OGMD said:
Apply early and to more lower tier schools (do you guys have recommendations at schools that would be applicable?
Click to expand...
Just some thoughts: MSU, Tulane, GWU, EVMS, UVermont, USCarolina, Toledo, Albany, Rush, MCW, Virginia Commonwealth, Penn State, UBuffalo, Rosalind Franklin, Loyola, Creighton, SLU, UCental Florida, Miami. Don't pick all of them.
 
All is not lost yet, stay hopeful especially on the 2 post interviews. Some school are just slow to get back to you. However, I do agree that based on ur stats, u should have had more interviews and you didn't apply too late so there's some other reason for this.

Stay hopeful and best of luck!!
 
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