Please help! Advice needed

[tpham1030]

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I want to apologize ahead of time for the long post. Any input would be greatly appreciated!

So I applied this cycle and I received five interviews. I have been placed on three waitlists possibly four (UCSD, OSU, Georgetown, Loma Linda) and still waiting on OHSU. I'm still trying to be hopeful but I also want to prepare for next year if things do not work out.

About me:
Graduating from UCSD in June with major in bio-engineering pre-med (lol yes that's the name of the major)
3.68 cGPA, 3.86 sGPA, 34R MCAT (10 B, 12 P, 12 V)
Clinical Experience: Volunteer in emergency room for the last three years (4 hours a week)
Global Medical Brigades to Honduras: spring break of sophomore year we went to Honduras to set up a traveling free clinic in the rural areas of the country. I shadowed doctors, worked in triage and pharmacy
Leadership: I have been a TA for a biology class for the past three years. (I started sophomore year and have done it for 9 quarters now)
Tutor/mentor for high school near campus for half a year
Worked as a private tutor for a year
Research: Worked for a year as a lab assistant doing basic lab maintenance stuff (making solutions, autoclaving etc.)
Started working in research lab last summer doing actual research with C Elegans and lifespan pathways
No publications or posters yet =(

The biggest problem with my previous application was that I naively retook my MCATS in August which meant that my scores weren't available until September.
Letter of Recommendations: I have no idea? Does anyone know how i can find out if they were good or not?
Interviews: With the exception of my first one at UCSD, I thought they went pretty well to great. (My OSU interviewer said he thought I would be a great fit and would 'fight' for me to get in....i guess he lost the fight? lol)

So in case I need to reapply next year I was wondering what you guys would recommend that I do during the gap year to show that I am committed to medicine. I have thought about SMP's but people say that it would hurt me more than help me.
I was also thinking about working as an EMT but I've heard mixed reviews about this as well.
Does anyone have any other ideas about what I can do?

Thank you for taking your time to read this! I would greatly appreciate any advice or recommendations at all. Thank you 🙂

 

[amine2086]

I want to apologize ahead of time for the long post. Any input would be greatly appreciated!

So I applied this cycle and I received five interviews. I have been placed on three waitlists possibly four (UCSD, OSU, Georgetown, Loma Linda) and still waiting on OHSU. I'm still trying to be hopeful but I also want to prepare for next year if things do not work out.

About me:
Graduating from UCSD in June with major in bio-engineering pre-med (lol yes that's the name of the major)
3.68 cGPA, 3.86 sGPA, 34R MCAT (10 B, 12 P, 12 V)
Clinical Experience: Volunteer in emergency room for the last three years (4 hours a week)
Global Medical Brigades to Honduras: spring break of sophomore year we went to Honduras to set up a traveling free clinic in the rural areas of the country. I shadowed doctors, worked in triage and pharmacy
Leadership: I have been a TA for a biology class for the past three years. (I started sophomore year and have done it for 9 quarters now)
Tutor/mentor for high school near campus for half a year
Worked as a private tutor for a year
Research: Worked for a year as a lab assistant doing basic lab maintenance stuff (making solutions, autoclaving etc.)
Started working in research lab last summer doing actual research with C Elegans and lifespan pathways
No publications or posters yet =(

The biggest problem with my previous application was that I naively retook my MCATS in August which meant that my scores weren't available until September.
Letter of Recommendations: I have no idea? Does anyone know how i can find out if they were good or not?
Interviews: With the exception of my first one at UCSD, I thought they went pretty well to great. (My OSU interviewer said he thought I would be a great fit and would 'fight' for me to get in....i guess he lost the fight? lol)

So in case I need to reapply next year I was wondering what you guys would recommend that I do during the gap year to show that I am committed to medicine. I have thought about SMP's but people say that it would hurt me more than help me.
I was also thinking about working as an EMT but I've heard mixed reviews about this as well.
Does anyone have any other ideas about what I can do?

Thank you for taking your time to read this! I would greatly appreciate any advice or recommendations at all. Thank you 🙂

You numbers look good. Since you received five interview invitations you are definitely good on paper to be accepted to medical schools. You have good chance of getting accepted from one of the waitlists. But just in case if you are not accepted this year, I think you should concentrate on the followings:

1. Continue doing research or something worthwhile (EMT is not a bad idea) during the gap year. As you know many schools ask on their secondary what you have been doing during the year off.

2. Practice your interviewing skills. Sometimes you may think you are good interviewee but getting feedback from others def. help. So do some mock interviews with advisors/premed committees, etc.

3. Ask for some new LORs (from different people this time). Its hard to find out exactly what have been written about you but sometime if you talk to your LOR writer you can get a general sense what they think about you.

 

[tpham1030]

I have another question...one of the biggest problems i had this cycle was applying late so I wanted to apply as early as possible. I know that early June is the best time but don't schools still accept people off waitlists through June?

I'm not sure what to do 🙁 I don't want to spend thousands of dollars on the primary and end up being accepted off a waitlist. Has anyone has any experience with this?

 

[aliensarecoming]

enter the workforce as a biological engineer?

 

[golfman]

Your stats and EC's look decent enough to get in somewhere. If you don't get in anywhere, I think it will be because you maybe didn't apply broadly enough. You interviewed at some pretty good schools. I don't really see any interviews at any "safety" schools.

When I applied (I'm a 2nd year Medical Student), I applied to a few programs out of my reach, a bunch of programs I was competitive at, and a few programs I was pretty over qualified for. I got into an okay program, but I had a friend with similar stats to mine that only applied to great programs in great places, and he didn't get in.

If you really don't want to do medicine, apply broadly and at least to a few places where you have a great shot of getting in, even if it is not in some awesome city like SD or Georgetown.

That's a trick many don't know. Apply to enough and you have a good chance. And it's okay to aim high, but put a few safety schools on there.

 

[MiniMoo]

I have another question...one of the biggest problems i had this cycle was applying late so I wanted to apply as early as possible. I know that early June is the best time but don't schools still accept people off waitlists through June?

I'm not sure what to do 🙁 I don't want to spend thousands of dollars on the primary and end up being accepted off a waitlist. Has anyone has any experience with this?

I've heard of people on SDN who filled out another primary, paid fees, and were accepted off the waitlist. It's a risk you take unfortunately. But better to be safe and get that primary in asap imo.

 

[tpham1030]

What do you guys think about the idea of submitting my primary early June with only one school so it can get verified quickly. And then add the rest of the schools mid to late June when my waitlist hopes get bleaker 🙁 or should I just submit them all early?

Also does anyone have any other ideas or thoughts about what I can do during my gap year to enhance my app? Thanks 🙂

 

[d1ony5u5]

OP, I think the wisest idea would be to submit your AMCAS as early a possible with only one school. Remember that your file is not reviewed in most places until it is complete, meaning 2ries and all. Getting your AMCAS verified is the rate limiting step because they take their sweet time checking your transcripts. Once that is done, you can take the process to completion as quickly as you want, specially if while you wait you work on your 2ries, have LoR ready and submitted, etc...

In this case, come June or even July, you find out you didn't get in anywhere (hopefully not what will happen) you can just ram your schools with a flood of complete apps. Then you sit back and wait for the interview invitations.

That was my plan before I got off the Waitlist at my top choice (of the schools that actually interviewed me).

I would suggest figuring out what story you will be telling in your application first, and determining what to do with your gap year accordingly. If in your app you will make a case for you wanting to be a doctor who will focus on research, find a position in research. If you will argue that your interest in medicine is mostly due to the opportunity of helping people, find a clinical job (EMT, trauma tech, etc)... See what I'm saying?

Having said that, I think your overall app sounds good! You should definitely have a chance at getting off those waitlists...

 

[tpham1030]

Thank you for everyone's input! Siiigh lol hopefully i get off a waitlist so this all becomes a moot point lol