please help/advice

[sdnstud]

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I applied last cycle to 25 schools (all mid-lower tier), received 1 interview and 0 acceptance (not even a waitlist). i'm out of school...working in a research lab at the age of 24. here are my other stats:

gpa: 3.83 cum/3.8sci (top 25 school)
mcat: took twice: first score: 7/9/10; second score: 5/10/10
activity: research 3+ years, ER volunteer, community service, certified emt
letters of rec: average/not exceptional

i do not want to apply to med school outstide of U.S. or any DO programs.

so fellow sdner, what do you think? should i retake the mcat (which i am confident i can improve on despite having already done it twice)? should i just reapply? or should i just give up my dream to be a dr? any advice is appreciated. thanks

 

[beastmaster]

Take the MCAT a third time. Get the EK verbal 101 book, together with all of the verbal published by AAMC, and make it your life for the next however many months. I'd say you have a pretty good chance if you just bring up that verbal. It can absolutely be done on the 3rd try.

 

[draggoon01]

Well, a few more bits of information would help.

1) what were the dates of the mcat?s and when did you submit your amcas?
2) How many secondaries did you get?
3) Do you feel there?s a particular reason your verbal scores were what they were? English is second language? You always have 2-3 passages still left when proctors call 5 minutes? Can?t do critical reading under timed pressure? You got seated next to the guy who: has a cold, underlines like crazy making an annoying noise, reads silently out loud, breathes heavily?
4) Did you call any of the 25 schools to ask for reason of rejection and/or ways to improve acceptance chances?
5) What state do you live in?
6) You list being certified emt. Did you just get certified or do you have any experience? May seem odd if you just got the license.
7) What makes you feel the way you do about your letters of rec. is it possible someone wrote you a bad letter? If you waived right to see letters then it?ll be difficult to ever find out. But at some schools that have letter service, I know nice some office personal are willing to skim the letters and give you thumbs up/down type of feedback.
8) Also, who were your letters from?
9) Lastly, and what I think may be most important, what was your personal statement like? Since in all likelihood it will be best for you to re-write your statement if you apply again, perhaps you can post the essay you wrote. Or if you are uneasy about that, PM me the essay.

-however all those things are just to give you and us perspective on what happened, and also helps identify how to improve. In regards to your question of retaking the mcat and/or reapplying, my opinion is yes. Yes you should retake the mcat (after spending quality time preparing for all sections); I would be more worried if you felt you couldn?t do better.

And yes you should reapply. Spending 1 more year applying and getting rejected would mean a loss of 1 year (and some money) towards whatever it is you do become. Spending 1 more year applying and getting in would make you think the biggest mistake of your life was almost made by not reapplying. Applying is one experience, reapplying is an almost new experience; both worth enduring if doctor-hood is important to you. Applying a third time would become heavily questionable though. Should you apply a second time it will require more time, more money, and more heart than the first time; but if anything it will make you a better doctor in that you will be more humble, more aware of yourself, and more appreciative of the position you accomplish. You call yourself an ?sdnstud?, I challenge you to prove it...

 

[calebho501]

I really think you should either consult a medical school counselor or an admission staff at one of the schools you applied to. I got a feeling that it's not just the MCAT score that's keeping you out. It may be b/c of something in your personal statement or LOR's.

Figure those out before you reapply. That way you won't be applying blindly again and make the same mistake. It'll just be a waste of time, money, and effort w/o knowing what went wrong.

Originally posted by sdnstud
I applied last cycle to 25 schools (all mid-lower tier), received 1 interview and 0 acceptance (not even a waitlist). i'm out of school...working in a research lab at the age of 24.

 

[stomper627]

Agreed.....
I think you should consider retaking the MCATs but youve already taken them 2x....a third???? May raise quite a few eyebrows....
But I think your main problem may be the attitude itself....How can you do so great in school, have all these great activities (but what about personal outside activities???), yet have average LOR? I think the answer lies with the comment...."no outside US or DO" (They will become physicians, while you wallow in self pity) . Thats not a committed attitude to becoming a physician. Obviously you have an attitude problem that is more important than the MCAT problem. You may have to change that to get better LOR and also write better personal statements.
This humbling experience of being denied may make you a better physician.
stomper

 

[sanoge7]

Take the MCAT a 3rd time. I would not think twice about it. It seems to me that it is your only downfall -- which is good news in the sense that it is easy to pinpoint (it is not like you have a crummy GPA or anything... far from it!).

You CAN go up, and that would surely make all of the difference. Wait to apply until you have a higher MCAT score. Take the April MCAT, raise it, and apply for 2005 entering class. One of my best friends took the MCAT 3 times and rose 4 points the third time. Totally can be done. NO worries. This is not as bad as you think. GOOD LUCK!!!

 

[rgporter]

Originally posted by sdnstud

i do not want to apply to med school outstide of U.S. or any DO programs.

What do you have against the DO's. Personally I identify more with allopathic medicine. But if I have to choose between no school and an osteopathic school, I will gladly become rgporter DO.
If you love medicine, does it matter what initials you put behind your name?