Possible Re-applicant (3 waitlists)

[PreReApplicant]

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Interviewed at 3 schools from Sep-Oct. 1 is a top 10 school and I was waitlisted at all 3. I applied to 10 schools this year with 4 being top 10 and all being MD

Non-trad with 5 years active duty military

3.71 cgpa with large upward trend
3.8 sgpa
514 MCAT

700+ research with plenty of posters and a second author paper in the works.
70 hours shadowing in oncology.
75 hours volunteering in hospital
Leadership experience from military but not much after
ECs: club sport, running (marathons), gardening, baking

If I reapply I can add to my app the following
Scribe in ER ~800 hrs
Additional research hrs (maybe pub?)
Additional hospital volunteering hours
Could really push it and run a marathon in time for an update letter

I will also improve my profile picture as I submitted a really bad pic according to one of my interviewers. I am thinking of starting to volunteer in a kitchen for the homeless. So I am wondering, should I take another gap year, get 100+ hrs of volunteering with homeless and improve my MCAT or should I re-apply this cycle with a better school list.

 

[Blueprint Med School]

You have a very strong application. The fact that you got such early interviews means that those schools think so as well, which means you might need to work on your interviewing skills. Getting 3 interviews from 10 applications is a great rate, you likely just need to apply to many more schools. I would apply this cycle to 20-30 schools, at least.

Kevin W, MCAT Tutor
Med School Tutors

 

[PreReApplicant]

I would apply this cycle to 20-30 schools, at least.

Sounds like a good plan. Thanks for the feedback and advice

 

[Blueprint Med School]

Sounds like a good plan. Thanks for the feedback and advice

I'll also add that your application could definitely be better with some more clinical experiences (more volunteering in the hospital, maybe scribe, etc.) and you should try to have some non-clinical volunteering hours in your application. These are both some great things to add to your application for this cycle. You can do these while you're applying- you don't need to get the hours in before you submit your primary.

 

[PreReApplicant]

Yes I currently have ~800 hours scribing and I am also volunteering in a hospital as well as doing research.

One thing I haven’t done yet is non-clinical volunteering but I can start doing that as well if it helps but I wanted to avoid last minute activities that might give the impression that Im checking boxes so Im not really sure which way to go with this

 

[82Scout]

I don't know if you did this or not, but you should really emphasize your military career for more than just leadership experience. I would highlight your military experiences in several aspects of your application as it really is a unique experience that adcoms love. Outside of that I think I would just apply more broadly next time. I went with 20 schools and heavily emphasized my military service. My stats are a lower than yours, but I have probably closer to 3000 research hours and 150 volunteer hours and I had a great cycle.

The military can really be spun to show many great qualities they look for: service, values, diversity, resilience, teamwork, maturity etc.

 

[PreReApplicant]

I don't know if you did this or not, but you should really emphasize your military career for more than just leadership experience. I would highlight your military experiences in several aspects of your application as it really is a unique experience that adcoms love. Outside of that I think I would just apply more broadly next time. I went with 20 schools and heavily emphasized my military service. My stats are a lower than yours, but I have probably closer to 3000 research hours and 150 volunteer hours and I had a great cycle.

The military can really be spun to show many great qualities they look for: service, values, diversity, resilience, teamwork, maturity etc.

Thanks for replying, I tried to emphasize the experience in my app but I think I had a hard time communicating it in my interviews.

It seems the thing to do is apply more broadly, improve my volunteering and work on my interview skills