Possible reapplicant - any advice?

[Entelechy]

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Hi all,

I applied this current cycle, and sadly, I may need to reapply, so I am trying to figure out what went wrong this year. Sorry for the essay, but I am trying to provide as much information as possible!

I am a slightly non-traditional applicant - I went to a very quirky college too unique to mention here and got a degree in liberal arts before deciding to focus on medicine. After graduating from college in 2011, I completed a post-bacc over the course of two years and got a 4.0. I have a cGPA/ sGPA ~ 3.9, and an MCAT of 37.

During this cycle, I received 5 interviews (for which I am grateful), 2 of them very late in the season. Currently, I am sitting on 4 waitlists and am still waiting to hear back from another school post-interview. I would be thrilled to go to any school where I interviewed. However, I do not want to assume that I will get in off of a waitlist, and I am trying to prepare for the worst.

My application in brief:
- Clinical experience - over 200 hours of hospital volunteering, and 1.5 years of working in a medical office 2-4 days a weak
- Research – experience as a volunteer research assistant on two very interesting psychology projects
- Employment – working in a medical office, as well as many years of retail/work study-type jobs
- Unique interests and hobbies outside of medicine
- My pre-med advisor assured me that my letters were “excellent.”

Probable issues with my application:

- I applied late. I submitted my application at the end of July, but I was not complete anywhere until early October.
- I am from California, so I don’t have any sure-thing state schools.
- I applied to about 20 schools, but my list was fairly top heavy. However, three of my interviews were at top 20 schools, so I think that I am competitive at the schools where I applied.
- I don’t have a lot of community service. I know that I need to work on this.
- I have begun to contact the schools that rejected me pre-interview, and one told me that he thought that my experiences may be a little on the weak side.
- Maybe I am bad at interviewing?? This has never been a problem for me, but now I am doubting myself. I can be a little soft spoken.

Are there any obvious flaws with my application that I am missing? Should I prepare to reapply in June or should I wait another year to strengthen my application?

 

[Goro]

Apply nice and early this time and you should be fine. IF you get rejected from the schools you interviewed at, contat the Admissions deans to see if you can get some feedback. I always think it's good to work on interview skills.

Be sure to apply strategically. The odds are that you'll have to leave the state for medical school.

 

[Entelechy]

Apply nice and early this time and you should be fine. IF you get rejected from the schools you interviewed at, contat the Admissions deans to see if you can get some feedback. I always think it's good to work on interview skills.

Be sure to apply strategically. The odds are that you'll have to leave the state for medical school.

Thanks so much for replying! I actually live on the east coast right now, so I will definitely apply to both coasts (and in-between). One concern of mine with reapplying in June is that my application has not changed very much this year - I worked at the same job, volunteered at the same hospital. Do you think that this lack of improvement will be an issue?

 

[Goro]

No, I don't see any problems from your ECs (or lack of change). Your problem was applying too late. MSAR Online is your friend, so apply smartly.

Thanks so much for replying! I actually live on the east coast right now, so I will definitely apply to both coasts (and in-between). One concern of mine with reapplying in June is that my application has not changed very much this year - I worked at the same job, volunteered at the same hospital. Do you think that this lack of improvement will be an issue?

 

[gyngyn]

Thanks so much for replying! I actually live on the east coast right now, so I will definitely apply to both coasts (and in-between). One concern of mine with reapplying in June is that my application has not changed very much this year - I worked at the same job, volunteered at the same hospital. Do you think that this lack of improvement will be an issue?

You need new schools and mock interviews.

 

[solitarius]

- I applied to about 20 schools, but my list was fairly top heavy. However, three of my interviews were at top 20 schools, so I think that I am competitive at the schools where I applied.
- I don’t have a lot of community service. I know that I need to work on this.
- I have begun to contact the schools that rejected me pre-interview, and one told me that he thought that my experiences may be a little on the weak side.

I think your numbers are good enough for a Top 20, but your ECs are not. That would explain the late interviews, multiple waitlists, and nature of the feedback from Top 20 school. It's hard for anyone to say whether your interview skills are bad, but it's reasonable to say that when they evaluated you against other Top 20 interviewees, the other applicants' ECs gave them the advantage.

There are two reasonable options here. First, follow the advice of the Faculty above. Downshift to mid-tiers and less competitive schools and apply early.

The section option is to figure out how to dramatically improve your ECs before re-applying to the Top 20.

 

[Entelechy]

I think your numbers are good enough for a Top 20, but your ECs are not.

This sounds right to me. I had no experiences related to medicine at all when I graduated from college, so most of my application was put together over the course of the past few years. While I was interviewing, I was struck by how impressive-sounding the experiences of a lot of my fellow applicants were.

 

[Corvid]

Just curious, how does your pre-med advisor have access to your letters? Do you have a committee or something of that sort? (At my school we don't, the letters are just from individual professors that send them out directly to AAMC or Interfolio (then AAMC).

 

[Entelechy]

Just curious, how does your pre-med advisor have access to your letters? Do you have a committee or something of that sort? (At my school we don't, the letters are just from individual professors that send them out directly to AAMC or Interfolio (then AAMC).

I have a committee letter.

 

[Corvid]

I have a committee letter.

Thanks! Oh how I wish my school had a pre-med committee...

After reading your post, it seems the biggest problem you had was just applying late. If you apply early and more broadly this time around (even with minimal changes) I feel you'll have much better luck. And I wouldn't say your experiences are weak, just average. Certainly better than some of the experiences I've seen.

You are on 4 wait lists, which is better than 4 rejections. Who knows, maybe one (or two) of them will become an acceptance!

 

[Entelechy]

Thanks! Oh how I wish my school had a pre-med committee...

After reading your post, it seems the biggest problem you had was just applying late. If you apply early and more broadly this time around (even with minimal changes) I feel you'll have much better luck. And I wouldn't say your experiences are weak, just average. Certainly better than some of the experiences I've seen.

You are on 4 wait lists, which is better than 4 rejections. Who knows, maybe one (or two) of them will become an acceptance!

It was definitely a relief to find out from my advisor that my letters were not the problem! I hope that you are right about my timing. I am still so torn about whether or not to reapply right away though. This last year has been really disappointing and discouraging.

 

[Entelechy]

I just wanted to add an update: I was recently accepted off a wait list to a school that I love. I am so happy and relieved. Thank you to everyone who left feedback!