Preparing for the Worst -- Unplanned Gap Year

[ibib3]

Hi SDN,

I’m currently in a situation I think others may also be in—little to no news from the 2018-2019 cycle. As I’ve heard many times from @Goro , “Patience is a virtue, and all applicants should consider themselves rejected until they have that accept email in their Inbox.” Out of the ~20 schools I’ve applied to, I’ve received 2 IIs (1 attended—others who I interviewed with were accepted already, 1 in late Jan) and 5 pre-II rejections. If anyone’s curious, below is my post on WAMC (school list, ECs, II/R). Some context: currently senior undergrad, submitted secondaries July-late August, ORM, CA resident, LM ~80.

Spoiler: WAMC

Hi SDN,
I've submitted my primaries to the schools I included below, and I am wondering if I should include any more just in case. I would love not reapplying next cycle. My current list is inspired by other posts in forums, LizzyM, WARS, and MSAR. Thanks!

• cGPA and sGPA
  • Both ~3.77, (3.1 for 1st semester, ~3.9s else)
• MCAT
  • 526 (132/130/132/132)
• State of residence
  • California resident
• Ethnicity and/or race
  • East Asian
• Undergraduate Institution
  • T-15 studying Physics, '19
• Clinical experience
  • ~270 in hospital setting
• Research experience
  • ~1300 nanophysics research at my UG (one 2nd author pub, doing senior thesis)
  • ~400 medical physics and radiation oncology research at T-5 UG
• Shadowing experience and specialties represented
  • ~120 total in Medical/Breast Oncology, Radiology, Hematology, (PT/OT)
• Non-clinical volunteering
  • ~200 in overseas English teaching
  • ~180 in STEM outreach for local underserved grade schoolers (leadership)
• Other extracurricular activities
  • ~1500 in intercollegiate club athletics (leadership)
  • ~200 as teaching assistant / mentor
  • ~400 in music (accompanist/soloist in concerts, private lessons, hobby, etc.)
• Relevant honors or awards
  • Nothing special

Schools I've submitted primaries to:

• Stanford
• UCSF -- R
• Mayo -- R
• Penn
• UCLA -- II!
• Yale
• Baylor
• Chicago
• Northwestern
• Cornell
• UCSD -- II!
• Emory
• Rochester -- R
• USC -- R
• UC Davis
• Einstein
• Cinncinati
• UC Irvine
• Hofstra
• Added after posting:
• Icahn
• NYU -- R

I would like to plan for the worst and prepare for reapplying, and I have a couple individual and general questions:

1) I’ve been continuing and will continue most of my ECs throughout my senior year. Would I be in a good position to reapply 2019-2020? The hours on my WAMC are projected and match pretty well with what I will have at graduation. Also, I took my MCAT August 2017, so I believe my score would be expired if I reapply too late.

2) What should I be looking to do after graduation as a physics pre-med? Should I be applying to these things right now? Research? Scribing? I would need some sort of income to fund reapps. I don’t want to end up with nothing to do, but also don’t want to ghost them if I do get in somewhere.

3) I think I’m a pretty well-rounded applicant; what are my weaknesses and how do I tackle them? I believe I could benefit from more experience in clinical/non-clinical service work.

4) Should I ask my letter writers from this cycle to prepare to write another for my reapp? Should I tell my undergrad so they can prepare another committee letter?

5) Should I alter my school list?

6) I didn’t do as well as I would’ve liked this semester. Worst case scenario is a semester GPA of 3.4; currently have a c/sGPA of 3.77. Should I consider not telling schools in my update if this were to happen?

7) Thinking of more, might add later.

I think of myself as a pretty easy-going guy, but seeing everyone around me with acceptances (Texas and their pre-matching!) and relaxing their senior year has put me a little on edge. Thanks a bunch for reading!

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[MyOdyssey]

Hold the line (like Hodor) on your GPA. Take it easy your last semester to ensure a nice 4.0.

Some schools to add:

Wash U (really likes high MCAT scores)
Johns Hopkins (really likes high stats in its traditional/straight from school applicants).
Harvard (has a HST track specifically for applicants with strong physics/math backgrounds)
Case Western (favors high MCAT scores)
Boston U (favors high MCAT scores)

For your gap year, consider doing biophysics related research at NIH. NIH offers some postbacc positions that are 1 year + option of 2nd.

 

[ibib3]

@Man Bear Pig, @MyOdyssey Thank you both for your responses. I will definitely change my school list; hopefully, adcoms can help me with this. Will also look into NIH spots.

 

[manofsteel9]

I'm a fellow applicant this cycle (also ORM with decent stats and top 10 undergrad), so take my advice with a grain of salt, but all I can say is that you might have to get different letters of recommendations and really work on your personal statement and secondary essays. I really see nothing wrong with your EC's and school list, so it makes me wonder why the only II's are from your state schools- granted, UCLA and UCSD are both amazing.

 

[Pharaoh95]

When a high stat applicant has to re-apply, it seems that 9 times out of 10, it is due to school list or applying late. If you end up re-applying, submit everything on the first day, make sure your essays are very polished, and apply broadly and to a large # of schools. No one is safe in this game.

 

[MyOdyssey]

@Man Bear Pig, @MyOdyssey Thank you both for your responses. I will definitely change my school list; hopefully, adcoms can help me with this. Will also look into NIH spots.

If you feel that nonclinical volunteering is a weakness, you might consider Americorp full time or part time for a year. They're used to applicants who work during a gap year before moving on to some kind of grad school.

If you're targeting top programs, you should definitely have a longer list.

@Goro @gonnif

 

[Goro]

If you feel that nonclinical volunteering is a weakness, you might consider Americorp full time or part time for a year. They're used to applicants who work during a gap year before moving on to some kind of grad school.

If you're targeting top programs, you should definitely have a longer list.

@Goro @gonnif

I have a high opinion of Americorps volunteers.

 

[ibib3]

I have a high opinion of Americorps volunteers.

Thanks for the input! I'll look into this program to see if it suits me.

Do you have any additional insight into my other questions above?

 

[SouthernGent]

Broaden your list. You have great numbers, but they wont carry you all the way. Your secomdarys and PS are what will push you over the edge. Also, be complete early. The first week or two would be ideal.

I had an unexpected gap year and my advice would be to go find any job that you think would be fun. Go have fun and live it up with this unexpected freedom. You will appreciate it once you start school.

 

[ibib3]

Current plan:
Look at potential opportunities:
1) Summer Americorps
2) Scribing (anyone know and good programs? Or do I contact hospitals directly?)
3) NIH research
4) Volunteer stuff
Talk to premed advisor about rec letters and committee letter.
Talk to profs about potential letters they need to redate.
Reevaluate/rewrite personal statements.
Come up with a better school list.
Keep my grades up.

Thanks for everyone's input! I'm still open to other suggestions and ideas.

 

[MyOdyssey]

Current plan:
Look at potential opportunities:
1) Summer Americorps
2) Scribing (anyone know and good programs? Or do I contact hospitals directly?)
3) NIH research
4) Volunteer stuff
Talk to premed advisor about rec letters and committee letter.
Talk to profs about potential letters they need to redate.
Reevaluate/rewrite personal statements.
Come up with a better school list.
Keep my grades up.

Thanks for everyone's input! I'm still open to other suggestions and ideas.

Note that AmeriCorps can be a year long gig as well.

NIH research comes in different flavors: clinical, computational, biophysics (systems biology), molecular/cell biology, etc.

In terms of better school list, think of adding all the top tiers including Vandy, Duke, Wash U, Harvard etc as well as more mid tier privates such as Boston U and Case Western.

 

[lococola]

I'm going to go against the grain and recommend spending the year beefing up your "people related" ECs. You have rockstar numbers but I am not impressed by your ECs (other than research, which I view as highly academic. Please don't do MORE research)

I actually disagree, I feel like a huge part of med admissions is selling your strengths, whatever they may be. If academics is what you are good at, dive deeper into research then tailor your app around being a budding physician researcher. I'm honestly surprised that you don't have more II's at this point, and I would guess reason is probably your essays. Not that they are necessarily "bad", but that you may not have put together a clear cohesive narrative of how your experiences informed your interest in medicine and perhaps more importantly how you hope to carve out your own path in medicine. Being able to emphasize this throughout your primary and secondaries is really important, and is where I think taking a gap year or two really helps in getting that perspective and having the time to critically reflect on your own journey without the looming academic pressures.

I'd also disagree with your school list being too top heavy, you are the prime candidate to be yield protected. If you end up having to reapply, I'd recommend shotgun blasting the entire top 30 + the rest of the UCs. With more "mature" essays, I really do think that you'll end up with several "top 10" options. That being said, this cycle is far from over and you'll likely get in somewhere, so don't sweat it and keep your head up!

 

[1eyedjack]

Start scribing asap. The amount of clinical experience you can gain will be a terrific way to utilize your time during gap year (or even these last few months if you get in somewhere). You’ll get out of the job what you put into it. So if you’re truly hungry for raw clinical experience and are motivated to learn, I heavily suggest it. However, if it is just to ‘check a box’ then yes you will be miserable (and sadly some companies are better to work for than others). I was initially hesitant about scribing but now I am beyond thankful I stuck with it.

 

[libertyyne]

there is possibly a torpedo or a self inflicted knife wound in your application somewhere. Also work on interview skills. The season is not over yet and someone is going to nab you.

 

[ibib3]

The season is not over yet and someone is going to nab you.

I hope to dear god that someone nabs me haha.

Thanks everyone for their input. I will apply broadly to research/scribing/volunteering positions to fill my potential gap year, and I will take all your thoughts and experiences into account.

 

[MJToThePreMed]

My advice is going to be completely contrary to everyone else on here. 1) You're a stellar applicant. If you don't get in somewhere, there is something seriously wrong with this process. 2) Forget all reapplication stuff until April. For now, take the next month and a half to prep for that UCSD interview. Basically prep for that interview like your life depends on it (have strong reasons for why their school, do mock sessions with everyone from family and friends to get honest feedback on what to do to improve). 3) Like others said, try to put yourself in uncomfortable situations these next few months and become comfortable talking to anyone about anything. 4) If you still don't get into UCSD, then send a letter of interest to 1 of your 2 waitlists and a letter of intent to the other one. These schools will see that letter and probably jump you up to near the top of their waitlist. Don't send these letters until early March if you haven't heard anything back by then.

 

[ibib3]

Sorry for bringing this back, especially after all the good advice I've received.

I was wondering if I could hear anything from some of the adcoms on here.

 

[IlDestriero]

You look like a good candidate. I think you’ll get in. If you don’t, as noted above, reapply to more non top 20 schools. As for a job, if I were in your shoes, I would try to get an interesting physics related job. There is all kinds of interesting research going on, though try to go with an industry job for the $$. If you get in, oh well, they will somehow survive without you. Don’t feel bad, feel great for your accomplishments.
Good luck.