This cycle I applied to 21 MD schools and got 5 interviews. Out of those I sitting with 1 waitlist and 1 rejection, and 3 I've yet to hear back.
Thus, I'm preparing to consider re-applying. My sense of what my weaknesses are is possibly 1) MCAT, 2) clinical experience, and 3) schools list.
1. MCAT
I took the MCAT and scored a 516. However my sciences were 126 C/P and 127 BB, while I got 132 P/S and 131 CARS. My dilemma at the time was that I had practiced scoring higher on the sciences, but had not practiced that high in the other two sections. I decided not to retake because I felt there was a good chance of getting a lower total score. And I think I felt (perhaps falsely) reassured that my overall score was high enough to make me a viable applicant.
So I could re-study, perhaps coughing up the money for a course this time instead of self-studying, and try to get more consistent with having higher section scores.
2. Clinical Experience
Due to some personal factors and also my location, I didn't have a lot of clinical experience during my undergrad years. I had one summer that was spent shadowing and assisting full time for 10 weeks at a primary care clinic but that was limited to that summer. I applied at the end of my senior year, and I'm spending my gap year working as a mental health technician. However I hadn't yet been hired when I submitted my primary, so though I included it in all secondaries/update letters, it may be missing from adcoms calculations of clinical hours. I also wonder if there is stigma towards the mental health field, and so adcom members may not see it as truly clinical (though it is...med management, taking and monitoring vitals, first aid, etc not to mention tons of direct patient interaction).
3. School list. I don't really know what I might've done wrong with my list, but I know that this is a common answer when people with otherwise solid apps have a rough cycle. I applied to 21 schools:
-all 6 CA state schools (I'm a CA resident, rejected pre-II at all 6)
-Kaiser- a wild card honestly (silence)
-3 "reaches": Icahn (pre-II R), Case Western (pre-II R), Pitt (II, waitlist)
-11 mid-level: Rochester (II), USC/Keck(pre-II R), Jefferson/SKMC (II), Tufts(pre-II R), Georgetown (II, R), NYMC(pre-II R), Albany (silence), MCW (silence), SLU (II), Drexel (hold), Temple (silence)
If you've read this far thank you for taking the time, and I'd appreciate any feedback you have!
Thus, I'm preparing to consider re-applying. My sense of what my weaknesses are is possibly 1) MCAT, 2) clinical experience, and 3) schools list.
1. MCAT
I took the MCAT and scored a 516. However my sciences were 126 C/P and 127 BB, while I got 132 P/S and 131 CARS. My dilemma at the time was that I had practiced scoring higher on the sciences, but had not practiced that high in the other two sections. I decided not to retake because I felt there was a good chance of getting a lower total score. And I think I felt (perhaps falsely) reassured that my overall score was high enough to make me a viable applicant.
So I could re-study, perhaps coughing up the money for a course this time instead of self-studying, and try to get more consistent with having higher section scores.
2. Clinical Experience
Due to some personal factors and also my location, I didn't have a lot of clinical experience during my undergrad years. I had one summer that was spent shadowing and assisting full time for 10 weeks at a primary care clinic but that was limited to that summer. I applied at the end of my senior year, and I'm spending my gap year working as a mental health technician. However I hadn't yet been hired when I submitted my primary, so though I included it in all secondaries/update letters, it may be missing from adcoms calculations of clinical hours. I also wonder if there is stigma towards the mental health field, and so adcom members may not see it as truly clinical (though it is...med management, taking and monitoring vitals, first aid, etc not to mention tons of direct patient interaction).
3. School list. I don't really know what I might've done wrong with my list, but I know that this is a common answer when people with otherwise solid apps have a rough cycle. I applied to 21 schools:
-all 6 CA state schools (I'm a CA resident, rejected pre-II at all 6)
-Kaiser- a wild card honestly (silence)
-3 "reaches": Icahn (pre-II R), Case Western (pre-II R), Pitt (II, waitlist)
-11 mid-level: Rochester (II), USC/Keck(pre-II R), Jefferson/SKMC (II), Tufts(pre-II R), Georgetown (II, R), NYMC(pre-II R), Albany (silence), MCW (silence), SLU (II), Drexel (hold), Temple (silence)
If you've read this far thank you for taking the time, and I'd appreciate any feedback you have!
