Preparing to reapply next cycle

[solarwinggx]

Hey guys

This may be premature, but I want to start preparing now for the next application cycle in case I don't get into any schools this year.
I would like some advice as to what type of stuff I could be doing to make my application better.
I have interviewed at 3 schools in early Sept, but haven't received any interviews Oct-> Jan
Creighton has put me on the wait-list and wont re-review me until May
University of Massachusetts has given me the R
Geisel is doing its "wait till Mar-April thing"

Here are my remaining schools and their II submission dates. All were submitted within 2 weeks, with the exception of a few schools. bold schools means I already applied to this school previously in the 2017 cycle.

Sidney kimmel - 7/12
Cincinnati - 7/14
Kaiser - 7/14
SUNY Downstate - 7/16
Tufts - 7/16
Drexcel - 7/22 - on hold
Lewis Katz - 7/17
MCW - 7/30 - Got the II 7/5, but didnt realize you have to COMPLETE the application in addition to Submitting it.
Rochester - 7/17
Vermont - 7/22
Einstein - 7/23
UC San Diego - 7/30 - Put on hold 10/18 until January
Albany - 7/25
Rush - 7/24
Western Michigan - 7/26. phone invited 8/21 -BUT my stupid butt didn't realize i had to schedule it, so I didn't get called until 10/22
Quinnipiac - 7/26
Colorado - 7/27
Rowan - 8/5
UC Riverside - 8/5

UCSF, UCLA, UC Davis, UC Irvine, Univ. of Wisconsin SoM&PH, OHSU, Zucker SoM
have all given me the R

Here's my info:
I'm a nontraditional applicant who applied in 2016-2017 and didn't get into any schools; here's my post a few years back (Rejected 2017 cycle, what to do next? ),
cGPA: 3.69; sGPA: 3.85 (CC classes i took in high school weighed me down + Junior semester didnt go so smoothly for me after transferring to UC Berkeley, but I brought GPA back up senior year)
MCAT: 515 (130/126/131/128)
Previous MCAT scores: 504 (127/122/128/127), 30 (10/9/11)
State of residence: California, Green Card holder (Canadian Citizen)
Race: Asian - Taiwanese
Undergraduate institution: UC Berkeley
Clinical experience (volunteer and non-volunteer):
~570 hours (2 years) in Kaiser ED prepping rooms, serving patients food and providing general assistance to nurses
~120 hours (1 year) doing medical outreach for under-served communities in Merced and Modesto
+500 hours (1yr 4mo) as a part time EMT-BLS (this is my job currently)
Research experience and productivity:
~500 hours (1 year) in evolutionary biology lab with PI (studying beetles) w/ paper published in 2017
~1500 hours(1.5 years) in a cancer biology lab with Post-doc (did my honors thesis in this lab).
~2000 hours (1 years) as a full time lab manager/research associate for a lab
~700+ hours (9 months) as a full time Research associate for a Biotech company based at NASA - I was making transgenic mice and rats
Shadowing experience and specialties represented:
100+ hours (2 years) in Kaiser ED shadowing (I could follow any doctors and nurses whenever it was appropriate, but there wasn't 1 doctor i followed consistently, it was whomever was available during my shift)
Non-clinical volunteering:
+300 hours (2 years) Volunteer for San Quentin State Prison as a Math/Science Tutor for college credit transferable classes
+300 hours (3 years) Science education outreach for schools with low to zero science programs + Mentoring Middle School students to help them design their own science experiments.
~100 hours (1 year) doing science education outreach for minorities (SACNAS)

Other extracurricular activities:
~240 hours (1 year)working as a math tutor in community college
~700 hours (1 year) as a cashier while going to school to support myself

LoR - I got a letter from...
PI from beetle publication
PI from cancer biology lab
two science letters from professors whom I did really well in their classes consecutively.
two letters from Prison volunteering
one letter from outreach volunteering
one letter from EMT job.

Relevant honors or awards:
Graduated with Honors
LizzyM - 71
WARS - 73

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[Goro]

You were fortunate to get three IIs. You might very well get another one tomorrow, or in March.

Rowan, U WI, SUNY DS were donations.

Suggest rewriting all essays and having multiple eyeballs look at them.

Work on interview skills. Going from a 504 -> 515 MCAT is nothing to sneeze at, but some schools might be averaging your scores. It sure didn't hurt at U MA, for one.

Your app ECs are lovely, and I'm surprised that you didn't get more love.

IF you have to reapply, include DO schools on your list.

Continue to do what you love and love what you do.

Once the cycle is over, reach out to Admissions deans to see if you can get feedback (not advice) on your app.

Target these schools if you have to reapply:
Rochester
Albert Einstein
Emory
U Toledo
U VM
Miami
Tufts
George Washington
Georgetown
SLU
Albany
Rush
Rosy Franklin
NYMC
MCW
VCU
EVMS
Wayne State
Wake Forest
Netter
Jefferson
Temple
Drexel
Creighton
Tulane
Loyola
Uniformed Services University/Hebert (just be aware of the military service commitment)
Oakland-B
Seton Hall
Nova MD
TCU/UNT
CUSM
Kaiser
UCD
UCI
UCR Only if you're from the Inland Empire.
Any DO program. I can't recommend Touro-NY, Nova, Wm Carey, LUCOM, for different reasons. MSUCOM? Read up on Larry Nasser and you decide. LMU has an accreditation warning, which concerns me. CalHS is too new and appears to be too limited in rotations sites.

 

[solarwinggx]

You were fortunate to get three IIs. You might very well get another one tomorrow, or in March.

Rowan, U WI, SUNY DS were donations.

Suggest rewriting all essays and having multiple eyeballs look at them.

Work on interview skills. Going from a 504 -> 515 MCAT is nothing to sneeze at, but some schools might be averaging your scores. It sure didn't hurt at U MA, for one.

Your app ECs are lovely, and I'm surprised that you didn't get more love.

IF you have to reapply, include DO schools on your list.

Continue to do what you love and love what you do.

Once the cycle is over, reach out to Admissions deans to see if you can get feedback (not advice) on your app.

Target these schools if you have to reapply:
Rochester
Albert Einstein
Emory
U Toledo
U VM
Miami
Tufts
George Washington
Georgetown
SLU
Albany
Rush
Rosy Franklin
NYMC
MCW
VCU
EVMS
Wayne State
Wake Forest
Netter
Jefferson
Temple
Drexel
Creighton
Tulane
Loyola
Uniformed Services University/Hebert (just be aware of the military service commitment)
Oakland-B
Seton Hall
Nova MD
TCU/UNT
CUSM
Kaiser
UCD
UCI
UCR Only if you're from the Inland Empire.
Any DO program. I can't recommend Touro-NY, Nova, Wm Carey, LUCOM, for different reasons. MSUCOM? Read up on Larry Nasser and you decide. LMU has an accreditation warning, which concerns me. CalHS is too new and appears to be too limited in rotations sites.

Thanks Goro,
Do you think I should be adding things to my application? for example, I don't have formal shadowing with a MD/DO so I think that would be good to pursue. Do you have any other ideas?

 

[mwsapphire]

You were fortunate to get three IIs. You might very well get another one tomorrow, or in March.

Rowan, U WI, SUNY DS were donations.

Suggest rewriting all essays and having multiple eyeballs look at them.

Work on interview skills. Going from a 504 -> 515 MCAT is nothing to sneeze at, but some schools might be averaging your scores. It sure didn't hurt at U MA, for one.

Your app ECs are lovely, and I'm surprised that you didn't get more love.

IF you have to reapply, include DO schools on your list.

Continue to do what you love and love what you do.

Once the cycle is over, reach out to Admissions deans to see if you can get feedback (not advice) on your app.

Target these schools if you have to reapply:
Rochester
Albert Einstein
Emory
U Toledo
U VM
Miami
Tufts
George Washington
Georgetown
SLU
Albany
Rush
Rosy Franklin
NYMC
MCW
VCU
EVMS
Wayne State
Wake Forest
Netter
Jefferson
Temple
Drexel
Creighton
Tulane
Loyola
Uniformed Services University/Hebert (just be aware of the military service commitment)
Oakland-B
Seton Hall
Nova MD
TCU/UNT
CUSM
Kaiser
UCD
UCI
UCR Only if you're from the Inland Empire.
Any DO program. I can't recommend Touro-NY, Nova, Wm Carey, LUCOM, for different reasons. MSUCOM? Read up on Larry Nasser and you decide. LMU has an accreditation warning, which concerns me. CalHS is too new and appears to be too limited in rotations sites.

Why was Rowan DO a donation ? They do take a good chunk of Candidates that aren't NJ, it's just that not all those people choose Rowan. They take a good chunk from MA and NY as well.

 

[Goro]

Why was Rowan DO a donation ? They do take a good chunk of Candidates that aren't NJ, it's just that not all those people choose Rowan. They take a good chunk from MA and NY as well.

I was thinking of the MD school (Cooper). I always get those two NJ schools confused.

 

[Goro]

Thanks Goro,
Do you think I should be adding things to my application? for example, I don't have formal shadowing with a MD/DO so I think that would be good to pursue. Do you have any other ideas?

Your scribing was shadowing. If you can get a Do LOR, that will always help your DO apps.

I'm hard pressed to think of what else you need to add!

 

[deleted994889]

To me, your app looks pretty good as it is so there might be issues with your essays (primaries, secondaries) and/or your interview skills. Having 3 early II's yielding no success (yet!) could be a sign of that. I'd say you've still got chances, but in the case you do re-apply, do a good analysis on the above.

 

[readmypostsMD]

You were fortunate to get three IIs. You might very well get another one tomorrow, or in March.

Rowan, U WI, SUNY DS were donations.

Suggest rewriting all essays and having multiple eyeballs look at them.

Work on interview skills. Going from a 504 -> 515 MCAT is nothing to sneeze at, but some schools might be averaging your scores. It sure didn't hurt at U MA, for one.

Your app ECs are lovely, and I'm surprised that you didn't get more love.

IF you have to reapply, include DO schools on your list.

Continue to do what you love and love what you do.

Once the cycle is over, reach out to Admissions deans to see if you can get feedback (not advice) on your app.

Target these schools if you have to reapply:
Rochester
Albert Einstein
Emory
U Toledo
U VM
Miami
Tufts
George Washington
Georgetown
SLU
Albany
Rush
Rosy Franklin
NYMC
MCW
VCU
EVMS
Wayne State
Wake Forest
Netter
Jefferson
Temple
Drexel
Creighton
Tulane
Loyola
Uniformed Services University/Hebert (just be aware of the military service commitment)
Oakland-B
Seton Hall
Nova MD
TCU/UNT
CUSM
Kaiser
UCD
UCI
UCR Only if you're from the Inland Empire.
Any DO program. I can't recommend Touro-NY, Nova, Wm Carey, LUCOM, for different reasons. MSUCOM? Read up on Larry Nasser and you decide. LMU has an accreditation warning, which concerns me. CalHS is too new and appears to be too limited in rotations sites.

How do these ECs rank in comparison to the average applicant? They seem >> average to me

 

[Goro]

How do these ECs rank in comparison to the average applicant? They seem >> average to me

They are an example of what I call "killer ECs".

 

[Sooster]

Maybe consider like an interview prep class? Your college’s career center might offer stuff, even for alum. Or maybe even watch everything on YouTube, lots of good stuff on there.

You had three IIs, which is really reassuring! Says there’s no big red flags in your applications to that point - may still help to have some fresh eyes review everything. Looks like interviewing may be the only real targetable gap (+ in addition to those school list recommendations above, though this will only help if you have to reapply. Interviews are still out there!)

 

[readmypostsMD]

OP how do you think the interviews went? Do you think you’re a confident person who can comfortably converse with someone?

 

[rx001]

You have awesome ECs. I agree this process is not for the weak hearted. Hang in there. I am sure you could get one of those acceptances. Also there is a possibility of more interviews until march. I remember during july 2019 one applicant got his acceptance from his previous cycle. I remember the school was george washington. Then he withdrew his 2020 application from amcas. So it is not over yet.

 

[solarwinggx]

OP how do you think the interviews went? Do you think you’re a confident person who can comfortably converse with someone?

I mean this is anecdotal, but yes i felt like my interviews went well. I generally hit it of well when talking to people, especially 1 on 1 style. Geisel and Creighton was 1 on 1, while UMass was MMI. I think I'm generally worse at MMI's because you have a short amount of time to talk to people and its harder to read people. My objective measure of my interviews going well was the fact that the MD staff that interviewed me both had a lot of fun talking to me and about my experiences. It honestly felt more like a conversation than an interview. With the student interviewers, it was less so because it seemed like they were scripted to ask me certain things, but still it didnt feel weird.

 

[deleted804295]

Does being a greencard holder hurt applicants? OPs app looks great to me.

 

[rx001]

Does being a greencard holder hurt applicants? OPs app looks great to me.

definately not.

 

[openstage]

Sometimes I wonder if applicants need to have a “theme” that runs through their app, essays and interviews? As schools are trying to round out their M1 class, many Ad Com’s may be looking for a variety of styles, approaches, life experiences to improve the world of medicine. These schools all get thousands of high flyers to choose from. Reflect on what’s special about you!

 

[CyrilFiggis]

As a former reapplicant, the highest value came in getting feedback from the places I interviewed. Interesting, each had a different thing they were specifically concerned about - community service hours, number of science credits (I was a career changer), etc.

With your ECs I would target from Goro’s list Einstein, Rochester, Tufts, Jefferson and maybe add BU (reach). Each values the type of underserved community service you’ve done. I agree that you need a cohesive personal statement and your ECs point to strong care for underserved communities. Find a way to use an anecdote from one of your EC experiences to tell the story of your medical desire, or how it’s grown/evolved, up to this point.

 

[ak-aka-dak]

Your app looks amazing! Most of your community service EC’s fall under the teaching category, so maybe adding an EC that involves just helping the underserved like volunteering at a homeless shelter would help. Also, all of your informal shadowing experiences took place in the ED and you didn’t really follow one doc for several hours to see what their day was like. Maybe some formal shadowing a couple of docs in other specialties for several hours each would let adcoms know that you understand what being a doctor is like outside of the ED/EMT world.

The only other thing I can think of is that your essays may need to be rewritten or might need some polishing so that your application tells a cohesive story. Your secondaries might also need to be rewritten. Ask for feedback on them from essay readers here on SDN. You received 3 interviews so far which is great, but with your app I’d expect to have a few more than that which still might happen this cycle.

These are all very minor things that may not matter much, but given that this is your 2nd time applying, those are the areas I’d target if you have to apply a 3rd time. Use the school list Goro gave you and apply to at least 25 of those schools. As others have mentioned, definitely ask for feedback at the end of the cycle from the schools that you interviewed with if you don’t get an acceptance. Good luck!

 

[readmypostsMD]

I mean this is anecdotal, but yes i felt like my interviews went well. I generally hit it of well when talking to people, especially 1 on 1 style. Geisel and Creighton was 1 on 1, while UMass was MMI. I think I'm generally worse at MMI's because you have a short amount of time to talk to people and its harder to read people. My objective measure of my interviews going well was the fact that the MD staff that interviewed me both had a lot of fun talking to me and about my experiences. It honestly felt more like a conversation than an interview. With the student interviewers, it was less so because it seemed like they were scripted to ask me certain things, but still it didnt feel weird.

- IMO, there is nothing you need to add to your app in terms of volunteering/community service/research. You blow each of those areas out of the park, as @Goro said.

- Are you 100% positive that all your recommenders are rooting for you? Maybe one of them doesn't actually like you (or is just a grumpy person) and wrote something bad/negative about you in the recommendation? By having 8 LORs, you've got even more risk of this happening compared to someone with 4-5 LORs. This is really, really pessimistic, but there are some people out there who don't want to see others succeed.

- Do you have a good reason for wanting to pursue medicine and is this clearly articulated in your PS?

 

[solarwinggx]

- IMO, there is nothing you need to add to your app in terms of volunteering/community service/research. You blow each of those areas out of the park, as @Goro said.

- Are you 100% positive that all your recommenders are rooting for you? Maybe one of them doesn't actually like you (or is just a grumpy person) and wrote something bad/negative about you in the recommendation? By having 8 LORs, you've got even more risk of this happening compared to someone with 4-5 LORs. This is really, really pessimistic, but there are some people out there who don't want to see others succeed.

- Do you have a good reason for wanting to pursue medicine and is this clearly articulated in your PS?

We are required to waive the letters, so no?
The only one im concerned about is my second science professor. He over sees 300 students every semester and is very busy all the time. I had two semesters with him where I got an A in both classes, I go to his office hours a lot, he sponsored my research at UCSF and also gave me an A for that project. I have no reason to think he would write me a bad letter, but i definitely don't know him as personally as the other writers. I need him as my science #2, though.

 

[solarwinggx]

Your app looks amazing! Most of your community service EC’s fall under the teaching category, so maybe adding an EC that involves just helping the underserved like volunteering at a homeless shelter would help. Also, all of your informal shadowing experiences took place in the ED and you didn’t really follow one doc for several hours to see what their day was like. Maybe some formal shadowing a couple of docs in other specialties for several hours each would let adcoms know that you understand what being a doctor is like outside of the ED/EMT world.

The only other thing I can think of is that your essays may need to be rewritten or might need some polishing so that your application tells a cohesive story. Your secondaries might also need to be rewritten. Ask for feedback on them from essay readers here on SDN. You received 3 interviews so far which is great, but with your app I’d expect to have a few more than that which still might happen this cycle.

These are all very minor things that may not matter much, but given that this is your 2nd time applying, those are the areas I’d target if you have to apply a 3rd time. Use the school list Goro gave you and apply to at least 25 of those schools. As others have mentioned, definitely ask for feedback at the end of the cycle from the schools that you interviewed with if you don’t get an acceptance. Good luck!

Yeah I was worried about the massive amounts of teaching I have, but its something I love to do and I genuinely believe it helps more people vs other types of volunteering. My premed adviser suggested i "do what i love" because that will help me I stand out more