Re-applicant, 3.41 cGPA, 3.38 sGPA, 37 MCAT

[routeniner]

MCAT: 14 PS, 11 VR, 12 BS

Undergraduate major: neuroscience

ECs: 4 years collegiate a cappella group (~900 hours)
3 years piano lessons (200 hours)
4 years biomedical research, including all summers (>1000 hours)
Worked as lab TA my senior year, did senior thesis project in neuroscience

Volunteer: 1 year ED volunteer (150 hours)
Also did volunteering in high school at a retirement center

Shadowing: anesthesiology, pathology, and internal medicine (90 hours)

Post-grad employment:
Short stint as a bilingual tutor (60 hours)
Short stint as a medical interpreter (>30 hours)
2 years lab technician (full-time)

I plan to add more volunteering and shadowing in the upcoming months, as I would say that my clinical experience is pretty limited. My other weakness is clearly my GPA. I would say that my strengths are my MCAT and my research experience. Unfortunately, no publications (yet).

Schools: I live in Boston, and would prefer to stay nearby on the east coast (no further south than D.C.) That being said, I want to get into the best quality schools as possible. I am also very interested in California, but I think my chances of getting in are much slimmer.

NYU
BU
Rochester
Rutgers (Newark)
USC
UMass
Tufts
Yeshiva
Dartmouth
UC-Davis
UC-Irvine
Jefferson
UVM

I may throw in a few highly selective schools, like UCLA, but the ones above are the core schools that I think I may have a reasonable shot at on paper.

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[candbgirl]

When are you applying? This year or next? You need to beef up your clinical ECs. And I don't think High School activities count. From what I read on here applying to Cali schools can be futile and a waste of time and money. Maybe gyngyn will come along and tell you what your chances are for Cali schools. Are you applying to DO schools too? Do you have a MSAR? If not you should purchase it and gather information on your selected schools.

Ignore my post above!

Oh I just realized you are a reapplicant. Did you get any II? If so are you wait listed or where you just rejected? What schools did you apply to the last time? Did you get any feedback on why you weren't accepted? What have you done to improve your application for this cycle?

 

[routeniner]

I am applying to enter class of 2015 (so beginning this summer). I did not get any interviews last time. The school list was very similar, but last time I did not apply to any Cali schools, as I was not even considering it at the time. Basically since last time I applied (2012), I have been working full-time as a lab tech and studying for a re-take of the MCAT (I scored a 32 the first time I took it, which was in 2012).

I did not ask for feedback on why I wasn't accepted last time, because to me it was clear that with my grades and mediocre MCAT score, I wasn't a strong candidate. Perhaps it would have been a good idea to, but at this point in time, I don't know if asking why I didn't get accepted nearly 2 years ago will get me any useful answers from the admissions committees.

Besides clinical experience, is there anything else that you would suggest? I considered re-taking the MCAT, as my grades are super low and I think I have a good chance at improving my VR and BS score. I mean, 37 is pretty good, but a higher score can only mean a higher possibility of getting interviews, right?

 

[routeniner]

In addition, I attended an elite liberal arts college in Massachusetts. Sorry, should have mentioned that earlier!

 

[candbgirl]

Do not retake the MCAT! The score isn't your weakness.are you adverse to applying to some of the private schools? Chicago has several schools (Rush, Loyola, Ros. Franklin, Northwestern etc. ) you said you'd go to DC why not PA and/or NJ? You didn't say if you were considering DO schools. You probably should.

 

[routeniner]

I said I would go no further SOUTH than D.C., but I'm fine with PA and NJ (Rutgers and Jefferson are already on my list).

Do you think my profile is not strong enough for me to gain an acceptance at an M.D. school this year? Although I know that it is very difficult and competitive to get into any M.D. school, I have my heart set on it. I do not wish to attend a D.O. school.

I'm not a huge fan of going to Chicago. Are my chances of getting into a school there good? I might consider it later on if I need to add some more places, but at the moment, I'm not really looking into any midwestern schools.

 

[shopsteward]

I count 9 strikes against you. You are a reapplicant. You have a low gpa for MD school. You have four years of research but no publications. You have limited clinical exposure. You have no non-clinical volunteering. You have ruled out DO school. You are applying in limited geographical areas (ruling out the whole of the South and West, other than the exceedingly competitive California schools). You are applying to a limited list of schools. You are applying to schools which have higher median stats than yours.

You can't do anything useful about the first three. You have pretty much run out of time to do anything about the next two for this year's cycle, but have time to turn them into massive positives for next year's cycle. You can change the rest, but may need to change your attitude first.

 

[TXKnight]

I count 9 strikes against you. You are a reapplicant. You have a low gpa for MD school. You have four years of research but no publications. You have limited clinical exposure. You have no non-clinical volunteering. You have ruled out DO school. You are applying in limited geographical areas (ruling out the whole of the South and West, other than the exceedingly competitive California schools). You are applying to a limited list of schools. You are applying to schools which have higher median stats than yours.

You can't do anything useful about the first three. You have pretty much run out of time to do anything about the next two for this year's cycle, but have time to turn them into massive positives for next year's cycle. You can change the rest, but may need to change your attitude first.

This.

Your new MCAT will bring more attention to your file, but may not be enough to a file that has changed little otherwise. I hope it does tough. IMHO you need to apply broadly, a lot more than you currently are. Apply DO when, if at all, you warm up to the idea, because there are plenty of very qualified people that want to become a physician and will gladly take the spot that that you may otherwise reluctantly take. Good luck OP.

EDIT: Need to up your clinical experience game some

 

[TXKnight]

Duplicate post

 

[Goro]

With a cGPA and sGPA that low, you're aiming too high. Go lower, much lower and add DO schools to the list. Do not apply to OOS state schools. DO apply to your state school, and all new MD schools. It will be faster and easier to simply flush your money down the toilet than to apply to a UC. MSAR Online is your friend.

NYU
BU
Rochester
Rutgers (Newark)
USC
UMass
Tufts
Yeshiva
Dartmouth
UC-Davis
UC-Irvine
Jefferson
UVM

I may throw in a few highly selective schools, like UCLA, but the ones above are the core schools that I think I may have a reasonable shot at on paper.[/QUOTE]

 

[routeniner]

Non-clinical volunteering? Is that important if I am spending a lot of time volunteering in a hospital?

In addition, I was planning to add more volunteering and shadowing experiences this summer while applying. Will medical schools not consider those? I will not be able to put it on my AMCAS, but I was aiming to talk about in secondaries and in an update letter.

 

[juliuspepperwood]

UC Davis is probably the most CA favoring of the UC's so I wouldn't bother

 

[gyngyn]

I said I would go no further SOUTH than D.C., but I'm fine with PA and NJ (Rutgers and Jefferson are already on my list).
.

Between the two of them, Rutger(s) matriculated a grand total of 3 OOS students.
The UC's are low yield, but Irvine is not impossible. I agree with @juliuspepperwood re UCD. Many (if not most) of their students are in tracks that serve important deficits in CA's workforce.

 

[gyngyn]

I mean, 37 is pretty good, but a higher score can only mean a higher possibility of getting interviews, right?

I just saw this. I hope you are kidding.

 

[Goro]

Yes, it's still important. You need to demonstrate your altruism. AdComs like the idea of service. You don't need to win the Nobel Peace Prize. Service need not be "unique". If you can alleviate suffering in your community through service to the poor, homeless, illiterate, fatherless, etc, you are meeting an otherwise unmet need and learning more about the lives of the people (or types of people) who will someday be your patients.

Non-clinical volunteering? Is that important if I am spending a lot of time volunteering in a hospital?

Why should they, when they have 100s of apps from people who have already done them? Talk is easy, doing is hard. Oh, and just to follow up on my learned colleague's comment, retaking a 37 MCAT is a sign of hubris and poor choice making.

In addition, I was planning to add more volunteering and shadowing experiences this summer while applying. Will medical schools not consider those? I will not be able to put it on my AMCAS, but I was aiming to talk about in secondaries and in an update letter.[/QUOTE]

 

[routeniner]

Yes, it's still important. You need to demonstrate your altruism. AdComs like the idea of service. You don't need to win the Nobel Peace Prize. Service need not be "unique". If you can alleviate suffering in your community through service to the poor, homeless, illiterate, fatherless, etc, you are meeting an otherwise unmet need and learning more about the lives of the people (or types of people) who will someday be your patients..

Non-clinical volunteering? Is that important if I am spending a lot of time volunteering in a hospital?

Why should they, when they have 100s of apps from people who have already done them? Talk is easy, doing is hard. Oh, and just to follow up on my learned colleague's comment, retaking a 37 MCAT is a sign of hubris and poor choice making.

In addition, I was planning to add more volunteering and shadowing experiences this summer while applying. Will medical schools not consider those? I will not be able to put it on my AMCAS, but I was aiming to talk about in secondaries and in an update letter.

[/QUOTE]

What I meant is that if I include information about my summer experiences in my secondaries, etc., wouldn't it help boost my chances? I'm not talking about writing in my application that I'm going to do volunteering. I'm saying, later on after I have done it, I want to make it known to the medical schools I'm sending secondaries to. I mean, the earliest that medical schools send out interview invites is when, September? October? Doesn't that give me a solid 2-3 months of shadowing and volunteering that can benefit my application?

 

[routeniner]

Between the two of them, Rutger(s) matriculated a grand total of 3 OOS students.
The UC's are low yield, but Irvine is not impossible. I agree with @juliuspepperwood re UCD. Many (if not most) of their students are in tracks that serve important deficits in CA's workforce.

Out of curiosity, what is the reason for state schools being so extremely regionally selective? Regardless of where the students are from, doesn't it help to bring in at least some of the best and the brightest, not to mention increase the diversity of the class?

Also, what do you think about my chances at USC? They don't seem to be as CA-favored as the other schools, being private and all.

 

[ciestar]

Public schools are funded by the public, the people of that state. Think about that.

I'm lucky enough to live in a state where the one true "state" school hardly favors IS applicants at all. (We are!).

But it's really the money that has to do with that. Some are regioselective, like UWash, since many of those surrounding states don't actually have state schools.

 

[candbgirl]

OOS favor IS because the tax papers foot a large part of the cost of the educational program! For the OOS students that are selected for II/ acceptances they do pick the best and brightest. But that isn't you! You are a reapplicant, have below average GPAs and rather skimpy ECs.

 

[gyngyn]

Also, what do you think about my chances at USC? They don't seem to be as CA-favored as the other schools, being private and all.

USC is well known for its 100+ years of service to the poor. Even your beautiful MCAT won't hide a paucity of service commitment. Do you speak Spanish? Most the patients at their primary hospital do.