Re-application questions (PS,EC,Letters..ETC)

[texasholdems]

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hey guys,
i applied to MD schools and didn't get in last cycle (primarily because of MCAT, i didn't do too well).
I graduated 2 yrs ago, did a post-bac for a year and received 4.0 for 2 full semesters.

I am studying for MCAT, working (need money for another cycle of applications...jeez..), and volunteering as an EMT.

Here are some of my quesitons. Any comments, suggestions would help. Thanks in advance!

Questions.
1. Personal Statement
I took about 3 months writing a personal statement last year, and showed to several peer + med advisors and they loved it. I was really satisfied with this essay, because it pretty much captured everything i wanted to say. For this upcoming cycle, i plan to keep ~70% of it, and change a little bit + add what i did and how i "changed" through this taking a year off. I've heard people saying that we MUST change the WHOLE essay if re-applying...is this true?

2. EC
I've done doctor shadowing, hospital volunteering, 3 yrs of research, my own research project...and especially 7yrs of EMT work. I recently recertified and am continunig to volunteer as an EMT. I believe sticking with one thing, especially EMT is a strong passion and strength for me as an applicant, mainly because this is where i really do spend 12+hrs a week and get real experiences with my hands and skills... this should be enough?

3. Rec Letter
Is it required that i MUST get an additional rec letter? As mentioned before, i have completed a post bac for a year, and received a letter from a research/science professor. In addition, i have 4 science + non science letters from my undergraduate college. Honestly, I have no where to get another letter....is it usually "required" that i need another one if im taking a year off?

 

[NoMatterWhat]

I have pretty much the same questions.
Is it absolutely necessary to rewrite the WHOLE essay? Why?

 

[SnowShoes]

I was a reapplicant for the 2010 - 2011 cycle and was fortunate enough to gain acceptances to med schools. I can't say that what I've done was ideal but it worked out for me.

As for the personal statement, I used most of the old PS. I updated it with recent activities and changed few words but everything else was left alone. I don't think that you have to re-write the whole thing, especially if you feel good about it.

I think your EMT activities should be sufficient since you'll be working full-time. Is your job related to healthcare? It's always great to have more community service or research experience. Have you contacted medical schools that you have applied/interviewed about what you can improve to be a stronger applicant? Your EC seem pretty strong to me... You may want to focus on other weaknesses such as low MCAT score?

Can you get a letter of rec from your EMT supervisor? It looks like you have sufficient undergrad letters but lack letters from recent activities. You may want to replace some of the old letters from college with a LOR from an EMT supervisor and ask your letter writers to update their LOR.

I hope this helps. Good luck!

 

[texasholdems]

I was a reapplicant for the 2010 - 2011 cycle and was fortunate enough to gain acceptances to med schools. I can't say that what I've done was ideal but it worked out for me.

As for the personal statement, I used most of the old PS. I updated it with recent activities and changed few words but everything else was left alone. I don't think that you have to re-write the whole thing, especially if you feel good about it.

I think your EMT activities should be sufficient since you'll be working full-time. Is your job related to healthcare? It's always great to have more community service or research experience. Have you contacted medical schools that you have applied/interviewed about what you can improve to be a stronger applicant? Your EC seem pretty strong to me... You may want to focus on other weaknesses such as low MCAT score?

Can you get a letter of rec from your EMT supervisor? It looks like you have sufficient undergrad letters but lack letters from recent activities. You may want to replace some of the old letters from college with a LOR from an EMT supervisor and ask your letter writers to update their LOR.

I hope this helps. Good luck!

thanks for your comments!
i don't know if i will be able to get a letter from EMT supervisor (i'm pretty much the Lieutenant of ambulance corp..lol my friend is the captain since we've been doing it for such a long time in our community).
i will have to focus on MCAT...
congrats on your acceptance btw!

 

[zann0324]

Hmm....I'm in the same boat....I really like my personal statement...I only applied to 3 schools last round and interviewed and am currently waitlisted at 2. I have read through my statement 3 or 4 times in the last couple weeks and I don't want to change it...I will only be re-applying to 1 of the 3 schools that I applied to this year and will be applying much more broadly after, hopefully, some improvement to my MCAT. Anyway, do you guys think I should change it for the 1 school that will see it again....is it really going to hurt my app that much...obviously, I will re-write the secondaries...well, I guess I can add something about still feeling strongly about becoming a doc even after not getting in this cycle? I don't know...

 

[SNDO]

Hey guys, I definitely know how it is to be a reapplicant. I've applied for med schools 3 times, before even getting interviews and an acceptance. For me, the first two times I applied were in 2006/2007 and 2007/2008. I had crappy scores and grades, and virtually no volunteering. Needless to say, I was rejected to every school I applied to pre-interview.

I applied my 3rd time in 2010/2011. What changed for me was that I had hundreds of volunteer experience, job shadowed 4 doctors, retook some classes to get better grades, and retook the MCAT (3rd time).

For my personal statement the first time, I wrote about why I wanted to become a doctor, and how my psych degree played a huge role in that. My PS for the 2nd time, I kept a huge bulk of my original PS, and even though I was happy with it, it still wasn't enough. So for my 3rd PS, I obviously wrote about my overseas volunteer experiences, and what motivated me the most from that and also from the docs I shadowed. I applied to 18 DO schools, did secondaries for about 12, interviewed at 2 schools, got 1 acceptance. I was lucky.

Maybe it's just my case, but my PS had to be re-vamped 100% because I wanted the AdComs to know that I took the effort to make a change for myself and that I really wanted to be a doctor. So I guess my advice for rewriting your PS is to really let the schools know what improvements you made and why they should give you the opportunity to interview.

GOOD LUCK ON RE-APPLYING!!! Let me know if you have any questions 🙂