Hello there! As the title said, I applied to medical school five years ago and didn't even snag an interview. When asking for advice to further my application, the only response I got was that I wasn't worldly enough. It was extremely disheartening, and this compounded with some financial issues and life in general lead me to not apply again.
Since then I've lived abroad for four years to broaden my horizons and take a step back and really assess why I wanted medical school--aside from the amorphous I've always wanted to have it childhood dream--and am finding that my passion for medicine has solidified into something stronger and inextinguishable. Not a day has gone by that I haven't thought about it.
This being said, I have no idea how to go about this again and would value your advice!
Stats from before (which I've essentially copied and pasted from a former thread):
MCAT: 32 (10:12:10)
Undergrad:
cGPA: 3.1
sGPA: 3.7
Grad (Master's in Dev. Neuro):
cGPA (and sGPA, since it was all science): 3.95
EC: 250+ volunteer hours as a patient representative in the ER and OR.
25 hours with a well-known Neurosurgeon.
3000+ hours of graduate research work on developmental neurobiology (the papers still pending...)
1000+ hours of undergraduate research on Lyme Disease (no papers, but acknowledged for what its worth!).
Completed a senior research capstone at my college on top of my other research.
I also shadowed several physicians my senior year of highschool, but that's a decade old and I don't intend to use it.
Leadership: TA'd a variety of classes (including a few I didn't do so well on in college, as well as A&P).
Acted as a Graduate Mentor to undergraduates who I trained and worked extensively with in the laboratory. I ended up with six very successful undergrads.
I was a member of the Graduate Association for Biology and sat on the Graduate Panel for new faculty hires.
I ran a full fledged business providing tutoring services to students in person and online. It provided my income and paid my bills. I taught maths, college biology, biochemistry, college prep, piano, physics, and so forth.
Since moving abroad--I have worked as an English teacher in the middle of nowhere, teaching any age from 2 to 90 years old, from basics in grammar to how to give scientific talks. I am currently a laboratory technician in an international school, an Award Leader for the DofE, a Vertical Tutor (in which we provide something like a homeroom and support to all ages in the school--think Harry Potter!), and run the Science elective at our school. I'm conversational in my country's language, but not enough for it to be relevant medically.
Hobbies: Piano for 20 years, marathons (10k and up!), language, and textiles (I tailor my own clothing and cross stitch).
My current "home" state is Maryland, but I applied broadly to MD schools of low to mid tier. This time, I intend to add a large number of DO schools to this mix.
I realize my undergrad GPA sucks. I was diagnosed with cancer my freshman year--I ended up depressed and let everything go for a while. It is no excuse, and I own up to it and use that failure as fuel to my fire. I discussed it in my PS. However, there is a marked upward trend in my grades from a 2.5 to a 3.95 my final semester and I graduated in 3 years. For what its worth. Heh. (I placed all of this into my personal statement. I realize that using the "cancer card" may not have been the greatest idea. I will only touch on my personal experiences and how they affected my undergraduate career this year.)
So, where do I go from here? I feel like my first order of business is to retake the MCAT under the new format and attempt to smash it out of the park. Then what? Should I apply straight on, or should I attempt an SMP or post-bacc? I'm 29 this month and realize this is a marathon and am in no hurry.
Thank you in advance!
Since then I've lived abroad for four years to broaden my horizons and take a step back and really assess why I wanted medical school--aside from the amorphous I've always wanted to have it childhood dream--and am finding that my passion for medicine has solidified into something stronger and inextinguishable. Not a day has gone by that I haven't thought about it.
This being said, I have no idea how to go about this again and would value your advice!
Stats from before (which I've essentially copied and pasted from a former thread):
MCAT: 32 (10:12:10)
Undergrad:
cGPA: 3.1
sGPA: 3.7
Grad (Master's in Dev. Neuro):
cGPA (and sGPA, since it was all science): 3.95
EC: 250+ volunteer hours as a patient representative in the ER and OR.
25 hours with a well-known Neurosurgeon.
3000+ hours of graduate research work on developmental neurobiology (the papers still pending...)
1000+ hours of undergraduate research on Lyme Disease (no papers, but acknowledged for what its worth!).
Completed a senior research capstone at my college on top of my other research.
I also shadowed several physicians my senior year of highschool, but that's a decade old and I don't intend to use it.
Leadership: TA'd a variety of classes (including a few I didn't do so well on in college, as well as A&P).
Acted as a Graduate Mentor to undergraduates who I trained and worked extensively with in the laboratory. I ended up with six very successful undergrads.
I was a member of the Graduate Association for Biology and sat on the Graduate Panel for new faculty hires.
I ran a full fledged business providing tutoring services to students in person and online. It provided my income and paid my bills. I taught maths, college biology, biochemistry, college prep, piano, physics, and so forth.
Since moving abroad--I have worked as an English teacher in the middle of nowhere, teaching any age from 2 to 90 years old, from basics in grammar to how to give scientific talks. I am currently a laboratory technician in an international school, an Award Leader for the DofE, a Vertical Tutor (in which we provide something like a homeroom and support to all ages in the school--think Harry Potter!), and run the Science elective at our school. I'm conversational in my country's language, but not enough for it to be relevant medically.
Hobbies: Piano for 20 years, marathons (10k and up!), language, and textiles (I tailor my own clothing and cross stitch).
My current "home" state is Maryland, but I applied broadly to MD schools of low to mid tier. This time, I intend to add a large number of DO schools to this mix.
I realize my undergrad GPA sucks. I was diagnosed with cancer my freshman year--I ended up depressed and let everything go for a while. It is no excuse, and I own up to it and use that failure as fuel to my fire. I discussed it in my PS. However, there is a marked upward trend in my grades from a 2.5 to a 3.95 my final semester and I graduated in 3 years. For what its worth. Heh. (I placed all of this into my personal statement. I realize that using the "cancer card" may not have been the greatest idea. I will only touch on my personal experiences and how they affected my undergraduate career this year.)
So, where do I go from here? I feel like my first order of business is to retake the MCAT under the new format and attempt to smash it out of the park. Then what? Should I apply straight on, or should I attempt an SMP or post-bacc? I'm 29 this month and realize this is a marathon and am in no hurry.
Thank you in advance!
