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This past application cycle I applied to Iowa's med school and was rejected post-interview. Iowa offers specific notes by committee members and interviewers for those who have been rejected so I called and asked about my file. I already knew that my application was weak in terms of my GPA (illness and the fact that I should have been stronger) and lack of research and volunteering. I had volunteered for about a year in my school's chapter of Colleges Against Cancer but hadn't done volunteering aside, especially not in a clinical setting. I had shadowed a Radiologist for four months and done a semester of research in the Organic Chemistry department of my college.
The critique I was given that, although my GPA was well below their average, my MCAT score and the fact that during the second half of my college career I improved dramatically showed them I had the "academic horsepower" to handle med school. I was also told I did not need to apply and go to Master's program (I've applied and gotten into two MPH's and am waiting to here back from two SMP's). However, the committee wanted proof that I was going into medicine for the right reasons, and my lack of volunteering hurt me, as did my personal statement, which apparently did not specifically address why I wanted to be a doctor. On top of that I did about average-ish on my interview. The assistant dean I spoke to said the committee wanted me to apply this next application cycle after having done volunteering/service, and also more clinical exposure (I specifically asked if they wanted me to wait till next summer but her response was "Why would you?"); the best of both worlds would be volunteering in a clinical setting. She said to apply in late August-early September because, although this would put me far behind most of the other responsible, driven, super-cool pre-meds, I needed to have done the volunteering for some time and get three new recommendations. It was recommended I volunteer, at minimum, 2 hours a week. She also wanted me to re-write my personal statement and work on my interview skills.
A couple of weeks or so later, I spoke to another Assistant Dean of Admissions (this one was an MD and a professor of Medicine) from a different medical school where I'd applied (and also been rejected post-interview). She recommended I not apply to Iowa this summer, since there were no guarantees I'd get in, and then med schools would know I'd been rejected twice. Also, apparently no good institution offers interviews a third time. Furthermore I should take Master's classes, specifically in hard sciences since I have a low science GPA. I should also do research and volunteering for at least a solid year, as well as shadow different doctors per month.
This brings us to today. I have been working in a research lab under a cardiologist since March roughly four days a week (and I do some work at home), and have had a couple of abstracts accepted for publication. I've been volunteering a program where I visit patients in the hospital and talk to them 2 hours per week. Additionally, as of May, I have been volunteering the ER for typically 7 hours per week. I can definitely get a letter of rec from the doctor under whom I research. I asked around about letter of rec from the ER and hoping to find a doctor and a nurse in the ER who can write me a letter (I wanted to prove myself before really asking around). Although I haven't been shadowing officially, I make sure to ask the doctors and nurses medical questions. The Assistant Dean at Iowa told me shadowing can be pretty informal (I try to see the rashes and head wounds as much as I can). Both the volunteering opportunities mean I have direct patient contact. So basically I am trying to decide what to do come August. I'm doing Master's classes (either MPH or SMP, depending on where I get in) in the Fall, since I don't want to be rejected and then have nothing.
There are a couple of reasons I don't want to wait a year before reapplying, the first being it sucks waking up every morning with this uncertainty about my dreams. The second is that, as of the end of the year, I will no longer be an Iowa resident, and it's harder for non-residents to get into the school. I'm hoping to contact the Assistant Dean at the beginning of August or so and ask if I should apply, but I was wondering if there is anything else I should know. What have your experiences been like with re-applying to Iowa, and in general? I know there are no guarantees but is there anything else I haven't considered that I should?
The critique I was given that, although my GPA was well below their average, my MCAT score and the fact that during the second half of my college career I improved dramatically showed them I had the "academic horsepower" to handle med school. I was also told I did not need to apply and go to Master's program (I've applied and gotten into two MPH's and am waiting to here back from two SMP's). However, the committee wanted proof that I was going into medicine for the right reasons, and my lack of volunteering hurt me, as did my personal statement, which apparently did not specifically address why I wanted to be a doctor. On top of that I did about average-ish on my interview. The assistant dean I spoke to said the committee wanted me to apply this next application cycle after having done volunteering/service, and also more clinical exposure (I specifically asked if they wanted me to wait till next summer but her response was "Why would you?"); the best of both worlds would be volunteering in a clinical setting. She said to apply in late August-early September because, although this would put me far behind most of the other responsible, driven, super-cool pre-meds, I needed to have done the volunteering for some time and get three new recommendations. It was recommended I volunteer, at minimum, 2 hours a week. She also wanted me to re-write my personal statement and work on my interview skills.
A couple of weeks or so later, I spoke to another Assistant Dean of Admissions (this one was an MD and a professor of Medicine) from a different medical school where I'd applied (and also been rejected post-interview). She recommended I not apply to Iowa this summer, since there were no guarantees I'd get in, and then med schools would know I'd been rejected twice. Also, apparently no good institution offers interviews a third time. Furthermore I should take Master's classes, specifically in hard sciences since I have a low science GPA. I should also do research and volunteering for at least a solid year, as well as shadow different doctors per month.
This brings us to today. I have been working in a research lab under a cardiologist since March roughly four days a week (and I do some work at home), and have had a couple of abstracts accepted for publication. I've been volunteering a program where I visit patients in the hospital and talk to them 2 hours per week. Additionally, as of May, I have been volunteering the ER for typically 7 hours per week. I can definitely get a letter of rec from the doctor under whom I research. I asked around about letter of rec from the ER and hoping to find a doctor and a nurse in the ER who can write me a letter (I wanted to prove myself before really asking around). Although I haven't been shadowing officially, I make sure to ask the doctors and nurses medical questions. The Assistant Dean at Iowa told me shadowing can be pretty informal (I try to see the rashes and head wounds as much as I can). Both the volunteering opportunities mean I have direct patient contact. So basically I am trying to decide what to do come August. I'm doing Master's classes (either MPH or SMP, depending on where I get in) in the Fall, since I don't want to be rejected and then have nothing.
There are a couple of reasons I don't want to wait a year before reapplying, the first being it sucks waking up every morning with this uncertainty about my dreams. The second is that, as of the end of the year, I will no longer be an Iowa resident, and it's harder for non-residents to get into the school. I'm hoping to contact the Assistant Dean at the beginning of August or so and ask if I should apply, but I was wondering if there is anything else I should know. What have your experiences been like with re-applying to Iowa, and in general? I know there are no guarantees but is there anything else I haven't considered that I should?
