Really Badly Need Advice

[Mamy]

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So as the rejection letters start piling up, I figure I really need to seriously consider the prospect of reapplying next year...
I'm an international student (Canadian) and this application cycle I made the unforgiveable mistake of applying late... i mean really late... like sent-in-all-secondaries-a-few-days-before-deadline late. Oh and I was also very arrogant in selecting schools to apply to (I'm all humbled now).
I scored a 38Q on MCAT and my GPA (overall/science) is 3.82-3.82ish. I've been doing research pretty much for 3 years (no pubs though) and I did a bit of volunteering and part time work while in undergrad. My clinical experience is summed up in 1 year of coop in grade 12 at the palstic surgery clinic at a fantastic hospital here (w/ inherent shadowing) but that's about it.
Prying into other ppl's mdapps has taught me that well...i pretty much have very little ECs (during undergrad) in comparison. But really, my ECs were all that I could manage to do while in school (I'm doing my fourth year right now) doing full courseload during the year and summers (I took extra courses to switch majors) at possibly the most competitive school we have here. Anyways, this isn;t about me justifying my lack of ECs...
What I really am concerned with is that I really screwed myself over this application cycle, and really didn't have time to build p my ECs during the year (Aside from working on my thesis and presenting at a conference). I've been reading that to reapply and be taken seriously by schools, my application has to have significantly changed. Is this true? b/c all that I can even imagine of being able to do between when I finish exams and mid June when I plan on submitting AMCAS is securing a volunteer position at a hospital and trying to get some more shadowing in. Is this enough? Can I just keep sending in update letters after my applications are complete to let them know I'm doing so and so volunteering/research/work? Or would it be wiser to wait and apply NEXT june (for '10 cycle)?
Also can I submit the same letters of recommendation? or is that really badly frowned upon?

Sorry for the rambling and THANKS for any feedback!😍

 

[Isoprop]

Cliff Notes:

OP applied late this cycle to only very selective schools. He's canadian with good stats (3.8/38) and good research ECs but no clinical ECs and is just barely starting to volunteer at hospital. His major improvements in his app next cycle will be a thesis with presentation and graduating.

Questions:
1. Should he wait one more year to accumulate more clinical ECs or should he apply this coming cycle and send update letters as he accumulates more hours?
2. Can he recycle LORs?

 

[Isoprop]

I think you should accumulate more clinical ECs as much as you can and apply early and broadly this coming cycle.

you can re-use your LORs but try to get at least one updated LOR from a professor this year.

 

[Cegar]

3 years of research is pretty decent for an extracurricular activity. Volunteering more might help. As would continuing in whatever lab(s) you're working in.

It's more about quality and length of time spent in a particular program (i.e. dedication) more than a lot of little experiences shadowing docs for one or two days at a time.

As for LOR's, you might want to have the writers update them, but I would not bother getting a new set of letters. Perhaps an extra from any volunteering you do.

It seems your only real sin was to apply so late and so narrowly.

Just how narrowly did you apply?

 

[Mamy]

Cliff Notes:

OP applied late this cycle to only very selective schools. He's canadian with good stats (3.8/38) and good research ECs but no clinical ECs and is just barely starting to volunteer at hospital. His major improvements in his app next cycle will be a thesis with presentation and graduating.

Questions:
1. Should he wait one more year to accumulate more clinical ECs or should he apply this coming cycle and send update letters as he accumulates more hours?
2. Can he recycle LORs?

What he said 😀 (and thanks for your feedback).

 

[Mamy]

Just how narrowly did you apply?

Let's just say VERY narrowly. I'm really into research so I went for all the big research schools.
I submitted my AMCAS the day I got my mcat score so I was riding that high when selecting schools. Now I know better! 😛

 

[Cegar]

Well, you stand a good shot depending on the rigor of your undergrad classes.

Edit: And if you don't apply late.

 

[Blade28]

How many schools did you apply to?

I second the advice of apply WIDELY and EARLY.

Remember that you're competing with many applicants that also may have stellar stats - perhaps some with good extra-currics as well! So it behooves you to apply early, at the very least.

 

[RxnMan]

How many schools did you apply to?

I second the advice of apply WIDELY and EARLY.

Remember that you're competing with many applicants that also may have stellar stats - perhaps some with good extra-currics as well! So it behooves you to apply early, at the very least.

👍

As a Canadian applying to US schools, you will face difficulties. Also understand that there is ALWAYS research going on in every school, regardless if it is top # whatever in NIH funding. Before med school, I worked in a top 20 NIH supported school, and I never had to worry about money. I currently attend a school that is much further down the list, but I've still never worried about funding. And despite USNews' assumption that more NIH dollars = better research, I have access to more universities/labs, and more prestidgious labs at that, then I did before. School is what you make of it more than anything.

 

[EpiPEN]

Eh, I applied last year and all I got was 1 interview and 26 rejections. I had a profile very similar to your own except my MCAT score was not as high (35 🙁) and that I was a Bioengineering major. Then this guy I met at a restaurant gave me the greatest advice in the world, "It's not what you know, it's who you know." So I got a job as a clinical research associate for this department chief of medicine dude. When he wrote me a letter of rec I had been working for him for about 3 months. Before I worked here I also took an EMT class and got a part time job pushing patients in the PACU for a few months.

The only thing that changed this application year for me verus last year was the letter that this guy wrote for me, two activities (EMT class and PACU muscle job, and trust me that job was literarly no brain activity what so ever), and that I tweaked my personal statement to flow nicer. And I even quit working at the lab where I did basic science research. And my records this year so far is 4 acceptances, 3 post interview waitlists, 4 interviews that I turned down for non-competitive (near the bottom or not on the top 50 med school list in US News), and a few more I'm waiting to hear back from.

So getting someone well known in the medical field to write you a letter I believe toppled the balance for me. But that's just my experience.

 

[Blade28]

And despite USNews' assumption that more NIH dollars = better research, I have access to more universities/labs, and more prestidgious labs at that, then I did before. School is what you make of it more than anything.

Agreed.

And once you're in med school, you realize that the USNews rankings don't mean much.

I had a profile very similar to your own except my MCAT score was not as high (35 🙁) and that I was a Bioengineering major.

Congrats on your acceptances! And it's always good to see another Bioengineering major. 👍

 

[Mamy]

Thanks for the feedback everyone! 🙂