Reapp Advice!

[XReflection]

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I had this posted in the other section..but I figured it would be better to have it here..
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Hey guys,

I posted on this forum last year while I was working on my apps. I have not been accepted yet, but got waitlisted at 4 schools (Temple, Dartmouth, NJMS, and Robert Wood). Currently got rejected from NJMS.

My stats are:
Degree: B.S. in Materials Science and Engineering from Hopkins
GPA: 3.87 Cum, estimated 3.88-3.90 BCPM, my previous was 3.85
MCAT: 34Q (14P 11B 9V (ow >>))
EC's:
Lion Dance - 4 years, officer for 3
Boot-Up Baltimore (brings tech to disadvantaged) - 2 years, officer for both
Red Cross - 4 years, committee team leader for 1
Shadowing - not that much, ~ 70 hours Trauma dept in Hopkins Med, currently shadowing an orthopedic surgeon at Union Memorial
Awards: 3 honors societies (including Tau Beta Pi), graduated with departmental honors, general honors from school
Research - 3 years, but no pubs =(

My plan for next year:
Complete my Master's, continue shadowing, currently in a non-medical related internship full time for the summer, will continue my participation in Lion Dance and Boot-Up

Will i be hurting my chances if I reapply immediately? I feel like last cycle, my timeline was a factor:
Last cycle:
Submitted AMCAS July 31st, verified Aug 20th, submitted secondaries in Aug., Sept., Oct.
This cycle:
On track to submit AMCAS this week, will try to finish secondaries by mid august, but will not wait more than a week after receiving a secondary.

I applied to 17 schools in total, all in the northeast, mideast sections of the US, the rest being:
Harvard
Yale
Mt. Sinai
Columbia
Albert Einstein
Drexel
Jefferson
UPenn
Georgetown
Hopkins
Emory
Cornell
I can't remember the last one.

If you need more info, let me know. I think I gave most of the important stuff.

 

[sassilysweet]

Do you feel that your application is significantly different than last year's? Some schools look for big gains or changes in certain areas for reapplicants, like new activities or a large increase in hours for continuing activities (showing that you are indeed continuing them).

You are still not "early", which may or may not help that much...but most people on here say that you should have submitted everything the first day it opened in order to have maximized your chances.

You have a lot of high-level schools, which your stats match, but I would add a few more middle/middle-upper schools. I don't know to me the list seems top heavy and then Drexel and Gtown thrown in as safeties without much in-between?

Maybe I missed it but how many schools did you apply to last cycle that you got 4 WLs? How many interviews total did you have? That could give us a better idea of why you were waitlisted rather than accepted....if you had a ton of interviews and all rejections besides 4 WL then it would be your interviewing skills, but if you got say only 4 interviews out of 25 schools applied and all WLs it could be something else like a neutral/weird LOR or your PS or something. Were your interviews all earlier in the cycle or later? I guess from your first statement it seems like you had 5 interviews, with just the one rejection?

It seems like you have little to no clinical experience excepting a little shadowing. This could be a big hindrance. I would work on finding a clinical volunteer position, get a goodly amount of hours under your belt, and do some more shadowing.

 

[XReflection]

Do you feel that your application is significantly different than last year's? Some schools look for big gains or changes in certain areas for reapplicants, like new activities or a large increase in hours for continuing activities (showing that you are indeed continuing them).

You are still not "early", which may or may not help that much...but most people on here say that you should have submitted everything the first day it opened in order to have maximized your chances.

You have a lot of high-level schools, which your stats match, but I would add a few more middle/middle-upper schools. I don't know to me the list seems top heavy and then Drexel and Gtown thrown in as safeties without much in-between?

Maybe I missed it but how many schools did you apply to last cycle that you got 4 WLs? How many interviews total did you have? That could give us a better idea of why you were waitlisted rather than accepted....if you had a ton of interviews and all rejections besides 4 WL then it would be your interviewing skills, but if you got say only 4 interviews out of 25 schools applied and all WLs it could be something else like a neutral/weird LOR or your PS or something. Were your interviews all earlier in the cycle or later? I guess from your first statement it seems like you had 5 interviews, with just the one rejection?

It seems like you have little to no clinical experience excepting a little shadowing. This could be a big hindrance. I would work on finding a clinical volunteer position, get a goodly amount of hours under your belt, and do some more shadowing.

I got five interviews and was wait listed at four schools.
NJMS - WL
Robert Wood - WL
Temple - WL
Dartmouth - WL
Drexel - post interview rejection

 

[sassilysweet]

I got five interviews and was wait listed at four schools.
NJMS - WL
Robert Wood - WL
Temple - WL
Dartmouth - WL
Drexel - post interview rejection

That makes me think something in your interview is going funny. Not enough for them to be outright denying you, but something making them go....hmmmm. OR you interivewed super late in the season and only WL spots were left.
Did you do any practice interviews beforehand? Have you called all five schools to have your application's strengths and weaknesses reviewed?

 

[XReflection]

That makes me think something in your interview is going funny. Not enough for them to be outright denying you, but something making them go....hmmmm. OR you interivewed super late in the season and only WL spots were left.
Did you do any practice interviews beforehand? Have you called all five schools to have your application's strengths and weaknesses reviewed?

I didn't really do practice interviews..probably part of the problem. I interviewed for NJMS in Oct, then again in Nov. RWJ was in Jan, Temple was in Nov, Drexel was in Feb.

I've decided that I'm going to wait another year before applying. This will give me a chance to get more clinical experience and shadowing time, as well as maybe make some extra money before I start school. In addition, I'll be able to approach next season with a more structured plan and will practice my interview skills etc...Of course this could all be moot if by some miracle of god I get accepted off the waitlist.

Will my MCAT still be valid? I took the MCAT April 2009. Schools all accept scores that are < 3 years right?

 

[dragonfly99]

I would check with the schools r.e. the MCAT..you don't want it to expire.

You have to be careful you don't get stereotyped as a math/science geek who doesn't understand clinical medicine/patient interaction. Therefore, focus on getting in more clinical hours.

I think you have a few too many high tier schools and not enough mid tiers. Remember, just because you meet the average MCAT and have higher than average GPA for a school doesn't mean you'll get in...all those schools reject a lot of people too with those identical stats. It's just something to keep in mind. On the other hand, being from an engineering school may help @some of the private med schools that focus on research, particularly if your school is known to be ball-busting, academic-wise. Many of the state schools will treat a 3.8 @a random state school the same as a 3.8 @MIT, but a lot of the private ones won't.

 

[XReflection]

I have a quick question. Does the MCAT score have to be less than the age specified (i.e. 3 years) at time of application, or at time you expect to matriculate? I was doing a quick search to get an idea of what schools expect and this site came up

http://www.doctorpremed.com/oldest-MCAT.html

They state within "x years of entry" What does that mean? Does it mean that for a school that accepts scores within 3 years would not accept a spring 2009 score?

 

[MightyMoose]

I have a quick question. Does the MCAT score have to be less than the age specified (i.e. 3 years) at time of application, or at time you expect to matriculate? I was doing a quick search to get an idea of what schools expect and this site came up

http://www.doctorpremed.com/oldest-MCAT.html

They state within "x years of entry" What does that mean? Does it mean that for a school that accepts scores within 3 years would not accept a spring 2009 score?

This depends on the school. BU's secondary states that your MCAT score needs to be from anytime after April 2007, but it states that it is 4 years from matriculation.

I believe I remember seeing some that said 2008 is the latest they will take. So, if you don't apply this year, then add a year to all those dates for the 2012 entering class.

Although, I would have to agree with the previous posters, something is going on with your interviewing. Schools don't offer interview slot just because they can, they offer them to people they believe they will accept. It might be more worth your while to hire a professional to assist you with your interviewing skills. Read books on interviewing, talk to more people in public, and get used to interacting with people so that it looks like it's second nature to you. I only say this because even if you bolster your clinical experience and take more time off, you'll still be in the same boat when it comes time to reapply. Interviewing is a skill that will help you out for the rest of your life. Just think, if someone looks past your interview skills and lets you in to medical school, you might be in trouble when it comes to applying for residency and then for fellowships, then for your career job.

This is a skill you MUST learn and based on what I see, you need to focus on it.

This is just my take, so really do some self analysis when it comes to how you interact with people and make up your own mind.

Good luck either way.