Reapplicant advice

[akimhaneul]

hey guys I'm kinda in a tricky situation.

So I graduated in 2014 and worked in a research lab for two years as a full time job. My PI didn't like me too much and so while applying for medical schools in 2016, he told me that he will only write a moderate letter for me. I did not get in during that cycle.

After working in that lab, I took a break due to important personal and family reasons and now I would like to try medical schools again and submit applications this summer. I was recently offered another lab tech position at my school and the PI seems like a pretty nice guy that I can get along well with if I work very hard in his lab. He seems pretty supportive of my applications.

The thing is although getting a letter from this guy and getting more research experience would be great, my main weak area is my MCAT score. My GPA is very high (3.9+) and my advisors told me that my ecs are excellent too (especially strong in research with many publications). But I think my MCAT is really holding me back (503). I would like to study very hard and improve this score.

What I am worried about is if I work full time in this new lab to fix the weak letter that my previous lab mentor wrote for me, I might not be able to improve my score. I do have 2 science letters, 1 non science letter, and research mentor I worked with before I graduated but these are all before 2014 and schools have already seen these letters in my previous application. I feel that they may want new updated letters for my new application.


Do you think I should look for another job maybe like a part time job and focus more on mcat? Or should I try to fix the mediocre letter written by my previous mentor and work hard in this new lab while studying for mcat? It's just that it has been a while since I graduated so I feel like schools want to see a letter from someone I worked with after I graduated.

Thank you for reading this long post! I look forward to your advice!

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[akimhaneul]

A moderate letter does not sound great to me..I would not use that letter ever again. You want your letter writers to write strong, positive letters. Personally, I think you could still work at your new research position and study for the MCAT if you study 20 hours/week for 6 months. My first MCAT score was similar to yours and for my second MCAT I studied 20 hours/week for 6 months while having a full course schedule + working 20 hours/week. I ended up increasing my score by 8 points (24 percentiles) so it's definitely feasible.

So did you end up with something like 511 on your retake?

 

[akimhaneul]

@Goro

Hi goro, what do you think about my situation? Do you think a new letter would be necessary?

 

[Goro]

@Goro

Hi goro, what do you think about my situation? Do you think a new letter would be necessary?

Why do you think that a PI LOR will somehow salvage a weak MCAT score? ? Even one from a Novel laureate won't help.

You're fine for DO schools, but for MS, retake the MCAT.

And SDNers should take this as a teaching moment: never, ever use a LOR that you know is "moderate".

 

[beastfromhell510]

Everyone's study habits are different. I personally was in a similar situation and I ended up quitting my full time job to retake the MCAT within a 3 month period. I wanted to dedicate all my effort and time to this test and make it the last time. As a result, I ended up doing a lot better. Personally, I wouldn't have been able to work and study for the MCAT at the same time. No matter how easy or hard your job is, it is still mentally exhausting after a full 8 hours. However, everyone's situation is different. I just didn't want to deal with another bad score again.

 

[akimhaneul]

Why do you think that a PI LOR will somehow salvage a weak MCAT score? ? Even one from a Novel laureate won't help.

You're fine for DO schools, but for MS, retake the MCAT.

And SDNers should take this as a teaching moment: never, ever use a LOR that you know is "moderate".

Thanks Goro!

Are letters from supervisors applicants have worked with after graduation very important for non-traditional applicants? I actually did not use that moderate letter during my first application cycle.

I was wondering if it would be detrimental if I focused more on MCAT until the summer and did a small part time job instead of the new lab technician job? I did not have a full time job since 2016.

 

[Deleted member 750603]

503 MCAT is going to be the biggest obstacle. If someone is willing to look at your app after that, that "moderate" letter is not going to help.

I would not get a letter from anyone who doesn't value your passion to go to medical school. Even if I didn't like someone I would still put my feelings aside and write a good letter if I felt they wanted to become a doctor and had proven themselves in the lab/work. There is no reason to even write a letter if your opinion of person is "average" which really means they would rather give thumbs up to a stranger than you.

Work on your MCAT score first and foremost and initiate relationships with people who will advise you properly and write you good letters. Not sure how your statement of purpose is but don't overlook that. That's a significant aspect. I found that in my interviews, that was the backbone of what people had to base their opinions of my character and motivations. The interview was more or less filling in the gaps from the statement of purpose.