Reapplicant Advice

[NeonCedar]

---

Members do not see this ad.

State of Residence: CA ORM/URM: ORM
cGPA: 3.58
sGPA: 3.59

GPA by Year:
Strong upward Freshman: 3.3 -> Senior: 3.86

MCAT: 507

Clinical Experience (260 hours):
Longitudinal free clinic involvement with direct patient interaction
Coordination/leadership responsibilities
Additional patient-facing exposure

Non-Clinical Volunteering (150–200 hours):
Community service focused on underserved populations
Ongoing involvement

Shadowing (60 hours):
Multiple specialties (surgical and non-surgical)

Research (4000):
2+ years full-time research (Currently full time position)
Multiple publications

Leadership (300+ hours):
Managed significant organizational budget
Co-founded student organization

School list:
California: UCSF UCLA UCSD UCI UC Davis Kaiser USC CUSM Charles Drew
OOS: Duke JH Mount Sinai Emory Rochester Einstein Jefferson Rosalind Franklin Hackensack Meridian Georgetown Arizona–Phoenix

Letters: 2 PIs, 1 advisor, 1 committee letter

Interview: 1 UC -> Rejection

Current Cycle: I submitted first week of June and submitted all secondaries within two-weeks of receiving.

Plan:
Retake MCAT
Increase volunteering hours with underserved communities (some what clinical)
More shadowing
More clinical but I can probably only get 50 more hours before resubmitting
Better school list

Questions:
How much improvement is realistically possible before next cycle and would my plan be enough? I believe that my writing is good, according to a few people. I also think that I have a strong narrative across my application and I think my academic stats and school list hurt me a lot. I want to stick to MD as I really enjoy research and want to continue to pursue it. I am open to any advice or any comments.

 

[PickaGodnPray]

Your stats were not competitive at all but 2-3 schools and those schools had a strong mission/area fit that you did not have from your low volunteer and clinical hours. You don't need more shadowing, really anything over 50 hours is fine. What would help is to have more clinical/non-clinical hours. The clinical is what is hurting you the most outside of your stats, imo.
If you want to stay MD, you need a higher MCAT and a much better school list. If you don't score better, add DO and look into MSU DO/PhD. Would still satisfy the research itch.