Reapplicant - Any Help is Appreciated

[michelleeee]

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Basic Info about me: Asian, ORM, transfer student, US citizen but not a resident of any state (grew up in another country, came to the States for college)

Stats: MCAT 1st in 08/2019: 506, 2nd in 06/2020: 510 | 130, 124, 127, 129 |
(Understand that my score may not be high enough, but I’ve studied very hard for both times, felt like I’ve maxed out on the score)
Community College GPA: 3.87, UCLA GPA: 3.80
Question: Not thinking about retaking a 3rd time, or is it necessary? afraid of scoring even lower the next time.

Past cycle: II from Stanford (the first school that requested my VITA along with II, did very poorly on VITA, but the interview went pretty well, got waitlisted but eventually rejected)
UMass requested VITA but no II extended (probably because of how poorly I did on VITA)
Question: Applied very broadly to 30+ schools, mostly safety and target schools and some reaches. Not sure why getting VITA requests and II from Stanford and UMass but not getting a single II from my safety/target schools?

PS: Wrote about an experience with a patient I encountered at a hospital as a background story and brought out my life experiences and struggles moving to the States and leaving my hometown, family, and friends behind, as well as connecting to my passions and experiences for volunteering and serving the underserved that leads me to pursue medicine. focused on personal qualities like resilience and empathy.
Question: Do admissions compare your PS with your previous cycle? I’ve heard most people said to make changes to those schools you’ve already applied to but just want to double check. I’ve spent several months on my PS in the past cycle and worked with my mentor closely on it. I feel like it should be decent enough…? Also mainly because I haven’t done anything I feel like that’s more meaningful during my gap year than what I’ve written in my PS. Would you say it is necessary to twist it a little/make big changes? And does submitting the same PS hurt a lot for the new cycle? Would anyone be able to read over my PS and provide feedback?

Works/Activities:
Research

• 1 year/ 350 hours
• 3 publications (4th, 8th, 10th author)
• 1 poster/presentation at the UCLA undergrad research week

Clinical Volunteering Experiences

• Happy Feet Clinic Volunteering: 1 year/ 60 hours
• Heart Screening Volunteer: 1 year/ 50 hours
• Hospital Volunteer
  • Project Sunshine/ Social Media Chair: 2 years/ 120 hours
  • El Camino Hospital: 0.5 year/ 50 years
  • Care Extenders: 2 years/ 130 hours
• Volunteering Abroad
  • Vietnam: 2 week/ 160 hours
  • Mexico: 1 year/ 40 hours

Clinical Work Experiences

• Dental Assistant: 8 months/ 240 hours
• Acupuncturist Assistant: 7 months/ 200 hours

Non-Clinical Volunteering Experiences

• Shelter Staff: 1 year/ 80 hours
• Reading partners: 3 months/ 50 hours

Other Experiences

• Restaurant part-time jobs
• Teaching assistants, tutor
• Dance clubs/teams (choreographer)
• Music (violinist)
• Sports (triathlete, freediving...)

Question: Am I lacking a lot on the hours? Or lacking consistencies? I moved to the States for college and transferred after two years of CC (much fewer opportunities compared to universities), and it takes time to apply/interview to get into clubs/organizations/volunteer/jobs due to the competitiveness, which is why my activities don’t really show long term commitment (mostly 1 year). Would it be good to mention this somewhere on my app to explain the inconsistencies or is it not necessary?
And would it be okay to keep the same experience descriptions as the past cycle except for 1-2 new/additional experiences?

School List
Question: Looking for suggestions on school list for both MD and DO (received FAP so thinking about applying to around 30 MDs and 10 DOs)? (Did not apply to DO past cycle so not really familiar with the schools.) Also, is it worth it to spend time on TMDSAS and apply to Texas schools (not a resident)?

Thank you for reading and sorry for the long post. I hope I can get some advice here since I don’t have many people to talk to or ask about my application. Any help/comments/suggestions is appreciated. Thank you for taking the time to help!

 

[ilovetofu]

Hey! I'm a reapplicant myself so I don't really feel like I can speak to most of your questions, but I do think I can speak to your question about redoing your personal statement. AMCAS does not transmit any of your past applications to schools. However, most (if not all) schools will keep previous years' applications on file in case some of the writers of those applications reapply. So, schools that you have previously applied to will have access to your old application and will be able to compare & contrast your current app to your previous app. Schools that you are applying to for the first time this cycle won't have access to it, since they obviously don't have it on file since you haven't applied there before.

With all of that being said, you should absolutely change your personal statement. I 100% rewrote mine (which based on the experiences and focus I've gained since last time was was definitely necessary). If your experiences since writing your previous PS haven't made much of an impact on you or helped strengthen your resolve to become a physician, and you really love your first personal statement, then you probably don't need to do a 100% rewrite (though I'd still recommend doing one since it'll give you a fresh take even if you're still talking about the same situations). However, you still need to change it significantly. Ways to do this would be through considering questions like:
Can you talk about the same themes using different examples?
Can you talk about the same situations in a way that more clearly elucidates your desire to become a physician?
Can you talk about the same situations from a different angle?
Does the order of your PS make sense? Is there a better way to order it to make it more compelling?
Can you add a more recent experience or two in a way that ties into your more meaningful, older experiences without having to remove those older experiences?
Can you make it more narrative? More personal? Can you put more of your own voice and writing style into it?

Overall, if you turn in the exact same personal statement (or incredibly similar one with a few sentences tweaked), medical schools will wonder why you didn't put in the effort to make changes. Furthermore, they may assume that you haven't grown since your last time around, meaning you haven't spent your time striving to improve yourself in order to make a better future doctor. I'm sure that you have spent time working on yourself and fortifying your good qualities, negating the bad ones, shifting some of your perspectives, and picking up new skills and experiences! This should be reflected in your primary app in both the work/activities section and your PS.

I hope this is helpful!!!

 

[michelleeee]

Hey! I'm a reapplicant myself so I don't really feel like I can speak to most of your questions, but I do think I can speak to your question about redoing your personal statement. AMCAS does not transmit any of your past applications to schools. However, most (if not all) schools will keep previous years' applications on file in case some of the writers of those applications reapply. So, schools that you have previously applied to will have access to your old application and will be able to compare & contrast your current app to your previous app. Schools that you are applying to for the first time this cycle won't have access to it, since they obviously don't have it on file since you haven't applied there before.

With all of that being said, you should absolutely change your personal statement. I 100% rewrote mine (which based on the experiences and focus I've gained since last time was was definitely necessary). If your experiences since writing your previous PS haven't made much of an impact on you or helped strengthen your resolve to become a physician, and you really love your first personal statement, then you probably don't need to do a 100% rewrite (though I'd still recommend doing one since it'll give you a fresh take even if you're still talking about the same situations). However, you still need to change it significantly. Ways to do this would be through considering questions like:
Can you talk about the same themes using different examples?
Can you talk about the same situations in a way that more clearly elucidates your desire to become a physician?
Can you talk about the same situations from a different angle?
Does the order of your PS make sense? Is there a better way to order it to make it more compelling?
Can you add a more recent experience or two in a way that ties into your more meaningful, older experiences without having to remove those older experiences?
Can you make it more narrative? More personal? Can you put more of your own voice and writing style into it?

Overall, if you turn in the exact same personal statement (or incredibly similar one with a few sentences tweaked), medical schools will wonder why you didn't put in the effort to make changes. Furthermore, they may assume that you haven't grown since your last time around, meaning you haven't spent your time striving to improve yourself in order to make a better future doctor. I'm sure that you have spent time working on yourself and fortifying your good qualities, negating the bad ones, shifting some of your perspectives, and picking up new skills and experiences! This should be reflected in your primary app in both the work/activities section and your PS.

I hope this is helpful!!!

Hello @ilovetofu,
Thank you so much for taking time to reply. This is very helpful and I really appreciate it! I will definitely try to rewrite it and make it a better PS for the next cycle. I hope your reapplication process goes well! Best luck to you🙂

 

[Faha]

Forget about the Texas schools. I suggest these MD schools with your stats:
Vermont
Dartmouth
Quinnipiac
Albany
New York Medical College
Seton Hall
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
Penn State
George Washington
Georgetown
Virginia Commonwealth
Eastern Virginia
Wake Forest
NOVA MD
Miami
Tulane
TCU-UNT
Creighton
St. Louis
Loyola
Rush
Medical College Wisconsin
Oakland Beaumont
Wayne State
California University
Stanford
For DO schools I suggest these:
AZCOM
TUNCOM
WESTERN
TUCOM-CA
ATSU-KCOM
KCU-COM
DMU-COM
MU-COM
PCOM
Touro-NY
NYITCOM
LECOM (all schools)
CUSOM

 

[Osteosaur]

I am a multimeter reapplicant. Had 3.6 and 515 for my stats. So I've been where you are and it sucks. If you are getting interviews at UMass and Stanford (especially with 506 and 510!) You are at least doing something right. Don't get discouraged.

1) Your PS needs to change year to year. My first time I thought I just had a small school list. I didn't change it. Got comments on that from a place I reapplied.

2) Your ECs seem pretty good and varried. Are you picking a few major ones and talking them up on your app? It's all in how you explain it and what you got out of it to readers.

3) Big hole I see is lack of shadowing. You are working in a lot of places in healthcare but they want assurance you are working with a physician. Maybe I just missed it.

4) MCAT is definitely hurting you. If you really want to just get in and move on I would recommend DO schools. If there is some reason you want to go to an MD program you could always see how you do after one more cycle with adjustments. If the issue is a top heavy lost or lack of shadowing why go insane with a third MCAT when you don't test that well is what I am saying

5) what is your full school list? You mention places like UMass and Stanford. And got interviews at them with a low MCAT. That is impressive! Did you apply to any mid-tier private schools like Temple, Drexel, etc.?

 

[michelleeee]

Forget about the Texas schools. I suggest these MD schools with your stats:
Vermont
Dartmouth
Quinnipiac
Albany
New York Medical College
Seton Hall
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
Penn State
George Washington
Georgetown
Virginia Commonwealth
Eastern Virginia
Wake Forest
NOVA MD
Miami
Tulane
TCU-UNT
Creighton
St. Louis
Loyola
Rush
Medical College Wisconsin
Oakland Beaumont
Wayne State
California University
Stanford
For DO schools I suggest these:
AZCOM
TUNCOM
WESTERN
TUCOM-CA
ATSU-KCOM
KCU-COM
DMU-COM
MU-COM
PCOM
Touro-NY
NYITCOM
LECOM (all schools)
CUSOM

Thank you very much for the suggestions!! 🙂

 

[michelleeee]

I am a multimeter reapplicant. Had 3.6 and 515 for my stats. So I've been where you are and it sucks. If you are getting interviews at UMass and Stanford (especially with 506 and 510!) You are at least doing something right. Don't get discouraged.

1) Your PS needs to change year to year. My first time I thought I just had a small school list. I didn't change it. Got comments on that from a place I reapplied.

2) Your ECs seem pretty good and varried. Are you picking a few major ones and talking them up on your app? It's all in how you explain it and what you got out of it to readers.

3) Big hole I see is lack of shadowing. You are working in a lot of places in healthcare but they want assurance you are working with a physician. Maybe I just missed it.

4) MCAT is definitely hurting you. If you really want to just get in and move on I would recommend DO schools. If there is some reason you want to go to an MD program you could always see how you do after one more cycle with adjustments. If the issue is a top heavy lost or lack of shadowing why go insane with a third MCAT when you don't test that well is what I am saying

5) what is your full school list? You mention places like UMass and Stanford. And got interviews at them with a low MCAT. That is impressive! Did you apply to any mid-tier private schools like Temple, Drexel, etc.?

Thank you for the feedback! 🙂


For PS, is it okay that I write about the same experiences I wrote but expand on what I've learned, or do I have to change everything? How much did you change for your PS after your first cycle if you don't mind me asking? I'm not sure if I rewrite with the same experience would be alright?

For shadowing, yes I don't think I have that much exposure compared to my other activities. My hospital volunteering included some as well as my ECs clinical volunteering. But I don't have any more to add during my gap year as I wasn't staying in the US.

Yes, I will be applying to DO schools too. don't think I have a good chance to improve my MCAT even with another retake. 🙁

I applied to a lot of lower and mid-tier schools including both Temple and Drexel but didn't get a single II. 🙁 not sure why...

 

[Osteosaur]

One thing I learned was apps are all about presentation. You really need to put effort into drawing the reader's eye to what is important.

For PS- Mine was bad so I changed it a LOT. Hardly an expert on this. Just a comment I got on mine when I asked for feedback from an adcom. If yours is good and you had multiple readers, maybe just open it a different way? At the very least you don't want the same reader to go "Well I've seen this already. Nothing new" you want them to read the first few sentences and be excited to see what changed since last time.

For Shadowing- What does that mean? You were in the same room as some docs? You shadowed as part of the experience? You mentioned in the EC description that you worked with doctors? You need to account for someone trying to tick off a "has shadowed a doctor" box as fast as possible. Having a specific experience marked as SHADOWING does that. If they reject you for lack of physician exposure it is very hard to go back and point out: "see in this paragraph it says I shadowed so nyah nyah let me in!" That is a mistake I had made. The dental work, happy feet volunteering (is that podiatry?) I'm sure are great but then they don't really say "I specifically know what being a doc is like" you know?

What interviews did you get and where? Good call on DO though. Will be a good bet.

 

[EducatedGuesser]

ADCOMS should be able to see "YOU" rise up off of the page as they read your story. Make it personal. Tell stories that reveal your motivation, passion, preparation, and evolution of understanding. You don't have to rewrite it. ADCOMS are not going to invest time in comparing one year to another.

 

[michelleeee]

ADCOMS should be able to see "YOU" rise up off of the page as they read your story. Make it personal. Tell stories that reveal your motivation, passion, preparation, and evolution of understanding. You don't have to rewrite it. ADCOMS are not going to invest time in comparing one year to another.

Thank you for your advice!!