Reapplicant Contingency Plan

[Walter Raleigh]

I'm looking for advice if this cycle doesn't turn out well and I wind up as a reapplicant. My stats are as follows, as of now:

820 hours research with 3 poster presentations
500 hours on ambulance corps as attendant
100 hours volunteering in local emergency room
130 hours nonclinical volunteering - mentoring students, soup kitchens, miscellaneous stuff.
50 hours with Habitat for Humanity
500 hours as private MCAT tutor.
50 hours shadowing local doctors - radiology, emergency medicine, physiatry.
1500 hours as triathlete (trained and competed solo; was not on a college or any other team)
GPA: cGPA 3.60, sGPA 3.59. U-shaped trend, 3.80/3.46/3.50/3.80. Switched my major senior year to mathematics from biology - so there isn't a great trend with performance in science classes.
MCAT: 520, 130/130/130/130, late June 2017.
Graduated college in May, 2017.

I'm thinking about a few potential plans:

• Apply again in June, 2019, to MD and DO schools.
• Take two more years off, and do a DIY postbacc to raise my GPA to 3.7.
• Work with troubled teens in the wilderness for a year, then apply in June 2020.
• Do Americorps VISTA service for a year, then apply in June 2020.

By the next application cycle - by June, 2019 - I should have about 600 hours of tutoring, 750 hours on the ambulance corps, and 150 hours with Habitat for Humanity.

Is there anything that stands out to you? If I applied in 2020, I'd need to retake that 520 MCAT...and that's slightly worrisome. Wouldn't want to let a score like that go to waste.

Any suggestions?

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[SR71BLK]

First, great job on the MCAT!

If you had a good school list and applied early enough, you should have success with your GPA/MCAT combination. You have great ECs.

To help others give you advice, you should probably include your school list. I have a feeling you'll get at least a few MD II's this cycle.

 

[I'mJustCurious]

Don't wait to apply in 2020. If you don't get in this cycle, then apply next cycle. There's still life in this cycle for you!

 

[mariposas905]

Why do you think you'd be a reapplicant? I feel like you will def get in this year

 

[Walter Raleigh]

Why do you think you'd be a reapplicant? I feel like you will def get in this year

It's always good to have a contingency plan - most applicants with my ECs and stats get in, but there are always a few that strike out! There's some reapplicants here with better ECs and stats than mine.

 

[Doc_Ock]

I'd be surprised if you don't get in but IF you don't be sure and submit right when it opens up, maybe hire someone (i.e. a professional, not just a friend) to look over your PS.