Reapplicant--MCAT issues

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yellowhat123

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Hi,

I'm new to creating new threads. I hope I didn't just break some big sdn law by posting so out-in-the-open like this. Anyway, we'll see.

So...this application cycle hasn't been too hot. I'm wondering what I need to fix for the next cycle if things don't work out.

sGPA: 3.99
cGPA: 3.98
Top 30 undergrad institution (whatever that means)
Asian (yeah, whatever that means)

took a year off and worked in a lab (volunteered)

MCAT: two takes (6-7 months apart; both during gap year)
1st (509: C/P 129, CARS 128, BS 127, P/S 125)
2nd(511: C/P 131, CARS 123, BS 128, P/S 129)

Major in Biochem with a humanities minor and taking a bunch of foreign language classes

research: 3 years (2 labs--each one year undergrad programs; 3rd lab in gap year), no publications, but yes presentations

doing a master's right now, during this application season, that is research heavy--GPA is fine, so far, thank God

hospital volunteering: I feel like it was adequate (high school+college)

shadowing doctors: feel like I got ok exposure (200+ hours in the OR)

activities: seemed ok to me (I checked with others and they said things looked good)
--I haven't done any global medical experience or anything like that

personal statement: when others read it, they liked it. Although they did lightly tell me to make it more about me-->I took their suggestion and tried my best to modify it to be more about me

applied to a bunch of schools: they were pretty much across the spectrum

result: probably like 10 rejections or something like that, haven't heard back from like 5, interviewed at three places (haven't heard back from any...two interviews were back in Sept--both are instate-inclined schools but I was classified as out of state)

have not heard anything back from instate schools, save one rejection


Problems that I see:

MCAT
--MCAT taken twice
--CARS score went down by a ton
--didn't mention/explain it in my primary application (I did in a couple updates to some schools but that was a few months into the cycle when the silence was stirring my brain)

Interviews:
--Could have been more lovey dovey in the interviews (I was pretty practical and straightforward--though the interviewers seemed happy with my responses)
--maybe my MO seemed scattered and too ambitious (I said I want to go in one field in medicine, research in two other areas, do some global work too. However, I remember focusing my responses on serving patients.)
--while I believe I stayed humble, maybe I underrepresented myself??

Solutions that I come up with for next time:
-Take the MCAT again (yeah, I should have just stuck with the first score, but didn't unfortunately; the second CARS score seemed completely random to me since none of my practice/previous score pointed to a dismal performance. The issue with a retake, aside from taking the test 3 times being very bad, is that I've exhausted CARS material.)
-get a job in health care that is close with patients--I feel like I should take a break from the research/industry-related work because ultimately I want to work with people more than anything. Of course, not many employers in social work want someone with a biochem background, so that'll take some effort on my part.

*********What should I do next time, oh sdn gurus? Aside from interview skills--which I hope to work on if that is the problem--what can I do to get to the interview invite stage? Reapplicants are not seen in the same view as first timers. Taking the MCAT three times is terrible. Although I'm praying that I can pull out a good, balanced score, I don't know where to go for CARS practice. I've done the AAMC CARS practice material twice now. Gone through the examkrackers 101 passage book and even a few kaplan tests. The problem is, in my view, only AAMC is representative. (Wait, should I even retake the MCAT? Or just explain it briefly in the next primary application?). Also, I wrote this application with my whole heart and it was pretty complete and polished, in my view (others said the same, but maybe we're all just missing something big...I don't know). What could I possibly add to the application to give it more charge, make it unique? I mean, it is already pretty unique with that MCAT score, haha. What are other weaknesses you see? My experiences, while interesting, would be pretty much the same in the next app. Should I get a job in between? Does anyone have any success stories with this? Like with getting into research-heavy schools? I don't know, everything has just been so upsetting but oh well, what's the next step?

I want to do something in the gap year that will add to what I want to do in the medical field in the future. Just because med school admission may be delayed doesn't mean everything else in life has to be too.

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MCAT: two takes (6-7 months apart; both during gap year)
1st (509: C/P 129, CARS 128, BS 127, P/S 125)
2nd(511: C/P 131, CARS 123, BS 128, P/S 129)

.

Just curious, who gave you the advice to retake your perfectly good, well-balanced 509?
 
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Any non-clinical volunteering? And did you get recommendations from people who know you very well?
I think your MCAT is fine, however it seems like your application might be too normal/boring if that makes sense. Admission committees go through thousands of applications, sometimes having one special activity/interest can make them want you. Often times "different" is better than better stats. Like you said you were practical but that doesn't help to differentiate you as an applicant.
 
Just curious, who gave you the advice to retake your perfectly good, well-balanced 509?
Ultimately, the monkey in my brain pulled the wrong lever. I did call up a school before retaking the test (the school I really wanted to go to--a great instate school-->my undergrad and master's institution) and they said my cumulative score was on the lower end of things but that I should still apply.

Faha,
I applied to what I thought was a range of schools. Here are a few to help you get a better picture: UCSF (I got their secondary but also a rejection pre-II, so yeah), NYU, Emory, OSU, Indiana U, UIC, Georgetown. I guess Georgetown was my cut off. I will admit that there were many schools that I applied to but realized it was a mistake because of my residency or insanely high test scores: Indiana, couple of California schools, Baylor, Vanderbilt, University of Wisconsin, University of Washington. I don't want to reveal exactly which schools I got interviews from in case they look up sdn, but I will say that all three of them were in the top 40-50 MD schools-->I know, I know, that sounds so wrong, especially since research is not the only thing going on in medicine (two of them had awesome primary care focuses), but I don't have any other way to answer your question without revealing too much. Unless you really want to know; then, I can send you a private message. Ultimately, after interview day, I've been mostly interested in just one of them, unfortunately. In the end, med school is med school. But I've been told that I should try to find a good fit in every sense of the idea. And then again, med schools clearly rate applicants so maybe applicants can rate med schools too. I know, pretty bold statement, sorry. I guess I focused too much on my GPA instead of my MCAT score. I have not been waitlisted. But I interviewed back in September.

marcelo12,
I didn't mention any non-clinical volunteering on the application. I picked up non-clinical volunteering this year though--but that's this year so it wasn't highlighted. I feel that my recommendations are good. Do you know what I can do to be more interesting? I mean, I've thought about EMT but have been told it's not "cool" enough. And I don't want to get some mundane job barely related to health care--like in a lab or as a receptionist. I want to work with a population and investigate it and what their health care troubles/needs are. I feel that it would not only be a way for me to show that I'm still in the field, but also a way for me to really pursue something I'm interested in. Unfortunately, I've learned that a good number of public health people don't take biochemists seriously. The funny thing is, I don't take biochemistry seriously--I was more interested in my anthro minor classes/experiences and language classes/experiences. That sounds so bad, but my whole undergrad experience has been geared toward preparing me for the intellectual challenge and interests I'll encounter in med school.

I applied to a Fulbright in the past few months to do some independent anthropological geriatric study in India but that fell through. I was really excited about that. The world is just soooo competitive. I can private message you my activities list if you really want to see and help me find out what I'm lacking in.

I guess I mistakenly read somewhere to just be honest, humble, and normal because that shines through the best. So while I did provide detail about what I did, I made sure they understood that I understood that med school is a big responsibility and even with good undergrad grades, it would be a lot of work on my part. So, flying wasn't one of my activities...haha :) Anyway, what should I explore more? Or talk about? I did add a couple of hobbies. Maybe I should just send you my activities so that we can pinpoint what I should do.
 
Ultimately, the monkey in my brain pulled the wrong lever. I did call up a school before retaking the test (the school I really wanted to go to--a great instate school-->my undergrad and master's institution) and they said my cumulative score was on the lower end of things but that I should still apply.

Faha,
I applied to what I thought was a range of schools. Here are a few to help you get a better picture: UCSF (I got their secondary but also a rejection pre-II, so yeah), NYU, Emory, OSU, Indiana U, UIC, Georgetown. I guess Georgetown was my cut off. I will admit that there were many schools that I applied to but realized it was a mistake because of my residency or insanely high test scores: Indiana, couple of California schools, Baylor, Vanderbilt, University of Wisconsin, University of Washington. I don't want to reveal exactly which schools I got interviews from in case they look up sdn, but I will say that all three of them were in the top 40-50 MD schools-->I know, I know, that sounds so wrong, especially since research is not the only thing going on in medicine (two of them had awesome primary care focuses), but I don't have any other way to answer your question without revealing too much. Unless you really want to know; then, I can send you a private message. Ultimately, after interview day, I've been mostly interested in just one of them, unfortunately. In the end, med school is med school. But I've been told that I should try to find a good fit in every sense of the idea. And then again, med schools clearly rate applicants so maybe applicants can rate med schools too. I know, pretty bold statement, sorry. I guess I focused too much on my GPA instead of my MCAT score. I have not been waitlisted. But I interviewed back in September.

marcelo12,
I didn't mention any non-clinical volunteering on the application. I picked up non-clinical volunteering this year though--but that's this year so it wasn't highlighted. I feel that my recommendations are good. Do you know what I can do to be more interesting? I mean, I've thought about EMT but have been told it's not "cool" enough. And I don't want to get some mundane job barely related to health care--like in a lab or as a receptionist. I want to work with a population and investigate it and what their health care troubles/needs are. I feel that it would not only be a way for me to show that I'm still in the field, but also a way for me to really pursue something I'm interested in. Unfortunately, I've learned that a good number of public health people don't take biochemists seriously. The funny thing is, I don't take biochemistry seriously--I was more interested in my anthro minor classes/experiences and language classes/experiences. That sounds so bad, but my whole undergrad experience has been geared toward preparing me for the intellectual challenge and interests I'll encounter in med school.

I applied to a Fulbright in the past few months to do some independent anthropological geriatric study in India but that fell through. I was really excited about that. The world is just soooo competitive. I can private message you my activities list if you really want to see and help me find out what I'm lacking in.

I guess I mistakenly read somewhere to just be honest, humble, and normal because that shines through the best. So while I did provide detail about what I did, I made sure they understood that I understood that med school is a big responsibility and even with good undergrad grades, it would be a lot of work on my part. So, flying wasn't one of my activities...haha :) Anyway, what should I explore more? Or talk about? I did add a couple of hobbies. Maybe I should just send you my activities so that we can pinpoint what I should do.
Also, just wanted to thank you guys for giving me a pretty decent sdn experience. I like constructive criticism, just not an all out pan-smack.
 
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Sure feel free to message me your activities.
 
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The PS is NOT for explanations, which always end up sounding like excuses. Being a 2x MCAT taker, you have somewhat boxed yourself into a hole. What I see from your scores is someone who can only do their best in 3/4 categories. Thus I can't recommend another retake

--MCAT taken twice--CARS score went down by a ton
--didn't mention/explain it in my primary application (I did in a couple updates to some schools but that was a few months into the cycle when the silence was stirring my brain)


I can't sugar coat this. Maybe you were just a bad interviewee? This might be the issue, rather than your MCAT score. And do NOT try to be anything other than yourself in interviews. We have pretty decent BS detectors. And most interviewees are poor judges of thier own interview experience.

Interviews:
--Could have been more lovey dovey in the interviews (I was pretty practical and straightforward--though the interviewers seemed happy with my responses)
--maybe my MO seemed scattered and too ambitious (I said I want to go in one field in medicine, research in two other areas, do some global work too. However, I remember focusing my responses on serving patients.)
--while I believe I stayed humble, maybe I underrepresented myself??



No
-Take the MCAT again (yeah, I should have just stuck with the first score, but didn't unfortunately; the second CARS score seemed completely random to me since none of my practice/previous score pointed to a dismal performance. The issue with a retake, aside from taking the test 3 times being very bad, is that I've exhausted CARS material.)

Strongly recommend this. You say that you didn't mention any non-clinical volunteering in your app. Was that because you didn't have any (lethal for chances), or worse, thought that these were unimportant??? Overall, this not the application of a person who dearly wants to be a physician. It is the application of someone who wants to be a doctor as long as it is convenient.

-get a job in health care that is close with patients--I feel like I should take a break from the research/industry-related work because ultimately I want to work with people more than anything. Of course, not many employers in social work want someone with a biochem background, so that'll take some effort on my part.

Double check all your essays, with the more eyeballs, the better. What I worry about is that your essays made you seem like a lab rat who is more happy doing PCRs than being around sick people.
Get in more volunteering, both clinical and non-clinical.
Have a better school list. I note that you got a secondary from UCSF. Secondaries are often a tax on the hopelessly naive, if not pathologically clueless.
Invest in MSAR Online and target schools whose median stats are closest to your own. And pay VERY careful attention to the Acceptance Information pages.
Include DO schools on your list. Beggars can't be choosy.
Get lots of interview practice. Check out Youtube for med school interview videos. There are some that tell you what NOT to do, and they very cringeworthy learning experiences.

*********What should I do next time, oh sdn gurus?

I think I see a theme. Do you want to be a doctor, or a grad student????
Like with getting into research-heavy schools?


Not all volunteering needs to be in a hospital. Think hospice, Planned Parenthood, nursing homes, rehab facilities, crisis hotlines, camps for sick children, or clinics.

Some types of volunteer activities are more appealing than others. Volunteering in a nice suburban hospital is all very well and good and all, but doesn't show that you're willing to dig in and get your hands dirty in the same way that working with the developmentally disabled (or homeless, the dying, or Alzheimers or mentally ill or elderly or ESL or domestic, rural impoverished) does. The uncomfortable situations are the ones that really demonstrate your altruism and get you 'brownie points'. Plus, they frankly teach you more -- they develop your compassion and humanity in ways comfortable situations can't.

Service need not be "unique". If you can alleviate suffering in your community through service to the poor, homeless, illiterate, fatherless, etc, you are meeting an otherwise unmet need and learning more about the lives of the people (or types of people) who will someday be your patients. Check out your local houses of worship for volunteer opportunities. The key thing is service to others less fortunate than you. And get off campus and out of your comfort zone!

Examples include: Habitat for Humanity, Ronald McDonald House, Humane Society, crisis hotlines, soup kitchen, food pantry, homeless or women’s shelter, after-school tutoring for students or coaching a sport in a poor school district, teaching ESL to adults at a community center, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, or Meals on Wheels.


I want to do something in the gap year that will add to what I want to do in the medical field in the future. Just because med school admission may be delayed doesn't mean everything else in life has to be too.
 
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The PS is NOT for explanations, which always end up sounding like excuses. Being a 2x MCAT taker, you have somewhat boxed yourself into a hole. What I see from your scores is someone who can only do their best in 3/4 categories. Thus I can't recommend another retake

--MCAT taken twice--CARS score went down by a ton
--didn't mention/explain it in my primary application (I did in a couple updates to some schools but that was a few months into the cycle when the silence was stirring my brain)


I can't sugar coat this. Maybe you were just a bad interviewee? This might be the issue, rather than your MCAT score. And do NOT try to be anything other than yourself in interviews. We have pretty decent BS detectors. And most interviewees are poor judges of thier own interview experience.

Interviews:
--Could have been more lovey dovey in the interviews (I was pretty practical and straightforward--though the interviewers seemed happy with my responses)
--maybe my MO seemed scattered and too ambitious (I said I want to go in one field in medicine, research in two other areas, do some global work too. However, I remember focusing my responses on serving patients.)
--while I believe I stayed humble, maybe I underrepresented myself??



No
-Take the MCAT again (yeah, I should have just stuck with the first score, but didn't unfortunately; the second CARS score seemed completely random to me since none of my practice/previous score pointed to a dismal performance. The issue with a retake, aside from taking the test 3 times being very bad, is that I've exhausted CARS material.)

Strongly recommend this. You say that you didn't mention any non-clinical volunteering in your app. Was that because you didn't have any (lethal for chances), or worse, thought that these were unimportant??? Overall, this not the application of a person who dearly wants to be a physician. It is the application of someone who wants to be a doctor as long as it is convenient.

-get a job in health care that is close with patients--I feel like I should take a break from the research/industry-related work because ultimately I want to work with people more than anything. Of course, not many employers in social work want someone with a biochem background, so that'll take some effort on my part.

Double check all your essays, with the more eyeballs, the better. What I worry about is that your essays made you seem like a lab rat who is more happy doing PCRs than being around sick people.
Get in more volunteering, both clinical and non-clinical.
Have a better school list. I note that you got a secondary from UCSF. Secondaries are often a tax on the hopelessly naive, if not pathologically clueless.
Invest in MSAR Online and target schools whose median stats are closest to your own. And pay VERY careful attention to the Acceptance Information pages.
Include DO schools on your list. Beggars can't be choosy.
Get lots of interview practice. Check out Youtube for med school interview videos. There are some that tell you what NOT to do, and they very cringeworthy learning experiences.

*********What should I do next time, oh sdn gurus?

I think I see a theme. Do you want to be a doctor, or a grad student????
Like with getting into research-heavy schools?


Not all volunteering needs to be in a hospital. Think hospice, Planned Parenthood, nursing homes, rehab facilities, crisis hotlines, camps for sick children, or clinics.

Some types of volunteer activities are more appealing than others. Volunteering in a nice suburban hospital is all very well and good and all, but doesn't show that you're willing to dig in and get your hands dirty in the same way that working with the developmentally disabled (or homeless, the dying, or Alzheimers or mentally ill or elderly or ESL or domestic, rural impoverished) does. The uncomfortable situations are the ones that really demonstrate your altruism and get you 'brownie points'. Plus, they frankly teach you more -- they develop your compassion and humanity in ways comfortable situations can't.

Service need not be "unique". If you can alleviate suffering in your community through service to the poor, homeless, illiterate, fatherless, etc, you are meeting an otherwise unmet need and learning more about the lives of the people (or types of people) who will someday be your patients. Check out your local houses of worship for volunteer opportunities. The key thing is service to others less fortunate than you. And get off campus and out of your comfort zone!

Examples include: Habitat for Humanity, Ronald McDonald House, Humane Society, crisis hotlines, soup kitchen, food pantry, homeless or women’s shelter, after-school tutoring for students or coaching a sport in a poor school district, teaching ESL to adults at a community center, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, or Meals on Wheels.


I want to do something in the gap year that will add to what I want to do in the medical field in the future. Just because med school admission may be delayed doesn't mean everything else in life has to be too.

Thank you for your time and input.
 
State of residency listed in your app is important. If you are Californian, that is one of the problems- some people have discussed the "Californian effect" causing a disadvantage on these forums- applicants in Kentucky or Alabama competitive for MD in their state might only be competitive for DO if they were a Californian. Otherwise, just follow the advice above to maximize your medical school application.

https://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/a-compilation-of-essential-sdn-wisdom.1177034/
 
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I can't sugar coat this. Maybe you were just a bad interviewee? This might be the issue, rather than your MCAT score. And do NOT try to be anything other than yourself in interviews. We have pretty decent BS detectors. And most interviewees are poor judges of thier own interview experience.

Yeah, I probably was missing something big. I gotta find out what it is and work on it. Maybe I spoke too fast from being nervous and that came out wrong. I mean, in practice interviews, my interviewers were happy with speed and content. In the real interviews, humility was something I kept check of. But sometimes I just underrepresent myself. You see, even now, I gave you guys the basics. I have volunteered in a hospice/nursing home, connected with dying patients, volunteered at a homeless shelter, taught illiterate adults in my community how to read...and I loved it all. My parents can't get me to shut up about all the experiences. But sometimes, when I'm being judged/reviewed, I guess I don't want to talk about it like I was running the show even if I was. It just doesn't sit right. They're experiences that I cherish and I don't want to use them as money. In my view, I don't want to expose all of my qualifications/lack of and strong experiences all at once to reviewers. The value just decreases way too quickly that way. I want to speak about the core of the experience and not focus on the extraneous. The core is patients and people. I feel that I highlighted that. But maybe not. I don't know, I'm just rambling. But the bottomline is, while I need to think deeper about polishing up possible interview mistakes, I'm more focused at the moment on even getting to that stage.

"No"

Thanks for a straightforward answer. While I feel that I could do better, I understand it is probably just optimism on my end. What schools do you think I should apply to? I mean, I tried it and we see the result--even after using MSAR, unfortunately. I know you said I shouldn't address the MCAT in the PS, which I didn't. But how should I show that I've been addressing problem areas? I guess, what do you think they think is the problem? Critical analysis abilities, or stamina in test taking? Or reliability? I can point to GPA and all of that other good stuff as a counter but that's not directly answering their concerns.

"Strongly recommend this. You say that you didn't mention any non-clinical volunteering in your app. Was that because you didn't have any (lethal for chances), or worse, thought that these were unimportant??? Overall, this not the application of a person who dearly wants to be a physician. It is the application of someone who wants to be a doctor as long as it is convenient."

Nope, not in my app. Like many, I talked mostly about my background in medical field volunteering but I focused more on different issues of each. For example, I had two hospital volunteer experiences but they addressed different aspects--one was more involved with patients (so I talked about them more--college) and the other(s) which I lumped together in another box was more about practical exposure to the environment/my own contributions to the system (typical hospital experience--high school). Sorry, that was a huge tangent. By saying this, I mean that I outlined things I needed to show in the app, then I selected experiences I felt addressed those things. I did not participate in an official non-clinical volunteering organization not because I didn't want to but I guess it just never crossed my mind to divide up volunteering like that. I just wanted to go for things that let me interact with people. After realizing that people do divide up volunteering like that, I started volunteering for a homeless shelter. I feel that the interactions I have in the shelter are very similar to those I've had with patients. So I guess that's good. But that's this year. It still feels silly to me. Interacting with people shouldn't be divided based on these funny categories. Oh well. I'll jump if I'm told to...haha :)

Even the tutoring. I haven't even touched the money I made from it. I want the interactions. But since it was a paid position, it's hard to show that I did it for the interactions and experiences. Oh well. People will see things the way they want to see them. I don't know. If I had a buck every time I said "interactions..." Oh the irony. Whatever, moving on.

"Double check all your essays, with the more eyeballs, the better. What I worry about is that your essays made you seem like a lab rat who is more happy doing PCRs than being around sick people.

That's a fair analysis. (Funny note: I've done PCR probably three times in my whole life--it is something to despise). I mean, in the essays, I talked about biochem for probably a sentence or two. I focused on anthro and language, patients. In the secondaries, I did speak about biochem to help with disease research--but then again I tried to emphasize it as a way to work with the community. An interviewer did comment that I have a lot of research experience--haha, does anyone really have enough research experience? :)--but he was a Ph.D and M.D. Maybe he just wanted me to speak about it a little to show that I wasn't bluffing.

Get in more volunteering, both clinical and non-clinical.

Yup, I agree. I feel like I should maintain the ones I have currently. Two clinical, two non-clinical.

Have a better school list. I note that you got a secondary from UCSF. Secondaries are often a tax on the hopelessly naive, if not pathologically clueless.

I need some help with that. Yeah, I know UCSF has probably just been more open to sending out secondaries this year. I wasn't looking at it as a sign of approval stats-wise but maybe a slight nudge that I'm not too far off with the activities/PS. Or do they send based on stats? I don't know. Doesn't matter now.

Invest in MSAR Online and target schools whose median stats are closest to your own. And pay VERY careful attention to the Acceptance Information pages.

Yes, I bought it a while back. Unfortunately, my score imbalance is too hard to overlook even with schools matching my stats. Don't know how to overcome that.

Include DO schools on your list. Beggars can't be choosy.

Yup.

Get lots of interview practice. Check out Youtube for med school interview videos. There are some that tell you what NOT to do, and they very cringeworthy learning experiences.?"


I probably just need to stop smiling so much and slow down and add some pauses. But definitely, once I address issues leading up to that stage or get an idea on what to do, I will polish up my interview skills even more.

"I think I see a theme. Do you want to be a doctor, or a grad student????"


Maybe a few years ago I considered it, but now that I'm surrounded by Ph.D. students... There are many types of research. I want to break away a bit from basic science and go toward clinical/translational work so that I can actually work with patients or launch well-composed community intervention programs. Maybe that's it, I probably look like a candidate qualified in things completely opposite to what I really want.


THANK YOU for all the suggestions at the end of your post. There are many I hadn't thought about before. And they all seem so great. You know, I'm just trying to land a position and thoroughly explore/connect with it.
 
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Just to make sure we're on the same page, did you list how many hours you did of volunteering in your app? Clinical vs non-clinical. I'm not talking essays, but the tally of what you did. And each type?

"Strongly recommend this. You say that you didn't mention any non-clinical volunteering in your app. Was that because you didn't have any (lethal for chances), or worse, thought that these were unimportant??? Overall, this not the application of a person who dearly wants to be a physician. It is the application of someone who wants to be a doctor as long as it is convenient."

Nope, not in my app. Like many, I talked mostly about my background in medical field volunteering but I focused more on different issues of each. For example, I had two hospital volunteer experiences but they addressed different aspects--one was more involved with patients (so I talked about them more--college) and the other(s) which I lumped together in another box was more about practical exposure to the environment/my own contributions to the system (typical hospital experience--high school). Sorry, that was a huge tangent. By saying this, I mean that I outlined things I needed to show in the app, then I selected experiences I felt addressed those things. I did not participate in an official non-clinical volunteering organization not because I didn't want to but I guess it just never crossed my mind to divide up volunteering like that. I just wanted to go for things that let me interact with people. After realizing that people do divide up volunteering like that, I started volunteering for a homeless shelter. I feel that the interactions I have in the shelter are very similar to those I've had with patients. So I guess that's good. But that's this year. It still feels silly to me. Interacting with people shouldn't be divided based on these funny categories. Oh well. I'll jump if I'm told to...haha :)
 
Just to make sure we're on the same page, did you list how many hours you did of volunteering in your app? Clinical vs non-clinical. I'm not talking essays, but the tally of what you did. And each type?

"Strongly recommend this. You say that you didn't mention any non-clinical volunteering in your app. Was that because you didn't have any (lethal for chances), or worse, thought that these were unimportant??? Overall, this not the application of a person who dearly wants to be a physician. It is the application of someone who wants to be a doctor as long as it is convenient."

Nope, not in my app. Like many, I talked mostly about my background in medical field volunteering but I focused more on different issues of each. For example, I had two hospital volunteer experiences but they addressed different aspects--one was more involved with patients (so I talked about them more--college) and the other(s) which I lumped together in another box was more about practical exposure to the environment/my own contributions to the system (typical hospital experience--high school). Sorry, that was a huge tangent. By saying this, I mean that I outlined things I needed to show in the app, then I selected experiences I felt addressed those things. I did not participate in an official non-clinical volunteering organization not because I didn't want to but I guess it just never crossed my mind to divide up volunteering like that. I just wanted to go for things that let me interact with people. After realizing that people do divide up volunteering like that, I started volunteering for a homeless shelter. I feel that the interactions I have in the shelter are very similar to those I've had with patients. So I guess that's good. But that's this year. It still feels silly to me. Interacting with people shouldn't be divided based on these funny categories. Oh well. I'll jump if I'm told to...haha :)
Yes, I did, to the t. But I picked up non-clinical this year--so that's not on the app.

I fell through this time. Just have to get up and keep going with better tools.
 
When you apply again apply in June and submit all your secondaries by July. Consider all these schools:
Vermont
Quinnipiac
Albany
New York Medical College
Penn State
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
GW
Eastern Virginia
Virginia Commonwealth
Oakland Beaumont
Western Michigan
Medical College Wisconsin
St. Louis
Creighton
Tulane
Arizona (Tucson and Phoenix)
any new private schools that open for 2018 (Roseman, Seton Hall, etc.)
Also apply to at least 6 DO schools and you are competitive for all DO schools. Some schools require a DO LOR.
 
When you apply again apply in June and submit all your secondaries by July. Consider all these schools:
Vermont
Quinnipiac
Albany
New York Medical College
Penn State
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
GW
Eastern Virginia
Virginia Commonwealth
Oakland Beaumont
Western Michigan
Medical College Wisconsin
St. Louis
Creighton
Tulane
Arizona (Tucson and Phoenix)
any new private schools that open for 2018 (Roseman, Seton Hall, etc.)
Also apply to at least 6 DO schools and you are competitive for all DO schools. Some schools require a DO LOR.

Thanks for the list. Thanks for reminding about the application timeline. I mean, I managed to be pretty early this past cycle. I don't want to jump the gun though. Maybe take another gap year? Oh it's so painful waiting. I just don't want to be completely spastic.
 
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