Reapplicant: Please tell me how I can improve my App for the upcoming cycle

[bagel_]

Hi there, I'm new to SDN, but have been following these threads for quite a while. I applied for the 2018-2019 cycle with a 3.62 and a 511 from a UC.
Here is my school list:
Rejected
Boston University
USC
University of Washington —
University of Arizona Phoenix
University of Pittsburg
stony brook university
UCSF
drexel
UCLA
CUSM
Tufts
Stanford
Rosalind Franklin at Chicago Medical School
UC Davis
UC riverside
UCSD
GW
Ohio Health and Science University
Quinnipac University
UMass
UPenn
UC Irvine
University of Arizona tucson

Holds:
Penn State, Loyola Stritch

Nothing Yet: FAU, MCW, Rush, SUNY Downstate, Central Mich, Lewis Katz, UVM Larner, Emory, Wayne, Rutgers, EVMS, Albany, Rowan Uni, Cal Northstate

Extracurriculars:
120 hours at hospital volunteering (not continuous),
200+ hours of shadowing an internist,
200 hours of non-clinical volunteering with PreHealth Conferences and The Pantry,
1 year of leadership at the Bioethics Club I founded,
6 month job as a research advisor,
2 years of lab research at a molecular bio lab, no pubs, poster presentation at a conference

I applied after my third year of college and graduated early, but now I have no acceptances and am looking for ways to improve my app other than rewriting all of my essays.
My new GPA: 3.593 with MCAT 511
-do I need to retake my MCAT or apply for an SMP?

Activities that I plan to add to my app:
1. Hospice Volunteer for 6 months, contact with patients
2. Telemetry Tech training and hopefully a job
3. Summer research mentor for Underserved high school students who want to foray into STEM.
4. International medical camp at Faridabad, Delhi and Gujarat with heavy patient contact for 6 weeks. (rural experience)

I felt that looking back, my school list was not very thought out and my extracurriculars with clinical experience was weak. Hence, I am looking to improve these aspects. But, any other advice on other aspects of my app would be very very helpful. I am looking to apply to the 2019-2020 cycle. Any advice would be great!

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[Ad2b]

1. How old is your MCAT
2. Take off the following schools:

Pitt
UCSF
Emory
Boston
UPenn
Tufts
Boston
Stanford
USC - presume Keck?
and possibly all the UC's ... just from what I've seen on here, UC's are heavily IS and high end stats people

Where is your state of residence? Did you use the WARS or LM to help with school list? Have you purchased the MSAR?

Activities you plan to add (1, 3) are excellent in my op. The medical camp might or might not be depending on what it really is.

 

[bagel_]

1. How old is your MCAT
2. Take off the following schools:

Pitt
UCSF
Emory
Boston
UPenn
Tufts
Boston
Stanford
USC - presume Keck?
and possibly all the UC's ... just from what I've seen on here, UC's are heavily IS and high end stats people

Where is your state of residence? Did you use the WARS or LM to help with school list? Have you purchased the MSAR?

Activities you plan to add (1, 3) are excellent in my op. The medical camp might or might not be depending on what it really is.

Hi thank you so much for replying! I took my MCAT in Jan 2018
I am instate for California which is why I applied to all my state schools though i may not be very well qualified for them
I used LizzyM (score 68) and MSAR for school list going by the 25th to 75th percentile.
The med camp gives me hands on experience with doctors who work with underserved populations in India. The camp is coordinated by Plan My Gap Year and is pretty cheap

Also, do you recommend using a personal admissions counselor for the app cycle? If so, which one?

 

[Ad2b]

You don't need to pay anyone for admission's counseling. You have sitting adcoms on this forum who will chime in (both MD and DO) and their advice is free

 

[bagel_]

You don't need to pay anyone for admission's counseling. You have sitting adcoms on this forum who will chime in (both MD and DO) and their advice is free

I know that there are some, but how do I get them to see this post so that they can offer advice? Pretty new to this system TBH

 

[Ad2b]

It's still working hours for them and I don't know what their after hours responsibilities are so can't comment on when they'll see this

That said, you could ask a moderator to move this to the WAMC section where they all look (it seems)... just be patient with them and the others who will surely chime in to help.

 

[lalalaaaaaa]

Look into applying to some DO schools next cycle. And by "look into" I mean 100% apply to some DO schools. This means you need to shadow a DO for a LOR at some programs. Make sure you have people read your PS (the PS readers on SDN are solid). Rewrite everything in your app.

 

[bagel_]

Look into applying to some DO schools next cycle. And by "look into" I mean 100% apply to some DO schools. This means you need to shadow a DO for a LOR at some programs. Make sure you have people read your PS (the PS readers on SDN are solid). Rewrite everything in your app.

Thank you! I am for sure going to apply to DO apps this coming cycle, did a huge mistake by ignoring them this cycle. I have a LOR from a DO already, just need to email her to ask her to submit it AACOMAS. Which schools do you recommend? Where can I find the PS readers on SDN?

 

[bagel_]

It's still working hours for them and I don't know what their after hours responsibilities are so can't comment on when they'll see this

That said, you could ask a moderator to move this to the WAMC section where they all look (it seems)... just be patient with them and the others who will surely chime in to help.

do i 'report post to moderator' to move it to WAMC?? Or how else? Sorry if this is a silly question

 

[Ad2b]

do i 'report post to moderator' to move it to WAMC?? Or how else? Sorry if this is a silly question

I think you can just click the "report to moderator" and ask them to move it to the What Are My Chances section. You'll get answers

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Moving to WAMC.

 

[sameersingh]

So given that your GPA is a bit lower, you might want to think about applying to a post bac. Many of them also give mcat help too so you can get the score up (which isn't bad already). Since you graduated early, you can take lots of time to improve your app. If you advanced to the interview phase and got rejected then you might want to do more interview prep

 

[candbgirl]

You probably should at least think about taking a gap year. Are the four things you listed completed activities or are you projecting them to be completed next year? Rethink the international trip(if you haven’t done it). You can do something right here in the USA for underserved people and it will be way more impressive to ADCOMS. Did you use the MSAR to develop your list? It seems like you have a lot of OOS public schools schools on your list. You should focus on Private schools. Public schools favor their own residents. Apply to several
DO schools.

 

[bagel_]

You probably should at least think about taking a gap year. Are the four things you listed completed activities or are you projecting them to be completed next year? Rethink the international trip(if you haven’t done it). You can do something right here in the USA for underserved people and it will be way more impressive to ADCOMS. Did you use the MSAR to develop your list? It seems like you have a lot of OOS public schools schools on your list. You should focus on Private schools. Public schools favor their own residents. Apply to several
DO schools.

Hi! I have already started volunteering for hospice and I think by the time I apply my primaries and secondaries, I will have a significant amount to share. My summer job is finalized and I have already started interacting with staff and students to develop a project. Finally, I have registered for the Telemetry Tech training and anticipate landing a job in mid-April. This is probably the only activity that has not been nailed down yet. I havent done the international trip yet, but did want some experience with the underserved as I think that is one of the major themes with the UCs since I am a Cal resident. Did you have any suggestions to any organizations that I could go to? I used MSAR for the list and I agree that the list had some unneeded publics. Any DO schools you suggest?

 

[bagel_]

So given that your GPA is a bit lower, you might want to think about applying to a post bac. Many of them also give mcat help too so you can get the score up (which isn't bad already). Since you graduated early, you can take lots of time to improve your app. If you advanced to the interview phase and got rejected then you might want to do more interview prep

I wasn't too sure about the postbacc because I was told by my health professions advising that its for people with 3.2 and lower. Also, I'm not too sure I will be able to get my score up from where it is. It will be a huge risk to take the test again and score the same or lower. (i already referenced Princeton, and Khan Academy the first time around.) I did get one interview for this cycle and got rejected, so I probably need help there and with my essays...idk. this process is so confusing, but thank you for replying.

 

[candbgirl]

Hi! I have already started volunteering for hospice and I think by the time I apply my primaries and secondaries, I will have a significant amount to share. My summer job is finalized and I have already started interacting with staff and students to develop a project. Finally, I have registered for the Telemetry Tech training and anticipate landing a job in mid-April. This is probably the only activity that has not been nailed down yet. I havent done the international trip yet, but did want some experience with the underserved as I think that is one of the major themes with the UCs since I am a Cal resident. Did you have any suggestions to any organizations that I could go to? I used MSAR for the list and I agree that the list had some unneeded publics. Any DO schools you suggest?

For service to the unserved/underserved look at soup kitchens, homeless shelters, tutoring at underprivileged schools , coaching a sports team for poor kids, spending time at a camp for disabled kids, volunteer at the Ronald McDonald house , Habitat for Humanity, etc, etc.. Almost any activity that shows your altruism . You don’t need to go to a foreign country. And in fact you shouldn’t go for volunteering. By all means travel but skip the volunteering.

As to appropriate DO schools I’m going to tag @Goro and @Faha for their help with area. Good luck.

 

[bagel_]

For service to the unserved/underserved look at soup kitchens, homeless shelters, tutoring at underprivileged schools , coaching a sports team for poor kids, spending time at a camp for disabled kids, volunteer at the Ronald McDonald house , Habitat for Humanity, etc, etc.. Almost any activity that shows your altruism . You don’t need to go to a foreign country. And in fact you shouldn’t go for volunteering. By all means travel but skip the volunteering.

As to appropriate DO schools I’m going to tak @Goro and @Faha for their help with area. Good luck.

thank you!! Those are great suggestions! I'll look into them right away.

 

[Goro]

Hi there, I'm new to SDN, but have been following these threads for quite a while. I applied for the 2018-2019 cycle with a 3.62 and a 511 from a UC.

University of Washington —
University of Arizona Phoenix
stony brook university
UCSF
UCLA
Stanford
UC Davis
UC riverside
Ohio Health and Science University
UMass
UPenn
University of Arizona tucson
FAU, SUNY Downstate, Central Mich, Rutgers, Rowan Uni, Cal Northstate

The above were all donations

-do I need to retake my MCAT or apply for an SMP?
No and no

Activities that I plan to add to my app:
1. Hospice Volunteer for 6 months, contact with patients
Very good

2. Telemetry Tech training and hopefully a job
Employment is always good

3. Summer research mentor for Underserved high school students who want to foray into STEM.
I'm not OK with this. Get OFF campus and out of your comfort zone

4. International medical camp at Faridabad, Delhi and Gujarat with heavy patient contact for 6 weeks. (rural experience)
Medical tourism. Do not do this.

I felt that looking back, my school list was not very thought out and my extracurriculars with clinical experience was weak.
All of your service ECs were weak.

Here are some suggestions:
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.

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.

 

[Faha]

The majority of the schools you applied to were not realistic with your stats. I suggest these MD schools when you reapply:
Vermont
Quinnipiac
New York Medical College
Seton Hall
Penn State
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
George Washington
Eastern Virginia
NOVA MD
Oakland Beaumont
Western Michigan
Rosalind Franklin
Loyola
St. Louis
Creighton
Tulane
California University
Loma Linda
Kaiser (when it opens)
UC Davis
UC Irvine
Also apply to at least 10 DO schools and you are competitive for all DO schools.

 

[sameersingh]

I wasn't too sure about the postbacc because I was told by my health professions advising that its for people with 3.2 and lower. Also, I'm not too sure I will be able to get my score up from where it is. It will be a huge risk to take the test again and score the same or lower. (i already referenced Princeton, and Khan Academy the first time around.) I did get one interview for this cycle and got rejected, so I probably need help there and with my essays...idk. this process is so confusing, but thank you for replying.

What you can also do is apply to a masters program like UCSF's biomedical imaging one that are geared towards people who are close to getting in but didn't. I think the average GPA for admissions there is a 3.4.

 

[BMC11]

I wasn't too sure about the postbacc because I was told by my health professions advising that its for people with 3.2 and lower. Also, I'm not too sure I will be able to get my score up from where it is. It will be a huge risk to take the test again and score the same or lower. (i already referenced Princeton, and Khan Academy the first time around.) I did get one interview for this cycle and got rejected, so I probably need help there and with my essays...idk. this process is so confusing, but thank you for replying.

Not 100% certain that you could even be a candidate for a postbac program. I was a TA in Bryn Mawr’s program for three years and at the time they only accepted candidates who had not taken the majority of the premedical prerequisite courses (a few had taken one, most had taken zero). It was a one year intensive premed curriculum hell. Since you’ve already applied to Med school, I’m assuming you took bio, orgo, Gen chem, and physics already (and there’s no grade replacement option on MD applications so a retake wouldn’t do much).

 

[bagel_]

Not 100% certain that you could even be a candidate for a postbac program. I was a TA in Bryn Mawr’s program for three years and at the time they only accepted candidates who had not taken the majority of the premedical prerequisite courses (a few had taken one, most had taken zero). It was a one year intensive premed curriculum hell. Since you’ve already applied to Med school, I’m assuming you took bio, orgo, Gen chem, and physics already (and there’s no grade replacement option on MD applications so a retake wouldn’t do much).

Hi! Thank you for replying. Yes, I did take all of those classes in my first two years and scored a majority of As and A-s with a couple Bs. So, I don't know how I could drastically improve with a retake. This is why I was a little wary about a post-bacc or SMP.

 

[Imperatrice]

Hi! Thank you for replying. Yes, I did take all of those classes in my first two years and scored a majority of As and A-s with a couple Bs. So, I don't know how I could drastically improve with a retake. This is why I was a little wary about a post-bacc or SMP.

If you're in the OC area, try checking out the Lestonnac Free Clinic. They have most of their locations in OC, but also have some in LA and Riverside areas.

 

[gp2]

We have similar stats and also CA resident from UC. Good luck with reapplying! I am wondering did you get any interviews from the UCs at all? What was your experience as far as UC schools?