Reapplicant questions

[woodcoffee]

Hi! I'm a reapplicant for the 2020-2021 cycle but there's something I want to scope out before submitting.

My GPA is 3.5 and MCAT 510, was placed on hold pre interview last cycle for Tulane, Drexel, George Washington, Medical College of Wisconsin, and Penn State. 700 clinical hours (with patient interaction), almost 1000 volunteer hours and two years of neuroscience and clinical psychiatric research. I applied a little later in the cycle than I would have liked, secondaries completed mid/late august. Does anyone have insight on why the holds might have happened and whether it makes sense to apply to those schools again? I have ~2000 new clinical experience hours as neurology clinical researcher and a new A in a physics course but that's about it.

I'm applying to mostly DO schools this round but want to try a few MD as well and want to optimize for the schools I'll be submitting to. Thanks in advance for your help!!


*edited to add some more info

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Goro]

Poor LORs
Weak or badly written essays
Weak but not lethal EC hours

You did NOT apply late.
Your clinical hours may not be actually clinical exposure. Did you interact with patients? Do anything for them? Merely enrolling them in studies makes them research subjects, not patients.

 

[KnightDoc]

Hi! I'm a reapplicant for the 2020-2021 cycle but there's something I want to scope out before submitting.

My GPA is 3.5 and MCAT 510, was placed on hold pre interview last cycle for Tulane, Drexel, George Washington, Medical College of Wisconsin, and Penn State. I applied later in the cycle, late july - secondaries completed mid august. Does anyone have insight on why the holds might have happened and whether it makes sense to apply to those schools again? I have ~2000 new clinical experience hours as neurology clinical researcher and a new A in a physics course but that's about it.

I'm applying to mostly DO schools this round but want to try a few MD as well and want to optimize for the schools I'll be submitting to. And I'm preparing to submit early this upcoming week, as soon as my new personal statement is ready. Thanks in advance for your help!!

Timing was definitely not your issue last year. The holds were very likely due to a marginal GPA and MCAT, which you have not addressed (one A is not going to move the needle). 2000 clinical hours will be great -- what was the number before, and is this a weakness that was addressed? It's great, but it's not going to fix a 3.5/510, assuming those schools weren't impressed with those numbers.

Applying DO will definitely address the obvious issue. No way to know for sure whether or not the new PS and 2000 hours will provoke a different result at those schools unless you take another shot. You have nothing to lose except time and money.

 

[Sky138]

If you have decent/strong letters, my bet is that it’s your writing style or perhaps how you sold yourself. I think a lot of those schools are very service based which could be an issue if you sold yourself as a top notch researcher.

 

[woodcoffee]

Poor LORs
Weak or badly written essays
Weak but not lethal EC hours

You did NOT apply late.
Your clinical hours may not be actually clinical exposure. Did you interact with patients? Do anything for them? Merely enrolling them in studies makes them research subjects, not patients.

Ah yes thank you! I'm hoping maybe a more patient focused extracurricular descriptions will help me make a better impression but I'm unsure whether I would just be placed on hold from the very start if reapplying with the same scores/GPA

 

[Goro]

Ah yes thank you! I'm hoping maybe a more patient focused extracurricular descriptions will help me make a better impression but I'm unsure whether I would just be placed on hold from the very start if reapplying with the same scores/GPA

You need to have DO schools on your list.

 

[HouseJC]

Ah yes thank you! I'm hoping maybe a more patient focused extracurricular descriptions will help me make a better impression but I'm unsure whether I would just be placed on hold from the very start if reapplying with the same scores/GPA

As someone who comes from a research background (I'm doing a PhD in neuroscience and immunology) and applying for medical school, one thing that was hard (and took me a while to change in my essay themes) is to go from a research mindset to a patient-caring mindset. When I wrote my PS, I got **** on by medical students that critiqued my essay, so I changed it to be more patient-focused. Since you had a strong research theme (and assuming your PS highlighted your research interest), maybe some Adcoms were thinking, "hmm, why isn't he/she doing a PhD instead?"

Since you have a strong research background, have you considered the MD/PhD?

A lot of schools on their secondary essays will ask how your application has changed from your previous rounds. So, while it is key to say that you have 2000 more hours of clinical research, can you quantify that in some way? (i.e. I have 2000 more hours of research experience, which gave me the opportunity to conduct research and present at ___ conferences and have ___ publication(s)). I'm on the Admissions Committee in my department's graduate program and that is one way of how we assess re-applicants.

Just my .02. Good luck

 

[DrStephennmnm]

As someone who comes from a research background (I'm doing a PhD in neuroscience and immunology) and applying for medical school, one thing that was hard (and took me a while to change in my essay themes) is to go from a research mindset to a patient-caring mindset. When I wrote my PS, I got **** on by medical students that critiqued my essay, so I changed it to be more patient-focused. Since you had a strong research theme (and assuming your PS highlighted your research interest), maybe some Adcoms were thinking, "hmm, why isn't he/she doing a PhD instead?"

Since you have a strong research background, have you considered the MD/PhD?

A lot of schools on their secondary essays will ask how your application has changed from your previous rounds. So, while it is key to say that you have 2000 more hours of clinical research, can you quantify that in some way? (i.e. I have 2000 more hours of research experience, which gave me the opportunity to conduct research and present at ___ conferences and have ___ publication(s)). I'm on the Admissions Committee in my department's graduate program and that is one way of how we assess re-applicants.

Just my .02. Good luck

He wouldn't stand a chance for MD/PhD due to his grades/MCAT.

 

[LindaAccepted]

Hi! I'm a reapplicant for the 2020-2021 cycle but there's something I want to scope out before submitting.

My GPA is 3.5 and MCAT 510, was placed on hold pre interview last cycle for Tulane, Drexel, George Washington, Medical College of Wisconsin, and Penn State. 700 clinical hours (with patient interaction), almost 1000 volunteer hours and two years of neuroscience and clinical psychiatric research. I applied a little later in the cycle than I would have liked, secondaries completed mid/late august. Does anyone have insight on why the holds might have happened and whether it makes sense to apply to those schools again? I have ~2000 new clinical experience hours as neurology clinical researcher and a new A in a physics course but that's about it.

I'm applying to mostly DO schools this round but want to try a few MD as well and want to optimize for the schools I'll be submitting to. Thanks in advance for your help!!


*edited to add some more info

Without reviewing your application it's really hard to say, but I'd look at a combination of:

1. Slightly below average numbers.
2. Probably a poor presentation of your credentials and experience via your essays, MME's, and activity descriptions.
3. Tought competition.

One basic piece of advice for this app: Don't just submit what didn't work last year.