Reapplication advice/WAMC

[jm29]

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Hello everyone, I plan on reapplying this 2026/2027 cycle and I was hoping to get advice on my chances, school lists, and gap year ideas.

My last cycle (2025/2026) for primarily MD/PhD programs did not go as well as I hoped due to many reasons: a very late application (early October completion), small school list, and not having a cohesive application. This cycle I am interested in applying to both MD and MSTP programs

General Info/Stats:

1. GPA: ~3.75, sGPA: ~3.80
2. MCAT: 520 (132/127/130/131) (1st try 511)
3. CA resident
4. ORM
5. Senior at a top public school (UCLA/UC Berkeley/UMich)
6. 320 hours of patient facing clinical volunteering at a safety net hopsital
7. 3600 hours across two labs.
   1. First Lab: One middle author preprint that has been submitted to a IF 16 journal. A few coauthor abstract/posters at national conferences and 1 first author poster at a institutional conference.
   2. Second Lab: 3 ML/BioE conference papers (2 international, 1 local). 1 has been published, 2 are preprinted. 1 journal submission in process (will preprint before submitting the application). 5+ poster/presentations. All work from this lab is first author work. Plus, one provisional patent application.
8. ~100 hours of shadowing across a few specialties (onc, nsgy, etc)
9. 180 hours connecting underprivileged families to resources (such as food banks, ESL courses etc), ~270 hours improving medical transparency/accessibility
10. 250+ hours in leadership and mentorship in medical related club, 150 hours in a biomedical summer academy, intramural/club soccer
11. A few research awards/grants/recognitions
12. Last cycle I submitted my primary early June, however, my PI from a different institution did not submit their letter until October (in hindsight I should have requested the LOR through interfolio prior to submitting my primary). As a result I gave up on submitting most of my secondaries cutting my school list in half. I ended up with 1 interview at a T50 MSTP program and an interview waitlist for the UMich MSTP. Unfortunately, that interview turned into an R.

Most of the changes in my application from the last cycle are increased hours in my clinical, non-clinical, and research along with much more research output.

I would like to pursue academic medicine and be involved in medical research. While my application is research heavy, I feel like an MD/PhD might not be necessary for my situation as I want to be involved in medical AI/ML research.

My interest in medicine started with precision medicine, with the idea of creating personalized, targeted treatments, but through family experiences and clinical volunteering, I've realized that medicine is so much more than just treating a disease, and I want to be involved in the process guiding the person through it.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Welcome to the forums.

Where did you apply last cycle, and what were your results (interview, waitlist, rejection post-interview)?

Regarding research, is what you have listed your current situation? What was the status of these projects when you submitted your application before? When was your 520 MCAT, vs. 511 MCAT?

 

[jm29]

Pre-II rejection: UCSF, UCLA, UCSD, USC, Stanford, UW, Colorado, Rochester, UTSW, Baylor, Indiana, Yale, Columbia, Cornell, WUSTL, UNC
Interview waitlist: U Michigan
Rejection post-interview: UTHSCSA

I know that this school list is heavy, but I had submitted to the more competitive places before I was going to submit to more target schools.

Yes, what I have listed on this post is all my current situation; I currently work for Lab 2. When I applied last cycle, I only had one conference paper and 5 abstracts/posters.

My 511 MCAT was in August 2024, and my 520 MCAT was in January 2025.