Reapplication Advice

[something.short]

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Hello, I came into this cycle thinking I was a really strong applicant (my MCAT was 522, GPA 3.96) but ended up only getting one interview and was waitlisted. I submitted my primary only a week after it opened and all my secondaries 2-4 weeks from receiving them. I am currently in my first gap year working as an MA at an ENT office which I really genuinely love, but I'm debating whether I should do research (my last app leaned research-focused) or apply to work at clinics that focus on underserved communities instead. Any advice on what I could've done different for the next cycle and what I should do for the next academic year would be greatly appreciated.

California resident, ORM
MCAT: 522
GPA: 3.96, majored in Microbiology at public uni in California

Clinical (600 hours total):
- Shadowed at multi-specialty practice (100 hours)
- MA for an ENT (500 hours)

Volunteer (220 hours total):
- Meal delivery + other stuff for cancer nonprofit (60 hours)
- VP of uni club that raised money for the local food bank (100 hours)
- Educated and played with kids at free child development center (60)

Research (830 hours total):
- Neuro research, no pubs, 1 poster presentation (600 hours)
- Research internship at a clinic, no pubs (230 hours)

Other ECs:
- Caretaker for grandparents all of my freshman year (999 hours)
- TA'ed for a lab immersion class for two quarters (120 hours)
- Interned at a nutrition supplement startup, wrote educational material (200 hours)
- Data entry job at a nonprofit that researches hate crimes (30 hours)
- Barista'd (200)

School list:
Hackensack
Albert Einstein
SUNY Downstate
USC (ii -> W)
NYMC (hold)
UCLA (R)
Tufts (R)
Cornell (R)
Johns Hopkins (R)
Kaiser (R)
Columbia (R)
Thomas Jefferson (R)
UMD (R)
Northwestern (R)
George Washington (R)
UCSD (R)
NYULI (R)
UCI (R)
Mount Sinai (R)
UChicago (R)
UCSF (R)
NYU (R)
Georgetown (R)
BU (R)
Stanford (R)
Hofstra (R)

Thanks in advance for any help or advice!

 

[Faha]

What were your clinical and non clinical hours when you applied ?

 

[something.short]

All of the hours that I wrote were from my AMCAS primary application, so I’ve gained more over the past year but this is what the schools are seeing

What were your clinical and non clinical hours when you applied ?

 

[Faha]

You should accumulate another 100+ hours of non clinical volunteering such as food bank, homeless shelter, etc. before you reapply. Otherwise, you could be screened out at some schools (which appears to have happened during your current cycle).
I suggest these schools if you reapply:
Vermont
Tufts
Boston University
UMass
Yale
Rochester
Hofstra
Einstein
Mount Sinai
U Penn
Pittsburgh
Jefferson
U Virginia
Duke
Emory
USF Morsani
Miami
Vanderbilt
Washington University (in St. Louis-almost a guaranteed interview with your stats)
St. Louis
Northwestern
U Michigan
Cincinnati
Case Western
Ohio State
Iowa
Colorado
Arizona (Phoenix)
Kaiser
California University
USC Keck
The UCs (except Riverside unless you are from that region)

 

[Mr.Smile12]

It seems you wanted brand name schools. Your service orientation hours were too low. You need at least 150 hours of food distribution, shelter volunteer, job and tax preparation, legal support, transportation services, or housing rehabilitation when you submit your application, or your file could be screened out at most schools.

However for those applicants going for brand name schools, you should have at least 250 to be on pace with your peers. So you actually should get an additional 200 hours of meal delivery before you submit again. Did you accumulate those hours during the last application cycle?

Fundraising does not qualify. You must be involved with direct service to those in need.

 

[LindaAccepted]

I agree about the too low community service hours. You need more.

I would also suggest that you have your essays reviewed. If you are making mistakes in presenting your experiences and non-academic qualifications, you want to know about them so that you can fix them next time around.

 

[ophthoaspirant]

Even if you improved community service hours, nothing outside of your stats really stands out and being an ORM from CA makes it worse to some degree. I would focus on USNWR Tier 2 and Tier 3 schools (10% Tier 1, 30% Tier 2, 60% Tier 3).