Reapplication Help

[knark]

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Coming to the end of my second application cycle. Currently sitting with one (hopeful) waitlist and one pre-II hold. Really at a loss for what to work on in preparation for reapplication other than trying to bulk up my hours. I applied very narrowly to MD-PhD programs my first cycle, tried to apply more broadly this go round. My writing was definitely bad the first cycle and I was slow submitting secondaries. This year I felt like (or at least hope) my writing was much better, and all secondaries were back within 2 weeks.

Stats: cGPA 3.81, sGPA 3.78, MCAT 518 (131, 130, 129, 128)

Clinical work: Medical scribe ED (550 hours, just reapplied for scribing in outpatient setting)

Volunteer: Hospital volunteer (40 hours), premed peer advisor (24 hours), honors college orientation leader (30 hours), bits and pieces (around another 40 hours), 130-140 hours total

Research: somewhere around 4000 hours, 3 publications (though not first author), 4 poster presentations, 2 oral presentations, undergraduate research thesis, 4 funded grants/fellowships

Extracurriculars: vice president of undergraduate research club, handful of other leadership positions and honor societies, around 300 hours of leadership

LOR: feel like I have pretty solid LORs, one is possibly somewhat generic but I had long, positive working relationships with the other writers

School list: Albany, Albert Einstein, Columbia, Emory, Quinnipiac, Geisel, Icahn, Johns Hopkins, Feinberg, Ohio State, Perelman, Vermont, Saint Louis, Tufts, USF Morsani, Uniformed Services, Arizona Tucson, Cincinnati, Connecticut, Iowa, Maryland (instate), Massachusetts, Minnesota, UNC Chapel Hill, Oklahoma, Pittsburgh, USC Greenville, UVA, Wisconsin School of Medicine, Vanderbilt, Wake Forest, Yale

I just left a research technician position at the end of the year to try to bulk up my clinical, shadowing, and volunteer hours though most of the hospitals near me, as of writing, have restricted their programs. I’m hoping for this to improve as omicron settles down. Feeling massively unmotivated and demoralized currently as I was hoping this cycle would be more successful.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[SpoiledMilk]

Your metrics and ECs are fine. How many IIs did you get the first and 2nd app?

 

[knark]

First go around was 2 interviews leading to 2 waitlists. These were late in the cycle, both towards the end of January. This cycle was MD-only and I've had 1 interview (in October) leading to a waitlist and 1 pre-II hold.

 

[SpoiledMilk]

Based on your metrics and ECs, you should have gotten more IIs. Therefore, I suspect your writing has not improved as much as you think, your interviewing skills need some refining, and your LORs might not be as solid. If you don't get off the waitlist this cycle, then you should continue with your ECs, look into getting other LORs, and while I do not generally advise applicants to pay for a professional service, since it will be your 3rd cycle, to hire a professional service to help you with your writing and interview skills. Lastly, don't get discouraged. Keep at it!

 

[candbgirl]

You seem to have no dedicated shadowing. Try to pickup some shadowing with a primary care doc. And your nonclinical volunteering is supposed to push you out of your comfort zone. Yours has left you comfortably involved in campus activities. Nonclinical volunteering should focus of helping the unserved/underserved in your community. You have to be able to show ADCOMS that you are comfortable dealing with all kinds of people at their very worst. You don’t seem to have done that. And I agree with looking at your interview/writing skills still needing work. Maybe take a year off from applying and really rebuild your application so it stands out. Your stats are excellent and your research is strong. But there is really nothing that you have shared that indicates you even want to be a doctor.

 

[SpoiledMilk]

This is for my own reference, but can't OP's work as a medical scribe substitute for lack of shadowing?

 

[candbgirl]

This is for my own reference, but can't OP's work as a medical scribe substitute for lack of shadowing?

I suppose but it is narrow and in this case focused on ED. And did qualify my statement by saying “ no dedicated shadowing”. Many ADCOMS on here suggest some exposure to primary docs where longitudinal patient care can be seen .ED is exciting but there isn’t a chance for patients to develop relationships with the docs.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

... your nonclinical volunteering is supposed to push you out of your comfort zone. Yours has left you comfortably involved in campus activities. Nonclinical volunteering should focus of helping the unserved/underserved in your community. You have to be able to show ADCOMS that you are comfortable dealing with all kinds of people at their very worst. You don’t seem to have done that.

^^^ This is why you didn't get more bites. If it's your writing, I would really work harder with your references, prehealth advisors, writing center grad students, and your connections with current med students who hopefully you have received some help in the last two cycles.

If research is that important to you, consider biomedical Ph.D. programs run at medical schools as well.

 

[stickgirl390]

Also supporting more community service in non-medical related fields, working with disadvantaged populations. Also would consider doing a mix of MD and DO for round 3. Your stats/application is solid, and you got interviews both cycles so there are no big red flags. I don’t think you’re doing anything wrong, I think you’re just blending in with a sea of equally competitive applicants.

 

[voxveritatisetlucis]

if you’re a Maryland resident, you should have substituted the following schools for private schools within your stats range.

Minnesota
UNC
USC Greenville
Connecticut
Oklahoma
Wisconsin
Arizona

Many of the private schools should have also been substituted, including

Hopkins
Columbia
Feinberg
Vanderbilt
Yale
Icahn

Or you could have kept them and added some mid tier private schools

Why these schools but no
Brown
Hofstra
Jefferson
Miami
USC
BU

 

[TheKid7Yessir]

I had a similar situation. Around same ECs with more shadowing and nonclin volunteering. 1 II / 30 schools.520X 3.97GPA

It's tough out here