MD Reapply in June or sit out a year? Help (3.4/31 MCAT)

[hopefloatsss]

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[487806]

Hi guys,
So first time posting here. I graduated from Yale with a AMCAS cGPA of 3.5 and a sGPA of 3.4. I have a ton of leadership, clinical experience (clinics, foreign, hospitals, etc), and worked 2 years as a Peace Corps Volunteer of sorts/currently work full-time in a related-field till June. I'm a foreign student and not super financially secure.

I was complete at most schools early-September, and right now, have 1 II at my alma mater & 1 small-pool, but lots of rejections.

I know it's a reach to think about medical school in the US, but bear with me. The "weak" parts in my application are my GPA & my MCAT & no research & potentially LOR (I didn't know the faculty as well as I could have).

If this cycle doesn't work out, I'll need to either go back to school or get a job to stay in the US. I could easily stay at my job, I don't want to since it will add nothing new to my resume, especially the needed GPA or MCAT. I don't know what to do in June.

I was thinking restudying for my MCATs June and July, but what do I after then? I currently don't have a job lined up.

Would jobs in health care consulting help me (this was the field I was interviewing for when I was still an undergrad)? Should I retake my MCAT? Should I try to work in a lab - will they even hire foreigners without research experience? Go to a post-bacc program? Or structure my own? If so, what programs are good enough or reputable enough to pay 45k+ for/take out loans? I'm not sure if my application (as imperfect as it is) is so weak to warrant a MS degree. But I could be wrong. Any advice? Ideas?

I'm just having a lot of problems/doubt about the future, and the last thing I want to do is to be kicked out the country or waste another year when I don't need. What are your thoughts, SDN? Should I reapply immediately this June since I applied late? Or figure something out and sit out a year? Help me make a back up plan.

... what is your MCAT (and subsection) score?

 

[hopefloatsss]

... what is your MCAT (and subsection) score?

31 (10V/10PS/11BS)

Not great. I'll add that up there!

 

[gyngyn]

Are you a permanent resident?

 

[hopefloatsss]

Are you a permanent resident?

Nope. Straight visa-holding international student.

 

[gyngyn]

Nope. Straight visa-holding international student.

Bummer.

 

[solitarius]

If you're thinking about grad school, is SMP anywhere in your calculations?

 

[487806]

Are you a permanent resident?

Nope. Straight visa-holding international student.

Bummer.

Yeah I really hate to admit it, but sorry OP. You're international status is definitely holding you back. Although, I don't recommend retaking a balanced 31. Your sGPA, however, is a bit low and may potentially be holding you back.

I'm hesitant in suggesting a postbacc/SMP, but OP, did you apply too top-heavy?

 

[gyngyn]

Yeah I really hate to admit it, but sorry OP. You're international status is definitely holding you back. Although, I don't recommend retaking a balanced 31. Your sGPA, however, is a bit low and may potentially be holding you back.

I'm hesitant in suggesting a postbacc/SMP, but OP, did you apply too top-heavy?

Yes. Additionally,the challenge for internationals is that even if they apply to every MD school that will accept an application, most of them are very selective. A merely good candidate is at a huge disadvantage. The downstream challenges of getting them a residency slot have recently become almost insurmountable for student affairs deans.

 

[hopefloatsss]

Yeah I really hate to admit it, but sorry OP. You're international status is definitely holding you back. Although, I don't recommend retaking a balanced 31. Your sGPA, however, is a bit low and may potentially be holding you back.

I'm hesitant in suggesting a postbacc/SMP, but OP, did you apply too top-heavy?

A lot of the schools that accept international students are really selective schools (UChicago, Einstein, Sinai, Brown, etc) but I tried to make my list as balanced/lower-tier as possible (more median MCAT scores of 29, 30).. I feel like I would be more competitive with a 34/35 so am thinking of retaking my 31 (I was working 60+ hours when I studied and took it this year) - but do you think this is a bad idea? And was thinking of an SMP...but as it's so costly, I don't know if it'd really be worth it. What are your thoughts? (Thanks for your help btw)

Yes. Additionally,the challenge for internationals is that even if they apply to every MD school that will accept an application, most of them are very selective. A merely good candidate is at a huge disadvantage. The downstream challenges of getting them a residency slot have recently become almost insurmountable for student affairs deans.

I know, which is why I'm in a tight bind now. All my friends from Yale who are at Med School are very serious researchers with 37s on their MCAT, so I don't know if tehh best fiz for my App would be my MCAT or GPA. Slash My alma mater LOVES international students and they are interviewing me, but I don't know if I can count on it as I hear you need roughly 3 interviews to guarantee an admittance, and I only have one right now... Would you recommend beefing up the app before reapplying in June, or reapplying in June while doing a SMP or something?

Thanks for all your advice, guys.

 

[nemo123]

I would say to retake the MCAT if you think you are capable of scoring significantly higher (36+) (i.e. your practice test average comes out to 36 or higher). Being an international makes it so much more difficult for you to get into med school here and you will want to improve your MCAT given your GPA as well.