Reapplying Advicce

[arrowhead1]

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Hey everyone,

Here's my situation. Since I had to retake my MCAT I didn't get my primary application processed until September. After that my last secondary went in around November. Fast forward to present day and here I sit with no interviews and only two schools I have yet to hear from.

Here were my stats going in:
- MCAT: 29 (PS:9, VR:10, BS:10), 27 (PS:8, VR:9, BS:10)
- GPA: 3.5 (BCPM: 3.4)
- 2 years biochemistry research
- 3 years as an EMT (Collegiate EMS group, 2 years as an officer)
- 1 summer with a Medical Brigade to Honduras (ran triage and shadowed doctors)
- 2 years doing chemistry presentations for local schools
- 1 year as a photographer for our paper

For the next time around I will have a paper published for my research (2nd author) as well as additional patient contact from working at a local free clinic.

I talked to my school's career counselors and she said the problem was that I applied too late. While I agree that this was a major issue, I was wondering if perhaps she was sugar coating the situation a bit.

Basically I guess I want to know:
1. What I should do to increase my chances of getting in next round?
2. Should I rewrite my personal statement and EC descriptions?
3. What about secondaries?

Thanks in advance!

 

[alphasyn]

Hey everyone,

Here's my situation. Since I had to retake my MCAT I didn't get my primary application processed until September. After that my last secondary went in around November. Fast forward to present day and here I sit with no interviews and only two schools I have yet to hear from.

Here were my stats going in:
- MCAT: 29 (PS:9, VR:10, BS:10), 27 (PS:8, VR:9, BS:10)
- GPA: 3.5 (BCPM: 3.4)
- 2 years biochemistry research
- 3 years as an EMT (Collegiate EMS group, 2 years as an officer)
- 1 summer with a Medical Brigade to Honduras (ran triage and shadowed doctors)
- 2 years doing chemistry presentations for local schools
- 1 year as a photographer for our paper

For the next time around I will have a paper published for my research (2nd author) as well as additional patient contact from working at a local free clinic.

I talked to my school's career counselors and she said the problem was that I applied too late. While I agree that this was a major issue, I was wondering if perhaps she was sugar coating the situation a bit.

Basically I guess I want to know:
1. What I should do to increase my chances of getting in next round?
2. Should I rewrite my personal statement and EC descriptions?
3. What about secondaries?

Thanks in advance!

may i ask where you've applied to this cycle?

your ECs are decent, GPA not bad, very surprised that you receive no interviews at all. i think completing ur application late is one of the biggest problems....and maybe the fact that your 2nd mcat went down is another contributing factor...

i think for the next round, not only you need to apply ASAP, preferably by 6/1, but also broadly, if you haven't done so already.

you don't realli need to change much of the EC descriptions, but definitely put some more emphasis on your newer ones. you should probably change the personal statement a little bit to account for the changes in your exposure and view of medicine over the past year.

good luck!

 

[xgalaxy00]

wow, OP, your situation and credentials are very similar to mine (including the EMT part, although I've only been doing it for about a year). I applied a little late too (I applied 14 MD schools september/october and 4 DO schools in november). I got 2 DO interviews with 1 waitlist and 1 yet to hear back from. I also got one interview MD that I have yet to hear back from.

I think advice could be similar to the both of us. Apply earlier, more broadly. I also took a gap year though and it's looking that I might not be successful this round so I'm getting ready for another cycle.

Does anyone have any advice for me? What should I do this next year??

I have been accepted to the Loyola SMP program so I'm pretty sure I'm going to go that rout and apply again right away. Does anyone think I should retake the MCAT (9VR 10PS 11BS)? Also, if I get accepted to a DO school, would it be stupid to turn it down and apply again MD/DO. I didn't like that school much after I visited during the interview. I just don't think it was a good fit for me. I also think I have a good shot going MD next year, which I would prefer.

Sooooo, sorry for hijacking your thread arrowhead1! 🙄