My cycle breakdown for those interested:
First cycle: 29Q MCAT, 3.21 cGPA, 3.2ish sGPA. Applied to 15 schools, 2 DO iis, 2 straight up rejections. I was very stupid with how I applied and grossly misinformed by my advisor. Looking back I was lucky to get the interviews, but could have gotten in somewhere if I had been smarter/planned better.
Second cycle: Took a cycle off to focus on SMP grades then applied. Same stats. 35 applications (20 MD, 15 DO), 0 iis. The major reason for this was because even though I had around a 3.9 in my SMP first semester I had to take medical withdrawal in the second semester and finish up in the fall while I was applying. I contacted about 20 schools after they rejected me to ask what I needed to do to actually be competitive. Most said the biggest issue was the medical withdrawal, and about 7 or 8 said they would have given me an interview if they didn't think there was a chance I wouldn't finish med school due to health. I was told to finish the SMP and just reapply next cycle.
Third cycle: MCAT 29Q (expired), 28, 29. Best combined total was 32. Same undergrad GPA with a 3.77 graduate GPA. Applied to ~30 schools (20 MD, 10 DO). 3iis (2 DO, 1 MD). Got rejected from about 10 schools that cycle before I got my first ii, then I got 2 more iis. Went to my first interview (DO), absolutely loved the school, and thought I bombed the interview. I really hated myself for about 3 days until I realized I had 2 more interviews. Got a letter in the mail assuming it was a rejection and almost cried when I read 'congratulations'. Turns out our school sends acceptance letters instead of packets. I withdrew my app from the 2 other schools I had interviews at and everywhere else except 2 DO schools and 4 or 5 MD schools that I was interested in. Didn't get interviews at any of them (actually never heard back from most of them) but am very happy to have ended up at one of my top choice schools.
^That persistence though... respect sir/madam
Thank you it was (and continues to be) quite the journey.
So you guys who applied to like 20+ and 40+ schools, were your interviews all from the same type of place? Like, were they all your safety or least difficult schools to get into?
Or did you just randomly get into one of your top choices? I'm thinking of applying to ten, like the literally ten best chances (lowest MCAT, etc.) and seeing what happens to save money. Wonder where your acceptances/interviews were in in terms of your long list.
My stats were all over the place. For my MD ii it was a bit of a reach for my MCAT and undergrad GPA (basically every MD school was) even though it was a 'mid to low-tier school'. For DO my undergrad GPA was below average and my MCAT was above average, so I'd say stat-wise I was pretty average (these were at solid DO schools). I should also add that I had strong ECs, which I'm sure helped me out for DO but not as much for MD.
Apply broadly = stat-wise
I was rejected by most of my "safety schools" that I was 90th percentile or higher for stats... That's why everybody always says there are no true safety schools. You just never know.
Also, I think I've said this before, but I'd recommend 12-15 schools minimum for anyone. ^^^This happens far too often for anyone other than superstars (40+ MCAT, 3.9+ GPA with solid ECs) to feel comfortable applying to less schools than that...
. I'm thinking could have been much more strategic with the same result.
