Rejected from med schools 2 years ago. What are my chances now?

[PatientDoc1997]

Hi everyone. As the title says, I applied to medical school during college back in 2019-2020 and was not accepted. For starts, I truly did not know what I was doing then... I went to a large (but academically well-respected) university, and the pre-health advisors were awful. But I've lived and learned! Are my chances decent this time around?

Undergrad:
Graduated in 2020 from top 5 public university. 3.93 GPA. BS Biomedical Engineering. Successfully defended honors thesis. 2 years of highly-involved, very independent lab experience. Currently an author on one published paper, likely another within the coming year. About 100 hours of direct patient contact clinical experience. Several EC's and activities. Took the MCAT and received a 509.

Since graduating:
Been working as teacher in a diverse, well-regarded public school district the past 2 years. Lots of experiences/skills there. Retook the MCAT and received 516. Currently enrolled in EMT course on the weekends and will be working as an EMT starting ~July until (hopefully) med school.

Other info:
24/F, Member of LGBT community. Personal/first-hand experience as a patient (I literally owe my life to healthcare). Based on all the research and reading I've done, my personal statement seems to be decent.



Obviously, there are no guarantees and this whole process is a bit of a crapshoot. However, I'm feeling far more confident the second time around. Interested to hear what everyone thinks here! Thoughts? Advice? Insights? Thank you and good luck to everyone getting ready to apply this cycle 😊

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[LindaAccepted]

Hi everyone. As the title says, I applied to medical school during college back in 2019-2020 and was not accepted. For starts, I truly did not know what I was doing then... I went to a large (but academically well-respected) university, and the pre-health advisors were awful. But I've lived and learned! Are my chances decent this time around?

Undergrad:
Graduated in 2020 from top 5 public university. 3.93 GPA. BS Biomedical Engineering. Successfully defended honors thesis. 2 years of highly-involved, very independent lab experience. Currently an author on one published paper, likely another within the coming year. About 100 hours of direct patient contact clinical experience. Several EC's and activities. Took the MCAT and received a 509.

Since graduating:
Been working as teacher in a diverse, well-regarded public school district the past 2 years. Lots of experiences/skills there. Retook the MCAT and received 516. Currently enrolled in EMT course on the weekends and will be working as an EMT starting ~July until (hopefully) med school.

Other info:
24/F, Member of LGBT community. Personal/first-hand experience as a patient (I literally owe my life to healthcare). Based on all the research and reading I've done, my personal statement seems to be decent.



Obviously, there are no guarantees and this whole process is a bit of a crapshoot. However, I'm feeling far more confident the second time around. Interested to hear what everyone thinks here! Thoughts? Advice? Insights? Thank you and good luck to everyone getting ready to apply this cycle 😊

Do you have clinical exposure prior to the EMT work? Any leadership roles? Community service?

 

[PatientDoc1997]

Do you have clinical exposure prior to the EMT work? Any leadership roles? Community service?

Yes, I volunteered for about 100 hours at my university's NICU. Very hands-on in terms of interacting with the babies, their families, and healthcare workers.

Several leadership roles. Besides being a high school teacher and mentoring/working with students, I was project lead in college for our university's Engineers Without Borders team. I helped facilitate a community service project abroad while serving as project lead. Also served as president of my school's skydiving club (yes... I know). Served as a peer mentor for my school's BME program where I mentored younger engineering students and provided tours to prospective students and their families.

I think I hit the main ones that I will emphasize on my application. I appreciate your time and feedback!

 

[LindaAccepted]

You have an impressive profile (good stats, diversity elements, teaching experience, lots of research, impressive leadership and community service.). I am concerned about the relatively low amount of clinical exposure. If you had 100 hours of NICU experience that was two years ago, if I understand you correctly. You will hopefully complete your course and start EMT work in July, correct? Will the EMT work be full-time or part-time?

 

[PatientDoc1997]

You have an impressive profile (good stats, diversity elements, teaching experience, lots of research, impressive leadership and community service.). I am concerned about the relatively low amount of clinical exposure. If you had 100 hours of NICU experience that was two years ago, if I understand you correctly. You will hopefully complete your course and start EMT work in July, correct? Will the EMT work be full-time or part-time?

I really appreciate your feedback. I agree that my documented clinical exposure is a weakness. I do have a fairly good understanding of the clinical environment thanks to being a trauma surgery patient, but obviously that's different than being on the provider side.

Yes, the 100 hours was during the tail end of my college experience (it would have been far more hours had the pandemic not been a factor). Yes, I should complete the EMT course in June and probably won't have much issue finding an EMT job and starting soon after that. I will be doing that full time and I'm looking forward to it!

Thanks again for your feedback. I appreciate your time and advice!

 

[LindaAccepted]

You're most welcome.

FYI, unless you would find a second rejection devastating, I think you should proceed. You have a lot going for you, you have improved and will continue to improve your qualifications -- and you will be working full-time as an EMT come July.

 

[PatientDoc1997]

You're most welcome.

FYI, unless you would find a second rejection devastating, I think you should proceed. You have a lot going for you, you have improved and will continue to improve your qualifications -- and you will be working full-time as an EMT come July.

Thank you! I appreciate your time and insight. It's definitely been a journey. I'm planning to apply this cycle, so hopefully I'll have some success this time around.

Thanks again!

 

[chilly_md]

Limited clinical experience was what held you back the most last time. Projected hours as an EMT will not be very helpful. Did you shadow any physicians?

 

[PatientDoc1997]

Limited clinical experience was what held you back the most last time. Projected hours as an EMT will not be very helpful. Did you shadow any physicians?

I agree. That was definitely a weakness then, and is probably still a weakness now.

No, I have not formally shadowed any physicians. Just the NICU volunteering and upcoming work as a full-time EMT.

 

[chilly_md]

I agree. That was definitely a weakness then, and is probably still a weakness now.

No, I have not formally shadowed any physicians. Just the NICU volunteering and upcoming work as a full-time EMT.

I would take the year to gain the shadowing and EMT experience before applying. Aim for 50+ shadowing hours across different specialties.

 

[Darrow O'Lykos]

I agree that I think you need to increase your clinical exposure before reapplying. Projected exposure will not help you over the course of the upcoming cycle.

If you could ramp it up and get another 50-100 hours by mid summer, I’d say even that would be enough to be able to apply. If that isn’t feasible though, you should wait to apply until next year.

 

[PatientDoc1997]

I agree that I think you need to increase your clinical exposure before reapplying. Projected exposure will not help you over the course of the upcoming cycle.

If you could ramp it up and get another 50-100 hours by mid summer, I’d say even that would be enough to be able to apply. If that isn’t feasible though, you should wait to apply until next year.

That's fair. I reached out to an EM doc I know, so I'll see if I can line up some formal shadowing with him between now and June.

I appreciate the feedback! Do you know if med schools are being more lenient with the clinical hours and shadowing due to the pandemic? In my area, restrictions were only just recently relaxed. I don't think they were even allowing volunteers/shadowing until a couple months ago.

 

[gyngyn]

That's fair. I reached out to an EM doc I know, so I'll see if I can line up some formal shadowing with him between now and June.

Longitudinal care shadowing is what we are looking for.
Perhaps your friend knows folks in IM, FM or peds.

 

[chilly_md]

That's fair. I reached out to an EM doc I know, so I'll see if I can line up some formal shadowing with him between now and June.

I appreciate the feedback! Do you know if med schools are being more lenient with the clinical hours and shadowing due to the pandemic? In my area, restrictions were only just recently relaxed. I don't think they were even allowing volunteers/shadowing until a couple months ago.

You were a student before the pandemic started and could also have worked in a clinical job the past 2 years. I would not expect medical schools to be lenient, particularly when you need clinical experience to know if you want to be a physician.

 

[PhD_to_DO]

As others have stated, your weakness is in clinical experience. It’s tough to get shadowing now but if you can get 40 or more hours, that would be useful. Do you have a PCP or OB? You might ask them if you can shadow (I was able to get 120 hours shadowing my PCP, a cardiologist, and a pediatrician). And once you complete your EMT training, if you can amass 800+ hours, that would be useful to your chance of earning a seat. You could take your chances with applying this cycle but with the weakness in your clinical experience, your results *may* not be any better than yourvprevious cycle. Don’t rush this.