Roast My App

[migi23]

Well, I have only had 1 interview at this point so Im thinking I about reapplying. Id love some feedback on what you guys think went wrong with my app this cycle. All suggestions greatly appreciated!!!

cGPA 3.5 & sGPA 3.48 at UC Santa Barbara. MCAT 517 (128/127/130/132)

IL resident, first generation Polish immigrant

Research: ~300 hours

• Genetics research assistant at ESF SUNY lab summer before freshman yr (200 hrs)
• **remote** Neuroscience research at UCSB (data analysis and lit review, didn't do much) (~100 hrs)

Shadowing:

• 70 hours internal medicine
• 56 hours cardiology

Volunteering:

• 105 hours nonclinical (science tutoring for underserved kids)
• 355 hours clinical

Employment:

• 800 hours as a medical assistant/ Polish-English medical interpreter (at time of application)
• 110 hours as COVID-19 lab tech

Extracurriculars:

• 110 hours Learning Assistant (Human Physiology class)
• Member American Medical Student Association for 4 yrs

LORs:

• one from professor who I was a learning assistant for
• one from my research coordinator
• one from writing teacher who I loved
• I think they are all strong

Other notes:

• organized the community in my grandparents home town in Poland to create and sign a petition to get the water quality checked one summer
• Studied abroad in Spain, completed full Spanish language series
• Immigrant
• Bilingual (English/Polish), comfortable Spanish, conversational French

I am currently in my gap year continuing working as a medical assistant and Polish-English medical interpreter. I am also doing some clinical research on the side. I am not sure what to do from here— I am thinking about taking online courses through UCLA's extension program while continuing working. Do I need more research? I don't have much wet lab work at all. I feel like I also need more non clinical volunteering? But I'm not sure if I will have time to do all that if I enroll in a full time post bacc to boost my GPA. Pls help haha. School list below

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[UniqueInterview]

There's nothing to roast man keep your head up!

 

[deleted1108356]

I think I saw you post on Reddit and if I remember correctly, the only issue was that your school list is both top heavy and low yield. I would have applied to more low or mid tier universities that are out of state friendly like Wayne State, New York Medical College, University of Illinois, etc

 

[wysdoc]

I'm going to move your post over to the WAMC forum where you will get more comments.

 

[migi23]

I'm going to move your post over tot he WAMC forum where you will get more comments.

thank you!! Im not good at navigating this site yet hahaha

 

[candbgirl]

It’s your list of schools. Did you use the MSAR to develop your list? You have so many schools listed that are really out of your league. Your GPAs are below average for matriculated students. For example Northwestern average GPA for accepted students is 3.9 and MCAT 519. You are nowhere near the GPA. Your MCATis very nice - congrats. But the dissonance between your GPAS and your MCAT might make ADCOMS wonder about the scores. You also have several schools that accept very few nonresidents. OOS public schools almost always favor their own residents. Your nonclinical volunteering needs work. You need to get out of your comfort zone and off campus. Find a homeless shelter, soup kitchen etc where you will come face to face with people who are unlike yourself and really need help. And you need more hours too.
If you have to reapply you should consider some DO schools too. But only if you will attend one if it is your only acceptance. It’s only December so you may yet hear back from some schools. What was the result of your interview?
As the cycle moves forward look closely at the MSAR and see stats for GPAs , MCAT and really important how many OOS residents schools have accepted over the last several cycles. Good luck.

 

[migi23]

It’s your list of schools. Did you use the MSAR to develop your list? You have so many schools listed that are really out of your league. Your GPAs are below average for matriculated students. For example Northwestern average GPA for accepted students is 3.9 and MCAT 519. You are nowhere near the GPA. Your MCATis very nice - congrats. But the dissonance between your GPAS and your MCAT might make ADCOMS wonder about the scores. You also have several schools that accept very few nonresidents. OOS public schools almost always favor their own residents. Your nonclinical volunteering needs work. You need to get out of your comfort zone and off campus. Find a homeless shelter, soup kitchen etc where you will come face to face with people who are unlike yourself and really need help. And you need more hours too.
If you have to reapply you should consider some DO schools too. But only if you will attend one if it is your only acceptance. It’s only December so you may yet hear back from some schools. What was the result of your interview?
As the cycle moves forward look closely at the MSAR and see stats for GPAs , MCAT and really important how many OOS residents schools have accepted over the last several cycles. Good luck.

thank you for your detailed feedback, I appreciate it! I was waitlisted at the shcool I interviewed at

 

[Goro]

Well, I have only had 1 interview at this point so Im thinking I about reapplying. Id love some feedback on what you guys think went wrong with my app this cycle. All suggestions greatly appreciated!!!

cGPA 3.5 & sGPA 3.48 at UC Santa Barbara. MCAT 517 (128/127/130/132)

IL resident, first generation Polish immigrant

Research: ~300 hours

• Genetics research assistant at ESF SUNY lab summer before freshman yr (200 hrs)
• **remote** Neuroscience research at UCSB (data analysis and lit review, didn't do much) (~100 hrs)

Shadowing:

• 70 hours internal medicine
• 56 hours cardiology

Volunteering:

• 105 hours nonclinical (science tutoring for underserved kids)
• 355 hours clinical

Employment:

• 800 hours as a medical assistant/ Polish-English medical interpreter (at time of application)
• 110 hours as COVID-19 lab tech

Extracurriculars:

• 110 hours Learning Assistant (Human Physiology class)
• Member American Medical Student Association for 4 yrs

LORs:

• one from professor who I was a learning assistant for
• one from my research coordinator
• one from writing teacher who I loved
• I think they are all strong

Other notes:

• organized the community in my grandparents home town in Poland to create and sign a petition to get the water quality checked one summer
• Studied abroad in Spain, completed full Spanish language series
• Immigrant
• Bilingual (English/Polish), comfortable Spanish, conversational French

I am currently in my gap year continuing working as a medical assistant and Polish-English medical interpreter. I am also doing some clinical research on the side. I am not sure what to do from here— I am thinking about taking online courses through UCLA's extension program while continuing working. Do I need more research? I don't have much wet lab work at all. I feel like I also need more non clinical volunteering? But I'm not sure if I will have time to do all that if I enroll in a full time post bacc to boost my GPA. Pls help haha. School list below

You need nonclinical volunteering here in the US. Especially for those less fortunate than yourself.

Any rising GPA trends? Your Gpas are ~0.3 basis points below median for MD acceptees.

If you thought that your MCAT score would remediate your GPAs, you were mistaken.

You should have had some DO schools on your list, given the GPAs.

What was your school list?

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Definitely agree with @candbgirl 's advice... tutoring is overrepresented among premed applicants, so while the population is in need, it doesn't show that you really can get out of a comfort zone unless you are teaching in a City Year or TFA capacity.

You have a lot of clinical experience hours but I don't know what experiences were truly meaningful that would make you desirable for a medical school community.

Hopefully something happens in your favor. All you need is one offer, even from the one school that waitlisted you.