Second Opinions Needed

[JohnWill30]

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I have applied to the last cycle and have gotten 1 interview and then a rejection letter. I'm hoping for some constructive criticism and to know which areas I should improve going forward for the next cycle.

I had a 504 on the new test.
129 on biology (93 percentile)
127 in chem/phys (79 percentile)
125 in psych/soc (55 percentile)
123 in CARS (33 percentile)

3.65 GPA from University of Kansas, Organismal Biology major with an even better science GPA.

130 hrs volunteering in the ER with half of the hours training new volunteers.
30 hours shadowing various doctors.
I am continually working on these two so I will have likely 200 hrs volunteer and 50+ shadow hours for the next cycle.

Leadership role in a community service organization for 2 years.
Organized many events through the school and community. These include health fairs, bone marrow drives, that sort of thing.
Service organization recruited volunteers that logged over 1,000 hours over a year.
Won "Best student organization for community service" award

Attended leadership conference and was a part of many volunteer events with some in a leadership role and some not.

No research experience but that will change this semester and hopefully will continue over the summer.

I have a possibility of getting a small article published which I will be actively trying to work on this semester.

I am an Illinois resident and applied to all 7 Illinois schools. Also applied to KU, Saint Louis, Colorado Boulder, Cincinnati, Medical College of Wisconsin.
Going forward I will be continually working on everything stated above. I will also likely be tutoring a little this semester. I will probably retake the MCAT due to the CARS score. Other than that just seeing what might be other areas to improve. Thanks everyone!

 

[md-2020]

Your overall MCAT is too low for most MD programs

CARS obviously being the especially red flag

 

[efle]

I have applied to the last cycle and have gotten 1 interview and then a rejection letter. I'm hoping for some constructive criticism and to know which areas I should improve going forward for the next cycle.

I had a 504 on the new test.
129 on biology (93 percentile)
127 in chem/phys (79 percentile)
125 in psych/soc (55 percentile)
123 in CARS (33 percentile)

3.65 GPA from University of Kansas, Organismal Biology major with an even better science GPA.

130 hrs volunteering in the ER with half of the hours training new volunteers.
30 hours shadowing various doctors.
I am continually working on these two so I will have likely 200 hrs volunteer and 50+ shadow hours for the next cycle.

Leadership role in a community service organization for 2 years.
Organized many events through the school and community. These include health fairs, bone marrow drives, that sort of thing.
Service organization recruited volunteers that logged over 1,000 hours over a year.
Won "Best student organization for community service" award

Attended leadership conference and was a part of many volunteer events with some in a leadership role and some not.

No research experience but that will change this semester and hopefully will continue over the summer.

I have a possibility of getting a small article published which I will be actively trying to work on this semester.

I am an Illinois resident and applied to all 7 Illinois schools. Also applied to KU, Saint Louis, Colorado Boulder, Cincinnati, Medical College of Wisconsin.
Going forward I will be continually working on everything stated above. I will also likely be tutoring a little this semester. I will probably retake the MCAT due to the CARS score. Other than that just seeing what might be other areas to improve. Thanks everyone!

URM? If you're white/asian your MCAT (equivalent to ~27 or 28) is probably sinking you, especially CARS, since it's coupled with an average GPA and no research.

 

[JohnWill30]

URM? If you're white/asian your MCAT (equivalent to ~27 or 28) is probably sinking you, especially CARS, since it's coupled with an average GPA and no research.

I am white. I will be retaking the MCAT barring any unexpected interviews. Hoping that some research experience and a better MCAT score will really benefit my chances.

 

[candbgirl]

Did you apply DO? Your GPA is average, MCAT is below average for MD and your ECs are weak at best. You might have been auto screened from most schools with your MCAT. And your CARS score is between a 6-7. It's not really surprising you haven't had much luck. Your GPA might be okay with a much better MCAT score a buffing up your ECs a bit. Try to get a 510+ on your next attempt. And spend time looking at DO schools. You'd be a good fit stats wise.

 

[JohnWill30]

Did you apply DO? Your GPA is average, MCAT is below average for MD and your ECs are weak at best. You might have been auto screened from most schools with your MCAT. And your CARS score is between a 6-7. It's not really surprising you haven't had much luck. Your GPA might be okay with a much better MCAT score a buffing up your ECs a bit. Try to get a 510+ on your next attempt. And spend time looking at DO schools. You'd be a good fit stats wise.

I will be applying DO for the next cycle. I wasn't listing every EC just giving general experience. I will be looking into DO's a lot more going forward.

 

[robin911]

Another factor may be low level of patient-care experiences.

 

[Goro]

Focus everything on improving your MCAT score.

These are the only schools I would you expect to have any luck with using your current MCAT:

Quinnipiac
Oakland U Beaumont
WVU
EVMS
Rosy Franklin
MCW
Creighton
NYMC
VCU
Rush
Loma Linda (but read their list of don'ts)
Albany
U KS
Your state school(s).
Don't bother with SIU unless you're from southern IL.
Any DO school (beggars can't be choosy)


invest in MSAR Online if you haven't done so already, and pay very careful attention to the Acceptance information pages.

I have applied to the last cycle and have gotten 1 interview and then a rejection letter. I'm hoping for some constructive criticism and to know which areas I should improve going forward for the next cycle.

I had a 504 on the new test.
129 on biology (93 percentile)
127 in chem/phys (79 percentile)
125 in psych/soc (55 percentile)
123 in CARS (33 percentile)

3.65 GPA from University of Kansas, Organismal Biology major with an even better science GPA.

130 hrs volunteering in the ER with half of the hours training new volunteers.
30 hours shadowing various doctors.
I am continually working on these two so I will have likely 200 hrs volunteer and 50+ shadow hours for the next cycle.

Leadership role in a community service organization for 2 years.
Organized many events through the school and community. These include health fairs, bone marrow drives, that sort of thing.
Service organization recruited volunteers that logged over 1,000 hours over a year.
Won "Best student organization for community service" award

Attended leadership conference and was a part of many volunteer events with some in a leadership role and some not.

No research experience but that will change this semester and hopefully will continue over the summer.

I have a possibility of getting a small article published which I will be actively trying to work on this semester.

I am an Illinois resident and applied to all 7 Illinois schools. Also applied to KU, Saint Louis, Colorado Boulder, Cincinnati, Medical College of Wisconsin.
Going forward I will be continually working on everything stated above. I will also likely be tutoring a little this semester. I will probably retake the MCAT due to the CARS score. Other than that just seeing what might be other areas to improve. Thanks everyone!

 

[bunchesonothing]

If you go Rush, make sure to bone up on your clinical and volunteer hours. They sent out notices that their average matriculant will have something like 600 to 800 volunteer hours and over 1000 clinical hours.