I must say - discovering this forum may have been the best thing to ever happen to me. You guys are so supportive and honest with each other. I'm a med school hopeful, but also a rejectee of this current cycle. I'm doing the best I can to enhance my application for next cycle, but would really love some input. Here's the low-down:
I am not considered a "traditional" student. I started college August 2002 as a psychology major. After a rough first year of college and a couple years of being a good student, I ended up transferring schools (wasn't very happy with the first one) and figuring out I wanted to be a doctor. It seemed completely logical after I realized it too... like, "Hey, why didn't I think of this before?" I also found a deep love of biochemistry and changed my major. Well, after starting over in a new major at the end of my junior year, I had to stick it out a little longer to get all my pre-med requirements and finally graduated in December 2007.
I took my first MCAT examination in May 2007. I used my textbooks to study. Bad idea. I only scored a 23 (VR/PS/BS 9/6/8) Q 😱. Ouch. I decided to study Kaplan and take it again in September. More Ouch 7/8/8 R 😱. I was pretty beaten up about this and took the test a third time. 9/7/9 N 😕. Still not good. I STILL applied to medical school. I managed to land 2 interviews and was even wait-listed at one school. I also got secondaries from schools that normally screen their applicants, so I assume something about my application was appealing.
GPA 3.5, Cumulative (BEST) MCATs 26R, Lots of research experience (but in biofuels and cycloaddition reactions), Community service, Volunteering, and I worked full-time almost completely through undergrad.
Here is what I have done to enhance my application:
1. I have enrolled in an ExamKrackers study plan. I have every book and spend every minute I can studying. I am retaking the test. In my interviews, I was asked it I had considered taking it again. I took this as a sign that if I REALLY go into this next test super-prepared, I can increase. My problem before wasn't the material as much as i was the feat of BEATING the test. So I'm doing a lot of AAMC practice tests and 1001 MCAT problems from EK books. I got the material locked down
... I just need to improve my delivery. I am a lot more confident now that I was previously and take the test May 2nd of this year.
2. I finally found a doctor that is letting me shadow! This was an uphill battle, mainly because of HIPPA (according to the docs that said they just couldn't do it...). It's not in the field I am interested in, but it is exposure to medicine none-the-less! (Another question I got in both interviews was "So, you haven't shadowed a doc, what makes you think you should be one?")
3. I went ahead to the Red Cross and got my CPR/AED certification. I know it isn't much, but I also work full-time so I take what I can get where I can get it!
Am I crazy for trying to see this doctor thing through? It is my passion - it is exactly what I know I want to do. I just feel like no medical school will take me seriously after 4 MCAT administrations.
Any tips? Help? Any fellow rejected-determinees?
I am not considered a "traditional" student. I started college August 2002 as a psychology major. After a rough first year of college and a couple years of being a good student, I ended up transferring schools (wasn't very happy with the first one) and figuring out I wanted to be a doctor. It seemed completely logical after I realized it too... like, "Hey, why didn't I think of this before?" I also found a deep love of biochemistry and changed my major. Well, after starting over in a new major at the end of my junior year, I had to stick it out a little longer to get all my pre-med requirements and finally graduated in December 2007.
I took my first MCAT examination in May 2007. I used my textbooks to study. Bad idea. I only scored a 23 (VR/PS/BS 9/6/8) Q 😱. Ouch. I decided to study Kaplan and take it again in September. More Ouch 7/8/8 R 😱. I was pretty beaten up about this and took the test a third time. 9/7/9 N 😕. Still not good. I STILL applied to medical school. I managed to land 2 interviews and was even wait-listed at one school. I also got secondaries from schools that normally screen their applicants, so I assume something about my application was appealing.
GPA 3.5, Cumulative (BEST) MCATs 26R, Lots of research experience (but in biofuels and cycloaddition reactions), Community service, Volunteering, and I worked full-time almost completely through undergrad.
Here is what I have done to enhance my application:
1. I have enrolled in an ExamKrackers study plan. I have every book and spend every minute I can studying. I am retaking the test. In my interviews, I was asked it I had considered taking it again. I took this as a sign that if I REALLY go into this next test super-prepared, I can increase. My problem before wasn't the material as much as i was the feat of BEATING the test. So I'm doing a lot of AAMC practice tests and 1001 MCAT problems from EK books. I got the material locked down
... I just need to improve my delivery. I am a lot more confident now that I was previously and take the test May 2nd of this year. 2. I finally found a doctor that is letting me shadow! This was an uphill battle, mainly because of HIPPA (according to the docs that said they just couldn't do it...). It's not in the field I am interested in, but it is exposure to medicine none-the-less! (Another question I got in both interviews was "So, you haven't shadowed a doc, what makes you think you should be one?")
3. I went ahead to the Red Cross and got my CPR/AED certification. I know it isn't much, but I also work full-time so I take what I can get where I can get it!
Am I crazy for trying to see this doctor thing through? It is my passion - it is exactly what I know I want to do. I just feel like no medical school will take me seriously after 4 MCAT administrations.
Any tips? Help? Any fellow rejected-determinees?
