Should I be prepared to reapply, and if so would this be enough

[everint]

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Sorry this is a lengthy post...I am making this thread because I would like to know if my planned activities would help me in gaining an acceptance to a medical school in the next cycle.

TL;DR: Will continuing the activities I highlighted in bold (see ECs section below), taking a couple of classes, and reaching out to the community as a music/memory ambassador be enough to show how determined I am to become a doctor? I feel that I would have a good chance at landing an acceptance at a DO school next year, but what about MD? Also, in case I don't trust the committee to write an updated committee letter on time (aka first day application system opens) for next year, would it be fine to submit individual LORs?

I have already applied to 20 schools for the 2014-2014 application cycle but only through AMCAS, ie. MD schools. I have only had one interview at a UC which resulted in a rejection, unfortunately, and they do not provide feedback post-interview either. As of today, no other interview invites. Thus, I feel that gaining an acceptance in 2015 is bleak.

I plan to apply to DO schools in the next cycle. The reason I didn't apply this year was because I did not have any DO shadowing experience by the time AMCAS was open and I need a DO letter to apply to most schools. I figure I have enough time to develop a good relationship with the DO I now shadow so that I can ask for a good letter of recommendation.

AMCAS Submitted June 18th
AMCAS Verified July 8th
Committee Letter uploaded August 26th (late because of the darn committee...apparently they are busy writing committee letters for other students in the program so my secondaries were completed on or after this date. I urged them to get it in earlier but they basically ignored me)

Stats
3.7 GPA (WES-verified; 3.51 GPA pre-WES) at a foreign university (4 years; 123 semester units)
4.0 GPA from community college courses taken during high school and post-bachelors (spread over ~5 years; 65 units excluding AP)
4.0 GPA from post-bacc program at a state university (2 years; 23 units)
Took MCAT twice: 1st score in June 2013 was 28 (PS 11, VR 7, BS 10), 2nd score in May 2014 was 33 (13/9/11)
CA resident
Asian
23 years old
Family income is comfortable but not very high, and I am not socioeconomically disadvantaged

ECs (dates are as of today, bold are continuing)
-work as a retail pharm tech (1.5 years, 20-25 hours per week)
-volunteer at hospital, talk to patients about their experience and quality of care they receive (2 years, 3 hours/week; ~170 hours)
-play piano as a volunteer at senior assisted living centers and hospice (6 months, 3 hours/week)
-physics tutor at state university (4 months, 3 hours/week)
-shadowing a DO family doctor (started this month, 10 hours so far)
-shadowed MD doctors (5 months, 45 hours: pediatric and adult allergist/immunologists, pediatric and internal medicine hospitalists)
-volunteered at Ronald McDonald house (8 months, 100 hours)
-completed senior thesis project involving stem cells, gave presentations on relevant journal articles (1 year, ~400 hours)
-assisted in bench lab on two projects (sickle cell anemia; rice glutelin) (1 year, 360 hours)
-officer and orientation leader of a biology club (2 years, 420 hours)
-activities coordinator and orientation leader of international student club (2 years, 180 hours)
-Leo club volunteer for social service activities (2 years, 300 hours)
-English tutor for elementary and middle school students in foreign country (1 year, 120 hours)
-traveled to many Asian and European countries; stayed in Barcelona for a month for Spanish language course
-fluent in English, intermediate-advanced in Chinese and Spanish
-hobbies: piano (9 years of active playing), violin (8 years), running, badminton, baking

I am currently taking piano literature and performance class at the community college and will be taking a intro to sociology class next semester because I am interested in learning about sociology (am thinking about getting an LOR from this professor for next cycle since I don't have any English/social science LORs) . In addition, I plan on being a Music and Memory ambassador, where I would talk to nursing coordinators at the local assisted living centers about becoming involved in the Music and Memory program. This seems like a great project because I would reach out to schools and my community about donating their old but usable iPods to benefit senior residents afflicted with dementia and Alzheimer's disease. I have emailed the volunteer coordinator of the hospice I volunteer for about this and am waiting for their reply.

Honors
full-tuition scholarship at foreign university
various other academic scholarships at same university

LOR/Committee letter:
-PI from senior thesis project
-PI from bench lab I volunteered for
-two letters from biology faculty (both PhDs) at foreign college and received As in their classes
-two letters from volunteer directors at hospital
-one from piano professor at community college

School list
All UCs except UC Riverside (no inland empire involvement)--2 rejections
USC (rejection)
All SUNYs in New York (one rejection and one hold)
Albert Einstein
Albany Medical College
New York Medical College
NYU (will be a rejection soon since interview season is ending)
University of Rochester (rejection)
Drexel (hold)
UPitt (rejection)
Quinnipiac
Tufts
Tulane (rejection)

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[spyke570]

So you have a solid GPA and MCAT retake score, so look for schools that look at the newest/best score. I think your biggest problem this year was the schools you applied to. UC schools are already tough as it is, so you needed to apply to more private OOS schools. Applying to SUNY schools aren't worth it as a a Cali resident, you would be better off applying to 5 other OOS private schools than them. Your app wasn't terribly late, but being in a month or even earlier would be that much helpful. With your new activities, you look pretty solid for both DO next cycle and MD as well.

So first thing is first: send in update letters if you haven't already of the new things you have started and really show passion in their program to possibly snag an interview this cycle. If you have to reapply: make sure you keep up with your bolded EC's and find a way to apply on the very first minute possible. Talk to your committee earlier to see if they could give you the letter ready for the very first day. If they can't, send in individual LOR but be ready to explain on secondaries why you were forgoing the committee (timing is generally an acceptable reason). Apply to more schools as you possibly can (30+ would be ideal if you can mentally, temporally, and financially do this) and outside of UC schools apply to many private schools at or a below your GPA/MCAT avg so you can be very competitive stat wise. If you run out of private schools to apply to, apply to OOS friendly state schools (like VCU, UVermont, new schools like UCF, WMIch, etc.).

I'm also a reapp from this year who got a 33 second time around and a similar GPA. I did similar changes you had done, things I listed above, as well as applying earlier. Applying earlier I think was enough to get more interviews and thus an acceptance. Just be ready to be open and mature about reapplying and things you learned about yourself if asked. Good luck!

 

[gyngyn]

You have maybe 7 schools where you had a fair chance at an interview. That's not usually enough for a CA applicant in your situation. An early application with at least a dozen OOS schools is more likely to be successful.

 

[everint]

Thanks @spyke570 and @gyngyn for your valuable input. I will learn from my mistakes and eliminate as many as possible for the next app cycle (ie. apply to 30+ MD schools including many OOS private schools, applying on first day, improving PS and secondaries with help of experienced people). I just hope my continued and new activities will be worth it!

Also, assuming I will be applying to DO schools next time, how many should I apply to? Thanks.

 

[deleted480308]

Are you a citizen? That causes some difficulties if you aren't

 

[everint]

Born and raised in CA, so yes

 

[DrMidlife]

Geez. Nothing wrong with this app. California is vicious.

 

[everint]

Geez. Nothing wrong with this app. California is vicious.

Haha, thanks that makes me feel a lot better but there is always room for improvement!

 

[gyngyn]

Thanks @spyke570 and @gyngyn for your valuable input. I will learn from my mistakes and eliminate as many as possible for the next app cycle (ie. apply to 30+ MD schools including many OOS private schools, applying on first day, improving PS and secondaries with help of experienced people). I just hope my continued and new activities will be worth it!

Also, assuming I will be applying to DO schools next time, how many should I apply to? Thanks.

Western and Touro should be enough as long as your OOS MD list is good.

 

[qwerty89]

VCU, MCW, SLU are very OOS friendly.

Your OOS schools were really bizzare.

 

[everint]

VCU, MCW, SLU are very OOS friendly.

Your OOS schools were really bizzare.

Looking back, I did apply to too many reach schools and thought I had a chance at the SUNYs without knowing that they aren't that OOS-friendly. Thanks for your suggestions, though!

Another question, if asked about ties to a particular state, would saying that one of my good friends lives there with their significant other help at all? For instance, one of my best friends lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with her fiancé, and my other close friend is moving to Detroit, Michigan with her boyfriend, and both plan to marry in the near future. I also have a few friends in the East Coast (NYC and Boston) whom I still keep in touch with. Or would it be more useful to say why I like that particular area? They do favor candidates who are likely to practice medicine there, no?

 

[cabinbuilder]

Looking back, I did apply to too many reach schools and thought I had a chance at the SUNYs without knowing that they aren't that OOS-friendly. Thanks for your suggestions, though!

Another question, if asked about ties to a particular state, would saying that one of my good friends lives there with their significant other help at all? For instance, one of my best friends lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with her fiancé, and my other close friend is moving to Detroit, Michigan with her boyfriend, and both plan to marry in the near future. I also have a few friends in the East Coast (NYC and Boston) whom I still keep in touch with. Or would it be more useful to say why I like that particular area? They do favor candidates who are likely to practice medicine there, no?

You are reaching for ties that aren't there. It will not help you. Apply smarter. Be sure your PS isn't just a rehash of your resume and says something about your determination and strengths you offer.

 

[Goro]

That's not a tie. A tie is that you grew up in or spent considerable time in that state. The med schools want you to eventually practice there, not visit your friends. Lot's of people like LA, that's not a good reason for USC or UCLA to admit them, though.

Another question, if asked about ties to a particular state, would saying that one of my good friends lives there with their significant other help at all? For instance, one of my best friends lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with her fiancé, and my other close friend is moving to Detroit, Michigan with her boyfriend, and both plan to marry in the near future. I also have a few friends in the East Coast (NYC and Boston) whom I still keep in touch with. Or would it be more useful to say why I like that particular area? They do favor candidates who are likely to practice medicine there, no?

Invest in MSAR Online and target schools whose median stats are closest to your own. Pay careful attention to the Acceptance Information page and school's missions. Do your homework. Apply strategically.

 

[DrMidlife]

For public schools, and some private, a "tie" means your parents paid taxes that fed the state's education budget, for a non-trivial amount of time (years).

Otherwise everybody has ties everywhere.

 

[everint]

Hi SDN community,

Just wanted to update that I received an acceptance to an MD school. A huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders and I am excited to being my journey.
However, if I were not to be accepted in this cycle, I would definitely do the suggested advice. Thank you so much, SNDers!

Everint