Should I bother applying?

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

Usurp the Coup

New Member
10+ Year Member
Joined
Mar 25, 2013
Messages
8
Reaction score
3
State of residence: Massachusetts
College: UMass Amherst
GPA: 3.55 (both my science GPA and my major GPA are ~3.55 as well)
MCAT: 33 (12 PS, 10 BS, 11 VR)
Major: Spanish

I applied to and was rejected last year by:
Harvard
Tufts
BU
UVM
Vanderbilt
URochester
GW
Georgetown
Brown
Dartmouth
LECOM (DO School)
UMass
NYMC

I was waitlisted by:
Quinnipiac
NOVA Southeastern (DO School)

Extracurriculars:
Big Brother Big Sister: 400 hours (+200 more from high school)
Soup Kitchen: 30 hours (I started this recently but quit it because I was hired at a new job)
EMT-B certified, but I have never practiced

Work experience:
Full-time this past year and a half as a dish room supervisor for a dining hall on campus
Part-time for 3 years of college (student telephone fundraiser)
Full-time summers the last two years of high school and the first year of campus (camp counselor)

As you can see, I am pretty strong academically but I am weak just about everywhere else. On top of that, I kinda screwed around my first two years of college until I decided I wanted to do medicine, so I have an F on my transcript (Calc II-2nd semester) and a W on my transcript (Intermediate macroeconomics-4th semester). I really did turn things around and got an A on 8/10 pre-med courses, including an A on both Orgo's.

The past year I was well assured by people that I would get into medical school so I decided to take whatever job and worked in the dish room (I hated it). And because of that I did nothing in the past year to improve my candidacy.

Here is what I have on the plate right now: I was just hired as a 40 hour/week ER Scribe and I am also a TA for an EMS class (began at the end of May).

So is it even worth it to apply this year considering the schools that rejected me last year? (I don't think I am going to apply DO again because I don't want to do primary care.) I know I applied to some really tough schools but I did not get an interview from my in-state school or other "lower tier" schools. Are schools going to look at the two new experiences I have added (scribe and TA for EMS) and say "that's good and all but see how you do with them first"?

If you were in my shoes, would you apply again? If so, what schools would you apply to? Also, might my candidacy be that much improved by waiting a year that I could get into better schools?

Thank you

Members don't see this ad.
 
Your stats are fine to get in somewhere, but I think your school list is ridiculously top heavy.

There isn't a ton of stuff in your application that says I want to be a doctor. Shadowing? Research? Clinical experiences? The scribbling will help. You also need to be more realistic about the schools you're applying to. Scribing will not get you into most of the schools you were rejected at. Mid and low tier, my friend. Also DO ≠ primary care.
 
Last edited:
School list was the problem. Buy an MSAR and apply to schools with medians in the same zip code as your numbers and you'll likely get some bites.
 
Members don't see this ad :)
Worth applying? Yes.

Worth applying to Harvard? No.

Rethink your school list, OP!
 
HOW did you get rejected from lecom and nova with your stats??? Their average mcat is like a 25 and you're way above that. Did you get rejected cause they knew you applied there as sort of a backup? I'm terrified now
 
HOW did you get rejected from lecom and nova with your stats??? Their average mcat is like a 25 and you're way above that. Did you get rejected cause they knew you applied there as sort of a backup? I'm terrified now

No idea. NOVA said they weren't impressed by my lack of clinical experience and didn't like how late I was to schedule my interview (which was not my fault). I did not get an interview from LECOM and yeah the only thing I can think of is that they figured they were a safety school for me (which they weren't). Either that or I'm just completely inadequate as an applicant (seems unlikely but can't rule anything out).

To everyone else, thank you for the advice. I have followed it. In case any of you are interested, here is my list of schools:

BU
Emory
Brown
UMass
Tulane
Wake Forest
Drexel
NYMC
Saint Louis U
UVM
Georgetown
Temple
VCU
Med College of Wisconsin
Loma Linda
Miami
USF
Jefferson
Missouri - Kansas City
Keck
East Virginia
Creighton
Louisville
Rosalind
University of Wisconsin
UAlbany

That's 26 colleges which would be 11 more than I applied to last time. I want to knock 6 off of that list, 20 seems like a good number.
 
State of residence: Massachusetts
College: UMass Amherst
GPA: 3.55 (both my science GPA and my major GPA are ~3.55 as well)
MCAT: 33 (12 PS, 10 BS, 11 VR)
Major: Spanish

I applied to and was rejected last year by:
Harvard
Tufts
BU
UVM
Vanderbilt
URochester
GW
Georgetown
Brown
Dartmouth
LECOM (DO School)
UMass
NYMC

I was waitlisted by:
Quinnipiac
NOVA Southeastern (DO School)

Extracurriculars:
Big Brother Big Sister: 400 hours (+200 more from high school)
Soup Kitchen: 30 hours (I started this recently but quit it because I was hired at a new job)
EMT-B certified, but I have never practiced

Work experience:
Full-time this past year and a half as a dish room supervisor for a dining hall on campus
Part-time for 3 years of college (student telephone fundraiser)
Full-time summers the last two years of high school and the first year of campus (camp counselor)

As you can see, I am pretty strong academically but I am weak just about everywhere else. On top of that, I kinda screwed around my first two years of college until I decided I wanted to do medicine, so I have an F on my transcript (Calc II-2nd semester) and a W on my transcript (Intermediate macroeconomics-4th semester). I really did turn things around and got an A on 8/10 pre-med courses, including an A on both Orgo's.

The past year I was well assured by people that I would get into medical school so I decided to take whatever job and worked in the dish room (I hated it). And because of that I did nothing in the past year to improve my candidacy.

Here is what I have on the plate right now: I was just hired as a 40 hour/week ER Scribe and I am also a TA for an EMS class (began at the end of May).

So is it even worth it to apply this year considering the schools that rejected me last year? (I don't think I am going to apply DO again because I don't want to do primary care.) I know I applied to some really tough schools but I did not get an interview from my in-state school or other "lower tier" schools. Are schools going to look at the two new experiences I have added (scribe and TA for EMS) and say "that's good and all but see how you do with them first"?

If you were in my shoes, would you apply again? If so, what schools would you apply to? Also, might my candidacy be that much improved by waiting a year that I could get into better schools?

Thank you
Id recommend shadowing a variety of physicians, I also wouldn't mention your not interested in primary care if anything you should convince the schools you have an interest in primary care.
 
No idea. NOVA said they weren't impressed by my lack of clinical experience and didn't like how late I was to schedule my interview (which was not my fault). I did not get an interview from LECOM and yeah the only thing I can think of is that they figured they were a safety school for me (which they weren't). Either that or I'm just completely inadequate as an applicant (seems unlikely but can't rule anything out).

To everyone else, thank you for the advice. I have followed it. In case any of you are interested, here is my list of schools:

BU
Emory
Brown
UMass
Tulane
Wake Forest
Drexel
NYMC
Saint Louis U
UVM
Georgetown
Temple
VCU
Med College of Wisconsin
Loma Linda
Miami
USF
Jefferson
Missouri - Kansas City
Keck
East Virginia
Creighton
Louisville
Rosalind
University of Wisconsin
UAlbany

That's 26 colleges which would be 11 more than I applied to last time. I want to knock 6 off of that list, 20 seems like a good number.
when did you submit your primary/set up your interview? Cause that sounds crazy, I think it's lecom's loss anyway. I would add penn state hershey to that list :)
 
You've never done anything in a hospital or shadowed a doctor? You gotta have something like that on the application. Not 8,000 hours, but something...
 
No idea. NOVA said they weren't impressed by my lack of clinical experience and didn't like how late I was to schedule my interview (which was not my fault). I did not get an interview from LECOM and yeah the only thing I can think of is that they figured they were a safety school for me (which they weren't). Either that or I'm just completely inadequate as an applicant (seems unlikely but can't rule anything out).

To everyone else, thank you for the advice. I have followed it. In case any of you are interested, here is my list of schools:

BU
Emory
Brown
UMass
Tulane
Wake Forest
Drexel
NYMC
Saint Louis U
UVM
Georgetown
Temple
VCU
Med College of Wisconsin
Loma Linda
Miami
USF
Jefferson
Missouri - Kansas City
Keck
East Virginia
Creighton
Louisville
Rosalind
University of Wisconsin
UAlbany

That's 26 colleges which would be 11 more than I applied to last time. I want to knock 6 off of that list, 20 seems like a good number.

The list doesn't seem bad but a 33 kind of sucks. It's not an insult because I only got a 31 but 33 is often too high to be taken serious at lower mcat schools and it's only average at a lot of schools. State schools with an average mcat of 30 might like you to fluff their stats a bit. And even though I thought your list looked okay (I'm assuming you have reasons for most of the choices like location, weather, class size, or whatever) I would probably start with BU, Emory, and Brown if you're looking to take 6 off. I'd guess your chances aren't great at those schools and Loma Linda is very religious in case you didn't already know that.
 
when did you submit your primary/set up your interview? Cause that sounds crazy, I think it's lecom's loss anyway. I would add penn state hershey to that list :)

If I remember I submitted my AACOM app in late July or August and submitted my secondary pretty much as soon as I got it. WRT NOVA, I got an e-mail from them in late December saying something to the effect of "Thank you for your interest in applying here. Because you did not respond to your invitation to interview within 10 days, we are withdrawing your invitation. Please e-mail back if this is in mistake." And it was in mistake, so being 10 days late with the interview invitation I had fewer dates to select from and by the time I figured out when I could visit (I have a lot of family in Ft. Lauderdale), the only date left was mid-March. Like I said, not really my fault, but lesson learnt: med school (DO included) is VERY competitive and you gotta take advantage of every edge.

^^That all sounds ridiculous, but don't let it deter you, I've never heard of anyone having something like that happen.



To the other guy, I was already hired to be an ER scribe full-time which starts soon, so I'm covered ;)
 
The list doesn't seem bad but a 33 kind of sucks. It's not an insult because I only got a 31 but 33 is often too high to be taken serious at lower mcat schools and it's only average at a lot of schools. State schools with an average mcat of 30 might like you to fluff their stats a bit. And even though I thought your list looked okay (I'm assuming you have reasons for most of the choices like location, weather, class size, or whatever) I would probably start with BU, Emory, and Brown if you're looking to take 6 off. I'd guess your chances aren't great at those schools and Loma Linda is very religious in case you didn't already know that.

Thanks. I did not know that about LL.

I figured with most state schools that the OOS students they take are going to be students that went to their university undergrad. Does anyone know if that's a false presumption?
 
The list doesn't seem bad but a 33 kind of sucks. It's not an insult because I only got a 31 but 33 is often too high to be taken serious at lower mcat schools and it's only average at a lot of schools. State schools with an average mcat of 30 might like you to fluff their stats a bit. And even though I thought your list looked okay (I'm assuming you have reasons for most of the choices like location, weather, class size, or whatever) I would probably start with BU, Emory, and Brown if you're looking to take 6 off. I'd guess your chances aren't great at those schools and Loma Linda is very religious in case you didn't already know that.
i don't think a 33 sucks, it's above average for most schools and definitely better than having a below average mcat
 
Members don't see this ad :)
Thanks. I did not know that about LL.

I figured with most state schools that the OOS students they take are going to be students that went to their university undergrad. Does anyone know if that's a false presumption?
true for most schools besides pennsylvania..they're a bunch of jerks who don't really give preference to their residents
 
If I remember I submitted my AACOM app in late July or August and submitted my secondary pretty much as soon as I got it. WRT NOVA, I got an e-mail from them in late December saying something to the effect of "Thank you for your interest in applying here. Because you did not respond to your invitation to interview within 10 days, we are withdrawing your invitation. Please e-mail back if this is in mistake." And it was in mistake, so being 10 days late with the interview invitation I had fewer dates to select from and by the time I figured out when I could visit (I have a lot of family in Ft. Lauderdale), the only date left was mid-March. Like I said, not really my fault, but lesson learnt: med school (DO included) is VERY competitive and you gotta take advantage of every edge.

^^That all sounds ridiculous, but don't let it deter you, I've never heard of anyone having something like that happen.



To the other guy, I was already hired to be an ER scribe full-time which starts soon, so I'm covered ;)
DO school is getting pretty competitive honestly. I had a friend with a 34 mcat not get accepted this cycle. I applied to LECOM-B and Nova and got rejected from both even though I felt pretty confident id at least get an interview. I am a Florida resident and went to undergrad (and SMP) at USF close to LECOM-B. I do know a couple people who got into Nova with mid 30 MCATs and I know DO schools place an emphasis on health care exposure which definitely hurt your application.
 
Last edited:
DO school is getting pretty competitive honestly. I had a friend with a 34 mcat not get accepted this cycle. I applied to LECOM-B and Nova and got rejected from both even though I felt pretty confident id at least get an interview. I am a Florida resident and went to undergrad (and SMP) at USF close to LECOM-B. I do know a couple people who got into Nova with mid 30 MCATs and I know DO schools place an emphasis on health care exposure which definitely hurt your application.
did they tell you why you got rejected?
 
did they tell you why you got rejected?
No but my MCAT is low and I applied late in the cycle (January). I took my mcat two years ago to get into my masters program at USF and didn't study for it. I took my pre reqs 5-6 years before that so I didn't remember anything and got a 25. My gpa is around a 3.5 over/sci (3.85 SMP) with a strong science background. I did a good amount of research in UG and Ive worked in a clinical lab for 3.5 years. I was leaning towards going the PhD route but I knew that I would be happier as a physician. I was going to study for the MCAT this summer and apply MD/DO 2013-2014 but I figured I would give D.O. schools a shot and got into TUNCOM so I'm pretty happy. I really didn't want to wait any longer Im pretty old 26 and wanted to start on my career.
 
No but my MCAT is low and I applied late in the cycle (January). I took my mcat two years ago to get into my masters program at USF and didn't study for it. I took my pre reqs 5-6 years before that so I didn't remember anything and got a 25. My gpa is around a 3.5 over/sci (3.85 SMP) with a strong science background. I did a good amount of research in UG and Ive worked in a clinical lab for 3.5 years. I was leaning towards going the PhD route but I knew that I would be happier as a physician. I was going to study for the MCAT this summer and apply MD/DO 2013-2014 but I figured I would give D.O. schools a shot and got into TUNCOM so I'm pretty happy. I really didn't want to wait any longer Im pretty old 26 and wanted to start on my career.
some of these stories are so discouraging because 25 is around the average for nova and lecom plus your gpa and background seem pretty solid. i guess things happen for a reason and i'm glad it worked out for you in the end! :)
 
some of these stories are so discouraging because 25 is around the average for nova and lecom plus your gpa and background seem pretty solid. i guess things happen for a reason and i'm glad it worked out for you in the end! :)
From what I hear both of their averages are moving towards 27-28. But with medical school theirs no guaranteed admission it pays to apply broad. I was raised in NY and my dad lives in queens so I though NYIT/Touro-NY might show me some love, but it was the one school I applied too which I had no connection too that I got in. I just thought it would be fun to go to the west coast and I really liked the school when i interviewed. I received one interview and got one acceptance. I was looking for somewhere new Ive been in florida for 8 years kinda interested in a new location so it worked out for me. And I totally recommend USF as a medical school the professors here are amazing and TGH is an awesome teaching hospital. If your interested in cancer moffitt cancer center is great.
 
From what I hear both of their averages are moving towards 27-28. But with medical school theirs no guaranteed admission it pays to apply broad. I was raised in NY and my dad lives in queens so I though NYIT/Touro-NY might show me some love, but it was the one school I applied too which I had no connection too that I got in. I just thought it would be fun to go to the west coast and I really liked the school when i interviewed. I received one interview and got one acceptance. I was looking for somewhere new Ive been in florida for 8 years kinda interested in a new location so it worked out for me. And I totally recommend USF as a medical school the professors here are amazing and TGH is an awesome teaching hospital. If your interested in cancer moffitt cancer center is great.
ooo okay you're right, nova's average mcat on their website is a 27, i guess the 25 i looked at was a few years outdated. thanks for the usf advice, i'll be sure to apply if I get my mcat score back and some giant miracle happens haha
 
i don't think a 33 sucks, it's above average for most schools and definitely better than having a below average mcat

Clearly. Lots of people would love to be in the top 10% or whatever a 33 is. My point was that it's not the standout 35+ needed for many schools and may be "too high" to be taken serious at a school with a 28 or 29 average so you're possibly stuck in this narrow window in the middle. A 31 on an app doesn't look weird to lower mcat schools but also still fits in at many mid-average mcat schools with quite a few schools that could be reach schools. Obviously, most would love to have a 33 though. The whole process is such a game anyway. Just make sure schools know you're serious if their average mcat isn't very high.
 
some of these stories are so discouraging because 25 is around the average for nova and lecom plus your gpa and background seem pretty solid. I guess things happen for a reason and i'm glad it worked out for you in the end! :)

27
 
Classic example of aiming too high, with too few of the right EC. You have no patient contact experience, and you have to show us you know what you're getting into, and that you know what a doctor's day is like. A 3.5 GPA alone will NOT get you into medical school, not will evidence that you're a hard worker.

I applied to and was rejected last year by:
Harvard
Tufts
BU
UVM
Vanderbilt
URochester
GW
Georgetown
Brown
Dartmouth
LECOM (DO School)
UMass
NYMC


You were listening to the wrong people.

The past year I was well assured by people that I would get into medical school so I decided to take whatever job and worked in the dish room (I hated it). And because of that I did nothing in the past year to improve my candidacy.

So far, so good. But you still need to shore up your evidence of patient-centric altruism. it doesn't all have to be hospital based...think clinics, nursing homes, hospice, etc.

Here is what I have on the plate right now: I was just hired as a 40 hour/week ER Scribe and I am also a TA for an EMS class (began at the end of May).

No, you'll get rejected again because you haven't show much evidence of adding what was missing. A 3.55 and a 33 are well below avg for Harvard, BTW. In fact, your stats are, well, avg.

Suggest investing in the MSAR to find where your best odds will be. You also need to do your homework on DO programs...you don't have to go into Primary Care. Many of my students go into surgery, Ob/Gyn. neurology, Pathology, Anesthesiology, even Ophthalmology.

So is it even worth it to apply this year considering the schools that rejected me last year? (I don't think I am going to apply DO again because I don't want to do primary care.)


Nope. the typical matriculant will have >100 hrs patient contact experience, and 50-100 hrs of shadowing.

I know I applied to some really tough schools but I did not get an interview from my in-state school or other "lower tier" schools. Are schools going to look at the two new experiences I have added (scribe and TA for EMS) and say "that's good and all but see how you do with them first"?

See my answers above; I think you'll eventually be fine for low-mid-tier schools, like NYMC, Drexel, Jefferson, Loyola, Creighton, Tulane, SLU, MCW, Wake-Forest, etc and any DO program. Don't forget your state school either!

If you were in my shoes, would you apply again? If so, what schools would you apply to? Also, might my candidacy be that much improved by waiting a year that I could get into better schools?

Thank you[/QUOTE]
 
Top