Should I re-apply immediately or skip a cycle?

[meschneider96]

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Hey all,

Just looking for some advice. I applied this cycle and it very much appears that I will need to re-apply (not a single II at this point). I'll list my stats/ECs below:

Biochemistry/Molec Bio major with 3.88/3.86 cGPA/sGPA

512 MCAT (130/125/129/128) (Should I re-take? I feel like the risk is not worth the reward but lmk)

2000+ hours of wet-lab research at UPenn, with one publication (will be one more by around the time I'd submit new primary)

~180 hours of hospital volunteering (expect ~250 by time of primary, will continue into next year)

~180 hours of online counseling for people in personal crisis (expect ~230)

Just started new volunteering position in bereavement support at a local hospice (expect ~50 by primary, will continue throughout next year)

Also will be begin work as a clinical research coordinator around May-ish, and this would continue through the following year


I think my blatant weakness coming into this cycle was a complete lack of volunteering, which I feel that I have remedied quite a bit but could maybe still be seen as a weak point in my application. Should I re-apply this cycle or wait until I have more service hours, a year of clinical research under my belt, etc? Also, is there really a downside to applying other than the money and the fact that some schools have a cap for the number of applications they'll consider from you?

Thanks for any info/help.

 

[meschneider96]

Oh, forgot to mention. ~50 hours of shadowing.

 

[AW0320]

From what you've said, I don't think your stats are the problem, and I wouldn't retake the MCAT. My guess would be that it's the lack of patient contact, and perhaps to a lesser degree, that you're not telling your story as well as you could via your personal statement, secondaries, etc. Does your hospital volunteering include direct, hands-on patient experience? If not, I'd look for a position in the medical field... patient care tech, medical assistant, etc. so you can really solidify your "why."

Also, make sure you're applying broadly to schools and looking for ones where you really fit. Be strategic in crafting your school list.

Edit: And if you didn't apply early, then that's a MUST for the next go round.

 

[candbgirl]

Where did you apply? When were you complete? What state are you a resident of?
you could do,a search of this forum. There have been lots of threads on this topic. @gonnif has several links directly from schools concerning this very topic.

 

[Icebird]

When and where did you apply this cycle?

 

[Faha]

Where is your state of residence ?Which schools did you apply to?

 

[meschneider96]

When and where did you apply this cycle?

Primary app was out the earliest day possible, and secondaries were all in within days of receiving them. Maybe rushed them a bit but I thought they were fine. Applied to 25 schools, with I’d say ~20 of them being on target with my stats, and ~5 “reach” schools.

 

[meschneider96]

Where is your state of residence ?Which schools did you apply to?

PA. Applied to all PA schools and 18 OOS, with almost all of them being pretty on-target. Only ones I’d call reaches were Penn, Brown, Cincy, Pitt, and OSU.

 

[Faha]

You do not need to retake the MCAT. It was probably your lack of clinical volunteering that limited your chances for interviews. When you reapply I suggest all these schools:
Penn State
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
Vermont
Tufts
Quinnipiac
Albany
New York Medical College
Hofstra
Seton Hall
George Washington
Virginia Commonwealth
Eastern Virginia
West Virginia
Wake Forest
NOVA MD
Oakland Beaumont
Wayne State
Western Michigan
Medical College Wisconsin
Rosalind Franklin
TCU-UNT
Also apply to at least 6 DO schools and include PCOM and LECOM.

 

[meschneider96]

From what you've said, I don't think your stats are the problem, and I wouldn't retake the MCAT. My guess would be that it's the lack of patient contact, and perhaps to a lesser degree, that you're not telling your story as well as you could via your personal statement, secondaries, etc. Does your hospital volunteering include direct, hands-on patient experience? If not, I'd look for a position in the medical field... patient care tech, medical assistant, etc. so you can really solidify your "why."

Also, make sure you're applying broadly to schools and looking for ones where you really fit. Be strategic in crafting your school list.

Edit: And if you didn't apply early, then that's a MUST for the next go round.

Yeah, my hospital volunteering involves direct patient contact. And I applied just about as early as possible. I think my story is strong, but yeah maybe I need to articulate it a bit better.

 

[Dr. Faust]

Your experiences and metrics seem pretty solid, so I agree with others that you may need to re-vamp your personal statement. Also, your app may need to be re-written. You can have wonderful experiences that get looked over due to poor explanations. Have several people look over your experiences and see if they can be tweaked.