Should I reapply this cycle?

[abcde241]

Hi guys. I applied the 2021-2022 cycle and got one interview turned waitlist. I am entirely losing hope for this cycle and have started to consider retaking the MCAT. For a little bit of background:

• biomedical engineering major with minor in economics (GPA: 3.86, MCAT: 512).
• I have research experience since my sophomore year of college and have worked as a clinical research assistant for my gap year (over 2000 hours of research now)
• I have also been volunteering at a free clinic weekly for almost two years now and have various non-clinical volunteer activities due to a program I was in undergrad (350 hours)
• My shadowing hours are relatively low ( about 62 hours).
• 400 hours as a nursing assistant
• +200 hours as a tutor

Would it be worth it to reapply this cycle and take the MCAT by June 17th? Or is there something else in my application that I should work on prior to applying? Also is it even realistic to study and take the MCAT within less than 3 months? I plan to quit my job and study full time.

School list:

Tufts University

Rutgers New Jersey Medical School

West Virginia University

Drexel College of Medicine

Stanford Medicine

Oakland Univeristy

University of Cincinnati

Eastern Virginia

University of Illinois

Dartmouth

Ohio state

Case Western

UVM Larner College of Medicine

Central Michigan

Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine at Quinnipiac Unviersity

UNC

UCLA

Univeristy of Utah

University of Louisville

VCU

USC greenville

Hawaii

penn state

Neomed

colorado

Wright state

MSU

Toledo

tulane

Thanks in advance!

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[deleted1077312]

Apply to more reasonable schools than wherever you applied

 

[stinkycheeseperson]

GO WAMC AND SPARE NO DETAIL

 

[abcde241]

Hi guys. I applied the 2021-2022 cycle and got one interview turned waitlist. I am entirely losing hope for this cycle and have started to consider retaking the MCAT. For a little bit of background:

• 3.76 BCPM 3.86 overall (biomedical engineering major with a minor in economics)
• 512 (128/128/128/128)
• Ohio resident
• Asian
• The Ohio State University
• Nursing assistant (400 hours), volunteering at a free clinic for almost two years (350 hours), and working as a clinical research assistant (2000+ hours)
• Summer research summer before sophomore year until January 2020. Research in biochemistry lab until graduation
• ~65 hours of shadowing (gyn, internal med, and neurology)
• ~50 hours of non-clinical volunteering through service scholars program in undergrad
• Tutor for over a year to two 8th graders and tutored for OSU. Covid 19 testing assistant

Is it even possible to study and retake the MCAT by June 17th to reapply this cycle? Or should I wait and focus on improving my application and apply again next year?

 

[Mr.Smile12]

What was your list, where did you interview, and did you include DO schools? Your MCAT is not the issue. Lack of community service is more obvious.

 

[abcde241]

What was your list, where did you interview, and did you include DO schools? Your MCAT is not the issue. Lack of community service is more obvious.

Sorry this is long. and no my biggest regret was not applying DO as well. My only interview was at West Virginia.

Tufts University

Rutgers New Jersey Medical School

West Virginia University

Drexel College of Medicine

Stanford Medicine

Oakland Univeristy

University of Cincinnati

Eastern Virginia

University of Illinois

Dartmouth

Ohio state

Case Western

UVM Larner College of Medicine

Central Michigan

Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine at Quinnipiac Unviersity

UNC

UCLA

Univeristy of Utah

University of Louisville

VCU

USC greenville

Hawaii

penn state

Neomed

colorado

Wright state

MSU

Toledo

tulane

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Let's hope the waitlist goes your way. My scan of your list shows you had a good number of donations, some unlikely to fit with your engineering background (some that do need a much higher MCAT). I do think that despite your work in a free clinic there may still not be enough community service to show your service orientation adequately. That probably knocked out your application with the other in-state programs that have a community mission orientation where your MCAT would have been satisfactory.

 

[candbgirl]

Fill this in completely and people will help you figure things out.

*~*~*~*IMPORTANT: How to Format Your WAMC Thread for Optimal Results and More!!*~*~*~*

Hello, and welcome to the What Are My Chances (WAMC) forum. The purpose of this forum is to Post threads about your chances of acceptance to MD and/or DO schools Have your school list critiqued and modified by other members of SDN Determine how to strengthen your current application General...

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[voxveritatisetlucis]

School list? Impossible to say without knowing

 

[DOcSto]

It's kind of ridiculous that premed culture has conditioned us to think that a 512 is poo poo. I'd venture to bet that your school list was your downfall. As someone with stats lower than yours and ORM, I had a very good cycle interview wise for both MD and DO. A good school list can go a long way.

 

[abcde241]

School list? Impossible to say without knowing

I just updated the post with my school list!

 

[abcde241]

Apply to more reasonable schools than wherever you applied

I just updated my post and added the school list. Would you mind letting me know what you think?

 

[abcde241]

It's kind of ridiculous that premed culture has conditioned us to think that a 512 is poo poo. I'd venture to bet that your school list was your downfall. As someone with stats lower than yours and ORM, I had a very good cycle interview wise for both MD and DO. A good school list can go a long way.

I just updated my post to include my school list.

 

[abcde241]

Let's hope the waitlist goes your way. My scan of your list shows you had a good number of donations, some unlikely to fit with your engineering background (some that do need a much higher MCAT). I do think that despite your work in a free clinic there may still not be enough community service to show your service orientation adequately. That probably knocked out your application with the other in-state programs that have a community mission orientation where your MCAT would have been satisfactory.

thank you! I appreciate the feedback. I might start volunteering at our women's center soon.

 

[DOcSto]

I just updated my post to include my school list.

You may have overshot at a number of places. What's your state of residence?

Edit: Nvm

WAMC: 3.86/512

Hi guys. I applied the 2021-2022 cycle and got one interview turned waitlist. I am entirely losing hope for this cycle and have started to consider retaking the MCAT. For a little bit of background: 3.76 BCPM 3.86 overall (biomedical engineering major with a minor in economics) 512...

forums.studentdoctor.net

 

[abcde241]

You may have overshot at a number of places. What's your state of residence?

Ohio

 

[LunaOri]

Your stats are okay and your school list isn’t bad (a few are extreme reaches). I suspect the issue is either with your writing or your LOR.
Have you had your PS reviewed by several people? Are you sure your LOR are strong?

 

[voxveritatisetlucis]

If you’re from Ohio the following shouldn’t have been on your list

New Jersey medical school
Illinois
Central michigan
UNC
UCLA
MSU
Colorado
Hawaii
Greenville
Louisville
Utah

 

[voxveritatisetlucis]

Fill these in with mid low private schools

 

[stinkycheeseperson]

don't retake the MCAT. your ecs are boring but fine. school list sucked. new essays, new letters, interview practice (so when you get more you already prepped the nerves from this year out)

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Noting I think you have two threads going asking the same question.

 

[abcde241]

Noting I think you have two threads going asking the same question.

People on this told me to post on WAMC, should probably delete this haha

 

[KnightDoc]

People on this told me to post on WAMC, should probably delete this haha

You can lock this thread and include a link to the WAMC one!

By the way, what everyone else is saying is true. Your problem does not lie with your school list (yes, some schools shouldn't have been there and you can always add others, but you had enough viable schools that they are not why you only received one II), ECs or stats, so retaking the MCAT is not your solution. Time to look at your LORs or writing.

 

[abcde241]

You can lock this thread and include a link to the WAMC one!

By the way, what everyone else is saying is true. Your problem does not lie with your school list (yes, some schools shouldn't have been there and you can always add others, but you had enough viable schools that they are not why you only received one II), ECs or stats, so retaking the MCAT is not your solution. Time to look at your LORs or writing.

Thank you I had a feeling it could've been my writing - I had a lot of family problems while writing them and wasn't able to focus or get much feedback. Do you have any advice on how to work on my writing? Also, how should I go about science letter of recs when I am almost a year out of graduation?

 

[KnightDoc]

Thank you I had a feeling it could've been my writing - I had a lot of family problems while writing them and wasn't able to focus or get much feedback. Do you have any advice on how to work on my writing? Also, how should I go about science letter of recs when I am almost a year out of graduation?

Being out of school definitely makes it more challenging to get LORs from professors. The first step is to decide whether or not they might actually be a problem. If you think that's a possibility, then you need to reach out to other professors in courses you did well in, explain your situation (not necessarily that you are a reapplicant, and CERTAINLY not that you need to replace potentially bad LORS ) and ask if they would be comfortable writing you a strong LOR. OTOH, the fact that you had any interviews at all suggests that a red flag in one of them might not be your problem.

That's really all you can do, but you should be able to get one or two profs to help you out. If not, then your only other option would be to take a few post-bacc classes, just to have access to people to ask for LORs.

As far as writing, that's a whole other can of worms. Beyond focus, flow, grammar, etc., you also want a narrative that ties your story, whatever it happens to be, to why medicine. That's your PS. Secondaries are a bit easier, because you have specific prompts to respond to, but, again, the key is to write them well and in such a way as to make them want to meet you. I didn't do it, but there are people on SDN who volunteer to help with the writing if you don't have anyone IRL who can help. Good luck!

 

[abcde241]

So I'm currently considering a masters in anatomy at case western or UC to gain access to some more professors for letters. How difficult are these to get into typically?