Slightly Low Numbers, Chances/Advice??

[fatty19]

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To make a long story short, I applied to 7 mid level schools for this cycle at the last minute (barely made of a few deadlines). I have gotten one solid rejection and no interviews. Considering its nearing the end of Feb. I don't expect an invite to come this late so I'm focusing my attention to next years applications. My stats:

cGPA: 3.53 bcmpGPA: 3.54
MCAT: VR 10, BS 10, PS 9 -- 29
ECs:
4 year D1 Athlete (swimmer)
~40hrs physician shadowing
~60hrs volunteering in day care for children with mental illness
~200+hrs non-clinical volunteering
Worked nearly full-time in research lab last summer, no publications though. I graduated in Chemistry in Dec. 2008

Chances or advice for improvement?? I do plan to apply early next time around😀. Thanks.

 

[NotAndrew]

Next year apply early and to about three times as many schools.

 

[flip26]

First, your numbers aren't "slightly" low, they are low and they hurt you.

Second, you applied very late and it hurt you.

Third, your clinical exposure is minimal and arguably low and it hurt you.

Fourth, you applied to far too few schools and it really hurt you.

Add it up and it is pretty easy to see why you have no acceptances much less any interviews.

 

[fatty19]

I understand it was a long shot and I'm not real surprised by the outcome either, but I was maybe looking for something a little more constructive. Take the MCAT again? (was getting 32-35 on AMCAS practice tests) More volunteering is always better than less right. More research? Or give up entirely and cry myself to sleep at night. Also being an athlete soaked up a almost all of my time and limited my other EC's, do ADCOMS understand this or is the same amount time expected from everybody regardless?

 

[tiamat360]

Next year apply early and to about three times as many schools.

I agree; I think this is what hurt you most this cycle.

Well, now you've got a year off, so might as well make the best of it. Since you were scoring quite well on practice tests, you should probably retake the MCAT - if you can in fact score a 35 or higher on the real test your numbers would be good, and even if you only pull it up to a 32 you'd still be doing fine.

As for clinical hours, I really think given the time commitment of a D1 varsity sport that you were fine. (Perhaps flip26 isn't aware of how much time that takes, but admissions committees are). You also had a good amount of volunteering, which is great. That said, as long as you've got another year off, it would definitely help you to increase the amount of time you spend in a clinical setting (by continuing to shadow, volunteering in a hospital, etc.).

Overall, though, applying late and to so few schools is what really hurt you. Take this time to beef up your application and apply early and broadly next year. Good luck!

 

[NotAndrew]

I will elaborate on my earlier post. Let me first start by saying Flip's entire post is correct. You said you applied to 7 "mid-level" schools. What schools did you apply to? What is your state of residence? If you think you will get a 32-35 on the MCAT then retake it. That being said not retaking the MCAT will not completely damn you. In this next year I would volunteer more in clinical settings, consider an MCAT retake(this is up to you, the higher your score the easier getting into school will be), and possibly more shadowing. When it comes time to apply next year make sure to turn you application is as soon as possible, apply to 20-30 schools, apply to all of your state schools(unless you live in Cali), and apply to schools you consider to be "lower-level".