Starting to lose confidence in my application

[minato]

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Hi everyone,

I applied to 26 schools this cycle and submitted secondaries in July and August. I haven't gotten any IIs and received one rejection so far. I was hoping my application would be competitive as I have a 520 MCAT and a 3.9 cGPA with a 4.0 sGPA. I know it's probably too early to worry yet but I can't help but feel a bit discouraged. I have a somewhat unique background as I started premed my junior year of college. I studied computer science and completed the premed prereqs my last two years of school. I worked retail early on in college and did a corporate computer science internship at a Fortune 500 company. I have limited clinical experience compared to a lot of other applicants, but feel like I have checked the boxes with a couple hundred hours and some shadowing + non clinical volunteering as well. I graduated college in 2024 and have been working in a position since then where I use computer science methods in biomedical research. I was wondering if anyone has any perspective on the success of applicants who don't get early interview invites and if my background could be a red flag to ADCOMs.

Thank you in advance for any insight.

 

[PickaGodnPray]

It is September, there are numerous applicants that get multiple IIs October-December that turn into one or more acceptances.

 

[TibiaOrNotTibia]

Hi everyone,

I applied to 26 schools this cycle and submitted secondaries in July and August. I haven't gotten any IIs and received one rejection so far. I was hoping my application would be competitive as I have a 520 MCAT and a 3.9 cGPA with a 4.0 sGPA. I know it's probably too early to worry yet but I can't help but feel a bit discouraged. I have a somewhat unique background as I started premed my junior year of college. I studied computer science and completed the premed prereqs my last two years of school. I worked retail early on in college and did a corporate computer science internship at a Fortune 500 company. I have limited clinical experience compared to a lot of other applicants, but feel like I have checked the boxes with a couple hundred hours and some shadowing + non clinical volunteering as well. I graduated college in 2024 and have been working in a position since then where I use computer science methods in biomedical research. I was wondering if anyone has any perspective on the success of applicants who don't get early interview invites and if my background could be a red flag to ADCOMs.

Thank you in advance for any insight.

It will be a lot easier for them to evaluate your application if you make a WAMC post using the template!

 

[LizzyM]

Come back on December 1 after the Thanksgiving break and let us know how the cycle is going. Until then, continue working and volunteering so that in the event that you need to reapply, it does not appear that you rested on your laurels this year.

 

[minato]

Come back on December 1 after the Thanksgiving break and let us know how the cycle is going. Until then, continue working and volunteering so that in the event that you need to reapply, it does not appear that you rested on your laurels this year.

Thank you for the advice! Yeah I guess the best thing for me to do is take my mind off it and work on strengthening my application

 

[Mr.Smile12]

We don't have your WAMC profile to figure out if you were overconfident to begin with. Mission fit dictates your success, not your metrics. As described, you haven't told me anything about your purpose as a physician.

And your background is not unique. We have no WAMC profile to determine how strong it is. Ultimately 40ish% of applicants get at least one offer.

 

[eigen]

I have limited clinical experience compared to a lot of other applicants, but feel like I have checked the boxes with a couple hundred hours and some shadowing + non clinical volunteering as well.

This part stands out to me. Thinking of the key components of an application as "checking the box" is concerning, because it likely also impacts how you approached writing your personal statements and how you think of your narrative.

 

[Butalbusaur]

Hi everyone,

I applied to 26 schools this cycle and submitted secondaries in July and August. I haven't gotten any IIs and received one rejection so far. I was hoping my application would be competitive as I have a 520 MCAT and a 3.9 cGPA with a 4.0 sGPA. I know it's probably too early to worry yet but I can't help but feel a bit discouraged. I have a somewhat unique background as I started premed my junior year of college. I studied computer science and completed the premed prereqs my last two years of school. I worked retail early on in college and did a corporate computer science internship at a Fortune 500 company. I have limited clinical experience compared to a lot of other applicants, but feel like I have checked the boxes with a couple hundred hours and some shadowing + non clinical volunteering as well. I graduated college in 2024 and have been working in a position since then where I use computer science methods in biomedical research. I was wondering if anyone has any perspective on the success of applicants who don't get early interview invites and if my background could be a red flag to ADCOMs.

Thank you in advance for any insight.

As the GOAT LizzyM says, if the turkey is about to go into the oven on Thanksgiving and you haven’t heard back, that’s when you start panicking. If not, relax my friend.

 

[minato]

This part stands out to me. Thinking of the key components of an application as "checking the box" is concerning, because it likely also impacts how you approached writing your personal statements and how you think of your narrative.

Yeah that's a good point. I was more so trying to convey that I don't feel as though those aspects of my application are particularly lacking, but you're right that my choice of language wasn't ideal. Non clinical volunteering is something I've been doing since before I started considering med school and hope that it doesn't come across as though I was doing things to just check a box. Definitely something I'll consider going forward

 

[Goro]

Stay busy!!!