Starting to panic. Really need advice.

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It might be your volunteering in Africa that kills it. Most people don't like Africa.

Otherwise, just keep waiting. You've got one II and 15 more schools to go. Plus, were your rejections all top 20 schools?

And if you don't make it this year, maybe you should apply to some bottom 50 schools too. Top 50 schools are average to reach schools for you. You would be an above average applicant at lesser schools.
 
I'd agree and say it's probably due to not applying to a wide range of schools. Fingers crossed though all you need is one!
 
Well most of the time when people apply to those top this many or that many schools they end up with a less than stellar cycle. You cant apply to schools that get 10000+ apps 7000+ apps and expect not to be one of the 6000 or 9000 apps to get thrown out.

Good luck this cycle and if it goes south, apply to those Quote Bottom Tier schools unQuote.

Their is nothing wrong with any med school in the US especially if its MD. Getting in is what matters their is no bottom schools but their are top schools, with that said why even apply to top schools you feed them so much money in applications every year.
 
With 3.8/34, you should get in somewhere. Just... maybe not this year and maybe not to a top20 school.

Good luck!
 
premed2000 said:
It is true that most of the schools I applied to are relatively top-heavy. I came into this cycle applying to mostly top-heavy schools because these are the schools I'd love to go to with the mindset that if I don't get into any of them, I will apply again next cycle broadly. I know most people are rushing to get into med school, but I guess I used this year as more of a "testing the water" and see how it goes. But I didn't think it'd be THAT bad. And the 9 in VR is due to English being second language (grew up overseas, didn't learn a word of english til the age of 12)

The reason I applied to top-heavy is mostly because I want to go into academic medicine. I love research and my dream is of course to one day be able to work at a top-tier medical school doing research. But if I don't get into anywhere this year, I will definitely need to apply to even greater range of schools.

For those of you wondering, my application results are below:

1 II: NYMC
8 Rejections: BU, UCI (post-sec), and UPitt (Rejected me before MCAT retake came out). URochester, Georgetown, UCSF (post-sec), USC, and UWisc.
2Holds: UCSD (post-sec) and GW


Do you guys think with the stats GPA: ~3.8 and a 34Q is good enough to get a couple of interview invites from the top-tiered schools if I end up applying next year and apply very early in the cycle (as opposed to completing in mid-sept this year)?
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I'm fairly certain your stats are not what's holding you back... They are pretty damn good (real life standards)
 
The late-ness of the MCAT contributed to the rejections/lack of response from other schools. Your stats are definitely great stats to have and shouldn't be holding you back. You could add some leadership experience in ECs if you are looking for ways to up your application (not listed but you may already have that). If you don't get an acceptance this year (I would be surprised) then apply early next year, and I doubt you will have a problem.
 
ClemsonFirst said:
The late-ness of the MCAT contributed to the rejections/lack of response from other schools. Your stats are definitely great stats to have and shouldn't be holding you back. You could add some leadership experience in ECs if you are looking for ways to up your application (not listed but you may already have that). If you don't get an acceptance this year (I would be surprised) then apply early next year, and I doubt you will have a problem.
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Yup it was definitely the late mcat that did it. You'll have much better luck next cycle if this one isn't fruitful.
 
Late MCAT could do it.

Getting a 9 in VR should not be the deciding factor when the rest of your stats are pretty decent/above average.
 
Your application seems great to me. Are your personal statement and activity descriptions well written? Do you think you might have a dealbreaker LOR?

With that said, the schools that rejected you seem to be either giants (UCSF, Upitt) or the type that even reject 38+ applicants (URochester, Georgetown) for some reason. Hang in there, you will likely hear back from the other schools assuming that they are outside of the realm of top 20.
 
Might be your LORs or essays. Your stats are definitely good enough to get into a top 50. The fact that your from California also makes getting in harder probably.
 
premed2000 said:
It is true that most of the schools I applied to are relatively top-heavy. I came into this cycle applying to mostly top-heavy schools because these are the schools I'd love to go to with the mindset that if I don't get into any of them, I will apply again next cycle broadly. I know most people are rushing to get into med school, but I guess I used this year as more of a "testing the water" and see how it goes. But I didn't think it'd be THAT bad. And the 9 in VR is due to English being second language (grew up overseas, didn't learn a word of english til the age of 12)

The reason I applied to top-heavy is mostly because I want to go into academic medicine. I love research and my dream is of course to one day be able to work at a top-tier medical school doing research. But if I don't get into anywhere this year, I will definitely need to apply to even greater range of schools.

For those of you wondering, my application results are below:

1 II: NYMC
8 Rejections:
Rejection before MCAT retake scores came out: BU, UCI (post-sec), and UPitt.
Rejection after MCAT retake scores: URochester, Georgetown, UCSF (post-sec), USC, and UWisc.
2Holds: UCSD (post-sec) and GW


Do you guys think with the stats GPA: ~3.8 and a 34Q is good enough to get a couple of interview invites from the top-tiered schools if I end up applying next year and apply very early in the cycle (as opposed to completing in mid-sept this year)?
Click to expand...
Sorry this cycle is so stressful for you. Your stats are very good but unfortunately a lot of the top tier schools may not look at you that favorably. Your top-heavy school choices along with being "slightly" late (really though, you're not that late) may be the kicker. Don't despair though. I have a friend with similar stats as yours who only got one interview before December and then got three interviews in February and March. He ended up getting accepted at two schools from those later interviews.

As to your "uneasiness" with mid-tier schools, I find them to be largely unfounded. Going on interviews this cycle the schools I liked the most were the ones that were considered "mid-tier". I found that they were trying much more to improve their curriculum and student learning than schools that had established themselves as "top" schools. Really, unless you go visit, take a tour, and talk to current students, I have found it difficult to judge schools based on their websites or the MSAR. The schools you got rejected from are all really, really top tier, I am frankly not surprised. If this application doesn't go your way this year (which I don't think it will) consider applying to a broader range of schools.
 
Bangersandmash said:
It might be your volunteering in Africa that kills it. Most people don't like Africa.

Otherwise, just keep waiting. You've got one II and 15 more schools to go. Plus, were your rejections all top 20 schools?

And if you don't make it this year, maybe you should apply to some bottom 50 schools too. Top 50 schools are average to reach schools for you. You would be an above average applicant at lesser schools.
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Complete rubbish, volunteering is volunteering. OP actually has a more unique volunteering experience than the regular applicants with cookie cutter volunteering in local clinics and hospitals.

premed2000 said:
To be honest, I am already starting to prepare for my reapplication next cycle. Do you guys think retaking my MCAT in August and having most of my application complete in mid-sept (due to MCAT retake) hurt my application this cycle? If I were to bolster up my EC's and apply on the first wave next cycle, should I expect a better outcome? Any advice form knowledgable people is greatly appreciated.

I am really panicking.
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OP, your stats are great, your research experience is great too and I like your clinical experience it's refreshing. Here are the things that I think might have gone wrong:-

1) **** Applying late might have hurt you a bit but you have strong stats I think that applying narrowly hurt you the most. If you had applied to at least 10 "safety schools" then you would have most definitely been accepted this cycle. IF you reapply you absolutely need to apply and be complete within the month of June. The trick to that is to have your secondary applications pre-written and everything. This cycle you applied to 26 schools I'd say next cycle make it 35 with at least 9 of them being safety schools. Also try to apply to schools where you think you will be a perfect fit NOT to a schools just for solely going into "Academic medicine" that's not going to build a case for you in every top heavy school.

2) ***You applied top heavy and your personal statement/secondary might not have met the expectations of these "top heavy" schools. You need to tweek your secondary application to the likings of the medical school while also maintaining complete honesty. Your best bet is to go to the school threads on SDN and start messaging medical students from those schools. Get as much information out of the students as you possibly can and research every school on their website too. It's best to invest that time before investing $100 into that secondary.

3) **You did not mention anything about leadership. Top heavy schools are looking for leaders in medicine so you need to add that into your arsenal if you apply next year.

4)** Your LORs need to be strong especially for these schools that are highly ranked. You need to start off by calling the schools and finding out what went wrong? Ask them how your LORs were because letter of recommendations mean a lot to some schools highly ranked or not (I know it does to mine). Somtimes professors don't really know the student that well and just write generic LORs such as "I met student X in this class and he got an A." Those LORs are nothing but a waste of time, if that is the case with you then you need to grab some professors that really know you. If you don't know anyone very closely you have time till the next cycle IF you reapply and you can start building close relationships.

This cycle is far from over, you still have a shot at getting accepted. I'm a little surprised that you've only received 1 interview so far but all it takes is 1 acceptance. Also a lot of students including myself received interviews as late as February so there's still plenty of time. The best thing right now is to make sure that you're fully prepared for that interview that is coming up forget about all the rejections and negativity just for the sake of that interview. You need to be confident and well prepared. My MDapplicants profile has some suggestion on interviewing if you want to read it. Either way I wish you the best of luck and I hope this helped.
 
Unless there is something glaringly wrong with your application, I can't imagine that you won't be matriculating to medical school in the fall. You may have applied to a lot of "top-heavy" schools, but with your metrics, you should be. A 3.8 34MCAT is nothing to sneeze at. Your applications are relatively not that late at all. It's still half way through the cycle, so I bet you'll see some more IIs roll in. As long as you spent a decent amount of time on your secondaries, you can rest assured that you should be looking at a few choices to pick from to attend this fall.
 
premed2000 said:
It is true that most of the schools I applied to are relatively top-heavy. I came into this cycle applying to mostly top-heavy schools because these are the schools I'd love to go to with the mindset that if I don't get into any of them, I will apply again next cycle broadly. I know most people are rushing to get into med school, but I guess I used this year as more of a "testing the water" and see how it goes. But I didn't think it'd be THAT bad. And the 9 in VR is due to English being second language (grew up overseas, didn't learn a word of english til the age of 12)

The reason I applied to top-heavy is mostly because I want to go into academic medicine. I love research and my dream is of course to one day be able to work at a top-tier medical school doing research. But if I don't get into anywhere this year, I will definitely need to apply to even greater range of schools.

For those of you wondering, my application results are below:

1 II: NYMC
8 Rejections:
Rejection before MCAT retake scores came out: BU, UCI (post-sec), and UPitt.
Rejection after MCAT retake scores: URochester, Georgetown, UCSF (post-sec), USC, and UWisc.
2Holds: UCSD (post-sec) and GW


Do you guys think with the stats GPA: ~3.8 and a 34Q is good enough to get a couple of interview invites from the top-tiered schools if I end up applying next year and apply very early in the cycle (as opposed to completing in mid-sept this year)?
Click to expand...

It's probably the late MCAT. Hang in there till December...if you don't get any more II by then I would be more worried.

Some of those schools I wouldn't worry about getting rejected from. Georgetown and GW have some of the highest number of applicants. Pitt is very non-trad heavy so I wouldn't worry too much about that either.
 
Uh Oh- we're similar applicants, I did most of my secondaries late sep to early october with a few before and after.

I also have a 3.74 34 MCAT (SAME mcat as you actually :])

5 rejections, 2 holds, and 0 II lol- I also kind of applied top heavy but to much more schools
 
premed2000 said:
Hi everyone,

So, I am an applicant this cycle. I am really starting to panic due to my current cycle results....1 Interview Invite and 8 Rejections. and 2 holds...This is crazy.
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Not as crazy as you might think. Schools are looking for fit. Numbers ensure that someone looks at your app. The rest is how you come across through your essays/ECs, which is kind of a crapshoot. Did you read the mission statement for each of the schools you applied to? Do you have geographical ties to the schools you applied to? Did you take a look at their curriculum? These are all things that would give you an idea of how well you might fit in with the school's desired class profile.
 
I'm in a similarly sinking boat. But I try to stay hopeful (quite difficult for me since I'm naturally cynical and pessimistic).

33 MCAT, 3.9 science GPA, 3.8 uGPA. I applied late (by SDN standards) as well. It's a sad feeling to think it's very possible I threw away close to $2500 in application fees.
 
What schools do you have left?
 
heartshaped box said:
I'm in a similarly sinking boat. But I try to stay hopeful (quite difficult for me since I'm naturally cynical and pessimistic).

33 MCAT, 3.9 science GPA, 3.8 uGPA. I applied late (by SDN standards) as well. It's a sad feeling to think it's very possible I threw away close to $2500 in application fees.
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I thought you were accepted already???
 
Also retaking a 34?
tumblr_m555r764Or1qh7u32o1_250.gif
 
I interviewed at UCSD with a 12/8/12. I know that's only a N of 1, but I can tell you the MCAT isn't your problem.
 
the MCAT isn't your problem. it may just be that your most recent MCAT score just came in too late. you should also take a close critical look at your personal statement and EC descriptions. finally if you need to reapply put away the US News rankings and pick up the MSAR so you can apply to the right schools. if you are a cali resident then you really need to have a good strategy going in and apply very broadly, if you aren't then applying to your state schools goes without saying.
 
You have similar stats to mine....I can't think of anything glaringly wrong based on your post....maybe it'd be worth giving that PS and those EC descriptions a second read over? Would be a shame to make the same mysterious mistake next cycle. I'd be more than happy to look at them if you're comfortable PMing me.
 
The school you apply to a broad range of schools. Your biggest mistake here was only applying to schools in the US news top 50. you need to throw in some OOS friends state schools, and some 'less competitive' private schools. Also dont overlook the new schools, some of them, like OUWB and FAU are actually taking over other schools satellite campuses, and have some great clinical affiliations. Also NYMC is top 50? I'm pretty sure last time I checked, it was in the bottom quartile of medical schools. With your numbers it really feels like were missing something? Any IA? Fail any courses? I guess your new scores came in kind of late. Also I wouldnt totally write off the idea of a repeat if you think you can get your verbal to double digits. Some schools will take your best MCAT aggregate
 
So much more to this process than your stats, man. The fact that you seem preoccupied over those (which are quite good) rather than other areas that might be limiting you tells me that perhaps you glossed over other equally important areas of your application.

I say this only as a guy who has terrible stats, and more interviews/acceptances than you. Granted, I also applied to mostly low-end schools, but hey, sometimes you have to be realistic You certainly have the stats to go to a nice place, but only if the rest of your application (essays, certainly) hold ~equally important as well.
 
Agreed stats aren't everything and I've had friends this cycle with higher stats than me either not get interviews or interview only at lower ranked schools when they had the potential to get into a top 50.

A 3.8-4.0 and a low 30 mcat doesn't guarantee anyone much these days especially if they have weak essays, lors, or Ecs.

I have a below 30 mcat and below average gpa and got a few allopathic interviews and one early acceptance so far. However, I put a lot of work into all details of my app especially my essays.
 
It's definitely the lateness of your app. I have identical scores as you (with an 8 in verbal, too) pretty much the same ECs, and have had 9 MD invites and 1 DO acceptance so far after applying in June.

I also applied last year late with lower stats ( October), got 3 invites and no acceptances.

In other words, timing is key.
 
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