take risk or stay safe

[chucky85]

I applied to my instate med school this year. I had an mcat (31) and gpa (3.85), average to good ecs. I thought all were good enough to get in, but I have been rejected.

I took the computer mcat in Jan and got a 34. Next year, for the 2008 cycle, should I just apply early decision to my instate school and probably get in this time or take my shot and apply to a host of top 50 schools including maybe a top 10 school. Ideally, I would like to go out of state if I could.

I have leadership in 3 organizations. I played for a traveling club sports team in college. I have shadowed a surgeon. I volunteered in a hospital and did an international medical mission trip. I also have non-clinical volunteering experience. Phi Beta Kappa. I am in an arts and humanities program also. During my year off I want to do something that I will enjoy, so I am thinking of volunteering overseas. Should I stay safe and apply ED or try my luck?

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[NovemberWhiskey]

You have the credentials to apply out, but why were you rejected this year? Unless your state school is Michigan you should have had the credentials this year as well. Def. practice some interviewing and have other people look at your essays.

 

[Robizzle]

Ideally, I would like to go out of state if I could.

I don't get it, was your desire to go out of state a new decision for this year? If not, why did you ONLY apply to you in-state school this year? (that's the msg I get from reading your post, am I reading it wrong?) If I were you, I would apply both to your in-state school as well as maybe 10-15 out of state schools, early.

 

[MeMoMa]

i think re-applying also shows that you really do want to pursue medicine...

did you shadow docs?

did you get interviews to the state schools?

 

[MeMoMa]

sorry no lunch and i skimmed... it sounds like you are a competitive applicant but had bum luck

 

[TheAmazingGOB]

Yeah, you have great numbers and activities. Maybe you could talk to the dean at your state school to see how you can "strengthen" your application. Personally, I'd go for it (apply to OOS schools) as you have great stats and activities. Also, maybe change some things on your personal statement and have several people read it over (you probably already did this, but just in case). Continue to do the community service stuff and keep volunteering in a hospital. I started volunteering at an ICU last July and I was asked about it in every interview.

 

[chucky85]

I am not from Michigan. I have no idea why I was not accepted. I am absolutely confused and very upset. I applied to some out of state schools, but I figured my original 31-P was not competitive enough. I did SURP and now I work in a research lab at my school. I sent a letter of update to the school, but it did not make any difference.

 

[chucky85]

I am going to meet with the dean to find out what I can do different for next year. I am really curious.

 

[Tired Pigeon]

I am not from Michigan. I have no idea why I was not accepted. I am absolutely confused and very upset. I applied to some out of state schools, but I figured my original 31-P was not competitive enough. I did SURP and now I work in a research lab at my school. I sent a letter of update to the school, but it did not make any difference.

Did you get an interview?

 

[chucky85]

Yeah, I got an interview. The day of the interview, one of my interviewers called in sick. They had to find me a replacement interviewer. The interviewer arrived late and said your tour starts in 15 mins. You should get ready for that soon, so do you have any questions for me. We talked for like 10 mins and then she said alright time for your tour. The other two interviews felt good.

 

[gary5]

50 is too many. Apply to 15: 5 in your range, 5 above, and 5 below. Mine panned out as expected. I was accepted to 2 in my range, waitlisted at one in my range and one above my range, and I ended up cancelling an interview at a school below my range.

As the number of schools increases, the quality of your secondary applications will decrease. That's why 50 is too many. Also, submit your secondary to your most-likely school first, and order the rest by your level of interest and how likely you feel you are to be accepted.

 

[Lulu8]

I applied to my instate med school this year. I had an mcat (31) and gpa (3.85), average to good ecs. I thought all were good enough to get in, but I have been rejected.

I took the computer mcat in Jan and got a 34. Next year, for the 2008 cycle, should I just apply early decision to my instate school and probably get in this time or take my shot and apply to a host of top 50 schools including maybe a top 10 school. Ideally, I would like to go out of state if I could.

I have leadership in 3 organizations. I played for a traveling club sports team in college. I have shadowed a surgeon. I volunteered in a hospital and did an international medical mission trip. I also have non-clinical volunteering experience. Phi Beta Kappa. I am in an arts and humanities program also. During my year off I want to do something that I will enjoy, so I am thinking of volunteering overseas. Should I stay safe and apply ED or try my luck?

Definitely don't apply ED - even though you may think you'll "probably get in" to your state school with your new MCAT, what I've learned from this process is no one is safe. Some, if not many, admissions decisions seem to be completely random and without reason. So play it safe, apply broadly and early, and you'll get in somewhere.

 

[njbmd]

I applied to my instate med school this year. I had an mcat (31) and gpa (3.85), average to good ecs. I thought all were good enough to get in, but I have been rejected.

I took the computer mcat in Jan and got a 34. Next year, for the 2008 cycle, should I just apply early decision to my instate school and probably get in this time or take my shot and apply to a host of top 50 schools including maybe a top 10 school. Ideally, I would like to go out of state if I could.

I have leadership in 3 organizations. I played for a traveling club sports team in college. I have shadowed a surgeon. I volunteered in a hospital and did an international medical mission trip. I also have non-clinical volunteering experience. Phi Beta Kappa. I am in an arts and humanities program also. During my year off I want to do something that I will enjoy, so I am thinking of volunteering overseas. Should I stay safe and apply ED or try my luck?

The problem with the Early Decision Plan (EDP) is that if you are not accepted, you will be in the later pile of applicants in terms of applying to other schools. Your EDP school will have to "release" you before you can apply to other schools.

If you are a very strong candidate (well above averages across the board) for your state school, then the EDP makes good sense. It looks like you are solid in terms of numbers and others so you may be just the type of candidate that your state school would be looking for.

The only thing that makes me hesitant to strongly recommend EDP for you is the fact that you didn't get in with your previous numbers (which were solid). In terms of a "sure thing", it doesn't exist in application to medical school.

You greatly increase your chances of acceptance by applying early and applying broadly. That increase in MCAT from 31 to 34 is significant but is that increase significant enough to put you well above the matriculant average for your state school? Only you know the answer to that question.

If I were in your position, I would not apply EDP but I would apply broadly (all state schools, some dream schools and some schools that you know you are well above their averages) and early. I would also totally revamp the application in terms of personal statement and add anything else that needs to be updated. Good luck!

 

[CTtarheel]

why would you consider ED if you don't even want to go there? It doesn't give you any advantage at all except that you will find out earlier. If you apply early, you'll probably find out only a month or so later, and still be in the running at lots of other schools.

Second, before considering a reapplication right away, you need to figure out what's week in your application and address it. Email the adcoms in the schools that rejected you and see what they say are the weak parts of your application, plus talk to your pre-med advisor. If they think it was your MCAT (which I doubt) or that you should just apply either earlier and more broadly than go for it. Otherwise you need to address the reasons you got rejected the first time, or you're just setting yourself up to waste another few thousand dollars. At schools you reapply to your first and second applications most likely will be compared, and if they look the same, you'll end up with the same decision.

 

[melast]

NO on ED.

Apply broadly. Don't apply to more than ~15% "reaches". Don't apply to schools you don't want to go to.

 

[Richard Kimble]

A 31 and 3.85 should get you in somewhere. I have slightly higher stats and hold 7 acceptances (2 in CA). So my guess is that you didn't apply early enough and/or your PS was flawed and/or you didn't have significant clinical experience.

 

[PennStatMan11]

ok

 

[chucky85]

Even though I would like to go out of state, the reason for ED is to increase my chance of acceptance. Having been rejected this year, I do not want to have the same thing happen again next year. I will be meeting with the dean of the med school to find out my weakness.

 

[Robizzle]

I'd say the best way to increase your chances at an acceptance is to apply to more schools than just 1, especially if you've already been rejected from this school. Meeting with the dean sounds like a great idea though.

 

[chucky85]

i met with the dean and the mystery is still not solved,
the dean looked over my file and told me that he has no explanation for why i was not accepted, he told me that there is not a damn thing wrong with me and there is no where to criticize me anywhere in my file, he said it was the most competitive year in application history, he just said he was very sorry and that if i apply early decision he promises i will get in, my mcat and gpa are above the schools avg
i feel like i have been screwed for no reason

 

[pennybridge]

yeah that's a bummer, but at least you have some sort of guarantee for next year. that means you can literally do whatever you want this year!