Texas Reapplicant 34 and 3.67

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

texaspremed1

Full Member
7+ Year Member
Joined
May 23, 2015
Messages
73
Reaction score
32
So with 4 waitlists to texas schools in june I am going to re apply. i got a new rec letter and am going to keep my old letters (except one). I wanted to ask how I should approach my personal statement? Can I still use some of my old material? Also should I apply to out of state schools? Did not really the first time. Also for gap year, does scribing or teaching or research look better? I am planning on volunteering for habitat for humanity and tutoring high school students with a big company part time but wanted to get yalls opinion for what i should do full time. I am holding off on applying until I solidy my gap year plan. Or should I go ahead and apply now with the tmdas out for month?

Thanks! I know thats alot but stressing out here haha

Members don't see this ad.
 
So with 4 waitlists to texas schools in june I am going to re apply. i got a new rec letter and am going to keep my old letters (except one). I wanted to ask how I should approach my personal statement? Can I still use some of my old material? Also should I apply to out of state schools? Did not really the first time. Also for gap year, does scribing or teaching or research look better? I am planning on volunteering for habitat for humanity and tutoring high school students with a big company part time but wanted to get yalls opinion for what i should do full time. I am holding off on applying until I solidy my gap year plan. Or should I go ahead and apply now with the tmdas out for month?

Thanks! I know thats alot but stressing out here haha
1. That GPA was around the average of accepted students. and the MCAT was above the state MCAT. Did you apply to all Texas schools? Did you receive feed back from the schools?( I know of a couple that do application feed back at the end of the cycle). How did you think interviews went? I know this sounds a little bit harsh but with those metrics and 4 waitlists, something came off as a slight rouge flag.

2. You may want to rewrite your PS if it wasnt strong. It could have been a reason for being a reapplicant. Did it ever get brought up in interviews such as "I really liked this part of the PS". Have another set of eyes read over it. If they can see the answer of Why Medicine clearly and its written well,no need to change. Did you answer all the Texas essays or did you choose not to do the "optional one". how were your secondary responses?

3. All 3 look great and my institution did not look at one better than the other. Do the one that A) you'll like, b) be able to take away from. If research comes with a good chance of publication and your application was deficient in this, go for it. If your clinical experience was lacking, scribing may be the way to go. Leadership issues? Maybe teaching.

You're numbers are good for any acceptance into the texas schools. Give us more information as far your EC's and experiences and how you think your LOR are. You could submit TMDSAS this year, but if you havent improved your application/ keep a red flag on there, it could bite you in the rear.
 
I applied to all texas schools. Not sure why but I got II from Baylor and UTSW but not to lower tier schools like Tech or TCOM. I think that was my main problem. My PS was reviewed by a lot of people and it was referenced in interviews. I thought I could add to it to talk about what I am going to do in the next year. In terms of ECs, I have 6 years and 300+ hours of hospital volunteering, tutoring, 2 years of research (no pubs), school council, clinic office work, like 30 hours of shadowing. Nothing crazy but I thought it was enough to get the job done! I thought interviews went alright. But hard to judge. I got rid of one LOR that may have been week (foreign language teacher, not great at english) and added one strong one from my english professor last semester. I am at a loss though overall. If i got interviews from the lower schools as I said, I think I would have got in but my interviews were all from top heavy schools.
 
Members don't see this ad :)
I applied to all texas schools. Not sure why but I got II from Baylor and UTSW but not to lower tier schools like Tech or TCOM. I think that was my main problem. My PS was reviewed by a lot of people and it was referenced in interviews. I thought I could add to it to talk about what I am going to do in the next year. In terms of ECs, I have 6 years and 300+ hours of hospital volunteering, tutoring, 2 years of research (no pubs), school council, clinic office work, like 30 hours of shadowing. Nothing crazy but I thought it was enough to get the job done! I thought interviews went alright. But hard to judge. I got rid of one LOR that may have been week (foreign language teacher, not great at english) and added one strong one from my english professor last semester. I am at a loss though overall. If i got interviews from the lower schools as I said, I think I would have got in but my interviews were all from top heavy schools.

Rough luck . The only thing listed I saw that could scare some ADCOMs was the 30 hours of shadowing. Sure there isn't a set hour requirement for shadowing but put it into this perspective, 30 hours is not even a full work week of 9-5 clinic. you can see the apprehension that some ADCOMs would have with knowing that your direct exposure to doc life and practice was less than a full work week. Yea yea i know you have hospital volunteering but the admissions council wont see this the same as lets say shadowing or scribbing. Do you have the committee letter, 2 science prof LORs in addition to the english prof's one?

You could apply this year again, but in the future section add in your planned shadowing/scribing. It might get you by with the Texas schools. If you are going to apply again, you need to apply soon and quick. June is the month when those initial application are being downloaded and decided for interview. Early is key for Texas. Knock the secondaries out of the park for TTU, TAMU, TCOM. Go to interview feedback or workshops offered by the pre med advising people. If you really want to matriculate shot gun approach it. look at the MSAR , see who accepts a good portion out of state, and apply.
 
Oh Im also ORM which hurts me. I did a one month internship abroad to shadow doctors and worked in my moms clinic (GP private practice) for past 1o years. Ya i have all those letters. I guess I will apply in next few days then...So personal statement does not need to be changed too much? TMDAS has separate essay sections for reapplicants for "whats changed since" and planned activities
 
Oh Im also ORM which hurts me. I did a one month internship abroad to shadow doctors and worked in my moms clinic (GP private practice) for past 1o years. Ya i have all those letters. I guess I will apply in next few days then...So personal statement does not need to be changed too much? TMDAS has separate essay sections for reapplicants for "whats changed since" and planned activities
Include all things post high school. Beef up those shadowing hours. And knock ur essays out of the park. Good luck
 
I was in your shoes last cycle. I think for me it was a combination of poor interviews skills and REALLY bad luck (similar situation with only high-tier interview offers). So, I completely understand the pain. Especially the complete let down of having 4+ interview offers and no acceptances.

- In preparing for a re-app though, make sure you have something to add to show that you've grown and matured over the last cycle. I decided to get a Master's in Health Policy at my alma mater, but if I can go back in time, I'd most likely get a job with clinical exposure. Make sure you know why you want to go into medicine. If that question is a little unclear (like it was for me -- and probably showed during interviews), get involved with something that will solidify your aspirations.

- I would do as many mock interviews as possible, and definitely get feedback from the schools you applied to this cycle. I'm not sure how old you are, but I was 19 when I first applied to medical school. Just understand that the average matriculant is 25 and you have to show that you are up to their level of maturity through the interview process.

- Try adding in a few out-of-state schools. I know it's generally not recommended on here, but I got more interviews (and acceptances) out-of-state than I did in Texas.

- Just be sure to keep your head up. I know it really sucks, but having this past year off was probably the best thing that could have ever happened to me. Serious.
 
Last edited:
Oh Im also ORM which hurts me. I did a one month internship abroad to shadow doctors and worked in my moms clinic (GP private practice) for past 1o years. Ya i have all those letters. I guess I will apply in next few days then...So personal statement does not need to be changed too much? TMDAS has separate essay sections for reapplicants for "whats changed since" and planned activities
Most of the adcom members of this site would say to rewrite your personal statement, and not just a little. Your may want to keep the same themes or main points, but do change it up. Emphasize what you will be doing this year to add to your qualifications. Read all the comments in this thread for a good idea: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/thr...did-you-change-your-ps.1203275/#post-17812204
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Last year, when did you submit your primaries and secondaries?
 
The thing that strikes me is that with 4 waitlists, you need to work on your interview skills. Your application got you interviews, but you couldn't seal the deal.
 
I submitted within first week. idk how i would have messed up interviews. they were pretty standard
 
With those stats, Texas, and 4 wait lists the answer, most likely, lies in your interview skills. You need to work on them, see if you can get feedback from the schools.
 
I submitted within first week. idk how i would have messed up interviews. they were pretty standard
When you get your secondary applications this time, go look at each school's site and mission and spend more time on your responses. Treat each short answer question as important. I wonder if your goals did not match some of the schools which are more interested in family medicine/small town care or docs likely to remain in the area of the med school to practice?
 
i wrote in my essays that i want to do primary care. maybe scared away baylor and utsw?
 
Top