Texas Reapplicant - should I apply this round?

[Vakarian]

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Hello! I want to start by saying that I wish I had known of this site years ago - it definitely would have been a boon during my undergrad years.

I just graduated from UT (biochem) with a 3.1/3.1 ugpa/sgpa and have a 33 MCAT (11/11/11). I worked full time through college to pay for classes, consistently having two jobs at a time after my first semester. These jobs were split between clinical work, lab work, retail, teaching, and food industry with at least a year for each position and hundreds (or thousands for retail/teaching) of hours for each. My shadowing is at least average (hundreds of hours in the ER, just north of 50 hrs with a gen surgeon, 50 hrs obgyn, hundreds opthamology, hundreds craniofacial surgery), and I'm currently doing research with a craniofacial surgeon at the children's hospital where I live. My two letters of rec are good (based on what my interviewers told me, I have not seen them personally) and my personal statement received positive feedback from my interviewers as well.

I did get a publication out from my lab, and have a relatively standard ~3 semesters worth of hospital volunteering (few hundred hours) in addition to outside volunteer work through a humanist group. Basically, I took college and ran with the myriad of experiences I could have and worried about making enough money to take classes more than doing well in those classes. I never studied for any class more than "night before cram session" method, so I know that I can get A's if I give school some attention.

My question is: I applied last round extraordinarily late (I'm talking last day possible) and received an interview at Tech, and am wait listed there now. Do you guys think I have a chance at acceptance this round if I were to submit by June 1st, or should I not apply this year in order to improve my grades? My grade trend actually dips - from a 4.0 to consistent 3.0 after my first year when I started working much more. Additionally, would a DIY post bacc at my alma mater be better than an SMP in my position? I realize I'm too late to apply to an SMP now, but in the future, would that be a good option? Getting A's shouldn't be a huge struggle, as I've already folded and taken out a loan for this year and will just work part time. I'm also not interested in applying out of state, as my numbers aren't realistically competitive since other schools know I have a huge home state advantage. Additionally...I know this will receive criticism, but I'm not interested in going osteopathic. I think the schools are wonderful and the physicians they put out are just as good as MDs, but the specialties I've become interested in are not D.O. friendly, historically speaking.

Alright, I think I covered all of the bases. Just throw advice my way! Anything! Except for quitting; it could take me 10 years but I'll eventually get there.

 

[DrMidlife]

The only problem here other than a late app is your GPA. Getting a waitlist is a great sign that you're pretty close.

But I don't understand why you'd let the whole year go by without doing something about your GPA. You haven't done anything to change your app, so no, I don't think you should reapply next month.

Some schools put an expiration date on your MCAT. If your score is only one year old right now, then that's good. If it's two years old right now, then you'd probably need a new score to apply in 2015.

Personally I'd vote for you to do a full time year of undergrad. Personally I would vote for you to not leave the state to get to an SMP. Also, you can't get into a good SMP for fall 2014. Too late. But if UNT's program is still taking apps, that's worth a shot.

Regardless, don't bother taking more classes unless you can clear your schedule to focus on academics. If you sign up for more classes, and you keep getting distracted, you won't get better grades. In med school you'll have to focus on just classes, with a million options for more interesting things to do, so you just have to get good at just studying. Trust me, it sucks, but it's not optional.

tl;dr: unless your MCAT is expiring, skip this app year in favor of doing more undergrad, but get A's or don't bother.

Best of luck to you.

Edit: I should mention that part of the motivation for the above advice is for you to have a choice other than Lubbock. Choices are good.

 

[Vakarian]

The only problem here other than a late app is your GPA. Getting a waitlist is a great sign that you're pretty close.

But I don't understand why you'd let the whole year go by without doing something about your GPA. You haven't done anything to change your app, so no, I don't think you should reapply next month.

Some schools put an expiration date on your MCAT. If your score is only one year old right now, then that's good. If it's two years old right now, then you'd probably need a new score to apply in 2015.

Personally I'd vote for you to do a full time year of undergrad. Personally I would vote for you to not leave the state to get to an SMP. Also, you can't get into a good SMP for fall 2014. Too late. But if UNT's program is still taking apps, that's worth a shot.

Regardless, don't bother taking more classes unless you can clear your schedule to focus on academics. If you sign up for more classes, and you keep getting distracted, you won't get better grades. In med school you'll have to focus on just classes, with a million options for more interesting things to do, so you just have to get good at just studying. Trust me, it sucks, but it's not optional.

tl;dr: unless your MCAT is expiring, skip this app year in favor of doing more undergrad, but get A's or don't bother.

Best of luck to you.

Edit: I should mention that part of the motivation for the above advice is for you to have a choice other than Lubbock. Choices are good.

Ahh, thank you DrMidlife - I was hoping you would see this. Since I sent in my app, all that has happened is my graduation (that happened last week, and I scored my standard B's in everything so my grades are the same) and my MCAT was March of last year, which puts me in the clear for that. The new research with the surgeon is the only main change, but I had research on my app previously so it's not a monumental difference. UNT's program starts later this weeks actually, so it's much too late to try that. That doesn't pain me much though; as you said, I don't think that would help me as much as having success in the "proving grounds" of upper division science from my undergrad.

I was surprised by how much Lubbock's program impressed me (edit - may have been largely derived from my shock at receiving an interview from anywhere), but you're right about choice being important. Thank you for your advice; and I'll make sure to get 4.0s from here on out.