Thoughts on re-applicants?

[NNPham]

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I am debating weather to apply at the end of my junior year or wait until the end of my senior year to apply. I currently have a 3.4 right now and if I do well at the end of my spring semester assuming I make all A's, I will have a 3.5. I take the MCAT in January and have been scoring 32's on the AAMC's. I have a decent amount of hours in volunteering and shadowing. I also am an undergraduate research assistant. How do med schools view re-applicants?

 

[RTC19]

I would wait until after your senior year to apply, using your senior year and the remainder of your junior year to improve that GPA. Solid upward trends are viewed favorably. You need to show that ADCOM you are sure you want to be a doctor and that you know what you're getting into, so I would recommend you get some more clinical volunteering in.

 

[reapplicanthelpme2014]

I'm a reapplicant and I honestly don't feel like I've felt a great stigma against me. 75% of the schools I've applied to were the same as from a previous cycle. I've gotten 4/6 interviews from places I interviewed at last year. I created a thread in the "Reapp" forum and many other reapplicants are finding success this cycle. I don't think being a reapplicant is bad. The key is to have some significant changes in you application before applying again, whether it be new MCAT, new activities, or even just applying earlier. You'd be surprised at how much can change once you correct a perceived deficiency in your application. Obviously, nobody wants to be a reapplicant. But, if you end up being one, it's not the end of the world!!

 

[reapplicanthelpme2014]

.

 

[Goro]

Apply with the best possible app. What's your hurry?

I am debating weather to apply at the end of my junior year or wait until the end of my senior year to apply. I currently have a 3.4 right now and if I do well at the end of my spring semester assuming I make all A's, I will have a 3.5. I take the MCAT in January and have been scoring 32's on the AAMC's. I have a decent amount of hours in volunteering and shadowing. I also am an undergraduate research assistant. How do med schools view re-applicants?

 

[reapplicanthelpme2014]

.

 

[reapplicanthelpme2014]

I agree that you should ONLY do it once and right the first time! Had to put that in there lol

Sorry for the multiple posts; my phone is acting weird.

 

[Doug Underhill]

An AAMC study has shown that the effect of just checking the "reapplicant" box on the app is equivalent to losing three points on the MCAT. If you are reapplying with a MCAT score of 36, treat it as though you are reapplying with a 33 instead.

I'm just kidding. The reason why reapplicants have lower levels of success is because they tend to have giant gaping holes in their application: a bad GPA, a bad MCAT, no clinical experience. That's why they didn't get in the first time, after all. If you rectify those flaws, expect interviews. If not- well, you know what they say about doing the same thing twice and expecting different results each time.

 

[PlaqueBuster]

An AAMC study has shown that the effect of just checking the "reapplicant" box on the app is equivalent to losing three points on the MCAT. If you are reapplying with a MCAT score of 36, treat it as though you are reapplying with a 33 instead.

I'm just kidding. The reason why reapplicants have lower levels of success is because they tend to have giant gaping holes in their application: a bad GPA, a bad MCAT, no clinical experience. That's why they didn't get in the first time, after all. If you rectify those flaws, expect interviews. If not- well, you know what they say about doing the same thing twice and expecting different results each time.

I knew someone that jumped off the cliff twice. First time he broke his legs, second time he died.....very different results though he did the same thing twice.

I'm just kidding. Save your app until senior year if you think it will be significantly stronger.

 

[schiffbased]

I'm a reapplicant--last cycle I had three interviews/waitlists and this year I have received 8 interviews (1 waitlist, 3 acceptances, two pending decisions and I declined two interviews.) Of those 8, six of them I had applied to previously. I retook the MCAT and scored high 98th percentile, reworked my personal essay, and had a lot of new clinical experience and publications. Totally possible as long as your application shows significant change on all accounts. Only one of the three schools who interviewed me last year interviewed me again though (and waitlisted again smh). Good luck!