transformation from applicant to reapplicant

[saki0005]

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i've decided to admit defeat. i'm 99.9999% certain that i won't be receiving interview invites anytime soon.

so i'll be taking this year to study for the MCAT (retake in April 2006), repeat a few courses to bump up my GPA, continue volunteering in the ER, learn a little Spanish. in addition to this, i'll continue working in research (non-medical).

is there anything i'm missing here? anything I should be working on before reapplying in 2006?

any suggestions/comments would be greatly appreciated (unless you tell me to do a forum search. in that case you can piss off).

thanks

 

[BlueMagpie]

What kind of non-medical research are you doing?

 

[2tall]

I'm not a fan of repeating courses. If you made a D/F...then yeah.

I don't know anything about your academic background, but taking advanced science classes worked for me.

Maybe some type of leadership component would also help.

Apply early...if you hadn't done that before.

 

[ntmed]

I'm not a fan of repeating courses. If you made a D/F...then yeah.

In most cases, I agree with 2tall. Keep in mind that repeating a course won't erase the lower grade. Both grades get reported on your medical school app.

However, if you did poorly in your core prerequisites (C or less, maybe B or less for certain courses), you might want to retake them. For example, it might be hard to do well in an advanced course if you didn't learn the prerequisite material well enough. In addition, it might be hard to do well on the MCAT if you did not do well in the core premed courses.

You might also want to get some feedback on your application. Talk to your premed advisor or a trusted faculty member.

 

[LSUwannabe]

That sounds good for EC stuff...
Agreed w/ those about retaking courses. Taking new upper level sciences isn't a bad idea.

Why didn't you get an interview, do you think?
-Is it your GPA? Then take a full load of science classes or do a Masters.
-Is it your MCAT? You've got that covered.
-Is it where you applied? Apply to more appropriate schools or simply to more of them.

When I was doing my app in June, the national accepted averaged for ALL matriculants were something like a 29.6O and a 3.65. If you're below one or both of those that's likely part of the problem.

For some schools, a 28 might be competitive while other schools probably won't even look at you...

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Agreed also w/ above re: go talk to an admissions person...they don't generally crap you negative.

If all else fails, just do a forum search.

 

[docchick]

Making an appointment with the admissions office of the schools you want to reapply to was one of the best things I did...
They gave me straight (and specific) advice about what I needed to strengnthen about my app for their school...and it 'demonstrated commitment to their school' which they like too....🙂

 

[saki0005]

if i just keep taking upper division courses, is that sufficient; or do i absolutely need to go into a formal program?

 

[roadrunnerrita]

Clinical exposure is key too. How can you talk about wanting to go into medicine if you've never talked to a sick person who wasn't in your family?

 

[GATORade]

Clinical exposure is key too. How can you talk about wanting to go into medicine if you've never talked to a sick person who wasn't in your family?

I agree totally. With decent stats, significant and unique clinical exposure can set you apart from the rest. I am convinced that my clinical exposure allowed me to go from a disgruntled re-applicant to a successful one. Good luck. 😉

 

[IAMS]

Going in, I knew my chances getting in were slim. But, a year is a long time to wait, so I applied without having finished my pre-req's: organic chem and physics.

I did well on the MCAT without having taken them, but that doesn't mean squat. Most Ad-coms aren't open minded enough to say "G, this guy can learn stuff on his own, he can probably handle med school." When they look at your grades in these classes and you are just now taking them, there's a big hole, read red flag.

I haven't heard from every school yet, but I'm realistic here. So I am looking at another year before I can get in, but at least this gives me an opportunity to get some good EC's under my belt, and do more research on schools.

I want to ask if anyone else is facing this same situation, and how are you planning on beefing up your application for '06? What's the best experience you can get in counting down the months to your second time around at interviews? I've read mentioned unique clinical experience, can you give an example of this?

 

[CRY2STAL]

i've decided to admit defeat. i'm 99.9999% certain that i won't be receiving interview invites anytime soon.

so i'll be taking this year to study for the MCAT (retake in April 2006), repeat a few courses to bump up my GPA, continue volunteering in the ER, learn a little Spanish. in addition to this, i'll continue working in research (non-medical).

is there anything i'm missing here? anything I should be working on before reapplying in 2006?

any suggestions/comments would be greatly appreciated (unless you tell me to do a forum search. in that case you can piss off).

thanks

consider hooking up one physician, and shadowing him or him...admissions committee would be very impressed if you got more hands on experience by working side-by-side with a doc vs. the ER. Esp. if you get a LOR from that doc. Just a thought...and the other activities sound on point.