trying to figure out what went wrong

[talbo]

i would like to get some opinions regarding my chances

i am graduating from a california school
i have a 33 mcat (VR:9 PS: 14 BS: 10)
GPA 3.88 ish
BPCM 3.9 ish
major: engineering

activities
-extensive leadership roles - a lot of them with long commitment (longest one is 4 years): probably my best EC - won awards cause of this
-2 summer research
-1 long term research in molecular biology ~2.5 yrs
-1.5 yr hospital volunteer
-0.5 yr free clinic volunteer - clinic assistant
-worked 15-20 hrs/wk since sophmore year
-numerous scholarhips (6+)
-numerous awards (service, scholastic, some big ones from my school, etc) (5+)
-IM sports
-some other random stuff?

i was wondering what my chances are... i am actually a re-applicant and applied in mid august last year n received interviews at some places including UCLA, etc but WL everywhere

i tend to believe my lack of success is due to a late application and mediocre essays since everything was finished around mid october to november and there were a lot of things i did not know (didn't find out bout SDN till later... =(..) i dont have a lot of pre-meds in my classes and did not know this process was THIS demanding. Also my GPA dipped a little since the 2008 cycle ( was a 3.9 cum and a 3.92 BPCM). I was even reconsider taking the MCAT again to score better since I thought that was the factor, didn't take a formal MCAT prep course.

thank you and i hope to hear some inputs

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[scarletgirl777]

Call the schools and ask what went wrong. There is something else wrong here. You might have a bad letter of recommendation or personal statement. Or you might have applied to only top 30 schools. Also, the schools you were WL'ed at, you still have a chance for. Send them numerous letters of interest/update.

 

[paradocs we are]

Apply earlier this time round.

Also, make sure all your LORs are 150% SUPPORTIVE ones.

Let every person you know read your PS. You'd be surprised.

Contact the schools you have been waitlisted and send them LOIs.

Ask the rest of the schools if they can give you feedback on why your application wasn't succesful.

If you're rejected at the end from all schools, contact the schools that offered you an interview and try to gain feedback.

Good luck! Don't give up hope. It will happen.

 

[jetspeeder]

like the previous post, i would suggest to apply early and more broadly this time around

also contact schools that you did not get interviews and make sure your PS and other stuff are all well written

good luck!

 

[talbo]

thanks everyone for the input,

all my LORs are good to excellent except for maybe 1 which unfortunately is from the lab i worked in the longest, need to talk to my PI

i just e-mailed some schools getting feedback on what went wrong with my application hopefully will get some feedback

i will need to edit my PS a lot, i think it wasn't well written, i did spend a decent amt of time on it, but i am not a good writer so i think it still turned out to be mediocre

thanks again to everyone

 

[flip26]

The only thing that really stands out is that you did not return secondaries soon enough. Otherwise there is not enough info here without knowing where you applied.

 

[talbo]

here are the schools i applied to

harvard
JHU
UCLA
UCI
UCSD
UCD
UCSF
drexel
rosalind franklin
albert einstein
boston university
NYMC
NYU
mount sinai
columbia
cornell
OHSU
stanford

and some other schools i cant recall off the top of my head
i interviewed at some UCs, albert einstein, NYMC, and drexel
most of my secondaries were finished in mid october to november

i think my secondary essays were mediocre to very good, depending on the topic addressed. i try to debug what went wrong and believe it's applying late and maybe perhaps my patient contact experience was not as sufficient compared to a lot of ppl which I am trying very hard to correct this time around by volunteering 9 - 15 hrs/wk at a local clinic with direct contact with patients.

my activities secton wasn't as good as it could be b/c i left some stuff out cuz i thought it was too much (it was pretty stupid...) i don't think i painted the best picture to adcom last time around which i m also trying to fix

my new list of school this time around are:

UCLA
UCSF
UCI
UCSD
UC Davis
Mount Sinai
Northwestern
NYU
Columbia
OHSU
Saint Louis
Temple
Jefferson
Tulane
Tufts
Pittsburgh
Drexel
Univ of Vermont
Univ of Virginia
Albert Einstein
Univ of Maryland
Univ of Chicago
VCU
Univ of Miami
Medical College of Wisconsin
Creighton

don't know if i should even keep these on the list
UPenn
Harvard
Mayo
Washington Univ

there are reach schools on my lists and also schools i think have a decent shot at getting in as well as safety schools, what do you guys think of the list of schools?

 

[cleothecat]

Many schools look at the LOr's after the interview

One lukewarm (or worse negative) letter could sink the best application

 

[tiedyeddog]

I'd add u on cinci and ohio state. Both are very receptive to oos'ers with numbers like yours.

good luck!

 

[talbo]

i have a big dilemma right now, so i am preparing my application to reapply and asking my LOR writers to write new updated letters. I am trying to fix whatever mistake I made last cycle and I believe I am doing quite well on that track but stumbled upon something that I need suggestions.

So my LOR from the lab I have been working the longest I believe is mediocre and I believe like many of you have noted taht it will raise a flag, or make a very good application look not as good. I have been putting a lot more hours recently in his lab b/c course load has been gettin more light and I have more time to spend on my projects. I will most likely continue to research in his lab half time during the year taht i re-apply but will not be there this summer since i have an obligated job that i took on for the summer period. i was wondering if i should ask him to write me a LOR now or wait till I come back in september (but I won't be doing nething over the summer in the lab). Should I explain my situation to him asking him to write a longer LOR (I never read his LOR but I saw it was only 1 page long when he printed it out before sealing it) and tell him taht I really need a strong LOR from him? I need some advice here. Thank you.

 

[talbo]

neone have ne suggestions to my question above?

 

[Didmybest]

Mayo is a waste of money, but as has been mentioned before you have good numbers and nice extracurricular activities, something went wrong beyond your control (unless its the essays).