MD & DO WAMC as a reapplicant?

[Warder]

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Background:
White Male, not from a disadvantaged background
MN Resident
Graduated 2017 with a degree in a humanities field. I decided it wasn't for me and took another year of science classes to get the rest of my med school pre-reqs (basically a build your own post bacc) and took the MCAT.

Applied 2018 cycle to MD only and had no interviews. Feedback from schools said great academics and my app sounded like I was a real/well rounded person but written essays and personal statement were just "average/borderline." One school expressed surprise at me not getting interviews anywhere else (not sure how to interpret this). My pre-med advisor also suggested I apply to many Jesuit schools for the 2018 cycle, which I did. Looking back I think this was a mistake as volunteering was not the strongest area of my application and Jesuit schools tend to value this highly.

Now I will be applying May 2020 as a reapplicant to MD and adding DO this time as well.

Stats:
cGPA: 3.80
sGPA: 3.88
GPA was consistent between undergrad and post bacc. Worked 2-3 part time jobs in college.
MCAT: 514

Work/Activities:
Paid employment - Non-Medical/clinical: Multiple different jobs totaling about 8000 hours (including leadership positions for several different employers)
Paid Employment - Medical/Clinical: 3500 hours (including a significant leadership position) + another 40 hours/week projected (~1500 hours).
Research: 100 hours in a food science lab
Volunteering: 150 hours with a sports sanctioning body (nonprofit but not really a charitable organization/doesn't serve those in need).
Volunteering: 300 hours between two organizations that serve those in need (started in summer of 2018) + another 16 hours/month projected (~200 hours)
Shadowing: 200 hours split between several fields
Hobbies: Some miscellaneous hobbies/activities that I do in my spare time that are pretty unusual but cool and I'm pretty passionate about (probably what contributed to me seeming like a well rounded person as said by a few schools).

Letters of rec:
Committee + 1-3 MDs + one from the director of a non-profit I volunteer at

Underlined things are completely new since 2018 application.

IAs/Misdemeanors:
None - not so much as a parking ticket on my record.

Any areas I should focus on improving? I know I need to step up my written responses for sure as several schools suggested this to me and likely have better school choice as well.

Schools that I've researched and like:
University of Iowa
University of Minnesota
MCW
Mayo (stretch)
Rush
Wake Forest
Rosalind Franklin
Albany
Dartmouth
Georgetown
George Washington
Case Western
NYMC
Northwestern (stretch)
Rush
Kaiser (stretch)

Haven't looked too far into DO yet.

 

[m1redsox]

Your chances seem fine to me as long as you apply to enough schools. The chances of getting into med school are slim enough, and if you only apply to 16 schools, you could potentially double your chances by applying to 30 (I’d recommend 25+ as an ORM applicant with your stats). I’m not sure if it’s necessary for you to apply to DO schools, but if you do, 3-5 should do the trick.
I’d remove Dart, Mayo, Case, and NW and add more schools in the Temple, Drexel, Wake Forest range. Just to preface, I am a white male with a 3.82 and 515 so I feel like we have a similar range of schools. I got interviews at Drexel, Wake Forest, Utah (where I did UG), CNU, and CUSM (CA resident), so take that with a grain of salt.

 

[Faha]

I suggest these schools with your stats:
University of Iowa
University of Minnesota
MCW
Mayo
Rush
Wake Forest
Rosalind Franklin
Albany
Dartmouth
Georgetown
George Washington
NYMC
Rush
Kaiser
Boston University
Tufts
Vermont
Quinnipiac
Hofstra
Seton Hall
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
NOVA MD
Miami
Oakland Beaumont
Wayne State
Western Michigan
Loyola
St Louis
Creighton
TCU-UNT

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Background:
White Male, not from a disadvantaged background
MN Resident
Graduated 2017 with a degree in a humanities field. I decided it wasn't for me and took another year of science classes to get the rest of my med school pre-reqs (basically a build your own post bacc) and took the MCAT.

Applied 2018 cycle to MD only and had no interviews. Feedback from schools said great academics and my app sounded like I was a real/well rounded person but written essays and personal statement were just "average/borderline." One school expressed surprise at me not getting interviews anywhere else (not sure how to interpret this). My pre-med advisor also suggested I apply to many Jesuit schools for the 2018 cycle, which I did. Looking back I think this was a mistake as volunteering was not the strongest area of my application and Jesuit schools tend to value this highly.

Now I will be applying May 2020 as a reapplicant to MD and adding DO this time as well.

Stats:
cGPA: 3.80
sGPA: 3.88
GPA was consistent between undergrad and post bacc. Worked 2-3 part time jobs in college.
MCAT: 514

Work/Activities:
Paid employment - Non-Medical/clinical: Multiple different jobs totaling about 8000 hours (including leadership positions for several different employers)
Paid Employment - Medical/Clinical: 3500 hours (including a significant leadership position) + another 40 hours/week projected (~1500 hours).
Research: 100 hours in a food science lab
Volunteering: 150 hours with a sports sanctioning body (nonprofit but not really a charitable organization/doesn't serve those in need).
Volunteering: 300 hours between two organizations that serve those in need (started in summer of 2018) + another 16 hours/month projected (~200 hours)
Shadowing: 200 hours split between several fields
Hobbies: Some miscellaneous hobbies/activities that I do in my spare time that are pretty unusual but cool and I'm pretty passionate about (probably what contributed to me seeming like a well rounded person as said by a few schools).

Letters of rec:
Committee + 1-3 MDs + one from the director of a non-profit I volunteer at

Underlined things are completely new since 2018 application.

IAs/Misdemeanors:
None - not so much as a parking ticket on my record.

Any areas I should focus on improving? I know I need to step up my written responses for sure as several schools suggested this to me and likely have better school choice as well.

Schools that I've researched and like:
University of Iowa
University of Minnesota
MCW
Mayo (stretch)
Rush
Wake Forest
Rosalind Franklin
Albany
Dartmouth
Georgetown
George Washington
Case Western
NYMC
Northwestern (stretch)
Rush
Kaiser (stretch)

Haven't looked too far into DO yet.

Tell us what you plan to do to revamp your PS and other essays. Zero interviews with your metrics suggests something is an issue with letters or essays at least.

As far as I know, everyone values patient-facing community service opportunities. You might not have had enough or may have just had "typical" experiences.

Sent from my SM-N960U using SDN mobile

 

[Warder]

Tell us what you plan to do to revamp your PS and other essays. Zero interviews with your metrics suggests something is an issue with letters or essays at least.

As far as I know, everyone values patient-facing community service opportunities. You might not have had enough or may have just had "typical" experiences.

Sent from my SM-N960U using SDN mobile

First and primarily, I wrote way too much about "what" and very little about "why" as the field of study I previously was in does not prioritize self reflection as much as accomplishments. This was a very wrong approach for medical school applications. This cycle I need to spend way more time saying why the activities I did were important and how I transformed/was influenced by these activities. I need to do a lot more showing this cycle rather than telling. I've got what I think is a great collection of experiences, now I just need to write about them.

I've also started 4 months earlier this cycle compared to last to give me plenty of time to write my PS and the work/activities section. My job offers development workshops for PS/application essays for medical school so I'm also working with people who have read thousands of PS by this point to help develop mine and make it dramatically better than the last cycle.

Another issue is that I assumed Adcoms would see that I worked several jobs during college (based on my work/activities section) and that this is why I did not have much volunteering experience. In talking to schools none of them realized I worked that much in college and I was told I should have explicitly stated this. I'll make sure to specifically address this in my next application, and also understand that I shouldn't leave anything up to hoping an Adcom is paying close enough attention to catch on to something - just say it. Now that I am only working one job I've also added ~300 hours of volunteering with some awesome organizations to help address this gap regardless.

Finally, after working over 3000 hours in healthcare, I've had a ton of impactful and meaningful events happen that give me way more to write about and be excited about.

After talking to schools, I'm near 100% convinced that my essays sunk me. None were horrible/game ending, but none were good enough to make me look interesting enough to get an interview. I was told by a school that my responses were just average, which isn't enough to get an interview.

My school does not write committee letters for everyone, only those they approve to apply to medical school (based mostly on interviews - I am a significantly stronger interviewer than writer). They do not provide bad LORs as they would just tell you that you don't get a letter from them instead. As such, the committee LOR should be good and one school specifically told me to keep up my relations with them so that they can provide an updated letter.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

First and primarily, I wrote way too much about "what" and very little about "why" as the field of study I previously was in does not prioritize self reflection as much as accomplishments. This was a very wrong approach for medical school applications. This cycle I need to spend way more time saying why the activities I did were important and how I transformed/was influenced by these activities. I need to do a lot more showing this cycle rather than telling. I've got what I think is a great collection of experiences, now I just need to write about them.

I've also started 4 months earlier this cycle compared to last to give me plenty of time to write my PS and the work/activities section. My job offers development workshops for PS/application essays for medical school so I'm also working with people who have read thousands of PS by this point to help develop mine and make it dramatically better than the last cycle.

Another issue is that I assumed Adcoms would see that I worked several jobs during college (based on my work/activities section) and that this is why I did not have much volunteering experience. In talking to schools none of them realized I worked that much in college and I was told I should have explicitly stated this. I'll make sure to specifically address this in my next application, and also understand that I shouldn't leave anything up to hoping an Adcom is paying close enough attention to catch on to something - just say it. Now that I am only working one job I've also added ~300 hours of volunteering with some awesome organizations to help address this gap regardless.

Finally, after working over 3000 hours in healthcare, I've had a ton of impactful and meaningful events happen that give me way more to write about and be excited about.

After talking to schools, I'm near 100% convinced that my essays sunk me. None were horrible/game ending, but none were good enough to make me look interesting enough to get an interview. I was told by a school that my responses were just average, which isn't enough to get an interview.

My school does not write committee letters for everyone, only those they approve to apply to medical school (based mostly on interviews - I am a significantly stronger interviewer than writer). They do not provide bad LORs as they would just tell you that you don't get a letter from them instead. As such, the committee LOR should be good and one school specifically told me to keep up my relations with them so that they can provide an updated letter.

The essays being a burden on your chances for acceptance would be disappointing, especially with your initial humanities major. There is so much advice on application essays and help offered tasty you should be able to overcome this if you reapply. You are right: you need to have a compelling story and proof of self reflection when you have the chance.

This time make sure your references and any others you trust in this process read and give you clear feedback on your essays.

Sent from my SM-N960U using SDN mobile

 

[Warder]

The essays being a burden on your chances for acceptance would be disappointing, especially with your initial humanities major. There is so much advice on application essays and help offered tasty you should be able to overcome this if you reapply. You are right: you need to have a compelling story and proof of self reflection when you have the chance.

This time make sure your references and any others you trust in this process read and give you clear feedback on your essays.

Sent from my SM-N960U using SDN mobile

Yeah, I'm already feeling significantly better about my application this year. I had a gut feeling last time that something wasn't quite there yet (despite the pre-med advisor saying I was good). This year I don't have that same feeling and I realized I likely should have waited to apply just to give me more time to get everything together.

Also curious to hear @LizzyM @Goro @gonnif @gyngyn thoughts if any of you would be kind enough 🙂

 

[gyngyn]

You've gotten pretty good advice above.
I can't recommend CNU.
I doubt that Kaiser is a good use of resources.