WAMC? Feeling lost/potential reapplication

[hellohello12345]

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[Angler]

I know I also should have applied to DO schools, but was honestly just feeling burnt out after completing secondaries, and would prefer MD given better chance of competitive specialties. Also missing physician LOR many DO schools prefer.

I guess my final questions are: should I retake the MCAT? Does it make sense to spend my third gap year doing a clinical job? How’s my MD school list? Which DO schools should I add for next cycle? Any general tips for my application?

You should apply to DO and MD schools if your II doesn't turn into an A. You'll have to research DO schools, or @Faha or @Goro may have suggestions.

Do NOT take the MCAT again if you are not very certain you can score > than your first score. The look of a decrease in MCAT score is not good. Besides, your current scores are not killers for med school.

Your clinical hours and non-clinical volunteering are "ok" (they check the box). With your MCAT, you need EC's that are significantly good (wow that's bad writing!). Further research won't help your application at all. Homeless shelter hours and clinical hours are what your application needs to be successful. A half-time MA/scribe job along with aggressive volunteering will help a lot.

Your comments on your letters are not encouraging. "Not strong" = not great. Think how you can get one more good one.

Don't reapply unless your application is significantly improved; take another gap year if necessary.

 

[chilly_md]

Do not retake the MCAT.

You have a deficiency in non-clinical volunteering outside an academic setting. No need for more research. Most of your time has been dedicated towards that and so are your LORs when the schools that would consider you with your stats are focused on service and clinical experience (eg Oakland, Loyola etc). A common mistake is dedicating a significant portion of the PS to research when it should be about “why medicine”.

5 LORs is a lot, especially when you aren’t confident in some. You might be able to use a PI one as a science LOR.

You will need DO schools on your list. Your MD list had many public schools that won’t consider most OOS students or were otherwise a poor fit. Try these after getting at least another 150 hours at a homeless shelter:

Geisinger
Penn State
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
NYMC
Albany
Rosalind Franklin
Oakland
Wayne State
George Washington
Medical College of Wisconsin
Tufts
Creighton
Vermont
Hackensack
Quinnipiac
Nova MD
Loyola
TCU
Belmont

For DO, (shadow someone in primary care and get a letter):
LECOM
PCOM
NYIT
Touro NY
DMU
Marian
KCU
KCOM (Kirksville)
Campbell

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Your mission fit is not clear to me. You need service orientation activities like your shelter work to be 150 hours minimum, better if you had 250 to 300.

 

[hellohello12345]

Do not retake the MCAT.

You have a deficiency in non-clinical volunteering outside an academic setting. No need for more research. Most of your time has been dedicated towards that and so are your LORs when the schools that would consider you with your stats are focused on service and clinical experience (eg Oakland, Loyola etc). A common mistake is dedicating a significant portion of the PS to research when it should be about “why medicine”.

5 LORs is a lot, especially when you aren’t confident in some. You might be able to use a PI one as a science LOR.

You will need DO schools on your list. Your MD list had many public schools that won’t consider most OOS students or were otherwise a poor fit. Try these after getting at least another 150 hours at a homeless shelter:

Geisinger
Penn State
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
NYMC
Albany
Rosalind Franklin
Oakland
Wayne State
George Washington
Medical College of Wisconsin
Tufts
Creighton
Vermont
Hackensack
Quinnipiac
Nova MD
Loyola
TCU
Belmont

For DO, (shadow someone in primary care and get a letter):
LECOM
PCOM
NYIT
Touro NY
DMU
Marian
KCU
KCOM (Kirksville)
Campbell

Thank you for the advice and school list! I definitely ended up having too much research, and am going to try to search for a clinical job. Would clinical research be able to satisfy the category of more clinical hours if it's working with patients, or would this still fall under the category of "research"? I was hoping to do this as it pays slightly more than scribing, and I know that some MAs require certification.

 

[hellohello12345]

Your mission fit is not clear to me. You need service orientation activities like your shelter work to be 150 hours minimum, better if you had 250 to 300.

To be honest, I wasn't sure about my own mission fit, haha. Even if I did increase my service hours to 150+, do you think this would help me become a better mission fit for the service oriented schools? I feel like I have so much research in comparison that it will be hard for me to balance it out this way.

 

[hellohello12345]

You should apply to DO and MD schools if your II doesn't turn into an A. You'll have to research DO schools, or @Faha or @Goro may have suggestions.

Do NOT take the MCAT again if you are not very certain you can score > than your first score. The look of a decrease in MCAT score is not good. Besides, your current scores are not killers for med school.

Your clinical hours and non-clinical volunteering are "ok" (they check the box). With your MCAT, you need EC's that are significantly good (wow that's bad writing!). Further research won't help your application at all. Homeless shelter hours and clinical hours are what your application needs to be successful. A half-time MA/scribe job along with aggressive volunteering will help a lot.

Your comments on your letters are not encouraging. "Not strong" = not great. Think how you can get one more good one.

Don't reapply unless your application is significantly improved; take another gap year if necessary.

Thank you! I'm definitely planning to volunteer more in the coming months.

 

[chilly_md]

Thank you for the advice and school list! I definitely ended up having too much research, and am going to try to search for a clinical job. Would clinical research be able to satisfy the category of more clinical hours if it's working with patients, or would this still fall under the category of "research"? I was hoping to do this as it pays slightly more than scribing, and I know that some MAs require certification.

Would be better to get away from research entirely