WAMC Potential Reapplicant (3.9/515)

[soar1516]

Hello! I applied this cycle as a traditional applicant and was fortunate to get 4 interviews at ECU, Wake Forest, Miami, and GW (though they all turned into waitlists that I am still waiting on). In the meantime, I wanted to get your advice on anything I can do to strengthen my application if I need to reapply. I applied middle of June last time and, because I took the MCAT May 2024, I was more rushed than I would have liked with writing my primary and secondary apps. I am expecting to have improved writing this time around. I have an interest in urban underserved communities (ie uninsured and homeless populations) as my family is low SES and that is something I am interested in working in. I am also interested in MD/MBA programs as I have an interest in healthcare management/policy (have explored those topics through my second major in econ/business). I also did not apply to any DO schools but definitely would want to with a reapplication. Any advice on potential areas to improve or schools to apply to is appreciated. Also, if something major is missing and your recommendation is not to apply this cycle, I would love to know! Below would be my stats by June when I would reapply. Thanks so much for your help.

1. cGPA and sGPA as calculated by AMCAS or AACOMAS cGPA: 3.91 sGPA: 3.89
2. MCAT score(s) and breakdown. Include all (non-voided) attempts. 515 (131/127/129/128)
3. State of residence or country of citizenship (if non-US) North Carolina, also have pretty strong ties to MA and PA
4. Ethnicity and/or race Asian
5. Undergraduate institution or category Large Public School
6. Clinical experience (volunteer and non-volunteer) 800 hours completed hours as EMT (2080 anticipated hours as I will also work full time in healthcare in gap year but am uncertain if it will be as EMT, ED Tech, etc), 125 hours completed as hospital volunteer
7. Research experience and productivity 400 hours psychology research, 460 hours leukemia research ). I have a very small poster presentation for the leukemia research and 1-2 potential mid author publications (I have been told by my PI that I will be on them but they are currently still in review)
8. Shadowing experience and specialties represented 90 hours (35 nephrology, 45 Emergency Med, 10 Cardiology). 50 more hours anticipated
9. Non-clinical volunteering 250 hours as a court advocate advocating for foster children going through parental abuse and unstable placements (250 more hours anticipated)
10. Other extracurricular activities (including athletics, military service, gap year activities, leadership, teaching, etc) 200 hours as a member of a student run nonprofit organization that raises around 200K yearly to support children at a local hospital, 2 semesters (200 hours) as a TA for Biology classes, was a former teacher for religious classes at my temple
11. Relevant honors or awards Dean's List
12. Anything else not listed you think might be important Super involved in my culture and have an EC in a club based on my religion.

School List from current cycle:

Stanford

Duke

Boston University

Einstein

Michigan

UCLA

Georgetown

Dartmouth

UNC

Tufts

Pitt

Umiami

New York Medical College

GW

Qunnipiac

Illinois

Wake Forest

ECU

Albany Medical College

Penn State

Drexel

Temple

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[LindaAccepted]

I think you aimed too high (Stanford, BU, Duke) at some. If you are planning to apply DO next time around, try to shadow an DO before you apply. Pre-write secondaries for any school you did not apply to last time. When writing your reapplication do NOT just copy and paste. Update and show growth in your primary and when applying to schools that you previously applied to.

While you are smart to prepare for a reapplication, you have solid qualifications and I hope you will still get in this cycle so that this post is completely unncecessary! 🙂

 

[soar1516]

I think you aimed too high (Stanford, BU, Duke) at some. If you are planning to apply DO next time around, try to shadow an DO before you apply. Pre-write secondaries for any school you did not apply to last time. When writing your reapplication do NOT just copy and paste. Update and show growth in your primary and when applying to schools that you previously applied to.

While you are smart to prepare for a reapplication, you have solid qualifications and I hope you will still get in this cycle so that this post is completely unncecessary! 🙂

Thank you so much! Yeah I was aware that the schools at the top of my list were reaches but I wanted to try anyway.One of the doctors I shadowed previously was a DO, so I am going to ask him for a recommendation if needed for this upcoming cycle!

When you mention growth in the primary and secondaries, what do you mean by that besides changing up the stories/anecdotes? I guess I am asking what I can change if many of my takeaways of my experiences remain largely the same.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Let's see what April showers bring you. Hope a WL turns to a May flower (A). Perhaps sooner once CYMS gets serious. I don't know how ECU can give you "urban" underserved, but you are in-state and they didn't reject you outright. Let's hope something works out for you this cycle, but the schools you got interviews at feel quite reasonable. I would look at Drexel and Loyola (now that you will have 500 hours as a court advocate) instead of Illinois and Dartmouth.

 

[soar1516]

Let's see what April showers bring you. Hope a WL turns to a May flower (A). Perhaps sooner once CYMS gets serious. I don't know how ECU can give you "urban" underserved, but you are in-state and they didn't reject you outright. Let's hope something works out for you this cycle, but the schools you got interviews at feel quite reasonable. I would look at Drexel and Loyola (now that you will have 500 hours as a court advocate) instead of Illinois and Dartmouth.

haha yeah I am not expecting ECU to be a perfect fit for my goals based on its rural primary care focus so I wouldn't be suprised at a R. I actually have a pretty big family tie to Drexel but unfortunately wasn't even able to get an interview invite this time around. Anything else glaring that I should focus on in the next couple of months?

 

[Mr.Smile12]

haha yeah I am not expecting ECU to be a perfect fit for my goals based on its rural primary care focus so I wouldn't be suprised at a R. I actually have a pretty big family tie to Drexel but unfortunately wasn't even able to get an interview invite this time around. Anything else glaring that I should focus on in the next couple of months?

I'd have to see your writing and interview skills. Articulating a clear purpose and your situaional thinking/judgment would help. Did you go to recruitment visits or fairs before applying last year?

 

[soar1516]

I'd have to see your writing and interview skills. Articulating a clear purpose and your situaional thinking/judgment would help. Did you go to recruitment visits or fairs before applying last year?

I did not. I definitely want to do mock interviews and practice interviewing more if I have to reapply. I've never been the best writer but I did put a lot of effort and time into my writing and I was happy with the message and values it conveyed. I am going to use my premed office more in a reapp for writing help (though they have given me conflicting advice in the past). In regards to recruitment fairs, re these fairs hosted through medical schools or at my undergrad institution?

 

[LindaAccepted]

Thank you so much! Yeah I was aware that the schools at the top of my list were reaches but I wanted to try anyway.One of the doctors I shadowed previously was a DO, so I am going to ask him for a recommendation if needed for this upcoming cycle!

When you mention growth in the primary and secondaries, what do you mean by that besides changing up the stories/anecdotes? I guess I am asking what I can change if many of my takeaways of my experiences remain largely the same.

Great that you've already shadowed a DO and can ask for a recommendation from him.

Good question. I mean talking about experiences you've had that you learned from (and as a result grew from) since you last applied. Either you continued doing what you had been doing and assumed more responsibility or you tried different things and learned more about what appealed to you and what didn't appeal to you. Or perhaps you learned something about medicine that you hadn't previously realized. Or about leadership. or about advocacy. Or about compassion or service.

Does the above help?

 

[soar1516]

I did join one new club (service oriented towards the kids) and kept being involved in all my other activities. What you are saying does make a lot of sense, but I am confused on where I would include that in my application. I have some meaningful moments through my activities (while working as an EMT and volunteering as a court advocate) and my grandfather (who I talk about extensively as my biggest motivator for even getting interested in medicine) passed away during this cycle. I could talk about both of these things (if they make sense to in yalls opinion) but am confused whether that would be in work and activities, PS , interviews only, etc.

Does what I'm saying even make sense lol

 

[Mr.Smile12]

I did not. I definitely want to do mock interviews and practice interviewing more if I have to reapply. I've never been the best writer but I did put a lot of effort and time into my writing and I was happy with the message and values it conveyed. I am going to use my premed office more in a reapp for writing help (though they have given me conflicting advice in the past). In regards to recruitment fairs, re these fairs hosted through medical schools or at my undergrad institution?

Give me an example of conflicting advice.

AAMC Virtual Fair is coming up next month. AACOM will have a few in the next months. Individual programs have online and campus recruitment events. Admissions officers go on recruitment tours to schools.

 

[soar1516]

Give me an example of conflicting advice.

AAMC Virtual Fair is coming up next month. AACOM will have a few in the next months. Individual programs have online and campus recruitment events. Admissions officers go on recruitment tours to schools.

lol it was very conflicting when it came to my PS. One told me not to include a certain example/anecdote in my PS and the other one (who I happened to meet with without making any revisions to the original draft) told me that part was their favorite part. This was just one example where they didn't really have consistency in what they were recommending, particularly with writing. Obviously, I understand that each advisor has their own personal opinions on what works and what doesn't, but going to them for help just ended up getting me more confused about what I should include in my PS.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

lol it was very conflicting when it came to my PS. One told me not to include a certain example/anecdote in my PS and the other one (who I happened to meet with without making any revisions to the original draft) told me that part was their favorite part. This was just one example where they didn't really have consistency in what they were recommending, particularly with writing. Obviously, I understand that each advisor has their own personal opinions on what works and what doesn't, but going to them for help just ended up getting me more confused about what I should include in my PS.

Who did you ask for a tiebreaker? What advice did you get?

With many of us who are application advisors or consultants, we often read through the lens of our own writing style and preferences (if I wrote this essay, this is what I would do), so the response you got isn't surprising. Normally when I get diametrically opposite screening or interview scores, I call the evaluators together to come up with a consensus, or I carefully review the comments and figure out what makes their points important to my assessment.

 

[LindaAccepted]

I did join one new club (service oriented towards the kids) and kept being involved in all my other activities. What you are saying does make a lot of sense, but I am confused on where I would include that in my application. I have some meaningful moments through my activities (while working as an EMT and volunteering as a court advocate) and my grandfather (who I talk about extensively as my biggest motivator for even getting interested in medicine) passed away during this cycle. I could talk about both of these things (if they make sense to in yalls opinion) but am confused whether that would be in work and activities, PS , interviews only, etc.

Does what I'm saying even make sense lol

You will need to rewrite some of your PS, MME, and activities in order to focus more on the recent activities and growth. How you divvy it up and what you emphasize -- I would need to know more about you to provide guidance on what should go where. Keep in mind that if you do need to reapply, your app should show that you are a new and better applicant since you last applied -- even to new programs. You don't want to across as stagnating since you last applied.

Talking about your grandfather's influence is OK as long as the main focus of your essay is still you. The essay should be about you primarily, not your grandfather.

Regarding the conflicting advice, I agree with @Mr.Smile12 that it isn't surprising to get conflicting advice. There is subjectivity in reviewing essays. There are also many ways that you can tell your story, and readers have approaches that they prefer and dislike. You can certainly get advice and input, but the more people you ask the more conflicting advice you are likely to receive. You need to weigh the pros and cons of different advice and decide what's the story you want to tell. Ultimately it's your story, and it has to be told in your voice.

 

[soar1516]

Who did you ask for a tiebreaker? What advice did you get?

With many of us who are application advisors or consultants, we often read through the lens of our own writing style and preferences (if I wrote this essay, this is what I would do), so the response you got isn't surprising. Normally when I get diametrically opposite screening or interview scores, I call the evaluators together to come up with a consensus, or I carefully review the comments and figure out what makes their points important to my assessment.

I asked my family and friends and went with the advisor who I had worked with longer (by 2 weeks lol) and I personally agreed more with. That is a subjective answer but it is what I did lol. It also was a difficult time since I messed up my timing of applying last cycle and took my MCAT on May 24th and then really grinded my application for the month afterwards (and submitted June 24th). What do you think is the best for me to do this cycle?

 

[soar1516]

You will need to rewrite some of your PS, MME, and activities in order to focus more on the recent activities and growth. How you divvy it up and what you emphasize -- I would need to know more about you to provide guidance on what should go where. Keep in mind that if you do need to reapply, your app should show that you are a new and better applicant since you last applied -- even to new programs. You don't want to across as stagnating since you last applied.

Talking about your grandfather's influence is OK as long as the main focus of your essay is still you. The essay should be about you primarily, not your grandfather.

Regarding the conflicting advice, I agree with @Mr.Smile12 that it isn't surprising to get conflicting advice. There is subjectivity in reviewing essays. There are also many ways that you can tell your story, and readers have approaches that they prefer and dislike. You can certainly get advice and input, but the more people you ask the more conflicting advice you are likely to receive. You need to weigh the pros and cons of different advice and decide what's the story you want to tell. Ultimately it's your story, and it has to be told in your voice.

Gotcha, thanks for your response and advice! That makes a lot of sense to me 🙂

I was mainly confused on whether it would be recommended for me to fully rewrite everything, but your response emphasized that it just needs to show the growth and activities I've had since last time, which makes sense. One last question on that, there are def multiple experiences (ie my court advocate work, my work in the student run non profit) where things have changed drastically since last app. However, other experiences (like EMT or my previously completed research for example, which were both one of my most meaningful ones) have not really changed in terms of my role/what I do. So what would the growth be in those specific activities?

 

[LindaAccepted]

Gotcha, thanks for your response and advice! That makes a lot of sense to me 🙂

I was mainly confused on whether it would be recommended for me to fully rewrite everything, but your response emphasized that it just needs to show the growth and activities I've had since last time, which makes sense. One last question on that, there are def multiple experiences (ie my court advocate work, my work in the student run non profit) where things have changed drastically since last app. However, other experiences (like EMT or my previously completed research for example, which were both one of my most meaningful ones) have not really changed in terms of my role/what I do. So what would the growth be in those specific activities?

Thanks for your reply.

It is really difficult for me to say how much you should change without seeing the essays and knowing more about you. Even if you are basically doing the same EMT work have you had any new and memorable experiences that you may want to highlight? Or is there a new "most meaningful" experience that you would like to discuss and then make the previously completed research or EMT work a regular activity?

Again, I can't say if that's what you should do or not without having a lot more info. The bottom line: You want this app, as I said previously, to show that you are a dynamic, growing individual. And certainly that you are a better applicant than you were last time you applied.

And as someone else wrote, if you had 4 interviews and end up with no acceptances, get interview prep before you interview next year.