WAMC/What should I do?

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vAbe's

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So, I am a non-trad applicant with the following credentials:

I graduated in 2018 from a decent state school with a chemistry major and economics minor. My first two years were God awful, making my BCPM cGPA and sGPA a 2.7 (multiple C's, D's. and F's). Same as with High School, I was very lost and did not attend my classes or pay any attention to school. Very much on me. Got my act together. I started attending classes, which led to a very noticeable upward trend, but I still really didn't know how to study. I decided on med school late in college. I did a biomedical science master's from a top 20 med school, ending with a 4.0. I have a couple thousand clinical hours working as a medical assistant, a couple of thousand research hours (multiple pubs with a few low impact first author, multiple presentations, multiple abstracts), and a couple hundred volunteering hours (both clinical and nonclinical). I got a 516 on the MCAT (I took it twice, and the first time, I got a 508). I applied for the first time this year to 30 MD programs and got 4 interviews. I am on 3 waitlists and waiting to hear from the last school. I feel like I applied broadly. A mistake was that I submitted my primary in early Aug and secondaries from mid Sept to late Oct. I had people involved with adcoms looking over everything I wrote and approving it. I worked full time while studying for the MCAT and applying.

I am getting nervous about potentially having to apply again. Do you think it's just the fact that I applied late, given my undergrad GPA? Was the issue something other than applying late? I am wondering if I should retake the MCAT, given my uGPA and wanting to be competitive for some of these larger research institutions. I know I can improve my score because I studied 2 weeks the first time (when I got a 508) and 3 weeks the second time (when I got a 516) but just studied the books and took no practice tests (again working FT, so I was burnt out).

I thought I had sufficiently dug myself out of the mess I had made, but it's starting to look like it might be a no. So, any advice would be appreciated.

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While your submission might be a little later than ideal, you still snagged four interviews, so I don't think it's as big a problem. Your MCAT 516 is great so no need to retake there. Prepare to reapply and to move when an offer call hits your phone. How did you present how your mission fit aligns with the schools where you interviewed?
 
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Thanks for the feedback! So, I have a large interest in both research and serving marginalized communities, especially integrating both since most research has been done on certain groups/benefits only them. My work reflects this fairly well so I spoke on this during the interviews, and it seems to fit all of the school's missions. I generally had very positive experiences during my interviews. Edit: I would like to think I wasn't being delusional thinking the interview was going well.:)
 
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To me it seems like given that you got 4 IIs, schools aren't doubting either your preparation for med school or your interest in the profession/commitment to service. With that in mind, I don't think retaking the 516 is at all necessary (and it may in fact be risky should your score go down). So to me, that would suggest maybe needing to work on your writing or interview skills.

What have you been doing during the cycle?
 
I definitely had people who are either involved with admissions or have successfully undergone the process look at all of my writing. Interviews and talking to new people have never been an issue for me, but perhaps I took that and ran with it, going into the interview underprepared. I still feel that the conversation was very natural and productive during my interviews, but maybe I didn't say some things I should have, or I seemed over-confident?

I have been working full-time in a clinical research position.
 
I definitely had people who are either involved with admissions or have successfully undergone the process look at all of my writing. Interviews and talking to new people have never been an issue for me, but perhaps I took that and ran with it, going into the interview underprepared. I still feel that the conversation was very natural and productive during my interviews, but maybe I didn't say some things I should have, or I seemed over-confident?

I have been working full-time in a clinical research position.
Med school interviews aren't something you can just "wing," you should do some preparation both for personal/resume type questions and scenario questions and how you'd respond. I always thought of myself as a solid interviewer but taking the time to chat with my pre-health advising office really helped clear the air on where to improve and made me more comfortable in these environments.

How did you formulate your school list? Filling out a WAMC might help us identify if there were any bad schools on there.

The full time clinical work is good, at least. Don't give up hope on the 4 II's as of yet; I would also submit any updates you might have and letters of continued interest if you haven't already. If you have 1 top school, consider sending that school a letter of intent.
 
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I wouldn't say I winged them. I did 2-3 mock interviews in total. I was told my answers were good, and I was just told what I could do to make them more concise and what to highlight. I definitely didn't go over every question type and right out an answer. But I had ideas on how to answer main questions. If I have to do this again, surely my prep will be a lot more intense.

I applied to 30 schools, but per my DMs to Goro, 10 were a waste.

I have a top choice (ideal) and a top choice (realistic). I am not sure if I should just send the intent to the school I think is more likely to accept me. Would appreciate input on this,

Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Boston University Aram V. Chobanian & Edward Avedisian School of Medicine (C)
Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine
Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons
Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell (C)
Emory University School of Medicine
Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine at Quinnipiac University (C)
Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth
George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences
Georgetown University School of Medicine
Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine (C)
Harvard Medical School (HST)
Harvard Medical School (Pathways)
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University at Buffalo
Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine
New York Medical College (C)
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University (C)
Rutgers New Jersey Medical School
Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University
Stanford University School of Medicine
SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University College of Medicine
Tufts University School of Medicine
University of Connecticut School of Medicine
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry
University of Washington School of Medicine
Wake Forest University School of Medicine (C)
Yale School of Medicine
 
I wouldn't say I winged them. I did 2-3 mock interviews in total. I was told my answers were good, and I was just told what I could do to make them more concise and what to highlight. I definitely didn't go over every question type and right out an answer. But I had ideas on how to answer main questions. If I have to do this again, surely my prep will be a lot more intense.

I applied to 30 schools, but per my DMs to Goro, 10 were a waste.

I have a top choice (ideal) and a top choice (realistic). I am not sure if I should just send the intent to the school I think is more likely to accept me. Would appreciate input on this,

Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Boston University Aram V. Chobanian & Edward Avedisian School of Medicine (C)
Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine
Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons
Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell (C)
Emory University School of Medicine
Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine at Quinnipiac University (C)
Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth
George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences
Georgetown University School of Medicine
Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine (C)
Harvard Medical School (HST)
Harvard Medical School (Pathways)
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University at Buffalo
Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine
New York Medical College (C)
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University (C)
Rutgers New Jersey Medical School
Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University
Stanford University School of Medicine
SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University College of Medicine
Tufts University School of Medicine
University of Connecticut School of Medicine
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry
University of Washington School of Medicine
Wake Forest University School of Medicine (C)
Yale School of Medicine
Amongst your waitlists, be real with yourself. I'd send the letter to the school that you ACTUALLY would go to above all others.
 
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