WAMC

[HoneyBadgerz]

23 year old white male. LGBT (but only mentioned it to schools that directly asked). 2nd time applicant. Last time I received 0 interviews, but I previously had no shadowing experience, no clinical volunteering, less research, and a worse MCAT.

School: University of Virginia
Degree: BS in Engineering Science with a Concentration in Nanomedicine Engineering
cGPA: 3.65 (Trend: 3.46 -> 3.57 -> 3.65 -> 3.94)
sGPA: 3.62 (Trend: 3.46 -> 3.61 -> 3.59 -> 3.93)
Note: Despite my senior year GPA being so much higher, it was not full of easy classes.

MCAT #1: 510 (128/127/128/127)
MCAT #2: 517 (129/127/130/131)

Activities- "New" for stuff I didn't have last time. Hours include time up until potential matriculation next year:

• Non-clinical, paid employment as salesman/manager: 1450 hours- Communication and leadership skills
• Collegiate a cappella group: 960 hours- Artistic, some non-clinical service, and leadership activity.
• Academic research: 1900 hours (Some of this is new)- No publications yet (several expected in future)
• 3 symposium presentations for my Capstone research project: 10 hours
• EMT-B course and certification: 85 hours (New)
• Clinical volunteering on a rescue squad: 932 hours (New)
• Shadowing various physicians: 32 hours (New)- I would've done more, but my local hospital had a limit.
• Non-clinical, part-time paid employment: 700 hours (New)- Done to pay my own student loans.
• New position as an ED technician at UVA: 0 hours so far, but mentioned on secondaries as an activity for the coming year.

LORs (in order of quality. Most schools only got the top 5 to make sure they read the best ones):

1. Research PI for 3.5 years (well-known scientist in BME)
2. Anesthesiologist who knows me well and who I spent time shadowing
3. My lieutenant from the rescue squad
4. Professor (effectively for English for engineers) who oversaw the writing of my thesis
5. Applied mathematics professor who I had a good relationship with in a small classroom
6. Personal advisor in the BME department (I never took his course, that's why I ranked this lower)
7. Manager for my sales/management job (It's a more interesting experience than I can detail here)

I added substantially to my personal statement and rephrased the parts that I reused. I mostly rewrote my secondary app essays, although I often used repeated themes. My primary application was submitted as soon as it opened, and my secondary apps were all submitted within 2 weeks of receipt (except Penn State, which has still not sent a secondary to anyone).

State of residence: Virginia

School list (all regular MD):
Wake Forest
Lewis Katz @ Temple
Sidney Kimmel @ TJ
Uni of Miami
Frank Netter Quinnipac
Warren Alpert @ Brown
Geisel @ Dartmouth
Tufts
U of Rochester
Hofstra
Emory
St. Louis University
Boston
Duke
Weill Cornell
Ohio State
GW- 2nd time
Georgetown- 2nd time
Penn State- 2nd time
UVA- 2nd time
VCU- 2nd time
EVMS- 2nd time
Virginia tech- 2nd time

So... what are my chances? I'm super nervous because I don't want to have to go through this again. I know where I'm currently weak is my lack of purely non-clinical service activities, low number of shadowing hours, lack of publications, and relatively mediocre GPA, but are these going to keep me from getting interviews?

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[Faha]

You should receive interviews from your list. I suggest adding more schools such as:
New York Medical College
Seton Hall
Drexel
NOVA MD
Oakland Beaumont
Western Michigan
Medical College Wisconsin
Rosalind Franklin

 

[HoneyBadgerz]

You should receive interviews from your list. I suggest adding more schools such as:
New York Medical College
Seton Hall
Drexel
NOVA MD
Oakland Beaumont
Western Michigan
Medical College Wisconsin
Rosalind Franklin

Isn't it a little late at this point? And how many of those more safe options do you think I need? I don't think I have the financial resources or time to apply to all of them.

 

[Faha]

It is not late to apply. Apply to as many as you can afford to. As you said " I don't want to have to go through this again"

 

[HoneyBadgerz]

It is not late to apply. Apply to as many as you can afford to. As you said " I don't want to have to go through this again"

Good point! I appreciate the suggestions