Weaknesses in my application (preparing to reapply)

[916221]

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[stickgirl390]

I think simply being a Reapplicant might help you out honestly. Right now your application seems very cookie cutter. You’re grades are obviously phenomenal, but I can foresee you getting lost in a sea of competitive applicants. Being a Reapplicant may help showcase your dedication to the profession.

The only “fixes” I would suggest would be more shadowing, and doing something to your personal statement/interview answers that make you stand out. Take my advice with a grain of salt though: I had to reapply as well.

 

[stickgirl390]

I was under the impression that being a reapplicant is a disadvantage unless I make significant improvements to my application. I'd agree that my ECs are pretty cookie cutter. I'm taking a gap year next year, so I'll be getting more volunteering and shadowing. I'll likely find some kind of employment as well.

I mean, n=1 with my perspective. I’m also not an adcom so my advice isn’t very informed like some of the other people on here. I was interviewed at 2 schools my first cycle, waitlisted and ultimately rejected at both. My Reapplicant year, I was reinterviewed by the same two schools (and a couple others) and both of those schools accepted me. I didn’t drastically change my app: I just added on to the positive things I was already doing. Just my personal experience. I hope that’s helpful.

 

[curbsideconsult]

What exactly were your clinical and non-clinical experiences?

I'm sure you quadruple-checked everything before you submitted your applications, but I was wondering if you had anyone look over any of your secondaries?

 

[bigeman101]

Did you apply late?

 

[Detective SnowBucket]

May I suggest.....a lil issue with your school list? You have a good sample size but all of your schools are either reach (Duke), Target (Ohio) or......low yield. You have few 'regular' backups like Iowa or Indiana. No matter how good your stats are, its always possible.

 

[lovehate]

I think not having enough research experience is the main reason you didn't get that many interviews.
Do you have good LORs? There might be a red flag or something in one of them.

 

[Foot Fetish]

I don't think you had enough lower tier schools in there. Drexel is basically the only one.

 

[Dr2618]

Did you interview at Toledo?

 

[lovehate]

I don't think you had enough lower tier schools in there. Drexel is basically the only one.

Georgetown is kind of low tier too. I mean it's a great school but in terms of stats the average gpa and mcat are not that high.

Edit: If I remember correctly Western MI and temple are also considered "low tier" here on sdn.

 

[lovehate]

Any suggestions on other schools to apply next cycle? I realize the minimal research likely hurt my chances at top schools, but my list was only about 1/3 top tier. Based on my stats I figured that would be a good balance. I felt I had a good mix of mid/low tier schools for as well.

As far as LORs go, how would I find out if one of them was bad? I may ask schools for feedback on why they rejected me, but would they be able to tell me "the letter from professor X raised some concerns"? I wouldn't want to throw all of them out.

Did you submit individual LORs or a pre-med committee LOR? If you did a committee letter then you can ask your pre-med advisor about your LORs.
Schools I would add: St. Louis, Tulane, Loyola, Rush, Drexel, Jefferson, Tufts.

 

[lovehate]

I know most people here on sdn say letters of interest/intent are meaningless, but if I were you I would send one to the school you are waitlisted at.

 

[LoveBeingHuman:)]

@creede what kind of non-clinical volunteering did you have?

 

[lovehate]

Individual LORs. I did apply to Drexel and Jefferson. I considered applying to a couple of the others you mentioned, but I ended up not applying to them since I thought I had enough schools and was getting tired of writing secondaries. I guess I was wrong.

Talk to your undergrad pre-med advisor and do a committee letter if possible. Schools strongly prefer committee letters and that way you can check the quality of your LORs with the advisor.

 

[lovehate]

I edited my previous post. My school doesn't do committee letters unfortunately.

If you don't get accepted this cycle, change the two "typical" LORs with stronger ones. If you took any courses after applying, ask the new professors.
What probably happened is that you were really unlucky. Your stats were too high for the low tier schools and your ECs weren't enough for the higher tier schools.

 

[500miles]

I hope you figure out what went wrong, your app looks pretty great, better then mine!

 

[RNtoMD87]

Hey everyone! I'm preparing for the increasing likelihood that I'll have to reapply this year or next. Looking for advice on how to improve my app.

2 IIs this cycle, waitlisted at one, rejected at the other.

3.86 cGPA /3.91 sGPA /520 MCAT
ECs: 250 hours clinical volunteering, 130 hours nonclinical volunteering, 100 hours research, 40 hours shadowing, 300 hours tutoring.

School list: Ohio State, Case, Cincinnati, Toledo, Wright State, NEOMED, UMich, UPenn, Pitt, WashU, Indiana, UVA, EVMS, Mayo, Georgetown, Drexel, Kimmel, Temple, Western Mich, George Washington, Duke, Iowa

Additional details and my analysis of my app:
- OH resident, non-URM female
- No IAs, W's, criminal record, or any red flags I could think of
- Submitted secondaries mid July - early August

- Not having any meaningful research probably hurt my chances at top research schools
- Essays and PS weren't anything spectacular, but still solid based on feedback from multiple readers including a med student and an English grad student. I'll definitely take another look at those.
- I'm probably average at interviewing, but that doesn't address my concern of getting only 2 IIs from 22 schools
- Maybe my list was too top heavy? Or the opposite, did I get yield protected at the lower tier schools?
- LORs - no idea since I can't read them. If I had to guess, I'd say two of them were probably very strong. The other two were probably typical LORs, not negative but nothing too special either.

Any advice on how to improve would be great!

Wow the fact that you didn't get accepted is disconcerting...

 

[curbsideconsult]

I had about 30 hours with a few campus organizations, 40 hours with habitat for humanity, and 60 working with elementary/middle school kids.

You also need to up your volunteer hours. This list looks like box-checking.

 

[DubbiDoctor]

Georgetown is kind of low tier too. I mean it's a great school but in terms of stats the average gpa and mcat are not that high.

Edit: If I remember correctly Western MI and temple are also considered "low tier" here on sdn.

Georgetown emphasizes volunteering and giving back to the underserved as part of their Jesuit mission. With the amount of applications they get (most in the country I believe), they look for more than strong stats.

 

[thenucleusaccumbens]

I was under the impression that being a reapplicant is a disadvantage unless I make significant improvements to my application. I'd agree that my ECs are pretty cookie cutter. I'm taking a gap year next year, so I'll be getting more volunteering and shadowing. I'll likely find some kind of employment as well.

n=1 but I have a friend (who is a current Mayo med student) who was rejected the first time around and had similar stats to you. He also only got a couple of interviews. When he reapplied he had some improvements but nothing huge IMO. He said he applied earlier, rewrote essays, and had a new job and more volunteering. He ended up getting into some great schools as a reapplicant (actually multiple top 10 schools). again this is just one person but I think sometimes maybe people fall through the cracks or maybe just some slight changes can actually make a huge difference

 

[mellie0]

I have a few pieces of advice:

1. A lot of it has to do with fit. Maybe the other 20 places read your app and felt like you weren’t a good fit for their program

2. Try to re-write your essays and give them all a common theme. Try to craft a story and relate your experiences to one another. Adcoms love applicants with a “story”

3. Try to apply to schools with opportunities similar to the stuff you’ve already done. If you’ve volunteered abroad, apply to schools big on global health, for instance. Appeal to the schools by virtue of the experiences you have

 

[mellie0]

You also need to up your volunteer hours. This list looks like box-checking.

Agreed. I didn’t even include things like these in my app. I think sometimes they could hurt more than help. Listing 30 hours of campus volunteering might look more like padding and could actually hurt the app

 

[success16]

Hey everyone! I'm preparing for the increasing likelihood that I'll have to reapply this year or next. Looking for advice on how to improve my app.

2 IIs this cycle, waitlisted at one, rejected at the other.

3.86 cGPA /3.91 sGPA /520 MCAT
ECs: 250 hours clinical volunteering, 130 hours nonclinical volunteering, 100 hours research, 40 hours shadowing, 300 hours tutoring.

School list: Ohio State, Case, Cincinnati, Toledo, Wright State, NEOMED, UMich, UPenn, Pitt, WashU, Indiana, UVA, EVMS, Mayo, Georgetown, Drexel, Kimmel, Temple, Western Mich, George Washington, Duke, Iowa

Additional details and my analysis of my app:
- OH resident, non-URM female
- No IAs, W's, criminal record, or any red flags I could think of
- Submitted secondaries mid July - early August

- Not having any meaningful research probably hurt my chances at top research schools
- Essays and PS weren't anything spectacular, but still solid based on feedback from multiple readers including a med student and an English grad student. I'll definitely take another look at those.
- I'm probably average at interviewing, but that doesn't address my concern of getting only 2 IIs from 22 schools
- Maybe my list was too top heavy? Or the opposite, did I get yield protected at the lower tier schools?
- LORs - no idea since I can't read them. If I had to guess, I'd say two of them were probably very strong. The other two were probably typical LORs, not negative but nothing too special either.

Any advice on how to improve would be great!

Obviously not an expert here. I personally think that you have too many safeties on your list and you probably got yield protected at the majority of these schools. With a 520 MCAT, I say apply way more broadly but include some more top schools on your list. Also, make sure you do something tangible during your year off, everyone and I mean everyone (including fellow applicants) will be asking about those. Research may be your best bet. Get in any research lab, even if it's volunteering for a few hours per week. What matters most is that you have something to talk about. Also, were there any contradictions in your personal statement vs your activity write-ups? Re-read your entire application and spend some serious time completing that application. Try to get special LORs, people often underestimate the power of a good LOR. Take your time with the secondaries, there's no use sending them out as soon as you receive them if they are not up to par. Read the mission of the school and tailor your essays to that (of course if you can relate). I found that watching youtube videos with current students highlighting what they liked most about the school was very helpful. Most importantly, do some personal reflections on what you could have done differently and follow your instincts. Wishing you the very best of luck!

 

[LavarBall]

I think school list may be a little off. Seems to be missing any upper-mid tiers (Einstein, Rochester, Keck, Dartmouth class schools). You probably weren't impressive enough for the elite schools and got yield protected by the lower ones. I had a very similar profile to you (same MCAT and close to same GPA) but with zero research and much much more clinical volunteering, and most of my interviews came from the upper-mid tier of medical schools. I would get more clinical experience (paid clinical job could be a good way to add 1000+ hours in addition to more clinical volunteering) and you shouldn't fall through the cracks again.