What can I do to improve my application?

[anamaly1]

I have applied twice to medical school (MD), and havent even gotten any interviews. I applied to about 20 or so schools, most of them were reach schools. My stats are:

3.6 cGPA
3.54 sGPA
6 VR, 8 PS, 8 BS (22Q MCAT) and 8 VR, 10 PS, 11 BS (29M MCAT) the second time
chemistry major at a UC, CA resident
founder and president of a pre-medical/medical missions club on campus for 2 years
200+ hours of volunteer, 80+ hours of shadowing
2 years of undergrad research
1 year of work experience senior year
1 and a half years of tutoring for credits
currently working full time, fully supporting myself
LOR: 2 chemistry (1 from prof, 1 from PhD TA) 1 humanities, 1 from current job
finished secondaries late August

Should I re-apply again or should I do a post bac/ SMP?
Is there anywhere that I can improve my app besides retake MCAT?
Thanks

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[anamaly1]

i just realized this should go into what are my chances thread.. sorry admin

 

[1TB4RKSB4CK]

I have applied twice to medical school (MD), and havent even gotten any interviews. I applied to about 20 or so schools, most of them were reach schools. My stats are:

3.6 cGPA
3.54 sGPA
6 VR, 8 PS, 8 BS (22Q MCAT) and 8 VR, 10 PS, 11 BS (29M MCAT) the second time
chemistry major at a UC, CA resident
founder and president of a pre-medical/medical missions club on campus for 2 years
200+ hours of volunteer, 80+ hours of shadowing
2 years of undergrad research
1 year of work experience senior year
1 and a half years of tutoring for credits
currently working full time, fully supporting myself
LOR: 2 chemistry (1 from prof, 1 from PhD TA) 1 humanities, 1 from current job
finished secondaries late August

Should I re-apply again or should I do a post bac/ SMP?
Is there anywhere that I can improve my app besides retake MCAT?
Thanks

Found your problems.
Other possible problems to consider:
Are you a US citizen?
How good ar your LOR's and how long have you known those people?
How good was your PS? Did you have people read/check it?
Did you get secondaries and if so, did you cater to each individually?
When did you submit your AMCAS app in your previous cycles?

 

[anamaly1]

thanks for your response. I know a 29m isn't a great score but not even one invite?
I am a us citizen
For the LOR I knew my chem professor for 4 years, the others for a year each.
My PS was edited by at least 7 different people from various backgrounds
I submitted my primaries once in
October and the second time was end of June but verified at the middle to end of July.
Secondaries were catered relatively specific depending on the questions asked

Does having a letter from a TA instead of a professor hurt me?

Also would I be in good standing for SMP program or should I retake mcat? I'm worried about getting the same score

 

[aSagacious]

i just realized this should go into what are my chances thread.. sorry admin

No worries. Moving there now.

 

[theseeker4]

thanks for your response. I know a 29m isn't a great score but not even one invite?
I am a us citizen
For the LOR I knew my chem professor for 4 years, the others for a year each.
My PS was edited by at least 7 different people from various backgrounds
I submitted my primaries once in
October and the second time was end of June but verified at the middle to end of July.
Secondaries were catered relatively specific depending on the questions asked

Does having a letter from a TA instead of a professor hurt me?

Also would I be in good standing for SMP program or should I retake mcat? I'm worried about getting the same score

Well, which schools did you apply to? You said most were reach schools....

You could have very good chances if you looked into schools on part with your stats, including applying to a good number of DO schools.

 

[1TB4RKSB4CK]

thanks for your response. I know a 29m isn't a great score but not even one invite?
I am a us citizen
For the LOR I knew my chem professor for 4 years, the others for a year each.
My PS was edited by at least 7 different people from various backgrounds
I submitted my primaries once in
October and the second time was end of June but verified at the middle to end of July.
Secondaries were catered relatively specific depending on the questions asked

Does having a letter from a TA instead of a professor hurt me?

Also would I be in good standing for SMP program or should I retake mcat? I'm worried about getting the same score

Since you are from CA, there is an obvious disadvantage.
Get an LOR from a Prof instead.
Next cycle apply the first day. You should be ready to go since you have everything from the past cycle in.
What I would advise is to get more people to critique your PS.

 

[alexrgross]

Since you are from CA, there is an obvious disadvantage.
Get an LOR from a Prof instead.
Next cycle apply the first day. You should be ready to go since you have everything from the past cycle in.
What I would advise is to get more people to critique your PS.

Yes, you should strongly consider establishing residency in another state.
And make sure that the state schools there (a) would accept you and (b) are ones you actually would attend.

 

[ljpm8224]

Yes, you should strongly consider establishing residency in another state.
And make sure that the state schools there (a) would accept you and (b) are ones you actually would attend.

^^ forgive me for being naive, but this is really an advisable tactic? wouldn't it be completely transparent??

OP- I'd say apply more broadly. Include midwestern, southerns schools and also DO. GL!

 

[1TB4RKSB4CK]

When you say reach schools, do you mean like top 30?
It's gonna be hard to get into a top 30 with your stats honestly.
For a top 30 caliber, MCAT is way too low, GPA is below average, EC's are considered below average too in comparison to other applicants or future matriculants.
I would suggest broadening your range of schools to get a higher chance of acceptance.

 

[anamaly1]

Sorry everyone. I thought reach schools meant schools within reach, not top schools.

To clarify, I applied to schools that accepted students within my range.

I applied to schools such as George Washington, SUNY Buffalo, Drexel, Tufts, Tulane, and Temple to name a few.

I have a few more questions.. if I reapply for a third time, should I redo my whole PS or can I use my old one with some revisions and editing?

I'm working full time, I spend at least 3 hours a day after work practicing MMA (4 days a week), and I work (for free) at my dad's restaurant on weekends. Would any of you suggest that I do any clinical volunteering despite my busy schedule? Because of my current schedule, I find it hard to really send the schools any updates on my activities. Any advice?

Thanks to everyone for all the advice so far!

 

[anamaly1]

^^ forgive me for being naive, but this is really an advisable tactic? wouldn't it be completely transparent??

OP- I'd say apply more broadly. Include midwestern, southerns schools and also DO. GL!

I notice southern schools such as LSU don't seem to accept many out of state students, and I did not apply to them. Should I have anyways?

 

[Samchik]

Is there any difference between US citizenship and US residency status when one applies to med schools?

In other words, are US residents at disadvantage?

Thanks!

 

[alexrgross]

^^ forgive me for being naive, but this is really an advisable tactic? wouldn't it be completely transparent??

OP- I'd say apply more broadly. Include midwestern, southerns schools and also DO. GL!

Well, I was advised this by a medical school admissions office so that seemed like good advice to me.

 

[ljpm8224]

Well, I was advised this by a medical school admissions office so that seemed like good advice to me.

hey, yeah... from the horse's mouth and all that. just seems... like a drastic measure. I think I'd rather re-take the MCAT if I were in OP's shoes!

Moving to establish residency in a state is going to set someone back 2 years, right? Plus uprooting job, family, connections... LOR writer contacts... etc, etc. Like I said, drastic.

 

[DirkFor3]

Personally, I wouldn't worry too much about the GPA. Its not great, but its definitely not terrible either. If I were you, I would just retake the MCAT one more time if you think you can score higher. Otherwise, maybe try applying DO

 

[alexrgross]

hey, yeah... from the horse's mouth and all that. just seems... like a drastic measure. I think I'd rather re-take the MCAT if I were in OP's shoes!

Moving to establish residency in a state is going to set someone back 2 years, right? Plus uprooting job, family, connections... LOR writer contacts... etc, etc. Like I said, drastic.

Mmm, not me. I would rather get in on a technicality with what I have just by moving, than risk and gamble with what I do not.
OP states applying OS anyway.

 

[Joe the Plumber]

I have applied twice to medical school (MD), and havent even gotten any interviews. I applied to about 20 or so schools, most of them were reach schools. My stats are:

3.6 cGPA
3.54 sGPA
6 VR, 8 PS, 8 BS (22Q MCAT) and 8 VR, 10 PS, 11 BS (29M MCAT) the second time
chemistry major at a UC, CA resident
founder and president of a pre-medical/medical missions club on campus for 2 years
200+ hours of volunteer, 80+ hours of shadowing
2 years of undergrad research
1 year of work experience senior year
1 and a half years of tutoring for credits
currently working full time, fully supporting myself
LOR: 2 chemistry (1 from prof, 1 from PhD TA) 1 humanities, 1 from current job
finished secondaries late August

Should I re-apply again or should I do a post bac/ SMP?
Is there anywhere that I can improve my app besides retake MCAT?
Thanks

Your stats are on par with the bottom MD schools and the top DO schools. Your MCAT score will be great for the DO schools. Apply to both this cycle. Every year you're in an SMP, you're taking a hit of about ~$200,000 (roughly, that's the tuition for the SMP plus a year's salary as a doc). Now, if there's something you haven't mentioned, like legal problems, a bum LOR, or a physical flaw that might be holding you back, that might be another story.