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I'm still trying to wrap my head around the prospect of potentially not being accepted to any medical schools and concerned about just submitting the same exact application in a year. I'm worried that the time will go by so fast that I won't find what I can do to be a better applicant and really bring my A-game next cycle. How did you set yourself up for the next cycle so you could have your application actually show improvement? I'm planning on reviewing my files and at every medical school I get rejected at but what can I do with my remaining time? I'm still volunteering and doing research, but that wont add much to my application except a couple hundred or maybe a thousand hours total. My ECs are good and widely dispersed (lots of med volunteering over a wide variety of disciplines, lots of leadership, regular volunteering/altruism, good amount of research, work), my gpa is good (3.64cGPA), my mcats are borderline (29/28), my LORs are very strong. I'm consolidating this into one thread because these are my current thoughts and I really would appreciate feedback.
I'd appreciate any advice possible, as well as knowing what you did. My thoughts are:
1) buckle down and retake the mcat as soon as I know whether or not I stand a chance at getting into the schools I apply to. I'd have to take it seriously because a 29 and a 28 are borderline and if I can actually get a 32+ i'd be a lot less stressed the next cycle. I'm willing to jump through any hoop to make a potential next cycle less stress knowing what I know now and what I may experience in the next few months (those experiences will affect me even more powerfully though as I really experience them). When could/should i start studying and would I still be able to take the 2014 mcat in any state if I register this year? I want to take it before the 2015 mcat but make sure I have enough prep to really change my scores. I still remember a lot of material from studying, so that works and I'll probably forget a bunch of the answers to FLs I memorized I hope and be less fatigued about studying for the mcat. Would getting a 32 still positively impact my application? I know some schools only look at most recent scores.
2) Are there any ECs that could really shape my application positively that would be worth doing? I'm thinking of doing CPR and EMT training just because it provides me a very different perspective and set of experiences than the usual volunteering at a hospital or with a doctor and I want to do something challenging like that. The issue is it may cut into my interview season and interfere with my time to focus on a mcat retake or any other way that I can really improve my application? The last thing I want is to dedicate my time to something that won't really improve my application or address my faults. I know I should be doing an activity for myself and I want to do EMT training for that reason, but I dont want to be distracted from the bigger picture.
3) Likewise there's also the possibility of trying for a publication, but would that really be something that could bring my application from the gutter? I pursued the possibility of a publication my entire undergraduate and worked with multiple professors in research, but it didn't happen no matter how much I pushed myself. Given that information i'm thinking it's not worth the risk.
4) I also am looking at SMPs. The main one I'm interested in is Tulane and I will definitely apply to that if I'm on a waitlist for any medical school.
5) What about recommendation Letters, if I keep them the same will that be detrimental? Most of my LOR writers are people who I won't really be in contact with that much over the next year, so i'm not sure what having them rewrite or doing anything more than add a sentence or two about how i changed in the past year and date it so it's usable next cycle.
6) What about secondaries and personal statements? If they're very similar to my previous ones, is that bad? Do i really have to reinvent myself? I'm fine with it it's just that if I'm still applying super broadly doing everything I did this cycle over again would be very time consuming and I'm not sure if it's the best idea.
That's it for me. What did you do during your time applying to medical school to prep for the next cycle in case you didnt get accepted? If you reapplied, what did you change? what are your recommendations?
I'd appreciate any advice possible, as well as knowing what you did. My thoughts are:
1) buckle down and retake the mcat as soon as I know whether or not I stand a chance at getting into the schools I apply to. I'd have to take it seriously because a 29 and a 28 are borderline and if I can actually get a 32+ i'd be a lot less stressed the next cycle. I'm willing to jump through any hoop to make a potential next cycle less stress knowing what I know now and what I may experience in the next few months (those experiences will affect me even more powerfully though as I really experience them). When could/should i start studying and would I still be able to take the 2014 mcat in any state if I register this year? I want to take it before the 2015 mcat but make sure I have enough prep to really change my scores. I still remember a lot of material from studying, so that works and I'll probably forget a bunch of the answers to FLs I memorized I hope and be less fatigued about studying for the mcat. Would getting a 32 still positively impact my application? I know some schools only look at most recent scores.
2) Are there any ECs that could really shape my application positively that would be worth doing? I'm thinking of doing CPR and EMT training just because it provides me a very different perspective and set of experiences than the usual volunteering at a hospital or with a doctor and I want to do something challenging like that. The issue is it may cut into my interview season and interfere with my time to focus on a mcat retake or any other way that I can really improve my application? The last thing I want is to dedicate my time to something that won't really improve my application or address my faults. I know I should be doing an activity for myself and I want to do EMT training for that reason, but I dont want to be distracted from the bigger picture.
3) Likewise there's also the possibility of trying for a publication, but would that really be something that could bring my application from the gutter? I pursued the possibility of a publication my entire undergraduate and worked with multiple professors in research, but it didn't happen no matter how much I pushed myself. Given that information i'm thinking it's not worth the risk.
4) I also am looking at SMPs. The main one I'm interested in is Tulane and I will definitely apply to that if I'm on a waitlist for any medical school.
5) What about recommendation Letters, if I keep them the same will that be detrimental? Most of my LOR writers are people who I won't really be in contact with that much over the next year, so i'm not sure what having them rewrite or doing anything more than add a sentence or two about how i changed in the past year and date it so it's usable next cycle.
6) What about secondaries and personal statements? If they're very similar to my previous ones, is that bad? Do i really have to reinvent myself? I'm fine with it it's just that if I'm still applying super broadly doing everything I did this cycle over again would be very time consuming and I'm not sure if it's the best idea.
That's it for me. What did you do during your time applying to medical school to prep for the next cycle in case you didnt get accepted? If you reapplied, what did you change? what are your recommendations?
