What is wrong with my app?

[Barrista125]

Hi everyone, I don't usually post. In fact, this is my first post.


Asian, California citizen, UCLA undegrad

I am a reapplicant who is not sure what might have went wrong. Please advice. This is my stat from last year.
MCAT:
129/124/131/132, 516 total
GPA:
3.65/3.67, 3.66 total

820 hours research
100 hours leadership
176 hours volunteering
250 hours clinical/shadowing

2 publications, applied semi-late (complete early-mid sept)

schools completed:
Stanford University School of Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Den, Boston University School of Medicine, New York University, Keck Sch. of Med.University of Southern California, Mayo Medical School, Weill Cornell Medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, University of Michigan Medical School, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Columbia University College of P & S, University of California San Francisco, University of California San Diego, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, University of California, Irvine- College/Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Duke University School of Medicine, Yale School of Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, University of Colorado School of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine; 22 schools total


Got one II from UCSD and that's it. Waitlisted post II.


This year:
MCAT:
129/124/131/132, 516 total
GPA:
3.65/3.71, 3.68 total

Last year U Michigan said I'm low in leadership and volunteering hours so I strengthened that.
1170 hours research
500 hours leadership
350 hours volunteering
320 hours clinical/shadowing

3 co-author publications, one pending first author publication
applied July to now

Schools applied:
University of Hawaii—Manoa (Burns) , U Vermont, virginia commonwealth, NYU, U Chicago, U Minnesota, sidney kimmel, George Washington U, U Michigan - ann arbor, UC Irvine, Stanford, Baylor, USC, Cornell, UCSD, University of Rochester, U North Carolina, Dartmouth, Icahn, U Pittsburgh, U Wisconsin, Madison, UCSF, U Pen - Perelman, U Nebraska, Tufts, Ohio State, BU, U Florida, UCLA, Brown, Vanderbilt, U Virginia, U Cincinnati, U Iowa; 34 schools total

But I'm already starting to get rejections (Keck <- looking at you). Help please, this is already my second year of gap year. I don't want to waste anymore time. A lot of these schools have LizzyM way lower than mine. Is it really because of the CARS score? Or is my GPA too low? Or am I applying to schools that are out of my league? I don't mind spending a little more application fee to apply to more schools.

Any help would be appreciated!

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[workaholic181]

Hi everyone, I don't usually post. In fact, this is my first post.


Asian, California citizen, UCLA undegrad

I am a reapplicant who is not sure what might have went wrong. Please advice. This is my stat from last year.
MCAT:
129/124/131/132, 516 total
GPA:
3.65/3.67, 3.66 total

820 hours research
100 hours leadership
176 hours volunteering
250 hours clinical/shadowing

2 publications, applied semi-late (complete early-mid sept)

schools completed:
Stanford University School of Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Den, Boston University School of Medicine, New York University, Keck Sch. of Med.University of Southern California, Mayo Medical School, Weill Cornell Medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, University of Michigan Medical School, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Columbia University College of P & S, University of California San Francisco, University of California San Diego, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, University of California, Irvine- College/Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Duke University School of Medicine, Yale School of Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, University of Colorado School of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine; 22 schools total


Got one II from UCSD and that's it. Waitlisted post II.


This year:
MCAT:
129/124/131/132, 516 total
GPA:
3.65/3.71, 3.68 total

Last year U Michigan said I'm low in leadership and volunteering hours so I strengthened that.
1170 hours research
500 hours leadership
350 hours volunteering
320 hours clinical/shadowing

3 co-author publications, one pending first author publication
applied July to now

Schools applied:
University of Hawaii—Manoa (Burns) , U Vermont, virginia commonwealth, NYU, U Chicago, U Minnesota, sidney kimmel, George Washington U, U Michigan - ann arbor, UC Irvine, Stanford, Baylor, USC, Cornell, UCSD, University of Rochester, U North Carolina, Dartmouth, Icahn, U Pittsburgh, U Wisconsin, Madison, UCSF, U Pen - Perelman, U Nebraska, Tufts, Ohio State, BU, U Florida, UCLA, Brown, Vanderbilt, U Virginia, U Cincinnati, U Iowa; 34 schools total

But I'm already starting to get rejections (Keck <- looking at you). Help please, this is already my second year of gap year. I don't want to waste anymore time. A lot of these schools have LizzyM way lower than mine. Is it really because of the CARS score? Or is my GPA too low? Or am I applying to schools that are out of my league? I don't mind spending a little more application fee to apply to more schools.

Any help would be appreciated!

I think your problem lies in the list of schools you applied to. You basically applied to either top 20 schools or OOS schools that frankly don't take that many people from out of state.

You should apply to "lower" tier private MDs. You're setting yourself up to fail with the schools you're applying to.

It's tough being a CA resident, make it easier on yourself by applying to more "realistic" schools. You may be too late this cycle, but if you want to go for it I'd add a few of the schools I described above.

 

[Goro]

Hi everyone, I don't usually post. In fact, this is my first post.


Asian, California citizen, UCLA undegrad

I am a reapplicant who is not sure what might have went wrong. Please advice. This is my stat from last year.
MCAT:
129/124/131/132, 516 total
GPA:
3.65/3.67, 3.66 total

820 hours research
100 hours leadership
176 hours volunteering
250 hours clinical/shadowing

2 publications, applied semi-late (complete early-mid sept)

schools completed:
Stanford University School of Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Den, Boston University School of Medicine, New York University, Keck Sch. of Med.University of Southern California, Mayo Medical School, Weill Cornell Medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, University of Michigan Medical School, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Columbia University College of P & S, University of California San Francisco, University of California San Diego, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, University of California, Irvine- College/Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Duke University School of Medicine, Yale School of Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, University of Colorado School of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine; 22 schools total


Got one II from UCSD and that's it. Waitlisted post II.


This year:
MCAT:
129/124/131/132, 516 total
GPA:
3.65/3.71, 3.68 total

Last year U Michigan said I'm low in leadership and volunteering hours so I strengthened that.
1170 hours research
500 hours leadership
350 hours volunteering
320 hours clinical/shadowing

3 co-author publications, one pending first author publication
applied July to now

Schools applied:
University of Hawaii—Manoa (Burns) , U Vermont, virginia commonwealth, NYU, U Chicago, U Minnesota, sidney kimmel, George Washington U, U Michigan - ann arbor, UC Irvine, Stanford, Baylor, USC, Cornell, UCSD, University of Rochester, U North Carolina, Dartmouth, Icahn, U Pittsburgh, U Wisconsin, Madison, UCSF, U Pen - Perelman, U Nebraska, Tufts, Ohio State, BU, U Florida, UCLA, Brown, Vanderbilt, U Virginia, U Cincinnati, U Iowa; 34 schools total

But I'm already starting to get rejections (Keck <- looking at you). Help please, this is already my second year of gap year. I don't want to waste anymore time. A lot of these schools have LizzyM way lower than mine. Is it really because of the CARS score? Or is my GPA too low? Or am I applying to schools that are out of my league? I don't mind spending a little more application fee to apply to more schools.

Any help would be appreciated!

Your problem is that despite all your research hours, you are not fully investigating the schools you're applying to. For example, U NE and JAB highly favors instate residents. Only 0.5% of OOS applicants get into Baylor.

Your 124 CARS is probably hurting at the stats ****** like U Penn.

You may also have a poorly written app, or a bad LOR. The GPA is about 0.2 points lower than the median at many of those schools, but you're still in striking distance.

Also, it's only September. Still early in the cycle.

 

[MCATISEZ]

If I had to say, I also think it's your school list. My stats are fairly similar and I wouldn't have applied to many of the schools on your list (after ignoring your CA schools). You list hours as if they are the meaningful part. Perhaps your story isn't cohesive and your application comes off as box checking (although your research productivity is certainly impressive). This process is far from strictly meritocratic. But it is still early, good luck!

 

[MTRN406]

Some schools will auto screen you for the 124 subsection score.

 

[el_duderino]

CA resident, Asian, middling GPA, and poorly-targeted school list.

Also, what is your leadership and volunteering like? Not hours; what did you actually do?

 

[Barrista125]

Thanks everyone for the reply. Any suggestion as to which schools I should be looking into? The way I do it is I look at the interview % of OOS of each schools on MSAR and make sure the median GPA is below 3.75.

 

[el_duderino]

It's pretty late in the cycle now. I'm not sure if it makes sense to add more schools in September, but it might make sense to add a couple. Apply more broadly next year, certainly.

 

[md-2020]

CA resident, Asian, middling GPA, and poorly-targeted school list.

Apply more broadly next year, certainly.

His school list this year is a lot better than the one last year. I'd be surprised if he gets similarly bad feedback.

With that being said the 124 is simply going to be an issue, period. If you need another app cycle I'd strongly suggest a retake and try to fix that subsection.

 

[Med Ed]

Thanks everyone for the reply. Any suggestion as to which schools I should be looking into? The way I do it is I look at the interview % of OOS of each schools on MSAR and make sure the median GPA is below 3.75.

Burns only seriously considers OOSers with strong ties to Hawaii, so there's a wasted application. UNC interviews 2.2% of OOSers. Most of U Washington's OOSers are WWAMI. I could go on.

As mentioned above, you should focus on private schools, many of whom are accustomed to taking significant numbers of Californians. This list could include Chicago Med, Drexel, TJ, Temple, NYMC, Albany, Netter, SLU, MCW, Tulane, Creighton, Wake Forest, and Oakland-WB.

 

[VincentAdultman]

My graduating class at Drexel was 50 percent California.

It won't give you much "cred" in SDN but I'd give it a look.

 

[Anonimus.Maximus]

It's weird to tell someone with a 516 to consider a retake, but 124 in CARS is below the median, and when 60% of all applicants strike out each cycle, that becomes a serious Achilles heel.

What's interesting is that you got a 132(!) in P/S, which I sort of of see as "applied CARS." That makes me think you might have just had a bad day when you sat for the test. How did you do on the practice CARS sections, if you don't mind me asking?

 

[Barrista125]

Thanks again for the reply. To be honest I'm not completely fluent in English hence the poor CARS score. I've done like 500+ passages and spent a lot of money on expensive tutors. I never did better than 127 on the CARS in any practice test. I had the same problem on the SAT. Even if I retake I don't think I'd do any better..

 

[efle]

Stanford University School of Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Den, Boston University School of Medicine, New York University, Keck Sch. of Med.University of Southern California, Mayo Medical School, Weill Cornell Medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, University of Michigan Medical School, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Columbia University College of P & S, University of California San Francisco, University of California San Diego, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, University of California, Irvine- College/Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Duke University School of Medicine, Yale School of Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, University of Colorado School of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine; 22 schools total

Too top heavy in a lot of cases, too unfriendly to Californians in a few others. The majority of your list is completely inappropriate for a CA applicant with an average GPA + 124 CARS + mid sept complete date + average ECs other than research

The big fix was tweaking that list to have a lot more OOS friendly mid tiers!

 

[el_duderino]

Thanks again for the reply. To be honest I'm not completely fluent in English hence the poor CARS score. I've done like 500+ passages and spent a lot of money on expensive tutors. I never did better than 127 on the CARS in any practice test. I had the same problem on the SAT. Even if I retake I don't think I'd do any better..

So tell us about your volunteering and leadership.

Who reviewed your PS and application for English?

 

[jeffjeffjeff25]

516 MCAT isn't the problem. Consider making other big changes to your application other than MCAT and GPA.
LOR, volunteering, PS, work

 

[LAIsTheBestPlaceEver]

516 MCAT isn't the problem. Consider making other big changes to your application other than MCAT and GPA.
LOR, volunteering, PS, work

... this is last cycle's post?