What might have gone wrong/gap year ideas

[FutureSurgeonGeneral]

As you might guess from the title I'm wondering where i might have gone wrong in my application this year. I have received 0 II's and I'm trying to come up with possible plans for my gap year. Here's my info:
GPA: 3.66 cGPA, 3.6 sGPA (upward trend from 3.0 freshman year)
MCAT: 516(128,129,129,130)
Residency: Ohio
Race: Asian
Research: One summer of retrospective review of patient data (120 hours). Poster/Abstract at National Conference (2nd Author)
Clinical Volunteering: 120 hrs in Radiology, 75 hrs at ED, 70 hrs ED at different hospital ( Total: 265 hrs)
Non-Clinical Volunteering: 50 hours at Food Bank helping collect canned food and cooking in kitchen for homeless
Shadowing: 120 hrs at critical care unit, 24 hrs at family medicine, 12 hrs at radiation oncology (Total: 156 hrs)
Outside Hobbies: Leader in an a capella group (1000+ hrs)
My guesses for my weaknesses are my weak EC's, especially leadership and non-clinical volunteering, and maybe that i had a possible bad rec letter. Honestly having a little trouble identifying other possibilities. If you're wondering about my school list:
OSU
NEOMED
Cincinnati
Case Western
U of Toledo
Wright State University
MC Wisconsin
Drexel
Temple
GW
Miami
Boston
Tufts
Rochester
Wake Forest
Hofstra
VCU
Vermont
Dartmouth
Most of my secondaries were submitted in mid-late July and i was complete at most my schools by the first week of August
My question is where else might i have gone wrong this year and what i can improve on for when i reapply? Also I'm planning on what to do during my gap year. I was thinking of maybe applying to some SMP's, i don't really know what else i should be focusing on. I know i don't really need the GPA boost but i thought it would maybe get me an opportunity to improve my rec letters or allow me time to research and volunteer for a year. If anyone has other ideas for my gap year i would really appreciate it!

Thanks for any insight.

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[Skittsie13]

Your ECs are really weak. 50 hours of nonclinical volunteering is very little, and even your research is pretty light (120 hours is 3 weeks of full time work!) Your school list and timing were fine, and I don't think your GPA was low. How were your essays?

 

[Pusheen]

Your app doesn't have any huge issues that I can see. If I were you, I would get as much feedback as possible about my PS and secondaries and completely revamp them the second time around. I would also get involved in a new leadership and nonclinical volunteering opportunity and rack up some hours and experience there

 

[FeinMS]

Work (in a hospital), work on revamping essays/LORs/EC descriptions, more research and leadership

 

[femmegoblue]

Did you have a lot of people read your PS? Your EC's are lacking, and if you aren't a strong writer it's possible you don't come across as having a strong narrative/POV. I think if you beef up your volunteering/altruism and can meaningfully tie it all into why you wanna be a doc in your PS next year, you will be good to go. Get a decently well paying, medically related job and volunteer like crazy over the next year.

Have you considered adding a few DO's for next year as well? You could likely have your pick.

Also, you do not need an SMP. Your GPA is strong on its own and a mediocre SMP performance would sink your app.

 

[mcatjelly]

You do NOT need to waste money on an SMP. How much feedback did you receive on your PS/secondaries? I'd be happy to glance over them. Otherwise, your ECs are about average and it might be that you just need to do a little more to stand out.

 

[hungrybox]

This process is so ****ing dumb. How do you not give an interview invite to someone with a ****ing 3.6 and a ****ing 516??? And people say that affirmative action isn't racist.

This is just unreal.

The more I think about this the more it makes my blood boil.

 

[TSteezy]

Great work building strong stats.
With that being said: It's your service, dude. It's great that you spent some time in a hospital, but you need to show that you actually care about people through some non-glamorous non-medically related service. I would also echo what the others have said about getting tons of eyes on your PS / essays. When did you apply in the cycle? That could have affected things as well. I recommend applying day one the next time you choose to apply.

 

[SValley]

This process is so ****ing dumb. How do you not give an interview invite to someone with a ****ing 3.6 and a ****ing 516??? And people say that affirmative action isn't racist.

This is just unreal.

The more I think about this the more it makes my blood boil.

Please. Do explain how 'racist affirmative action' has to do with OP? Does he/she seem like a stellar, wow applicant to you..? Surely, you've read all 50,000 medical school applications and OP was obviously screwed via racist affirmative action. Surely!

OP, if I was an AdCom member reviewing your profile, I would be underwhelmed. Your ECs don't show long term commitment nor does it show an ability to assume a leadership role. Both of which are pretty much required for physicians, right? And it has a domino effect. Non compelling ECs means non compelling essays means getting stuck in the "Maybe" pile that may not ever get to you. You don't need to throw money at your problem (i.e. expensive SMP), you need to throw time.

Pick 1-2 activities, probably one clinical and one non clinical. Invest in them. Make positive changes. Be a leader. Stir up some passion that will be conveyed through your PS/Essays. Make AdComs want to have a conversation with you. Best of luck!!

 

[Lucca]

Is there anything you are not telling us OP? Any IAs? Arrests? Are you positive your LORs were positive?

Other than that I concur with others. Need more shadowing, clinical volunteering. For your gap year consider applying to the NIH IRTA postbacc for a clinical research position. Clinical exposure + research + potential to publish + easy access to shadowing. You can volunteer in a clinic somewhere in the city on the weekends or whenever else you have the time.

Other potential gap year jobs: Scribing in your home town/city. Clinical research coordinator somewhere close to home.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Please. Do explain how 'racist affirmative action' has to do with OP? Does he/she seem like a stellar, wow applicant to you..? Surely, you've read all 50,000 medical school applications and OP was obviously screwed via racist affirmative action. Surely!

OP, if I was an AdCom member reviewing your profile, I would be underwhelmed. Your ECs don't show long term commitment nor does it show an ability to assume a leadership role. Both of which are pretty much required for physicians, right? And it has a domino effect. Non compelling ECs means non compelling essays means getting stuck in the "Maybe" pile that may not ever get to you. You don't need to throw money at your problem (i.e. expensive SMP), you need to throw time.

Pick 1-2 activities, probably one clinical and one non clinical. Invest in them. Make positive changes. Be a leader. Stir up some passion that will be conveyed through your PS/Essays. Make AdComs want to have a conversation with you. Best of luck!!

Also, AA is only racist if you view med school admissions as a hunger games style competition for a limited number of seats. It's not.

Edit:
On topic, I think it was probably your ECs (and possibly weak writing). Your non-clinical volunteer hours are significantly lacking, and 120 hours of research is not much (that said, I think the non-clinical hours matters more, since research is not considered terribly important by most med schools).

 

[ciestar]

Please. Do explain how 'racist affirmative action' has to do with OP? Does he/she seem like a stellar, wow applicant to you..? Surely, you've read all 50,000 medical school applications and OP was obviously screwed via racist affirmative action. Surely!

OP, if I was an AdCom member reviewing your profile, I would be underwhelmed. Your ECs don't show long term commitment nor does it show an ability to assume a leadership role. Both of which are pretty much required for physicians, right? And it has a domino effect. Non compelling ECs means non compelling essays means getting stuck in the "Maybe" pile that may not ever get to you. You don't need to throw money at your problem (i.e. expensive SMP), you need to throw time.

Pick 1-2 activities, probably one clinical and one non clinical. Invest in them. Make positive changes. Be a leader. Stir up some passion that will be conveyed through your PS/Essays. Make AdComs want to have a conversation with you. Best of luck!!

+1
You'd be surprised how much better an essay can be when you're really writing from the heart. My nonclinical volunteering essays apparently demonstrated that last year since they wanted to talk about it at almost every interview.

 

[efle]

So I'm going to say your ECs are actually fine. ~300 hours service with most in hospitals isn't a big lack of altruism or exposure. Plenty of shadowing too. The research is very minor but you aren't applying to all Top 20s or anything. 70-71 LizzyM including a top 5% MCAT, and complete early with a solid list of ~20 places. Not even getting a single interview is very weird here.

I'm gonna guess either an IA/record we don't know about, very bad LoR(s) or essay(s). You've got something lethal hidden in there. There's nothing in this post that should have kept you from even interviewing.

 

[Yorick]

It's anyone's guess here what went wrong. You need to contact schools for feedback on why you were rejected and where you need to improve. I know Ohio State for sure and I think Cincinnati give feedback to rejected applicants, so start with those schools and check with the others if they will help you as well. Hopefully you will get honest criticism and a solid plan for the future.

 

[libertyyne]

I would look towards your letters and your writing. I would work in direct patient care, try to suss out if one of your letters are torpedoing you , and get some more volunteering hours. I would also rewrite essays from scratch and have some people read over them.

 

[FutureSurgeonGeneral]

Thanks for all the advice everyone!

I'll definitely contact the schools and ask for feedback.

As far as questions on IA's or record, it's all clean

I guess I'll try to figure out which LOR might have been bad and go over my essays.

As far as reapplying, if i can get good feedback and new letters, do you guys think i should reapply this summer or next year?

 

[efle]

Thanks for all the advice everyone!

I'll definitely contact the schools and ask for feedback.

As far as questions on IA's or record, it's all clean

I guess I'll try to figure out which LOR might have been bad and go over my essays.

As far as reapplying, if i can get good feedback and new letters, do you guys think i should reapply this summer or next year?

Others will probably tell you to err on the side of caution but I don't think you have any holes that need a year of patching. If you have a way to suss out which one is the problematic letter and/or can confirm all your essays are OK for round two, I don't think a gap is necessary.

 

[libertyyne]

Thanks for all the advice everyone!

I'll definitely contact the schools and ask for feedback.

As far as questions on IA's or record, it's all clean

I guess I'll try to figure out which LOR might have been bad and go over my essays.

As far as reapplying, if i can get good feedback and new letters, do you guys think i should reapply this summer or next year?

I personally would fix the problems noted and apply this summer to a broader list of schools. I would also include DO.