What should I do?

[coolcat92]

I am a traditional applicant. I applied in mid-June and was verified in early July. I completed 23 secondaries and received rejections from Georgetown, BU, Pitt, Hofstra, and Mayo. I have not heard anything from my other schools. I did not apply to many top-tiers.

Stats
GPA: 3.8
MCAT: 517

Region and Demographics
Northeast
Non-Hispanic Caucasian

Experiences
Extensive Shadowing (~150 hours) - many different specialties/environments
Volunteer EMT on my college campus and at the Boston Marathon every year
Research Program in Italy (~300 hours) - worked in the radiotherapy unit creating 3D models of patients' organs based on their CT scans, functioned completely in Italian
Public Health Global Brigades - trip to Honduras

Activities
Volunteer Tutoring
Teaching Assistant at Daycare
CPR Instructor
Research Assistant for two years
Hobbies like hiking and water sports
Volunteer at local hospital

Should I apply to the UQ-Ochsner program or start looking at gap year opportunities at this point? I'm getting nervous about the fact that I haven't gotten any interviews. I'm also overwhelmed trying to decide what to do.

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[Faha]

Where is your state of residence? Which other schools did you apply to?

 

[coolcat92]

Where is your state of residence? Which other schools did you apply to?

State of residence is Georgia, but Georgia COM will not let me apply because I took AP credit for Chemistry instead of doing gen chem.

Here is my school list:
Albany Medical College
Albert Einstein
BU
Creighton
Drexel
Eastern VA
Geisel
Harvard
Icahn
Temple
Loyola
New York Medical College
Penn State
Rosalind Franklin
Rutgers
Sidney Kimmel Medical College
Tufts
UMaryland
Virginia Commonwealth University SOM

 

[Lawpy]

I'm going to tag @LizzyM @Goro @gyngyn @gonnif for some additional input because I don't know what went wrong. I suspect bad essays and bad letters are what's hurting you. Hopefully you'll get some interviews soon in the coming weeks.

 

[coolcat92]

I'm going to tag @LizzyM @Goro @gyngyn @gonnif for some additional input because I don't know what went wrong. I suspect bad essays and bad letters are what's hurting you. Hopefully you'll get some interviews soon in the coming weeks.

I had my personal statement read by a lot of people (e.g. pre-med committee at my school, one faculty member at a prestigious medical school, multiple friends, mentors, etc.) I thought it was pretty good. Writing isn't my forte but I can do it.

My letters were written by two science professors, one humanities professor, my supervisor from work, and one doctor. They were all people who know me very well and like me.

 

[Goro]

Possible weaknesses:

Volunteer EMT on my college campus and at the Boston Marathon every year
Many Adcom members consider EMTs to be glorified taxi drivers.
No actual patient contact experience
How many volunteer hours overall?


Public Health Global Brigades - trip to Honduras
Medical tourism

Activities
Volunteer Tutoring
Teaching Assistant at Daycare
CPR Instructor
Research Assistant for two years
Hobbies like hiking and water sports
Tutoring for who? Fellow college students? Poor kids? How many hours of non-clinical service ECs.

Suggest getting off campus and out of your comfort zone, and engaging in service to others less fortunate than yourself.

While your PS may have been fine, what about your secondaries? Were these vetted? These may have been poorly written.

Also, when did you apply?

You didn't apply to MCG? Mercer??? Emory???

Suggest contacting the Admissions deans at the schools you were rejected at and asking for feedback (not advice) on why you were rejected.

Take a gap year and then reapply. Forget about NYMC/Penn State class schools, and focus on Keck class and higher. Include some DO schools (beggars can't be choosy) UNLESS the problem was a late app. If so, then simply apply earlier next year.

Always be able to articulate why you're a good fit for each school.

 

[Albanian24]

You definitely go to BC lol. PM me if I can be of assistance.

 

[coolcat92]

Possible weaknesses:

Volunteer EMT on my college campus and at the Boston Marathon every year
Many Adcom members consider EMTs to be glorified taxi drivers.
No actual patient contact experience
How many volunteer hours overall?


Public Health Global Brigades - trip to Honduras
Medical tourism

Activities
Volunteer Tutoring
Teaching Assistant at Daycare
CPR Instructor
Research Assistant for two years
Hobbies like hiking and water sports
Tutoring for who? Fellow college students? Poor kids? How many hours of non-clinical service ECs.

Suggest getting off campus and out of your comfort zone, and engaging in service to others less fortunate than yourself.

While your PS may have been fine, what about your secondaries? Were these vetted? These may have been poorly written.

Also, when did you apply?

You didn't apply to MCG? Mercer??? Emory???

Suggest contacting the Admissions deans at the schools you were rejected at and asking for feedback (not advice) on why you were rejected.

Take a gap year and then reapply. Forget about NYMC/Penn State class schools, and focus on Keck class and higher. Include some DO schools (beggars can't be choosy) UNLESS the problem was a late app. If so, then simply apply earlier next year.

Always be able to articulate why you're a good fit for each school.

I worked as an EMT responding to emergency calls on campus and taking medical history and chief complaints of each patient. It got me very good at talking to patients and taking medical history. It was about 900 hours. I forgot to mention that I have gotten off campus. I volunteer at a local hospital working directly with patients and training new volunteers.

For tutoring, I tutored the same girl for 4 years and have gotten her through practically every science in high school. I convinced her not to drop out multiple times. That was about 300 hours.

I thought my secondaries were fine. I didn't get them vetted by quite as many people though.

I submitted AMCAS June 19. Verified July 9. Secondaries were completed by early August.

MCG did not let me apply because I took credit for AP Chem instead of gen chem. I did not apply to Mercer. Emory is private. I didn't think they favored in-state residents.

 

[Goro]

I worked as an EMT responding to emergency calls on campus and taking medical history and chief complaints of each patient. It got me very good at talking to patients and taking medical history. It was about 900 hours. I forgot to mention that I have gotten off campus. I volunteer at a local hospital working directly with patients and training new volunteers.

For tutoring, I tutored the same girl for 4 years and have gotten her through practically every science in high school. I convinced her not to drop out multiple times. That was about 300 hours.

I thought my secondaries were fine. I didn't get them vetted by quite as many people though.

I submitted AMCAS June 19. Verified July 9. Secondaries were completed by early August.

MCG did not let me apply because I took credit for AP Chem instead of gen chem. I did not apply to Mercer. Emory is private. I didn't think they favored in-state residents.

Medicine is a service profession, hence you need service to others, especially those less fortunate than yourself. And the higher you want to climb, the more impact that your ECs should have. I'm not saying that you need to join the Peace Corps or be Mother Teresa, but based upon the responses I've gotten from SDNers who got into Really Top Schools, they all have 100s, if not 1000s of hours of paid or clinical exposure, and/or service to others.

Keep up the hospital volunteering!

 

[Goro]

So no IAs? No felonies or multiple misdemeanors? When did you get your apps in?

Any downward GPA trend????

For next cycle, I recommend these (and get in the coursework that MCG wants!):

Wash U OR U Chicago OR NYU OR U Penn
Vanderbilt
Columbia
Sinai
Cornell
Northwestern
Case
Harvard OR Yale
Stanford
JHU
U VA
U MI
U VM
Miami
Tulane
Albert Einstein
Emory
BU
USC/Keck
Mayo
Rochester
Dartmouth
Duke
Pitt
Hofstra
Your state schools

 

[coolcat92]

So no IAs? No felonies or multiple misdemeanors? When did you get your apps in?

Any downward GPA trend????

For next cycle, I recommend these (and get in the coursework that MCG wants!):

Wash U OR U Chicago OR NYU OR U Penn
Vanderbilt
Columbia
Sinai
Cornell
Northwestern
Case
Harvard OR Yale
Stanford
JHU
U VA
U MI
U VM
Miami
Tulane
Albert Einstein
Emory
BU
USC/Keck
Mayo
Rochester
Dartmouth
Duke
Pitt
Hofstra
Your state schools

My GPA is pretty much a flat line. No misdemeanors or felonies.

I submitted my AMCAS June 19 and was verfied July 9. Secondaries were done by the first week of August.

Also, at this time next year, I won't be a GA resident. My parents are moving to NY and that will be where my permanent address is. Will that change your list for me?

Do you think I have any chance of getting in this cycle?

 

[Goro]

My GPA is pretty much a flat line. No misdemeanors or felonies.

I submitted my AMCAS June 19 and was verfied July 9. Secondaries were done by the first week of August.

Also, at this time next year, I won't be a GA resident. My parents are moving to NY and that will be where my permanent address is. Will that change your list for me?

Do you think I have any chance of getting in this cycle?

You can get an II tomorrow or in March. Impossible to say. That said, SDNers should always have a Plan B, and plan on being a reapplicant until they have an accept email in their inbox.

Forget the GA schools and add the SUNYs. But double check on what makes one a resident of the state.

Also add NYITCOM, PCOM, CCOM and UNECOM to the list. Maybe PCO-GA if you liked the Peach State

I'm leaning to the notion that your ECs are what are holding you back.

Have multiple eyeballs vet all your secondary essays.

 

[Faha]

You could receive interviews at some of the schools on your list by March.

 

[LizzyM]

So no IAs? No felonies or multiple misdemeanors? When did you get your apps in?

Any downward GPA trend????

For next cycle, I recommend these (and get in the coursework that MCG wants!):

Wash U OR U Chicago OR NYU OR U Penn
Vanderbilt
Columbia
Sinai
Cornell
Northwestern
Case
Harvard OR Yale
Stanford
JHU
U VA
U MI
U VM
Miami
Tulane
Albert Einstein
Emory
BU
USC/Keck
Mayo
Rochester
Dartmouth
Duke
Pitt
Hofstra
Your state schools

Frankly, I think that the MCAT is on the low side for the schools at the top of the list (I'm rarely interviewing anyone with < 520) and for the research powerhouses, (Yale, Harvard, WashU, Northwestern, U Chicago) the adcoms will want to see research productivity (presentations, publications, or at least an original project).

 

[coolcat92]

First that jumped out at was what @Goro noticed: you have no clinical volunteering in a hospital or clinic setting. Your EMT experience, while volunteer with direct patient care, does not put you in a setting where physicians work. VAC should be seen as a supplemental clinical experience. This is further skewed by having 150 shadowing hours, which is something done for yourself. This is a fairly high number.

-So you have no direct clinical volunteering
-You have lots of supplement patient hours via EMT
-you have lots of shadowing hours

That is imbalance that I would correct.

As for what your else is “wrong” applicants need to remember that almost everyone is good. This is an Olympic level event where 20 people may be in the “final” event at any individual school but only 3 will earn medals. As you said writing isnt your forte but you can do it. Its needs to more. It needs to be a highly polished, coherent, concise, and compelling narrative showing a strong pattern of motivation, committment, and achievement.

I have edited it, but I forgot to mention that I volunteer at a local hospital. I interact directly with patients and I'm in charge of training new volunteers. I have over 200 hours doing this. Sorry I know that is a pretty big thing to forget

 

[coolcat92]

Dope Slap!

So do you think it's just my writing?

 

[coolcat92]

You definitely go to BC lol. PM me if I can be of assistance.

I don't go to BC