What to do now

[Fabio001]

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Hi SDN,

So, I find myself in a situation that I never wanted to be in. I have been more or less rejected from nearly all fifteen schools that I applied to, with the exception of two 'waitlist' schools.

This past season I applied to only MD schools that I felt I was competitive for, but I wasn't marked complete until the middle of September. I ended up getting three interviews, one of which was from my state school (which I was very recently rejected from.) I have a current GPA of 3.7, an sGPA of 3.5 and an MCAT of 30.

I have spent the last month or so trying to plan what to do in the case that I don't get accepted this season. Up until very recently, I had for the most part settled on the notion of stay where I'm at, working full-time, and trying to get a job at the hospital (clinical exposure being a weak point of mine). However, lately I've been kinda thinking that I might be someone that would benefit from an SMP program.

So, my questions are as follows: Do I seem like someone who would benefit from an SMP, or would I be better building clinical experience like I had planned, and maybe pursuing some form of research? If you think I would benefit from an SMP, do you think I'm competitive enough to only apply for maybe my one or two top choices?

Thanks in advance for your responses 🙂

 

[Total180]

SMP's are really for people that have a high MCAT but low gpa's. Your cumulative gpa is slightly above average, and your sgpa is slightly below. I think it would be a waste of money to do an SMP in your situation. Especially when you say a weak point of yours is clinical experience. Having little to no clinical experience (if that is the case) is probably the reason you didn't have any luck this cycle, because your numbers are enough to get you looked at by schools (assuming you applied broadly). Once your numbers get you through the door it is YOU they are looking at. Do something that stands out, as well as gain some more clinical experience, and I think you will be in a much different place the next time you apply.

 

[Fabio001]

The clinical experience that I have is rather un-traditional. I have worked for almost 3 years in a youth treatment center as a residential counselor, working with teens suffering from a addiction, asperger's and the like. I really feel like I can get in next year (especially seeing that i'll be applying to a couple DO schools as well), so I'd say the primary reason for doing an SMP would be to get a jump-start on medical school so I can really hit the ground running, and potentially do better on the boards. I feel like waiting around a year would not prepare me as well as the smp would. Is this a bad (waste of money) reason to do an smp?

 

[NontradICUdoc]

did you call the school(s) that you interviewed at and were rejected or waitlisted and try to see if you can review your application with them and see where you can improve it to make yourself a more competitive applicant?

Before venturing forward, you need to know which direction you have to travel. Do not go blindly.

 

[Total180]

did you call the school(s) that you interviewed at and were rejected or waitlisted and try to see if you can review your application with them and see where you can improve it to make yourself a more competitive applicant?

Before venturing forward, you need to know which direction you have to travel. Do not go blindly.

DEFINITELY do this. I think doing an SMP for the reasons stated would be a waste of money. SMPs are designed to be a kind've all or nothing, last ditch effort. You need to do extremely well for it to be beneficial. It is very risky to do one when you have numbers that are good enough to get you into medical school because if you do poorly, your chances are basically shot. If you get accepted to medical school and end up doing poorly, the school usually will work with you, and try to figure out what's wrong because they have invested a lot of time and money into you. If this happens when you are in an SMP you are just screwed. There are many extremely capable students that have trouble adjusting to medical school and end up having trouble their first year, do you really want to take the chance that you could be one of those people and risk your chances of actually getting into medical school because you want to get familiar with the material? There are plenty of people that do fantastic on the boards, and most of them will not have had an SMP type program under the belt. If you are one of those people capable of doing awesome, you will do awesome with or without the "extra" exposure to the material. Your money would be better spent traveling or just saving for the real deal, or really doing anything else. Find a job, call the admissions offices and ask why you were waitlisted/rejected and try to find something to do to rectify the "hole", and apply as early as you can next cycle. You will most likely get in, and you will save yourself $40,000 and a ton of stress, and probably have an awesome year relaxing and resting before the real work begins. Good luck!

 

[Fabio001]

Thanks so much for your advice friends. After speaking with my family and others, you have pretty much confirmed what I had already known. I'll definately be calling around and finding out what it was that held up my application. Good luck to you all!

 

[cabinbuilder]

Apply the first day of opening. Look at your essay. Your numbers are fine.