What to work on if no acceptances

[FishermanDon99]

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I am almost done w secondaries but seeing everyone that has better stats and was completed before me struggling is making me nervous. I also fear that my list may have been a bit of a long shot as I applied to many top 30 programs. Was wondering if there are any specific experiences I should pursue that could help me out next cycle if worst comes to worst. State of residence is FL.

Stats
uGPA 3.2 sGPA 3.2 (Upward trend with some post-bacc work completed), masters in microbio GPA 3.78
MCAT: 516 (127,128,131,130)
URM - Latino, first gen, low SES.

Extracurriculars
Volunteer - worked with disadvantaged communities through the school department to connect them with resources like scholarships.
Volunteer - fundraising for pediatric hospitals
Clinical - volunteered in a free clinic for underserved pop
Shadow - 100 hours in different specialties
Clinical - Hospice volunteer
Leadership - created a mentorship program for prehealth URM
Research - nothing major did some grunt work in 2 separate labs, unpublished no poster presentations.
Hobbies - cooking, tied it in a lot in diversity statements and how it has helped me connect w people who are unlike myself (everybody's gotta eat)


I am mostly concerned about my GPA hindering me from some top schools. I would be interested in doing more research but I am no longer affiliated with a school and not sure how productive 8 months of research would be. Also would retaking the MCAT be a bad idea? Didn't study super hard and could probably score a few points higher. I want to invest my time as best as possible this coming year. I am not that willing to commit to something that will take more than a year (Teach for America.)

Any advice is appreciated.

 

[chaim123]

I am almost done w secondaries but seeing everyone that has better stats and was completed before me struggling is making me nervous. I also fear that my list may have been a bit of a long shot as I applied to many top 30 programs. Was wondering if there are any specific experiences I should pursue that could help me out next cycle if worst comes to worst. State of residence is FL.

Stats
uGPA 3.2 sGPA 3.2 (Upward trend with some post-bacc work completed), masters in microbio GPA 3.78
MCAT: 516 (127,128,131,130)
URM - Latino, first gen, low SES.

Extracurriculars
Volunteer - worked with disadvantaged communities through the school department to connect them with resources like scholarships.
Volunteer - fundraising for pediatric hospitals
Clinical - volunteered in a free clinic for underserved pop
Shadow - 100 hours in different specialties
Clinical - Hospice volunteer
Leadership - created a mentorship program for prehealth URM
Research - nothing major did some grunt work in 2 separate labs, unpublished no poster presentations.
Hobbies - cooking, tied it in a lot in diversity statements and how it has helped me connect w people who are unlike myself (everybody's gotta eat)


I am mostly concerned about my GPA hindering me from some top schools. I would be interested in doing more research but I am no longer affiliated with a school and not sure how productive 8 months of research would be. Also would retaking the MCAT be a bad idea? Didn't study super hard and could probably score a few points higher. I want to invest my time as best as possible this coming year. I am not that willing to commit to something that will take more than a year (Teach for America.)

Any advice is appreciated.

Don't retake that MCAT

Your GPA is pretty low for T25 schools, and you have very little research - I think a school list would help if you need school selection help.

That being said, your application is your application. The best thing you can do is apply to a good breathe of schools, and improve the things you can work on.

 

[Goro]

I am almost done w secondaries but seeing everyone that has better stats and was completed before me struggling is making me nervous. I also fear that my list may have been a bit of a long shot as I applied to many top 30 programs. Was wondering if there are any specific experiences I should pursue that could help me out next cycle if worst comes to worst. State of residence is FL.

Stats
uGPA 3.2 sGPA 3.2 (Upward trend with some post-bacc work completed), masters in microbio GPA 3.78
MCAT: 516 (127,128,131,130)
URM - Latino, first gen, low SES.

Extracurriculars
Volunteer - worked with disadvantaged communities through the school department to connect them with resources like scholarships.
Volunteer - fundraising for pediatric hospitals
Clinical - volunteered in a free clinic for underserved pop
Shadow - 100 hours in different specialties
Clinical - Hospice volunteer
Leadership - created a mentorship program for prehealth URM
Research - nothing major did some grunt work in 2 separate labs, unpublished no poster presentations.
Hobbies - cooking, tied it in a lot in diversity statements and how it has helped me connect w people who are unlike myself (everybody's gotta eat)


I am mostly concerned about my GPA hindering me from some top schools. I would be interested in doing more research but I am no longer affiliated with a school and not sure how productive 8 months of research would be. Also would retaking the MCAT be a bad idea? Didn't study super hard and could probably score a few points higher. I want to invest my time as best as possible this coming year. I am not that willing to commit to something that will take more than a year (Teach for America.)

Any advice is appreciated.

Did you apply to DO schools?

After any failed cycle, you take a year to fix your deficits. In your case, if the GPA is an issue, then do a post-bac or SMP. Retaking the MCAT would be 100% stupid.
Rewrite all essays
Practice interview skills.

 

[FishermanDon99]

Did you apply to DO schools?

After any failed cycle, you take a year to fix your deficits. In your case, if the GPA is an issue, then do a post-bac or SMP. Retaking the MCAT would be 100% stupid.
Rewrite all essays
Practice interview skills.

I did not apply to DO. I followed a list you gave me earlier this year but turns out my uGPA was lower than I thought so you were going off my misinformation. Is an SMP really necessary if I've already done a masters I know not all schools look at masters favorably but don't some? Also not sure if it helps but I applied to some schools that reached out to me via MedMar including Emory and Columbia.

 

[precisiongraphic]

Did you apply to DO schools?

After any failed cycle, you take a year to fix your deficits. In your case, if the GPA is an issue, then do a post-bac or SMP. Retaking the MCAT would be 100% stupid.
Rewrite all essays
Practice interview skills.

If you didn't apply to DO schools and don't want to have to reapply, I believe it's not too late to add some DO schools.

If you don't want to wait another year and really want MD, start looking at and applying to SMP/post-bacc programs so you can start in July 2019 if you don't get an acceptance this year. (If you get accepted, you can decline the SMP acceptance later.) Waiting another year to start an SMP may make your MCAT too old when you apply again, depending on when you took it.

Also, some schools (e.g. Ohio State) have SMP programs with linkage for those who apply but are turned down, especially URMs. So maybe look for those and apply now, even though it's not "early." Though applying late is not optimal, there are people who apply in October to MD who get in, so some well-placed additional MD applications might be good.

 

[Goro]

Definitely not too late for DO schools

 

[Catalystik]

I am almost done w secondaries but seeing everyone that has better stats and was completed before me struggling is making me nervous. I also fear that my list may have been a bit of a long shot as I applied to many top 30 programs. Was wondering if there are any specific experiences I should pursue that could help me out next cycle if worst comes to worst. State of residence is FL.

Stats
uGPA 3.2 sGPA 3.2 (Upward trend with some post-bacc work completed), masters in microbio GPA 3.78
MCAT: 516 (127,128,131,130)
URM - Latino, first gen, low SES.

Extracurriculars
Volunteer - worked with disadvantaged communities through the school department to connect them with resources like scholarships.
Volunteer - fundraising for pediatric hospitals
Clinical - volunteered in a free clinic for underserved pop
Shadow - 100 hours in different specialties
Clinical - Hospice volunteer
Leadership - created a mentorship program for prehealth URM
Research - nothing major did some grunt work in 2 separate labs, unpublished no poster presentations.
Hobbies - cooking, tied it in a lot in diversity statements and how it has helped me connect w people who are unlike myself (everybody's gotta eat)


I am mostly concerned about my GPA hindering me from some top schools. I would be interested in doing more research but I am no longer affiliated with a school and not sure how productive 8 months of research would be. Also would retaking the MCAT be a bad idea? Didn't study super hard and could probably score a few points higher. I want to invest my time as best as possible this coming year. I am not that willing to commit to something that will take more than a year (Teach for America.)

Any advice is appreciated.

If you want commentary on your activities, it would be helpful if you posted the months/years and total hours of each experience you've listed.