When to start solidifying gap year plans?

[eagle179]

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Hey guys,

Hoping for some advice as I'm feeling a bit lost right now. I applied to MD schools this cycle (secondaries submitted in July and August) and I'm really not hearing much of anything back. I've always had a backup plan in the back of my head, but now I'm wondering how far I actually go as to implementing it. I'm worried that I'll end up in some kind of 1-year job contract and an apartment lease... and then get into med school really late and have to figure out how to back out of everything else. Here is some info about my application:

GPA 3.89, MCAT 515, VA Resident, female, non-URM; senior at smaller university (will graduate in May)

1500+ hours ED scribe (ongoing)
also have about 400 hours nannying for a doctor I scribed for (not on my application b/c started this semester)
600 hours undergrad research (3 years; poster presentations w/ a presentation award from a conference)
16 hours shadowing pediatric surgeon; 8 hours shadowing general/trauma surgeon (will accumulate more this semester)
40 hours homeless shelter volunteer
40 hours hospital volunteer
20 hours volunteering for community project for underrepresented groups
40 hours volunteering for special needs clinic in Ecuador (not on my primary app b/c it occurred after, so I mentioned it on secondaries when possible)
300 hours serving on Honor Council
100 hours volunteering w/ STEM honor society
50 hours chemistry tutor
President of STEM honor society for 2 years


I see my shortcomings as being shadowing and volunteering, however I hope my lack of shadowing could be made up for by scribing since that is essentially shadowing as well. As far as volunteering I know I need more hours and am trying to fit that in this semester.

I have currently received/attended 1 interview from an instate school, rejected from Boston and Johns Hopkins (no surprise there), and complete silence from everyone else (Duke, Stony Brook, UMD, OSU, GW).

So, of course I am gearing up to re-apply and looking for gap year plans. I guess I'm just wondering how likely you think it is I might still receive a last-minute interview/acceptance? And also what would be the best to way to spend my gap year in order to improve my application, besides continuing to volunteer? I was looking at SMPs but they seem mostly geared for people trying to improve their GPA which would not help me much for re-applying. I've been looking for different lab tech/research assistant positions but I'm not finding a whole lot.

Thanks!

 

[chaim123]

As many great adcoms have mentioned on SDN before - a big problem with reapplying to medical school is reapplying too early. If you plan to reapply for Fall 2019 entry (aka submit in June 2018) then nothing you do in your gap year will be on your primaries or secondaries. If you don't get in this cycle, it would be much better to take a year to strengthen your app, and then submit in June 2019 for entry in Fall 2020.

It also seems to me that your school list was short and awkwardly stacked. You applied to places like Johns Hopkins, Duke, and Boston (Harvard?), and then a few other schools. Unfortunately in this process it's hard to understand when you'll get an interview, even if you are qualified. I applied to 23 schools, all of which I am fully qualified to attend. 12 interviews and 6 rejections later, some just didn't want me for who knows what reason. You need to expand that school list and be smarter about school selection.

 

[Magus5454]

I would say you didn't apply to enough schools as well if what you listed was it

 

[eagle179]

Agreed on the school list, I would've had to take loans to apply to more but yeah looking back I'm not sure why I stacked it high like that. That is a good point that things done during my gap year won't be on my application anyway... But I think the exception would be an SMP because I could put that down on the primary if I were already accepted, and then have grade updates to submit. Something to think about though, thank you.

 

[Magus5454]

Agreed on the school list, I would've had to take loans to apply to more but yeah looking back I'm not sure why I stacked it high like that. That is a good point that things done during my gap year won't be on my application anyway... But I think the exception would be an SMP because I could put that down on the primary if I were already accepted, and then have grade updates to submit. Something to think about though, thank you.

You would not need an SMP. I hope you get accepted where you are interviewing

 

[eagle179]

So, I agree with above poster in that an SMP would not necessarily add to my application (academic wise) and I know that in itself is an oversimplified statement (it surely would overall improve my application, but I don't need to improve my MCAT/GPA).

I'm confused now because I spoke with an advisor at my school who strongly advised applying to the SMP for the SOM where I interviewed in order to increased my chances for the next cycle. This would also provide numerous opportunities for community service in the area, and research/potential employment which I'm also looking for. I think that seems like a good way to go for now. I definitely agree my school list was a poor choice (I should've just taken a loan to apply to more/picked more in my range) but I certainly can't go back and fix that now. In the meantime, fingers crossed for a last minute acceptance 🙂

 

[sss1219]

SMPs give little to no support for ECs. You will have no time to volunteer because of how intensive the 1st year med curriculum is. It may give you a leg up for finding research after courses end, but the tuition will not justify that alone.

Your best option would be to email every school at the end of the cycle to see if any of them can comment on how you can improve. The advice your advisor gave is terrible - your goal should be to get into a school, not that school, so the SMP sounds like a great way to stress yourself out immensely and go 60k in debt with little to no gain since your stats are already great. The most important thing is to NOT reapply too early.

IMO it is a combination of school list and low volunteering, moreso the former. From your list, BU/JHU/Duke were reaches and GWU is low yield, which leaves you with state school/Stony Brook/OSU/UMD as realistic shots. If you planned to have such a small list then you really should have applied to your other state schools, especially VTech with your research background, before turning to OOS. Consult with others on your school list if you indeed have to reapply - the silver lining here is that you will have a large selection of schools where you will not be considered a reapplicant.