(yet another) Reapplicant Question

[stickgirl390]

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I'm working on my application for next cycle in the event that neither of my waitlists turn in to acceptances.

Quick Background:
cGPA 3.81 sGPA 3.88
MCAT 505
ECs:

• Physician shadowing (cardiologist and cardio surgeon) 25 hrs
• Research (non science) while in undergrad w/ poster
• 4,000+ hours in a clinical setting working as a veterinary technician
• Currently teaching high school chemistry, and will continue into the next school year if I don't get in to med school this cycle.
• Marching band while at university

What I'm adding/changing:

1. Better school list!!! My school list from the first cycle did not fit my application well AT ALL. I've learned a lot from this cycle.
2. Volunteering at a Pregnancy/Prenatal Health clinic for underserved women. (Not sure how many hours I'll have by the time I submit, but it's going to be around 50 I'd estimate.)
3. Retaking the MCAT. My first attempt I had not taken Biochem yet, and since I have, and have been doing much better on practice tests.
4. New LORs from better sources.

And now for my questions:

1. Any other suggested changes to my app?
2. If I submit my primary July 1 with only one school selected, and then choose all my other schools after my new MCAT score fills Aug 22, will that be too late?
3. Would I benefit applying early decision to my state school while waiting for my new MCAT score? I interviewed there this cycle so I already know I love the school.

Thanks!

 

[crystal_lover_]

I've always been told applying early is important. Just looking at your work, my advisor would say you would need more patient contact hours. A lot of the people from my university had a hundred hours shadowing and lumped it into one section on the AMCAS. do you have all 15 sections filled out?

Do you have any other work with the underserved? Like volunteering at a hospital or with the homeless? I saw the clinic work, but I was hoping you had other activities that filled in the 15 sections. If you included dean's list as one of your 15 activities, my advisor said that was not important and should be left out.

I've heard a 505 is not that competitive, but at the same time, I know a lot of people from CA and other competitive states who had scores around the same range and were accepted.

 

[stickgirl390]

I've always been told applying early is important. Just looking at your work, my advisor would say you would need more patient contact hours. A lot of the people from my university had a hundred hours shadowing and lumped it into one section on the AMCAS. do you have all 15 sections filled out?

Do you have any other work with the underserved? Like volunteering at a hospital or with the homeless? I saw the clinic work, but I was hoping you had other activities that filled in the 15 sections. If you included dean's list as one of your 15 activities, my advisor said that was not important and should be left out.

I've heard a 505 is not that competitive, but at the same time, I know a lot of people from CA and other competitive states who had scores around the same range and were accepted.

Patient Hours is one of my weakest points. I'm hoping I can volunteer 100+ at the pregnancy clinic this summer, but I always like to underestimate just in case.

And yes, I have immense experience working with the underserved. The school I teach at is the poorest high school in my state. I've spoken about that in detail on my app.

And I have about 12 total experiences, but I've only listed the important ones here. Trying to keep the nitty gritty details private.

 

[crystal_lover_]

Patient Hours is one of my weakest points. I'm hoping I can volunteer 100+ at the pregnancy clinic this summer, but I always like to underestimate just in case.

And yes, I have immense experience working with the underserved. The school I teach at is the poorest high school in my state. I've spoken about that in detail on my app.

And I have about 12 total experiences, but I've only listed the important ones here. Trying to keep the nitty gritty details private.

I was told to try and fill all 15 experiences if possible. I would say get some more shadowing hours in, since a lot of people care about that. That's just what I was told by my advisor. PM me if you have any other questions

Not sure about submission, but I know for my state that submission is considered to be very late due to the sheer number of applicants.

 

[lpp06]

If you are complete by August 22nd - you won't be considered late by some standards - many consider Labor day as the threshold of being on time.

BUT - my philosophy is as a reapplicant, you should be holding yourself to a higher standard - every part of your application should be the best it can be - MCAT, timing, experiences. The worst thing you can do is to have to go through the process again because one of those areas was deficient.

 

[crystal_lover_]

If you are complete by August 22nd - you won't be considered late by some standards - many consider Labor day as the threshold of being on time.

BUT - my philosophy is as a reapplicant, you should be holding yourself to a higher standard - every part of your application should be the best it can be - MCAT, timing, experiences. The worst thing you can do is to have to go through the process again because one of those areas was deficient.

Agreed. I think if you got interviews that means your application was strong but you do need to improve it significantly for the next cycle as well if you need to do that. I would say do some more activities with the underserved so you have more experiences, and definitely get more shadowing in that's separate from the pregnancy clinic. These are just things I've been told from my premed advisor.

I've been told that applying early is very important but I'm not sure what it's like in Georgia

Your GPA is strong and teaching in a low income area is really impressive. Thank you for your service.

 

[Philtheparakeet]

I know a few people with the same stats and got into my state school (NY) and they're OOS. Apply early and perhaps add some DO schools. Good luck.

 

[Dagrimsta1]

It looks like you're on the right track and should have good things coming your way. Submit early, pre write secondaries and good luck boss

 

[DrHart]

I suggest a full year off focusing on clinical experience. vet tech isn't the same thing. retake the mcat and aim for a 509+. look for shadowing in PC fields. Don't apply this cycle and just focus on improving. It sets your plan back a couple years but in the grand scheme you'll be better off for it.