Should I/How do I rewrite my personal statement and/or activities section?

[MrMassador]

Sorry for the long title but hopefully it communicates my question clearly

I made a post on the 'What Are My Chances' Thread a week or so ago asking if I should reapply this cycle given how last cycle went and my GPA, MCAT, extracurriculars. I think to get a strong picture to answer should I/how should I change my personal statement and activities section, I think it would be best to quickly glance over my post. As a result, I've reposted the essential parts of that post that I think should help answer my question.

Last cycle, I applied to approximately 25 MD schools across the country, all within the top 50 and most within the top 40 (specifically, I believe UC Davis or Georgetown were the lowest ranked). I received secondaries to all except Vanderbilt and ultimately received 3 interviews at UC Davis, USC, and UCSD (interview dates were 1/9, 1/16, and 1/26, respectively). Unfortunately, I got waitlisted to all three and am currently in desperation mode hoping to get accepted. However, as the next AMCAS cycle is about to open soon, I need to start contemplating whether I should reapply this cycle or not.

First off, some details about my application so you all know, to some extent, where I stand amongst the pool of applicants.

California Resident (specifically, born/raised in Sacramento)
School: UCLA (at time of application, 3rd year; currently 4th year)
Major: Chemistry
cGPA: 3.91 (currently 3.94)
sGPA: 3.88 (currently probably 3.9)
MCAT: 516
Physical Sciences: 131
CARS: 127
Biological Sciences: 130
Psych/Soc.: 128
Research: Study serotonin in mice in an analytical chemistry lab (2.5 years). No papers (though a couple were recently submitted but authorship would be relatively minor), 1 Summer Research Fellowship
Work Experience: Sales Associate for Sprint and Verizon (~1000 hours)
Clinical Experience: Volunteer at hospital; shadow nurses, doctors, residents, etc... while also assisting with patient care whenever possible (445 hours, currently ~550 hours)
Leadership Experience: President & Founder of Hide & Seek Club @ UCLA. Public Relations Coordinator of volunteer program at hospital (see above; responsible for recruiting applicants 4 times a year. Approximately ~500 applicants per cycle)
Misc.: Undergraduate Teaching Assistant for gen. chem, ochem, and molecular bio. (900 hours)

Stuff NOT on last cycle's application
Shadowing: Shadowed anesthesiologist (20 hours)
Clinical Experience: Host/Work at health clinics for Westminster, CA (underserved Asian population) (~100 hours)
​

One caveat to consider about last year's application was that my AMCAS wasn't submitted until July 24th (took MCAT July 9th so I waited for my score before submitting). Application was processed around August 9th. Most secondaries were submitted in late August/early September with a couple leaking in as late as late September/early October.

As far as interviews are concerned, I felt like they went, for the most part, well. I felt confident at UC Davis, USC was a tad shaky in that one of my interviewers was pretty cold, and UCSD was okay (had recently received news about being waitlisted at UCD and USC, so I wasn't feeling too hot). Overall, certainly not bad but they weren't *perfect* either.

Additionally, I felt like my letters of recommendation were from professors whom I had close relationships with as a student and/or undergraduate teaching assistant. Unfortunately, no letters from doctors but I did have letters from my PI and the supervisor of the volunteering program I am involved with.​

With that, I'm starting to feel a bit concerned about reapplying this cycle. It's only been 1 year since I've reapplied and I haven't changed my application much (as you can see above) besides adding additional hours to the activities I have already been involved with. As a result, I don't think I can change my reasoning for "wanting to go to medical school" very much, as I feel like my desires to become a doctor are pretty core to who I am.

However, if it is recommended to change my personal statement/activities (specifically the most memorable ones), to what extent should I change it? Would changing it too drastically be cause for concern in adcoms because it would indicate that my motivations to become a doctor are not rooted? Or does NOT changing my PS/activity descriptions indicate laziness?

I understand to see whether, or to what degree I need to change my PS, it would be beneficial for all parties to look over my PS. Personally, I'm a little hesitant to throw it out onto the internet, and am a bit cautious to send it to other applicants who are applying this cycle or sometime soon (simply because I've had bad experiences in the past with sharing personal and/or application-related materials with others and especially people I'm not close with). However, I would be very open to sending my PS to someone who is currently in medical school or beyond.

Anyways, thank you so much for getting through this long post. Any help and criticisms is much appreciated and goes towards making this stressed out student a bit more at ease

​

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[CyrilFiggis]

A few thoughts:

Your grades are strong so those shouldn't be a concern. Here are the gaps I see:

1) zero community service. Everything is medically related. Find something to get involved with for service.
2) Your application was a tad late, but not enough to rule you out.
3) Cast a wider net. Without knowing the exact school list I can't say much more, but it sounds like you aimed too much too high.
4) No enough has changed with your application, so I wouldn't re-apply now. Take a year off. If you're still in LA, work with a non-profit and do more clinical hours (USC/LAC ER volunteering was more fun that CARE for me). No need for more classes. Maybe find a part-time job.
5) All of this seems to be more of a character issue or perception of character. Get some more eyes on your PS when you re-write it next year.

 

[gyngyn]

Comments may continue here: Should I reapply this cycle? If so, what should I do (differently)?