MD & DO WAMC - ORM Reapplicant | 3.99 GPA, 518 MCAT

[roastedlights]

Hello! I'm a long-time lurker looking for some sage advice!

I applied for medical schools in the past cycle (2022-2023); however, while I was placed on the waitlist at 3 schools, I did not ultimately gain acceptance at these schools. I think this was due to me submitting my primary application VERY late (in September 2022), having a poorly selected school list, and underperforming during interviews. I am very grateful to have received interviews despite these deficiencies, and I am looking to improve my application for for the 2024-2025 application cycle. At the moment, I'm thinking of pursuing an EMT license, working in EMS, and volunteering with organizations supporting low-income/homeless populations.

1. cGPA, sGPA
cGPA: 3.99, sGPA: 3.98

2. MCAT
Score: 518 (129, 128, 131, 130)

3. Residency
California

4. Ethnicity/Race
ORM (Asian)

5. Undergrad institution
T20 Public School

6. Clinical Experience
Medical assistant at a private medical office: 1,600 hours (Was in-progress during 2022-23 application cycle)

7. Research experience and productivity
Undergraduate researcher performing in-vivo and in-vitro work: 2,200 hours (1 publication in high-impact journal [5< author], 1 manuscript to be published before next cycle [2nd author], 1 symposium presentation)

Research assistant at a core facility: 530 hours

8. Shadowing Experience
Primary Care: 90 hours, Radiology: 20 hours

9. Non-clinical volunteering
Volunteer contact tracer: 70 hours
Volunteer at a vaccine distribution clinic: 150 hours

10. Other extracurriculars
- Leader of student volunteers for the university's COVID-19 response team
- Director of local CERT organization

11. Relevant Honors or Awards
Senior Thesis selected for university's research award
Leadership award granted by the university for work during COVID-19 pandemic
Phi Beta Kappa

List of schools applied to in the 2022-2023 cycle:
UCSF
UCLA
UCSD (Granted interview, waitlisted)
UCI
UC Davis
USC Keck SOM (Granted interview, waitlisted)
Stanford
Harvard
Emory
Kaiser Permanente
Emory
Tufts
SLU (Granted interview, waitlisted)
EVMS

Advice regarding areas of improvement and school list would be greatly appreciated! Thank you all in advance.

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[MyOdyssey]

Will your MCAT still be valid next cycle?

More non-clinical volunteering with the underprivileged would help. I’m not sure either of your activities qualifies as non-clinical volunteering with the underprivileged.

 

[roastedlights]

Will your MCAT still be valid next cycle?

More non-clinical volunteering with the underprivileged would help. I’m not sure either of your activities qualifies as non-clinical volunteering with the underprivileged.

Thank you for the advice! I believe my MCAT should still be valid for the upcoming cycle, as I had taken it in early 2022.

 

[pablo213]

Will your MCAT still be valid next cycle?

More non-clinical volunteering with the underprivileged would help. I’m not sure either of your activities qualifies as non-clinical volunteering with the underprivileged.

I agree with this. The only real deficiency I can see in your app is no nonclinical volunteering with the underserved in settings that, for lack of better words, may put you out of your comfort zone. Things like habitat for humanity, homeless shelters, soup kitchen.

Besides that I think just applying to more schools in general and earlier could have benefited you. 13 schools is a bit low and the fact that you got 3 interviews from those shows your LORs and writing were good enough. The waitlists may have just been a result of a late application. I'll defer school suggestions to the experts

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Submitting that late didn't stop you from getting 3 IIs, but depending on when you interviewed, you probably had rolling admissions work against you. Regardless, continue improving interviewing skills.

Totally agree your nonclinical volunteering is still clinical adjacent. I don't know if this was pointed out in interviews. You need more service orientation that is non clinical where you alleviate others distress in a humble way. No tutoring or teaching counts in this case.

Also, 150 hours is usually a threshold to not get screened out at most schools (you probably had receivedmore consideration with your GPA/MCAT combination), but it could have played a factor when comparing your activities to others who have more hours and mission fit. From the description, it is not clear that you have experience in hospital or community clinic settings, though I guess you could be angling for more basic or clinical research.

So I'm guessing the OP already submitted an application? Where did you improve since the last application?

 

[Faha]

When you reapply add more schools to your application and consider these:
Washington University (in St. Louis)
Vanderbilt
Northwestern
USF Morsani
Duke
Georgetown
Hofstra
Einstein
Mount Sinai
Tufts
Boston University
Pittsburgh
Rochester
Cincinnati

 

[MyOdyssey]

OP
Consider adding Case Western & Cleveland Clinic when you reapply next cycle.

Also look into each school’s rules regarding the duration of MCAT scores. MCAT scores are usually good for 3 year from test date to matriculation date (not application date). April 2022 (assumed test date) to August 2025 (future matriculation date) might create issues.

 

[wysdoc]

OP
Consider adding Case Western & Cleveland Clinic when you reapply next cycle.

Also look into each school’s rules regarding the duration of MCAT scores. MCAT scores are usually good for 3 year from test date to matriculation date (not application date). April 2022 (assumed test date) to August 2025 (future matriculation date) might create issues.

The three years is counted to the time of applying, not to the time of matriculation.
If OP applies in 2024 the MCAT scores will be valid

 

[roastedlights]

Thank you all for the advice! I'll be thorough when looking at the oldest accepted MCAT score for each school (fingers crossed I won't have to retake the test). Having taken the MCAT in January 2022, I think I will be straddling the line between valid/expired score dependent on school.

Definitely will be looking to bolster my service hours with more volunteering oriented towards underserved groups -- thank you for pointing this out!
Best of luck for those currently applying!