Yet Another First Time Re-application

[SamuraiPanda]

I applied to medical schools last year at the very last minute after taking the MCAT when I wasn't intending on taking it. I ended up with a 32 (9v, 12bs, 11ps); Long story short, I didn't want to go. So I sent in secondaries on their due date with the intention of not getting accepted, which is exactly what happened. But now, after my senior year, I've decided to take this a bit more seriously.

I want to apply right now to medical schools again right now and I want to know how much of my primary application I should redo. I feel my essay was surprisingly good, so if possible I'd like to change as little as possible. My GPA is 3.8, but a 32 MCAT isn't very good, so I was planning on taking it again. But I want to apply BEFORE I take the MCAT again, then take the test again in June or July.

So how much do I have to change? The primary? The secondaries? Do they know/care they are the same essays?

Thanks

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[LaTortuga]

If you re-apply to the same schools, they will probably have a record of your old application/essays. That being said, I would recommend at least re-tooling the primary essay (if not overhauling it completely). It seems most schools like to see a change and evidence of growth between applications.

Personally when I re-applied, I threw all of my essays (primary and secondaries in the trash) and started from scratch. It felt better to start with a clean slate. Be sure to farm them out to everyone who will read your essays for feedback. Every little bit of sparkle and shine on the essays helps.

Other stuff: be sure to update your ECs and activities section. The worst thing you could do is submit your application without showing that you have grown since last cycle.

Good luck!

 

[dragonfly99]

The MCAT score isn't that bad, but if you didn't study a lot before the first one, you likely can up the score a little...just be aware that it's hard to increase the score in the verbal section, which was the section you scored lower on.

I hope you have enough clinical volunteer experience, b/c a lot of adcoms really want to see that.