<p>here’s the short version of it…</p>
<p>graduated in 2006 with intl business degree, finish the required science courses without doing a formal post-bac…
GPA is 3.79/ sGPA- 3.66
30MCAT breakdown 10PS 11V 9BS</p>
<p>been office manager of a small medical practice for 3+ years now-- work as a research intern at NYS Psychiatric Institute for 2 years-
I’ve shadowed several doctors several years ago
did some volunteering in DC at a hospital 2 summers ago</p>
<p>I am going to be a 3rd time re-applicant, not this summer but the following (nothing new to my application)…first time I applied late, not many schools, and the schools i applied to were not broad enough)
As for reapplying… I am not sure if I should switch jobs, apply to an SMP to show I can handle science courses (but I don’t want my GPA to fall) or retake the MCAT</p>
<p>I am a NY resident and would like to stay in the area…I have been told by a couple schools an MCAT retake is good because the ‘northeast’ average is around 33? Is there any truth to this?</p>
<p>Any words of wisdom, or advice is greatly appreciated!</p>
<p>I don’t know anything about the NY schools.</p>
<p>The first question that comes to mind, before anyone can offer advice is, if your first application failed due to timing, etc., how was your 2nd cycle? When did you apply? When were you complete? How many schools? How many interviews did you do?</p>
<p>I would think that the LORs from teachers pre-2006 could be of some concern now.</p>
<p>There are definitely schools in the east which will take a 29-30-31 applicant for admissions, did you research those and apply there?</p>
<p>The problem could be the general application, if you applied to a well chosen group of schools early on and did not get 20-30% interview offers, I would think your application is the issue.</p>
<p>If you did get interviews, how many? It seems to be thought that one should have 5+ interviews at least to hope for one offer (high stats candidates aside), what was your ratio? Are you simply not applying to enough schools to make the numbers work. For a 30 MCAT, I would think 30+ applications and 10-15 interviews, just off the top of my head.</p>
<p>I was also wondering how your second cycle went. </p>
<p>Did you ask for and receive any feedback from adcomms on how you could improve your app? Aside from maybe saying you have an average MCAT, did they offer any other suggestions?</p>
<p>I know you want to stay in NY, but with the strong competition in NE schools, you may have to broaden your horizons and look farther afield. I can think of a dozen med schools in PA and the midwest where your stats would be right in range.</p>
<p>Or if you really want to remain in the NY, would you consider DO programs?</p>
<p>Are your LORs stale [old]? Would you consider taking 1 or 2 grad or upper level science classes to demonstrate that you’re still capable of doing high level academics? (This would also give you fresh LORs.) </p>
<p>Do you have enough community service to demonstrate a strong interest in serving your fellow man? Is your community service recent and on-going? (This is more important than you might think. Both my kids are non-trad applicants. Both were advised–by different schools-- to make sure they do not stop volunteering even though they were working full time. )</p>
<p>My first thought is that nothing really “pops” about your candidacy. Perhaps this is simply because you chose to write an abbreviated version of your story–which of course makes sense, given this forum. </p>
<p>I think every applicant’s goal should be to really sell the adcomm on their application. You should package everything and market yourself so the adcomm realizes what a great person you are and why you would be an asset to their incoming class. This doesn’t mean you should attempt to deceive them by inflating your accomplishments; rather, you should carefully write about them to show them completely and persuasively. </p>
<p>You might think about an underlying theme to your application, something that you can weave throughout your personal statement, secondaries, and interviews to give a nice coherent voice to your candidacy. Rather than showing them a bunch of disjointed examples, you should demonstrate how each aspect of your candidacy ties into a “bigger picture,” and how becoming a physician by attending their school is the best next step for you. </p>
<p>You should also take a critical look at your application to find its holes. Have you hit all the major aspects of the application–stats, shadowing, research, clinical work, volunteering, leadership, hobbies, employment? Are your recommendation letters spectacular? How are your writing skills? Do you have a solid grasp of the process of applying? (I imagine you do since you’ve applied before!) Are you polite, charming, persuasive? Can you think on your feet? Do you have solid examples from your personal experience about all the big interview topics? What do you know about health policy, health reform, insurance? Do you know WHY you’re applying to that particular program–beyond that it’s in an area you like? What does this program value in its graduates? How can you emulate that?</p>
<p>Just some food for thought. Good luck!</p>
<p>Not sure about importantance of standing out, but MCAT score is on a lower side. I would prep. and retake. Otherwise, I see a huge advantage a an applicant with the actual job experience and related to medical field. Definitely much more mature person in comparison to UG graduates. This is big in my opinion. Nothing was standing out in my D’s application. She actually did not include her foreign languages which seem to make a positive impact while at Med. School, greater opportunities, positive comments on reviews…etc. She was a regular state public UG graduate with great stats and good number of EC’s. She took care of personal growth as much as she could while in UG. I do not think she was as mature as anybody with the several years of real job experience, she worked on campus part-time just like all other pre-meds.
Again, I see deficiency in the MCAT score, the rest should be just fine.</p>
<p>won’t your 30 MCAT have to be retaken? If you used it to apply the first time it has to be more than 3 years old by now.</p>