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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Anyone have a student applying this cycle? Are they a senior, or did they do a gap year(s)? If a gap year, what are they doing in the gap? How is it going?

DC did not apply widely and was "R"'d from top choice. May be forced to do gap year and reassess. Trying to determine what most valuable experience would be in the interim. Paramedic? Research? Not sure about research opportunities if not actively a student.[/quote]

DC graduated this may and applied MS this cycle. Based on my observation, this is the most stressful process that she had encountered. On paper, she is a good candidate - T10 undergraduate, 3.9x GPA, 520+ with reasonable clinical and non-clinical volunteer experience and reasonable research hours with posters, presentations and peer-reviewed publications. She applied 30+ schools. So far, the outcome is not the best that we have hoped for but acceptable. She got 2 lower ranked As, 1 waitlist and a couple of Rs. Around 10 ii, but only a few are first tier (T20) schools.

Based on her experience, I have following suggestions:
1. It is better to apply widely in the first try. Reapplicants have disadvantages. 
2. GPA and MCAT is threshold. You need to across the threshold, then ECs will count more.
3. Choose the schools wisely. In-state has big advantages. School vibes important - some focus primary care, rural practice and research. 
4. The application is a package, in the ideal situation, all ECs should be linked together and related to why doctor is the career choice, even what kind of doctors you want to be. A storyline would help you to stand out besides your stats.
5. If have to take gap year(s), focus on improving your weakness. Serving the underserved community would be very helpful for a set of medical schools.
6. Main source of information: studentdoctor dot net; reddit dot com/r/premed; admit dot org; cycletrack dot org;

Good luck and best wishes for the medicine voyage of your DC.[/quote]
520 is INSANELY good! I can't believe she didn't have people beating her door down. Seriously. Glad you have some acceptances but wish it had been more of what she deserved.  It's a crazy process for sure. [/quote]

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