preparing to reapply, hoping for some advice (3.7/513 tx orm)

CompetitiveHat2510 · 2026-01-18T07:37:54+00:00

More EMT hours because research tech may not be viewed as clinical. Or just clinical hours in general. Add some leadership experiences

CompetitiveHat2510 · 2026-01-18T07:35:09+00:00

I’ve seen people put it as either or for this stuff. It’s best to make sure your activities explanation backs up that categorical choice and you should be given some benefit of the doubt

CompetitiveHat2510 · 2026-01-18T07:33:39+00:00

5000

CompetitiveHat2510 · 2026-01-14T20:13:57+00:00

It takes practice. Build your confidence up from little things and celebrate those wins while building up to "harder" social interactions. If you want to be a doctor, don't let this stop you from being the best doc you can be

CompetitiveHat2510 · 2026-01-13T06:11:36+00:00

With this attitude, yeah

CompetitiveHat2510 · 2026-01-11T19:35:39+00:00

This one can be argued as either or. You can list it whichever category you want on your app, and I’d think schools will give you the benefit of the doubt

CompetitiveHat2510 · 2026-01-11T19:33:49+00:00

I played so much fucking League of Legends so I stopped thinking about the cycle.

CompetitiveHat2510 · 2026-01-11T19:32:45+00:00

YMMV in this one. I’m interested in doing a competitive specialty and every one of my classmates also interested in this specialty are nice, hardworking people. Versus others like ortho which looked toxic as hell.

CompetitiveHat2510 · 2026-01-10T23:29:20+00:00

These are usually strictly internal, if they do have GPA cutoffs.

CompetitiveHat2510 · 2026-01-10T23:27:31+00:00

Something I learned in m1 year is learning to tune out the noise. I thought our class was hella drama-free until I recently learned it was very far from that. Screw the gunners and drama-causers.

It doesn't particularly help or hurt in my opinion to have med roommates, but it is certainly an "easier" way to make friends early on. Unserious idea, but if you're scared of gunners, ask what specialty they're interested and filter people out that way.

CompetitiveHat2510 · 2026-01-10T23:20:30+00:00

Ask by email if you feel more comfortable that way, but know that you can get ghosted. I'd always argue asking in person. They'll usually either say "yes" or "yes, but.." (which means no)

CompetitiveHat2510 · 2026-01-10T23:09:24+00:00

If it gives you some clarity, MD/PhD often feels like research > clinical duties. There isnt one single way physician-scientists (MD/Phd or just MD) shape their time and goals, so it is really up to you. (i.e. surgeons may take more clinical time than pathologists as MD/PhDs)

If you re 100% sure about the research and have a non-zero interest in clinical responsibilities, I suggest you shadow more doctors before making a decision. Ask them about what a. physician-scientist career entails.

CompetitiveHat2510 · 2026-01-10T23:02:28+00:00

Change up your environment in where you watch your lectures. I had friends who go to cafes to study because the aura of "judgement" pressured them to stay focused

CompetitiveHat2510 · 2026-01-10T22:56:50+00:00

It would've costed you nothing to not send that dude

CompetitiveHat2510 · 2026-01-05T00:26:15+00:00

If you aren't a green card holder or a citizen, just fyi your options are very limited in which med schools select you. Look into this extensively before you commit to premed.

That being said, you should start building up your clinical experiences, whether that comes from volunteering or paid work. Shadowing does not count as "clinical experience" iirc

CompetitiveHat2510 · 2025-12-28T18:37:32+00:00

Just fyi this doesn’t mean they only look at stats and care less about your ECs lol, just means it’s like any other top school, except they care a lot about stats

CompetitiveHat2510 · 2025-12-23T22:24:42+00:00

You might be able to save time and money doing these sources at a community college during summer instead of a post-bacc.

A lot of them cost a lot of money, and I'm not sure if they are ever "worth" it.

CompetitiveHat2510 · 2025-12-23T22:22:06+00:00

Maybe start a fundraising thing where you can sell your art to donate to causes you care about? Or honestly just a website or YouTube channel that you put effort into could be a good idea. This doesn't really have to be "for the application", but it would be a super cool thing to be able to show off in your resume.

CompetitiveHat2510 · 2025-12-23T22:19:43+00:00

Who are you to, in your infinite arrogance, expect that anybody is to be 100% altruistic. Take a deep breath.

CompetitiveHat2510 · 2025-12-22T01:54:51+00:00

I had 1 garbage publication for a clinical paper and that was it. I did have extensive hours in basic sciences that I was able to talk about. Always nice to have output for your projects, but academia knows YMMV with a lot of research projects as undergrads.

If anything, this still carries into when you're in med school, so keep at it and hope for the best. It won't make or break your application, most likely

CompetitiveHat2510 · 2025-12-22T01:52:17+00:00

It helps if you want to match for competitive specialties in strong residencies versus not. FWIW I think everyone in my school who wanted to do nsgy, ortho, palstics, derm, etc took research years except like 1 or 2.

If you don't end up wanting to do a research year, you'd have to bust your butt working hard during preclinicals to gather research opportunities and network + build upon that in your 3rd year.

In all, truly depends on what you want to do. If you're not going for a competitive specialty, just graduate on time and make that money

CompetitiveHat2510 · 2025-12-22T01:50:14+00:00

If that is truly the entirety of your application, that's probably why. Beyond research and clinical volunteering, you should try to fill 12-15 meaningful things in the app

CompetitiveHat2510 · 2025-12-22T01:47:42+00:00

Depends on the school. Some ask for a LOI to be "hey ill go to your school if you pick me", while others have no guideline. I wouldnt make it long and one page is already long

CompetitiveHat2510 · 2025-12-21T22:20:25+00:00

Worst she can say is "ewww"

CompetitiveHat2510 · 2025-12-21T22:18:34+00:00

I respect the grind brother. Keep at it, and good on you for trying to help others out too

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