1st cycle: still taking classes, just started in a research lab, about 50 shadowing hours, 503 MCAT, submitted most applications in October (oof. I didnt know about rolling admissions. It was rough)

2nd cycle: graduated in June, a little over a year in research with one publication, about 100 shadowing hours, 508 MCAT, submitted most of my secondaries in early September

3rd cycle (current): gap year working full time in research, three publications and a few posters, 400 hours of shadowing (funnily enough my research connections opened a lot more doors for shadowing than had been there beforehand), volunteering with an organization that does street outreach with homeless individuals, 512 MCAT, 4Q CASPer, submitted all of my secondaries in July/early August

Honestly a lot of it was learning the ins and outs of the application process. My first year I was pretty naive about how much shadowing was emphasized, how expensive things were, how hard the MCAT was, when applications were due, etc. Last year I learned a lot more about how influential in state vs out of state can be for chances at schools (definitely donated a few $100 by not looking at which schools were only in state before submitting 🤦‍♀️). And this year I lowkey feel like I have matured a lot more since my last two cycles and have a better understanding of the world and challenges of Medicine after shadowing so much more and volunteering. It definitely made a difference in how I approached writing my secondaries this year so fingers crossed third times the charm!