So so grateful that this is finally over. my first cycle, i didn’t know what i was doing. i applied extremely top-heavy, had <200hrs clinical experience, <510 MCAT, and didn’t really have a clear sense (to myself or to schools) why i wanted to practice medicine. i didn’t receive any interview invites. for my second cycle, I boosted my clinical hours, became more involved in contributing to publications in my lab, and retook the MCAT. i received 3 interviews from ~T50 schools that all led to waitlists. days after receiving my final waitlist, my PI informed me that he would be leaving academia and shutting down the lab in a month. this was an extremely stressful time for me — i didn't know where i would be in a few months so i didn't know if i would be renewing my lease or taking advantage of the free summer before my first semester of med school. the uncertainty led to sleepness nights, hours spent on SDN and reddit, and a cocktail of unhealthy coping mechanisms. it took a lot of support from my friends and family to keep my mental health intact and avoid drowning.

my third cycle, i was way more confident, had a few pubs under my belt, and had so many more meaningful patient interactions and anecdotes i could pull from that really confirmed my passion in becoming a physician. this time last year, as i was sitting on all my waitlists, i remember asking r/premed for help with a school list and was bombarded by multiple people telling me i wasn’t dedicated enough and that i should apply mostly DO. not saying there’s anything wrong with DO, but i personally did not feel aligned with that route. i dedicated my couple months of unemployment to perfecting my application and pre-writing my secondaries. for my third cycle, in addition to applying only MD, i also applied to 10 PhD programs in clinical psychology and ended up declining all my interview offers since i’d already secured an MD A by then.

These are my stats:

513 MCAT

3.74 cgpa / 3.59 sgpa

T10 undergrad

biracial (URM/ORM)

• Research: 4400hrs (definitely the strongest part of my app. majority of these hours is clinical research. research experience also includes 2 global projects where i spent some time abroad. at time of primary, i had 3 publications (including 1 first author), 1 poster, 2 additional papers under review, 3 papers in prep)

• Clinical volunteering: 460hrs (+ 250hrs anticipated + new full-time clinical gap year job started a few weeks after i already submitted my primary)

• Non-clinical volunteering: 450hrs (tutoring low-SES children)

• Leadership: 550hrs (humanities TA + executive positions for 2 on-campus clubs)

•Shadowing: 45hrs (1 specialty)

• Social justice advocacy: 350hrs (3 experiences across local and state levels)

• Hobby: yoga, instructor-certified