Session 152 Applying to medical school is hard. Needing to reapply is even harder. Where do you start? What do you have to redo? That's what our question is today. All your questions answered here are taken from the Nontrad Premed Forum. Register for an account for free. Join a collaborative community of students and ask away! If you haven't yet, please check out our newest podcast, the MCAT CARS Podcast with Jack Westin. It's a valuable resource, especially if you haven't taken the MCAT yet. One of the biggest components of the MCAT is knowing what you're reading and doing, as well as really thinking critically through it. [01:44] OldPreMeds Question of the Week: "I recently listened to an episode of the Q&A where Dr. Grey talked about needing to rewrite your personal statement when you reapply. I understand the logic behind it but it felt more applicable to the younger, traditional student. The driving point made was the student is expected to “grow” between the cycles. As far as my application is concerned, my stats are low and I see that as the primary hurdle to even being looked at. I am working on a DIY postbac and will retake the MCAT if needed. But otherwise, I’m having trouble seeing how to improve my application. I feel my personal statement is pretty good and very honest. Beyond numbers, I can’t see how to improve my chances for next year. I have one interview invite for this cycle. If I don’t get in this year, what should I do? I find hoop-jumping to be disingenuous and have done my best to approach this entire process with open eyes and honest effort. Not just tick box to make you like me." [02:44] What Do You Need to Change? You laid our your heart out at this point, and how will that change from year to year if you need to reapply? But how do you know what it is in your application that is causing the schools to be turned off? Is it as easy as your stats being low? A lot of times, it is. But you don't really know. And maybe they've read your personal statement and that your stats are low and your personal statement wasn't good enough to overcome and make them want to invite you for an interview. Well, this obviously worked for one school where the student has one interview invite per school for this year. But what is it about the application that made one school decide to interview her vs. other schools? That's the biggest problem when you need to reapply. So the best advice is to change as much as you can. "The personal statement has one goal in mind, to tell, to show the admissions committee why you want to be a physician." [04:55] An Honest Personal Statement? The poster says she feels her personal statement is good and honest, but would you even lie in your personal statement? What are you being honest about in your personal statement? A lot of students will be honest about the troubles they have to overcome. But your personal statement is supposed to talk about why you want to be a physician, and not about the hurdles you've overcome along the way. "There are so many variables in an application that you just don't know what it is that caused the issue for not getting an interview invite." [05:42] What Watered the Seed? As you're going through this process, you're still getting clinical experience and you're still shadowing. Hopefully, you're still out there doing things and gaining more experience. When it comes to writing your personal statement and rewriting your extracurriculars, you had new stories to lean on, to show the interviewer the interactions that you've had with patients and physicians to highlight why you want to be a physician. Your beginning story is the seed as to what made you want to look into medicine, to begin with. That's not going to change. Your seed is your seed. You can't change your seed. But you can change your watering story. What watered that seed that led you to be even more convinced that being a physician is right for you. "What watered that seed that led you to be even mor