How much time and effort does it take to get 3 new rec letters? A few days, at most?
everybody and their brother can take the GRE again or add more classes. Unfortunately, adding academics does NOT stand out.
More shadowing hours is a start, but it is not very impressive at all if the only improvement you made in the category of clinical experience is more shadowing hours.
Seriously, a handful of days shadowing does NOT demonstrate a personal interest or desire to be an AA. That's called doing the bare minimum.
The common theme that the majority of re-applicants seems to miss is conveying an unmistakable, unwavering desire to become an anesthetist. If it were me, and i wanted to be 100% sure i would at minimum get an interview, i would make sure that my application showed that I re-organized and re-structured my "career" around healthcare. Get a full-time job working in a clinical setting. Do that, and on paper it leaves no doubt that you are serious about getting into anesthesia school.
every single applicant that interviews says that all they want to do is be an AA, and that they want to be an AA so bad because of X, Y, and Z. The problem is that unless you have a concrete way to show that you're working towards that goal that separates you from everyone else in your interview group, it is only just a talking point. Nothing more. Back it up on paper. There's too much at stake.
The truth is, if all your doing is spending a few days out of the year to "improve your application", in a year you're going to be right back in the exact same place you are now. Not doing more makes you seem lazy and entitled. Seriously, if your finished with undergrad (which is the assumption this entire post is based on), what else do you have to be doing with your time?
Get serious. Get a job at a hospital.
Yes, you'll need a specific certification or license if all you currently have is a bachelor's degree. Big deal. Its not impossible. If you want to go to AA school, figure it out. You have an entire year.
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