I was also rejected from Emory (first time applying) and South (second time applying) this year without an interview. I have just under a 3.6 GPA and close to a 1200 GRE score; my math score is a little low but my verbal score is much more than competitive for all programs. I had 2 C's in pre-requisite classes but have (based on advice received last year from Nova) spent the past year re-taking them, and I now have no grade lower than a B in any pre-requisite course, or in any other classes on my transcript, for that matter. also sought special permission to take a pharmacology class from a university's nursing department. In addition, I started volunteering back in the late summer/early fall with a local hospital's medical writing department and have continued to volunteer with them as a writer/editor (I have also worked on an anesthesia-specific assignment). I also shadowed more and submitted two additional LORs (including one from an AA).
At this point, I am wondering if I will be wasting my time to re-apply yet again to AA programs (as I discussed in a preceding paragraph, it would be my third time applying to Nova). A few months ago, a poster on here who has stated themselves to be a practicing AA said that there's no harm in applying a second time to a program, but that if an applicant doesn't get an interview offer after applying the second time(especially after having never received an interview offer during the previous cycles), it's just not going to happen and that's the end of it.
My question is, how accurately does that statement reflect the AA programs' philosophies regarding re-applicants? Is that, in fact, the mantra that they stand by?
In other words, if I have been rejected twice by several programs and didn't receive an interview offer from any of the programs following either attempt, have they essentially marked my name as someone whose application will definitively be rejected in the future?
After making various improvements to my application after having been rejected last year, I was honestly very surprised that I was rejected outright without even so much as an interview offer. It makes me wonder if, even if I make more improvements to my application for the upcoming cycle (and at this point, all I can think of is improving my GRE scores and getting HCE), what kind of reassurance do I have that I won't just be rejected again because there are apparently so many people who are inherently more competitive applicants than I am?
I know that this is one of those "that's just life" kinds of realities, but getting rejected again despite having improved my application more or less negates the improvements that I made over the past year. Additionally, I have actually run out of individuals to ask for LORs from (unless I start asking professors I only took once and never really got to know).
Considering that there a few practicing AA's and AA students who post on here, I just wanted to get their opinion on whether I should apply yet again to AA schools, or if the programs are actually trying to tell me that I am just not the kind of applicant they ever plan to consider admitting to their program. After two application attempts and no interview offer after either attempt, could I really be holding myself back just because of one or two detractors on my application that need to be improved? Or is there really more of a degree of finality to this than I want to accept?
At this point, I just want to face the music, so to speak, and attempt to assess whether it's time to move on with my life (I.e., the dreaded, "it's just not happening").