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What is the most outrageous non-medical related EC you have read before? Like something that totally blew you away?
Go to entry #4 on this thread.
What is the most outrageous non-medical related EC you have read before? Like something that totally blew you away?
what mcat score would you expect a 3.8 from university of minnesota or university of wisconsin-madison..trying to add some anonymity...would you expect for a student to have a shot at a top tier school? Both of these schools have tough science programs...
I'm sorry, I am trying to get into a top-tier research school and just wanted your honest opinion on where my research experience ranked in applicants you've seen in the past...
"I have 3 first author publications with a top 10 medical university in two high impact surgical journals, 3 full plenary session oral presentations at national meetings and 2 mini oral presentations at regional meetings. Additionally, I am on the advisory committee of a sponsored multi-institutional (20+) prospective randomized trial that I wrote the protocol for. I am also working on a few retrospective studies."
I know the process is super competitive especially at programs such as yours, so I value your opinion.
I'm sorry, I am trying to get into a top-tier research school and just wanted your honest opinion on where my research experience ranked in applicants you've seen in the past...
"I have 3 first author publications with a top 10 medical university in two high impact surgical journals, 3 full plenary session oral presentations at national meetings and 2 mini oral presentations at regional meetings. Additionally, I am on the advisory committee of a sponsored multi-institutional (20+) prospective randomized trial that I wrote the protocol for. I am also working on a few retrospective studies."
I know the process is super competitive especially at programs such as yours, so I value your opinion.
Hey Lizzy,
1) Whats the best way to make a lasting impression with your application? What sticks out when you look over an application? and the interview? (the good things! haha)
2) When I was reading through some of the posts I read that being in the military adds +5 to the LizzyM score...are there other things that increase it?
Thank you!
Hi Lizzy M,
I am having a hard time declaring a major. What is the most impressive major you came across?
How do you feel about non science majors?
If you don't know the answer to your own question, you don't have the sense God gave a billy goat.
Is this a good upward trend? Fresh 2.8, soph 3.0, junior 3.7, senior 4.0? My junior and senior were pretty much all upper level sciences...I'm not necessarily looking at top tiered school.
almost none.What impact, if any, do post-interview thank you letters have?
More specifically, do you recall a time when a letter you received impacted the manner in which you presented an applicant to the rest of the adcom members?
positivelyHow do you look at students who are first generation immigrants and come from financially disadvantaged families but are not URM?
Also, how bad does it look to have lower GPA due to the fact that English is not the native language, if this reason was mentioned in the application?
I have a good cGPA (3.7)and a Low Science GPA (by low I mean 3.4)
I am shooting for a high MCAT
how will the science GPA be looked at? (I had a tough year and I will explain that on my application)
I mean if you were looking at my app, would you give it a chance and take a look at the full app or would it be automatically screened out due to the 3.4 sGPA
I don't know much about alot, but come on man. Do a search. That's a pretty competitive sgpa as long as your EC's, clinical experience are good. I feel bad for Lizzy, because she's answering the same questions (albeit, worded a little different) over and over again.
interesting you say that because I was told it's pretty low and that is why I was asking if low sGPA will raise a red flag and how they look at it (assuming everything else is good)
They are not considered "under-represented in medicine".
Do you know what UNDER-represented means? Arab-Americans only make up 0.5% of the population. If you have 1 in every school (assuming 200 seats), you're already being represented fairly.May I ask why? Most medical schools have an average of 0-1 students of middle Eastern heritage per class, which is much less the numer of students from other racial/ethnic groups.
May I ask why? Most medical schools have an average of 0-1 students of middle Eastern heritage per class, which is much less the numer of students from other racial/ethnic groups.
I have a good cGPA (3.7)and a Low Science GPA (by low I mean 3.4)
I am shooting for a high MCAT
how will the science GPA be looked at? (I had a tough year and I will explain that on my application)
I mean if you were looking at my app, would you give it a chance and take a look at the full app or would it be automatically screened out due to the 3.4 sGPA
Hey Lizzy,
"I've looked at >500 applications this year and at the moment, I can't think of a single thing [that sticks out]" This is the part that confuses me. How could an applicant stick out when most of them will probably end up having the same ECs(Volunteer at a hospital, research, tutoring, shadowing, teaching, and non clinical volunteering.) and probably very high numbers. What separates one applicant who has done these things from another? and please feel free to include other ECs! I will take as much help as I can get to improve my application.
Thanks
Hey Lizzy! Thanks for doing this.
I was just wondering about how it would look if I did research not related to medicine? I was thinking about doing research in physics because I have an interesting topic in mind and I also have established a good relationship with my physics teacher. Thanks!
What would you say (either as an interviewer or a committee member) are the biggest differences between the candidates that are chosen for outright acceptances and those who are waitlisted?
Common SDN wisdom seems to say that those who are waitlisted were found be their interviewers to have good qualifications and to be potentially a good fit for the school, but were only average interviewees or lacked a "wow factor".
Okay, it's taken me a long time to gather my courage to ask this question but here goes:
I understand the personal statement/interviews exist mainly to garner the reason for applicants' reason to do medicine. But what if my reason is really personal and somewhat controversial? Should I just fabricate a reason for medicine or should I remain truthful and hope for the best?
First of all - THANK YOU!!
I have a question that is more a 'just out of curiosity' kind of thing, but...
Do you have general advice for broaching political involvement/activism? Hypothetically, say I was pretty involved in protests that were triggered by certain legislation. I wouldn't put such a thing on my activities list, but should I avoid bringing such a thing up during an interview if it was a logical answer to a question?
On the other hand, I am involved with an organization that provides a service to prisoners (nothing illegal or unethical), and I would like to include this on activities. Talking about it though would reveal my very strong opinions on prison systems etc.
Would you recommend I hide nothing and be prepared to defend myself, or is it simply bad taste to discuss politics that aren't directly related to public health?
Follow up LizzyM:
How do schools "pre-screen"? Do they just not see applications with stats below the cutoff, or is it done manually? How does post-bacc/grad work factor in to pre-screening?
Thanks again!
May I ask why? Most medical schools have an average of 0-1 students of middle Eastern heritage per class, which is much less the numer of students from other racial/ethnic groups.
LizzyM - If an applicant finished his undergraduate degree, but he was unable to find steady job for 2 years (horrible economy), should this applicant not mention anything about this time period or write something down about how he had to stay afloat by washing dishes, working construction, and the occasional short-term "temp" employee? If yes, where (and how long) should it be discussed?
LizzyM,
It seems like you stated that weaknesses shouldn't be addressed in the application because they are so common among applicants, but shouldn't a very spotty undergrad GPA that was somewhat fixed a few years later by an almost-perfect post-bacc be addressed since it's the elephant in the room? Should I not mention it in the app at all and explain myself in interviews if it comes up? If addressed, should that be in the personal statement or elsewhere? I have no good explanation for my bad grades except I wasn't mature enough to take school seriously and didn't consider my future at the time, choosing to live in the moment instead. No extenuating circumstances or anything. So addressing it would be limited to that comment.
Thanks in advance!
I was wondering what is the policy of putting an activity on your AMCAS that you will be doing but does not begin until after you turn in your application? For example, an activity that starts in late July but you want to turn in your AMCAS by June.
Thanks for taking your time doing this again!