2015 Nontrad Applicants' Progress Thread

[juliuspepperwood]

Aaaand I'm back! Good evening sdn, let's get back to stressing over II's

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[ridethecliche]

You have interview invites already?

 

[tuftofwool]

Congratulations on submitting today! Secondaries are tough but the wait afterward is even harder.

Eek is it?! I should probably get used to the whole idea of waiting for this next year, then...

 

[juliuspepperwood]

You have interview invites already?

Oh no. I'm talking about stressing during the wait for IIs

 

[ridethecliche]

Oh no. I'm talking about stressing during the wait for IIs

Haha, I was going to say!
I need to start kicking my ass to get these things done. Like channel my MCAT studying mojo.

Seriously, how did you guys make yourself do all of these. I'm already dreading it and I have a lot of them to do haha. I've seen a ton of overlap already so that should help. I have them all on my phone on google docs, so I jot notes on the way to work and back. I guess I could write them during my commutes if I started carrying around my netbook.

I'm just going to take a couple of days off from work to do it. Eff it.

 

[Leslie_Knope]

Haha, I was going to say!
I need to start kicking my ass to get these things done. Like channel my MCAT studying mojo.

Seriously, how did you guys make yourself do all of these. I'm already dreading it and I have a lot of them to do haha. I've seen a ton of overlap already so that should help. I have them all on my phone on google docs, so I jot notes on the way to work and back. I guess I could write them during my commutes if I started carrying around my netbook.

I'm just going to take a couple of days off from work to do it. Eff it.

That's why I attacked them piecemeal. Every time I worry that I'm not going to get an interview, I work on an application instead... When I run out of applications to work on I'm going to start going for a run every time I start to worry. I'm going to be so buff by the time I start medical school.

 

[Bbroush]

No, because I don't have the money for that. I was lucky to find a few people on SDN to read my primary for me. I'm just reading secondaries aloud to my husband for feedback.

Doing the same thing, just getting feedback from my wife
Also I'm not done, barely started even, because writing them my daughters first three weeks of life was nearly impossible

 

[GameOfBones]

That's why I attacked them piecemeal. Every time I worry that I'm not going to get an interview, I work on an application instead... When I run out of applications to work on I'm going to start going for a run every time I start to worry. I'm going to be so buff by the time I start medical school.

Hmmm....I chose wine. Running would be better.

 

[Leslie_Knope]

Doing the same thing, just getting feedback from my wife
Also I'm not done, barely started even, because writing them my daughters first three weeks of life was nearly impossible

I can totally understand that. My little one is 7 months old and I still have a hard time finding a few minutes to write. When he falls asleep at night I get a couple of hours before I succumb to exhaustion.

Congratulations on your new little girl!

 

[Bbroush]

I can totally understand that. My little one is 7 months old and I still have a hard time finding a few minutes to write. When he falls asleep at night I get a couple of hours before I succumb to exhaustion.

Congratulations on your new little girl!

Thanks! I realized if I do bullet points for every secondary prompt and fill in around that when I have time, I can tear through these questions a lot more effectively.

 

[Bbroush]

Received my first rejection. Pre- Secondary from UWSOM. Welp, gotta start somewhere! Feeling more motivated now to bust out all my secondaries for everywhere else. Glad I applied broadly.

 

[ConsultantMD]

Received my first rejection. Pre- Secondary from UWSOM. Welp, gotta start somewhere! Feeling more motivated now to bust out all my secondaries for everywhere else. Glad I applied broadly.

UW as in WA or WI? WA seems to have pretty strict OOS guidelines...

Edit: you must mean WA because WI is UWSMPH

 

[Overanxious]

Received my first rejection. Pre- Secondary from UWSOM. Welp, gotta start somewhere! Feeling more motivated now to bust out all my secondaries for everywhere else. Glad I applied broadly.

I applied there as well and am still waiting to hear whether i'll get a secondary from them, I've only received the "Preliminary Review" message. Pretty sure I'll be in the same boat as you shortly. Can't take it personally though.

 

[tuftofwool]

Hey I know this isn't a thread about LORs but you guys seem to be pretty helpful in all aspects of applying-- my committee letter has finally been received on AMCAS; should I email the schools I submitted secondaries to to let them know, or do they continuously check and download information about applicants daily? Thanks!

 

[Bbroush]

UW as in WA or WI? WA seems to have pretty strict OOS guidelines...

Edit: you must mean WA because WI is UWSMPH

Yeah I meant Washington

 

[Bbroush]

I applied there as well and am still waiting to hear whether i'll get a secondary from them, I've only received the "Preliminary Review" message. Pretty sure I'll be in the same boat as you shortly. Can't take it personally though.

No, you can't. Especially at schools with such strict OOS regs.

 

[Inygma]

Well got a secondary from every school I have applied to except UCLA so far (though UCLA is beyond a long shot anyway). Feeling good about not getting screened out at UCI/UCR so far! Gotta take those small victories!

Have submitted all secondaries, except UCR, which I received today. After that I am just waiting for the good/bad news!

I wish the best for all of you doing 20+ secondaries, you are amazing!

 

[juliuspepperwood]

Hey I know this isn't a thread about LORs but you guys seem to be pretty helpful in all aspects of applying-- my committee letter has finally been received on AMCAS; should I email the schools I submitted secondaries to to let them know, or do they continuously check and download information about applicants daily? Thanks!

If your letter got uploaded today I would give it a few days. My last letter came in last Monday, most schools have downloaded it on their own. I contacted the few that hadn't today to let them know, they are generally like "oh great thanks" if it's been some time.

 

[ConsultantMD]

The struggle is real to not add more schools at this point, there are two that I can think of that I think I should be applying to...

 

[tuftofwool]

If your letter got uploaded today I would give it a few days. My last letter came in last Monday, most schools have downloaded it on their own. I contacted the few that hadn't today to let them know, they are generally like "oh great thanks" if it's been some time.

Awesome, thanks for letting me know. Sometimes, it takes weeks for anything to happen so I can't tell if everything is a waiting game, or if something like this should be automatic. I'll monitor my completeness at my schools for this next week.

 

[juliuspepperwood]

The struggle is real to not add more schools at this point, there are two that I can think of that I think I should be applying to...

The real question is did you already answer their secondary questions somewhere else? Haha

 

[ConsultantMD]

The real question is did you already answer their secondary questions somewhere else? Haha

By this point, I am done with 27, so surely I have written these secondaries somehwere (with some variation of word/character limit), unless they are the "Why do you love us?" essays, then I actually will have to do some work.

Edit: And I will need to find like $300 lying around somewhere.

 

[NettleHead]

So many of these schools only accept like 45 people OOS out of 3,300 -- is there even any point in applying? I'm not even sure.

28 MCAT 7PS/11VR/10BS -- really great LORs though and life experiences (already working as a healthcare provider). Not really sure what to do/if some of these schools I'll just be wasting my money, like Washington for eg.

 

[Inygma]

So many of these schools only accept like 45 people OOS out of 3,300 -- is there even any point in applying? I'm not even sure.

28 MCAT 7PS/11VR/10BS -- really great LORs though and life experiences (already working as a healthcare provider). Not really sure what to do/if some of these schools I'll just be wasting my money, like Washington for eg.

Whats your GPA? With that MCAT you need to apply smart. Use the LizzyM and or MSAR to figure out which schools are friendly to OOS. You have to assume that the schools who only take a small percent of OOS took students who had higher than their averages, not below.

Also, a post in what are my chances thread with specifically asking for help on OOS schools would be a great start

 

[Overanxious]

So many of these schools only accept like 45 people OOS out of 3,300 -- is there even any point in applying? I'm not even sure.

28 MCAT 7PS/11VR/10BS -- really great LORs though and life experiences (already working as a healthcare provider). Not really sure what to do/if some of these schools I'll just be wasting my money, like Washington for eg.

You absolutely have a chance, that verbal is very impressive. I struggled on the PS as well, it was my lowest section. I'd look into state schools that have fewer applicants and that you have strong ties to but my main focus would be on private schools. Not sure where you are from but count Oregon out. I received a secondary from them and they told me in the email they don't screen applicants for secondaries and if I didn't have a 3.7 GPA and a 32 MCAT i'd be weeded out at their first screen. 36 dollars to find out that tid bit of info.

 

[NettleHead]

You absolutely have a chance, that verbal is very impressive. I struggled on the PS as well, it was my lowest section. I'd look into state schools that have fewer applicants and that you have strong ties to but my main focus would be on private schools. Not sure where you are from but count Oregon out. I received a secondary from them and they told me in the email they don't screen applicants for secondaries and if I didn't have a 3.7 GPA and a 32 MCAT i'd be weeded out at their first screen. 36 dollars to find out that tid bit of info.

awesome thank you so much because they are on my list. What about Eastern VA? By the way cGPA 3.53 and sGPA 3.53

 

[NettleHead]

This is a random question, but did everyone do their rec letter writers phone numbers on their letters? I wasn't going to put their numbers because I just didn't want them to be bothered. And I figured it would be on their letterhead. The interfolio link goes in the email spot.

 

[Inygma]

awesome thank you so much because they are on my list. What about Eastern VA? By the way cGPA 3.53 and sGPA 3.53

URM by any chance? Unfortunately your GPA didn't offset your MCAT. You are below the median on both GPA/MCAT. Have you considered DO schools? You are a very strong candidate for DO, and I think a decent candidate at in-state (assuming not California), and some low-tier MD.

PS: this is just from my research, so take my advice with grains of salt

 

[NettleHead]

URM by any chance? Unfortunately your GPA didn't offset your MCAT. You are below the median on both GPA/MCAT. Have you considered DO schools? You are a very strong candidate for DO, and I think a decent candidate at in-state (assuming not California), and some low-tier MD.

PS: this is just from my research, so take my advice with grains of salt

Yeah I know. My GPA from the last 3 semesters in undergrad was all sciences and a 3.7 -- I took an online statistics course AFTER undergrad for veterinary school, got a C+, and it ruined my cGPA -- 3.6 down to 3.52. What is URM? Yes I am definitely considering DO schools.

I just have a lot of interesting and really good life experiences/clinical experience so I'm hoping that helps me. I even got a law changed by myself in a major city outside of Boston, so I do a lot in local politics. Maybe that won't be impressive enough... who knows. It seems like all the lower tier MD schools are really hard to get into OOS.

 

[juliuspepperwood]

Yeah I know. My GPA from the last 3 semesters in undergrad was all sciences and a 3.7 -- I took an online statistics course AFTER undergrad for veterinary school, got a C+, and it ruined my cGPA -- 3.6 down to 3.52. What is URM? Yes I am definitely considering DO schools.

I just have a lot of interesting and really good life experiences/clinical experience so I'm hoping that helps me. I even got a law changed by myself in a major city outside of Boston, so I do a lot in local politics. Maybe that won't be impressive enough... who knows. It seems like all the lower tier MD schools are really hard to get into OOS.

Check out my MDApps for a list of schools that are low-mid tier private schools and state schools that accept lots of OOS (aside from the few reaches and CA schools that I have on there)

 

[Overanxious]

awesome thank you so much because they are on my list. What about Eastern VA? By the way cGPA 3.53 and sGPA 3.53

I did not apply there. It sounds like you have some unique and exceptional EC's. Don't give up. You can apply both DO and MD this year. I'd give Saint Louis a strong look...10th percentile is a 28/3.5. Some other schools to consider are Loyola (29/3.37), Rush (28/3.43), Kansas (24/3.42) etc. There are plenty of schools, don't you worry yet. Life experience goes a long way.

P.S. I did not add any phone numbers.

 

[NettleHead]

I did not apply there. It sounds like you have some unique and exceptional EC's. Don't give up. You can apply both DO and MD this year. I'd give Saint Louis a strong look...10th percentile is a 28/3.5. Some other schools to consider are Loyola (29/3.37), Rush (28/3.43), Kansas (24/3.42) etc. There are plenty of schools, don't you worry yet. Life experience goes a long way.

P.S. I did not add any phone numbers.

Thank you so much!!!!

 

[ridethecliche]

Hmmm....I chose wine. Running would be better.

Scotch for me.

Thanks! I realized if I do bullet points for every secondary prompt and fill in around that when I have time, I can tear through these questions a lot more effectively.

I've started doing this during my commute.

So many of these schools only accept like 45 people OOS out of 3,300 -- is there even any point in applying? I'm not even sure.

28 MCAT 7PS/11VR/10BS -- really great LORs though and life experiences (already working as a healthcare provider). Not really sure what to do/if some of these schools I'll just be wasting my money, like Washington for eg.

Honestly, I hope your GPA is really high and you're applying to DO schools as well because that's a low MCAT score for MD's. Hoping for the best! GOOD LUCK!

 

[Inygma]

Yeah I know. My GPA from the last 3 semesters in undergrad was all sciences and a 3.7 -- I took an online statistics course AFTER undergrad for veterinary school, got a C+, and it ruined my cGPA -- 3.6 down to 3.52. What is URM? Yes I am definitely considering DO schools.

I just have a lot of interesting and really good life experiences/clinical experience so I'm hoping that helps me. I even got a law changed by myself in a major city outside of Boston, so I do a lot in local politics. Maybe that won't be impressive enough... who knows. It seems like all the lower tier MD schools are really hard to get into OOS.

You have some very unique ECs which is awesome! Keep your heard up and apply to DO also, as you said you were, and you will be C/O 2019!

URM is under-represented minority. Are you African American, Native American, some branches of Hispanic...etc.

 

[milski]

Finally got my last LOR, time to start stressing out for real.

 

[vlazlo]

Always good to at least get your first secondary. Still waiting on my primary app to be verified by AACOMAS

 

[WaterPog]

These "your application is complete" e-mails are jest killing me. I haven't kept track of who has sent them and who hasn't. Each one that comes in makes my hear skip a beat because in the preview it says something like "congratulations" and I'm thinking it's that first interview invite. Then I open it and nothin'.

28 schools (added a couple over the weekend for giggles)
16 submitted. 4 in process. 8 with no secondary yet, but no rejections yet either.

 

[milski]

At least they are e-mails from the schools. Twice in the last week or so I get excited after seeing a 'Mayo...' subject show up in my inbox, only to realize that it is spam about some Mayo Clinic Diet BS.

 

[Glycereine]

At least they are e-mails from the schools. Twice in the last week or so I get excited after seeing a 'Mayo...' subject show up in my inbox, only to realize that it is spam about some Mayo Clinic Diet BS.

I've gotten plenty of spam from actual schools that I didn't apply to though too...

 

[Leslie_Knope]

USC's nickname question has me stumped.

In other news I think I have food poisoning. I feel like I was hit by a truck and I have no appetite.

Also can I please haz interview?

 

[WaterPog]

The nickname question was my absolute favorite, until I actually started to write an answer. I did open with "I have always been of the opinion that nicknames must be earned, not chosen, but since you asked...."
I considered closing with "if you had asked me about my real nickname you would have gotten an answer which is much more entertaining." but chickened out.

 

[Glycereine]

USC's nickname question has me stumped.

In other news I think I have food poisoning. I feel like I was hit by a truck and I have no appetite.

Also can I please haz interview?

I keep obsessively checking my email for an interview invite but finally looked at last year's thread for USUHS and realized none got sent until August 1st. So I wont stress until then... much

 

[Leslie_Knope]

I keep obsessively checking my email for an interview invite but finally looked at last year's thread for USUHS and realized none got send until August 1st. So I wont stress until then... much

It must be extra nerve-wracking having only applied to one school. If I were a betting woman, I would bet on Saturday, July 26th at 2:33 am ET for the first Mayo invites. I have somehow deluded myself into thinking I have a shot at an interview there.

I feel like Mayo is the hot football player on campus and I am the dowdy late-bloomer. I never had a hope of a chance until they asked for my LORs. Now I'm all "maybe he'll take me to prom!" /sigh/

 

[Glycereine]

It must be extra nerve-wracking having only applied to one school. If I were a betting woman, I would bet on Saturday, July 26th at 2:33 am ET for the first Mayo invites. I have somehow deluded myself into thinking I have a shot at an interview there.

I feel like Mayo is the hot football player on campus and I am the dowdy late-bloomer. I never had a hope of a chance until they asked for my LORs. Now I'm all "maybe he'll take me to prom!" /sigh/

Yeah I almost wish I had applied to more schools solely for that reason but the realistic/logical side of me knows I couldn't attend them so that makes it a waste of money...

I almost applied to UW just because it's such a good school and I'm a Washington resident

 

[Leslie_Knope]

Yeah I almost wish I had applied to more schools solely for that reason but the realistic/logical side of me knows I couldn't attend them so that makes it a waste of money...

I almost applied to UW just because it's such a good school and I'm a Washington resident

Why can't you attend any other school? Did I miss something?

 

[Glycereine]

Why can't you attend any other school? Did I miss something?

ah, long story short I'm already an active duty officer and most of the programs in the military are aimed at civilians or enlisted personnel, trying to get them in. Well the military has me already and they sort of know it... I have to get permission from my current community even to apply to USUHS and it's harder to get the approval to go to a civilian school. It's not completely non-doable but a completely different process. On top of that, if I go that route (kinda like ROTC for med school) my pay gets roughly quartered from what it is now, while if I go to USUHS I still get paid my current salary while a student there. Since I have a family it's kind of a decision that made itself.

 

[Leslie_Knope]

ah, long story short I'm already an active duty officer and most of the programs in the military are aimed at civilians or enlisted personnel, trying to get them in. Well the military has me already and they sort of know it... I have to get permission from my current community even to apply to USUHS and it's harder to get the approval to go to a civilian school. It's not completely non-doable but a completely different process. On top of that, if I go that route (kinda like ROTC for med school) my pay gets roughly quartered from what it is now, while if I go to USUHS I still get paid my current salary while a student there. Since I have a family it's kind of a decision that made itself.

Oh, I see. It sounds like you're a great fit for USUHS! I'll keep my fingers crossed for you and send some II vibes your way.

 

[Glycereine]

Oh, I see. It sounds like you're a great fit for USUHS! I'll keep my fingers crossed for you and send some II vibes your way.

Thanks . Yeah I have a lot of positives going for me that they look at favorably but my initial undergrad was low. As long as they look past that and see my masters and post bacc undergrad GPA I should be good. Hoping!


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[WaterPog]

It must be extra nerve-wracking having only applied to one school. If I were a betting woman, I would bet on Saturday, July 26th at 2:33 am ET for the first Mayo invites. I have somehow deluded myself into thinking I have a shot at an interview there.

I feel like Mayo is the hot football player on campus and I am the dowdy late-bloomer. I never had a hope of a chance until they asked for my LORs. Now I'm all "maybe he'll take me to prom!" /sigh/

I'm right there with you for Mayo, except with some equally clever analogy where I'm the guy...just doesn't work so well.

 

[ConsultantMD]

I feel like Mayo is the hot football player on campus and I am the dowdy late-bloomer. I never had a hope of a chance until they asked for my LORs. Now I'm all "maybe he'll take me to prom!" /sigh/

THIS. It's what I'm feeling like about my inbox, it's like I'm waiting for my hardcore crush to email me back! But I have like over 30 crushes hahaha..