2015 Nontrad Applicants' Progress Thread

Discover Your Odds of Getting into Medical School
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^^^this.

Also, go re-check your facts. Relying on overly optimistic anecdotes from the few who managed to get in, instead of actual numbers is a foolish way to plan.
jsmith522 said:
Again, everyone I have talked to getting a residency is not a problem as long as you pass. Several hundred US students didn't get a slot. Ok take 250 didn't get a slot and 24,000+ students is around 1%. I think that is a group of people that did very poorly on their board exams, and in their clinical rotations. That article as I read it is really about a call to action to get congress to try and fix some of the medicare issues and the gap for reimbursement for residents. You could say the same thing about the DOs that have to use the allopathic match. Look at the recent match. Lots of IMGs and DOs. So don't feel bad about the 1%. There is .75 positions per application, and that hasn't changed much since the 90s. So as I said study hard, do well on the board exams and in the clinical years and an IMG will be fine, no different then an allopathic or osteopathic student here.

But, this shouldn't be about crushing someones dream of becoming a physician but support them in their decision to pursue their education whether here or abroad.
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kraskadva said:
Personally, just the late app would make me scared as ****, but sounds like you've thought it out. Best of luck to you!
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Not much scares me anymore at this point in my life, especially the possibility of rejection. I'm very stubborn and persistent. I will find a way. Yes, there is a chance they will say no, but there is also the chance they will say YES.

I'm assuming the secondaries I've received aren't screened? I received some right after my application was ready for review and a few more after verification.
 
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The scarier statistic about caribian schools in my mind is the graduation rates, ~50% IIRC with only about 2/3 of those that do graduate doing so on time in 4 years. Compared to US MD and DO schools where over 80% graduate on time. The match statistics you hear from carribian schools are hugely skewed by only examining graduates and not basing the numbers on matriculants.

blah blah blah, multiple factors, blah blah, dipploma mills, blah blah blah, I know a guy, blah blah blah...

Realistically if you can get into a US MD/DO school you can probalby make it through a carribian school and secure an FP or Psychh residency, and maybe even IM or EM if you're really good. But if that's the case there is no good reason for you to be attending a carribian school. The only international program I would ever consider is the UQ-Ochner program, but even that would be a last resort because you still have to jump the extra IMG hoops.
 
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Overanxious said:
I have applied to 20. So far I have 1 rejection (University of Wisconsin), 3 II's, and 16 schools left to hear from.

That's a bold move applying to MD/PhD programs without an MCAT score. Do you have any research experience and how about publications? I would say these two things (research and an MCAT score) are absolutely necessary for an MD/PhD program. Now...i'm the last person who would say stats are the only thing that matters but you need to know where you stand for that type of program. I only applied to the MD program and most definitely threw the LizzyM suggestion out the window but i'm not going to say that an MD/PhD program will be so lenient.
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@Overanxious, So just to be clear "II" = secondary, not interview, correct? Or is it an interview?

I received secondaries from MSTP programs from Wisconsin Madison, Case Western, UCLA
I've received "general" secondaries (MD/MD-PhD) from Columbia, Yale, Boston U, Michigan, U. Chicago, Cornell

I'm not overly optimistic, though. I think rejections wait for MCAT scores, and mine haven't posted yet. But, I have a high GPA and really solid application, besides the questionable MCAT.
 
xterryberryx said:
@Overanxious, So just to be clear "II" = secondary, not interview, correct? Or is it an interview?

I received secondaries from MSTP programs from Wisconsin Madison, Case Western, UCLA
I've received "general" secondaries (MD/MD-PhD) from Columbia, Yale, Boston U, Michigan, U. Chicago, Cornell

I'm not overly optimistic, though. I think rejections wait for MCAT scores, and mine haven't posted yet. But, I have a high GPA and really solid application, besides the questionable MCAT.
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II = interview invite. Nearly every school sends secondaries to everyone.

I applied to 20 programs, I have received 19 secondaries so far (1 school is still reviewing my app...that's how they work).
 
Overanxious said:
II = interview invite. Nearly every school sends secondaries to everyone.

I applied to 20 programs, I have received 19 secondaries so far (1 school is still reviewing my app...that's how they work).
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Ahh! I see :) Congrats!! Thanks so much.
 
kraskadva said:
Then you clearly haven't been paying attention, because there already is a shortage
https://www.aamc.org/newsroom/newsreleases/374000/03212014.html
US medical grads aren't getting slots. IMGs (aka Carib grads) are mostly SOL already, and it will only get worse for them.
It doesn't matter what people have done in the past, even the very recent past, because the situation is changing drastically and rapidly.
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This is scary. Thanks for posting. Best to be well informed, who knows this may even come up in an interview!
 
Overanxious said:
II = interview invite. Nearly every school sends secondaries to everyone.

I applied to 20 programs, I have received 19 secondaries so far (1 school is still reviewing my app...that's how they work).
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@xterryberryx , some schools screen pre-screen really hard. Vanderbilt and UCSF are good examples of this. At vanderbilt about half the people that get secondaries are interviewed. It's about 20-30% at ucsf. Those are the two I know about. I got a UCSF secondary pretty fast, but still haven't heard from vandy.
 
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Overanxious said:
This is scary. Thanks for posting. Best to be well informed, who knows this may even come up in an interview!
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Yeah- it's not critical yet, but it is looming. The overwhelming majority of US-MGs do get slots, this past year was ~400 of ~20,000 that didn't get one (so ~2%) and I'm sure those were the 2% with the lowest scores/huge red flags. However, many med schools are expanding their class sizes as well as new schools opening, while the number of residency slots only increases fractionally very year. Until Federal funding opens a large chunk of new slots (which likely won't happen till long after the critical point), the situation will only get more competitive.
There are already very few slots open to IMGs and a huge number of hoops they have to jump through to get one of those slots. And there's no preference whatsoever for a Carib grad with a mediocre education and poor Step score versus a European or Asian with a degree from a respected school and an excellent step score. They're all IMGs/FMGs, why wouldn't they pick the better numbers/reputation. Nobody will care that they're American, in fact they'll wonder why they went to the Carib in the first place, rather than getting into a US school. And the assumption will likely be that they couldn't hack it or didn't educate themselves about the situation enough to realise what a mistake it would be. Both red flags.

tl;dr- Carib is shooting yourself in the foot. Go MD/DO.
 
xterryberryx said:
Not much scares me anymore at this point in my life, especially the possibility of rejection. I'm very stubborn and persistent. I will find a way. Yes, there is a chance they will say no, but there is also the chance they will say YES.

I'm assuming the secondaries I've received aren't screened? I received some right after my application was ready for review and a few more after verification.
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The deluge is about to come roaring into your inbox. Hope you've been pre-writing...
Most schools don't screen and I'm actually not sure that the schools that screen, do so for MD-PhD. I had a couple on the list that said they did and I got both ridiculously fast. So either minimal screening, or none at all. Barring the few that are notorious for and serious about it (it they're on your list), you should see most of them pretty soon.
 
kraskadva said:
The deluge is about to come roaring into your inbox. Hope you've been pre-writing...
Most schools don't screen and I'm actually not sure that the schools that screen, do so for MD-PhD. I had a couple on the list that said they did and I got both ridiculously fast. So either minimal screening, or none at all. Barring the few that are notorious for and serious about it (it they're on your list), you should see most of them pretty soon.
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Any suggestions on pre-writing? Are there typical essay questions posted somewhere else?
 
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I just had to post this. This **** is hilarious. No disrespect for MD/PhD it's just funny. Have a laugh!

 
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Well tomorrow's Monday...Here's hoping we all get some (more) good news in the next week :xf:

Classes start back for me tomorrow, so at least I'll have something besides SDN to distract me for a while.
 
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I have two more pending secondaries that I received last week and I just couldn't bring myself to do them this weekend.

One of them is simply an 'update us on any activities etc you'd like us to know more about'. I'm waiting till tomorrow to hear back about a paper I submitted, but otherwise I'm just going to fill in an 'adversity' essay about an injury in college and what I learned from it.

That sounds reasonable, no?
 
What do you all think- are there some examples we should steer away from on the adversity essay? I'm guessing I shouldn't say applying to medical school has been my biggest challenge :p lol
 
xterryberryx said:
What do you all think- are there some examples we should steer away from on the adversity essay? I'm guessing I shouldn't say applying to medical school has been my biggest challenge :p lol
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That is probably a good idea =). Everyone had to apply! You might be able to point to specifics about having to work full time, taking care of sick family members, etc. all while doing x, y, z to prepare for medical school.
 
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Happy Monday everyone! Looks like a sleepy start to the week... I finished Drexel's secondary and am done with secondaries (unless some come out of the woodwork **cough** Vandy/UCLA). I'm debuting a more appropriate avatar today... I look nothing like Mr. Clooney though. Here's to a good week for our team!
 
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ConsultantMD said:
Happy Monday everyone! Looks like a sleepy start to the week... I finished Drexel's secondary and am done with secondaries (unless some come out of the woodwork **cough** Vandy/UCLA). I'm debuting a more appropriate avatar today... I look nothing like Mr. Clooney though. Here's to a good week for our team!
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All these avatar changes has confused me! I used to look at avatars for some of you and not names =(.

Anyway, no new news here either.. Preparing for my interview on Thursday and super nervous.

Also school starts today =(
 
I've got everything submitted everywhere and marked as complete everywhere, except for Nevada of course which has yet to send any OOS secondaries as far as I know. No new rejections, no interviews, still on hold status at GW and Tuscon. Waiting on the DO application until I get paid on the 10th or when the fee waiver comes through, whichever comes first. They still haven't received my last transcript anyway so it's not hurting anything yet.

Congratulations to everyone with interviews, it's great to see you all doing so well. Remember that discussion earlier about an acceptance from a random school on your list/school at the bottom of your list? in a heartbeat. I'd gladly take an acceptance from Pacific Northwest at this point just to have it done even though OHSU and UCSF haven't even started sending II's out.
 
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I finally got a secondary from Wake Forest!

My score sheet - Primary sent to 21, received secondary invites from 19. (Dear Vandy, I love you the MOST.)
Have 4 secondaries waiting for me.
Complete at 14. Waiting for letters for 1.

1 Rejection
No invites yet...

Still optimistic.
 
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Still waiting on Drexel, they're the last one for me. Dunno WTF is up with their server issues, just have to assume I'm in the queue...
 
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University of Washington is the last for me to receive a secondary. At this point though i'm not going to hold my breath. They've already started II's and i'm almost up to 2 months since they received my primary. Thought they'd at least have the decency to reject me.
 
Overanxious said:
University of Washington is the last for me to receive a secondary. At this point though i'm not going to hold my breath. They've already started II's and i'm almost up to 2 months since they received my primary. Thought they'd at least have the decency to reject me.
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You are probably in the "maybe pile". I had a friend who heard nothing from UCI and was complete the day the secondary came out....got an interview in April, and is matriculating there.

No rejection = good news!
 
Inygma said:
You are probably in the "maybe pile". I had a friend who heard nothing from UCI and was complete the day the secondary came out....got an interview in April, and is matriculating there.

No rejection = good news!
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:wow:Good god...i hope i'm accepted somewhere before/by April or it's going to be one hell of a long cycle. Don't scare me :uhno:
 
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Overanxious said:
:wow:Good god...i hope i'm accepted somewhere before/by April or it's going to be one hell of a long cycle. Don't scare me :uhno:
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Lol, he had other acceptances, just saying don't count yourself out if you don't hear anything this early =)
 
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Overanxious said:
University of Washington is the last for me to receive a secondary. At this point though i'm not going to hold my breath. They've already started II's and i'm almost up to 2 months since they received my primary. Thought they'd at least have the decency to reject me.
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I'm in the same boat (or should I say seaplane?) with UW. And I have a masters and LOR from them..sigh.
 
Inygma said:
All these avatar changes has confused me! I used to look at avatars for some of you and not names =(.

Anyway, no new news here either.. Preparing for my interview on Thursday and super nervous.

Also school starts today =(
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Any tips for interview prep? My first one is < 2 weeks out now and I'm already feeling the nerves.

Good luck on Thursday!
 
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Overanxious said:
University of Washington is the last for me to receive a secondary. At this point though i'm not going to hold my breath. They've already started II's and i'm almost up to 2 months since they received my primary. Thought they'd at least have the decency to reject me.
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I think their verified deadline is a bit later (Jan 2). Maybe that's why?
 
xterryberryx said:
I think their verified deadline is a bit later (Jan 2). Maybe that's why?
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From what i've gathered they screen all OOS (out of state) and OOR (out of region) applicants prior to sending them a secondary. They are not like most schools who if you have certain stats they'll send you a secondary. They prefer in region students (west coast and general NW area) They "card" hard. OOS'ers/OOR'ers have to meet specific criteria and full fill certain goals outlined by the school. Someone once posted if you weren't a URM (under represented minority) don't bother applying and/or if you aren't on the west coast don't bother applying. I'm not sure on the legitimacy of that info. I'm nowhere near that area of the US, in fact i have a better shot at east coast schools than i do west coast if you get my drift. So, while i may meet some of their criteria (like stats, research, and other aspects) i'm guessing they don't see me as a serious candidate due to my geography.
 
Overanxious said:
From what i've gathered they screen all OOS (out of state) and OOR (out of region) applicants prior to sending them a secondary. They are not like most schools who if you have certain stats they'll send you a secondary. They prefer in region students (west coast and general NW area) They "card" hard. OOS'ers/OOR'ers have to meet specific criteria and full fill certain goals outlined by the school. Someone once posted if you weren't a URM (under represented minority) don't bother applying and/or if you aren't on the west coast don't bother applying. I'm not sure on the legitimacy of that info. I'm nowhere near that area of the US, in fact i have a better shot at east coast schools than i do west coast if you get my drift. So, while i may meet some of their criteria (like stats, research, and other aspects) i'm guessing they don't see me as a serious candidate due to my geography.
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But you never know... which is why you sent them your primary in the first place, right? ;)
 
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Inygma said:
That is probably a good idea =). Everyone had to apply! You might be able to point to specifics about having to work full time, taking care of sick family members, etc. all while doing x, y, z to prepare for medical school.
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Thanks, but totally kidding haha! :)
My divorce was probably one of my most challenging periods but I think it may be too personal to talk about? There wasn't any drama involved. We married before I started college and before I discovered my passion for science. The more my future career materialized, the more I realized that he wasn't the best partner to have if I wanted to maximize my potential. I think it's an important example of me making decisions for my best interest, which is part of growth and maturity, but not really the best example for this purpose. Still by far, I think it is much more difficult to walk away from a mediocre relationship (like ours) than maybe a volatile one. I remember wishing there was some drama between us to make it easier to leave, because I knew it would be better for us both in the long run. I didn't allow myself to harbor resentments towards him to make it easier, instead I've accepted that I loved someone that wasn't a great partner for me, which may not sound like much- but for me this was an extremely difficult decision to follow through with, because I didn't have any family or long term friends nearby. But again, even though this was my biggest challenge, I think it's too mushy and emotional.... And I don't want to repeat the same things that I put in the disadvantaged essay, about my socioeconomic background and the many barriers I've had to overcome just to attend college...Hmmm
 
Overanxious said:
From what i've gathered they screen all OOS (out of state) and OOR (out of region) applicants prior to sending them a secondary. They are not like most schools who if you have certain stats they'll send you a secondary. They prefer in region students (west coast and general NW area) They "card" hard. OOS'ers/OOR'ers have to meet specific criteria and full fill certain goals outlined by the school. Someone once posted if you weren't a URM (under represented minority) don't bother applying and/or if you aren't on the west coast don't bother applying. I'm not sure on the legitimacy of that info. I'm nowhere near that area of the US, in fact i have a better shot at east coast schools than i do west coast if you get my drift. So, while i may meet some of their criteria (like stats, research, and other aspects) i'm guessing they don't see me as a serious candidate due to my geography.
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Well, in that case I have at least 2 things going for me- west coast and URM!! Yay! And I LOVE Seattle :)
 
The only secondary I have left is Drexel, which I haven't received yet, and is fine with me since there are no essays anyway.

I did get a secondary from UW, but it's been silence for the last couple weeks since I got my complete email. Figure I probably have a rejection headed my way, but I'm not giving up hope...especially since it's more likely I have like 19+ rejections headed my way over the next few weeks/months.

Also, got my first rejection today. It wasn't from my top choice, but still stung a little. I'm thankful that at least it was swift, I feel like a lot of my schools are stringing me a long, watching as they hand out interviews left and right. Too bad there isn't an emoji that is crying while eating cake and drinking alcohol.
 
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I still haven't received drexel yet either... I feel like they're a lost cause, which is really sad because I'd love to be in philly (family is in the burbs). Sigh.
 
ridethecliche said:
I still haven't received drexel yet either... I feel like they're a lost cause, which is really sad because I'd love to be in philly (family is in the burbs). Sigh.
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Naw, just a PITA.
No rejection = hope, remember ;)
 
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My scorecard:
Complete at 12 schools
Secondaries in hand for 8 more schools
Only waiting on a secondary from UCLA at this point, I rec'd UCSF over the weekend, and Vandy a couple weeks ago.

No IIs, no rejections, nada...just a request for my Spring grades from a SUNY.
I'm feeling accomplished despite the radio silence. Writing these things is hard work! Trying to get them all in before the clock strikes Sept.
 
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I'm doing my UCSF secondary and I'm so torn about applying to the JMP...
 
csj10 said:
Any tips for interview prep? My first one is < 2 weeks out now and I'm already feeling the nerves.

Good luck on Thursday!
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Read the interview feedback for the shcool you are interviewing for.. that's what I'm doing. Going to prepare for "why medicine" why this school, etc.
 
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Decided to just go for it. I think I'll be able to mold the program to exactly what I want out of it which is awesome. I'll rework my essays tomorrow after work.

All this, only to have to write out my life story for the next one haha.

I also reread my duke secondary earlier today. ugh, I think I totally botched it. So it goes.
 
+1 on the II train! I'm getting a shot at being a Cornhusker!
 
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Got my first II today, in the initial batch from Rosalind Franklin. Amazing how much weight that lifted.
 
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I didn't realize there was a thread like this!

Received and completed 25 out of 25 secondaries.

No rejections, one II (Indiana).

Beers nervously consumed when I'm feeling particularly like nobody will love me... lol, lost count.
 
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The wait continues over here. No II. No rejections.
 
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