2015 Nontrad Applicants' Progress Thread

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GameOfBones said:
One of my most supportive colleagues sent me this link and note (excerpted) today.
It's his thumbs up to non-trads. Rock that life experience.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/05/opinion/why-do-doctors-commit-suicide.html?ref=opinion&_r=0

"I know for me, starting medical school when I was 23 and residency when I was 27 (a year or two after most of my cohort) was a big plus. A little age and experience can go a long way."
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Is that the right link? I read this and cringed a little.
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Yes...it's a terribly sad situation.

His point (and mine) in sharing is that by virtue of having a few extra years on the typical med student, we have a better understanding our own strengths and weaknesses and different expectations of the field we are going into and the overwhelmingly difficult process of getting there.

I'm sorry if I gave the wrong impression. I in no way meant to be disrespectful to students (or anyone) that commit suicide.
 
First interview is tomorrow...I've been going back and forth between these two feelings every couple hours or so: :D <--> :eek:
 
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I've been feeling a little down lately (probably stress-induced), but I felt utterly euphoric yesterday... I doubled my number of interview invites from 2 to 4! I found out about them less than an hour apart. :D
 
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AspiringERMD said:
I've been feeling a little down lately (probably stress-induced), but I felt utterly euphoric yesterday... I doubled my number of interview invites from 2 to 4! I found out about them less than an hour apart. :D
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I also doubled my invites this week, from 1 to 2 ;)
Go non-trads!
 
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I've still only got the one Leslie, don't feel too alone. ;-)
 
2 IIs on 9/4 :D

And at a top choice too - GWU finally came through!
 
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@IL Pre Med Hey, I recently got into Grey's Anatomy. If you have Netflix you have to check out season 5 episode 4. The surgical residents stumble on the dermatology department. It's a bit :) exaggerated but very funny.
 
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sunshinefl said:
@IL Pre Med Hey, I recently got into Grey's Anatomy. If you have Netflix you have to check out season 5 episode 4. The surgical residents stumble on the dermatology department. It's a bit :) exaggerated but very funny.
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Ha I'll check it out tonight. You should watch the Knick on Cinemax, it's a pretty cool show about medicine in the 1800s
 
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sunshinefl said:
@IL Pre Med Hey, I recently got into Grey's Anatomy. If you have Netflix you have to check out season 5 episode 4. The surgical residents stumble on the dermatology department. It's a bit :) exaggerated but very funny.
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Ahaha I remember that episode! Too funny. I wish I wanted to do derm.
 
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Just got back to work after a pretty nutty weekend in NYC. Glad to have a 'fresh' start and being done with secondaries.
@Leslie_Knope , I'm in the same boat as you. No stress! It's still wicked early. We're barely into the cycle!
 
Here's to hoping for some good news for all of us Non-Trads this week! Keep your heads up!
 
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Leslie_Knope said:
Aww. You all are too sweet. Thank you.
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You're going to be fine! You crushed me on the MCAT, haha. Looking at your MDApps, I've got to think an interview is in the cards for you very soon. Unless your personal statement said you hate sick people or something. :)
 
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First interview down! I'm pretty happy with how it went and the day was a great experience overall.

MMI format was actually pretty fun. A little tricky at first but I got more comfortable as we went along.

Good luck to everyone this week, hopefully we'll be seeing lots of IIs in here.
 
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csj10 said:
First interview down! I'm pretty happy with how it went and the day was a great experience overall.

MMI format was actually pretty fun. A little tricky at first but I got more comfortable as we went along.

Good luck to everyone this week, hopefully we'll be seeing lots of IIs in here.
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How many stations was the MMI? I am preparing for UCR which I heard is around 10 stations! :scared:
Luckily at Western we had 2 stations so "I got my feet wet". I think I did pretty well on the MMIs, its just weird haha
 
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csj10 said:
First interview down! I'm pretty happy with how it went and the day was a great experience overall.

MMI format was actually pretty fun. A little tricky at first but I got more comfortable as we went along.

Good luck to everyone this week, hopefully we'll be seeing lots of IIs in here.
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I totally agree! I had my first interview on Friday at Rosalind Franklin and I thought it was super fun. Instead of sitting there being stared at and trying to talk about yourself for 30 straight minutes at a time, you're jumping all over from station to station solving problems and talking about experiences. I'm more nervous for the traditional one I have coming up now.

For the folks who haven't received an interview yet, my brother found an MDApp where the person submitted everything pretty early and didn't get his first interview until 10/28. Sounds gut wrenching but he went on to get 4 acceptances. All will be OK!!
 
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Inygma said:
How many stations was the MMI? I am preparing for UCR which I heard is around 10 stations! :scared:
Luckily at Western we had 2 stations so "I got my feet wet". I think I did pretty well on the MMIs, its just weird haha
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There were about that many at mine (it's kind of a blur at this point lol), with one break station. You're right it is a little weird, but like I said I actually enjoyed it once we got going. There wasn't really time to be nervous because everything moves so quickly.

Good luck at UCR!
 
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csj10 said:
There were about that many at mine (it's kind of a blur at this point lol), with one break station. You're right it is a little weird, but like I said I actually enjoyed it once we got going. There wasn't really time to be nervous because everything moves so quickly.

Good luck at UCR!
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I hear ya! Thank you, best of luck for the rest of your cycle as well!
 
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I'm a bit late to the game and just submitting my secondaries now. I was wondering if most schools send a 'complete' email immediately after you submit your secondary (assuming all else is in) or if that email takes awhile to come.

My primary/LOR/Transcripts are all in but I still haven't received a generic complete email at a majority of the schools I've applied to. (It's been 3-4 days now.) Normally, I'd just wait it out but it's September so I'm late enough as is. I don't want to call the schools if this waiting period is normal so I'm asking here first instead. Thank you!!
 
EndoAdduct said:
I'm a bit late to the game and just submitting my secondaries now. I was wondering if most schools send a 'complete' email immediately after you submit your secondary (assuming all else is in) or if that email takes awhile to come.

My primary/LOR/Transcripts are all in but I still haven't received a generic complete email at a majority of the schools I've applied to. (It's been 3-4 days now.) Normally, I'd just wait it out but it's September so I'm late enough as is. I don't want to call the schools if this waiting period is normal so I'm asking here first instead. Thank you!!
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Depends on the school, some schools send complete emails others don't. Usually they'll have a portal to check and see if you are complete. Also, some schools take a month for completion others almost seem automatic. 3-4 days is nothing...i'd wait it out.
 
EndoAdduct said:
I was wondering if most schools send a 'complete' email immediately after you submit your secondary (assuming all else is in) or if that email takes awhile to come.
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I saw ~50/50
 
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Got another PhD rejection today and still no good news.
Several other little things also today that kinda sucked/were irritating.
:(
Not a happy Monday.
 
kraskadva said:
Got another PhD rejection today and still no good news.
Several other little things also today that kinda sucked/were irritating.
:(
Not a happy Monday.
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Sorry to hear that. You are applying to both MD programs and PhD programs?
 
Overanxious said:
Depends on the school, some schools send complete emails others don't. Usually they'll have a portal to check and see if you are complete. Also, some schools take a month for completion others almost seem automatic. 3-4 days is nothing...i'd wait it out.
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@Overanxious I feel like your username now! I saw Jefferson had a portal to check but other schools like Einstein have nothing! A month for completion is a long time especially since it's a checklist thing rather than a substantive review. I just wanted to make sure I'm not missing anything. That way if I am, I could take care of it now rather than find out a month down the road. Thanks for the info. I'm glad I didn't call the schools at the risk of sounding like another neurotic pre-med. :p
 
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kraskadva said:
MD/PhD
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Oh have mercy, I just can't even explain why i didn't put that together. I'm going to attribute that to knowing applicants who actually do apply to multiple different professional schools.

Well, you are still in the running for the MD portion though right...so that's a positive.
 
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Overanxious said:
Oh have mercy, I just can't even explain why i didn't put that together. I'm going to attribute that to knowing applicants who actually do apply to multiple different professional schools.

Well, you are still in the running for the MD portion though right...so that's a positive.
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Eh, no worries. I know some of those folks as well.

Yeah, still in the MD running there (Einstein). Same at Stony Brook. (And I'd take the MD-only seat if it came to that, though I'm masochist enough to prefer both). Pritzker and Indiana already said thanks, but no thanks. Deafening silence from the other 24.
 
Still mostly silence on my end too. So far I'm at three interviews (1 MD...which is already giving me impostor syndrome and I haven't even gone on the interview yet, and 2 DO). And three rejections, luckily from schools that weren't too close to the top of my list, I'm still waiting for a very biting rejection. My mom bullied me into adding one more school by ambushing me with her friend who went there, so now I have one more secondary to look forward to. Just keep swimming folks.
 
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arainyday said:
Still mostly silence on my end too. So far I'm at three interviews (1 MD...which is already giving me impostor syndrome and I haven't even gone on the interview yet, and 2 DO). And three rejections, luckily from schools that weren't too close to the top of my list, I'm still waiting for a very biting rejection. My mom bullied me into adding one more school by ambushing me with her friend who went there, so now I have one more secondary to look forward to. Just keep swimming folks.
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You and me are twins in II's, I also have 1 MD and 2 DO's. What do mean about imposter syndrome btw? I know that I feel like I am interviewing for a wait list spot at FAU (even though I am going next week). Is that what you mean?
 
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@arainyday I get it...i feel like an imposter for certain schools where i am interviewing at and am clearly below their 10%. I just keep reminding myself (and you should too!) that i have other fine qualities (as do you!) that they loved.
 
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Overanxious said:
@arainyday I get it...i feel like an imposter for certain schools where i am interviewing at and am clearly below their 10%. I just keep reminding myself (and you should too!) that i have other fine qualities (as do you!) that they loved.
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I get it now, yeah depending on their MCAT policy, I am right at FAU's 10 percentile. I definitely know what you mean as far as how competitive you feel.
 
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Overanxious said:
@arainyday I get it...i feel like an imposter for certain schools where i am interviewing at and am clearly below their 10%. I just keep reminding myself (and you should too!) that i have other fine qualities (as do you!) that they loved.
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Yes! That's what I'm trying to internalize (along with patience) when it comes to this process. I realize that I'm an outlier in many ways to the average applicant, both good and bad, and just need to embrace that. If I get the interview, they must think I'm able to able to handle the rigor of the curriculum, despite a low cgpa. Just need to be confident!
 
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Well, I'm a nontraditional student of course...got my MCAT scores back today: sub 30.....ugh. Not even close to my target.
 
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So my committee letter is STILL not in per my AMCAS online information but I got the "we see you applied" email from the schools I'm interested in, so that's always exciting. "Hey there! We see you have a pulse and can click buttons and type things in boxes! Congrats! We're going to check your application and see if you can do so coherently. Have a good one." I'm not trying to be sarcastic because I do appreciate the notice, really, but I also know that it's rather like that for them, too. Now to get myself a better passport-sized photo than last year's run at things. Yes, I'm re-applying. Yes, to the same schools (convos with the admissions folks assured me that the only reason I didn't get in this year was because their alt lists had nearly no movement as compared to even an average year).
 
arainyday said:
Still mostly silence on my end too. So far I'm at three interviews (1 MD...which is already giving me impostor syndrome and I haven't even gone on the interview yet, and 2 DO). And three rejections, luckily from schools that weren't too close to the top of my list, I'm still waiting for a very biting rejection. My mom bullied me into adding one more school by ambushing me with her friend who went there, so now I have one more secondary to look forward to. Just keep swimming folks.
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Overanxious said:
@arainyday I get it...i feel like an imposter for certain schools where i am interviewing at and am clearly below their 10%. I just keep reminding myself (and you should too!) that i have other fine qualities (as do you!) that they loved.
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Also 3 interviews so early on is not 'mostly silence'.
Staaaahhhhpppppp!
 
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Hey y'all! Another non-trad checking in. I spent a few years working after undergrad and finally realized medical school is for me. It's going to be a long application cycle with my sub-30 MCAT score, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed for some MD love.

Hope the cycle is going well for everyone :)
 
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ridethecliche said:
Also 3 interviews so early on is not 'mostly silence'.
Staaaahhhhpppppp!
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Haha, yes, I'm certainly grateful for any positive feedback I've received so far. I only say mostly silence in that I applied to 25+ schools, and most of which have given me zero feedback (complete almost everywhere by the end of July). Just trying to be patient and realize these cycles move oh-so slowly.

9iron said:
Hey y'all! Another non-trad checking in. I spent a few years working after undergrad and finally realized medical school is for me. It's going to be a long application cycle with my sub-30 MCAT score, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed for some MD love.

Hope the cycle is going well for everyone :)
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Numbers are important, but I think the rest of your application can really round you out as a nontrad, and make you stand out. Best of luck!
 
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arainyday said:
Numbers are important, but I think the rest of your application can really round you out as a nontrad, and make you stand out. I have an MCAT less than 30, and it hasn't crushed me so far, but it's a long cycle still. Best of luck!
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Thanks for the support! I'm hoping adcoms share your thoughts ;) All I'm hoping for is that my MCAT will keep enough doors open. I just want them to review my entire application and not throw it in the trash after seeing that score. :xf:

Here's to the wait! I'm glad there's a bunch of us in this together.
 
canadianinusa said:
Are you also applying DO? Sorry to hear you were not satisfied with your score. That really sucks. :(
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I've decided to shoot for only MD mainly because I'm targeting my local state school. I really want to avoid uprooting my family to go elsewhere.

My score ended up being 9/10/10, so I'm glad it's balanced and almost a 30. But I'm a bit disappointed because it's lower than what I had been scoring and I know sub-30 doesn't look so great. I'm hoping the rest of my application/LORs/GPA will be enough to get me in the door...that's all I can ask for!

How's your cycle going??
 
First II, yay! Could have fainted.

I'm a sub-30 MCATer, too. Don't count yourselves out, I think they put a lot of weight on non-trads whole app.
 
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