2016 Nontrad Applicants' Progress Thread

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I actually believe it was Bowie because I am really interested in aeronautical medicine

Ground control to Dr. Tetley

idontknowwhatnametopick said:
Yay! The admissions gods were gazing upon you this morning. Or maybe it was David Bowie's parting gift to you.
Now I will have my fingers crossed that you'll get tons of interviews soon :)
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tetley said:
I actually believe it was Bowie because I am really interested in aeronautical medicine

Ground control to Dr. Tetley
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Omg yesssssssssssss
Let's never ever forget that medicine is, first, an art.
 
Rejected from one of my top choices post-interview today. I'm definitely disappointed, but there are a few ways in which I think this may be for the best.
 
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I'm sorry, Wagonwheel. This process...
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@pageantry Totally. However, I'm listing out the pros to this decision.

-Now I can hike the John Muir Trail before med school (this program started really early so I wouldn't have been able to)
-I will move out of the place I've lived for six years. Sad, but sometimes a complete change of scenery is really necessary to get life going. There is adventure ahead!
-The school I will likely matriculate at has an official deferral program. I am going to defer my acceptance and move to Spain/Latin America to learn Spanish (In my volunteer work I have so many times been unable to help a patient due to this language barrier. I want to break it and I feel that this is my last chance!).
-The school I will likely matriculate at is in the same city as my parents. Being close to family is invaluable, and I can't wait for that.

Life goes on, and in many cases these seemingly terrible situations have huge plusses.
 
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The John Muir Trail?? Take me with you!
 
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Well, splendid, the Royal Bank of Scotland says everything's going to fall to crap again.
Anyone have any thoughts about how this could affect your med school/future plans? I never feel like I know enough about what's going on to respond adequately to market issues, but then I never feel like I have enough money to reasonably care, either.
I feel like I should rethink my approach on both of those things...
 
http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2016-01-07/be-smart-don-t-try-to-time-this-stock-market
This article echoes some of my personal financial philosophies, especially given the (ideally) long time horizon. Med school should be seen as a long term investment, and one blip in the market should have minimal impact on that.
pageantry said:
Well, splendid, the Royal Bank of Scotland says everything's going to fall to crap again.
Anyone have any thoughts about how this could affect your med school/future plans? I never feel like I know enough about what's going on to respond adequately to market issues, but then I never feel like I have enough money to reasonably care, either.
I feel like I should rethink my approach on both of those things...
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BluMist said:
http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2016-01-07/be-smart-don-t-try-to-time-this-stock-market
This article echoes some of my personal financial philosophies, especially given the (ideally) long time horizon. Med school should be seen as a long term investment, and one blip in the market should have minimal impact on that.
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thanks for this. there are so many people around trying to say how to manage medical school choices "in this economy" and i just keep on feeling like nothing that happens in the economy should directly affect these choices. we're going into debt. and we're going into a stable field. i'm not sure what difference it makes if everything falls apart while we're in school.... people are still going to need doctors.
but what do i know.
 
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"Sell everything" flies in the face of nearly all investment advice (unless you are very close to retirement). If you have stocks in emerging and foreign stocks as well as natural resources, you just need to be ready to hold onto your investment portfolio for a long time. The market will bounce back.
 
you know that you are going to medical school, so there's that :D

Seriously, no one knows how the market will perform in short term. There's no point trying to tie life choices to macro economy/stock market where you have little/no control. I've already accepted the potential financial hit (if I get to medical school).
pageantry said:
but what do i know.
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Holy ****, what wild ride. I still can't believe I am starting med school next year. I've been having some extremely rough times financially. I have been working construction, mold remediation, driving for uber , teaching surfing lessons, fixing water filtration systems and what else I can do for a buck. This not exactly how I planned to spend my time before starting med school, oh well. I hope everyone else is having a fruitful cycle.
 
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Ok wise and sage nontrads, it's question time!

So I have an acceptance at St. Louis that I am pumped and grateful to have. Today, I got an II at USF-Morsani and am trying to decide if I should withdraw. I think location wise, STL would be better for me and the wife, and closer to family. Do you think USF provides any kind of academic or program advantages compared to St. Louis? Any thoughts on whether I should go to the interview or withdraw?

Thanks in advance. Long live snug seal.
 
I just withdrew from a slew of schools that I could never see myself going to over the one acceptance I have. It felt really weird to withdraw after all the work and money and hope I put into them... I don't regret withdrawing from them because there is no chance I'd pick them over the option I have now, but it still feels weird.

Looking at the list of schools I'm still going to wait for is a pretty special feeling, though. Now I'm over the hump... Things could only possibly get better. And I'm super excited about the one school I do have and would be more than happy to attend there. It's a great day!
 
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TravelingPanda said:
I just withdrew from a slew of schools that I could never see myself going to over the one acceptance I have. It felt really weird to withdraw after all the work and money and hope I put into them... I don't regret withdrawing from them because there is no chance I'd pick them over the option I have now, but it still feels weird.

Looking at the list of schools I'm still going to wait for is a pretty special feeling, though. Now I'm over the hump... Things could only possibly get better. And I'm super excited about the one school I do have and would be more than happy to attend there. It's a great day!
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I was advised not to withdraw from any acceptances till April. The reason being that schools could offer scholarships at any moment to candidates . I received a scholarship offer a month later after an acceptance .
 
B-wildered said:
I was advised not to withdraw from any acceptances till April. The reason being that schools could offer scholarships at any moment to candidates . I received a scholarship offer a month later after an acceptance .
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I think @TravelingPanda meant he withdrew from a bunch pre-II.

I've heard the same advice re acceptances. Hoping it's true, though I've had zilch by way of any money offers so far so I'm not getting my hopes up lol.
 
B-wildered said:
I was advised not to withdraw from any acceptances till April. The reason being that schools could offer scholarships at any moment to candidates . I received a scholarship offer a month later after an acceptance .
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Thank you for the advice. To be clear, though, I meant schools pre-II... I've only had a single acceptance.

I definitely thought about the fact that I could get an II, interview, accept, and get a scholarship... Definitely a chance. But the schools I withdrew from... there was no chance of me going there. And I know that it is really, really tense to be waiting for an II if you haven't had any. I don't want to take a slot that could be picked up by someone who hasn't had a chance yet.

Plus it saves me the cost of traveling to interview if one of those schools did happen to offer me an interview.

Still, I appreciate the advice.
 
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There's something to be said for not withdrawing pre-ii and taking every interview possible regardless of wether or not you would go. As an applicant last year, I was furious at folks who had multiple acceptances and were "taking interview spots away from me". But being on the other side now, there is efficacy to it.

While you don't necessarily have leverage like you would buying a car, after March 15 (correct me if I'm wrong) all med schools can see where an applicant has other offers. So if you only have one offer, does that school throw extra money your way? And while interviews are expensive, it's total in comparison to the amount of $$ you may save in tuition is insignificant.
 
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discussing this with a classmate today - has anyone heard of an applicant being re-considered after initial rejection after sending a significant update?
I haven't ever heard of that
 
CyrilFiggis said:
And while interviews are expensive, it's total in comparison to the amount of $$ you may save in tuition is insignificant.
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I think you have a valid point and I understand any person who'd follow that logic lines. I decided that the chances of that are low, however, and my wife and I decided to pull out of the ones that I have a zero chance of going to over the one I have now and leave those interviews other people.

Plus going to the interview is a guaranteed loss in travel expenses and (in my case) lost work time. The chance of it netting me scholarship money is uncertain to unlikely.
 
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tetley said:
discussing this with a classmate today - has anyone heard of an applicant being re-considered after initial rejection after sending a significant update?
I haven't ever heard of that
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Someone was saying she got rejected from a California school a few years back and then sent a detailed letter on why that school would be a great fit and why the school would benefit from giving her an interview. She got un-rejected, got an interview, got waitlisted, sent another letter, and got in.
So while it is still unlikely, it is possible.
 
oh wow

idontknowwhatnametopick said:
Someone was saying she got rejected from a California school a few years back and then sent a detailed letter on why that school would be a great fit and why the school would benefit from giving her an interview. She got un-rejected, got an interview, got waitlisted, sent another letter, and got in.
So while it is still unlikely, it is possible.
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idontknowwhatnametopick said:
Someone was saying she got rejected from a California school a few years back and then sent a detailed letter on why that school would be a great fit and why the school would benefit from giving her an interview. She got un-rejected, got an interview, got waitlisted, sent another letter, and got in.
So while it is still unlikely, it is possible.
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Are you talking about this person? http://www.mdapplicants.com/profile.php?id=6325 She was put on pre-interview hold intitially, not rejected, but otherwise sounds like the story you might've seen. She put up the full content of the post-waitlist letter she wrote (it's at the very bottom) for any interested parties.
 
Eccesignum said:
Oh, absolutely. I was more pointing out that this case wasn't one of rejection, then reconsideration. It was originally a hold, different situation. But still very unusual.
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Right. It should also be noted that it's not like UCI was her only option. She had 7 interviews with a 33 MCAT and a 3.4 sGPA. So her story and path were important factors. That's what I get out of this.
 
What do you guys think... I have an interview coming up, not terribly far away. Reasonable school. I could do the whole interview day for less than $100, I think. But I just know it's not an interest of mine.

I already have three acceptances. Two more could yet come. Maybe. Do you think three is enough to create some leverage? Two are state schools (in different states where I can get in-state tuition) and I'm hoping that they will leverage against each other. The third school already offered a scholarship. Is that enough?

Or would you play safe and go to the additional interview?
 
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That's really a toss-up. Would you go to this school if admitted? Do you think that would make as much of a difference to the other schools?
 
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I'm going to take that deafening silence as a resounding "calm the eff down." And I appreciate it.

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tetley said:
That's really a toss-up. Would you go to this school if admitted? Do you think that would make as much of a difference to the other schools?
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Oh man you're being too nice to me now that I was all geared up for monstrous indifference.

I think if this school were comparable to any of the school's I really want, it might make a difference. Like, same tier, same price, similar environment or curriculum. But it's not so they couldn't reasonably clutch their pearls and vie for my affec(ta)tions.
 
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ashadhiudaufaifmlkadmsa I got into UVA, my brain is exploding. Choices now exponentially harder to make...
 
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pageantry said:
What do you guys think... I have an interview coming up, not terribly far away. Reasonable school. I could do the whole interview day for less than $100, I think. But I just know it's not an interest of mine.

I already have three acceptances. Two more could yet come. Maybe. Do you think three is enough to create some leverage? Two are state schools (in different states where I can get in-state tuition) and I'm hoping that they will leverage against each other. The third school already offered a scholarship. Is that enough?

Or would you play safe and go to the additional interview?
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For $100 bucks, I'd say sure, do it. But if an acceptance from the school would be dead on arrival, then bail. You're wasting both your money and their time.
 
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Accepted at my state MD school! Ahahaha I'm ecstatic!
 
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CyrilFiggis said:
For $100 bucks, I'd say sure, do it. But if an acceptance from the school would be dead on arrival, then bail. You're wasting both your money and their time.
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I agree with this. If its a school you have a lot of interest for and have the time/money (and dont need to trav much for), do it. You might ens up liking the program more than any of the others and could end up being the right place for you to attend.

That happened to me just a few days ago and despite being burnt out on interviews I'm going to go because it was one of the schools I was really excited about hearing from when the cycle first started and I only have to take a commuter rail to get there. You have nothing to lose!
 
Double ASLUHDIUSDBUASIAJSIJA just got accepted to Mayo as well, head explode x 2
 
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Hey everyone,

I have my first MMI coming up on the 25th, I was hoping that someone could give some tips to how to prepare and etc... I know it has been addressed in the past but I could find it/me lazy to sift through the tons of message.

Thanks
 
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B-wildered said:
Hey everyone,

I have my first MMI coming up on the 25th, I was hoping that someone could give some tips to how to prepare and etc... I know it has been addressed in the past but I could find it/me lazy to sift through the tons of message.

Thanks
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Yeah Bioethics. Before my one MMi, I just read the whole Wikipedia page under "Medical Ethics" and all of the example case links it has in the article. That was pretty good coverage...kinda just gives an idea of how to be thinking about issues.
 
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I know this is probably silly, but does anyone know where to look for a pdf of your aacomas application? I can't seem to find the export option
 
tetley said:
I know this is probably silly, but does anyone know where to look for a pdf of your aacomas application? I can't seem to find the export option
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Go into Manage My Programs, pick any school and click the blue down arrow in the upper corner of that school. It'll download the application that went to that particular school (which should be the same for all of them).
 
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If anyone's interested, I decided to cancel the interview primarily on the basis of, if they'd asked me Why XXCOM?, I would've been stumped. I would have LOOKED stumped--by which I mean bright red and sweaty--which is worse.
 
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Just canceled an II .
NON-TRAD COALITION TAKING THE POWER BACK
LONG LIVE SNUG SEAL

:mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::rage::rage::rage::rage::rage::punch::punch::punch::punch::punch::punch::punch:
 
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