2008 Non-Trad Applicants' Progress Thread

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You knew it was coming. Given that AMCAS opens "on or about" tomorrow (May 3rd), it seemed like an appropriate time to open up the progress thread.

As for me, here's my progress so far...

MCAT -- April 7, 2007 -- Results forthcoming


Time to psych ourselves up!
-z
 
Yeah, I'm gearing up for the next cycle. I'll probably start building my new profile next week (after getting my final grades for half of my classes in).
 
Wow! I had not even thought about the fact that the next cycle is about to start. Craziness. Good luck everyone.
 
zipmedic said:
You knew it was coming. Given that AMCAS opens "on or about" tomorrow (May 3rd), it seemed like an appropriate time to open up the progress thread.

As for me, here's my progress so far...

MCAT -- April 7, 2007 -- Results forthcoming


Time to psych ourselves up!
-z
Click to expand...

Why are you even bothering, zip? Don't you know adcomms hate medics?

Just kidding. Good luck to all the non-trads and especially the EMS folks!
 
gotmeds? said:
Why are you even bothering, zip? Don't you know adcomms hate medics?
Click to expand...

Tell me about it. If there are any EM docs on the AdComs, they'll undoubtedly recognize me as the medic who's been telling them how to do their jobs all these years. *gulp* :meanie:
 
I'm in line for the roller-coaster. Printed off my transcript request forms so I can fax them off to my undergrad and grad schools today... will deal with the post-bacc institution after my final.
 
How exciting. 🙂 Getting butterflies in my stomach for you all. I can't wait until it's my turn -- I'll be applying next summer. Good luck everyone. :luck:
 
Needed a break from the MCAT, so I filled it out except for the essay. TMDSAS seems worse than this. The insane trip has officially started....
 
Quix said:
Yeah, I'm gearing up for the next cycle. I'll probably start building my new profile next week (after getting my final grades for half of my classes in).
Click to expand...

Whoa there, Quix--you're not SOL for 2007 until the day classes begin. :luck:
 
Opened AMCAS on the 3rd, faxed transcript request forms off, and filled out everything except the work/experiences and the PS... Work/experiences to be done this weekend. After all these years, this is really exciting!

Oh, and the schools list. I'm trying to whittle it down from where it currently stands near 50. 😱 I'm hoping to get it down to around 30-35 or so. What's everybody else doing about schools?

Good luck to us all! :luck:
 
Ok, I'm sure this question is answered somewhere else in the forums, but I haven't found it yet and I'm hoping someone will take pity and answer it directly. I opened up AMCAS today and it won't let me access the transcript request forms. Do I need to fill out all of the institutional information before the transcript form is available? Thanks!
 
asyouwish said:
I opened up AMCAS today and it won't let me access the transcript request forms. Do I need to fill out all of the institutional information before the transcript form is available? Thanks!
Click to expand...

You need to complete the following sections in order to request transcripts, per AMCAS:

AAMC said:
The Identifying Information and Schools Attended sections must be complete before applicants can request transcripts.
Click to expand...

See p. 19 of the AMCAS Instructions, in PDF format.
 
Started filling out the AMCAS the other day (rather than studying for my pending MCAT on the 16th!) With the MCAT still untaken and this semester's grades not due until Wednesday, I feel like everything is up in the air right now. I'm looking forward to the end of the month!

Oh yeah, gotta find a job for next year too!
 
Good luck y'all! You're in for one heck of a year. Hang in there! :luck:
 
I'm in for the long haul this cycle, too. Need to put in my work experience and PS into AMCAS, then I'm done.

So you can fax your AMCAS trascript requests? I thought they had to be mailed! Doh!
 
well, apparently the 2007 cycle is over since the other thread was closed. 🙁 my decisions haven't been finalized yet, so it's definitely not over for me.

anyway, how's everyone doing getting ready for 2008 apps?
 
PBandJ said:
well, apparently the 2007 cycle is over since the other thread was closed. 🙁 my decisions haven't been finalized yet, so it's definitely not over for me.

anyway, how's everyone doing getting ready for 2008 apps?
Click to expand...

Yeah; I agree that they should have unstickied the 2007 cycle thread, but they shouldn't have locked it. Some people haven't heard back or are still on waitlists without any acceptances yet.👎
 
megboo said:
Yeah, I think I'll just play it safe and send them priority mail. What's another $30 in postage and transcript fees at this point, anyway?!
Click to expand...

Good idea. It's best to have a record of these types of transactions, so you can be reasonably sure that they were received and you can trace them if needed. I've spent lots of money on USPS Priority mail, it's become something of an official sponser of my application process; rather, I guess, to be more accurate, I've become one of their sponsers. :laugh: Anyway, I'd rather shell out the $4.55, or however much it is, and know that it got there.

Good luck in your process, meg.
 
spicedmanna said:
Good idea. It's best to have a record of these types of transactions, so you can be reasonably sure that they were received and you can trace them if needed. I've spent lots of money on USPS Priority mail, it's become something of an official sponser of my application process; rather, I guess, to be more accurate, I've become one of their sponsers. :laugh: Anyway, I'd rather shell out the $4.55, or however much it is, and know that it got there.

Good luck in your process, meg.
Click to expand...

thanks - I'm glad I can print postage out online - that helps a lot, too!
 
I'm still holding out hope for one school (the only one left), but planning for 2008. I updated my amcas, but will likely send my transcripts now and just update schools as I go. I don't know if I'll be in a post bac or just continuing to take classes a la carte and finishing up a 2nd BA in bio (I have 13 credits left). After reading some other threads it looks like I'm going to have to rewrite my PS too...I'm REALLY not looking forward to that but oh well, you do what you must right? :luck: to all!
 
Yep, got a good start going:

MCATs out of the way (34R)
Three LORs in and my Committee Letter interview done (probably get one or two more LORs).
List of schools finalized (six MD and four DO)
AMCAS all completed in two sessions at work the other day...gotta love down time with internest access! (going to have some people proof-read it for errors)
Transcript requests all in for AMCAS (dropped one off by hand, faxed the other two).

Now, I just need to repeat for ACOMAS and then I get to do secondaries! Oh joy! Oh yea...and I need a new bottle of rum! 😉

Good luck everyone!
Nate.
 
megboo said:
Was it one we have in common?????

oh- how does AMCAS let you know they got a transcript?
Click to expand...
:laugh: no, it was my grad school one. although I faxed off the requests on the same day... (that one didn't have to travel as far to DC, tho)

I had an email from AAMC confirming the receipt-

AMCAS has received a transcript in support of your application to the
2008 entering class.

Transcript: Pingouin's Grad School, Received, on 05/08/2007

If AMCAS determines during the Verification process that official
transcripts other than those listed above are required, or if any of the
transcripts listed above is determined to be either unofficial, illegible,
or incomplete you will be notified and your application will be placed
on hold until all required official transcripts are received.
 
LifetimeDoc said:
Yeah; I agree that they should have unstickied the 2007 cycle thread, but they shouldn't have locked it. Some people haven't heard back or are still on waitlists without any acceptances yet.👎
Click to expand...
I unlocked it for y'all. Hang in there and lots of :luck: to the waitlisters and :luck: also to the new applicants.
 
Procrastinating on research, so I started AMCAS last week. Grades entered, and my undergrad transcript already made it there! Working on the EC's and the essay.
Good luck everyone🙂
 
here I come.....

Awaiting MCAT results 😱 due out may 16th :scared:
AMCAS: sent transcript requests, done all except half of my transcript info and PS. PS is being proof read, etc.
I really hope I can apply this cycle, if not then it may be back to school...😡
 
I got the e-mail from AMCAS too, the first of my two transcripts made it there this morning, almost one week to the hour after I faxed in my transcript request form. 😀 One more transcript to be received (which was mailed two days ago, confirmed by the university)..
 
All my schools have received my transcript requests ..... hopefully I'll have a few e-mails from AMCAS next week that I can follow up on.

All I need now is my transcript from my current school but I have to wait until grades are in (2 more weeks!).

I need to work on my PS, too. *sigh*
 
I'm in the exact same boat. 3 of 4 transcripts have been received by AMCAS. Now my current school just needs to get off their @ss.
 
I'm still sitting on the one transcript being in.. waiting for my ugrad's to get in, and the post-bacc's won't be sent until after semester grades are in (next week).

In the meantime, I emailed about 10 schools this morning regarding LOR issues, as what they say they want on their websites is not what I have. So I'm inquiring about whether what I have will substitute/suffice.

2 responses so far, both positive. 🙂
 
I'm another ILer applying this cycle, Megboo.

So, I've finally finished my PS (hardest thing I've ever had to write - took months!) and copied it into my application and filled in all of my grades, but the EC section is a bit of a pain. Just not sure how much to write. A fellow volunteer at a clinic I work in said that she heard from some adcoms that you should definitely say WHAT the EC meant to you in the space provided, not just state what you did. But part of me thinks that's the wrong place to put it. Anyone else have any advice on this?

Ah, and I got an email today that two of my six transcripts are in.

Meanwhile, I'm cramming like an idiot for the May 31st MCAT. We're talking 10 hrs a day. Fun stuff. But alas, I tend to do nothing unless I've already procrastinated until the very last minute (or in this case, just under a month). This is the last step pre-app, but it certainly feels like the biggest. I'm jealous of those of you that have already taken the beast and received your score! In addition, picking out schools without it is kind of difficult. I'm at around 25 schools at the moment.... I tell myself that I won't fill out all the secondaries once I see how I've done at the end of June. Otherwise, that's a lot of dough.
 
Sweet. I want in this thread. As a quick note, I've been lurking on SDN forums for about 2 years and only recently started posting. (Thanks for all the help!) I'm a career changer just finishing 2 1/2 years of pre-requisites and GPA rehabilitation.

As for AMCAS...I have all of my courses entered and transcript requests sent off, but none have been received by AMCAS yet. I'm still working on my personal statement and EC descriptions. The EC's have been a bit harder to describe than I thought they would be. So far I have a list of 12 schools but I might add 2 or 3 others. Oh, and I'm taking the MCAT tomorrow!
 
Hi all,

I'm working on lining up my letters of recommendation for the coming AMCAS season. I'd love a bit of advise with it.

I have been out of school for just over 5 years (at the time of application). I only have one recommendation on file from my undergrad years from a bio professor (also my major). This August I will start the Georgetown SMP (a one year masters, academic enhancement program), and they have stated that the program provides one LOR. I have plenty of non-academic letters for many of the jobs/activities since graduation. So....

1) How flexible are most schools in allowing LOR exceptions for non-trads? Any word on which are flexible and which aren't would be great too.

2) I could request a letter from an undergrad professor who I've had some limited contact with over the last few years. He would write something positive I think but not warmly personal. Any thoughts on the trade-offs of sticking to the requirements (perhaps mediocarly) vs asking for an exception?

Thanks so much for your advise.
And best of luck!
 
Uzbekistevie: GOOD LUCK! I dread being in your shoes on May 30th.

As for my background, I was an attorney, and decided 2 years ago to make the change. JUST finished my post-bac and am finally ready to apply (then again, these 2 years have FLOWN by - hopefully the "glide" year will too).

Stanton: When you say that your SMP says that they only provide one LOR, do they perhaps just mean the "committee" letter? If so, I'm sure you can get more recent academic LORs from the teachers you take in your SMP. Not sure what you got that undergrad LOR for way back when, but it'd be nice to have your letter writer know your aim is med school when they write it. And stress when you ask it if they can write you a STRONG LOR.

I decided that I didn't want any from my past profession (LAW!), and instead got two clinical LORs (I debated getting one from a grad school prof, but decided clinical LORs would be much more on point) and two science prof LORs. I believe that my Committee LOR should fill up any other requirement for LORs that a school has - at least, that's what my advisor advised me.

That being said, a friend mentioned that there were two schools he was applying to that required one LOR to come from a grad school teacher (if you got a grad degree). Perhaps it was Penn State? Can't remember the other. Also, I'm going to try to attach a document I got off somewhere on SDN about letter types required by schools. Take this with a grain of salt though, because I don't know how current it is. Also, my guess is that a committee letter can be substituted for a variety of other types of required letters.

My suggestion is to personally contact some of your top choice schools and see how flexible they are. I've heard that there's usually a lot of flexibility on what they'll accept for a non-trad. (i.e., employer LOR instead of an undergrad non-science LOR).
 

Attachments

The LOR issue has been on my mind as well. As I said earlier, I emailed about 10 schools this morning explaining what I have, and of the two responses I've received so far (and one last week), all have been positive in accepting what I have to offer.

Here's my situation:
Clinical social worker who graduated with MSW in 1998. I was in an accelerated program which meant that start to finish, I was there a whopping 9 months and left with degree in hand. There was only one professor who kind-of, sort-of knew me, but that was a long time and many students ago, and in looking at my program's website- she's a guest professor at a school in Poland this year. I moved about 1000 miles away immediately after graduation, losing any contact with my program. (Except when they send me letters asking for money.) Needless to say, getting a grad school letter is going to be purt' near impossible for me.

I might be able to get a ugrad letter if I tried really really hard (currently living in the same city as my ugrad school), but that was graduation in 1996 and again- I am really not the same person that I was then, and I really want to emphasize what I've done since then.

So... here's what I do have:

2 LORs from science professors at my post-bacc school (which does not have a pre-med committee)
1 letter from a social work supervisor at a major peds teaching hospital
1 letter from a psychiatrist whose patients I see for therapy (who also happens to be adjunct faculty at a med school here)
1 letter from a pediatrician at a different peds teaching hospital in town, who is an assoc prof of peds/department chair (I'm the designated SW for her department)

As I said, the responses I've gotten so far have been positive that "as a non-trad" (to quote one of the replies) my letters will not be the cookie-cutter 2 sci faculty/1 non-sci faculty.

I believe phoenix is correct regarding Penn State- in researching, I did see that they require one letter from every institution you've attended (or is it have gotten a degree from?), and via a SDN search, this has been very inflexible in the past. (I removed them from my list because of that, and am a little sad about that.) The other school I saw that had a similar requirement was MCW, and if they email me back, I'll let y'all know the response!
 
Pingouin: Yikes! Please let me know what MCW says as soon as you hear back. They're definitely on my list too. If I have to, I guess I'll just have to hit up that law prof. for an LOR and just have him send it directly to MCW. As it is, I already cut schools that require calculus, more than one semester of college math or biochem, so I'd hate to start cutting schools for LOR reasons now too. (FYI: one discrepancy I've found on MSAR is that MCW does not require college level math like it says. Just high school math!)

Regarding required pre-req classes, does anyone know of any exceptions/flexibility UIC has had regarding their behavioral (?) science requirement? I think they require something like two psych classes, or something similar?
 
That makes me a little sad about Penn State...it has been near the top of my list but I may have to drop it beacuse of the LOR requirement. I graduated with a master's degree (in accounting, by the way) about five years ago, left the area and never kept in touch with any of my professors. I have no idea if I could get any of them to write a letter.

phoenix1 thanks for the posting that LOR file I think it's going to be extremely helpful.
 
pingouin said:
I believe phoenix is correct regarding Penn State- in researching, I did see that they require one letter from every institution you've attended (or is it have gotten a degree from?), and via a SDN search, this has been very inflexible in the past. (I removed them from my list because of that, and am a little sad about that.) The other school I saw that had a similar requirement was MCW, and if they email me back, I'll let y'all know the response!
Click to expand...

Gotta do your homework! There are sources out there other than SDN. ;-)
From the Penn State COM web site:

  1. You have multiple degrees. If this is true, you must submit one letter from each of the institutions that has granted you any of the following degrees:
  • Associate
  • Bachelor
  • Master
  • Doctorate
  1. You have one year or more of graduate study or full time employment. If this is true, you are required to submit one additional letter of recommendation from a member of the graduate faculty or work supervisor.
And, from the MCW Secondary Application FAQ, you can send either a premed committee letter, packet of letters from a prehealth office, or two individual letters directly from professors (one of which must have taught you Biology, Chemistry, or Physics).

As for graduate letters at MCW, if you're currently enrolled, you must send two letters from your graduate institution (one from a professor or thesis advisor, and one from the dean or department chair). If you already got a graduate degree, you need one letter from someone who taught you. If you just got accepted to a graduate program, you need a single letter from the dean or department chair.


Best,
-z
 
zipmedic said:
Gotta do your homework! There are sources out there other than SDN. ;-)
Click to expand...

now, now... I have way too many posts on SDN to believe everything I see on here. 😉 when I said I "researched', I found exactly what you quoted, then did a search of SDN to see if anyone had tried to plead with them before. which they have, and it hasn't worked... say multiple posts over multiple admissions cycles....

As for graduate letters at MCW, if you're currently enrolled, you must send two letters from your graduate institution (one from a professor or thesis advisor, and one from the dean or department chair). If you already got a graduate degree, you need one letter from someone who taught you. If you just got accepted to a graduate program, you need a single letter from the dean or department chair.
Click to expand...

exactly. this is what I was referring to:

Which letters am I required to send?
UNDERGRAD LETTERS – You will select one of the following options:
Premedical Advisory Committee Letter: If your school has a Premed Committee that generates a cumulative letter. This is generally a single letter, but may have other letters attached.
Undergraduate institution packet of letters: If your undergraduate institution has a service that compiles all your letters and forwards them together with a cover letter.
Two separate letters from classroom professors: If your undergraduate institution has neither a Premed Committee or a Service, you will need to supply us with two letters from classroom professors, one of which must have taught you Biology, Chemistry or Physics.

GRADUATE LETTERS – You will select one of the following options:
Currently Enrolled: If you are currently enrolled in graduate school, you are required to supply two letters of recommendation. One must come from your professor or thesis advisor and the other one from the dean or department chairman.
Previously Enrolled: If you were previously enrolled in graduate school, you are required to supply one letter of recommendation from a professor.



I'll keep you all posted if/when I hear back from them.
 
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