2008 Non-Trad Applicants' Progress Thread

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Phoenix. said:
Ummmm, errrrr, are you applying to start med school in 2008?
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If I recall correctly from previous posts, this person is fortunate enough to be in an awesome linkage program. (Totally jealous, BTW!) 👍
 
I just talked with the MSTP director at OHSU last night and he offered me a slot!:wow: I'm totally stoked because it was one of my top schools, but I almost didn't apply because I didn't think I had a shot! Big day at work today, but then a big night of celebrating! As happy as I am, however, I can't tell which is stronger: my feeling of elation or my feeling of relief.😀
 
CultureDoc said:
If I recall correctly from previous posts, this person is fortunate enough to be in an awesome linkage program. (Totally jealous, BTW!) 👍
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Good memory. Linkage track indeed.
 
Current status:

Starting to get nervous... UCSF was supposed to mail decisions today😱

Wish me luck🙂 And best of luck to all of you!
 
Good luck to chemphd & ping! :luck::luck::luck::luck:

At best, I'm anticipating a 2 to 3 month wait to hear a final post-interview decision from Mayo. I'm just hoping that if I do get lucky enough to get in, that I actually have enough notice to sell my place. But beggars can't be choosers! If I somehow miraculously get in (off a waitlist) in June (what, six months from now? Oh, the anxiety!), obviously I'd still be ecstatic and make do. I guess the worst case scenario would be remaining on the waitlist up until the first day of classes at the end of July and not getting in at all. 😱 Then again, I have to remind myself that my worst case scenario is still awesome. Cause it means I'll get to attend Loyola and stay in Chicago! Just gotta keep that in mind, and I guess I can survive six months of uncertainty with some attempt at grace. 😀

And granted, I'm 33, but I swear every time I mention Mayo my mother grimaces. I can even hear her do it over the phone! I know that she secretly (or perhaps not-so-secretly) hopes that I end up staying in Chicago. I guess you never end up being your parents' kid.
 
Phoenix. said:
Good luck to chemphd & ping! :luck::luck::luck::luck:

At best, I'm anticipating a 2 to 3 month wait to hear a final post-interview decision from Mayo. I'm just hoping that if I do get lucky enough to get in, that I actually have enough notice to sell my place. But beggars can't be choosers! If I somehow miraculously get in (off a waitlist) in June (what, six months from now? Oh, the anxiety!), obviously I'd still be ecstatic and make do. I guess the worst case scenario would be remaining on the waitlist up until the first day of classes at the end of July and not getting in at all. 😱 Then again, I have to remind myself that my worst case scenario is still awesome. Cause it means I'll get to attend Loyola and stay in Chicago! Just gotta keep that in mind, and I guess I can survive six months of uncertainty with some attempt at grace. 😀

And granted, I'm 33, but I swear every time I mention Mayo my mother grimaces. I can even hear her do it over the phone! I know that she secretly (or perhaps not-so-secretly) hopes that I end up staying in Chicago. I guess you never end up being your parents' kid.
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Thanks Phoenix!🙂

And you're doing well so far- you're in somewhere good, and might get to go someplace you'd rather go. It's a great position to be in😀

I totally hear you on the mother grimacing thing. My mom is back East and I can hear her grimaces as well. Usually in the form of "why don't you apply to Harvard?"🙄 (okay, I did, but I haven't heard anything back from them). My excuse for staying on the West coast (that placates her a bit): In state tuition😀 I guess it's true that you never stop being your parent's child...
 
Quix said:
Yeah, I got the "Why not Harvard?" question from my parents as well. Fun fun fun.
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I applied in order to get the rejection letter to be framed at a later date 🙂

That is a much more affordable luxury though when you are poor enough during the application year to qualify for the financial assistance from AMCAS. I would never have applied there without it.
 
Lshapley said:
I applied in order to get the rejection letter to be framed at a later date 🙂

That is a much more affordable luxury though when you are poor enough during the application year to qualify for the financial assistance from AMCAS. I would never have applied there without it.
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:laugh:

I like the idea of a framed Harvard rejection.

I've already framed my LECOM acceptance - I just need to find a display stand for it.
 
I got a phone call from one of the lovely admissions directors at U of Chicago this week. I've been offered a full-tuition scholarship to U of C!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was shaking and almost crying when I hung up the phone. My interview day at U of Chicago was the most memorable of all the schools I've visited... the faculty I met were exceptionally attentive and seemed genuinely interested in teaching, and the students I talked with were obviously very talented yet oh so very chill.

I might have agonized for a few months about where to go for medical school, but this financial aid is huge for me. It's such a burden off my mind to know that I won't have to take out massive loans for medical school at a relatively older age. Looks like I will be in Chicago next year, and I couldn't be happier!

Thanks so much to all of your for your endless advice and good humor. You all have such unique paths and experiences, and you've inspired me with the stories you've shared. Phoenix, I think maybe you gave me good karma the night before my interview. 🙂 I can't wait to hear about you and Mayo! :luck:and wonderful holidays to all.
 
TarHeel55 said:
I got a phone call from one of the lovely admissions directors at U of Chicago this week. I've been offered a full-tuition scholarship to U of C!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was shaking and almost crying when I hung up the phone. My interview day at U of Chicago was the most memorable of all the schools I've visited... the faculty I met were exceptionally attentive and seemed genuinely interested in teaching, and the students I talked with were obviously very talented yet oh so very chill.

I might have agonized for a few months about where to go for medical school, but this financial aid is huge for me. It's such a burden off my mind to know that I won't have to take out massive loans for medical school at a relatively older age. Looks like I will be in Chicago next year, and I couldn't be happier!

Thanks so much to all of your for your endless advice and good humor. You all have such unique paths and experiences, and you've inspired me with the stories you've shared. Phoenix, I think maybe you gave me good karma the night before my interview. 🙂 I can't wait to hear about you and Mayo! :luck:and wonderful holidays to all.
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Good job, Tarheel55! I would love to hear more details (in this forum or outside of it) on how you accomplished this. A full academic scholarship? That's amazing. Was there a specific process to apply for this?
Congratulations! Merry Christmas, and good luck to all of you.
 
TarHeel55 said:
I got a phone call from one of the lovely admissions directors at U of Chicago this week. I've been offered a full-tuition scholarship to U of C!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was shaking and almost crying when I hung up the phone. My interview day at U of Chicago was the most memorable of all the schools I've visited... the faculty I met were exceptionally attentive and seemed genuinely interested in teaching, and the students I talked with were obviously very talented yet oh so very chill.

I might have agonized for a few months about where to go for medical school, but this financial aid is huge for me. It's such a burden off my mind to know that I won't have to take out massive loans for medical school at a relatively older age. Looks like I will be in Chicago next year, and I couldn't be happier!

Thanks so much to all of your for your endless advice and good humor. You all have such unique paths and experiences, and you've inspired me with the stories you've shared. Phoenix, I think maybe you gave me good karma the night before my interview. 🙂 I can't wait to hear about you and Mayo! :luck:and wonderful holidays to all.
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Congrats tarheel! Wow!!! :hardy::hardy::hardy: And thanks for acknowledging me in your acceptance speech! Although I'm sure it was all you! Especially since you worked for that good karma by bringing me a GW mug from DC. 😉 And anyway, Pritzker is lucky to have you!
 
netminder said:
Good job, Tarheel55! I would love to hear more details (in this forum or outside of it) on how you accomplished this. A full academic scholarship? That's amazing. Was there a specific process to apply for this?
Congratulations! Merry Christmas, and good luck to all of you.
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Thanks, Netminder! I'd be happy to share with you what I know about this process. What I can tell you is as much gleaned from the months I've spent reading the pre-allo forum as my own experience. (Caveat: everything that I'm about to talk about concerns MD-only applicants. The MD/PhD folks are eligible for all kinds of aid, but I don't know much about their process).

At almost all the schools I interviewed at that offer merit aid, there was no separate application for it. All accepted students are eligible, and decisions are based on the regular application materials and interview. The one exception that I've run into is Case Western Reserve. Case invites some accepted students to write a short essay applying for aid. There may well be a number of other schools that require separate applications for merit aid, but I don't know which schools they are.

As far as what one needs to do to get a merit scholarship, it seems necessary to have an application that is very strong in all of the expected ways. High GPA, MCAT, strong letters from people who know you well, ECs that are meaningful to you and that you convey passion about, meaningful clinical experience, strong communication and interpersonal skills in the interview. (That being said, I want to add that my application was not perfect in these respects. My science GPA is good, but it is not THAT good). The further element is I think a little harder to define, precisely because it is less formulaic. I *think* some schools are looking in part for people who show potential to be leaders in medicine, where leadership is defined very broadly to encompass research (basic science and clinical), public health, health systems administration, health policy, and so on. I think this evidence comes in having exceptional ECs on top of an already very strong application.

Schools are different, and I suspect different schools look for slightly different things in making these decisions. When I read SDN and meet applicants at interviews, I am constantly impressed by the accomplishments of people applying to med school. Deciding among these folks when it comes to scholarships must be incredibly difficult, and I feel amazed and humbled to be at this point. U of Chicago places a particularly strong emphasis on "fit" with their school's philosophy, and in my case, I think my previous life as a humanities doctoral student genuinely does fit very well with some of Chicago's interdisciplinary programs. Please feel free to PM me if you'd like to hear more details about my idiosyncratic path.

As non-trads, we have had time to engage in some incredibly challenging and valuable pursuits outside of medicine. I think the moral is that adcoms value what we can add to our med school classes at every stage in the admissions process, even in making aid decisions. Others in this forum (Dr. Q! 🙂 ) have more experience with these issues than I do. I hope some of this helps, and I wish you the best of luck!
 
Awwwww, thanks Quix and Phoenix. You guys rock. 🙂 Seriously. To me, you're among the most inspiring folks in SDN-land... you make these forums so great to visit, and I am so excited about where your paths are taking you!
 
Way to go TarHeel. You must be so relieved/thrilled!
 
chemphd said:
No news from UCSF- either they didn't review me or I'm getting less-than-ideal news...
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How nerve-wracking! I'll keep my fingers crossed for you!

No news on this end from anywhere . . . here's to hoping 2008 brings lots of good news to all the non-trads!!! Happy New Year to all! :hardy:
 
CultureDoc said:
How nerve-wracking! I'll keep my fingers crossed for you!

No news on this end from anywhere . . . here's to hoping 2008 brings lots of good news to all the non-trads!!! Happy New Year to all! :hardy:
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Thanks🙂 My fingers are crossed for you as well!

Happy New Year everyone!
 
from schools post-interview (and trying to deal w/ the fact that people i knew from undergrad now have junior faculty positions- when i was doing research on pitt and tulane i saw profiles of two women who lived in my dormitory when i was a freshman- now i could end up with one of them as a faculty preceptor- oy vey)
 
I have 3 acceptances now, all the Touro DO schools, interviewed at Drexel in November, waiting a decision, I have a PCOM interview next week and a western university interview next month. Things are going better than I ever expected! It's been such a LONG journey, and will continue to be a growing process!
 
a few updates from me:
-waitlist at tulane (was really surprised! i thought the interviews went really well)
-my first rejection! 😱 from boston u (they had a hold on my app until they received my fall grades, which were 3 A-'s, but apparently not good enough!)
-just sent my updated grades to UMichigan (where i'm on pre-interview hold) and tulane (never hurts to send a little positive reinforcement)

if all else fails, i will be happy to go to michigan state, where i was accepted back in october. i really did love the school, but i'm staying flexible and open to other options.

any other post new year's news from people?
 
So a question on financial aid for everyone...I submitted my FAFSA yesterday. I got my EFC back today...nearly $20k, which I will NOT be able to do, obviously. I know the next step is submitting a "Request for Professional Judgment" to my school(s). Does anyone have any experience with this? What sort of proof do you need to show them that you're going to be loosing all your income, isn't that fairly obvious? How much of a change in my EFC should I expect?

Nate.
 
hiya...

i have a question about financial aid as well... while growing up i was really poor so way back when during undergrad...my efc was zero...and between scholarships and grants i signed forms every semester and even received refund checks...

now i am a nurse...not so poor anymore...so i am expecting to get an efc of something...so is the efc...something you cover with loans?? or are the schools expecting me to pay this completely out of pocket???

in other words...if i get an efc of say for example...30,000... will the schools and/ or government provide me with loans to cover this or do i have to find this money on my own???
 
Hi DancinRN,

Congratulations on your acceptances! 🙂

Based on having sat through dozens of financial aid presentations over the last few months, my understanding is that medical schools will arrange loan packages for all students that will cover the cost of attendence (tuition + cost of living) at the school.

There is a financial need component to qualify for some loans (subsidized Stafford), but other loans have no financial need component (unsubsidized Stafford, GradPLUS). The upshot is that your school's financial aid office will arrange a loan package for you to cover all costs in the school's budget for students that are not covered by grants and scholarships.

For example, at one financial aid presentation I attended, we were told that some families that could easily afford to pay their expected contribution out-of-pocket took out loans for their kids' tuition instead, because interest rates at the time were such that they made a greater return on their investments that way. (Wish I was in that situation, haha).

Hope this helps. Probably the best thing is to contact the financial aid offices of the schools you are interested in. Good luck on deciding among the many great schools that want you! 🙂
 
I'm glad to hear everyone is doing well- I hope that the non-trad love keeps on coming🙂

I just got rejected (post-interview) from UC Davis. UCSF is my only hope now (this is a little scary).
 
waiting- again- for a Mizzou decision to come today... gonna be a long day if they send it 3:30-ish like last month.

Anyone else have any updates? I think my only other news is an Iowa rejection. Otherwise, silencio.
 
Got my first evil thin envelope this week from UCLA (pre-secondary). Not a shocker (I can't imagine they'd want more applications coming in at this point!), and not too much of a disappointment, given that I'm not sure I'd want to live in LA (hubby thought it would be cool and that I should give it a shot). It does smart just a little, though.

Otherwise, silencio here too. 🙁

:luck: Pingouin! I'll send some good vibes out today for a speedy, positive Mizzou decision!
 
pingouin said:
Thanks!



ps We still need to make a shoooooz play date. I don't have money to buy, but the trying on is the fun part, anyway. 😀
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Yes, we do! Ditto here on the money part, but it certainly never hurts to look. 😀😀 I'll be out of town this weekend, but PM me sometime after, and we'll do it! :hardy:
 
Just thought I'd share what I learned the other day about the Request for Professional Judgment.

I e-mailed some financial aid councilors at Nova Southeastern about it and she told me not to bother. Apparently, since the cost of medical school is so high, we can pretty much qualify for our max Stanford loans as long as our EFC isn't like $50k or so. So she told me not to bother applying for professional judgment.

Just thought I'd share.

Nate.
 
pingouin said:
And the decision from Mizzou is.... continued review next month. *sigh*

But it wasn't that *other* answer I don't want to hear, so that's a good thing. 👍
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Ugh! That one-a-month thing is maddening! Glad to hear you're still in the running, though! (certainly much better than "the other" less desirable alternative!)

I got that particular decision from Boston earlier this week. It was a super-nice rejection letter; pretty much the nicest possible rejection letter I could imagine . . . but it still sucks. 👎

2 down, 8 to go . . .
 
Phoenix. said:
Good luck to chemphd & ping! :luck::luck::luck::luck:

At best, I'm anticipating a 2 to 3 month wait to hear a final post-interview decision from Mayo. I'm just hoping that if I do get lucky enough to get in, that I actually have enough notice to sell my place. But beggars can't be choosers! If I somehow miraculously get in (off a waitlist) in June (what, six months from now? Oh, the anxiety!), obviously I'd still be ecstatic and make do. I guess the worst case scenario would be remaining on the waitlist up until the first day of classes at the end of July and not getting in at all. 😱 Then again, I have to remind myself that my worst case scenario is still awesome. Cause it means I'll get to attend Loyola and stay in Chicago! Just gotta keep that in mind, and I guess I can survive six months of uncertainty with some attempt at grace. 😀

And granted, I'm 33, but I swear every time I mention Mayo my mother grimaces. I can even hear her do it over the phone! I know that she secretly (or perhaps not-so-secretly) hopes that I end up staying in Chicago. I guess you never end up being your parents' kid.
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I am 32 and I believe my mother secretly prays for me to go to school in Chicago too... How interesting huh?
 
Not much progress in the progress thread lately . . .

I got another thin envelope last week (Georgetown - expected). It came the day after my birthday (thankfully not ON my birthday!). Otherwise still crickets . . . I'm gonna keep on hopin', but my insides die a little each day that goes by with no interview invites in my inbox. 🙁

:luck: to all those still waiting!
 
I stopped keeping track of the rejections. Too negative (despite the assurances of the rejecting program: "Dear AMPed, I'm sorry we can't interview you. It isn't that your credentials aren't great, they just aren't good enough for us. Better luck somewhere else.")
Positive news... I got an interview at Emory. Last program I was both hoping to hear from and thought I had a shot at. Yeah. Off to Atlanta for me later this month.
 
AMPed said:
I stopped keeping track of the rejections. Too negative (despite the assurances of the rejecting program: "Dear AMPed, I'm sorry we can't interview you. It isn't that your credentials aren't great, they just aren't good enough for us. Better luck somewhere else.")
Positive news... I got an interview at Emory. Last program I was both hoping to hear from and thought I had a shot at. Yeah. Off to Atlanta for me later this month.
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I hear ya . . . but it's hard not to keep track of the rejections when you've only applied to 10 schools. 🙁 I'm trying to channel all of my positive energy toward the 7 I have left to hear from, though. 😀

Congrats on the Emory interview!! and :luck::luck:!!
 
Rejected post-interview from Davis (January), UCSF (late January).
Rejected post-secondary from UCLA (early February).
Gave up on getting in this year. Started looking for J-O-B's.
Got an interview at Stanford (set it up today for late March).

This whole process is making me crazy!
 
chemphd said:
Rejected post-interview from Davis (January), UCSF (late January).
Rejected post-secondary from UCLA (early February).
Gave up on getting in this year. Started looking for J-O-B's.
Got an interview at Stanford (set it up today for late March).

This whole process is making me crazy!
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Ugh!! So sorry to hear about UCSF. 🙁 I know that was your top choice. Best of luck with Stanford. :luck::luck:


I still have 4 schools to hear from, but I feel like it's pretty late to get an interview invite at this point, so I'm trying to regroup for next cycle. *Sigh* I knew that I applied really late, but I still thought I might get thrown a bone from somewhere. At least I certainly won't make that mistake again!
 
😀Accepted SUNY Upstate
Interviews at UMich, UCLA and UCSD.
 
Quick update:

I received my first acceptance today! PCOM (where I had a nightmare of an interview) accepted me. Now I can stop formulating Plan B and start thinking about med school for next year. I have also gotten waitlists at Drexel and UVM and am patiently waiting for decisions to come from OHSU and BU. PCOM is definitely below OHSU and BU on my preference list, but it is a little more difficult when talking about UVM (not sure about moving the family to Vermont just for the MD and the tuition there is not favorable to OOS). Anyways, I have to do a lot of talking and planning with my family. I'll be sending in that deposit soon!
 
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