2008 Non-Trad Applicants' Progress Thread

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I submitted to AMCAS last Thursday (the 19th) and I'm still "Ready for Review" but U. of Cincinnati sent me a secondary anyway (unscreened, but I'll take it). I'm itching to be verified so that I'll get a few more secondaries.

Anyone else still sitting in "Ready for Review" status?
 
Nope, I've been verified for a while.

I'm still waiting for my LOR's to arrive - I called my pre-health committee today, but I haven't heard back as to whether they've been sent.

Pitt and Jefferson are otherwise complete, and I'm about to finish Georgetown. Hopefully I can knock out PSU and Temple today as well.

In other news, my grandmother died yesterday, which has put a bit of a pallor on things. It's been expected, as she'd undergone a precipitous drop in physical and cognitive function over the past year (going from mobile to bedridden), aggravated CHF with a-fib, adipsia, no appetite, etc. It wasn't as sudden as my grandfather, so it's been easier to deal with, but it hits me from time to time.
 
Quix said:
Nope, I've been verified for a while.

I'm still waiting for my LOR's to arrive - I called my pre-health committee today, but I haven't heard back as to whether they've been sent.

Pitt and Jefferson are otherwise complete, and I'm about to finish Georgetown. Hopefully I can knock out PSU and Temple today as well.

In other news, my grandmother died yesterday, which has put a bit of a pallor on things. It's been expected, as she'd undergone a precipitous drop in physical and cognitive function over the past year (going from mobile to bedridden), aggravated CHF with a-fib, adipsia, no appetite, etc. It wasn't as sudden as my grandfather, so it's been easier to deal with, but it hits me from time to time.
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You have my condolences, Quix. I'm sorry to hear it.
 
Quix said:
In other news, my grandmother died yesterday, which has put a bit of a pallor on things.
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Oh man, so sorry to hear that Quix... My deepest condolences. Losing a family member is always tough, let alone during an already stressful time. 🙁
 
Thanks, guys, I do appreciate it.

Anyway, I've finished:

Pitt (a while ago, but the LOR's are taking forever)
Penn State
Jefferson
Temple

and will submit Georgetown as soon as I can get someone to read over my essay.

Still no word from Drexel, but I'm happy to take a breather from secondaries - I have a few writing projects to take care of (writing up the research studies, writing an ethics article) and a few road trips I'd like to take before the semester begins again.

And AACOMAS is taking their sweet time in verifying me - I've yet to see any change in my status, and it's been nearly six weeks now.
 
Georgetown is submitted - they just need my picture. 🙂

And if they give me any flak about spelling, punctuation, or grammar, I'll just direct them to the "teh" on their Certify page. 😀
 
Quix said:
And if they give me any flak about spelling, punctuation, or grammar, I'll just direct them to the "teh" on their Certify page. 😀
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I think someone should start a thread about secondary typos... Anybody notice on GW that they ask about your "pre-medial advisor?" hahaha
 
Quix said:
Georgetown is submitted - they just need my picture. 🙂

And if they give me any flak about spelling, punctuation, or grammar, I'll just direct them to the "teh" on their Certify page. 😀
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LOL! And the pre-medial one is good too!

Sorry about your grandma. 🙁

Way to go on your secondaries! 🙂

I've got a couple more I need to fill out but I've got some time since I'm waiting on my Sep. 7 MCAT for any more allo schools that send me secondaries. I'm complete at CCOM, ATSU-K, and DMU though 😀
 
Quix said:
In other news, my grandmother died yesterday, which has put a bit of a pallor on things. It's been expected, as she'd undergone a precipitous drop in physical and cognitive function over the past year (going from mobile to bedridden), aggravated CHF with a-fib, adipsia, no appetite, etc. It wasn't as sudden as my grandfather, so it's been easier to deal with, but it hits me from time to time.
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I'm sorry to hear that Quix. Please accept my condolences. 🙁
 
My pre-med committee interview is 8/15 -- the first one offered this cycle. My school seems way behind the curve on this one, but whatcha gonna do.

No secondary yet, but I'm not worried -- yet. The school where I applied EDP, last I heard, was wringing out the bugs in a new online application thingy. I can wait.

I, too, got the army email. Funny stuff.

Yesterday, though, I was working on the ambulance and the charge nurse at our facility called me into the ER. That's usually never a good thing. Long story short, my 5 y/o had fallen and broken his arm. He was in the ER of the hospital across town. It's a mid-shaft fracture of the right ulna and radius. When I walked into the exam room it was so obviously deformed. The worst part was x-ray. The tech asked him to rotate his arm for a new view and he turned his elbow but his hand didn't turn with it. I felt so badly for him. He was a real trooper, though. I would have whined 10x more than he did. At least when they set it they gave him versed and ketamine so he didn't feel or remember the reduction. Ah, what an emotional drain.

Q, I am sorry to hear about your grandmother.
 
Captain Fantastic said:
No secondary yet, but I'm not worried -- yet. The school where I applied EDP, last I heard, was wringing out the bugs in a new online application thingy. I can wait.
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I had been concerned about not hearing from them, but per the pre-allo secondary thread from last year, the 2007 secondaries went out on 8/10. Looks like they're just a little behind everyone else. (no comment)

Yesterday, though, I was working on the ambulance and the charge nurse at our facility called me into the ER. That's usually never a good thing. Long story short, my 5 y/o had fallen and broken his arm. He was in the ER of the hospital across town. It's a mid-shaft fracture of the right ulna and radius. When I walked into the exam room it was so obviously deformed. The worst part was x-ray. The tech asked him to rotate his arm for a new view and he turned his elbow but his hand didn't turn with it. I felt so badly for him. He was a real trooper, though. I would have whined 10x more than he did. At least when they set it they gave him versed and ketamine so he didn't feel or remember the reduction. Ah, what an emotional drain.
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awwwww... 🙁 hope he's doing better! is he going to need surgery?
 
Sorry to hear about your kid's arm. Best of luck.

So, no word from Drexel (my last allopathic program for which I need a secondary), and nothing from AACOMAS, let alone LECOM and PCOM. Yee-hah.
 
pingouin said:
I had been concerned about not hearing from them, but per the pre-allo secondary thread from last year, the 2007 secondaries went out on 8/10. Looks like they're just a little behind everyone else. (no comment)



awwwww... 🙁 hope he's doing better! is he going to need surgery?
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Got an secondary invite (email) from Mizzou today. 👍 Check your inbox.

Closed reduction in the ER. We've got an appointment with ortho on Monday to see if they're happy with the way things look. So surgery seems unlikely, but until ortho signs off it's not out of the question. 🙁
 
all LORs have been received and I just completed all my secondaries except for Drexel, Northwestern and Rush-I haven't heard from these guys yet.
 
Captain Fantastic said:
Got an secondary invite (email) from Mizzou today. 👍 Check your inbox.
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negatory 🙁 maybe it's because you're EDP?


Closed reduction in the ER. We've got an appointment with ortho on Monday to see if they're happy with the way things look. So surgery seems unlikely, but until ortho signs off it's not out of the question. 🙁
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*fingers crossed for no surgery*

although if you have to come, you know, *here*, let me know. 😉
 
Got my first rejection - Wake. Their screening process truly mystifies me.

Of the schools I've applied to, Tulane and Chicago started giving interviews out a week ago. I'm really sweating Tulane. Hope to get the opportunity to interview there, and I worry on a daily basis that they've already reviewed my app and passed me up. As for Chicago, if I get an interview there, I'll run right out and buy a lottery ticket.

Anyway, 21 secondaries down, 4 to go. For those of you just starting, there is light at the end of the tunnel. You'll be done with the mountain of essays all too soon and then just sit morosely hitting refresh on your inbox. Like me.
 
Just got an interview invite to George Washington!!!!!! So, there, Wake! SOOOOOOOOOOO excited!!! I was complete on 7/12 although my MCAT didn't come out until 7/18. Interview invite was by email. I hope you guys all get invites soon too!
 
pingouin said:
negatory 🙁 maybe it's because you're EDP?

*fingers crossed for no surgery*

although if you have to come, you know, *here*, let me know. 😉
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Yeah, they probably went through the EDP applications first. (My file has to be complete in the next few weeks!) Now that EDP applicants have their secondaries I imagine they'll start looking at the regular pool and opening files for those applicants. So, you'll probably see something soon. :luck:

Definitely keeping the fingers crossed, which makes it surprisingly difficult to type...
 
Ohiogeekgirl said:
Congrats! How soon is the interview?
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Thanks! It's in mid-Sept. They send you your interview date, and you have to call them if you need to reschedule. They only interview on T, Th and F. Also, no student hosts at this time. I think it's interesting that it's closed-file:

The interview day lasts approximately three to four-and-half hours. You will receive two interviews with Admission Committee members or representatives of the Committee on Admissions. Usually one interview will be with a current student. Each interview will last approximately 25 minutes. Please be aware that interviews are blind and your application will not be reviewed by your interviewers prior to your interview. It is our experience that we are able to provide essential information to your file that might otherwise be overlooked.

The day will include informal visits with students, a tour of the Medical School and GWU Hospital, and presentations on Financial Aid and the Student Opportunities Office. Lunch will be provided.
 
Quix said:
Sorry to hear about your kid's arm. Best of luck.

So, no word from Drexel (my last allopathic program for which I need a secondary), and nothing from AACOMAS, let alone LECOM and PCOM. Yee-hah.
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6 weeks to verify? Are you missing anything? It only took them a week or so to verify me. I didn't submit though until all my transcripts were in. That just don't make sense I tell ya!
 
pingouin said:
yeah it does :d :laugh:


congrats to phoenix for getting the first non-trad interview!!!!!! WTG!! :clap:
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Thanks pingouin. And day-um does it feel good!!!! I'm sure there will be tons of non-trad success stories this year. My theory is that we're becoming more and more attractive to med schools every year.

I remember a little over two years ago I told my parents that I was going to go back to school in order to apply to med school. Their response? "Aren't you too old to get into medical school?" HAR!!!!! Granted, this is just an interview, but obviously my 30-something years didn't scare GW right off the bat. And thanks to SDN, I've had the ammunition to shoot my parents down again and again about this, until they're now convinced that it's a given I'll get in. They're a lot more optimistic than I am, but it's good to hear every now and then when your sails are flagging. This forum in particular has been tremendously helpful. So glad I found it that day I was looking into whether I was too old or not....
 
I ended up adding 8 more schools to my aacomas app. I'm guessing my primary should go out to them this week since I've already been verified and stuff.

I just want to give myself the best shot and I'm really starting to like the DO way.
 
megboo said:
I ended up adding 8 more schools to my aacomas app. I'm guessing my primary should go out to them this week since I've already been verified and stuff.

I just want to give myself the best shot and I'm really starting to like the DO way.
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I've just finished my essays from Tufts, Temple and Northwestern. NU gave me a couple of weeks to finish the secondary so I needed to get on it ASAP. I am submitting it today. LOR's have been confirmed at all schools last week.
 
phoenix1 said:
Thanks pingouin. And day-um does it feel good!!!! I'm sure there will be tons of non-trad success stories this year. My theory is that we're becoming more and more attractive to med schools every year.

I remember a little over two years ago I told my parents that I was going to go back to school in order to apply to med school. Their response? "Aren't you too old to get into medical school?" HAR!!!!! Granted, this is just an interview, but obviously my 30-something years didn't scare GW right off the bat. And thanks to SDN, I've had the ammunition to shoot my parents down again and again about this, until they're now convinced that it's a given I'll get in. They're a lot more optimistic than I am, but it's good to hear every now and then when your sails are flagging. This forum in particular has been tremendously helpful. So glad I found it that day I was looking into whether I was too old or not....
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Good job! Hopefully, I get an interview from GW as well.
 
So close to being done with secondaries, thankfully. They're getting SO painful at this stage, it's hard to even focus on them. I get a lot more easily distracted than I did earlier. I'm still getting them done, happily due in part to reuse. But damn. Got Stritch in the mail a week ago, which was cool, and Stony's arrived late last week. Those are the only two still in my hands, and I'm waiting for Drexel, Upstate, and Emory. Then I will be done and on to writing update letters. :laugh:

I must say, while I appreciate the instant gratification that all the secondaries being online grants, I am quite jealous of people who did it all by snail mail. My days would be so much less excruciating if I could only check for invites/updates/completions/whatever once a day at the mailbox. Instead, with e-mail on my phone, I look at the freaking thing CONSTANTLY. It auto-polls every fifteen minutes, yet I *STILL* look if I'm not in a small meeting with people who could see my screen... aye...

Don't even get me started on how painful it's become to go to work every day...
 
Drexel in, Drexel out.

Only one glitch - it didn't save my status when I indicated if my education has been continuous (since I finished everything last year) - I wrote an explanation of what I've been doing over the past year, and what I will be doing this academic year. The essay appears on the application, but it looks like I said "Yes, my education has been continuous".

Now I just owe them and Georgetown a photo and I'll be good to go. I know Virtual Evals has my stuff, so it's all on them now. 🙂
 
In my inbox today! I go the second week in Sept. I was complete a few weeks ago, and I know their interviews start just after labor day. They also know I'm really, really interested, as I talked to them about maybe applying EDP.

So happy, I'll be dancin' for days 🙂

Interestingly, my state school (screens for secondaries) hasn't invited me to submit a secondary yet. Tick, tock.....

The big winner for messed up secondaries HAS to be G'town this year, their website was so dysfunctional, it had its own thread over in preallo. It really stinks for all those people who got their apps submitted super early, because they ended up just sitting around waiting for the silly thing to be fixed, instead of submitting before everyone else.

:luck: to all
 
montessori2md said:
In my inbox today! I go the second week in Sept. I was complete a few weeks ago, and I know their interviews start just after labor day. They also know I'm really, really interested, as I talked to them about maybe applying EDP.

So happy, I'll be dancin' for days 🙂

Interestingly, my state school (screens for secondaries) hasn't invited me to submit a secondary yet. Tick, tock.....

The big winner for messed up secondaries HAS to be G'town this year, their website was so dysfunctional, it had its own thread over in preallo. It really stinks for all those people who got their apps submitted super early, because they ended up just sitting around waiting for the silly thing to be fixed, instead of submitting before everyone else.

:luck: to all
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Congrats! The more I read up on GWU the more excited I've been getting too. And they were really nice about rescheduling - I switched mine quite easily from a Tuesday to a couple of days later on a Friday.

I wonder if people will admit to being on SDN on the interview trail. It'd be neat to bump into some of the other nontrads on here....
 
Quix said:
Drexel in, Drexel out.

Only one glitch - it didn't save my status when I indicated if my education has been continuous (since I finished everything last year) - I wrote an explanation of what I've been doing over the past year, and what I will be doing this academic year. The essay appears on the application, but it looks like I said "Yes, my education has been continuous".

Now I just owe them and Georgetown a photo and I'll be good to go. I know Virtual Evals has my stuff, so it's all on them now. 🙂
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Still no Drexel, and I was complete on 6/6. Maybe it's an in-state earlier send-out of the secondary?
 
Quick update here...

I was finally verified on 8/3. I submitted on 6/21 and they received my final transcript on 7/6. I had submitted my real transcripts earlier, and didn't think I needed this final one since it wasn't academic, but apparently I did. Anyway, after an almost interminable wait I was verified the day before my 33rd birthday (nice birthday present, huh?)

On the secondary front, I have completed 9 secondaries. I am waiting for 6-9 more (see if I make the screens at Loyola, Wake and Oregon). My committee letter for my postbac is MIA. It was supposed to arrive on August 1st, but...

Oh, and here is a good one. The day after I ask for a LOR from the doctor who is leading my clinical research in the emergency department class, I screw up on the job and get an email telling me to be more careful. I basically enrolled someone in an ACS study who ended up having gastritis (which isn't a problem, since you don't know until you do the rule out tests) but I did screw up and miss the fact that her CP was only for 1 minute...not 30 minutes!!! That ought to look good on my LOR. Actually, it will probably be fine since I haven't screwed up since the first week, but still, nice time to be an idiot!

Well, that is it. Just looked back at the old posts and let me send my condolences to Quix and crossing my finger's for the Captain's boy.
 
Lshapley said:
crossing my finger's for the Captain's boy.
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Ortho appt yesterday: the bones aren't perfectly aligned in one of the x-ray views, but the doc believes they'll remodel just fine without surgery. The student on the case was a biochem classmate of mine. It was strange/cool to see her on the other side.

I'm struggling with the "additional info" secondary essay. Being non-trad there are so many things I didn't have time to cover in much depth with the PS. Deciding which one to discuss in this essay is a real kicker. Or maybe I'm just procrastinating and blaming it on writers' block...

Only 8 weeks left in the EDP cycle. That is scary.
 
Lshapley said:
Oh, and here is a good one. The day after I ask for a LOR from the doctor who is leading my clinical research in the emergency department class, I screw up on the job and get an email telling me to be more careful. I basically enrolled someone in an ACS study who ended up having gastritis (which isn't a problem, since you don't know until you do the rule out tests) but I did screw up and miss the fact that her CP was only for 1 minute...not 30 minutes!!! That ought to look good on my LOR. Actually, it will probably be fine since I haven't screwed up since the first week, but still, nice time to be an idiot!
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LOL. I have a feeling that is exactly what my 3rd and 4th years will be like. 😳
 
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