I just took a look at the pre-allo forums and I feel completely demoralized. I haven't heard back from any schools yet and I'm starting to think that I am destined to be a skilled manual laborer for life. Sorry to be such a downer, but I think today I feel more scared, anxious, sad, etc. Just venting I guess, congrats to everyone and goodluck to everyone who is feeling the same way as me.
p.s. Sorry again for being such a downer. I can only vent here, In my real life I put on a face of confidence that I'm on my way to medical school.
Serves you right for spending too much time over there!
In all seriousness, extended visits to the pre-allo forum are probably not the best thing for a nontrad's sanity. For starters, many pre-allos freely admit to being neurotic and paranoid--who needs to catch that disease? And second, our lives and challenges are so different from theirs that it would be stupid to compare the two, which suggests that it doesn't make a lot of sense to compare our med school admissions prowess to theirs either.
For example, there are plenty of posts in pre-allo from people lamenting that they have "only 3 interviews" or even "only one acceptance" so far. Just two days ago, I saw a post from a student who has had 8 (!) interviews already, but claims to be afraid that she blew them all and won't get in anywhere. For my own part, I got my first (and so far only) interview invite last week, and I'm thrilled that I'm no longer at zero! And there are plenty of nontrads over here with multiple interviews, and I haven't heard a word of complaint, lamentation or paranoia. We actually have that thing called "perspective." That's why nontrads have our own applicant progress thread, interview thread and acceptance thread: we understand that our achievements are different, and we want to celebrate them here, where people will understand what they mean to us. And even for those who don't have "official" achievements to post yet, I think that we're all celebrating the fact that we're in there trying.
Yes, we all have our moments of feeling down from time to time. (I went through a really big one several weeks ago, but I vented here and the others helped me get out of it and start moving forward again.) Yes, this application process would make anyone feel like two cents. But the LAST thing you need is to compare yourself to a bunch of college kids and think you're a slouch because you didn't get 3 acceptances on October 15th like some of them did (or say they did).
I would hasten to say that I've met a few really nice, friendly pre-allos, but I think the overall atmosphere in that forum, especially in the height of application season, is such that nontrads should definitely take it in small doses.
Good luck with your apps. If you want to tell us about your story or get specific advice about your situation, feel free.