2011 Nontrad Applicants' Progress Thread

Discover Your Odds of Getting into Medical School
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ArkansasRanger said:
Why is that? I have no innate interest in chemistry or physics. The life and earth sciences, however, are quite fun. If not a requirement, I (like many) wouldn't be taking these courses. 🙂
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All doctors don't have similar philosophies of life. I just don't care for complaining. I'm turning into a middle-aged Pollyanna.
 
EdLongshanks said:
I hope that you find some way to enjoy the next two and a half years. I know that there is an element of dues-paying involved in gaining the desirable goal of being an attending physician, but it worries me when someone complains a lot about the path.
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EdLongshanks said:
All doctors don't have similar philosophies of life. I just don't care for complaining. I'm turning into a middle-aged Pollyanna.
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For some people, their philosophy of life is complaining about the path🙂 It shouldn't worry you that someone's process is completely different than yours...if yours can exist, so can theirs.
 
CougarMD said:
For some people, their philosophy of life is complaining about the path🙂 It shouldn't worry you that someone's process is completely different than yours...if yours can exist, so can theirs.
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Yeah. I suppose. It's not terribly attractive, but I suppose it is valid.
 
Self proclaimed long-shot throwing his hat into the ring...

Here we go...

D712
 
I just submitted my AMCAS about 10 minutes ago. 😱 😀 :scared: 😍
 
EdLongshanks said:
You're in good company. We are all neurotics here.
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I figured as much. Its good to be in a group of your own kind. Thanks for the reassurance everyone. This is a marathon and not a race, guess I'll have to batten down the hatches and ride this storm with patience. 🙂
 
so does having 4-5 different transcripts and having alot of courses (over 200 credit hours) listed slow down the verification process?
 
Squarely said:
so does having 4-5 different transcripts and having alot of courses (over 200 credit hours) listed slow down the verification process?
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It can. EdLongshanks had a scenario where one of his transcripts was not scanned properly and they had to bump him to the back of the verification queue. Assuming everything is scanned properly it doesn't seem to matter. That is how it worked in my case, at any rate. So, it could matter. Stay on top of your application progress to make sure everything is running smoothly.
 
verified today. Submitted 6/10. Excited to start working on secondaries soon.
 
Transcripts all in, (curse you, quarter system!) and finally got to hit submit! Woot! Now I can twiddle my thumbs for a couple weeks waiting for "verified" to pop up. Good luck, everybody.
 
Ok, my MCAT scores came in - a 33S - 13 VR, 11 PS, 9 BS. The 9 in BS was a surprise killer. I'm just now taking organic chemistry in the summer, so I will retake on July 17th and improve it, but it looks like my Ivy League dreams just floated out the window.
 
I got my first secondary 🙂 A little breather just occurred and now I'll wait for the others. This marathon is on!
 
EdLongshanks said:
Ok, my MCAT scores came in - a 33S - 13 VR, 11 PS, 9 BS. The 9 in BS was a surprise killer. I'm just now taking organic chemistry in the summer, so I will retake on July 17th and improve it, but it looks like my Ivy League dreams just floated out the window.
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Is that 9 on the BS going to kill me everywhere? Does this mean I need to apply much more broadly?
 
EdLongshanks said:
Is that 9 on the BS going to kill me everywhere? Does this mean I need to apply much more broadly?
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I don't know dude, I think that any pause the 9 in Bio would give them, the 13 in Verbal is going to blow out of the water.

They can teach you science in medical school. They can't teach you reading comprehension.

I will say though that after repeated bad diagnostics in Bio after I finally took OChem and Biochem my scores skyrocketed. So if you do retake you should be good as long as you can be sure you will hold on to the other numbers.
 
ChemMed said:
I got my first secondary 🙂 A little breather just occurred and now I'll wait for the others. This marathon is on!
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Good luck! 🙂 I thought they didn't send out primaries until June 25th though... Is that just MD?

Verified through AMCAS 6/21 👍 I'm a WAY long shot, but here we go anyway 🙂
 
If you know you can do better then go for it. My overall is also a 33 and the subscores are nearly identical except I have the 9 in verbal and biology is my strong area. In my opinion it wasn't worth retaking even though I was getting 10-12s in verbal on all my practice exams and I scored (I think) 3 points lower on my actual exam than in practice. Ultimately it is up to you, but I'd caution you that 1) you could score lower and 2) you already have a competitive score. I don't think many schools out there have a 10th percentile Bio subscore higher than 9 (do any?).
 
Just verified today! Couldn't be happier, I submitted 6/11 with 4 transcripts, but AMCAS turned it around quickly. Applying to DO schools this weekend! Application season is seriously stressful huh? 😳
 
Simplify said:
If you know you can do better then go for it. My overall is also a 33 and the subscores are nearly identical except I have the 9 in verbal and biology is my strong area. In my opinion it wasn't worth retaking even though I was getting 10-12s in verbal on all my practice exams and I scored (I think) 3 points lower on my actual exam than in practice. Ultimately it is up to you, but I'd caution you that 1) you could score lower and 2) you already have a competitive score. I don't think many schools out there have a 10th percentile Bio subscore higher than 9 (do any?).
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You're right. Thanks for the advice.
 
Ok, my second secondary is now in! I just submitted both of them. All of a sudden I realize that my wallet is going to have moths flying out of it by the end of this cycle.
 
ChemMed said:
Ok, my second secondary is now in! I just submitted both of them. All of a sudden I realize that my wallet is going to have moths flying out of it by the end of this cycle.
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How do you get a secondary in when AMCAS hasn't even started sending the primary yet?
 
EdLongshanks said:
How do you get a secondary in when AMCAS hasn't even started sending the primary yet?
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See Post #70. 😛

Aaaaaaand my verbal section is just no good. Sitting this year out. Good luck everyone!
 
I just got my first secondary. Yay! 😀

It's from a school that is supposed to screen primaries...I'm guessing they either didn't screen this year, or didn't screen very hard :laugh:
 
Congrats!!! I got my first secondary today also! It was definitely from a school that doesn't screen, but I don't care. Bring it on! 👍
 
Hi guys! 26 y/o non-traditional student here. I'm taking the mcat on July 8th (ahhh, freaking out) and finishing up my prereqs this summer and during the fall.

I'm in Texas, and my TMDSAS app is already out to the schools, but I haven't really done much for AMCAS yet, and haven't started on my secondaries for the Texas schools. I was planning on waiting until after the MCAT to knock all of that stuff out, but after reading some stuff on these boards I'm wondering if that's a mistake? I'm also taking o-chem 2 and anatomy this summer, so I'm pretty bogged down at the moment, and don't want to divert time away from these last 2 weeks of studying for the mcat. Thoughts??
 
wrigley09 said:
Hi guys! 26 y/o non-traditional student here. I'm taking the mcat on July 8th (ahhh, freaking out) and finishing up my prereqs this summer and during the fall.

I'm in Texas, and my TMDSAS app is already out to the schools, but I haven't really done much for AMCAS yet, and haven't started on my secondaries for the Texas schools. I was planning on waiting until after the MCAT to knock all of that stuff out, but after reading some stuff on these boards I'm wondering if that's a mistake? I'm also taking o-chem 2 and anatomy this summer, so I'm pretty bogged down at the moment, and don't want to divert time away from these last 2 weeks of studying for the mcat. Thoughts??
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I would say that your life would be easier if you start your AMCAS (open it, get an applicant ID number) and list all of your schools attended, and order your transcripts. That way, after the MCAT, you can finish and submit and you won't be waiting weeks for transcripts to get in so that you can get verified. Everything else can probably wait 2 weeks. It may take that long for the transcripts to be ordered, arrived, and applied to your application anyway🙂

It is true that the sooner you submit, the better, but without transcripts, submitting (maybe?) is pointless. It is unclear to me if you are even put in the queue if the transcripts haven't arrived.
 
@ edlongshanks -- the 9 in BS will not kill you. I am a reapplicant, but everywhere last year said the MCAT score was not the problem, and mine was 33 too (but with the 9 in PS -- damn math without a calculator!). Just look spectacular in other areas of the application, and it won't matter much.

@ everyone worried about having a lot of transcripts -- I think I take the cake on this one. I have 8. Yes, that's EIGHT. That's a whole lotta transcripts. Surprisingly, it never came up as an issue, last year or this year (so far :xf:). So don't worry so much about 3 or 4, ok? :laugh:

If I learned anything from last year, it is that stressing so hard about every tiny little detail will age you even more quickly and make you an angry, cynical person that flips out at every little thing. People aren't made for being in panic-mode 24/7 for a year. So until there is actually something to stress about (like secondaries or imminent interviews) just breathe, relax, do some yoga, drink a glass of wine, whatever it is that you do to chill. You've done all you can for the time being. Just my $0.02. Having said that, GL to everyone!!! :luck:
 
CougarMD said:
I would say that your life would be easier if you start your AMCAS (open it, get an applicant ID number) and list all of your schools attended, and order your transcripts. That way, after the MCAT, you can finish and submit and you won't be waiting weeks for transcripts to get in so that you can get verified. Everything else can probably wait 2 weeks. It may take that long for the transcripts to be ordered, arrived, and applied to your application anyway🙂

It is true that the sooner you submit, the better, but without transcripts, submitting (maybe?) is pointless. It is unclear to me if you are even put in the queue if the transcripts haven't arrived.
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Thanks for the advice. I'll try to get that done the next time I take a break from studying.
 
teddy bear doc said:
@ edlongshanks -- the 9 in BS will not kill you. I am a reapplicant, but everywhere last year said the MCAT score was not the problem, and mine was 33 too (but with the 9 in PS -- damn math without a calculator!). Just look spectacular in other areas of the application, and it won't matter much.

@ everyone worried about having a lot of transcripts -- I think I take the cake on this one. I have 8. Yes, that's EIGHT. That's a whole lotta transcripts. Surprisingly, it never came up as an issue, last year or this year (so far :xf:). So don't worry so much about 3 or 4, ok? :laugh:

If I learned anything from last year, it is that stressing so hard about every tiny little detail will age you even more quickly and make you an angry, cynical person that flips out at every little thing. People aren't made for being in panic-mode 24/7 for a year. So until there is actually something to stress about (like secondaries or imminent interviews) just breathe, relax, do some yoga, drink a glass of wine, whatever it is that you do to chill. You've done all you can for the time being. Just my $0.02. Having said that, GL to everyone!!! :luck:
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I had 8 too....all was well🙂 I was verified 6/7 after submitting 6/2
 
teddy bear doc said:
Glad to know I'm not alone in my collegiate wandering. 😛
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We are better people for it😉

Can I ask, what feedback did you get from schools last cycle? If it is too personal I totally understand. It just sounds like something that may help other people in their process.
 
CougarMD said:
We are better people for it😉

Can I ask, what feedback did you get from schools last cycle? If it is too personal I totally understand. It just sounds like something that may help other people in their process.
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Sure I can share, but it wasn't very consistent, so I came away kind of confused as to what I should be doing differently.

A couple schools gave the standard "you're OOS and we don't take many OOS" response.

One place was pretty much a reach and probably not a great fit anyway (a research school when the last thing I am interested in is research. Don't really know why I applied there in the first place).

One place said that I "didn't really stay in touch" with them. I just wanted to say, "wtf? You basically said don't call us, we'll call you about 18,000 times..." Seriously. It was bolded and in all caps on the secondary, so kind of misleading. Guess I should've just called them a million times anyway?

One place never got back to me after repeated attempts to get exit counseling.

The worst was my top choice, which gave the very vague response of me having questionable commitment to medicine, which was followed up by the recommendation to get more clinical experience and the assurance that my chances would be great this year as a reapplicant. That was really frustrating, cause to me it makes the application process seem a heck of a lot like hazing. Like, hey, jump through a few more hoops, and THEN you will be cool enough to go here. Granted, I know that might not be the case, but that is how I perceived it at the time. Regardless, they are still my top choice and I would give my left arm to go there. 😳

I was really surprised that the multiple transfers never came up, though. I honestly thought that was going to be the main reason from every place. The only comment I got about it was in the interviews. Each one started with, "well, it looks like you have a VERY interesting story to tell...." :laugh:
 
teddy bear doc said:
Sure I can share, but it wasn't very consistent, so I came away kind of confused as to what I should be doing differently.

A couple schools gave the standard "you're OOS and we don't take many OOS" response.

One place was pretty much a reach and probably not a great fit anyway (a research school when the last thing I am interested in is research. Don't really know why I applied there in the first place).

One place said that I "didn't really stay in touch" with them. I just wanted to say, "wtf? You basically said don't call us, we'll call you about 18,000 times..." Seriously. It was bolded and in all caps on the secondary, so kind of misleading. Guess I should've just called them a million times anyway?

One place never got back to me after repeated attempts to get exit counseling.

The worst was my top choice, which gave the very vague response of me having questionable commitment to medicine, which was followed up by the recommendation to get more clinical experience and the assurance that my chances would be great this year as a reapplicant. That was really frustrating, cause to me it makes the application process seem a heck of a lot like hazing. Like, hey, jump through a few more hoops, and THEN you will be cool enough to go here. Granted, I know that might not be the case, but that is how I perceived it at the time. Regardless, they are still my top choice and I would give my left arm to go there. 😳

I was really surprised that the multiple transfers never came up, though. I honestly thought that was going to be the main reason from every place. The only comment I got about it was in the interviews. Each one started with, "well, it looks like you have a VERY interesting story to tell...." :laugh:
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You are not the first person to say this at ALL! I have heard it several times now, and all from non-trads. And actually, it is one of the reasons that I have taken the attitude that I will give it my all, but I will not be disappointed if I am reapplying next year.

It reminds me of the Sex and The City episode where Charlotte is trying to convert to Judaism and the Rabbi keeps telling her no. And Harry tells her "Honey, they have to say no the first time...they want you to show you're really committed" and Charlotte is like "Oh....So they're "Rules" Rabbis.....well I know how to play "The Rules". They don't know what they're messing with...I INVENTED "The Rules"".

Keep on truckin'!!🙂 It sounds like you're doing great (because you at least got interviews) and will do even better this season.
 
CougarMD said:
You are not the first person to say this at ALL! I have heard it several times now, and all from non-trads. And actually, it is one of the reasons that I have taken the attitude that I will give it my all, but I will not be disappointed if I am reapplying next year.

It reminds me of the Sex and The City episode where Charlotte is trying to convert to Judaism and the Rabbi keeps telling her no. And Harry tells her "Honey, they have to say no the first time...they want you to show you're really committed" and Charlotte is like "Oh....So they're "Rules" Rabbis.....well I know how to play "The Rules". They don't know what they're messing with...I INVENTED "The Rules"".

Keep on truckin'!!🙂 It sounds like you're doing great (because you at least got interviews) and will do even better this season.
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That's pretty ridiculous if they say that to non-trads. Hello, I quit my cushy job to do this. I gave up a disposable income and nice things to be a poor college kid again and try to do this. Lord help the person who tells me that I'm not committed to a career in medicine, because they might get slapped.
 
wrigley09 said:
That's pretty ridiculous if they say that to non-trads. Hello, I quit my cushy job to do this. I gave up a disposable income and nice things to be a poor college kid again and try to do this. Lord help the person who tells me that I'm not committed to a career in medicine, because they might get slapped.
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Amen!!! I couldn't agree more.

And thank you for the kind words/thoughts Cougar! I am rooting for you too. No one should have to go through this more than once. As I said before, it ages you tremendously. As if anyone in THIS forum needs help with that... :laugh:

To all the pre-med geezers out there: please don't be offended by that last comment. I fully consider myself to be one of your brethren. 😉 GL to everyone in the hopeful class of 2015! :luck:
 
I agree with wrigley. Non-trads work their butts off to prove they're committed to medicine. We often go to school full time while working full time, plus volunteering. I did this for 2 years, and if I get any interviews and they say something to me about my commitment to medicine, I'll tell them all about the full year I went barely speaking to my husband because we never saw each other.

Good luck everyone. There's no doubt in my mind you're all committed! :bow:
 
It just sucks that if we get the "not committed enough" comment we can't just blow the gasket because we pretty much have to reapply next year. Maybe, just maybe, if we did spazz out and give them a piece of our mind as to why we are committed they'll interpret that as passion and admit us. 50/50 shot, what are your bets? LOL
 
Scorpiomd said:
It just sucks that if we get the "not committed enough" comment we can't just blow the gasket because we pretty much have to reapply next year. Maybe, just maybe, if we did spazz out and give them a piece of our mind as to why we are committed they'll interpret that as passion and admit us. 50/50 shot, what are your bets? LOL
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Well, if I get that comment, I'm not going to freak out on them, but I'm definitely going to respectfully tell them why they're wrong. And maybe this is just my mcat stress talking, but if someone was that shortsighted to actually say that to me, I'm not sure that I'd want to go to their school anyway.
 
Actually, it's funny. In a way, I did say that to them and explained (in an extremely calm and respectful manner, of course) that it was very frustrating to hear since I was VERY committed. They responded with, "we want to see commitment in your actions, not your words," which mentally brought me back to the ACTION of going back to school, etc. But at that point I felt it was better to just thank them for their suggestions and tell them I would be looking forward to a better cycle this year. After explaining it once and them apparently not seeing the correlation that actions HAD been taken to prove my commitment, I didn't want to argue the point and get on the adcom's bad side. Basically, it ended up with them saying, "Jump" and me asking "How high?" :laugh:
 
wrigley09 said:
Well, if I get that comment, I'm not going to freak out on them, but I'm definitely going to respectfully tell them why they're wrong. And maybe this is just my mcat stress talking, but if someone was that shortsighted to actually say that to me, I'm not sure that I'd want to go to their school anyway.
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Exactly. I was not planning on jumping up and down screaming at them if it was brought up 😉 However, I have my response ready for that question, just in case it comes up. I mean, I started out as a biomed engineering major, ended up graduating with a german major, and now I teach AP chemistry.

I'm a little jumpy anyway, but there is a strange reason to the insanity that happens to be a long winding path to med school. Not everyone has the luxury of a straight path. 😳
 
I just submitted my AMCAS application (Early Decision) to my one and only school I am applying. I hope to see a secondary soon. Anybody else on this forum a PA-C?
 
Just a reminder folks that for most schools secondary prompts don't change from year to year so you don't need to wait for the secondary to arrive to start considering/drafting what you're gonna write. Do searches in the pre-allo or pre-osteo forums to find out previous years' prompts.
 
wrigley09 said:
That's pretty ridiculous if they say that to non-trads. Hello, I quit my cushy job to do this. I gave up a disposable income and nice things to be a poor college kid again and try to do this. Lord help the person who tells me that I'm not committed to a career in medicine, because they might get slapped.
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Telling applicants that they need to show more commitment to medicine is *not* something that medical schools exclusively say to nontrads. There are plenty of trads who get told the same thing, especially the ones with few ECs. Med schools want to see that you have enough clinical exposure to have some idea of what you're getting yourself into. Sure, you've quit your job, but that isn't specific evidence that you are committed to medicine. It's only specific evidence that you gave up your old job because you want to do something else.

The best advice I can give to those of you who are reapplicants and were told to get more clinical experience is to get more clinical experience. At my school, the admissions office will keep a file on reapplicants, and if you do reapply, they will look to see if you took their advice on how to improve your app. It's not going to work in your favor if you didn't.
 
That's a strange position to be in. One person could have x clinical experience and know that the field is one for them, yet someone in admissions could arbitrarily make the statement that the clinical experience wasn't enough, yet another person with y experiences could fly through admissions given other factors. I could go back for two years of clinical experience or get no more experience and my opinion wouldn't change.

I think the whole experience thing must regional too. You're pretty much out of luck if you want to go volunteer at some clinic somewhere (there aren't many to begin with), and the hospital volunteers, dubbed "auxillary" work the gift shop and run errands. They're all retired people. You can either shadow (good luck doing that) or be a paid employee.
 
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