2012-2013 Panic Thread

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Im not panicking but Im slightly worried for a different reason.

I only applied to the schools in Texas, so far I have 4 II but I feel like my stats are so average that I need to be a shining star on interview days...

Also Im sure you guys will get interviews dont stress, I honestly didn't feel like i was going to get any and I've gotten 4, and my last one I just received on Thursday so they are still sending them out.

Good luck everyone
 
One of my top choices just rejected my payment...

Damn you UCSD!! Why can't you just take a credit payment like a normal school?? 😡
 
TheShaker said:
One of my top choices just rejected my payment...

Damn you UCSD!! Why can't you just take a credit payment like a normal school?? 😡
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You'd rather they take your money then reject you?
 
Ok, I am panicking. Most of my applications were complete the end of August, beginning of September due to my MCAT score. My stats are good I believe, 3.8, 35-38 MCAT (anonymity)

I was relieved after my first II a week ago at Pitt. Now I find myself refreshing my e-mail every five minutes. This is worse than when I was waiting for my MCAT scores.

So how many interviews are around the minimum to feel safe, like 5?
 
BurghStudent said:
Ok, I am panicking. Most of my applications were complete the end of August, beginning of September due to my MCAT score. My stats are good I believe, 3.8, 35-38 MCAT (anonymity)

I was relieved after my first II a week ago at Pitt. Now I find myself refreshing my e-mail every five minutes. This is worse than when I was waiting for my MCAT scores.

So how many interviews are around the minimum to feel safe, like 5?
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Probably depends on the school and how selective they are with interviews. I'd sure feel a lot less panicky with five interviews...
 
BurghStudent said:
Ok, I am panicking. Most of my applications were complete the end of August, beginning of September due to my MCAT score. My stats are good I believe, 3.8, 35-38 MCAT (anonymity)

I was relieved after my first II a week ago at Pitt. Now I find myself refreshing my e-mail every five minutes. This is worse than when I was waiting for my MCAT scores.

So how many interviews are around the minimum to feel safe, like 5?
Click to expand...

I believe the average conversion rate is about 1 acceptance for every 3 interviews. So I would bet that with 4 interviews you *should* be just fine.
 
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i am hope this last week of september will be promising.
so quiet.
 
kuntash said:
I believe the average conversion rate is about 1 acceptance for every 3 interviews. So I would bet that with 4 interviews you *should* be just fine.
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Obviously not every place you interview will accept you, but I wonder why the acceptance rate isn't higher for interviews.

If you qualify for an interview then they must like your app right? So does this mean they jus didn't like your interview?
 
def1 said:
Obviously not every place you interview will accept you, but I wonder why the acceptance rate isn't higher for interviews.

If you qualify for an interview then they must like your app right? So does this mean they jus didn't like your interview?
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There isn't much variable cost from the school's perspective with the number of applicants on interview days beyond lunches and folders. With that said, schools don't have much of a reason to decrease their # of interviewee's except due to mere time constraints.

IMO, if schools had to pay for the interviewee's airfare/etc (i.e. had increased variable costs), our odds would be MUCH more reasonable with ~80% post-interview acceptance rates across the board.

Don't worry though, that travel expense coverage will never happen for non-MD/PhD admissions.
 
Blais said:
There isn't much variable cost from the school's perspective with the number of applicants on interview days beyond lunches and folders. With that said, schools don't have much of a reason to decrease their # of interviewee's except due to mere time constraints.

IMO, if schools had to pay for the interviewee's airfare/etc (i.e. had increased variable costs), our odds would be MUCH more reasonable with ~80% post-interview acceptance rates across the board.

Don't worry though, that travel expense coverage will never happen for non-MD/PhD admissions.
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That makes sense, but sucks for us that have to pay the travel fees if we aren't really that high on the list of interest for these schools.

I mean obviously getting an interview is good and we should be grateful for the opportunity but it makes me even more nervous knowing that the interview is really more of a place to break you then to make you.

In one way I feel a little relaxed at the fact that I've received 4 II so far but at the same time its still pretty nerve wrecking knowing how many other people are interviewing and how my stats are probably not as competitive as some of them.
 
def1 said:
That makes sense, but sucks for us that have to pay the travel fees if we aren't really that high on the list of interest for these schools.

I mean obviously getting an interview is good and we should be grateful for the opportunity but it makes me even more nervous knowing that the interview is really more of a place to break you then to make you.

In one way I feel a little relaxed at the fact that I've received 4 II so far but at the same time its still pretty nerve wrecking knowing how many other people are interviewing and how my stats are probably not as competitive as some of them.
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Agreed. Some schools aren't too bad; brown and uva accept ~70% of interviewees. Other schools are ridiculous; duke a couple years ago and mayo accept only ~20% of those they interview... that is selfish and unacceptable, IMO.

(to duke's credit, I think they have decreased the number of interviewee's...but that might be an effect from switching to mmi)
 
Blais said:
Agreed. Some schools aren't too bad; brown and uva accept ~70% of interviewees. Other schools are ridiculous; duke a couple years ago and mayo accept only ~20% of those they interview... that is selfish and unacceptable, IMO.

(to duke's credit, I think they have decreased the number of interviewee's...but that might be an effect from switching to mmi)
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Mayo is ~ 80 acceptances out of 300 interviews (27%). That's not much worse than most schools.

Duke is around 20% though, I believe.
 
Hopeful101 said:
If I ran a medical school, i would accept all you guys.
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220px-Ross_University_School_of_Medicine_Logo.png


Tots said:
Well after I read the post about trains I was panicking......about trains =X me and trains do not get along anymore.
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choochoo would be so disappointed in you.
 
Blais said:
Mayo: 78 accepted, 346 interviewed. So really ~22%.

20%, 27%, 22%. Semantics. Whatever they all suck, lol.
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I'm nearby, so they might as well give me a pity interview anyways because it'd be cheap, right? :laugh:
 
Blais said:
Mayo: 78 accepted, 346 interviewed. So really ~22%.

20%, 27%, 22%. Semantics. Whatever they all suck, lol.
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Mayo does suck. Getting out to Rochester, Minnesota isn't exactly easy or cheap especially if you're not from the midwest.

You'd think Mayo would set up a skype interview first or something else to narrow down the field before asking people to spend hundreds of dollars to visit them.

Schools like Mayo don't care about their applicants. We're poor college students, many of us with a lot of student loan debt. Not exactly rolling in money. Who are these people on their admissions committee that think this is fair or right? They clearly didn't have to pay for college themselves.
 
pasiley said:
Mayo does suck. Getting out to Rochester, Minnesota isn't exactly easy or cheap especially if you're not from the midwest.

You'd think Mayo would set up a skype interview first or something else to narrow down the field before asking people to spend hundreds of dollars to visit them.

Schools like Mayo don't care about their applicants. We're poor college students, many of us with a lot of student loan debt. Not exactly rolling in money. Who are these people on their admissions committee that think this is fair or right? They clearly didn't have to pay for college themselves.
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The school that by default immediately gives 50%-75% off tuition really doesn't care about their students...

...right.
 
PreMedOrDead said:
The school that by default immediately gives 50%-75% off tuition really doesn't care about their students...

...right.
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I know once you get in, they are pretty generous but they clearly don't care about their applicants. It would be a minimal expense on their part (compared to what applicants spend on interview costs) to set up one more screen before the interview. It's like buying a really expensive lottery. If you win, you save thousands but most people who interview will just get shafted with an expensive credit card bill.
 
pasiley said:
I know once you get in, they are pretty generous but they clearly don't care about their applicants. It would be a minimal expense on their part (compared to what applicants spend on interview costs) to set up one more screen before the interview. It's like buying a really expensive lottery. If you win, you save thousands but most people who interview will just get shafted with an expensive credit card bill.
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They already do screen extensively before the interview. They get ~6k applications, yet only interview 300.

The real difficulty Mayo faces is the fact they have a 42 person MD class. That's the school you're applying for, and if you're not willing to accept the fact you're probably going to get rejected, then don't apply. You choose to be an applicant to the school not them. In no way do they try to hide their application numbers.
 
PreMedOrDead said:
They already do screen extensively before the interview. They get ~6k applications, yet only interview 300.

The real difficulty Mayo faces is the fact they have a 42 person MD class. That's the school you're applying for, and if you're not willing to accept the fact you're probably going to get rejected, then don't apply. You choose to be an applicant to the school not them. In no way do they try to hide their application numbers.
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That pretty much sums up why I didn't apply. I applied to 3 schools with the money I saved from Mayo's price tag for them to screen my primary app. The 3 schools I applied to all pre-screened before I paid any secondary fee and have much higher acceptance ratios. A much better investment for my situation.

Schools wonder why they have no economic diversity in their classes. They price a lot of people out during the application process. If mayo only wants people who can afford their ridiculous costs to apply, that's fine. I am not what they are looking for. It just sucks that a school so generous in scholarships makes it so difficult for low to middle income students to apply.
 
Have interviews at both my top school and safety school now, so I'm pretty much elated. 😀 No more panic!
 
BurghStudent said:
Ok, I am panicking. Most of my applications were complete the end of August, beginning of September due to my MCAT score. My stats are good I believe, 3.8, 35-38 MCAT (anonymity)

I was relieved after my first II a week ago at Pitt. Now I find myself refreshing my e-mail every five minutes. This is worse than when I was waiting for my MCAT scores.

So how many interviews are around the minimum to feel safe, like 5?
Click to expand...

You applied to mostly top 20's. 😱
 
TheShaker said:
You applied to mostly top 20's. 😱
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Well, I got a few decent schools in there, like Temple, Drexel, UConn, Maryland etc. I don't know, I applied mostly based on location. I want to stay in or near New England. And, NE happens to have all these Ivies. My own "state school" is an Ivy.
 
Tots said:
Well after I read the post about trains I was panicking......about trains =X me and trains do not get along anymore.
Click to expand...

Haha, what happened on your train voyage? If I have to go to one of the Chicago schools I kinda wanted to take the train. I think it would be fun... 😀

...No? 🙁
 
BurghStudent said:
Well, I got a few decent schools in there, like Temple, Drexel, UConn, Maryland etc. I don't know, I applied mostly based on location. I want to stay in or near New England. And, NE happens to have all these Ivies. My own "state school" is an Ivy.
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You have great stats, I'm sure you'll get in to many different schools 🙂. Although some of these "decent" schools are pretty hard to get into--and UConn and Maryland are very selective for OOS I believe.
 
I have a friend on an adcom who just reviewed a file that was complete at the end of July. Fear not, fellow premeds!
 
woodside9 said:
You have great stats, I'm sure you'll get in to many different schools 🙂. Although some of these "decent" schools are pretty hard to get into--and UConn and Maryland are very selective for OOS I believe.
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Thanks.

Yes, perhaps that requires a little rephrasing. I guess sometimes it seems this or that medical school is better or worse than another. In the end, they're all hard to get into. That's why we apply to so many, amiright?
 
Sitting pretty at 3 rejections, no interviews, and a whole lot of quiet from all the other schools...seems like September is a slow month for med schools?
 
medicalapp12 said:
Sitting pretty at 3 rejections, no interviews, and a whole lot of quiet from all the other schools...seems like September is a slow month for med schools?
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I would also like to know something to this effect. Are the "rates" for certain months fairly similar year to year? Does anyone know?
 
punkedoutriffs said:
You're semi-late, but I feel like you'll get in somewhere no problem. 34 secondaries in a week though bro? It took me a month, and I didn't have anything else going on. If you could do it, I tip my hat to you.
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Hahaha yeah it'll be tough- but many of the schools I applied to have easy secondaries (chosen on purpose! like 6 didn't have any!)

I also have a challenge/diversity/autobiography essay already done (with 15 sec already submitted) , so I think I'll have them all done by 1st week of october (hopefully!)
 
My first interview is near the end of October and I've started to feel very nervous now. Having no idea how things will go during that 2-day interview and how I will be grilled with my research stuff gives me a scary feeling. Also, because I have low MCAT, I will probably receive very few interview invites this cycle. And thus, the pressure that I have to do well in EVERY interview simply increases my panicking level.
 
kryptonian said:
My first interview is near the end of October and I've started to feel very nervous now. Having no idea how things will go during that 2-day interview and how I will be grilled with my research stuff gives me a scary feeling. Also, because I have low MCAT, I will probably receive very few interview invites this cycle. And thus, the pressure that I have to do well in EVERY interview simply increases my panicking level.
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How low?
 
kryptonian said:
Let's just say almost borderline. Are you in the same boat of MCAT ?
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Yeah, I'm way below the competitive line. But I've accepted if I don't get in this cycle. I'll just retake the MCAT a third time and apply to all Texas schools next cycle 😉
 
punkedoutriffs said:
I would also like to know something to this effect. Are the "rates" for certain months fairly similar year to year? Does anyone know?
Click to expand...

Actually, yeah, I have heard some stuff from schools saying they're slowing down a bit. From a Pritzker adcom member's twitter: "Interviews&committee meetings begin so @UCPritzker screening slows.Hoping to read yours soon!" I'm sure this varies widely, but yeah, it makes sense that they'd slow down a bit now that they've got more on their plates.
 
So I had my first stress dream of the season since MCAT time. This one was really more vivid than usual. As most of us know, Drexel probably has one ******ed monkey sending out their secondaries one by one so it's understandable that they're quite slow on secondary invites. I'm still waiting for mine so it popped into my dream last night.

So anyways, I finally got the invite and clicked the totally legit looking link which brought me to a website littered with Marvel vs. Capcom characters (which is likely because the other day was my first time playing that game in years). Anyways, the link gives me a virus and somehow a hacker finds my AAMC information, emails every adcom of every school I applied to and insults them, and then my application gets rejected from every school. I cried. :cry: Then my ex-gf comes in somewhere and now I feel weird. :lame:

And that is the cool story of my withdrawal from Drexel.
 
TheShaker said:
So I had my first stress dream of the season since MCAT time. This one was really more vivid than usual. As most of us know, Drexel probably has one ******ed monkey sending out their secondaries one by one so it's understandable that they're quite slow on secondary invites. I'm still waiting for mine so it popped into my dream last night.

So anyways, I finally got the invite and clicked the totally legit looking link which brought me to a website littered with Marvel vs. Capcom characters (which is likely because the other day was my first time playing that game in years). Anyways, the link gives me a virus and somehow a hacker finds my AAMC information, emails every adcom of every school I applied to and insults them, and then my application gets rejected from every school. I cried. :cry: Then my ex-gf comes in somewhere and now I feel weird. :lame:

And that is the cool story of my withdrawal from Drexel.
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Haha still waiting on Drexel secondary as well. WE're like almost identical applicants lol, verified around the same time, same MCAT, around the same GPAish lol
 
Panic has officially set in. My primary was verified July 27th, I applied to 19 schools with a 33R and a 3.67 gpa from a top-20 school, but all that I've gotten so far is 2 rejections 🙁 I hear Aruba is nice this time of year...
 
How has this not been put in the thread yet...?

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PreMedorDead, you are king of the animated gifs! You should make a tumblr.. #whatshouldwecallSDN
 
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