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I'm really sorry about that. I have been watching your posts for months now and I was really pulling for you. :-(
2012-2013 Panic Thread
- Thread starter punkedoutriffs
- Start date
I'm really sorry about that. I have been watching your posts for months now and I was really pulling for you. :-(
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Happy May 8th everyone! I just opened my 2014 AMCAS application account, seeing as I may have to do this all over again. Was happy to find out that almost everything was pre-populated using my 2013 application!
May 15th is coming up, and I'm starting to get nervous! I was told by two schools that I was in a favorable position/very close to the top of the waitlist, but I'm scared I'm just holding out hope for nothing. It's like that horrible feeling of being so close to getting it but missing it by a scratch. Half of me has hope and half of me is dreading not hearing anything in the next two weeks. The wait is killing me! Here's to hoping there's a ton of waitlist movement!
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Hang in there, May 15th usually has quite the domino effect
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Question for others: I have a 33S MCAT (10/10/13).. and I'm pretty sure I will have to reapply. Is it worthwhile to submit my AMCAS app Mid-June and write the MCAT at the beginning of August again, or is this too much of a risk and not worth it? I will at most have 1-1.5 months full time to prep for the MCAT.
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Retaking a 33 is seriously risky and unnecessary.
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bearintraining, TheShaker, nabilesmail, drscholls, SourD21, dnovikov, SilverCat
I been following all you guys posts for like a year
We're all gonna make it
I been following all you guys posts for like a year
We're all gonna make it
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thanks!.. im not totally out of the running yet, just hugely disappointed today.. rejected by an in-state canadian school post-interview.
I would stick with the 33. I agree with the others that it's not worth the risk to take it again. Plus I think a 33 is good enough to not warrant a retake. I would just improve the application elsewhere.
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I am moved.
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:') thanks. these past few days have been particularly painful. lets hope for a happy ending
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Thanks, but I'm pretty much done :/
I'm Alt. Waitlisted at Jefferson, a school that has a HP waitlist and barely rejects anyone post-interview (so the Alt. Waitlist is pretty much a soft rejection)
and
UC at Albany. Though I'm not sure where I stand here, I barely got the interview 3 days before the last date and only because I said I was in the area- They were probably like "meh I'll give him a shot"
I'm preparing myself for a reapplication, even though I probably won't get in next cycle either because of my 2.9 senior year GPA (3.65 overall) (but any chance at matriculating a year earlier is great!). But, am going to take classes so that my 3rd application will be good! haha
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It is very touching that I made it into a list of such high caliber. Hoping that we make it, though I am admittedly pretty low on hope. Just started working on 2014 AMCAS today.
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X
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Damn, you got an II with 26? You're awesome
I'm rooting for ya with someone near and dear holding a 27
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Damn, you got an II with 26? You're awesome
He meant 26 rejections, I think
Yep will likely be seeing you as well. If I remember correctly, you had monster stats, but late application right?
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goodluck you guys. keep your heads up. YOU WILL MAKE IT. It can be a long process and an ordeal to go through everything again but it's worth it if this is what you want to do
let me know if you have any questions or need tips for reapplying--I would be happy to share about my own experience reapplying, both immediately after a cycle, and taking a few extra years.
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At least it seems that most people on this thread--I'm thinking TheShaker, nabilesmail--had a late app, which seemed to be the major problem. Something pretty easy to correct.
My TMDSAS and AMCAS apps were in within the first two days of submission for each, respectively. 33Q and 3.8, 6WL, 13R and 0 acceptances. Not sure where I go from here...
Wishing for good vibes and good luck for everybody else in this situation!
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It may have to do with your ECs, or interviewing skills (waitlists mean it is most likely the latter). I would suggest doing mock interviews with professors or med students--since they will be assessing you during real interviews. I'm probably the last person to be giving advice in that regard, though.
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At least it seems that most people on this thread--I'm thinking TheShaker, nabilesmail--had a late app, which seemed to be the major problem. Something pretty easy to correct.
Be careful with "only" fixing a late app by applying earlier. I did that, and while I did see some more success in my second cycle, applying earlier, being smarter about my school choices--I still had issues in my EC's/experiences that adversely affected my application that I failed to address. (in large part because it's so hard to change your app during an application year, you tend to have a lot of the same stuff). Make sure to honestly evaluate shortcomings in an app--logistical changes only go so far.
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It may have to do with your ECs, or interviewing skills (waitlists mean it is most likely the latter). I would suggest doing mock interviews with professors or med students--since they will be assessing you during real interviews. I'm probably the last person to be giving advice in that regard, though.
Thank you for the input. The last thing I want to do is seem argumentative or defiant, but I spent a considerable amount of time preparing for my interviews, including a series of mock interviews and a 3 credit-hour class focusing solely on global health policy. The one school that I've been able to get feedback from so far stated that I did very well on my interviews there. I've sent update letters to all schools, including a letter of interest to my top choice. All I'm working on is becoming comfortable with continuing the waiting game.
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It looks like we're in the same boat. I was also told my interview score was high at one school. The last explanation I can give is bad luck (and I hate that explanation because it has no rational basis); we may have been qualified, but our ECs and grades didn't stand out enough to be selected.
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Also waiting to hear back from the Texas schools I'm wait listed at, but my stats are mediocre(31/3.5/URM) by comparison. If people are already hearing back, I hope you're up next on SOMEONE'S list.
Edit: lol accidentally deleted my response except an O, but it still posted? I don't even
Edit: lol accidentally deleted my response except an O, but it still posted? I don't even
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Who knows. Here's to hoping for some good luck for both of us! And to everybody else in this situation.
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Is there much value in filling out the TMDSAS for OOS? I hear Texas is still pissed about the whole "no secession" thing...
and WHOOPS about the 26R, LOL. Don't worry, I had 100% rejection rate, no interviews! Someone said it may be my interview skills before I mentioned the no interviews part, so adding that always. X-D
and WHOOPS about the 26R, LOL. Don't worry, I had 100% rejection rate, no interviews! Someone said it may be my interview skills before I mentioned the no interviews part, so adding that always. X-D
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It's worth applying, depending on your stats. It's insanely cheap to apply, even as an OOS. I applied to all of them and got 4 interviews. The 10% rule definitely sucks, but it's still a chance.
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I've got the same problem. It's the only reason I dread the prospect of having to reapply, I feel like I didn't improve my extracurricular enough. Otherwise I wouldn't mind taking a gap year just doing research and some light hospital volunteering.
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so for me, I applied in 2008 between my jr and sr years - didn't know what i was doing, applied SUPER late (like, in october at the deadline..all bad) - no luck
reapplied in 2009 with a couple more classes, much of the same experience, but applied earlier - no luck again.
By this point it was early 2010 and I knew I didn't make it--it was at this point that I decided to take a step back. I decided to not reapply that year, nor would I apply by taking a gap year. I gave myself at least 2 years to figure out if medicine was still what I wanted, try out activities and EC's that I didn't do in college--and just overall revamp myself and see where that would take me. So I actually took 2 years off--and it really helped me take my time and find things that were enriching and also helped me self-discover my motivations and desires for pursuing medicine.
What I'm saying is--don't rush into it and reapply. A gap year is good! and for some, two years may be even better. For me, if this was something I wanted to do for the rest of my life, a delay of 2 years (3 including the app year) is a worthwhile investment
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I did the same thing, though I applied late this time as well. Would you mind sharing what you exactly did during your time off?
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sure thing.
I started working at my job in clinical drug development in early 2010. I focused on my job for awhile, learning the ropes, moving up and growing. It paid the bills so that was good
I started volunteering at a local hospital in the ER a few months later, after things had settled down. Been doing that since. I also started doing volunteering with my church--we do a lot of community outreach, a lot of weekend tutoring clinics, monthly family nights, etc. Varied volunteering in a bunch of different arenas
I also took a class at the local UC extension...not really for GPA purposes, but more for myself to get involved in a classroom, academic setting haha.
Through my work, I got connections to a physician, who I started working with in late 2011. I shadowed him and also started some independent outreach stuff in local high schools, speaking and teachign in seminars and after school panels. Gave me a lot of good insight into medicine and the life of a physician.
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to all those who sent in update letters- if you wanted to update on an award, should you attach the award/proof of the award? because i was just notified i won something but do not have the certificate in hand yet. also, if the award, for example, was for a humanities research, should you attach the paper that won you the award? thanks
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It's enough to mention it. This is a professional application, not the internet. "Pics or it didn't happen" isn't the norm. If it seems fishy, they will investigate or ask you to provide more information. They have no reason to think you're lying though.
Unless your award was taking a bullet for the president or curing world hunger.
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The reapplicant threads aren't as lively as you guys so I thought I'd also post this question here: I am waitlisted everywhere and have applied to some SMP's I feel I have a good chance of getting into. Since I'm older I would like to roll straight from an SMP into med school, which means prepping my application now, however I'm unclear about the timing for this. Do I wait until I am rejected from the waitlist to resubmit? Submit while I'm still on the waitlist?
Just need a little guidance. Thanks
Just need a little guidance. Thanks
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I actually asked the school I am matriculating to if they needed proof that I was awarded a $100,000 scholarship from another medical school. They responded, shockingly enough, that I did NOT need to provide proof.
So I agree with the above post that you don't need to provide proof for almost anything. Just be prepared to back it up if they decide to question it.
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Still waiting here.
I've developed this strange belief that repeatedly opening my email and SDN to look for updates will actually cause updates to come in.
On a different note, I spoke with a premed at one of my volunteer activities. He said he's applying this cycle, but it seems like 'it takes a while for AMCAS to be verified.' Lol.
I've developed this strange belief that repeatedly opening my email and SDN to look for updates will actually cause updates to come in.
On a different note, I spoke with a premed at one of my volunteer activities. He said he's applying this cycle, but it seems like 'it takes a while for AMCAS to be verified.' Lol.
I thought I'd chime in with my reapplication story since a lot of you are in limbo right now. Hopefully it can help some of you.
I applied 2010-2011 with 3.3-3.4 gpa and 34 mcat from a top 10 school and a good amount of activities. I thought I would most definitely be accepted to my school of choice (yea i know young naive premed). But I ended up applying really late, half assed the whole process and finished secondaries in October. I still managed to snag two interviews late but was wait listed at both places.
During my interviews I had trouble answering the why medicine question. Of course I had a very scripted response but what I couldnt put into words why I truly wanted to be a physician.
After graduating, I decided that if I really wanted to get into med school I needed to fix gaps in my application and increase my strengths. And more importantly I needed time to reflect on what went wrong and if/why I really wanted to become a physician.
So first,I spent all summer restudying for the mcat since my previous score expired and got a 36. Then I did an SMP program where I worked my ass off day in and day out, staying focused with a goal in mind. I ended as one of 4 students of 180 with a 4.0 and I also took all the medical school courses as my electives instead of grad courses to show I could handle it. But it was by far the hardest thing I've ever done (imagine trying to get an A in classes where the med students just needed to pass).
During the year I also volunteered in the peds er and for a community based program in a poor area of the city. I also increased my clinical exposure and added another 100 hours shadowing that year.
I also spent most of the winter and spring thinking of my application since I didn't focus on it well previously. My goal was to have as many edits as possible and really show my desire rather than just list what I did. I got help from my advisors and friends and wrote about how all of my experiences helped influence me to pursue medicine and what qualities I gained from the experiences. Then I tied it all together with my personal statement (cant even count how many ideas I scrapped and the dozens of edits I went through) and sent it in literally the first minute amcas opened and it was verified later that day.
I spent June prewriting and had all of my secondaries in practically the day they were sent and was done by mid August.
Before summer was up I had 9 interviews scheduled for September and I ended with 15 interview offers this application cycle.
Moral of the story is that it is possible to be a strong reapplicant. You just need to really show how you changed as a person and what you did to prove that. For myself, the first failed application cycle was a wake up call that it wasn't predestined for me to go to medical school but rather that I had to work very hard to fix my mistakes so I had a chance to be accepted. And after being accepted, many of the deans commented on my change from the previous application.
So for any of you guys who need to reapply, ask yourselves how you can show you've changed since last time. It is very doable but requires dedication. But in the end, after you get your first acceptances and the weight that had been building on your shoulders disappears, you'll realize how worthwhile that journey really was.
I applied 2010-2011 with 3.3-3.4 gpa and 34 mcat from a top 10 school and a good amount of activities. I thought I would most definitely be accepted to my school of choice (yea i know young naive premed). But I ended up applying really late, half assed the whole process and finished secondaries in October. I still managed to snag two interviews late but was wait listed at both places.
During my interviews I had trouble answering the why medicine question. Of course I had a very scripted response but what I couldnt put into words why I truly wanted to be a physician.
After graduating, I decided that if I really wanted to get into med school I needed to fix gaps in my application and increase my strengths. And more importantly I needed time to reflect on what went wrong and if/why I really wanted to become a physician.
So first,I spent all summer restudying for the mcat since my previous score expired and got a 36. Then I did an SMP program where I worked my ass off day in and day out, staying focused with a goal in mind. I ended as one of 4 students of 180 with a 4.0 and I also took all the medical school courses as my electives instead of grad courses to show I could handle it. But it was by far the hardest thing I've ever done (imagine trying to get an A in classes where the med students just needed to pass).
During the year I also volunteered in the peds er and for a community based program in a poor area of the city. I also increased my clinical exposure and added another 100 hours shadowing that year.
I also spent most of the winter and spring thinking of my application since I didn't focus on it well previously. My goal was to have as many edits as possible and really show my desire rather than just list what I did. I got help from my advisors and friends and wrote about how all of my experiences helped influence me to pursue medicine and what qualities I gained from the experiences. Then I tied it all together with my personal statement (cant even count how many ideas I scrapped and the dozens of edits I went through) and sent it in literally the first minute amcas opened and it was verified later that day.
I spent June prewriting and had all of my secondaries in practically the day they were sent and was done by mid August.
Before summer was up I had 9 interviews scheduled for September and I ended with 15 interview offers this application cycle.
Moral of the story is that it is possible to be a strong reapplicant. You just need to really show how you changed as a person and what you did to prove that. For myself, the first failed application cycle was a wake up call that it wasn't predestined for me to go to medical school but rather that I had to work very hard to fix my mistakes so I had a chance to be accepted. And after being accepted, many of the deans commented on my change from the previous application.
So for any of you guys who need to reapply, ask yourselves how you can show you've changed since last time. It is very doable but requires dedication. But in the end, after you get your first acceptances and the weight that had been building on your shoulders disappears, you'll realize how worthwhile that journey really was.
Let me see if I'm understanding you correctly. If you apply to only one school off the bat and get verified you can add schools later and it will sort of instant transmission all your app data immediately to them almost as if you chose those schools when you first hit submit? Or is there a delay time because your adding these schools later?
I think it's instant. That and you get verified quicker.
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There is no time delay. If your app is already verified, the schools will get it as soon as they download it from the servers. It is instantly available for them to download once you pay.
That's kind of what I did last cycle.
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I have a question in relation to this. Do you have to designate reference letters or even enter their information right away? I know you can add some later, but is there a minimum that you have to add and/or designate to a school before AMCAS will allow you to submit?
Reason I ask is I want to get the application verification started as soon as possible but want to give referees a bit extra time, both because it's incredibly short notice and in the off chance I get some positive news from a WL in early June.
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No you don't need to designate before submitting. It's a bad idea to designate letters to schools before you have the letter submitted to them anyways. But if you have schools without letters AMCAS will send you very annoying periodic emails to remind you to submit letters to those schools.
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So how does the waitlist shuffle work after May 15? Is that the day in which most schools begin to move people off of the waitlist after already accepted applicants start dropping off in favor of another program? And does this all happen on May 15, or is it an on-going process over the next several weeks?
