2013-2014 Panic Thread

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Jennyfishy said:
UCLA just started reviewa/giving out IIs a couple weeks ago, so it's hard to say anything for sure. I think people have mentioned that SD does silent holds if you've been complete for longer than a month, but nobody is too sure. These schools enjoy torturing people. Shaking my fist at UCD too, haha
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I think Davis does this until January/Feb, I've pretty much stopped checking my status
 
LuciusVorenus said:
I think he's just showing that he has a much higher success rate at the new schools he applied to compared to the ones where he's a reapp :laugh:
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premed2000 said:
I am not panicking. Just relating to GoPelican about the similar situation that we are both in. but yea, I follow this thread a lot because i've panicked last year with 1 II and 24R last year. More than thankful to have what I have this year. But for those panicking, don't give up. there's light at the end of the tunnel eventually.



last year, i didn't complete at most schools until October.



yeah spot on. haha and i was relating to GoPelican on how we are both seemingly unsuccessful so far at schools we've applied to. I ain't panicking tho 🙂 I've had my fair share of panic last year.
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Ah, I see. I guess I didn't read enough into it. Makes sense. Although there have been douche nozzles in threads like this that are "panicking" with 5+ interviews. They infuriate me.
 
SDN is freaking me out...I was a late applicant. I was verified September 28th (submitted primary in early August) and had my secondaries out by the end of the first week of October. I only have 2 interviews so far. Am I going to get more? Or should I bank on just these two?
 
Okay.. so I'm not going to freak out because of some debbie downers. Honestly, I also think that because of AMCAS's lag in verifications this year, October is the new September.
 
I was hoping I wouldn't feel compelled to post in this thread, but it looks like I'm in a pretty bad spot.

Complete at twelve schools in July/early-August. Got two IIs. Rejected from one school post-interview and still waiting to hear back from the other.

Other than that - one post-secondary rejection, one post-secondary waitlist, and radio silence from everywhere else. Even though I have a decent GPA and a 37+ MCAT, things are not looking great.

Anyone else already making plans to reapply next cycle?

-Bill
 
MDreamaker said:
You have a 37+ mcat and you're worrying?! I think you will be okay. With my less than 30 Mcats is what scares me. But reapplying is such a painful thought
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Thanks very much for the vote of confidence, but I think the importance of the MCAT is somewhat overstated (at least at many schools). I know that both of the schools that rejected me accepted at least two people with sub-30 MCATs. Definitely still hope for you if the rest of your application is up to snuff!

My concern is that I've been complete since July at most schools and still haven't heard a peep. Can't be good. I understand that they tend to interview "superstar" applicants first, but three months of silence can't be a good sign.

-Bill
 
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MDreamaker said:
Thank you, I really hope so. It's the feeling of wanting it so badly and now essentially it's out of your hands.

I think a lot of the schools are still reviewing! I was complete at ucsd end of August, and haven't heard a peep. I decided to call them today and they told me they haven't even reached my file, and won't get to it for about another 3 weeks. We are all in this waiting game. Still, your mcat is a big deal I wouldn't feel like it's not!
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Phew. I thought they had passed me over (I was complete the same time).
 
No interviews yet so I'm going to write an update letter
I don't want to make a new thread for this so I'll ask here
What do I include other than activities and what I do? Do I include hours/week? contact information? How it makes me a better doctor?
 
jk1006 said:
seems like a 34 MCAT is just the right number to get you into that nerve wracking silence zone where you dont know if youre good enough or not
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GoPelicans said:
I have a 35 and feel the same way.
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Haha, I've found my people at long last! Hasn't been too long since I've been complete, but I've heard zilch. Although, I got a couple of delayed "complete" emails which jacked up my hopes. Next time, I'm going to pause and pretend for a few extra seconds.
Fingers crossed for everyone!
 
chillaxbro said:
No interviews yet so I'm going to write an update letter
I don't want to make a new thread for this so I'll ask here
What do I include other than activities and what I do? Do I include hours/week? contact information? How it makes me a better doctor?
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I would include something demonstrating that you continue to be very interested in their school as well.

Also, I was thinking that invites would pick up after October 15th but still seems to be pretty silent. Maybe they will soon though.
 
capit said:
Haha, I've found my people at long last! Hasn't been too long since I've been complete, but I've heard zilch. Although, I got a couple of delayed "complete" emails which jacked up my hopes. Next time, I'm going to pause and pretend for a few extra seconds.
Fingers crossed for everyone!
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I think people in the 3.7/34 or 35 ish zone get overlapped with everyone while the 36/3.8 and 30/3.6 people kinda have their own niches. LizzyM 69-73 or so get second dibs on elite schools while mid tiers are fair game for everyone

This is purely anecdotal and speculative though
 
^ Yeah, I think the 3.7/34 applicants struggle the most, in my opinion. Even moreso than the 3.5/30 applicants (because the 3.5/30 applicants are much better with their school lists). They're the kind of applicants who will apply somewhat top heavy and then apply to some matches (like Tufts, Rochester, etc), except that all the higher stat applicants (like 3.9/37) also apply to these match schools, making it harder for the 3.7/34 applicants to get accepted.
 
sourdoughllama said:
The official 2013-2014 reapplicant thread is teeming with 3.7/34 people lol
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I noticed this too. I think it has to be a combination of this being the average applicant and maybe not taking as much care with the process. I have lower stats myself, so I worked extra hard on school selection and making my app unique. Maybe that has something to do with it.

Sourdoughllama, I love your location! 🙂
 
johnamo said:
It's been almost a month since I've heard anything from any of the schools I'm applying to... it's really starting to drive me crazy! 😕
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I know the feeling. I received two II's right away but it's been a month since I submitted my other secondaries. We just have to remember that it's still early in the cycle and it can go until March/April! Hang in there!
 
The interview invites have really cooled off...makes me pretty worried.
 
sourdoughllama said:
I think people in the 3.7/34 or 35 ish zone get overlapped with everyone while the 36/3.8 and 30/3.6 people kinda have their own niches. LizzyM 69-73 or so get second dibs on elite schools while mid tiers are fair game for everyone

This is purely anecdotal and speculative though
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It makes sense. I've been thinking about this way too much, but I wonder if the majority of the schools I picked will assume that I'd rather go somewhere else (while the couple of reaches scoff). I plan to write some enthusiastic update letters. lol
 
Valyria said:
I noticed this too. I think it has to be a combination of this being the average applicant and maybe not taking as much care with the process. I have lower stats myself, so I worked extra hard on school selection and making my app unique. Maybe that has something to do with it.
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Probably! I thought I was careful with my secondaries and school research/selection (should have picked more schools though), but my slight procrastination with the primary resulted in a big delay. Feeling more pressure then might have paid off!
 
I have been getting rejections pre-interview for a while now, but just got my first rejection for a school that was one of my top choices. I guess I'm not so much panicked as despondent, but thought I'd post here anyway. 🙁 This is a lesson for me not to check my email during work though, productivity now = 0
 
cybermaxx12 said:
I have been getting rejections pre-interview for a while now, but just got my first rejection for a school that was one of my top choices. I guess I'm not so much panicked as despondent, but thought I'd post here anyway. 🙁 This is a lesson for me not to check my email during work though, productivity now = 0
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I'm sorry 🙁 I'm seriously scared of the day that happens...I haven't gotten a rejection from one of my top tens yet, so the rejections haven't been too bad so far. I wish there was a way I could resist my email... 😵
 
I have a lot of interviews but unfortunately I think my MCAT score will be my biggest downfall. Interviewers have told me point blank that everything is great but the MCAT score will probably stand in the way and result in a waitlist. I'd rather have 1 interview the entire cycle and a higher MCAT at this point. It's depressing, especially because my practice scores were good, and the test was so random and nothing like the AAMCs. It especially sucks when you see others that couldn't score higher than a 28 on the practice and came out with like a 33 first time. and are accepted with scholarships. like wtf... and that is the only good thing about their application. There is way too much emphasis on that stupid test. If I don't hear good news by Thanksgiving, I will unfortunately have to break out the Berkeley Review books and start preparing for that stupid thing again.
 
cybermaxx12 said:
I have been getting rejections pre-interview for a while now, but just got my first rejection for a school that was one of my top choices. I guess I'm not so much panicked as despondent, but thought I'd post here anyway. 🙁 This is a lesson for me not to check my email during work though, productivity now = 0
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The silence is killing me. I submitted my secondaries all by late July, and my 3 reaches have rejected me. The thing is though... the other 17 have just been silent. I have no idea what to make of this.
 
I got an interview invite yesterday from one of my top schools. When I went to schedule the interview, the available date was already in early Jan. Reading the school specific thread, I got a false feeling that not many invites were given out because it is so quiet. Apparently SDN is not very indicative this year for some reason. I know I am very lucky to have a few invites, but the silence from so many schools since August is difficult.
 
cybermaxx12 said:
I have been getting rejections pre-interview for a while now, but just got my first rejection for a school that was one of my top choices.
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🙁 That must have been really crushing. I hope you get some good news soon.
 
jazzfanzz said:
I got an interview invite yesterday from one of my top schools. When I went to schedule the interview, the available date was already in early Jan. Reading the school specific thread, I got a false feeling that not many invites were given out because it is so quiet. Apparently SDN is not very indicative this year for some reason. I know I am very lucky to have a few invites, but the silence from so many schools since August is difficult.
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how is that a false feeling? i was under the belief that the initial surge of interview invites had some schools scheduling all the way up to december/january

its only quiet recently, thats the key, and what has people so worked up. interview invites had been going out, but now they seem to have significantly slowed down
 
I hate silence. Also, I've been checking statuses way too much for my own good.
 
Man, 2 holds and a rejection this week, 1 rejection last week. Zero II, 3 holds, 4 rejections
 
I am starting to get quite concerned. I was complete at about 10 schools in early August. I have interviewed at my state school but have not heard back yet. Aside from that I have to rejections and everyone else is completely silent. 3.8/33.

It is probably too late to add more schools right?
 
capit said:
🙁 That must have been really crushing. I hope you get some good news soon.
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Thanks for the encouragement. Unfortunately I have another rejection to report today 🙁 This one was a reach for sure but still sucks. Thank goodness for SDN, I'm glad there is a place to vent online so that my friends and family don't think I'm psycho!! 🙄
 
So a lot of people keep posting that it's still early in the game and this is a long cycle. But, how true is that really? Especially for the average to underdog applicant? It's pretty daunting to have almost complete silence from schools for more than two months...
 
Rejected from RFU today which slightly came as a shock.

Sigh... UW will probably come out with first round of decisions Friday so hoping for good news..
 
joonage said:
Rejected from RFU today which slightly came as a shock.

Sigh... UW will probably come out with first round of decisions Friday so hoping for good news..
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Now I know we met yesterday. 😉
 
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cybermaxx12 said:
Thanks for the encouragement. Unfortunately I have another rejection to report today 🙁 This one was a reach for sure but still sucks. Thank goodness for SDN, I'm glad there is a place to vent online so that my friends and family don't think I'm psycho!! 🙄
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I feel your pain. 0 II's, 8 rejections so far. Complete late August at most schools.
 
Awwwww ****. I just sent in an update letter to a school and spelled their name wrong. 😕 ... oops. Icahn... Ichan... no big deal, right?! what's the difference?! 😳

But really, I'm thinking that's a pretty bad mistake. Oh well.
 
johnamo said:
Awwwww ****. I just sent in an update letter to a school and spelled their name wrong. 😕 ... oops. Icahn... Ichan... no big deal, right?! what's the difference?! 😳

But really, I'm thinking that's a pretty bad mistake. Oh well.
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There is no way I could tell you which is the correct spelling without looking it up. I would not worry too much about it - whoever is reading the letter is unlikely to focus too much on that part, especially if he/she has piles of other paperwork to deal with.
 
milski said:
There is no way I could tell you which is the correct spelling without looking it up. I would not worry too much about it - whoever is reading the letter is unlikely to focus too much on that part, especially if he/she has piles of other paperwork to deal with.
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Yeah. I'm hoping they just don't notice at all... but I can see how it probably doesn't look too good when an applicant doesn't even know how to spell the school's name.

Haha, and thanks for the consolation.
 
ARGHHHHHHHHH!!

Okay just wanted go get that out of my system. I want to punch a wall right now and rip out my hair!

10 rejections so far.

I have been wait listed at the only two schools I've heard back from, and I thought my interviews went really well too. So I am just at a loss as to why. I'm REALLY hoping I don't have a really ****ty letter of rec.
 
swift3y said:
ARGHHHHHHHHH!!

Okay just wanted go get that out of my system. I want to punch a wall right now and rip out my hair!

10 rejections so far.

I have been wait listed at the only two schools I've heard back from, and I thought my interviews went really well too. So I am just at a loss as to why. I'm REALLY hoping I don't have a really ****ty letter of rec.
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It just means the bar to get in is very high. If your interviews went poorly, you would have been rejected outright.
 
I submitted my primary 6/10, completed the secondaries for all my schools from July-mid August (except for the 3 schools I added in early September).
I applied to 25 schools, secondaries from 24. 0 II, 5 rejections, 1 hold, small pools at two, and silence from the rest.

GPA: 3.97 (s and c), MCAT 31. I feel my average MCAT is the culprit. I applied this cycle hoping that my GPA would somewhat make up for my MCAT.

When should I start really worrying about the lack of interviews? End of the year? Now?
 
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