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Finished and submitted Georgetown Secondary! Ugh, I'm getting tired of doing all of these.
Thanks this is extremely helpful.Unless you've taken your pre-reqs there, I don't think you have to. I emailed them to insure what it said on their AMCAS guide and this is what they told me. Also if those credits transferred onto your 4-years university here in America or Canada as pass/fail or something, you don't have to.
This might sound like a dumb request but could someone please explain Cura Personalis to me? I still don't completely understand it after checking their website.
This might sound like a dumb request but could someone please explain Cura Personalis to me? I still don't completely understand it after checking their website.
Have you read about Georgetown at all? Why did you apply in the first place?I got a secondary here, but I'm having trouble figuring out if I should bother with it or not. Georgetown is a Jesuit school, which means they probably put heavy emphasis on community service. I do have community service, but it's basically just one activity (volunteering at a hospital). I don't have any non-clinical work and I think this will hurt me greatly. Should I still apply? Thoughts?
First thought is to ask if you are a troll?I got a secondary here, but I'm having trouble figuring out if I should bother with it or not. Georgetown is a Jesuit school, which means they probably put heavy emphasis on community service. I do have community service, but it's basically just one activity (volunteering at a hospital). I don't have any non-clinical work and I think this will hurt me greatly. Should I still apply? Thoughts?
First thought is to ask if you are a troll?
Yeah, not a troll. Just concerned. Not all Jesuit schools consider not having non-clinical volunteering experience a deal-breaker (my brother interviewed at SLU, another major Jesuit school, and didn't have any non-clinical work and a paltry 60 hours of hospital volunteering).
I added schools based on their stats and how I compared, primarily. Then I read about their mission statements and their selection factors on MSAR. So did I read about most of them before applying, including Georgetown. I added Georgetown as one of my last choices and made the mistake of not going on their website to find out more. The school is a lot more closely tied to the Jesuit tradition than some of the other schools I looked at.
Based on your posts (@slopes23 ) and (@ConsultantMD), I shouldn't bother at all. I made a mistake, my bad. People can be pretty mean on here (I suppose it's easy to be flippant and rude on the internet - I hope your attitude isn't like that in person)... oh well, good to luck to you.
Yeah, not a troll. Just concerned. Not all Jesuit schools consider not having non-clinical volunteering experience a deal-breaker (my brother interviewed at SLU, another major Jesuit school, and didn't have any non-clinical work and a paltry 60 hours of hospital volunteering).
I added schools based on their stats and how I compared, primarily. Then I read about their mission statements and their selection factors on MSAR. So did I read about most of them before applying, including Georgetown. I added Georgetown as one of my last choices and made the mistake of not going on their website to find out more. The school is a lot more closely tied to the Jesuit tradition than some of the other schools I looked at.
Based on your posts (@slopes23 ) and (@ConsultantMD), I shouldn't bother at all. I made a mistake, my bad. People can be pretty mean on here... oh well, good to luck to you.
chin up, we're all a little high strung right now and maybe extra snarky! having hospital volunteering is better than nothing, and being able to speak to a true interest in helping people can always compensate, especially if you have other great ECs
Their unhelpful comments shouldn't dictate your decision. With the essays Georgetown provided, you can express your desire to do more service-oriented activities as a medical student and whatever else you feel is necessary. If you can express your thoughts in a well-written and genuine manner, I would say go for it.
You say you aren't trolling so I'll take it at face value. Not sure why you are calling me out. Anyways, here is my attempt at being helpful, truly.Yeah, not a troll. Just concerned. Not all Jesuit schools consider not having non-clinical volunteering experience a deal-breaker (my brother interviewed at SLU, another major Jesuit school, and didn't have any non-clinical work and a paltry 60 hours of hospital volunteering).
I added schools based on their stats and how I compared, primarily. Then I read about their mission statements and their selection factors on MSAR. So did I read about most of them before applying, including Georgetown. I added Georgetown as one of my last choices and made the mistake of not going on their website to find out more. The school is a lot more closely tied to the Jesuit tradition than some of the other schools I looked at.
Based on your posts (@slopes23 ) and (@ConsultantMD), I shouldn't bother at all. I made a mistake, my bad. People can be pretty mean on here... oh well, good to luck to you.
Admittedly kind of snarky, but I just don't get how superficial some people's research has been prior to sending AMCAS $36, with the prospect of sending Gtown $130 since everyone gets a secondary. Also, if you read the prompts from last year, you'd have an idea of what they're looking for, especially in the "Why GUSOM?" essay. I am trying to understand how people get to this point of "oops, I sent them a primary application and now I'm wondering if I should do the secondary at all?" I've seen it on more than just this thread. You could have saved your money (or maybe it's your parents') instead of paying AMCAS to just send a PDF. Right?Thanks for the mature responses, guys. I would like going here, I really do like the humanistic approach Jesuit schools have towards medicine. I'll research the school a bit more and see if I have a fighting chance here.
You say you aren't trolling so I'll take it at face value. Not sure why you are calling me out. If I have a habit of being direct and not sugar coating things I apologize. Anyways, here is my attempt at being helpful, truly.
Not having any significant service really doesn't help you. Not knowing what the rest of your application specifically looks like it will additionally be very difficult for anyone to give you meaningful and tailored advice. Having said that, schools are often like collectors and they like to harness unique qualities in each incoming class to add a breadth of diversity. Perhaps you have other unique aspects in your application that either make up for or explain your lack of service (although the former is less likely as not many things can make up community service, but its not necessarily impossible I suppose).
As a take away, while the answer is likely yes, being a school that focuses on service to the person your app is less competitive in that aspect, if you have other extraordinary factors it may still be worth it to apply. Furthermore, as not having service will affect your app at all schools not just Jesuit schools, your RELATIVE decreased competitiveness may not be all that much. I.e. Seeing that it will likely be difficult (not impossible) to get an interview/acceptance at just about most schools, the increased difficulty from an already difficult situation may not be all that much and it may be worth it to apply to increase your exposure (in other words, play the numbers game). More schools you apply to, the better your chances.
On a side note, if you wish to receive a more helpful response on the first post, consider rephrasing your question. When you openly admit you don't have what on SDN is seen as a crucial part of your app, don't give any explanation as to why that is so, and then say should i even bother, it becomes suspicious and before dedicating any energy it begs the question are your just messing around. Cause if you are then I wont bother to write several paragraphs of response. Moreover, combine those factors with a reasonably significant post count and user history, it becomes even more suspicious that you feel the wording and lack of explanation in that post wouldn't raise some red flags on SDN and drawing a question are you trolling.
Anyways, I wish you all the best. Perhaps others who know more specifics about Georgetown can be of more help than me.
Admittedly kind of snarky, but I just don't get how superficial some people's research has been prior to sending AMCAS $36, with the prospect of sending Gtown $130 since everyone gets a secondary. Also, if you read the prompts from last year, you'd have an idea of what they're looking for, especially in the "Why GUSOM?" essay. I am trying to understand how people get to this point of "oops, I sent them a primary application and now I'm wondering if I should do the secondary at all?" I've seen it on more than just this thread. You could have saved your money (or maybe it's your parents') instead of paying AMCAS to just send a PDF. Right?
Also, earlier in this thread someone asked what "Cura Personalis" was, which is just so lazy. Like it takes you longer to post that question that just google the thing. So part of it is my frustration with people's poor researching skill for something that is so important!
Fair enough. I understand the 25+ schools issue, they do get hard to keep track of and make distinct (sometimes they kind of blend together). But I would say that no one really has any great, tangible insight unless they're faculty/adcom. People on these forums have just as much information as another person on the outside, and like you mentioned, beyond the general prescriptive "be amazing at everything" recommendation to ensure your success, it is quite a gamble. So join the club, spend that hard-earned money of yours and go fishing with us? You won't know, if you don't try.Being direct is always helpful, I agree with you there. Thanks for the apology, too.
Anyway, back to business. Yeah, I should have been more thorough with my post. I didn't focus much on non-clinical volunteering, but I do have a significant amount of volunteering at my local VA hospital. I did a bit of research and assisted a doctor with a medical treatment on a volunteer basis on top of this. It's hard to hit all the SDN criteria for maximum success (research, clinical volunteering, non-clinical volunteering, high MCAT, high GPA, leadership roles, teaching/tutoring) - this most likely is the result of my decision to pursue medicine halfway through college (most pre-medical students know they want to go to medical school in high school, I feel). Regardless, that's why I've spread my net wide, to maximize my chances.
Well, with a good 26 other schools on the list, you sort of get tired of researching every school in detail when you're trying to submit your primary fast. Georgetown was one of the schools I added last, so yeah I dropped the ball with the research on that one. I was trying to see if anyone well acquainted with Georgetown could give me input (plenty of times it's been helpful to read what current med students think). It was also my attempt to put that 36$ to use if I had a viable chance at Georgetown. And though it isn't really pertinent, it is my money I'm dropping - my parents haven't really helped me financially since I graduated high school.
+2
Submitted 7/14.
Hmm. What was the other thread? I should turn off notifications and finish this Hofstra secondary. 🙁Stop following me from thread to thread !! 😛
Hmm. What was the other thread? I should turn off notifications and finish this Hofstra secondary. 🙁
I have no experience, so take this with a huge grain of salt. I personally feel that in-the-area e-mails are presumptuous. I did see a suggestion at one point that I thought was perfect: send an e-mail to the school that invited you to ask if you can wait to see if you get invited to another school in the same area so you can combine trips.Complete email as well!! I really like Georgetown, and will be in the DC area for another interview at the end of August. I am on the West Coast, so this is not an easy trip to make. I want to send an "in the area" email to Georgetown, but I'm not sure when. If they are going to start reviewing apps now, is now too early? Should I want until IIs have started to go out?
I don't want to come off as presumptuous or pushy. I guess I'm just worried that I'll somehow screw up the timing, which will cost me my chance to interview here at all haha. I don't know how likely that is... All I know is that late August/early September is probably the best time for me to miss class, and it'd save me a ton of money and time if Georgetown invited me to interview around that time as opposed to in October or December or something. But, of course, it's very likely that they won't want me to interview at all, so... hmm I don't know! Anyone have any experience or advice?
I have no experience, so take this with a huge grain of salt. I personally feel that in-the-area e-mails are presumptuous. I did see a suggestion at one point that I thought was perfect: send an e-mail to the school that invited you to ask if you can wait to see if you get invited to another school in the same area so you can combine trips.
Agreed, unless you have a significant reason like you live abroad or something like that I feel like it is presumptuous considering that at a lot of these schools OOS-ers are getting interviewed at rates ~10%.I have no experience, so take this with a huge grain of salt. I personally feel that in-the-area e-mails are presumptuous. I did see a suggestion at one point that I thought was perfect: send an e-mail to the school that invited you to ask if you can wait to see if you get invited to another school in the same area so you can combine trips.
I don't think it would be presumptuous. Schools are aware of how expensive interviewing can be especially if you have to fly across the country. You're not assuming that Georgetown will give you an interview invite. As long as you write it politely I don't think it would hurt anything and could save you money.Complete email as well!! I really like Georgetown, and will be in the DC area for another interview at the end of August. I am on the West Coast, so this is not an easy trip to make. I want to send an "in the area" email to Georgetown, but I'm not sure when. If they are going to start reviewing apps now, is now too early? Should I want until IIs have started to go out?
I don't want to come off as presumptuous or pushy. I guess I'm just worried that I'll somehow screw up the timing, which will cost me my chance to interview here at all haha. I don't know how likely that is... All I know is that late August/early September is probably the best time for me to miss class, and it'd save me a ton of money and time if Georgetown invited me to interview around that time as opposed to in October or December or something. But, of course, it's very likely that they won't want me to interview at all, so... hmm I don't know! Anyone have any experience or advice?
Agreed, unless you have a significant reason like you live abroad or something like that I feel like it is presumptuous considering that at a lot of these schools OOS-ers are getting interviewed at rates ~10%.
I don't think it would be presumptuous. Schools are aware of how expensive interviewing can be especially if you have to fly across the country. You're not assuming that Georgetown will give you an interview invite. As long as you write it politely I don't think it would hurt anything and could save you money.
So right, it's not really relevant for Georgetown, but in general where you are flying somewhere for an interview (aka you're OOS, ok maybe not in large states, you might still fly IS), I've noticed that there are many private schools that seem to have a IS-preference when you look at interview numbers for IS vs. OOS, being around the ~10% range if you round up. Public schools are also typically going to have single digit interview percentages for OOS-ers for clear reasons.Not out of the country, but at the opposite coast of the US haha. It's a 10 hour flight. I definitely wouldn't phrase it like, "Can you interview me now?" or anything. I know that I have a very slim chance of being interviewed at all. Just curious, why the distinction about IS and OOS? Or are you just saying in general?
Providing personal care that's tailored to each person, physically, spiritually, psycho-socially, etc. I hope that helps.
So right, it's not really relevant for Georgetown, but in general where you are flying somewhere for an interview (aka you're OOS, ok maybe not in large states, you might still fly IS), I've noticed that there are many private schools that seem to have a IS-preference when you look at interview numbers for IS vs. OOS, being around the ~10% range if you round up. Public schools are also typically going to have single digit interview percentages for OOS-ers for clear reasons.
Financially, obviously it makes sense to save you the money, but at the same time, no one made you pick these schools to apply to, so you have to deal with the cards your dealt, when you're dealt them. I mean, it were me I would be happy with my one interview and patient wait for the opportunity for the second. This is an expensive ride for sure, but again it's not a secret. Sorry for being kind of blunt, but I feel like this is not a process that really is about being a convenience for the applicants.
Actually West Coasters have it kinda nice especially in CA with all those state schools. I'm in UT. Talk about being far away from everywhere.My point is just that it is a very difficult process as far as time and money go for west coast applicants, since the vast majority of the schools are a multi hour plane ride away. I had hoped that maybe schools would recognize this and be accommodating about trying to group together interviews. I am really, really not trying to whine or complain or be ungrateful at all. I'm stoked for the one interview I have in hand, believe me. I was just wondering if anyone had had success with these types of emails. I had said, and will continue to say, that I am not sure if I want to send an in the area email at all. I understand your opinion, and thank you for explaining your reasoning.
Actually West Coasters have it kinda nice especially in CA with all those state schools. I'm in UT. Talk about being far away from everywhere.
For the essay about "describe how your personal characteristics or life experiences will contribute to the Georgetown University School of Medicine community and bring educational benefits to our student body," I am having trouble including the bringing benefits part... How did you all approach this one? Thanks!
My point is just that it is a very difficult process as far as time and money go for west coast applicants, since the vast majority of the schools are a multi hour plane ride away. I had hoped that maybe schools would recognize this and be accommodating about trying to group together interviews. I am really, really not trying to whine or complain or be ungrateful at all. I'm stoked for the one interview I have in hand, believe me. I was just wondering if anyone had had success with these types of emails. I had said, and will continue to say, that I am not sure if I want to send an in the area email at all. I understand your opinion, and thank you for explaining your reasoning.
I pretended it wasn't there. :-/
Yah mine is pending too... I just sent in my LOR yesterday, but not I am pending because I had to retake the MCAT. I take it next week and my scores won't be back until the end of august... I am sure that is gonna help my odds. Not.I got an "Application Pending" email today regarding my unsubmitted LORs saying that my app won't be reviewed until they are in...My undergrad school won't write a committee letter until a few secondaries are received, I requested the letter the first day secondaries started coming out, but it still takes ~6 weeks to be submitted. Is it worth sending this explanation to them? I don't want to sound like I'm making excuses but I don't want them to think I don't have my **** together either....or maybe I'm just over-thinking this whole thing?
+1 🙂Complete. They addressed me as Dear 😛