2014-2015 Howard University Application Thread

[gettheleadout]

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Space reserved for prompt.

Please PM the essays or lack thereof to me when the secondary is available and I will update this.

Good luck to everyone applying!

 

[lovereading]

applying here... have my fingers crossed🙂

 

[pink/\floyd]

Me too as OOS!

 

[CroatoanVaccine]

Applying OOS! Good Luck!

 

[NCPremed13]

Same, OOS! It's crazy, I used to always read the old forums and now it's my turn! lol Good luck everyone!

 

[ADAUC]

Applying here!

 

[TheCheerDoc]

Same, OOS! It's crazy, I used to always read the old forums and now it's my turn! lol Good luck everyone!

Exactly how I feel! So surreal!

 

[NCPremed13]

Well I am super excited about applying to Howard! However, has anyone considered the cost of living in and around DC? I was looking around on google for apartments and couldn't find many decent places under $1300/month 😱.....hahaha I think that I am being a little too proactive!

 

[AspiringDoc2015]

Well I am super excited about applying to Howard! However, has anyone considered the cost of living in and around DC? I was looking around on google for apartments and couldn't find many decent places under $1300/month 😱.....hahaha I think that I am being a little too proactive!

I'm also applying to Howard. However, cost is a big thing to think about. When I graduated undergrad I originally planned to go to law school at Georgetown (decided I couldn't be a lawyer and live with myself two weeks before moving haha!). Anyway, my wife and I searched for days for "affordable" housing and the cheapest we were able to find was like $1100 for a two bedroom in Silver Springs, Maryland. I'm from Nashville so that was a huge shock to pay that much and still have to commute 30+ minutes via bus and metro.

 

[NCPremed13]

I'm also applying to Howard. However, cost is a big thing to think about. When I graduated undergrad I originally planned to go to law school at Georgetown (decided I couldn't be a lawyer and live with myself two weeks before moving haha!). Anyway, my wife and I searched for days for "affordable" housing and the cheapest we were able to find was like $1100 for a two bedroom in Silver Springs, Maryland. I'm from Nashville so that was a huge shock to pay that much and still have to commute 30+ minutes via bus and metro.

Exactly what I am saying! So much money and you still have to commute. Well, people survive there so hopefully it is doable. If it is meant to be, I guess it'll all work itself out (staying hopeful lol).

 

[prettyNURSEtoMD]

@NCPremed13 I replied back to you and gave my view of the tour and my opinion of the school, locations, etc. Hope it's helpful! Good luck to you all!

 

[kjj17]

.

 

[futureEmmDee]

I submitted AMCAS about a week ago. I just have to take my MCAT in August.

 

[futureEmmDee]

What is a competitive MCAT score?

 

[Abraxas65]

Applying here just hoping my PS and EC can convince them that I really do have a desire to work with underserved populations given that I'm white and from a middle class background.

 

[parkins]

I a non-URM minority (lol I guess I should just say I'm Asian) - I know that it is still worth applying if I am truly interested in working with underserved communities, which I am, but I worry because my experiences don't show that explicitly. Although my PS speaks to my passion for social justice issues and I have good ECs and tons of volunteering, those are mostly with local communities (where I lived and where I went to college, neither of which are very underprivileged or underserved communities). Thoughts? My interest is genuine but I just worry it will be doubted since I grew up in an affluent area and also attended a prestigious university.

So the other question is - I want to clarify that although the general area I grew up in is super white & rich, the specific neighborhood I lived in for 18 years was a very diverse, lower-income pocket that is quite different from the overall stereotype of the area. I did not mark it as underserved on my AMCAS because I don't think it really qualifies, given the abundance of healthcare providers in the general area. However, I noticed that the Howard secondary (last year's prompts) asks if you grew up in an underserved community - is it ok if I mark yes, then clarify the situation of my small neighborhood? I lived in a complex that was racially diverse and mostly lower middle class; the adjacent neighborhood, which included many of my friends and classmates, was mostly black and I think public housing.

Would love to hear some thoughts, thanks 🙂
(my stats are average, gpa lower, but it seems Howard is more forgiving of that)

You could try going to your state's department of health website and search for "underserved communities". I know for DC they have a map that shows you areas considered as medically underserved.

 

[kjj17]

You could try going to your state's department of health website and search for "underserved communities". I know for DC they have a map that shows you areas considered as medically underserved.

Thanks! Unfortunately, before filling out my AMCAS I searched extensively for something like what you have described, but could not find one :-/ the closest thing I could find was this http://muafind.hrsa.gov/ but it listed several extremely wealthy towns nearby as underserved, so I did not trust what it told me.

The questions in my original post still stand :[ haha

 

[NCPremed13]

I a non-URM minority (lol I guess I should just say I'm Asian) - I know that it is still worth applying if I am truly interested in working with underserved communities, which I am, but I worry because my experiences don't show that explicitly. Although my PS speaks to my passion for social justice issues and I have good ECs and tons of volunteering, those are mostly with local communities (where I lived and where I went to college, neither of which are very underprivileged or underserved communities). Thoughts? My interest is genuine but I just worry it will be doubted since I grew up in an affluent area and also attended a prestigious university.

So the other question is - I want to clarify that although the general area I grew up in is super white & rich, the specific neighborhood I lived in for 18 years was a very diverse, lower-income pocket that is quite different from the overall stereotype of the area. I did not mark it as underserved on my AMCAS because I don't think it really qualifies, given the abundance of healthcare providers in the general area. However, I noticed that the Howard secondary (last year's prompts) asks if you grew up in an underserved community - is it ok if I mark yes, then clarify the situation of my small neighborhood? I lived in a complex that was racially diverse and mostly lower middle class; the adjacent neighborhood, which included many of my friends and classmates, was mostly black and I think public housing.

Would love to hear some thoughts, thanks 🙂
(my stats are average, gpa lower, but it seems Howard is more forgiving of that)

Hey there! Just wanted to give my 2 cents. Though, Howard does have the mission to help the underserved, I would not count out your chances because you live in a "white & rich" neighborhood. Howard puts an emphasis on diversity, so if I were you, I would focus on what you can bring to the table because of the experiences you have. Also, realize that there will be some experiences that the underserved experience that you will not be able to relate to, and that is okay. I would spin your essays in a way that show how living in an affluent neighbor has shown you the divide or lack of equality between different socioeconomic statuses in healthcare and emphasize why you want to help those who haven't had they same opportunities as someone in your neighborhood may have had.

Also, to see if your old neighborhood is underserved, go to the "Print AMCAS Application" button and look at the PDF of your application. Scroll down to where your address is and if it has a (U) beside it, AMCAS considers it an underserved community.

I hope that I helped some!

 

[NCPremed13]

What is a competitive MCAT score?

According to the website, to be considered for an interview, you must have a 22 or higher. The MCAT is out of 45 points and each point has a total of 15 possible points. For most schools, people try to get 10 or above in each section, but that is the SDN standard lol, so I would look at what your schools recommend and regardless try your hardest to get the highest score!

 

[kjj17]

Hey there! Just wanted to give my 2 cents. Though, Howard does have the mission to help the underserved, I would not count out your chances because you live in a "white & rich" neighborhood. Howard puts an emphasis on diversity, so if I were you, I would focus on what you can bring to the table because of the experiences you have. Also, realize that there will be some experiences that the underserved experience that you will not be able to relate to, and that is okay. I would spin your essays in a way that show how living in an affluent neighbor has shown you the divide or lack of equality between different socioeconomic statuses in healthcare and emphasize why you want to help those who haven't had they same opportunities as someone in your neighborhood may have had.

Also, to see if your old neighborhood is underserved, go to the "Print AMCAS Application" button and look at the PDF of your application. Scroll down to where your address is and if it has a (U) beside it, AMCAS considers it an underserved community.

I hope that I helped some!

Thanks for the input 🙂 Just to clarify, my direct neighborhood was neither mostly white nor very rich, but the general area I lived in is stereotyped to be so. Therefore, would it be okay for me to explain that on the secondary?

 

[NervousWreck6]

Hey guys! I'm just as excited as you guys are for applying to Howard! I can never get enough of DC area. I've already gotten my primary application submitted and verified; I'm just waiting for my premed committee to submit my letter packet to Virtual Evals and to AAMC. Does anyone know if we need to have the letters in before AAMC send the application to our med schools? I want to be able to access the secondaries and work on them while my letter is coming in.

 

[NCPremed13]

Hey guys! I'm just as excited as you guys are for applying to Howard! I can never get enough of DC area. I've already gotten my primary application submitted and verified; I'm just waiting for my premed committee to submit my letter packet to Virtual Evals and to AAMC. Does anyone know if we need to have the letters in before AAMC send the application to our med schools? I want to be able to access the secondaries and work on them while my letter is coming in.

Hey! I'm pretty sure that as long as you have all of your transcripts in (which is evident since you were verified), you should be fine! Mind me PMing you about life in DC?

 

[NCPremed13]

Thanks for the input 🙂 Just to clarify, my direct neighborhood was neither mostly white nor very rich, but the general area I lived in is stereotyped to be so. Therefore, would it be okay for me to explain that on the secondary?

I think that as long as you explain it right and feel that you can relate to the underserved, then I say go for it. Though, I am applying too so I don't want to give you bad advice!

 

[kjj17]

last year, the secondary wasn't sent out until August I think - so I don't think anyone has received this year's yet

 

[CourageMD]

Re-applicant here. I'm hoping Howard shows me some love this time around. Secondaries were sent out around mid August last year. Good luck guys!

 

[oli33ful]

Hi everyone. What do you think are my chances for howard??
sGPA 3.91, oGPA 3.98
-microbio major
-Hispanic, white
-Live most of my life in Cuba so I have been exposed to under served communities. I have also volunteered in high schools as a tutor and mentor helping immigrant and other minority students.
-medical scribe for 8 months.
-human rights seminar in Austria
-research for 1 year
-decent shadowing experience
-great LORs.
Took the mcat 2 days ago. I don't think I did great.
What are my chances if, let's say , I got a 23-26 on my MCAT.

 

[LilEngineThatCould]

Hi everyone. What do you think are my chances for howard??
sGPA 3.91, oGPA 3.98
-microbio major
-Hispanic, white
-Live most of my life in Cuba so I have been exposed to under served communities. I have also volunteered in high schools as a tutor and mentor helping immigrant and other minority students.
-medical scribe for 8 months.
-human rights seminar in Austria
-research for 1 year
-decent shadowing experience
-great LORs.
Took the mcat 2 days ago. I don't think I did great.
What are my chances if, let's say , I got a 23-26 on my MCAT.

I'd say they're pretty good actually. Hopefully you scored closer to 26 than 23. Wishing you luck!

 

[Osteoth]

Hoping for a secondary!

 

[oli33ful]

I'd say they're pretty good actually. Hopefully you scored closer to 26 than 23. Wishing you luck!

Thanks for your reply. I'm just afraid that a mid-20 mcat hurts my chances for Howard. do you know if for those non-african american applicants they require a mcat score on the 90 percentile the school currently has?

 

[LilEngineThatCould]

Thanks for your reply. I'm just afraid that a mid-20 mcat hurts my chances for Howard. do you know if for those non-african american applicants they require a mcat score on the 90 percentile the school currently has?

I'm not sure for non-URM applicants (as you know their scores are lower due to it being an HBCU). I'm guessing they'll want you to show a strong desire in working with the underserved populations and/or a good reason behind a low MCAT (this happens even for URMs). But you can always call their admissions staff, most schools are pretty willing to let you know if you have a real shot or not or what you can do to increase your chances, so it can't hurt to call them before you send in a secondary 🙂

 

[llamasarefuzzy]

Any secondary love here? Am getting a bit worried...

 

[kjj17]

didn't show up until August for last year

 

[llamasarefuzzy]

Thanks!

 

[LilEngineThatCould]

Hey guys just got an email today saying that they will email all AMCAS verified applicants with the link/username/password for the secondary on August 8th! Be on the look out 😉

 

[funtertaining15]

Hey guys just got an email today saying that they will email all AMCAS verified applicants with the link/username/password for the secondary on August 8th! Be on the look out 😉

I got the same email today, too!

 

[Osteoth]

I got the same email today, too!

+1

 

[FutureMd08]

about a 30 or higher :/

I'm also taking the MCAT in august! let me know if you want to form a virtual study group

 

[LilEngineThatCould]

about a 30 or higher :/

I'm also taking the MCAT in august! let me know if you want to form a virtual study group

who are you replying to?? You gotta hit reply on their post so they can see it quicker lol

 

[CharuMD]

I got the same email today, too!

same here 🙂

 

[CroatoanVaccine]

Just got a general information e-mail saying that secondaries will come out for verified applicants "on or about August 8th"

 

[CroatoanVaccine]

Woops. Didn't realize there were already posts about it!

 

[LilEngineThatCould]

Woops. Didn't realize there were already posts about it!

lol it's ok

 

[stressingout]

I love this school's mission, but I wonder if they'd be open to accepting a non-URM applicant with a 6 in verbal

 

[Caceres]

Got verified mid July and haven't gotten a secondary yet. Should I be worried?

 

[kcangel1993]

I got an email saying the secondary would be available August 8th for me...

 

[LilEngineThatCould]

Got verified mid July and haven't gotten a secondary yet. Should I be worried?

They don't screen for secondaries and everyone got an email saying the secondary app would be given out on 8/8/14.

 

[LilEngineThatCould]

I love this school's mission, but I wonder if they'd be open to accepting a non-URM applicant with a 6 in verbal

It's always best to call them and ask. Most don't mind telling you the honest truth about your chances. What's your score overall?

 

[stressingout]

It's always best to call them and ask. Most don't mind telling you the honest truth about your chances. What's your score overall?

26 (10/6/10)

 

[stressingout]

I never got an email about secondaries...

 

[LilEngineThatCould]

26 (10/6/10)

Well it's not a bad score, you're still in their range, but sometimes schools screen out scores <7 in a subsection. Call them to see if they got your AMCAS app and then ask about your chances. That's your safest bet.