2014 Nontrad Applicants' Progress Thread

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SN12357 said:
I'm a nontrad and applying this cycle. Good MCAT, 4.0 post-bacc.

Can I just say that this is the hardest point in time I've ever experienced in this whole process? I work full time. My job is intense and high-stress research. I've been working the whole time I've been doing my post-bacc, including when I was prepping for the MCAT.
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I could have written this myself, word for word 🙂

Congrats and good luck to non-trads who already got their IIs! :luck:
 
Is anyone else applying this cycle with a cGPA below 3.0?

Rocktapus - Congrats on the interview invite!!
 
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Sigh. Waiting on my physician LOR before I can submit my secondaries. Any input on how to ask on the progress?

Sent from my LG-VM696 using SDN Mobile
 
Pose said:
Sigh. Waiting on my physician LOR before I can submit my secondaries. Any input on how to ask on the progress?

Sent from my LG-VM696 using SDN Mobile
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Send a friendly but direct Email... just say that you're hoping to complete your application at schools in the next week or so, and could he/she let you know when it'll be ready? Also in the Email remind them how to submit the letter and thank them. Good luck!
 
If you submit your completed amcas within a week after you sit for your mcat, wouldn't they both ready about the same time?

I'm going to sit for my test the Friday after this Friday (eek!) and finish the app right after. Gotta get that high score!
 
SN12357 said:
I'm a nontrad and applying this cycle. Good MCAT, 4.0 post-bacc.

Can I just say that this is the hardest point in time I've ever experienced in this whole process? I work full time. My job is intense and high-stress research. I've been working the whole time I've been doing my post-bacc, including when I was prepping for the MCAT. I got my primary in the last week of June.

Facing down these secondaries is the hardest thing I've had to do so far. I come home from work late and I didn't have a problem studying after, but now I need to write essays and get them out to my proofreaders and then edit them again and it's just emotionally draining and awful.
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They should grant you an interview for the sheer force of will it must take to juggle everything. Good luck with your secondaries. 🙂
 
Sent a message to my LOR writer. We shall see. I'm only AACOMAS verified right now, but I'd really like to get those secondaries in. Not that I'm happy with the essays or anything. I treated each prompt as an actual essay, with an introduction, supportive body, and conclusion. Might be overkill?

Submitted AMCAS 06/18, but transcripts arrived 06/21. My undergrad institution is so damn slow. Who the hell knows when that'll get verified.

Feel frustrated today.
 
Pose said:
Sent a message to my LOR writer. We shall see. I'm only AACOMAS verified right now, but I'd really like to get those secondaries in. Not that I'm happy with the essays or anything. I treated each prompt as an actual essay, with an introduction, supportive body, and conclusion. Might be overkill?

Submitted AMCAS 06/18, but transcripts arrived 06/21. My undergrad institution is so damn slow. Who the hell knows when that'll get verified.

Feel frustrated today.
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They got my transcripts into the system within about a week when I mailed 'em in late May. Not sure if they progressively slow down as the application season goes on?
 
sunnymd01 said:
They got my transcripts into the system within about a week when I mailed 'em in late May. Not sure if they progressively slow down as the application season goes on?
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I think my undergrad school just took forever to mail the transcripts to the AAMC. Like two weeks or something. Not sure why I waited so long to put in the request though. Silly me.
 
My friends and family have noticed that I seem to be having fun with the secondaries. They all mistakenly assume that I enjoy writing the secondaries, but really I just enjoy submitting them! It is really satisfying to feel like things are moving forward.

I am more than halfway through my secondary submissions now, so I imagine that in the near future I will just be sitting around compulsively checking email, hoping to see interview invites in the inbox. I am trying to steel myself for another waiting period. (And another... and another...)
 
Hey All:

Thought I would introduce myself. I'm a 31 yo that just finished the post-bacc program at USC. I have a BFA and MFA in acting, so this was obviously a big jump for me.

My cumulative GPA is 3.8 and science GPA is 3.5. I sat for the MCAT on June 20 and am awaiting my scores. Honestly, I studied for 6 months and still felt horrible about it. However, I feel horrible about every test I've taken, so my friends have told me to shut the heck up and move on with secondaries.

I was verified as of July 8th and have received 46 secondaries. Yes, I'm in full panic mode. I have submitted 15 but am waiting to see my MCAT score before submitting the others. Many of my friends are quickly sending them off without much thought or revision. I've decided to take my time. Seems like a well-polished secondary is more valuable than something generic.

Who knows at this point. I fluctuate between nightmares about my MCAT score to Zen moments as I imagine myself in medical school.

Best of luck to everyone. I'll update with progress.

Aaron
 
alm1982 said:
Hey All:

Thought I would introduce myself. I'm a 31 yo that just finished the post-bacc program at USC. I have a BFA and MFA in acting, so this was obviously a big jump for me.

My cumulative GPA is 3.8 and science GPA is 3.5. I sat for the MCAT on June 20 and am awaiting my scores. Honestly, I studied for 6 months and still felt horrible about it. However, I feel horrible about every test I've taken, so my friends have told me to shut the heck up and move on with secondaries.

I was verified as of July 8th and have received 46 secondaries. Yes, I'm in full panic mode. I have submitted 15 but am waiting to see my MCAT score before submitting the others. Many of my friends are quickly sending them off without much thought or revision. I've decided to take my time. Seems like a well-polished secondary is more valuable than something generic.

Who knows at this point. I fluctuate between nightmares about my MCAT score to Zen moments as I imagine myself in medical school.

Best of luck to everyone. I'll update with progress.

Aaron
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Why so many schools?! Your GPA is fine.

I agree it's important to take time over the secondaries.

Work is still killing me. I'm due to be verified in about 10 days, and I'm so worried about the flood of secondaries. I applied to 23 schools and might add 2-3 more later.
 
Well, I'm worried about my MCAT score. I was ranging from 28 to 32, and according to so many peeps on this forum, my 3.8 GPA isn't enough to offset my potential MCAT score. So, I decided to apply "broadly." Most states are going to know who I am by the end of this cycle.
 
alm1982 said:
Well, I'm worried about my MCAT score. I was ranging from 28 to 32, and according to so many peeps on this forum, my 3.8 GPA isn't enough to offset my potential MCAT score. So, I decided to apply "broadly." Most states are going to know who I am by the end of this cycle.
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I understand your worries about your MCAT score (and the fact that you're from California, you guys have it harder), but 46 schools is way too many anyway. The issue is not only that you'll end up spending lots of money, but, as you have already noticed, you will have to spend a significant amount of time and effort writing those secondaries. Granted, there are some topics that appear on many secondaries (challenge, diversity etc.), but you will still have to tweak them for each secondary.
More importantly, you should keep in mind that schools have missions, and if you don't fit their mission at all, you're very unlikely to be accepted regardless your MCAT and GPA. So, applying to every school in your (expected) MCAT and GPA range is not such a good idea. Check out schools' missions: state schools obviously prefer IS applicants (some more, some less, but still), which means that if you have stats in their mid- to lower range, you have a very little chance of getting accepted; then there are historic African American schools, some sort of church-affiliated schools (Loma Linda) etc. - unless you fit their mission, you're not likely to be accepted.
I'm sorry for being negative, and I do wish you best of luck, but I think it will be a good idea for you to check out schools' web site for their missions before you submit your secondaries.

My AMCAS and TMDSAS were finally verified in the beginning of this week (I submitted TMDSAS 10 days after my AMCAS, but it was verified a day earlier than AMCAS), so I'm up to my neck in secondaries (though I have only 17 secondaries that require essays). It's kind of strange how my feelings about a school are inversely proportional to the difficulty of its secondary 😛 That is, the schools that I like most have the most difficult, thought provoking, soul searching essays. I'm kind of torn between the pressure to submit my secondaries ASAP (especially for my most favorite schools) and the desire to write something meaningful in them (again, especially for my favorite schools) - well, at least I know what I'll be doing this weekend 🙂
 
38 y/o physician assistant looking at going to med school. I feel like an old fogie looking at the ages even in the non-trad but it's all good. Obviously as a PA my EC's are awesome, my grades are decent but not 4.0, so I'm nervous about taking the MCAT. So much so that I had a nightmare the other night...

I took the MCAT and it was all chemistry, no verbal, no biology, no physics. Totally panicked. 😛

Guess my anxiety needs some more help so I better get back to studying. Thought I'd share in the hopes of lightening your day.

Good luck to all.
 
Darth Doc said:
38 y/o physician assistant looking at going to med school. I feel like an old fogie looking at the ages even in the non-trad but it's all good. Obviously as a PA my EC's are awesome, my grades are decent but not 4.0, so I'm nervous about taking the MCAT. So much so that I had a nightmare the other night...

I took the MCAT and it was all chemistry, no verbal, no biology, no physics. Totally panicked. 😛

Guess my anxiety needs some more help so I better get back to studying. Thought I'd share in the hopes of lightening your day.

Good luck to all.
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Just kill the best (aka MCAT)!
Good luck! :luck:
 
Just heard from one of my schools that two of my letter writers did not send letters on letterhead (as I requested). I'm having them resubmit, but any insight as to if this is going to be a widespread issue? Kind of frustrating since I told all my letter writers of the requirement, but since they are confidential I had no way to know they didn't follow the instructions.

Would it be worth contacting the other schools that have already downloaded these letters (and haven't said anything) and letting them know I will have letterhead copies from them in the hopefully near future?
 
Verified early in amcas and aacomas, a few apps on hold for letters and prereqs but got about 80% of the schools to secondary and turned them in......have an ii next month and no hard rejections yet!
 
AMCAS finally verified today, AACOMAS released last week. I've gotten and completed 2 secondaries from MD Schools. 3 DO Schools have sent me secondaries so far and 2 emails from others saying my app is under review. Still waiting on 3 MD secondaries and 4 DO ones. Going to an Osteopathic Medical Conference at the end of this month to talk to some school recruiters and find some shadowing opportunities.
 
June 20th MCAT came in with a solid balanced score, submitted yesterday, was verified 10 minutes later somehow. Working on secondary today, all of my eggs are in one basket, going for broke Early Decision at my favorite state school. Going to see the Dean next tuesday for the second time, as he told me to do two years ago when I started this journey. Ended up with a 44 hour, 35 science credits, 4.0 GPA post-bacc.

Here we go....
 
I found out that my 7 months daughter has a heart defect, and need surgery next week. That throws all my plans out of the window. Withdrawing my apps for the cycle. Will try again next year. Good luck everybody 🙁
 
doctorold said:
I found out that my 7 months daughter has a heart defect, and need surgery next week. That throws all my plans out of the window. Withdrawing my apps for the cycle. Will try again next year. Good luck everybody 🙁
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Oh, so sorry to hear that. I wish your little daughter full and uneventful recovery. (If I were religious I would pray for her, but as an agnostic I'm limited to just wishing her and your family well.)
And there's next year for you to apply!
 
doctorold said:
I found out that my 7 months daughter has a heart defect, and need surgery next week. That throws all my plans out of the window. Withdrawing my apps for the cycle. Will try again next year. Good luck everybody 🙁
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I hope everything goes smoothly, med school will keep. Sending good thoughts to your little one.
 
Thank you guys. I really appreciate it.
 
Elewynne said:
Just heard from one of my schools that two of my letter writers did not send letters on letterhead...
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I am still waiting on my last LOR (sigh...), but now you have me worried. Does anyone recall if the Interfolio letter request email includes instructions and your AMCAS ID numbers? Considering emailing my authors and making sure they used letterhead and supplied the pertinent information. Though most of them submitted their letters months ago...
 
Pose said:
I am still waiting on my last LOR (sigh...), but now you have me worried. Does anyone recall if the Interfolio letter request email includes instructions and your AMCAS ID numbers? Considering emailing my authors and making sure they used letterhead and supplied the pertinent information. Though most of them submitted their letters months ago...
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Interfolio request does not specify that letters have to be on letterhead, you have to write this to your LOR writers yourself (there is a space for a message from you to your LOR writer in the Interfolio letter request form).

You assign your AMCAS ID to the letters yourself when you send them to AMCAS through Interfolio. It's OK if letter writers don't include it in the letter itself - at least, I had no problems with my LOR writers not having my AMCAS ID.
 
3 interviews so far. Attended LECOM-B and I have interviews scheduled at Touro-NV and Nova for August and September. I'll find out about LECOM acceptance next week!

MD apps are very very very slow, at this rate, I'll be verified sometime in August (up for verification July 1 because it took them a couple weeks to process my transcripts) which almost seems to negate attempting to apply early 🙁
 
My three professor letters weren't on letterhead, so now I'm waiting to have those resubmitted. My MD letter still isn't in either, but I send reminders to her every few days. She apparently hasn't even started it yet. Should I wait, or submit secondaries now that don't require a physician letter, and update them once she writes it?

Sent from my LG-VM696 using SDN Mobile
 
Hi all

28 years old here; I'm currently a 2.97 GPA. I am a junior undergrad. 77 credits completed.

Finishing up Physics 2 and Intro. Philosophy right now. I will have taken 15 credits this summer.

My GPA after I finish these courses will be a 3.01xx. However, my Physics 2 grade will be replacing a previous F grade (long story short, I was not taking my depression medication during that semester, and was unable to obtain a late withdrawal so I had to take the F; I had not been attending 50% of the lecture so that's why I did so poorly).

I'm hoping to raise my GPA to a 3.6 eventually over the next 2 years. With 1 grade replacement, my GPA will be a 3.17 after I finish Physics 2 this summer. So I would be sitting at:

3.01xx with 83 credits completed.

or

3.17 with 83 credits completed and a grade replacement for Physics 2.

I am currently a Chem. major. but I want to switch to Bio.
 
Great thread. I am glad you started it. I am a nontridtional applicant too. 41 years old married w/ 3 kids 9, 6, and 2. Emigrated to US from Pakistan 20 years ago due religious persecution. Started from scratch, working fultime and going to school part time. Graduated with a BS biology GPA 3.55 sGPA 3.61. Sold cars for 2 years. Got married and started nursing school with an accelerated BSN program (BSN in 18 month). We had our first daughter during school. New marriage, kid, work, and tough classes took their toll and my GPA was 2.72 (yea I sucked). Did my own business for 5 years, then worked as an HVAC tech too beside running the business. Lost business when the markets crashed along with my million dollar house. Back to nursing and loving it. I have been a nurse for 3 years now. I also have 4 months UG biology research. Volenteering at a teen are pregnancy center now and have lined up a couple of docs to shadow. I am taking MCAT in September. I am hopeful and keeping my fingers crossed. It will be a dream cone true. Can't wait to get into a the medical school.
 
Great thread. I am glad you started it. I am a nontridtional applicant too. 41 years old married w/ 3 kids 9, 6, and 2. Emigrated to US from Pakistan 20 years ago due religious persecution. Started from scratch, working fultime and going to school part time. Graduated with a BS biology GPA 3.55 sGPA 3.61. Sold cars for 2 years. Got married and started nursing school with an accelerated BSN program (BSN in 18 month). We had our first daughter during school. New marriage, kid, work, and tough classes took their toll and my GPA was 2.72 (yea I sucked). Did my own business for 5 years, then worked as an HVAC tech too beside running the business. Lost business when the markets crashed along with my million dollar house. Back to nursing and loving it. I have been a nurse for 3 years now. I also have 4 months UG biology research. Volenteering at a teen are pregnancy center now and have lined up a couple of docs to shadow. I am taking MCAT in September. I am hopeful and keeping my fingers crossed. It will be a dream cone true. Can't wait to get into a the medical school.
 
Got my mcat scores back - June 20 test taker and got a 30 so I'm pleased. Still waiting on all my letters so I've been nicely "harassing" them. Also still working in secondaries because the fees are ridiculous! Sigh. I had to apply broadly due to low gpa of 3.3. So both md and do. Hopefully I'll be complete soon 🙂
 
Picked up my second and third interview invites of the season, plus a small pool today. Absolutely thrilled and honored at the love I'm getting.
 
MackandBlues said:
Got my mcat scores back - June 20 test taker and got a 30 so I'm pleased. Still waiting on all my letters so I've been nicely "harassing" them. Also still working in secondaries because the fees are ridiculous! Sigh. I had to apply broadly due to low gpa of 3.3. So both md and do. Hopefully I'll be complete soon 🙂
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Congrats on your score, that test was pure misery.
 
I always like perusing through the non-trad forum because everyone is more civilized, supportive and mature than a lot of the other forums. I am really impressed with everyone who have kids and a full time job, I can't imagine trying to study and be a family member. I can barely remember what I ate for breakfast this morning....

This is my first application cycle to 18 allopathic schools. I am currently 26. I went to UW-Madison for undergrad and received a 3.3 with three majors. (I was stupid to take so many courses....) I then married my wife and we both went into the Army. I spent three years as an Infantry Officer and then became a helicopter pilot for some more adventure.

I did two semesters of research at Madison along with being in ROTC, becoming an RA for two years, volunteering and serving in the Guard. I also was lucky enough to serve in a combat support hospital as an officer. I am hoping all of this balances out the low GPA. I am still waiting on my MCAT scores. It is like a really horrible version of waiting for Christmas...

Best of luck to everyone!
 
Apache1618 said:
I always like perusing through the non-trad forum because everyone is more civilized, supportive and mature than a lot of the other forums. I am really impressed with everyone who have kids and a full time job, I can't imagine trying to study and be a family member. I can barely remember what I ate for breakfast this morning....

This is my first application cycle to 18 allopathic schools. I am currently 26. I went to UW-Madison for undergrad and received a 3.3 with three majors. (I was stupid to take so many courses....) I then married my wife and we both went into the Army. I spent three years as an Infantry Officer and then became a helicopter pilot for some more adventure.

I did two semesters of research at Madison along with being in ROTC, becoming an RA for two years, volunteering and serving in the Guard. I also was lucky enough to serve in a combat support hospital as an officer. I am hoping all of this balances out the low GPA. I am still waiting on my MCAT scores. It is like a really horrible version of waiting for Christmas...

Best of luck to everyone!
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Wow. You have quite a resume for a 26 years old. Very impressive. Good luck 🙂
 
Update: Submitted TMDAS a week ago finally. I'm kicking myself for waiting so long but to be honest I stopped all work on my app after my MCAT. In hindsight I should have pushed forward anyway but at least it's done now. Had to gently remind a professor to send in a letter for me and my transcripts took a while to make it in but that's all done. From the looks of things I have another two/three weeks before TMDAS is verified and submitted to schools. Secondary apps are going slowly so far but at least there's some overlap on a few of them. I've been trying to stay away from the forums lately as seeing all the people with II's already makes me anxious and I'm afraid I'll be at a disadvantage for submitting later. The sooner I knock the secondaries out though the sooner I can focus on finding a job. These are going to be a long few months
 
doctorold said:
Wow. You have quite a resume for a 26 years old. Very impressive. Good luck 🙂
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We shall see if it gets me anywhere. I was just told today that we now might be back on for a deployment so I might be testing the military's "flexibility" here soon. Best of luck with your kid, hopefully everything works out for you!
 
Apache1618 said:
We shall see if it gets me anywhere. I was just told today that we now might be back on for a deployment so I might be testing the military's "flexibility" here soon. Best of luck with your kid, hopefully everything works out for you!
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Thank you very much.
 
Ups and downs are all part of the rollercoaster of your application year. You WILL find yourself shifting between serenity and panic more frequently than you like.

As far as the secondaries go, you are right in saying polish matters. You probably won't get to all 46 of them and that is OK. Don't believe the myth that you must reply within a week of getting the secondary invite. Sooner is better, but going crazy and rushing them is worse.

You. Can. Do. This!!!!

alm1982 said:
...
I was verified as of July 8th and have received 46 secondaries. Yes, I'm in full panic mode. I have submitted 15 but am waiting to see my MCAT score before submitting the others. Many of my friends are quickly sending them off without much thought or revision. I've decided to take my time. Seems like a well-polished secondary is more valuable than something generic.

Who knows at this point. I fluctuate between nightmares about my MCAT score to Zen moments as I imagine myself in medical school.
Click to expand...
 
Back 5 said:
3 interviews so far. Attended LECOM-B and I have interviews scheduled at Touro-NV and Nova for August and September. I'll find out about LECOM acceptance next week!

MD apps are very very very slow, at this rate, I'll be verified sometime in August (up for verification July 1 because it took them a couple weeks to process my transcripts) which almost seems to negate attempting to apply early 🙁
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Outright rejection from LECOM-B today 🙁 Completely surprised based on interview feedback. Puts a bit more pressure on the upcoming interviews I have.
 
novrain said:
3.44 sGPA / 3.47 cGPA / 3.2 gGPA / 32 MCAT (13/8/11)
Prim verified 7/15..
43 MD primary app, 30 secondaries submitted, 3 aborted (OOS haters.. no $$ for ya), working on 6 secondaries.. no response from 4 others.

NO II SO FAR 🙁🙁🙁
starting to get frustrated, worried, concerned, scared, and afj;waiejfaowiefjawejffjoiawj32[j
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It is still really early on
 
It's great to hear all these non-trad stories... I remember the day I sought out a pre-med advisor and she looked at me like I had three heads.

I'm a 30 year old paramedic who works two full-time jobs at ~70 hours per week total and have been taking two classes a semester for the past couple years. I'm married with two (three in October) children who my wife happily stays home with. I have a BA in political science with a 2.3 cGPA from when I was 21 and I've been working against that ever since. I have about 80 credits post-bacc which has pushed my cGPA up to 2.96... This still makes me nervous because I continually hear how 3.0 is the magic number for DO schools. My sGPA is 3.52 however so I hope that makes up a little for it. I got a 27 on my MCAT (9/9/9) which seems right along the average for DO school. I applied to 8 DO schools this cycle and so far I have gotten secondaries for them all so I haven't screened out of any yet thankfully... Great to meet everyone and good luck!
 
Aloha All:

I've been a long-time lurker, and I never knew a thread for non-traditional students existed. It's great to see a thread for us to find some inspiration and guidance. I'm 32, applying this cycle to as many medical schools as I can.

Stats: sGPA 3.8 / cGPA 3.5 (AMCAS) [messed up in college 10 years ago]
sGPA 4.0 / cGPA 3.5 (AACOMAS)
26R MCAT (7.26 retake)

I look forward to reading acceptance notifications from all of you. Until then, good luck and stay strong!
 
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