2014 Nontrad Applicants' Progress Thread

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
Got my first interview invite yesterday! 😍

Sad I have to wait until the second week of October to see NOVA. It's the first date I could get off of work for a trip to Florida... that is going to require at least two vacation days because they only schedule interviews on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Where I work they schedule our time off more than two months in advance. 👎

I have my secondaries in at two MD schools and two DO schools. The DO secondaries just started coming in about 8 days ago. AMCAS finally verified me on 7/30. (Submitted 6/18.)

Now to finish as many secondaries as possible this weekend! I think I have 10 sitting in my in box. Sigh.
 
Last edited:
My last LOR writer said she will have my letter to the AAMC by Tuesday. Hoping to submit every secondary that day. Lots of writing to do this weekend. Seems like lots of people have interviews already...wondering if I'm considered a late applicant now, or if I've diminished my chances?
 
Don't worry, you're not late. Not superearly like some applicants here, but not late either. Also, keep in mind that schools have very different processing times, and only a minority of them are already sending out interview invitations; some haven't even sent out secondaries yet.
 
I had such high hopes that I'd be verified by Friday, but no luck....I really hope it happens by Tues, I have a long weekend planned to work on applications because I thought for sure I'd be verified (submitted 6/27) 🙁
 
I was just verified on 8/1. 16 submitted secondaries later....:boom:

6 more to go.

For those who are still waiting to be verified, I would HIGHLY recommend double-checking the grades once it's been processed. AMCAS neglected to give me 8 credit hours worth of As so I fought it and had my GPA readjusted (and increased). It was a marginal increase, but worth it since it only took one day.
 
QrtrLifeCrisis said:
I was just verified on 8/1. 16 submitted secondaries later....:boom:

6 more to go.

For those who are still waiting to be verified, I would HIGHLY recommend double-checking the grades once it's been processed. AMCAS neglected to give me 8 credit hours worth of As so I fought it and had my GPA readjusted (and increased). It was a marginal increase, but worth it since it only took one day.
Click to expand...
Wow! I envy your focus and determination! LOL

I have 6 of the 12 secondaries I've received submitted and 1 I'm editing now and about to send and I hope to get to at least 3 more by the end of the day.

Still waiting on 4 secondaries and considering adding a few more schools.
 
Wow, shocked at how you guys can finish secondaries so quickly! It takes me forever, and I'm still never happy with my answers.

Also thinking of adding more schools. Liiiikkeee...those without secondary essays.
 
I'm so happy I got an II from U of Pittsburgh today! :soexcited: Yes, on a Sunday afternoon 😀
I also got one rejection last week, but it's OK, it was a reach anyway...

... and I still have about a third of my secondaries to submit. I'm not rushing them 'cause I think it's better to submit the best application you can have.
 
Amygdarya said:
I'm so happy I got an II from U of Pittsburgh today! :soexcited: Yes, on a Sunday afternoon 😀
I also got one rejection last week, but it's OK, it was a reach anyway...

... and I still have about a third of my secondaries to submit. I'm not rushing them 'cause I think it's better to submit the best application you can have.
Click to expand...

Congrats!! And good luck on the interview!
 
Thank you!
Well, it's only the beginning of the cycle, I see great things for us non-trads! 🙂
 
how do you see your final gpa in the AMCAS application? I tried reading the instruction manual but didnt see it in there. Thanks.
 
katiemaude said:
Wow! I envy your focus and determination! LOL

I have 6 of the 12 secondaries I've received submitted and 1 I'm editing now and about to send and I hope to get to at least 3 more by the end of the day.

Still waiting on 4 secondaries and considering adding a few more schools.
Click to expand...

I never said that they were great essays! Haha.

I started feeling the fire when people were being handed II left and right.
 
QrtrLifeCrisis said:
I never said that they were great essays! Haha.

I started feeling the fire when people were being handed II left and right.
Click to expand...
I hear ya. I got my first II this cycle last week and it lit a fire under me to finish more. I'm up to 8. Going to try to get a few more done this week before and after work. I still have five sitting in my inbox. 😛
 
QrtrLifeCrisis said:
I never said that they were great essays! Haha.

I started feeling the fire when people were being handed II left and right.
Click to expand...

Ugh I know I think reading the threads where people are already getting IIs is probably the worst use of my time on sdn yet.

I'm planning on targeting the two week window for my secondaries. I don't feel I can rush them out.

Of course I still need to be verified...c'mon AMCAS, let today be the day!
 
First interview invite received to USC
 
I am over the moon! I've got 4 interview invites, with two in the last two days! I am so excited (and terrified!)

Congrats to everyone with interviews and good luck to everyone still waiting!
 
DR MOM said:
I am over the moon! I've got 4 interview invites, with two in the last two days! I am so excited (and terrified!)

Congrats to everyone with interviews and good luck to everyone still waiting!
Click to expand...
Awesome! Congrats and good luck at your interviews!
 
Verified! I'm ecstatic--bring on the secondaries!
 
Only a few secondaries left. I'm really stumped on this "what setting do you plan to practice medicine in". How a student could have a good answer is beyond me and adcomms know that we dont know so I don't see the point.
 
phys2med said:
I'm really stumped on this "what setting do you plan to practice medicine in". How a student could have a good answer is beyond me and adcomms know that we dont know so I don't see the point.
Click to expand...
I guess it depends on the person, but I have a pretty good idea what kind of setting I want to practice medicine in. As applicants, we certainly don't know where we end up practicing medicine (if at all), but I think we should have an idea of what kind of medicine we want to practice before applying to med school.
You may not know what kind of specialty you want to practice, but you may have an idea whether you want to go into private practice, or academic medicine (research, teaching and administrative responsibilities on top of clinical practice), or health policy, or management etc. Also, what kind of population you want to serve: this may not apply to you, but some people want to serve rural or underserved, which is a great selling point at some schools, assuming you're sincere about it and have some life experiences to support it.
 
TMDSAS finally transmitted to schools and secondaries are all done and submitted. Now comes the waiting! Shocked to find out that they decided radiology classes I had 8 years ago are science classes and my 4.0 sGPA got moved down to 3.7. Pretty crappy that learning how position a hand for an xray is science but they actually counted my radiation physics class as nonsci. Strange. I was really hoping the science gpa would counterbalance a lower MCAT. Seems to be no shortage of depressing moments in this process.
 
PlumbLine said:
First II! It's with OSU.
Click to expand...

DR MOM said:
I am over the moon! I've got 4 interview invites, with two in the last two days! I am so excited (and terrified!)

Congrats to everyone with interviews and good luck to everyone still waiting!
Click to expand...

MedWonk said:
First interview invite received to USC
Click to expand...

katiemaude said:
I hear ya. I got my first II this cycle last week and it lit a fire under me to finish more. I'm up to 8. Going to try to get a few more done this week before and after work. I still have five sitting in my inbox. 😛
Click to expand...

Congrats to all the non-trad interview invites!! (Sorry if I missed ya!)
 
Sigh, nothing and it's been two weeks+ from some of my top choices. Very frustrating. About 12 submitted already and I keep chugging along.
 
Got my first interview invite to UK. I missed out on the earliest dates, so I took 10/24. Pretty exciting email to get!
 
UK as in Great Britain or University of Kentucky? 🙂
Congrats! The first II is the sweetest (I remember being relieved there was nothing terribly wrong with my application).
 
I have two interviews so far, both at my state schools: UNC and ECU. Good luck to everyone! We will rock our interviews with our maturity and life experiences 😀
 
Is anyone using a specific source to educate themselves about the ACA? I'd like to be able to talk more intelligently about its impact to adcomms besides the basic understanding I have.
 
phys2med said:
Is anyone using a specific source to educate themselves about the ACA? I'd like to be able to talk more intelligently about its impact to adcomms besides the basic understanding I have.
Click to expand...

also interested in this question. I've my first interview a week from today, my second two days after that!
 
The luck of a non-trad.
Took the day off to work on secondaries in a quite house... The upstairs neighbors start their remodeling!!!!!
And I got my first rejection. UWash.
 
Brpremed said:
And I got my first rejection. UWash.
Click to expand...
According to your profile, you're from NY. From what I know, UWash is pretty stringent about its residency requirements, so you shouldn't be upset about this rejection: it's not you, it's them - that is, their residency requirements 🙂
 
For those preparing for interviews and catching up on health policy and ACA: there is a really good Coursera course called "Health Policy and the Affordable Care Act" (https://www.coursera.org/course/healthpolicy) taught by Ezekiel J. Emanuel, one of the ACA architects. The course is not running right now, but I wonder of you can access the archives if you register.
Alternatively, look for Emanuel's videos on YouTube. As one of the authors, he's a very enthusiastic popularizer of ACA.
Also, you can check out Health Care courses on sites like AcademicEarth (http://academicearth.org/online-college-courses/healthcare-administration/).
 
Got an application hold today because two of my letter writers didn't sign or use letterhead. One of them is on vacation, and won't be able to fix it. I'm going to have to request my application be processed without that letter...most likely my strongest. But at least it's from an MD and not one of the required faculty letters.
 
Pose said:
Got an application hold today because two of my letter writers didn't sign or use letterhead. One of them is on vacation, and won't be able to fix it. I'm going to have to request my application be processed without that letter...most likely my strongest. But at least it's from an MD and not one of the required faculty letters.
Click to expand...

William carey also demands signatures, I was on hold there for weeks getting my lor-s redone by my profs. Mrs. Donna was super nice about it though and very patient with me.
 
Captain Sisko said:
also interested in this question. I've my first interview a week from today, my second two days after that!
Click to expand...

While it may be more of a read than you're interested in, I was assigned this book for a class, and found it really helpful. Easy read and great overview of the whole healthcare system. It's probably way too much information, but might be interesting if you have the time. I'm still waiting for verification...so I have all the time in the world...

http://www.amazon.com/dp/1442210699
 
Last edited:
Hi all! Just wanted to introduce myself: nontrad (>5 years since college) and applying this cycle. Off to a good start with two interviews. Can't wait to meet you other nontrad folks at medical school.
 
Got interview invites today to Brown and CCOM.
 
For anyone preparing for interviews, I highly recommend "Sick Around the World," a Frontline documentary comparing the US health care system to systems in Japan, Taiwan, Great Britain, Switzerland, and Germany. It predates the ACA, but it's great at explaining the pros and cons of various models.

http://video.pbs.org/video/1050712790/
 
Looks like some good suggestions here. Thanks all.
 
Interviewed for TTUHSC SOM FMAT program last Friday. They were super friendly. Will be 5 years since college when I matriculate (yeah, I'm being super positive) in med school next August. Been teaching high school chemistry for 4 years, spent one year after college volunteering in Haiti (pre,during,post earthquake). Single foster mom. I really want to do the FMAT program and have heard great things about it. I know how difficult it is to wait and wait and wait some more, all while working full time and managing a family. All that time will pay off! Good luck to everyone!
 
heliumfluorine said:
Interviewed for TTUHSC SOM FMAT program last Friday. They were super friendly. Will be 5 years since college when I matriculate (yeah, I'm being super positive) in med school next August. Been teaching high school chemistry for 4 years, spent one year after college volunteering in Haiti (pre,during,post earthquake). Single foster mom. I really want to do the FMAT program and have heard great things about it. I know how difficult it is to wait and wait and wait some more, all while working full time and managing a family. All that time will pay off! Good luck to everyone!
Click to expand...

Wow. You're a rockstar. Anywhere you go will be lucky to have you. Best of luck but I doubt you need it. Great motivation seeing so many excellent nontrads.
 
15/24 secondaries done and starting to flag. No II yet, but only been complete a week at most. Need to find the energy somewhere to push through the last 9 secondaries....sigh.
 
Amygdarya said:
According to your profile, you're from NY. From what I know, UWash is pretty stringent about its residency requirements, so you shouldn't be upset about this rejection: it's not you, it's them - that is, their residency requirements 🙂
Click to expand...

Thanks, I know... I am originally from Oregon and graduated High School and college from there, so I was hoping they would show me some West coast love.
 
Amygdarya said:
According to your profile, you're from NY. From what I know, UWash is pretty stringent about its residency requirements, so you shouldn't be upset about this rejection: it's not you, it's them - that is, their residency requirements 🙂
Click to expand...

Thanks, I know... I am originally from Oregon and graduated High School and college from there, so I was hoping they would show me some West coast love.
 
SN12357 said:
15/24 secondaries done and starting to flag. No II yet, but only been complete a week at most. Need to find the energy somewhere to push through the last 9 secondaries....sigh.
Click to expand...

Just push through and start watching those II start rolling in. 🙂
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

M
Nontrad Athlete. What are my odds?
Replies
2
Views
537
Mr.Smile12
Mr.Smile12
lialalala
Nontrad Course
Replies
3
Views
485
Wamuu
Wamuu
A
Postbacc Advice for Nontrad Elder in NYC
Replies
3
Views
986
Goro
Goro
N
School List Advice for Nontrad TX (522 MCAT, 3.99 GPA)
Replies
7
Views
924
Mr.Smile12
Mr.Smile12
R
Nontrad school list help
Replies
1
Views
1K
Faha
F
Top