2015-2016 Mercer University Application Thread

BU Medical Sciences
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Hmm...waitlist movement hasn't been as active on SDN compared to years past..either we are a neurotic group, or there has to be significant movement left! let's hope for the latter!
 
studentdocftw said:
Hmm...waitlist movement hasn't been as active on SDN compared to years past..either we are a neurotic group, or there has to be significant movement left! let's hope for the latter!
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I'm just as hopeful, but I've learned not to judge movement opportunity by posts (or, lack there of) on the thread. If the list has been moving since March, we may have missed our window.

...then again, you may get a call tomorrow!
 
beatnik2424 said:
I'm just as hopeful, but I've learned not to judge movement opportunity by posts (or, lack there of) on the thread. If the list has been moving since March, we may have missed our window.

...then again, you may get a call tomorrow!
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True. But I'll start to throw the towel in the last week of may once people have had the 2 week opportunity to finalize on a school. Until then..time to choreograph a wait list movement dance.
 
LastWinter said:
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/mercers-waitlist.366829/

Wow, back in 2007, you could literally call mercer and they would tell you your relative wait-list position. Why did they stop this practice?
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My guess is...back then it was a purely ranked system whereas today the deans select the students. That way, they can control the diversity of the class (if an AA drops, replace with another AA, if a female drops replace with another female, etc.) I'm assuming they want to avoid a situation where one student is told he is top 10%, another is told she is top 20%, they communicate with each other and yet the top 20% student gets selected for diversity reasons. Pure speculation though..can't find another reason otherwise.
 
studentdocftw said:
My guess is...back then it was a purely ranked system whereas today the deans select the students. That way, they can control the diversity of the class (if an AA drops, replace with another AA, if a female drops replace with another female, etc.) I'm assuming they want to avoid a situation where one student is told he is top 10%, another is told she is top 20%, they communicate with each other and yet the top 20% student gets selected for diversity reasons. Pure speculation though..can't find another reason otherwise.
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This is a good theory, but as a female applicant I hope this isn't the case. If I'm picked I want to know that it is because of my hard work and accomplishments and not so they can keep a box checked. I've got (male) friends on the wait list with very similar grades/experiences on paper and I'd hate to know that I got in before them for something that has nothing to do with my ability to succeed in school.
 
beatnik2424 said:
This is a good theory, but as a female applicant I hope this isn't the case. If I'm picked I want to know that it is because of my hard work and accomplishments and not so they can keep a box checked. I've got (male) friends on the wait list with very similar grades/experiences on paper and I'd hate to know that I got in before them for something that has nothing to do with my ability to succeed in school.
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Unfortunately at this point, we've qualified ourselves for medical school, but are second round picks. If they want to keep their class diverse, and a 1st rounder leaves, they will replace that person with a comparable second round pick. It's already hard to differentiate the general applicant pool, I'd imagine it's even harder to differentiate wait-listed applicants.
 
LastWinter said:
Congrats, did they call or email you?
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Thanks,

I got call but I wasn't home so I got an email less than 10 minutes later.

I wanted to post to let you guys know there's movement. Good luck!!! Any moment nowwww.

I almost lost my job this week refreshing my email and sdn lol
 
omgwoah said:
Thanks,

I got call but I wasn't home so I got an email less than 10 minutes later.

I wanted to post to let you guys know there's movement. Good luck!!! Any moment nowwww.

I almost lost my job this week refreshing my email and sdn lol
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That's what I do at work, Thank god my cubicle is in the part of the office that's getting the most layoffs.
 
studentdocftw said:
Unfortunately at this point, we've qualified ourselves for medical school, but are second round picks. If they want to keep their class diverse, and a 1st rounder leaves, they will replace that person with a comparable second round pick. It's already hard to differentiate the general applicant pool, I'd imagine it's even harder to differentiate wait-listed applicants.
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Oh man, I wonder how many of my fellow white dudes from metro Atlanta are hoping for the same spot to open up. Stay strong, homies.

omgwoah said:
Accepted! Today =).

I got waitlisted from Early Decision. Hell of a wait.
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That must've been brutal - I almost can't believe they put ED people through that. Congratulations though!
 
studentdocftw said:
I feel like next week may be the last big movement for the waitlist...here's to hoping all of us patient folks get in!
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https://www.facebook.com/groups/1607048459550157/

I dunno about that, according to the facebook group it seems the class is mostly filled up. Significant waitlist movement seems to have happened this past week.

Well anyways, it's been real. Congrats to everyone who got accepted!!!
 
LastWinter said:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1607048459550157/

I dunno about that, according to the facebook group it seems the class is mostly filled up. Significant waitlist movement seems to have happened this past week.

Well anyways, it's been real. Congrats to everyone who got accepted!!!
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That's not necessarily true. The FB group contains students that are seconds years, third years, etc. Im not sure exactly how many are 1st years. There is still hope.
 
Keep in mind there are applicants who are waitlisted at other schools so they can drop their spot whenever a spot opens up. Usually there is a 2 week period to accept an offer, so there will still be movement towards the end of May. I just think next week will be when most folks in GA decide on GA schools, so there will be some trickle effect most likely, leading to some more waitlist movement. We can only hope.
 
RunnerGal123 said:
That's not necessarily true. The FB group contains students that are seconds years, third years, etc. Im not sure exactly how many are 1st years. There is still hope.
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I would guess around 30-40 of them are probably not first years.
 
Semi-related to wait list movement: Did y'all know the school averages your MCAT percentile ranks if you've taken the test more than once? I could've looked over a previous post about this, but didn't know if you fine people were aware. I found this out a few months back - I had assumed it was a superscore-type situation like the SAT. I'm not sure what the method behind the madness might be.
 
Some schools average, some take most recent, some take highest. MUSOM averages for their evaluation, which takes my 92% and makes it a measly 75%. So sad. :sour:
 
studentdocftw said:
Some schools average, some take most recent, some take highest. MUSOM averages for their evaluation, which takes my 92% and makes it a measly 75%. So sad. :sour:
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Great...this significantly decreases my odds now... My 2nd score is LEAGUESSS below my third score....
 
studentdocftw said:
Some schools average, some take most recent, some take highest. MUSOM averages for their evaluation, which takes my 92% and makes it a measly 75%. So sad. :sour:
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Yeah, I wasn't exactly pumped when I found out either. Like I said, I can't come up with a reason for this but I'm sure the school has a good one. Otherwise, why wouldn't every school take your best score?
 
hopefuldawg91 said:
Yeah, I wasn't exactly pumped when I found out either. Like I said, I can't come up with a reason for this but I'm sure the school has a good one. Otherwise, why wouldn't every school take your best score?
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It's actually per AAMC recommendations. Somehow, averaging the MCAT shows an applicants' "true score", i.e. applicant with a 28 and 32 would perform the same in medical school as an applicant with a 30. This is a reach by far, as there are so many factors to take into account for a "true" score: how long an applicant studies, whether or not an applicant has to work while studying, how the applicant felt on test day, applicant's background, sigh...Nonetheless, nothing we can do at this point! So let's keep some positive vibes going! woo!
 
studentdocftw said:
It's actually per AAMC recommendations. Somehow, averaging the MCAT shows an applicants' "true score", i.e. applicant with a 28 and 32 would perform the same in medical school as an applicant with a 30. This is a reach by far, as there are so many factors to take into account for a "true" score: how long an applicant studies, whether or not an applicant has to work while studying, how the applicant felt on test day, applicant's background, sigh...Nonetheless, nothing we can do at this point! So let's keep some positive vibes going! woo!
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Someday, I will have my vengeance on the AAMC. It will be insignificant to them, but to me it will mean the world.
 
studentdocftw said:
True. But I'll start to throw the towel in the last week of may once people have had the 2 week opportunity to finalize on a school. Until then..time to choreograph a wait list movement dance.
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You'll see movement earlier I think. They only give people on the waitlist a week to finalize. So I had to make a decision by may 18th, a week after I got a call
 
Alright. I finally got up the courage to submit my withdrawal to this amazing school. I sincerely hope that one of you gets called next.
 
Are there any OSS that apply to this school? I did not see any on MSAR. I am Florida, but visited Georgia quite some times.
 
DingDongD said:
Are there any OSS that apply to this school? I did not see any on MSAR. I am Florida, but visited Georgia quite some times.
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Unfortunately, Mercer only accepts in-state applicants. There are other schools in Georgia that accept OOS applicants, however.
 
hopefuldawg91 said:
Just realized that if our hypothesis about waitlist selection maintaining diversity is true, I won't fill your slot because I'm a guy 🙁
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When I asked about that months ago, I was told that that's not how they decide who comes off the waitlist. So I'm still hopeful for you!
 
Anyone heard anything lately? Friends getting off the list?
 
^Not me - although I have considered withdrawing my application to focus on the next cycle. I looked back at a few threads from previous years and we've had about as much movement at this point as they did when the movement pretty much stopped.
 
Hey everyone! Stay hopeful, stay strong. I had just made peace with my situation (before I was getting really down), and then I got the good news this past Friday evening around 6pm. But one thing that helped me make peace was working on the foundations of a Plan B and C if I did not get in this cycle - for reapplying, and for spending the year ahead in truly worthwhile ways. I felt completely adrift until I decided to seize the reigns of life, to find the benefits of this turn and bump in the road. Don't just wait. And don't lose yourself. And don't put a stopper on your hope, dreams, and journey. We each have our own journey - it's worked out uniquely for all of us. God is so good, in our setbacks and our successes, throughout. Keep believing and dig for the treasures of where we find ourselves. I sincerely wish you all the best. Thanks for putting our crazy intense roller coaster feelings into words, for sharing insights and perspectives, and for encouraging and supportive words. Here's to more waitlist movement. And for those withdrawing and looking ahead, here's to great successes in the year ahead. Keep working hella hard. It pays off. Hope to see some of you in the fall.

I applied Regular Decision, interviewed in February, had an average MCAT and lower science GPA, had several deeply involved, personally meaningful service-oriented extracurriculars, strong letters of rec and interviews, did well in a master's program.
 
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Do you guys think applying early in the cycle is really that big of a deal? We've seen a bunch of accepted applicants (congratulations guys btw) who submitted their applications later in the fall compared to early in the summer. I know I stressed out a ton this time last year to make sure my application was complete and ready to submit as soon as AMCAS opened, and had a super early interview date. I'm just curious if this matters at all.
 
I think it matters more for high ranking schools that have enormous application pools. For state schools, I think your application is bound to get looked at eventually since the pool is often limited to in state applicants. For some OOS schools, they sift through so many applications that sometimes you don't get interviewed simply because your file never gets reviewed if you submit your app late.
 
studentdocftw said:
I think it matters more for high ranking schools that have enormous application pools. For state schools, I think your application is bound to get looked at eventually since the pool is often limited to in state applicants. For some OOS schools, they sift through so many applications that sometimes you don't get interviewed simply because your file never gets reviewed if you submit your app late.
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This is a good question/answer. I struggled with this last year as well. One of the questions I had but never asked was about letters of rec from a primary care doc. I only had one PCP rec letter and I wonder if this is weighed by the admissions committee. I work at an orthopaedic practice and had two letters from the docs I work with. Even though I made it clear (at least I hope I did) that I'm not interested in ortho, do y'all think this negatively impacted me?
 
At this point, there is no reason to worry about the uncontrollable. Assuming you've been waitlisted, it isn't over until orientation begins. Other than that, I would work on your application assuming you are applying this next cycle.
 
studentdocftw said:
At this point, there is no reason to worry about the uncontrollable. Assuming you've been waitlisted, it isn't over until orientation begins. Other than that, I would work on your application assuming you are applying this next cycle.
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I probably should've said what I meant to say. I haven't done a ton of shadowing of primary care physicians in the year since applying and am worried that this could affect me moving forward in the next application cycle with regard to rec letters. Just wondered if y'all had any insight.

Definitely not giving up hope!
 
reaver2323 said:
This is a good question/answer. I struggled with this last year as well. One of the questions I had but never asked was about letters of rec from a primary care doc. I only had one PCP rec letter and I wonder if this is weighed by the admissions committee. I work at an orthopaedic practice and had two letters from the docs I work with. Even though I made it clear (at least I hope I did) that I'm not interested in ortho, do y'all think this negatively impacted me?
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I only had one letter from a physician period, and he was internal medicine so in that regard you should be fine. I also worked on an OR for a year and a half so You should be fine
 
Well everyone, it's been real and it's been fun, but it definitely hasn't been real fun. Anyone else about ready to submit your AMCAS application??
 
Got in off the waitlist today! I guess there's movement!
 
Movement continues to happen. Just received an email from my interviewer offering me a spot. Not sure if it's the Wisconsin beer or cheese, but it hasn't hit me yet. Good luck to everyone else! And shoutout to @ugagrad1116 , we made it!
 
studentdocftw said:
Movement continues to happen. Just received an email from my interviewer offering me a spot. Not sure if it's the Wisconsin beer or cheese, but it hasn't hit me yet. Good luck to everyone else! And shoutout to @ugagrad1116 , we made it!
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AHHHH! I've been waiting for this post for so long! I'm so excited for you! I wish I was going to Mercer so we would be in classes together, but I'm so so happy that you got in, and I know that you're going to do great things at Mercer! It's a great school to be at. If you're in Savannah, I'll see you around at some point. If not, I know you'll enjoy Macon just as well. CONGRATS!!!
 
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