2015 Nontrad Applicants' Progress Thread

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MedicalMomma81 said:
Anyone know if I should mark "some college" for my mother, who was a stay at home mother? She took one night school class at the local community college when I for fun, never seeking a degree, but it was technically at a college.
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I did some college for my mom, who took two classes in one semester at a CC. Don't want to risk anything being considered a lie, and to be honest, some college is actually a 'good' thing (shows your parents did not graduate from college and they aren't doctors or something haha)
 
I'm full of questions tonight...

Should I try to make paragraphs and indent on the personal statement page, or just type it straight out?
 
OK, please give it to me straight. How strange would it be to have 15 w/a and only 2 MM? I just ... can't. I'm all tapped out!
 
Leslie_Knope said:
OK, please give it to me straight. How strange would it be to have 15 w/a and only 2 MM? I just ... can't. I'm all tapped out!
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I know you hate it and I know you want to be done. Been there, got the tshirt. Get some sleep tonight, pick one from the 13 activities and designate it most meaningful, then write something good about it. Does not have to be medically related - just pick something that has affected you in any way. A college job which made you more patient with customers, a sports thingy which taught you that you can lose sometimes and still be proud of what you've done. There has to be something.
 
milski said:
I know you hate it and I know you want to be done. Been there, got the tshirt. Get some sleep tonight, pick one from the 13 activities and designate it most meaningful, then write something good about it. Does not have to be medically related - just pick something that has affected you in any way. A college job which made you more patient with customers, a sports thingy which taught you that you can lose sometimes and still be proud of what you've done. There has to be something.
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Dang you are so right. Thanks. 🙂 I'm going to work on my school list tonight and revisit this MM business tomorrow.
 
Yeah definitely don't leave out the third MM. Filling the 15 is less important than the 3.

My most meaningful are a hobby that turned into a second job, my primary job, and volunteering at a hospital ER.


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Glycereine said:
Yeah definitely don't leave out the third MM. Filling the 15 is less important than the 3.

My most meaningful are a hobby that turned into a second job, my primary job, and volunteering at a hospital ER.


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Thanks. My issue is I talked about my job and my volunteer work in my PS. Then I wrote more about my job in MM. I also chose intercollegiate athletics as another MM even though it occurred over 8 years ago. So this last one needs to be different and recent. I guess I don't feel like I've done anything meaningful other than shadowing and what's already been talked about. So I guess I'll select shadowing.
 
I think shadowing is good for an MM. Especially if you can say why it helped you decide to become a doctor, or gave you insight into life as one etc.

Take my advice with a grain of salt, I'm submitting for the first time too!
 
milski said:
I know you hate it and I know you want to be done. Been there, got the tshirt. Get some sleep tonight, pick one from the 13 activities and designate it most meaningful, then write something good about it. Does not have to be medically related - just pick something that has affected you in any way. A college job which made you more patient with customers, a sports thingy which taught you that you can lose sometimes and still be proud of what you've done. There has to be something.
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Agreed. I think it would look bad if you say look at all the things I did, but I only appreciated two. I ended up choosing research, volunteer in ER, and my work (non-medical).
 
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Just to add to the previous... I think choosing a strong non-medical is a good thing for us non-trads because our non-medical experiences is what sets us apart from the trad students. You will (usually) not have better extra currics in the medical field, so show how you are unique and how a non-medical experience is going to set you apart AND make you a better physician
 
Does anyone want to swap W/A statements with me? We can rip them apart and return? I have a great eye for helping with others but I seem to be blind/struggle with my own. PM me if interested.
 
I know this has been talked about before but wanted to confirm this is the right strategy. My first question, is it true that the first batch of verified primary applications are not sent out by AMCAS until June 27th? This relates to my next issue. I don't get my MCAT score until the 24th. I have applied to one school at the moment. Is there any benefit to adding schools in advance of getting my MCAT score? I know how important getting stuff in early is and don't want that to factor in at all. Thanks.
 
BradyC said:
I know this has been talked about before but wanted to confirm this is the right strategy. My first question, is it true that the first batch of verified primary applications are not sent out by AMCAS until June 27th? This relates to my next issue. I don't get my MCAT score until the 24th. I have applied to one school at the moment. Is there any benefit to adding schools in advance of getting my MCAT score? I know how important getting stuff in early is and don't want that to factor in at all. Thanks.
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No. Get verified then if you like your score add the rest of the schools. Good luck!
 
Ok. Thanks! I was verified this morning. I will just wait and then figure out next steps in two weeks.
 
Leslie_Knope said:
It's hard because I know what is important to me, and I think I know what is important to ad coms. And I feel like they aren't aligned sometimes, but I'm not one to compromise my values. I'll do the best I can and hope that it's good enough.
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Stick with it sista!
 
Leslie_Knope said:
Well they still haven't received my last transcript so I'm not quite at the LOL stage. 😉
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Hang in there! Just a matter of time before you receive an email. Have you submitted already? Keep an eye on that verification thread.
 
@Inygma I submitted the first day at 11 AM. I had a relatively straight forward application with two transcripts. Hope that helps.
 
So I have an odd situation. I requested transcripts from all (7) of my schools, and they were marked received. However, I hadn't included my spring grades (for a single class) because I figured they wouldn't be out until mid-June. When I realized that my professor had actually turned in grades on time, and the class gave a nice bump to my post-bacc GPA, I decided to re-submit a transcript with the same transcript ID. AMCAS said that this was fine; the school sent it 6/4, and it was likely received 6/5 (the school is in the DC area). However, I went ahead and submitted my app just now, gambling that the transcript will be marked 'received' and will replace my old transcript before my app reaches the top of the queue. Have I made a horrible mistake?
 
Inygma said:
Well less than 24 hours till the dreaded MCAT score. Hope I don't get more than 2 under my average. I am still paranoid I am getting a 5 on PS, which I never got below a 10, and averaged a 12 on my AAMC tests. That May 8 PS section though :wow:
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I'm sure you did fine. After my MCAT I swore I'd be lucky to get a 10 on PS and I was super paranoid about VR since it seemed way too easy. Like maybe I missed something? It was fine.
 
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Leslie_Knope said:
I'm sure you did fine. After my. MCAT I swore I'd be lucky to get a 10 on PS and I was super paranoid about VR since it seemed way too easy. Like maybe I missed something? It was fine.
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Sounds quite similar to mine.. VR seemed like a joke, and people were saying they didnt finish, there were some tricks etc... so I am paranoid about that also haha. Oh well, we will see tomorrow. Even more nervous since all of you have killer scores!
 
investmentdoc said:
Making sure your 10 different transcripts made it into AMCAS (and accordingly sending them repeats just to be sure)- #nontradproblems
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So true 🙂

Just popping in to say hello to everyone and wish y'all luck. I am a non-trad applying for the first time this year. Taking my MCAT in July, but my application is almost ready!

Here's hoping.
 
According to the application page they are reviewing files that were "ready for review" (meaning transcripts in and submitted) on 3 june. You can click "details" on your login page to see when yours was ready. My guess is yours will be reviewed this week. Mine was ready for review 4 June so I'm hoping this week as well.
 
Inygma said:
Just sent all my letters via Interfolio!
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That's awesome!

I'm waiting on my clinical one and one from my current Commanding Officer. I have a 6th letter that isn't required, but know it will be really well written and is from a supervisor I had for 4 years. Not sure whether or not to include it.
 
Since we are talking about LORs, here is a question. The company where I was employed for 10+ years has a policy prohibiting writing LORs, so obviously I don't have anything from managers there. Do you think it's worth explaining that in secondaries or should I just let it slide? How strange is not to have a reference from basically my longest and most involved job?
 
milski said:
Since we are talking about LORs, here is a question. The company where I was employed for 10+ years has a policy prohibiting writing LORs, so obviously I don't have anything from managers there. Do you think it's worth explaining that in secondaries or should I just let it slide? How strange is not to have a reference from basically my longest and most involved job?
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Oh geez... that is a pretty dumb policy! Are you close enough with your manager or someone who would be willing to write one still? I don't have a good answer for this, I think I would not mention it and only mention in interviews.
 
Inygma said:
Oh geez... that is a pretty dumb policy! Are you close enough with your manager or someone who would be willing to write one still? I don't have a good answer for this, I think I would not mention it and only mention in interviews.
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Interesting reaction and pretty much what I am concerned about. I probably could try convince someone to write me a letter but I don't want to put them in a position where they would have to go against the terms of their employment.
 
milski said:
Interesting reaction and pretty much what I am concerned about. I probably could try convince someone to write me a letter but I don't want to put them in a position where they would have to go against the terms of their employment.
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Wow my employer has the same policy!! So frustrating! I'm not going to mention it unless asked.
 
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