2015 Nontrad Applicants' Progress Thread

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Congratulations with the invites and acceptances! So cool!

And if you're still waiting to hear: it usually means you're still in the running and the invites can come when you least expect them!
 
chromealt said:
I'm a fairly young non-traditional applicant, but after graduating my first degree and working for a few years, I went back to school to take pre-reqs for a few semesters. Afterwards I applied to paramedic school because I knew for sure I wanted to work in healthcare and with people. So I knew at least if I didn't get into med school, I'd be able to work as a medic. I think this really helped my interviews as well. It wasn't something I listed on my primary since I just started this fall, but it was something I talked about in all my interviews and the interviewers seemed impressed at my commitment to serving others in healthcare.
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ridethecliche said:
I'm going to cry.

I just got a II at Einstein. OMG OMG OMG!
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And may I add, OMG? Congrats!!!
 
Accepted at CMS (Rosalind Franklin) this morning. Not near as exciting as the first one but still pretty awesome. 2/2 with 4 pending 🙂

Now the real internal debate begins, could I see myself choosing CMS over OHSU? Gut answer is now but brain answer is "with the right financial package..."

April just got real 🙂
 
WaterPog said:
Accepted at CMS (Rosalind Franklin) this morning. Not near as exciting as the first one but still pretty awesome. 2/2 with 4 pending 🙂

Now the real internal debate begins, could I see myself choosing CMS over OHSU? But answer is now but brain answer is "with the right financial package..."

April just got real 🙂
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Congrats! That's awesome you have two acceptances! I'm definitely anxious for the Spring to come because the date to decide got moved up, right? April 15? So that gives us less time to figure things out, especially if there are schools that release decisions non-rolling, and there are interviews in March. Crazy, but congrats!
 
Was just looking up the traffic rules, appears it was changed to April 30th from May 15th from what I can see; not April 15th.
 
Schools have to notify of decisions before that though, right? I mean, I guess one should fill out FAFSA ASAP in jan and get everything together so you can get aid offers because that's nuts!

There should be atleast 2-4 weeks before decision release and that deadline!
 
GUYS! I FINALLY RECEIVED MY FIRST II (Western Michigan) and I'm SOOOO THRILLED! :soexcited::banana:I almost can't believe it. I'm no longer feeling worried. I have always thought that my interview will be the best part of my application, I guess now I will find out!
 
Bbroush said:
GUYS! I FINALLY RECEIVED MY FIRST II (Western Michigan) and I'm SOOOO THRILLED! :soexcited::banana:I almost can't believe it. I'm no longer feeling worried. I have always thought that my interview will be the best part of my application, I guess now I will find out!
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You are giving me hope! Congratulations!
 
Found a substantial pull in my suit pants the day before I leave for a big interview and have another 4 days away.

Oh joy...

Guess I'll have to rock this till the season's over and hope I find something cheap in my size. So pissed. I wonder if the cleaners did this...
 
Bbroush said:
GUYS! I FINALLY RECEIVED MY FIRST II (Western Michigan) and I'm SOOOO THRILLED! :soexcited::banana:I almost can't believe it. I'm no longer feeling worried. I have always thought that my interview will be the best part of my application, I guess now I will find out!
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Yayyyyyyy!! Good for you! I am so happy to see this. You will rock that interview. When is it?
 
Bbroush said:
GUYS! I FINALLY RECEIVED MY FIRST II (Western Michigan) and I'm SOOOO THRILLED! :soexcited::banana:I almost can't believe it. I'm no longer feeling worried. I have always thought that my interview will be the best part of my application, I guess now I will find out!
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YESSSSSSSS!!!!
 
Leslie_Knope said:
Yayyyyyyy!! Good for you! I am so happy to see this. You will rock that interview. When is it?
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January 30th. I almost got the one spot that was available for this coming Monday, but it was filled after I looked at airline tickets in 5 minutes! I called the dean of admissions to ask if there is any disadvantage to interviewing at that point, and she said unlike some schools, their is no disadvantage. Last year they had at least one person matriculate from each interview day, so that made me feel better.

It also gave me time to extend it into a trip to visit my family from Chicago and borrow my sister's car to drive to Kalamazoo. So that is awesome! Plus my wife and I went to buy a new suit yesterday and I called my step dad for advice and he randomly offered to buy me two new suits. :soexcited:

Needless to say, it's been a good couple days.
 
Bbroush said:
January 30th. I almost got the one spot that was available for this coming Monday, but it was filled after I looked at airline tickets in 5 minutes! I called the dean of admissions to ask if there is any disadvantage to interviewing at that point, and she said unlike some schools, their is no disadvantage. Last year they had at least one person matriculate from each interview day, so that made me feel better.

It also gave me time to extend it into a trip to visit my family from Chicago and borrow my sister's car to drive to Kalamazoo. So that is awesome! Plus my wife and I went to buy a new suit yesterday and I called my step dad for advice and he randomly offered to buy me two new suits. :soexcited:

Needless to say, it's been a good couple days.
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Congrats man! Happy suit shopping!
 
WaterPog said:
I'm not a post-bac, 40 year old first degree student. In retrospect NOT going to college after high-school may have been one of the best decisions I ever made, no way I would have had the performance I've had now at the time and now I don't have a bunch of GPA repair work to do.
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I am 54 and I can assure you I would have never made it through triple paced Organic Chem with 6-8 hour labs twice weekly...and wait for it...got an A and a B!!!

Maturity helped me big time. I practiced as a a nurse for 8 years, then a pharmacist for 22 years, heading to medical school to wrap this up with community health center family practice goals and then teaching!

Thank you all for your wonderful and uplifting suggestions and comments!
 
Sophinez said:
I am 54 and I can assure you I would have never made it through triple paced Organic Chem with 6-8 hour labs twice weekly...and wait for it...got an A and a B!!!

Maturity helped me big time. I practiced as a a nurse for 8 years, then a pharmacist for 22 years, heading to medical school to wrap this up with community health center family practice goals and then teaching!

Thank you all for your wonderful and uplifting suggestions and comments!
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Thank YOU for sharing a bit about your journey! I love it that you have found so many ways to help others, and that you continue to explore new directions!!
 
I'm flattered to have been quoted in your first post 🙂

Nurse to Pharm to MD is an amazing story, you need to start a blog if you haven't yet and share the link so we can follow/cheer you on!
 
Interviewed at quinnipiac today. Really didn't feel like the school was a good fit. Not sure why... Facilities were great and all, but I honestly didn't feel like they had the structure and opportunities that I'd want out of my medical school education.

Also, the ortho practice that they have farked up my diagnosis very badly when I was in college. So I'm not sure how I'd feel about learning from them...

Came home to a UCSF rejection.

Still 16 schools heard back from. 10 Rejections 6II's. Not bad at all. Just need to pull a conversion from one of the II's->an acceptance.

IMHO: Hofstra>Quinnipiac.
 
ridethecliche said:
Interviewed at quinnipiac today. Really didn't feel like the school was a good fit. Not sure why... Facilities were great and all, but I honestly didn't feel like they had the structure and opportunities that I'd want out of my medical school education.

Also, the ortho practice that they have farked up my diagnosis very badly when I was in college. So I'm not sure how I'd feel about learning from them...

Came home to a UCSF rejection.

Still 16 schools heard back from. 10 Rejections 6II's. Not bad at all. Just need to pull a conversion from one of the II's->an acceptance.

IMHO: Hofstra>Quinnipiac.
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Thank you for sharing so honestly. I wish more people would. 6II's...pretty sure you're getting in this year!! I swear i read somewhere to expect 1 acceptance for every 3-4 schools.
 
ridethecliche said:
Interviewed at quinnipiac today. Really didn't feel like the school was a good fit. Not sure why... Facilities were great and all, but I honestly didn't feel like they had the structure and opportunities that I'd want out of my medical school education.

Also, the ortho practice that they have farked up my diagnosis very badly when I was in college. So I'm not sure how I'd feel about learning from them...

Came home to a UCSF rejection.

Still 16 schools heard back from. 10 Rejections 6II's. Not bad at all. Just need to pull a conversion from one of the II's->an acceptance.

IMHO: Hofstra>Quinnipiac.
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@ridethecliche, you have to imagine the Aussie accent and dazzling grin: "No worries, mate!" Seriously, my crystal ball reveals good stuff coming your way soon! :nod:
 
Overanxious said:
Thank you for sharing so honestly. I wish more people would. 6II's...pretty sure you're getting in this year!! I swear i read somewhere to expect 1 acceptance for every 3-4 schools.
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I honestly think it'll be a great program, but as someone interested in academia and surgery (potentially competitive sub-specialties) there's too much risk without seeing step 1 scores and match lists. It'll likely be that way for atleast 4 matches I think.

Hofstra's in a good sport because LIJ has a really big residency program and will pick up the slack as they have big stake in the medical school. Quinnipiac doesn't have anywhere the same amount of buy in. While it has decent hospitals, I didn't get the same sense of investment on part of the health system.

LIJ is also a behemoth compared to just about everything.

Also, the interviewee groups I had at hofstra and albany were awesome, esp at albany. I didn't like albany's grading system at all, but if the kids I interviewed with were going to be similar to my classmates I'd make it work. The kids I was at with quinn were quiet and kind of awkward even though they'd done some cool stuff. I tried getting a few convo's going and fell on my face. The dean of admissions also said "If you interested in anything competitive, then this probably isn't the place for you."

Not sure I'd want to set myself up to have limits from the get go...

Side note: I want to clarify that I've heard back from 16 schools. I still have 26 to hear back from at this point.

When I finished applying, I hoped that I'd end up with about 10 interviews. Doesn't seem like too much of a stretch now tbh. It'll be late in the cycle, but it is what it is.
 
ridethecliche said:
I honestly think it'll be a great program, but as someone interested in academia and surgery (potentially competitive sub-specialties) there's too much risk without seeing step 1 scores and match lists. It'll likely be that way for atleast 4 matches I think.

Also, the interviewee groups I had at hofstra and albany were awesome, esp at albany. I didn't like albany's grading system at all, but if the kids I interviewed with were going to be similar to my classmates I'd make it work. The kids I was at with quinn were quiet and kind of awkward even though they'd done some cool stuff. I tried getting a few convo's going and fell on my face. The dean of admissions also said "If you interested in anything competitive, then this probably isn't the place for you."

Not sure I'd want to set myself up to have limits from the get go...

Side note: I want to clarify that I've heard back from 16 schools. I still have 26 to hear back from at this point.

When I finished applying, I hoped that I'd end up with about 10 interviews. Doesn't seem like too much of a stretch now tbh. It'll be late in the cycle, but it is what it is.
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I'm surprised they didn't share the step 1 scores and match lists! I thought that was usually one of the first things they give out? About the interviewing students...how much do you think it will weigh in your decision (sounds like that is really important for you)? I'd like to say awkward groups are the worst but for me they were not. It's the pretentious group that really makes me gag. Though i'd like to not judge schools based on the interviewees. I feel like it's not the schools fault those d-bags looked good on paper and then were total fails in person. Same can be said for awkward and who knows...they might come out of their shells when less stressed/you get to know them. D-bags on the other hand...very little hope.
 
Overanxious said:
I'm surprised they didn't share the step 1 scores and match lists! I thought that was usually one of the first things they give out? About the interviewing students...how much do you think it will weigh in your decision (sounds like that is really important for you)? I'd like to say awkward groups are the worst but for me they were not. It's the pretentious group that really makes me gag. Though i'd like to not judge schools based on the interviewees. I feel like it's not the schools fault those d-bags looked good on paper and then were total fails in person. Same can be said for awkward and who knows...they might come out of their shells when less stressed/you get to know them. D-bags on the other hand...very little hope.
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Quinnipiac hasn't had students take Step 1's yet. They only have MS2's. Hofstra killed the Step 1's for both the years that have taken it. This year is their first match. I'm crossing my fingers I get in there and that the match is good. The advantage there that the class matriculating in 2015 would be their 5th match.

I think judging fit of a school is really hard because so much BS is marketing.

The dean of admissions at quinn sat across from us towards the end of the session and asked if we had any questions. I was like "yes, I have a very pointed question. When I ask students that have been through the process and are residents and fellows and attendings now how I should judge a program they say look at Step 1's and match lists... you don't have either of those. Why should I trust you? How should we judge you? If we are lucky enough to have multiple acceptances, how do we compare another school to your program?"

I felt a collective sigh of relief from the other students because they were wondering exactly that but didn't have the balls to ask. I don't have any acceptances right now, but I'm not one to stand down and not use the opportunity to ask the important questions.

To his credit, the dean had come in memorizing a memorable fact about every applicant. He remembered one of the most boring things on my resume.

I think that put me in the reject pile right there....
 
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ridethecliche said:
Interviewed at quinnipiac today. Really didn't feel like the school was a good fit. Not sure why... Facilities were great and all, but I honestly didn't feel like they had the structure and opportunities that I'd want out of my medical school education.

Also, the ortho practice that they have farked up my diagnosis very badly when I was in college. So I'm not sure how I'd feel about learning from them...

Came home to a UCSF rejection.

Still 16 schools heard back from. 10 Rejections 6II's. Not bad at all. Just need to pull a conversion from one of the II's->an acceptance.

IMHO: Hofstra>Quinnipiac.
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Oh this kinda made me sad. Quinnipiac is #3 on my list, Hofstra isn't even on there. I know though that you can't get as clear an idea from all the research in the world until you actually get to interview there. And that everyone is different. But this did make me a little sad.
 
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