2015 Nontrad Applicants' Progress Thread

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Oh! Apparently I might qualify for a fee waiver through AACOMAS! I will wait until next year for sure, then. If I have to, I can do a full DO cycle with a fee waiver (assuming I am lucky enough to get one!)
 
What's the aacomas fee waiver deal? I couldn't get amcas fap cause they take my parental income last year into account, even though I'm 28 and married...
 
juliuspepperwood said:
What's the aacomas fee waiver deal? I couldn't get amcas fap cause they take my parental income last year into account, even though I'm 28 and married...
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It's only for three schools (not enough IMO). However, you basically only provide financial information for yourself and anyone who can claim you as a dependent. So, I didn't even apply for an AAMC fee waiver because I can't get my family on board. However, it looks like I would qualify for AACOMAS because I'm "low-income."
 
Leslie_Knope said:
It's only for three schools (not enough IMO). However, you basically only provide financial information for yourself and anyone who can claim you as a dependent. So, I didn't even apply for an AAMC fee waiver because I can't get my family on board. However, it looks like I would qualify for AACOMAS because I'm "low-income."
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Ermagerd I only want 4. Ccom pcom mucom and western (SoCal)
 
juliuspepperwood said:
What's the aacomas fee waiver deal? I couldn't get amcas fap cause they take my parental income last year into account, even though I'm 28 and married...
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I couldn't get the AMCAS fap because my parent's income is too high (even though I'm independent and 27...), but I did get a fee waiver through AACOMAS. I sent them a copy of my tax return, and got the waiver within a week. I sent them stuff in early June though, so I'm not sure what the turn around time is now, but it might be worth a try. It doesn't cover as many schools as the AMCAS waiver does in the primary application, but it still helps, and all of my secondary fees have either been waived or reimbursed to me so far. I've heard that a few DO schools don't take the waiver for secondaries, and the process is a little all over the place. Basically I've had to contact each school or search the website to figure out how to apply my waiver, but I'm so broke from my MD secondaries, a little inconvenience is worth the savings.
 
Overanxious said:
sounds like most of you are too young to have played atari games...
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I've been reading this thread for a while now and seeing this I just have to reply... Yes, I had a 2600 growing up! After that, they started adding too many buttons to the controllers! (2 buttons on the NES was ok...)

Also, hello to everyone. It's nice to know there are others in the same boat, especially those of you with infants at home. (We had our first daughter in Dec.) When the wife and daughter are sleeping at night and I'm working on apps, I read this thread for encouragement.
 
j314 said:
I've been reading this thread for a while now and seeing this I just have to reply... Yes, I had a 2600 growing up! After that, they started adding too many buttons to the controllers! (2 buttons on the NES was ok...)

Also, hello to everyone. It's nice to know there are others in the same boat, especially those of you with infants at home. (We had our first daughter in Dec.) When the wife and daughter are sleeping at night and I'm working on apps, I read this thread for encouragement.
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My babe was born in December as well. Congratulations! And best of luck to you. 🙂
 
IL Pre Med said:
Did anyone else grow up playing the original Pokémon Red and Blue? Someone mentioned old 90s games and made me reminisce.
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Soooo timely because I just figured out how to download a GBA Emulator on my iPhone and just beat Pokemon Gold in like 3 days because of turbo mode. Yeah I'll admit that, no shame. No shame.
 
Did any of you play the text-based Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy game?
 
Submitted 5 secondaries today.

I was going to submit tufts, but as luck would have it there are 2 extra essays for MD/MPH. I probably have enough material to pull from to do them in 15-20 mins, but I think I'm going to do it tomorrow instead. Maybe I'll be able to do it over lunch or right after work before meeting a friend visiting from out of town.


Leslie_Knope said:
I think the lamest computer game I played was Red Alert. I did love Civ III and IV. V not do much.
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You bite your tongue!

Bbroush said:
WOAH. Red Alert 2 WAS THE BEST. I was never a civ guy. More AOE2 & Command & Conquer games.
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I loved CC red alert. And starcraft. Still sad ghost never came out 🙁
RIP Kerrigan.
 
Inygma said:
Non-Trad Destiny Fireteam incoming?
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I'll PM you my gamer tag! That goes for anyone else that wants to play 🙂 Need some sort of stress relief to get my mind off applications. Maybe I'll stop checking my inbox for a few minutes.
 
ConsultantMD said:
Soooo timely because I just figured out how to download a GBA Emulator on my iPhone and just beat Pokemon Gold in like 3 days because of turbo mode. Yeah I'll admit that, no shame. No shame.
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Unlimited master balls and rare candy from cinnabar island, no shame.
 
IL Pre Med said:
Unlimited master balls and rare candy from cinnabar island, no shame.
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Right I did not hack it with GameShark codes or anything but it is so satisfying to see 'it's super effective!' Lol

Edit: I'd love to see this quote next to some of my lines in the secondaries I wrote hahaha
 
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Gotta chime in but people are talking about growing up playing Pokemon. That didn't come out until I was in high school :-/. Too young for an Atari though. Actually we just didn't have one. Did get a game boy classic when I was like 12.

Absolutely love RTS like command and conquer Starcraft and Warcraft. Unfortunately I lost a large chunk of my life to world of Warcraft and other MMORPGs before I realized it and moved on!
 
I took last weekend mostly off from apps, but now I have lots piled up!
I just got the UCSD secondary, which was unexpected being OOS.
I'm still praying that Vanderbilt throws me a bone. I sort of have my heart set on it.

Complete at 9 schools. No IIs. It's still early, right?

But, important things! I've never been much of a gamer, but Fallout sucked me in like you wouldn't believe. I can't wait for the next release. I hear it's going to be set in Boston. (Squee...history nerd!)
 
GameOfBones said:
I took last weekend mostly off from apps, but now I have lots piled up!
I just got the UCSD secondary, which was unexpected being OOS.
I'm still praying that Vanderbilt throws me a bone. I sort of have my heart set on it.

Complete at 9 schools. No IIs. It's still early, right?

But, important things! I've never been much of a gamer, but Fallout sucked me in like you wouldn't believe. I can't wait for the next release. I hear it's going to be set in Boston. (Squee...history nerd!)
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Complete at 14 schools and no II here so it must be too early!

Congratulations on the UCSD secondary!
 
Complete at 21, rejected from 2 already, no II.
I think no news is probably good news for the next couple of weeks.
 
I think I might apply to more schools next week once I'm done submitting these.

So far I'm thinking of case western and emory. Hm...
 
Hahah! This thread got interesting. Never played any of these games.

Complete at 31 schools! Rejected from 1 (within 12 hrs of submitting the secondary too!). Silence otherwise.
 
First time poster, glad to hear about so many other non-trads (especially you oldies with kids). I'm 35 with 2 kids and another due Jan. 1. Have both AMCAS and AACOMAS apps away three weeks ago, took my MCAT Aug. 1. Feels like everyone here was way ahead of the game compared to me. Anyone else apply a bit late? When should I expect to start seeing secondaries? Thanks for sharing all your stories!
 
JustWatt said:
First time poster, glad to hear about so many other non-trads (especially you oldies with kids). I'm 35 with 2 kids and another due Jan. 1. Have both AMCAS and AACOMAS apps away three weeks ago, took my MCAT Aug. 1. Feels like everyone here was way ahead of the game compared to me. Anyone else apply a bit late? When should I expect to start seeing secondaries? Thanks for sharing all your stories!
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You should start getting your secondaries as soon as you get verified but you can start pre-writing now. All the prompts have been posted on the school specific threads so get them off there, good luck!

On a side note I thought it was funny that this kid complained about non trads as a whole and Goro treated him
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/just-a-thought-about-non-trads.1091245/#post-15560880
 
So I've seen a few people around SDN say that at this point, and for the next few weeks, 'no news is good news'. Do you all agree? Certainly doesn't feel that way. I am not sure if most schools are sending out rejections at this point, or if applications they don't like are just going into a hold-until-April-then-reject pile.

Btw, Age of Empires here.
 
@IL Pre Med, thanks for sharing. I wish my app could only include the last 5 years. I'm sharing that here bc that other thread is quickly turning into everyone (rightfully) trying to school that kid.

I'm definitely trying to figure out how to approach interviews as an oldie. It will be great for faculty interviews, but I don't want to come across as holier-than-thou when in groups with the kids. I'm mentoring a new 22 year old coworker and realizing she's the average age of applicants.
 
csj10 said:
So I've seen a few people around SDN say that at this point, and for the next few weeks, 'no news is good news'. Do you all agree? Certainly doesn't feel that way. I am not sure if most schools are sending out rejections at this point, or if applications they don't like are just going into a hold-until-April-then-reject pile.

Btw, Age of Empires here.
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From everything I've read and heard in previous app cycles, they reject as they go along. Once you've been solidly put in file 13, they're not going wait to give you the news, they want your app over and closed in their system.
On the other hand, if you've made it past the initial screens and a human being is actually perusing your app, it will take some time for them to wade through the pile. The few IIs you see popping up are mostly from people who were verified the first week or 2 of June and complete ASAP, so they were at the top of that pile.
 
asyouwish said:
@IL Pre Med, thanks for sharing. I wish my app could only include the last 5 years. I'm sharing that here bc that other thread is quickly turning into everyone (rightfully) trying to school that kid.

I'm definitely trying to figure out how to approach interviews as an oldie. It will be great for faculty interviews, but I don't want to come across as holier-than-thou when in groups with the kids. I'm mentoring a new 22 year old coworker and realizing she's the average age of applicants.
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The key is to be respectful. I know some residents and med students here that are my age. I know way more about research than some of them do, but they're smart and know more medicine than me.

If you judge them for their knowledge instead of their age, I'm sure they'll be able to teach you something. You'll have more in common with them than the faculty in a year if things work out for you. Use that chance wisely.
 
asyouwish said:
@IL Pre Med, thanks for sharing. I wish my app could only include the last 5 years. I'm sharing that here bc that other thread is quickly turning into everyone (rightfully) trying to school that kid.

I'm definitely trying to figure out how to approach interviews as an oldie. It will be great for faculty interviews, but I don't want to come across as holier-than-thou when in groups with the kids. I'm mentoring a new 22 year old coworker and realizing she's the average age of applicants.
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First, i'm glad to include more than 5 years. I feel it shows depth and breadth of experience.

Second, i'm worried about the interview as well. On both fronts though, faculty and young applicants.

Edit: but really who isn't worried about the interviews...
 
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IL Pre Med said:
On a side note I thought it was funny that this kid complained about non trads as a whole and Goro treated him
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/just-a-thought-about-non-trads.1091245/#post-15560880
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Oh, my. I think this is the first post I've seen that makes me feel like non-trads are viewed as true competitors in this process. I guess it just shows that we all feel pretty insecure about applying to med school. Probably best not to compare ourselves to others and just be our best selves.

Also, poor kid. I *hope* (s)he thinks of this moment when they've matured a bit. It will be a learning opportunity.
 
kraskadva said:
From everything I've read and heard in previous app cycles, they reject as they go along. Once you've been solidly put in file 13, they're not going wait to give you the news, they want your app over and closed in their system.
On the other hand, if you've made it past the initial screens and a human being is actually perusing your app, it will take some time for them to wade through the pile. The few IIs you see popping up are mostly from people who were verified the first week or 2 of June and complete ASAP, so they were at the top of that pile.
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This. Plus it is very early in the cycle. Also, usually the first round of invites all go to the same peopel 3.8+ 36+
 
Some schools do force you into limbo, depending upon where you rank amongst their other applicants. The people who are totally out of sync with the school's mission (say, applying to Mercer when you're not a GA resident), or whose numbers are below their floor, are the ones who will get their rejections immediately.


Patience is a virtue!


csj10 said:
So I've seen a few people around SDN say that at this point, and for the next few weeks, 'no news is good news'. Do you all agree? Certainly doesn't feel that way. I am not sure if most schools are sending out rejections at this point, or if applications they don't like are just going into a hold-until-April-then-reject pile.

Btw, Age of Empires here.
Click to expand...
 
csj10 said:
So I've seen a few people around SDN say that at this point, and for the next few weeks, 'no news is good news'. Do you all agree? Certainly doesn't feel that way. I am not sure if most schools are sending out rejections at this point, or if applications they don't like are just going into a hold-until-April-then-reject pile.

Btw, Age of Empires here.
Click to expand...
There's some estimate out there that SDN represents like 30% of the people so it is still early considering only a dozen or so people have IIs on here and there are hundreds more to go!
 
Ugh... I'm sitting in silence here and it's killing me. Trying to stay patient and positive, I only need 1 acceptance in the end.
 
Goro said:
Some schools do force you into limbo, depending upon where you rank amongst their other applicants. The people who are totally out of sync with the school's mission (say, applying to Mercer when you're not a GA resident), or whose numbers are below their floor, are the ones who will get their rejections immediately.


Patience is a virtue!
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I like to call it post-secondary purgatory.
 
5 secondaries submitted so far! I was waiting for my mcat score, which for some reason ended up being 5 points below my average (dying...). So then I had to totally re-do my school list...ughh.
 
kraskadva said:
Never played Pokemon. CivIII though... ate up weeks of my time. Really loved Myst too, but could only play it at a friend's house.

Ahh, the good old days of dial-up, slow loading and pixilated graphics.
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Yes I played both of those, tho I thought mist wasn't nearly as cool as Civ III
 
IL Pre Med said:
Did anyone else grow up playing the original Pokémon Red and Blue? Someone mentioned old 90s games and made me reminisce.
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Lol fun story, when I was in Junior high, this kid went over to Japan, and came back with Pokemon. A lot of kids in my class made fun of the game and him, and he ended up throwing it away. It was released in the US about 6 months to a year later, and suddenly we all bought the game (including the kids who made fun of him). And yes I had an original red, but my brother sold it like 4 years later when I was in Highschool to some kid for $40. Gameboys were cool, but I am kind of glad I am no longer a video game addict. These kids go crazy now about gaming and social media. It is amazing how much the world has changed in the last ten years.
 
IL Pre Med said:
My computer/internet speed always sucked, all I got to play was Age of Empires on the computer. Not complaining though, great game.

I'm more of a console gamer, got my Super Nintendo hooked up next to my Xbox One 🙂
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Age of Empires was awesome too. I was always a computer guy myself, but I cannot deny that when I got a Playstation and was given Gran Turismo II and Final Fantasy 7. Wow, I loved those games, especially final fantasy. I mean it had so many side games in it like Chocobo racing, it was awesome. When I got to the end of the first disc and Aeris dies, not gonna lie, I nearly cried.
 
Bbroush said:
WOAH. Red Alert 2 WAS THE BEST. I was never a civ guy. More AOE2 & Command & Conquer games.
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I liked Red Alert, I used to play it with my buds in 'lan parties' where we actually used LAN, and brought over our desktop computers. Good times. I had one friend who was really good, and me and my other friend would always agree to team up on him. But invariably we would just try to build a nuke as fast as we could and end up turning on each other, allowing my good friend to beat us both... hours of fun tho.
 
HandsomeRob said:
Cardiology III's cost $129 now!!!! What! I bought a Master Cardiologist back in 2006 for $180, and the III's were $80-$90. Man, things sure do go up in price. But Littmann is definately the best. I still have that same Stethoscope.
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What? i paid 170ish for my cardiology III
 
Cool they have a pediatric adapter! I never knew that, I always just pressed harder or softer to adjust the sound for Peds. But then again, I haven't done PED's since nursing clinical's. Its up to you all which one you want. But if I was gonna pay $170 again for a 'scope it would be the Master Cardiology.

But you can't go wrong with Littmann, any of their cardiology models will be good, and they have techs that you can see occasionally who will adjust your 'scopes. Don't ever buy a cheap scope because someone says 'you'll lose the first one.' Thats nonsense. Keep your scope on your constantly, and you will never lose it. Don't settle for those cheap neon colored scopes in the uniform shops...
 
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HandsomeRob said:
When?

I found the master cardiology for nearly the same price it used to be http://www.stethoscope.com/littmann...uttv2c_5qYLAoIp94bMTC1-Uqu6h6iqEjUaAulX8P8HAQ
Apparently the Cardiology iii have gone way up in price tho. Wow.
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Purchased mine off amazon about a year ago, a boring but respectable black one. Not going to lie though...i wanted a fun colorful cheap one! Only problem i've found is 90% of those around me have the same one i do. i'd get it engraved so it doesn't wander off and get lost... Keeping it on you is the obvious thing to do however there's always one person who's forgotten theirs or miss placed it they will of course want to borrow yours
 
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