2015 Nontrad Applicants' Progress Thread

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ridethecliche said:
I've been starting to hit the research super hard again. Feels good mang. Just gave my talk to the PI and he gave a TON of helpful pointers. I seriously love working for these doctors. They really invest a lot of time and energy in me and have made this last year an amazing experience.

I've also been doing a lot of lifting recently... just getting back into the swing of things after having had surgery a year and a half ago. I'm up almost 20 lbs. Feels awesome! I just wish I could do more fun things in the gym, but squats, deads, and oly lifts are out of the picture for now :/ I did start cycling again a bit which is super nice!

I also got back into playing some PS3 things and got back into borderlands on that and got Starcraft 2 for the PC.

I've also been trying to make more of an effort to hang out with friends lately. I have a few good ones here that I'd like to see more often. Trying to get to the gym earlier so I can go hang out for a bit instead of getting home after work/gym/dinner at 10 and being too tired to do anything.
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If you buy one of the new consoles Destiny is awesome! I play on Xbox One. Sorry to hear about your surgery, what did you have repaired? Deads and squats are my favorite exercises, hopefully you can eventually get back to full strength and you're able to do those again. Even if you don't it's great you're doing other exercises to stay fit.
 
IL Pre Med said:
If you buy one of the new consoles Destiny is awesome! I play on Xbox One. Sorry to hear about your surgery, what did you have repaired? Deads and squats are my favorite exercises, hopefully you can eventually get back to full strength and you're able to do those again. Even if you don't it's great you're doing other exercises to stay fit.
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I think destiny is available for PS3 as well, no?

I had two surgeries for a disc herniation. It reherniated by itself 2 months after the first one. I'm fine now, though it acts up from time to time. I think squats and deads are a no-no unless I want to re-herniate and get fused!
 
ridethecliche said:
I think destiny is available for PS3 as well, no?

I had two surgeries for a disc herniation. It reherniated by itself 2 months after the first one. I'm fine now, though it acts up from time to time. I think squats and deads are a no-no unless I want to re-herniate and get fused!
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Ah gotcha better stay off those exercises then. Also yeah I totally forgot that destiny is available for PS3, great game
 
ridethecliche said:
Nope, not a typo. My school didn't send letters till mid august hence the late completion date.

I'm on FAP because of family circumstances and my being unemployed for half of 2013. I'm doing far better now (though wish I could say the same for my folks), but decided that I should use the amount I had put aside for apps and secondaries to do as many as possible as FAP recipients usually have secondary fees waived.

Money is a relatively big issue for me even in terms of loans, so I felt it best to apply to as many places as possible and use vacation time for that if necessary (used about a week) and suck it up in terms of travel as the few thousand dollars (freaking ouch!) on application and travel costs could me multiplied significantly if I only got into a school or two and didn't have a chance to 'shop around'.

I'm not trying to be disingenuous or cocky, but I think my application is compelling enough to merit a few interviews and atleast one acceptance. MSAR says that someone with my stats has about a 65% shot and I thought it best to stratify risk as I had the means. People were saying that I was going to die come interview season, but till date I haven't been bombarded the way they feared so maybe I'll end up with only a handful which is fine by me!
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Ridethecliche, I am in awe of your dedication and determination. You don't come across as cocky at all. You do come across as someone who will not be diverted by misfortune. I don't know all your story, but I sense that it is a saga. Even more than before, I am (really, truly, sincerely) sending some good energy your way. I'm diverting a bit of it into 38 directions, so that Them That Decides see the light. You strike me as someone who illustrates that old Japanese adage, though--fall down seven times, get up eight.
 
So I think I've read this elsewhere, but does anyone know if med schools have a phased approach to giving out interviews? i.e. "Top schools" go for stats superstars first, and then consider us mere mortals after their application deadline has passed?

I'm not trying to be greedy (really grateful to have received interviews), but feeling a bit stressed because best location for spouse is SF Bay and Atlanta and their respective med schools are in the upper stratosphere.

I found this post and on buzzfeed and am hoping to do some cooking/baking this month to keep myself distracted.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/christinebyrne/delicious-things-to-cook-in-october-2014#hm2k52
 
Schools do things in their own way. Some will process candidates in order of applications and will send rejections right away. Some will leave them on hold and send rejections later. Some will interview high stats people first. Some have different reviewers for applicants from different colleges/parts of the country, so the order of interviews is completely arbitrary. There are very few general conclusions that can be made, except that interviews are possible until you receive your rejection. Reading school specific threads might give you some insight about certain schools but overall you won't know until you know...
 
gary-gnu.jpg


The only way to get through this process is on the great space coaster!
 
milski said:
Schools do things in their own way. Some will process candidates in order of applications and will send rejections right away. Some will leave them on hold and send rejections later. Some will interview high stats people first. Some have different reviewers for applicants from different colleges/parts of the country, so the order of interviews is completely arbitrary. There are very few general conclusions that can be made, except that interviews are possible until you receive your rejection. Reading school specific threads might give you some insight about certain schools but overall you won't know until you know...
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I don't know why, but I'm thinking about the beginning of *Funny Girl,* when Fanny has just been rejected and catches the little boys gazing at the "8 Beautiful Girls 8" poster. She rips it down and yells, "You think beautiful girls are gonna stay in this town forever? Any minute now they're gonna be out! Finished! Then it will be my turn!" I love that scene. . .nobody, but nobody. . .is gonna rain on my parade!
 
Last week was pretty quiet for me. I find it odd that I still have schools that haven't told me anything after the initial complete email, some of which was back in early July. I mean, no news is good news and all, but still seems like that can't be a good thing. Even an email saying that they are still considering my application or haven't got to it yet would be a courtesy. Oh well, mostly it's just a curiosity to me, and I'm trying my best to be more relaxed about everything (part of the reason I've been taking a break from SDN the last few days).

My first interview is this week, and unfortunately it's also my top choice school. I was trying to plan it so it wouldn't get scheduled first, but they don't give you much wiggle room selecting dates, so I'll just have give it my best. I've gone over stuff that I think might come up regarding ethics and the ACA, and now mostly agonizing over what I'm going to wear. Who knew selecting shoes would cause me so much heartache?
 
I may or may not be meeting up with one of the thread regulars this evening.

Dun dun dun.

arainyday said:
Last week was pretty quiet for me. I find it odd that I still have schools that haven't told me anything after the initial complete email, some of which was back in early July. I mean, no news is good news and all, but still seems like that can't be a good thing. Even an email saying that they are still considering my application or haven't got to it yet would be a courtesy. Oh well, mostly it's just a curiosity to me, and I'm trying my best to be more relaxed about everything (part of the reason I've been taking a break from SDN the last few days).

My first interview is this week, and unfortunately it's also my top choice school. I was trying to plan it so it wouldn't get scheduled first, but they don't give you much wiggle room selecting dates, so I'll just have give it my best. I've gone over stuff that I think might come up regarding ethics and the ACA, and now mostly agonizing over what I'm going to wear. Who knew selecting shoes would cause me so much heartache?
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They're not obligated to tell you anything sadly and many will just do the silent rejection at the end of the cycle as well, which I think is silly given that you're paying enough money for them to have the decency to tell you to get lost.

Regarding shoe choice, you might want to look at the interview clothing thread.
@wingedscapula does an awesome job there helping out the ladies: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/womens-interview-clothing-3.842732/page-35#post-15747654
 
Same here, first of the rapid fire interviews is on Friday, plus side it's a home game...down side it's my top choice of the 4 I have interviews at so far. Then again if I didn't want to attend the others I wouldn't have applied there so back to "you only need one good one" stance.

Trying to book flights from the west coast to Philadelphia is a PITA, why do they only want to interview on Tuesday mornings?
 
BengaliBrat said:
I am interviewing at my top choice school in exactly a week, and it is my first interview as well. Sounds like running the marathon without warming up first! Getting challenging to think happy, happy thoughts!!
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But you can definitely warm up! Do a mock interview, read those ethics topics, and definitely have a good answer for 'why medicine'. Also, make sure you've re-read your primary and school specific secondary.

Bon chance!
 
ridethecliche said:
But you can definitely warm up! Do a mock interview, read those ethics topics, and definitely have a good answer for 'why medicine'. Also, make sure you've re-read your primary and school specific secondary.

Bon chance!
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Merci beaucoup! I appreciate the guidance!
 
BengaliBrat said:
I am interviewing at my top choice school in exactly a week, and it is my first interview as well. Sounds like running the marathon without warming up first! Getting challenging to think happy, happy thoughts!!
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Yeah my interview is in 2 weeks and I'm stressing about it even though I shouldn't be.

WaterPog said:
Trying to book flights from the west coast to Philadelphia is a PITA, why do they only want to interview on Tuesday mornings?
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Agreed. I ended up having to take 3 days off work for a Thursday interview to make the flights work. I thought I could get away with 2 days, and maybe even just 1, but the flights with time changes just flat don't work out!
 
BengaliBrat said:
I am interviewing at my top choice school in exactly a week, and it is my first interview as well. Sounds like running the marathon without warming up first! Getting challenging to think happy, happy thoughts!!
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Good luck!!! May I ask what school this is that would be so lucky to have you label it as a top choice? 😉
 
canadianinusa said:
What are you guys doing for mock interviews? The best I have done is to find a list of questions from the Internet and practice saying them out loud. (I live alone, and I don't know anyone who could give me a mock interview, who knows that I am applying.) What are you using for your ethics topics review?
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My school uses InterviewStream. You record your answers to pre-asked quesitons and then self-assess or e-mail the video to your advisors/family etc.

I found it highly unnatural and felt much better at the actual interview. But it was also nice because I got to see where I did silly things (look up while talking about "why medicine") and I found a "good side" (my right side) that would be a better profile if I wasn't facing straight 😀 It also helped me with timing since they give you 3 minutes tops for the answers.
 
arainyday said:
Last week was pretty quiet for me. I find it odd that I still have schools that haven't told me anything after the initial complete email, some of which was back in early July. I mean, no news is good news and all, but still seems like that can't be a good thing. Even an email saying that they are still considering my application or haven't got to it yet would be a courtesy. Oh well, mostly it's just a curiosity to me, and I'm trying my best to be more relaxed about everything (part of the reason I've been taking a break from SDN the last few days).
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I hear you on the silence front...having been complete at most places in July I was hoping to hear back from more by now. September was almost dead quiet for me. It's still (relatively) early, right? I'll keep telling myself that for another month lol.

Good luck with your interview!
 
canadianinusa said:
What are you guys doing for mock interviews? The best I have done is to find a list of questions from the Internet and practice saying them out loud. (I live alone, and I don't know anyone who could give me a mock interview, who knows that I am applying.) What are you using for your ethics topics review?
Click to expand...

Someone posted this here a bit ago: https://depts.washington.edu/bioethx/topics/

I'm going to schedule a mock interview with someone at my undergraduate institution. Two of the doctors I work with also said that they'd give me a mock interview.
 
ridethecliche said:
I may or may not be meeting up with one of the thread regulars this evening.

Dun dun dun.



They're not obligated to tell you anything sadly and many will just do the silent rejection at the end of the cycle as well, which I think is silly given that you're paying enough money for them to have the decency to tell you to get lost.

Regarding shoe choice, you might want to look at the interview clothing thread.
@wingedscapula does an awesome job there helping out the ladies: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/womens-interview-clothing-3.842732/page-35#post-15747654
Click to expand...

I think I peeked at that thread earlier in the cycle, and it seemed like a whole new thing for me to be neurotic over, so I've been ignoring it. I'll check it out for some shoe tips, but otherwise I'm pretty confident in the rest of my outfit. As long as I look professional, what I wear probably matters a lot more to me than it does to admissions. Mostly I'm waffling between wearing heels or not. I usually can suck them up for a normal job interview, but I've had some ankle problems this year, and think I'm just going to wear flats the whole day instead to avoid hobbling around awkwardly.
 
arainyday said:
Last week was pretty quiet for me. I find it odd that I still have schools that haven't told me anything after the initial complete email, some of which was back in early July. I mean, no news is good news and all, but still seems like that can't be a good thing. Even an email saying that they are still considering my application or haven't got to it yet would be a courtesy. Oh well, mostly it's just a curiosity to me, and I'm trying my best to be more relaxed about everything (part of the reason I've been taking a break from SDN the last few days).

My first interview is this week, and unfortunately it's also my top choice school. I was trying to plan it so it wouldn't get scheduled first, but they don't give you much wiggle room selecting dates, so I'll just have give it my best. I've gone over stuff that I think might come up regarding ethics and the ACA, and now mostly agonizing over what I'm going to wear. Who knew selecting shoes would cause me so much heartache?
Click to expand...

And foot ache, in my case. Just forwarding a lesson learned here, wear *comfortable* shoes. I don't mean geriatric chic by any means, but I will advise to sacrifice a bit of style for comfort. I wore what I thought were practical shoes (2 inch almond toe black suede pumps - nothing seemingly impractical), but all that pavement stomping IN HEELS left my feet with boils and blisters that are still healing.

How I wish I had flats instead...
Best of luck on your interview!!
 
WaterPog said:
Same here, first of the rapid fire interviews is on Friday, plus side it's a home game...down side it's my top choice of the 4 I have interviews at so far. Then again if I didn't want to attend the others I wouldn't have applied there so back to "you only need one good one" stance.

Trying to book flights from the west coast to Philadelphia is a PITA, why do they only want to interview on Tuesday mornings?
Click to expand...
Test of dedication?
 
kthxbai said:
And foot ache, in my case. Just forwarding a lesson learned here, wear *comfortable* shoes. I don't mean geriatric chic by any means, but I will advise to sacrifice a bit of style for comfort. I wore what I thought were practical shoes (2 inch almond toe black suede pumps - nothing seemingly impractical), but all that pavement stomping IN HEELS left my feet with boils and blisters that are still healing.

How I wish I had flats instead.../QUOTE]
Yes, and limping only looks good on Dr. House. . .who uses the cane on the "wrong side." There's a great Indian expression: "suited and booted" that I will keep in mind for the interview --(apparently the expression has been "modernized" to urban slang.)
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kthxbai said:
And foot ache, in my case. Just forwarding a lesson learned here, wear *comfortable* shoes. I don't mean geriatric chic by any means, but I will advise to sacrifice a bit of style for comfort. I wore what I thought were practical shoes (2 inch almond toe black suede pumps - nothing seemingly impractical), but all that pavement stomping IN HEELS left my feet with boils and blisters that are still healing.

How I wish I had flats instead...
Best of luck on your interview!!
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice! Yes, I think flats are going to be the way to go. I picked up a pair at DSW that look professional and structured (without being granny or boxy), and I think they'll be great. Going to wear them to work to break them in today.

Good luck to everyone with interviews this week! I'm feeling confident, but nervous, which is probably the best I can hope for until I get at least one under my belt. Hopefully after the first the rest won't be as nerve wracking.
 
arainyday said:
Thanks for the advice! Yes, I think flats are going to be the way to go. I picked up a pair at DSW that look professional and structured (without being granny or boxy), and I think they'll be great. Going to wear them to work to break them in today.

Good luck to everyone with interviews this week! I'm feeling confident, but nervous, which is probably the best I can hope for until I get at least one under my belt. Hopefully after the first the rest won't be as nerve wracking.
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OK so I'm not a lady, but I will say that on my interview there was a girl who clearly had never worn these shoes because she trounced around the campus in clunky heels. Interview day is already stressful, why add to it? I felt bad.

I have a couple interviews next week, can't wait! Good luck all!
 
ConsultantMD said:
OK so I'm not a lady, but I will say that on my interview there was a girl who clearly had never worn these shoes because she trounced around the campus in clunky heels. Interview day is already stressful, why add to it? I felt bad.

I have a couple interviews next week, can't wait! Good luck all!
Click to expand...

Hah, yeah, I'm just going to make sure to polish and shine up my shoes before packing and it'll be fine. I wear dress shoes to work every day so I'm not going to do much else differently.
 
ConsultantMD said:
OK so I'm not a lady, but I will say that on my interview there was a girl who clearly had never worn these shoes because she trounced around the campus in clunky heels. Interview day is already stressful, why add to it? I felt bad.

I have a couple interviews next week, can't wait! Good luck all!
Click to expand...
Hope that those interviews are great, with no clunky factors whatsoever! I know. . .we keep striving. Can't control it all, so we keep working on those details.
 
canadianinusa said:
I only applied to 6 schools because I wanted to be near my husband, and most of the states in his area don't accept internationals. I learned that Chicago is only one flight away.

Is it too late to add all the Chicago schools that take international applicants? ( Rosalind Franklin, northwestern, u Illinois, u Chicago.)

Stats: 36 mcat, 3.76 gpa, 3.56 sgpa
Leadership: founded a volunteer program.
Still Canadian and working on the green card!
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I may or may not have shotgun added some schools recently. I say it's late bur still possible right?
 
If the deadline hasn't passed it's not too late, but your odds are likely reduced compared to a more timely application. All shots not fired miss their target.
 
I have no idea about Rosy, but UChicago has been quick on the trigger to get through all their apps.... I heard back from them in ~2 weeks.
Northwestern & UIllinois on the other hand have been really slow...I've been complete for 9 and 12 weeks respectively and haven't heard from either.

But n=1, so maybe check the school threads to see how the field looks at each of them.
 
Well you can't win if you don't try.
I just wanted to give a kinda sorta metric on the different schools. My *guess* is that your app would get read at UChicago, but with the other 2, dunno if you'd be so far down in the pile that they'd have filled all their interview slots before they go to you.
But again, n=1.
 
canadianinusa said:
I only applied to 6 schools because I wanted to be near my husband, and most of the states in his area don't accept internationals. I learned that Chicago is only one flight away.

Is it too late to add all the Chicago schools that take international applicants? ( Rosalind Franklin, northwestern, u Illinois, u Chicago.)

Stats: 36 mcat, 3.76 gpa, 3.56 sgpa
Leadership: founded a volunteer program.
Still Canadian and working on the green card!
Click to expand...
Really late in the game for the Chicago schools.
 
ridethecliche said:
At this point, it's october. Unless you have a hell of an app I think it's a waste of money, personally.
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We have pretty similar stats (aside from the citizenship status) and added several of the listed Chicago schools around this time and didn't have much luck. Was advised to apply earlier next time. Hope this helps (and good luck!).
 
Last edited:
Had my first interview yesterday as well, state school, mix MMI and 1-1. I have to say it went better than I had dared hope, especially the 1-1 interview portion. A few curve balls but they were all in the strike zone and flying slow enough to track and hit.

Obviously can't go into specifics, especially on the MMI, but if you read some of the prep threads and the other links presented earlier in the tread that should be sufficient prep.
 
canadianinusa said:
Congrats! That's great. What questions were the most challenging? Was there anything you did not expect?
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Things that relate entirely to my file and circumstances. I need to work a better spin on my why medicine, why now, why not 10 years ago, etc. Being non-trad, there are plenty of things to question, right?
 
Anyone in here expecting a decision Wednesday? If so, good luck! Hopefully lots of acceptances are in store.

The only school I've interviewed at so far won't be releasing decisions on the 15th, so I've still got a little wait ahead.
 
csj10 said:
Anyone in here expecting a decision Wednesday? If so, good luck! Hopefully lots of acceptances are in store.

The only school I've interviewed at so far won't be releasing decisions on the 15th, so I've still got a little wait ahead.
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I'm not expecting but I'm hopeful for good news!!
 
I had my first (and second) interviews last week as well. My first was my top choice, and little bumpier then I would have hoped for. I was feeling confident most of the morning, but then got really, really nervous right before the actual interview began. My interviewers asked tough questions, but didn't grill me too much and were incredibly nice. Never the less, I felt like I rambled way too much, and it wasn't the stellar performance that I probably needed for that school. It will probably be a few weeks before I hear anything, they wouldn't tell me when I could expect an answer. No clue what the outcome will be, though I feel it will probably be a rejection. Holding out the tiniest amount of hope...

My second interview though was an MMI, which I found more fun, and much less stressful (probably because I already had one interview under my belt). Some of my interviewers seemed more nervous than me, which really put me at ease. Feeling pretty sure that I did well, which was a nice boost of confidence, and hopefully I'll hear back sometime this week.

I thought waiting for my MCAT was hard, then interviews, but waiting for this post-interview stuff is terrible.
 
arainyday said:
I had my first (and second) interviews last week as well. My first was my top choice, and little bumpier then I would have hoped for. I was feeling confident most of the morning, but then got really, really nervous right before the actual interview began. My interviewers asked tough questions, but didn't grill me too much and were incredibly nice. Never the less, I felt like I rambled way too much, and it wasn't the stellar performance that I probably needed for that school. It will probably be a few weeks before I hear anything, they wouldn't tell me when I could expect an answer. No clue what the outcome will be, though I feel it will probably be a rejection. Holding out the tiniest amount of hope...

My second interview though was an MMI, which I found more fun, and much less stressful (probably because I already had one interview under my belt). Some of my interviewers seemed more nervous than me, which really put me at ease. Feeling pretty sure that I did well, which was a nice boost of confidence, and hopefully I'll hear back sometime this week.

I thought waiting for my MCAT was hard, then interviews, but waiting for this post-interview stuff is terrible.
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I totally understand that, same thing happened to me. Hopefully we are both just overanalyzing, but I know exactly what you mean about expecting anything from a range of reject-waitlist.
 
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