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Just got my first secondary as well!!! So excited
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**2017-2018 URM Medical School Application Thread**
Started by Icantplayspades
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Same. Here we go!!!!
When people are getting secondaries while you're still waiting for your primary to get verified like
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mrw the secondaries I've received are ones I haven't prewritten.
To anyone applying at Northwestern--they're sending out letters waiving the secondary fee for URM applicants! That's $95 off, which is nothing to sneeze at.
First of all, need to say I went to out of state school and did absolutely horrible (2.5 GPA) freshman year. I transferred in state, retook some classes, and have had a 3.66 GPA since then. Also feel like I have unique story. Born in Mexico then moved to Europe then to Texas (military family). Im hispanic. First language is spanish
Year: I submitted TMDSAS 2 days ago lol. Is this still early or late?
Country/state of residence: TEXAS
Schools to which you are applying: All Texas except Baylor
Cumulative GPA: 3.38
Science GPA: 3.25
MCAT Scores: 501 first time. 127/123/125/126. CARS ****ed me. Retook last month ( was scoring around 502-506)
Research – Had NIH internship (Poster) ~350 hrs. Also did undergrad lab research in muscular dystrophy- Started volunteering and eventually started getting paid (850 hours) ) (Poster) . Feel like I have good letter from PI's.
Volunteering (clinical) – ~100 hospital volunteer hrs
Physician shadowing – ~50 hrs shadowing urologist
Non-clinical volunteering: ~100 hrs through my extra curricular
Extracurricular activities: Feel like I have decent extracurriculars + historian in one for a year
Hoping my freshman year doesnt ruin my chances 🙁
Year: I submitted TMDSAS 2 days ago lol. Is this still early or late?
Country/state of residence: TEXAS
Schools to which you are applying: All Texas except Baylor
Cumulative GPA: 3.38
Science GPA: 3.25
MCAT Scores: 501 first time. 127/123/125/126. CARS ****ed me. Retook last month ( was scoring around 502-506)
Research – Had NIH internship (Poster) ~350 hrs. Also did undergrad lab research in muscular dystrophy- Started volunteering and eventually started getting paid (850 hours) ) (Poster) . Feel like I have good letter from PI's.
Volunteering (clinical) – ~100 hospital volunteer hrs
Physician shadowing – ~50 hrs shadowing urologist
Non-clinical volunteering: ~100 hrs through my extra curricular
Extracurricular activities: Feel like I have decent extracurriculars + historian in one for a year
Hoping my freshman year doesnt ruin my chances 🙁
Just got this letter as well, hadn't considered Northwestern before, but it seems worth a little more consideration now.
Man I didn't get one is it because I already had northwestern on my primary?
Shoot, I did not receive the email. I wonder if this is med-mar related because I received it last year shortly after I got my mcat scores back, though I was not applying then. did it say something like "just email your name and AMCAS ID# to [email protected] and mention this letter. " ?
Yup, something to that effect! I wouldn't worry if you haven't gotten the letter yet; it was snail mail, so it might just be slowed down by the holiday. For what it's worth, I'd already submitted a primary app to Northwestern and I received one.
Does anyone know if the letter from Northwestern is based on URM in conjunction with MCAT score or just URM status?
It sounds like you've worked really hard! I highly suggest looking into applying into the BEST medical schools in the country. PM me for more details!
I'm not sure but the letter says "There are no pre-requisite thresholds for consideration at Feinberg, but in general, if your cumulative GPA is 3.2 or better and your composite MCAT score is 505 or above, we confidently encourage you to apply." That makes me think that 3.2 GPA and 505 MCAT would be the floor of any screen, since otherwise that sentence would make zero sense. But the wording implies people with lower stats than those mentioned might be reading the letter, which makes me think it's just a URM thing. They probably get the data from Med-Mar.
Why am I analyzing this letter like it's a CARS passage...
I'm not sure but the letter says "There are no pre-requisite thresholds for consideration at Feinberg, but in general, if your cumulative GPA is 3.2 or better and your composite MCAT score is 505 or above, we confidently encourage you to apply." That makes me think that 3.2 GPA and 505 MCAT would be the floor of any screen, since otherwise that sentence would make zero sense. But the wording implies people with lower stats than those mentioned might be reading the letter, which makes me think it's just a URM thing. They probably get the data from Med-Mar.
Why am I analyzing this letter like it's a CARS passage...
It makes sense because Feinberg has barely any URMs. Any time I've been to a social with them there are maaaad ORMs and like 2 URMs lol.
#ShadeFromaUofCStudent 🤣🤣
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I am applying now!!!
I would have applied to Northwestern, but URM or not, if you don't have an old score the equivalent of a 30, they aren't looking at you.
My friend did her undergrad there and spoke with the medical school's diversity chair and that was his response
I believe that's probably true. On the letter I got it said they pretty much sent it to URMs with a MCAT > 505. I think a current 506 is about an old 29.
How are you all doing on the diversity essays for secondaries? I have to be honest, I'm not entirely sure what to write. One of my advisors told me that my URM status will be apparent so I shouldn't put something like "Coming from a Latinx home..." Anyway, here is a list of things I've been considering to add:
- Palestinian-American/Mexican-American, child of an immigrant
- Passionate about social welfare and public policy (one of my major volunteer efforts was with at a farmworkers union, educating individuals about their voting rights)
- Non-trad who worked as a translational research coordinator in a blood lab with a couple research publications and awards
- I boxed during college and won a couple local tournaments in my weight class, I also ran track for a couple years
- I write thriller/medical fiction as a hobby - no award or publications more of a just for fun thing.
- Military brat that was in and out of military school growing up
People really weren't kidding about inbox flooding with secondaries, lol. This is all becoming so real! I hope everyone is doing well 🙂
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I think there's something so raw about talking about your identities, especially being a Palestinian. I would go with the first bullet, but expand on what you've learned and how your identities have shaped and challenged your worldview. At least that's what I'm doing.
P.S. #FreePalestine
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Did y'all get the free secondary app fee letter before or after designating NW as one of your schools in your primary? I haven't gotten a letter but I scored >505. A free secondary would definitely have me submitting my app to them though.
Feinberg definitely wasn't on my list until after I got the letter through snail mail. Maybe it's just taking longer to reach you. I'm in Oregon and I received it July 3rd though it was postmarked June 27th.
Well you wouldn't have officially received any secondaries if your application isn't yet verified ... the schools don't even know you exist until AMCAS has verified you and has sent you application along to the schools, so there's no way for you to submit these anyways. I would just continue to pre-write secondaries until schools actually send you emails inviting you to complete the secondary. In regards to the LOR question, I'm not 100% sure. From reading SDN forums about these, most institutional letter packets aren't usually completed by undergrads and sent off to medical schools until August/September, so it shouldn't be detrimental to you if you were to have to submit your LORs through AMCAS a little later than when you submit your individual secondaries. Apparently schools are very cognizant of this and look to LORs later in the process of making decisions regarding interviews/waitlisting/admission.
Got my MCAT score today - 503! Given that my NS exam averages were 503-504, I'll say that they were very accurate in predicting my score.
Low-tier MD and DO schools, here I come! 😉
Low-tier MD and DO schools, here I come! 😉
I have this same question and I definitely did receive a secondary today, but I have not been verified yet. I have completed all of it except the pre-req section, and even made it to the page to finalize it (which I didn't because my grades/courses had not been uploaded to their website yet due to not being verified). However, if I get anymore that I can actually fully complete before verification, is it ok to submit those?
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In that case, I would contact the school directly to see what they prefer.
Thanks for replying. I stand corrected. I just got notice that I was verified/processed, so I guess schools get word way before you do 🙂😉 I got the secondary way early in the am, but the amcas email in the afternoon.
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Nice! Okay! Yeah - I'm finding that quite a few secondaries are asking me to input classes to show how I completed pre-requisites, which is hella annoying since it's on the damn primary application.
There are sub-forums in both Premed-MD and Premed-DO called "What Are My Chances?" so you'll want to start a new thread in one or both of those sub-forums.
Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile app
cGPA-3.58
sGPA 3.38
MCAT 507--127/125/126/129
1.5 years research for a Dr at the VA near my school
~150 hours shadowing 3 different doctors including in the DR
200 hours volunteering in hospital
200 non clinical volunteering
EMR TA 3 semesters
EMR Certified
microbio lab TA
leadership positions in greek organization
Fluent in Spanish
Hispanic
sGPA 3.38
MCAT 507--127/125/126/129
1.5 years research for a Dr at the VA near my school
~150 hours shadowing 3 different doctors including in the DR
200 hours volunteering in hospital
200 non clinical volunteering
EMR TA 3 semesters
EMR Certified
microbio lab TA
leadership positions in greek organization
Fluent in Spanish
Hispanic
PSA for the northwestern thingy; I don't think you actually need to receive the letter from them this year to waive the fee. I emailed them asking for a fee waiver, without actually receiving the mail this year (I got an email and physical mail last year). They responded saying they are processing the request and in ~5 days will alert me to submit for free.
lol you're avatar works wonderfully with this post.
Now, I wonder how much one could save doing that for all schools they apply to??
True! That goes for a lot of schools. No harm in asking. All they can say is no!
Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine also offered to waive my secondary fee last year. Worth a shot for anyone who is applying there!
SAMEEEEEEmrw the secondaries I've received are ones I haven't prewritten.
I just got my last LOR recently and uploaded it to AMCAS via Interfolio. Does anyone know how long it usually takes AMCAS to acknowledge they received the letters?
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It took minutes for AMCAS to send me email confirmations, but I used my university's reference letter service and not Interfolio.
oh wow, I wish my University had a letter system. Hopefully it doesn't take more than a week. Thank you!
It took me a few hours for all of mine to go through via interfolio.
Hi guys! I've followed the last two URM application threads and I wanted to solicit you all for advice since everyone here is so nice and supportive! I'm still debating on whether I should pull the trigger and apply for this cycle (I know I'm quickly running out of time to make this decision), due to my low MCAT.
I have a 3.5 cGPA/3.44 sGPA, 501 MCAT, black female, lots of clinical experience, leadership, research with a publication and some presentations, and decent clinical and non-clinical volunteering. I'm aiming for DOs, HBCUs, and my state schools and my state school is actually my top choice, but I want to maximize my chances and apply with the best possible application. The only hesitance I have is I've already taken one gap year and I'm currently in my second gap year and I'm becoming a bit impatient, but I don't want to have any regrets in my career.
Good luck to everyone applying this cycle! You guys all rock and are so inspirational!!
I have a 3.5 cGPA/3.44 sGPA, 501 MCAT, black female, lots of clinical experience, leadership, research with a publication and some presentations, and decent clinical and non-clinical volunteering. I'm aiming for DOs, HBCUs, and my state schools and my state school is actually my top choice, but I want to maximize my chances and apply with the best possible application. The only hesitance I have is I've already taken one gap year and I'm currently in my second gap year and I'm becoming a bit impatient, but I don't want to have any regrets in my career.
Good luck to everyone applying this cycle! You guys all rock and are so inspirational!!
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Are you still submitting secondaries before sending your letters to specific schools? I am awaiting one more letter, and I've finished two secondaries but was not sure if it was smart to submit them before sending letters via AMCAS.
I think you should go for it. Your LizzyM puts you at a 67% chance of gaining an MD acceptance (avg usually 40%, so that's good!) If your volunteering is actually decent you may fit at some mission based schools. I think DO will be no sweat for you.
On the other hand, you've waited this "far" into the cycle for a reason. If you aren't very confident DONT DO IT. Retake your MCAT and apply next year. Is your Personal Statement ready to go? Do you have a compelling story?
Hi! Yep everything is ready to go, I literally just have to press submit on both applications haha. I think it's just some last minute jitters that are causing me to hesitate. I do not think I have a compelling story (regular premed in college), but I do have ECs that I am very passionate about (mentorship, health disparities research) that I have emphasized in my app. I am a very risk averse person (hence the two gap years), but sometimes you just need to take that first step. I would be very happy going to any of the school I plan on applying to (MD and DO). Thanks for your advice!
Anyone else taking Casper tomorrow?
No I have just been prewriting them as I received them. I'm a ****ty writer so I have to edit a lot. I figured I would start submitting once I had all my letters in. Little did I know the process wasn't going to be instant. I spoke with a Coworker today who is also applying, and he said you can assign letters to schools before AMCAS receives them, so long as you already make the profile on AMCAS.
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