2018 Nontrad Applicants' Progress Thread

[ChopinLiszt]

So, there are a few groups of people in my life who I haven't told about my med school endeavor:
My parents and extended family
My coworkers

I wasn't sure if I'd get in or how far I'd get and only told people who I knew would be supportive and not ask a lot of anxious questions.

But now I feel stuck and unsure how to tell people. I don't want to now make them feel shut out of my life... Anyone have any advice, maybe having been in the receiving end of family news or having had to give news?

The only similar situation was when I had to tell people I was pregnant. That was awkward for me, too.....

I say wait until you graduate and be like "Surprise, I'm a doctor, people!" Haha

Really though, if you have a long term plan they can wrap their heads around, that could help - even if it's not what you end up doing. Like "I want to be a pediatrician and join a practice in a suburb" or "I'm going to be a plastic surgeon - pray for my soul." Haha ok I shouldn't post while I'm on dilaudid. Just tell them when you're ready and be confident.

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[tiramisucheese]

I say wait until you graduate and be like "Surprise, I'm a doctor, people!" Haha

Really though, if you have a long term plan they can wrap their heads around, that could help - even if it's not what you end up doing. Like "I want to be a pediatrician and join a practice in a suburb" or "I'm going to be a plastic surgeon - pray for my soul." Haha ok I shouldn't post while I'm on dilaudid. Just tell them when you're ready and be confident.

How are you feeling?! Did everything go well?

 

[ChopinLiszt]

How are you feeling?! Did everything go well?

Not feeling super great yet but that's to be expected. Pain meds never really take away all the pain but they're better than nothing! Looking forward to my own bed. Also, I love your screen name - makes me hungry.

 

[MercMutt]

Not feeling super great yet but that's to be expected. Pain meds never really take away all the pain but they're better than nothing! Looking forward to my own bed. Also, I love your screen name - makes me hungry.

So glad to hear you’re through the surgery and on the mend. Best wishes for a speedy recovery!

 

[ChopinLiszt]

So glad to hear you’re through the surgery and on the mend. Best wishes for a speedy recovery!

Thank you!!

 

[MercMutt]

Wow. The post-interview waiting is as hard as everyone has said. I’m so ready to know what I’m going to be doing next summer. Must practice patience!

Wishing you all a Happy Holiday in whatever you choose to celebrate!

 

[sss1219]

Wow. The post-interview waiting is as hard as everyone has said. I’m so ready to know what I’m going to be doing next summer. Must practice patience!

Wishing you all a Happy Holiday in whatever you choose to celebrate!

It's even worse than the wait for interviews!!! If they told you the day your decision comes out then the day or two before will be especially nervy so keep yourself occupied

 

[ChopinLiszt]

I'm probably weird but I don't mind having a few more weeks to wait until making final decisions/having my fate sealed. If I get into Mayo and Duke, I'll probably choose Mayo but it will nearly kill me to turn down Duke! I loved it so much. And if i don't get in anywhere.. I just don't want to think about the disappointment and self-doubt waiting down that road. I'm just sayin reapplicants are the real heroes. I'm fine to ride the rollercoaster one more month.

 

[MercMutt]

Happy New Year! I hope you all had a lovely holiday with as little stress as possible.

I am currently playing the waiting game: I am "still under consideration" post-interview from my #1 choice school and waiting for an II from several other schools. I have a few earlier pre-II rejections as well.

This process is so emotionally taxing...just trying to stay busy with other things - the power of distraction.

Best wishes for a wonderful and successful New Year to you all!

 

[_leo08]

Progress check-in: officially accepted! I'm a re-applicant...your dream doesn't have to end after one cycle!

 

[MercMutt]

Progress check-in: officially accepted! I'm a re-applicant...your dream doesn't have to end after one cycle!

Wonderful news! Your journey has begun. Congratulations!

 

[ChopinLiszt]

Progress check-in: officially accepted! I'm a re-applicant...your dream doesn't have to end after one cycle!

Congrats!!! Wanna share which school? That's so exciting!

 

[_leo08]

Congrats!!! Wanna share which school? That's so exciting!

Thank you! University of Washington!

 

[DSM_302.0]

Thank you! University of Washington!

hot damn! what a school!
are you '08' because you graduated from a school in '08? i'm '08 from college.

 

[_leo08]

hot damn! what a school!
are you '08' because you graduated from a school in '08? i'm '08 from college.

No real significance behind the '08' other than me being born in August; slim pickings for SDN usernames!

 

[DBC03]

Thank you! University of Washington!

Go Big or Go Home. This is amazing!


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[ChopinLiszt]

Thank you! University of Washington!

Wow! That's amazing - fabulous school, congrats again!!

 

[hebrewBAMmer]

Hey y'all! Just wanted to update: The first school I interviewed at just waitlisted me . Still sitting on 0 acceptances, but I interviewed at 3 other schools already that I'm waiting to hear about, and have 2 more coming up. In addition, I just successfully defended my PhD thesis yesterday, so at least I have that going for me! Keeping my fingers crossed that one says yes

 

[jazzmetal]

Hey y'all! Just wanted to update: The first school I interviewed at just waitlisted me . Still sitting on 0 acceptances, but I interviewed at 3 other schools already that I'm waiting to hear about, and have 2 more coming up. In addition, I just successfully defended my PhD thesis yesterday, so at least I have that going for me! Keeping my fingers crossed that one says yes

Congrats on your PhD, that's quite an accomplishment! (Is it a premed thing to automatically want to type pHD? lol)

 

[jazzmetal]

Still no interviews for moi, and the rejections are piling up. :-(
My most recent rejection was from my strongest app by far: in early and fast, solid secondary answers, IS with lifelong regional ties, sGPA above median, MCAT at 75th%.
Anyone else's boat sailing toward Reapplicant Island?
Goro posted on another thread that his cutoff for applicant age is 50. Maybe other adcoms feel the same way? No love for us "ultras"?
I feel like moving somewhere with a lower cost of living so I could try for a clinical job during another gap year. There's just no way I can stay where I am without the higher salary from career #1. Seems like an awful lot of risk for such a speculative endeavor though. I'd hate to leave all my family and friends here, reapply but not get in, then be priced out of my hometown...

 

[DBC03]

Still no interviews for moi, and the rejections are piling up. :-(
My most recent rejection was from my strongest app by far: in early and fast, solid secondary answers, IS with lifelong regional ties, sGPA above median, MCAT at 75th%.
Anyone else's boat sailing toward Reapplicant Island?
Goro posted on another thread that his cutoff for applicant age is 50. Maybe other adcoms feel the same way? No love for us "ultras"?
I feel like moving somewhere with a lower cost of living so I could try for a clinical job during another gap year. There's just no way I can stay where I am without the higher salary from career #1. Seems like an awful lot of risk for such a speculative endeavor though. I'd hate to leave all my family and friends here, reapply but not get in, then be priced out of my hometown...

Such a bummer for you! I would check with @gonnif for which schools are more friendly to ultra non-trads. Florida schools seem to be friendly and the weather is nice for part of the year... wake forest had a graduate in her late 40s/early 50s recently. I’ll check the MSAR as well. It’s hard to find data because so few apply...


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[jazzmetal]

Such a bummer for you! I would check with @gonnif for which schools are more friendly to ultra non-trads. Florida schools seem to be friendly and the weather is nice for part of the year... wake forest had a graduate in her late 40s/early 50s recently. I’ll check the MSAR as well. It’s hard to find data because so few apply..

Thanks! Most OOS schools on my list were nontrad friendlies, but you're right, not much shows up on MSAR. I think I've seen one or maybe two schools with a student in their 40s, none with a 50+ in last year's class. Not that there's nothing else "wrong" with my application, I'm just not sure I can realistically make more than marginal improvements, at this point, even if I skipped a cycle. Speaking of Florida, though, I did toss in a last-minute application to Nova. It's only money! lol

 

[SpoiledMilk]

Thanks! Most OOS schools on my list were nontrad friendlies, but you're right, not much shows up on MSAR. I think I've seen one or maybe two schools with a student in their 40s, none with a 50+ in last year's class. Not that there's nothing else "wrong" with my application, I'm just not sure I can realistically make more than marginal improvements, at this point, even if I skipped a cycle. Speaking of Florida, though, I did toss in a last-minute application to Nova. It's only money! lol

Have you considered moving to Texas, if this cycle ends without an offer? Much lower COL, 1 year to est. residency, and currently 10 schools opened with 2 more coming (1 next cycle and another subsequently). AND TX schools are very friendly to older applicants!

Austin is a miniature SF.

Read this Renee Ridley

 

[jazzmetal]

Have you considered moving to Texas, if this cycle ends without an offer? Much lower COL, 1 year to est. residency, and currently 10 schools opened with 2 more coming (1 next cycle and another subsequently). AND TX schools are very friendly to older applicants!

Austin is a miniature SF.

Read this Renee Ridley

I have indeed! Baylor is on my dream list (not that I'd have to be a resident to get in, just a rockstar) so I've looked into it. I'm interested in cancer genomics, so I've looked into positions at Baylor and they have a lot of cool-sounding entry-level jobs. I think you need 12 mos at the time of application so I'd need to skip a cycle (or pay OOS the first year), but if they are that nontrad friendly, it could be worth it! Plus residents get to "fresh start" away any grades more than 10 years old, right? That would boost my sGPA from 3.64 to 3.85... and nullify my original undergrad grades entirely! Hmmm... Also: Austin - South By!

 

[SpoiledMilk]

I have indeed! Baylor is on my dream list (not that I'd have to be a resident to get in, just a rockstar) so I've looked into it. I'm interested in cancer genomics, so I've looked into positions at Baylor and they have a lot of cool-sounding entry-level jobs. I think you need 12 mos at the time of application so I'd need to skip a cycle (or pay OOS the first year), but if they are that nontrad friendly, it could be worth it! Plus residents get to "fresh start" away any grades more than 10 years old, right? That would boost my sGPA from 3.64 to 3.85... and nullify my original undergrad grades entirely! Hmmm... Also: Austin - South By!

That's right! You can utilize Texas Academic Fresh Start with the public medical schools under TMDSAS. TMDSAS Medical: Texas Academic Fresh Start

Baylor doesn't adhere to AFS, but comparable UTSW does.

 

[hebrewBAMmer]

Congrats on your PhD, that's quite an accomplishment! (Is it a premed thing to automatically want to type pHD? lol)

Thank you so much! It feels so weird to be done with it after 5.5 years.

Good luck with the rest of the cycle! I saw you were ultra non-trad, and while idk how much the age thing is mattering, I saw this thread where there are definitely people in their 40s/50s in medical school: Med school experience as an older student (fwiw, I got a ton of rejections before I started getting interviews)

 

[jazzmetal]

Thank you so much! It feels so weird to be done with it after 5.5 years.

Good luck with the rest of the cycle! I saw you were ultra non-trad, and while idk how much the age thing is mattering, I saw this thread where there are definitely people in their 40s/50s in medical school: Med school experience as an older student (fwiw, I got a ton of rejections before I started getting interviews)

Thanks! It's hard to say how much might be age per se versus not being convincing enough about wanting to leave career #1 at this stage and start all over. Trying to pull out all the stops, regardless. I appreciate the support!

 

[ADSigMel]

Does anyone have advice on how to politely prompt a school to offer some scholarship money? It’s still very early, but one school to which I’m accepted has offered me a scholarship already, and they’d like to know if I’ll be accepting it. But none of my other schools traditionally make scholarship offers until March-ish. I don’t know if I should call the other schools’ admissions offices for guidance, or if that would be too forward of me.

 

[jazzmetal]

Does anyone have advice on how to politely prompt a school to offer some scholarship money? It’s still very early, but one school to which I’m accepted has offered me a scholarship already, and they’d like to know if I’ll be accepting it. But none of my other schools traditionally make scholarship offers until March-ish. I don’t know if I should call the other schools’ admissions offices for guidance, or if that would be too forward of me.

Seems like it would be fair for you to just be open about the situation and reach out to say you have another offer at ABC that includes a scholarship, but you'd prefer to attend XYZ if the financial packages were comparable. ABC is asking for a decision soon - I understand that you typically don't offer scholarships this early, but is there any chance I could get a sense now of what my options will be with you, XYZ?

 

[DBC03]

Does anyone have advice on how to politely prompt a school to offer some scholarship money? It’s still very early, but one school to which I’m accepted has offered me a scholarship already, and they’d like to know if I’ll be accepting it. But none of my other schools traditionally make scholarship offers until March-ish. I don’t know if I should call the other schools’ admissions offices for guidance, or if that would be too forward of me.

Can you hold a scholarship offer until April 30?


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[ADSigMel]

Can you hold a scholarship offer until April 30?


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They’d like to know by the end of February whether or not I plan to take it. I mean, I *could* accept it and then back out later, but I really like this school and don’t want to be shady.

 

[MindyLahiriWannabee]

They’d like to know by the end of February whether or not I plan to take it. I mean, I *could* accept it and then back out later, but I really like this school and don’t want to be shady.

Don't worry it's not shady.
Accept it and if you get a better offer, than decline the original one and go for the better offer.
Schools be playing mad games but now it's your turn. Ball's in your court

edited: court not cart.....lmao hi everyone I'm clearly the least athletic person you will ever meet...

 

[ChopinLiszt]

How's everyone doing? Surviving the long wait for decisions?

 

[naway]

I got into a DO school today after being unsuccessful last year and almost not reapplying this year. I'm a seemingly rare applicant who had the stats for MD but not the ECs, which I suspect is what held me back from getting into an MD program. Not that I like had zero ECs haha, but they're definitely on the lower side. I personally found it quite challenging to balance classes, ECs, and work, and so when it was a decision between being able to pay my bills and doing more volunteer work, you can guess which won out. I genuinely love the DO program I'm accepted to, though. The location couldn't be more perfect, and the overall vibe I got on my interview day suggested I will fit in there very well. The osteopathic tradition definitely jives with my personality and goals as well. The only thing I don't like is the tuition is so dang high.

 

[DSM_302.0]

How's everyone doing? Surviving the long wait for decisions?

I just got accepted to UNC!! Got a call this evening. Thrilled!! Good luck to everyone else waiting and wishing and hoping.

 

[ChopinLiszt]

I got into a DO school today after being unsuccessful last year and almost not reapplying this year.

Congrats!! Wow, good thing you reapplied! You're going to be a doctor!!

I just got accepted to UNC!! Got a call this evening. Thrilled!! Good luck to everyone else waiting and wishing and hoping.

WOOHOO!!! You are killing it this cycle! How many schools are you still waiting to hear back from (post-interview)?

 

[naway]

Congrats!! Wow, good thing you reapplied! You're going to be a doctor!!

Thank you!! It's weird because it doesn't really feel real yet since this school sends acceptance letters via snail mail and I haven't gotten mine yet. However, the link to submit my deposit appeared on my online portal, which is pretty much a guarantee the letter is on its way according to everyone who has posted in the application threads for the past few years haha. Sucks to know but feel like I can't really share just yet. I wish I could just hunt down the mail truck holding my letter and snatch it up haha

 

[tiramisucheese]

Thank you!! It's weird because it doesn't really feel real yet since this school sends acceptance letters via snail mail and I haven't gotten mine yet. However, the link to submit my deposit appeared on my online portal, which is pretty much a guarantee the letter is on its way according to everyone who has posted in the application threads for the past few years haha. Sucks to know but feel like I can't really share just yet. I wish I could just hunt down the mail truck holding my letter and snatch it up haha

Sign up for USPS Informed Delivery! You can see your letter-sized mail before it comes to your home on the same day.

 

[DSM_302.0]

Congrats!! Wow, good thing you reapplied! You're going to be a doctor!!



WOOHOO!!! You are killing it this cycle! How many schools are you still waiting to hear back from (post-interview)?

Thank you thank you! Currently in at Michigan and UNC, waitlist at Berkeley/UCSF and Brown, and waiting to hear back from Mayo AZ, which, as you know, should be next week or the week after.

I still have about ten schools pre interview left, but at this point, with maaaybe the exception of UCLA (cuz they’re really behind this year), I think it’s safe to assume the rest are silently rejecting me at this point.

Good luck to everyone! I love this thread.

 

[naway]

Sign up for USPS Informed Delivery! You can see your letter-sized mail before it comes to your home on the same day.

Whaaaat. I have never heard of this. I will have to look into that! Also talk about living in a society obsessed with instant gratification lol

 

[tiramisucheese]

Whaaaat. I have never heard of this. I will have to look into that! Also talk about living in a society obsessed with instant gratification lol

Yeah! It's a new thing. I love mail, so this development has been awesome, especially on days when the mail come really late in the day.

 

[_leo08]

I just got accepted to UNC!! Got a call this evening. Thrilled!! Good luck to everyone else waiting and wishing and hoping.

WHOOT CONGRATS! A well-deserved acceptance for all your patience!

 

[naway]

I just realized that no matter what happens from this point forward, I am DONE with med school interviews forever (at least at the admissions stage). I'm waiting to hear back on 2 MD schools I interviewed at (both waitlisted me last cycle, so not holding my breath), have been rejected from the other two MD programs I applied to, and won't accept any additional DO interviews since I'm already in at my top DO choice. I found all of the uncertainty and expenses involved with the interview process so stressful; realizing that I'm done with that entire stage of the process is such a relief but simultaneously kind of anticlimactic.

 

[vaguelybackward]

I just realized that no matter what happens from this point forward, I am DONE with med school interviews forever (at least at the admissions stage). I'm waiting to hear back on 2 MD schools I interviewed at (both waitlisted me last cycle, so not holding my breath) have been rejected from the other two MD programs I applied to, and won't accept any additional DO interviews since I'm already in at my top DO choice. I found all of the uncertainty and expenses involved with the interview process so stressful; realizing that I'm done with that entire stage of the process is such a relief but simultaneously kind of anticlimactic.

I feel this so hard!! I have one interview left and then that part is... over? It seems so intensely anti-climactic, but also I am soooo ready to be done with this application cycle and to start school!!

 

[hebrewBAMmer]

Agreed with above. I have 1 interview left and it's weird to think that's the final interview I will have this cycle (barring any other schools that decide to give me one, but at this point I doubt it). Still haven't been accepted anywhere, and this wait to find out if I will have to reapply in the future is literally killing me. I just want to know if I will be starting in fall or not so I can start planning out the next few years of my life. I know I had to be patient, and everyone keeps telling me with 6 interviews that I should be getting accepted somewhere, but I keep reading horror stories of people with 9+ interviews getting waitlisted/rejected everywhere :/

 

[hebrewBAMmer]

UPDATE: GOT ACCEPTED! STILL FREAKING OUT

 

[DSM_302.0]

UPDATE: GOT ACCEPTED! STILL FREAKING OUT

Congrats!! You're gonna be a doctor! Where at? Now the other 8 interviews can be icing on the cake and you can leisurely wait around to hear back from them.

 

[hebrewBAMmer]

Congrats!! You're gonna be a doctor! Where at? Now the other 8 interviews can be icing on the cake and you can leisurely wait around to hear back from them.

SKMC! I feel so relieved right now. No longer do I need to panic over if I'm going to get in somewhere and keep F5ing my inbox all day

 

[DBC03]

UPDATE: GOT ACCEPTED! STILL FREAKING OUT

YAY!!!!!

 

[ChopinLiszt]

SKMC! I feel so relieved right now. No longer do I need to panic over if I'm going to get in somewhere and keep F5ing my inbox all day

Yay!! Huge Congrats!!! SKMC is Jefferson, right? I went on a tour there - it was great! I'm sure you'll love it if you end up going there. Congrats, Dr. BAMmer!