Best Acceptance List You've Ever Seen

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JPSmyth

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I recently got the book "Medical School Essays that Made a Difference" by the Princeton Review as a gift, since my family knew that I would be applying to medical school this year. They basically give you the information about students, their #s and ECs, and their essays word for word. There are a lot of students in there that got into more than half of the schools that they applied to. How does this happen? On SDN it seems that even if you have a 3.9/35+ and a stellar application, you won't get more than a few (<3) acceptances? Some people are applying to 10 top schools and getting acceptances to 8 of them, I thought that this was unheard of before I read this book.

So, what is the best list of acceptances you guys have ever seen someone hold?
And have any of you guys personally ever held more than 2-3 acceptances?
 
One of my good friends got into an obscene number of schools, but he was a beast. 96th percentile MCAT, perfect GPA, extracurriculars that would make you cry, charming as ****, handsome.

Schools were literally competing with each other to get him (via merit money offers).
 
Willy38 said:
check out, namerguy, breakintheroof, jeghaber to name a few.... rock stars

Anyways, you can only go to one place so it doesn't really matter where else you get in so long as its somewhere you like !
Click to expand...

I know, trust me I'm only looking for one acceptance. But the admissions process seems so strange and confusing to me, always like hearing other people's input
 
JPSmyth said:
I know, trust me I'm only looking for one acceptance. But the admissions process seems so strange and confusing to me, always like hearing other people's input
Click to expand...
its an insane process. My humble advice would be true to yourself. There can be a lot of pressure to feel like you need to "fit the premed mold" or "become what X school is looking for". Work hard and be yourself, things will work themselves out.
 
3.4/40+, multiple top 10 acceptances.

#1 Just remember, at the end of the day you can only go to one medical school.
#2 The easiest way to increase your chances of getting in a US MD school is to have a stellar academic record.
#3 The best way to have your choice of medical school to attend is to focus on personal/professional development early via extracurricular activities.
 
A few of my college friends were sitting there choosing between UCSF, Stanford, Harvard, etc. It was really exciting, even at a distance! Some of them I didn't even know were applying to med school while we were in school together. Then one day on facebook it's just "Oh, yeah, I'm going to UCSF med school now nbd." Two weeks later "NEVERMIND gonna go to Harvard!"
 
If it's not too much of a hassle to write, what kind of extracurricular activities were you personally involved in throughout undergrad? @mimelim

And thank you for the advice!
 
mimelim said:
3.4/40+, multiple top 10 acceptances.

#1 Just remember, at the end of the day you can only go to one medical school.
#2 The easiest way to increase your chances of getting in a US MD school is to have a stellar academic record.
#3 The best way to have your choice of medical school to attend is to focus on personal/professional development early via extracurricular activities.
Click to expand...
Where did you end up going if you don't mind me asking? I, hopefully, will have some tough decisions ahead of me and would appreciate some historical perspective.
 
senzen said:
If it's not too much of a hassle to write, what kind of extracurricular activities were you personally involved in throughout undergrad? @mimelim

And thank you for the advice!
Click to expand...

Originally posted here: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/thr...r-to-top-medical-school.967861/#post-13368085

I had a good MCAT score. My GPA was low for a medical school applications, but since I decided to apply to medical school in my Junior year, it simply reflected my pursuits up to that point. I never took less than 18 credits a semester and just as an example, my second semester freshman year I was taking Math 233, Chem 112, Physics 198, Physics 314, Physics 217, Physics 317, Biology 292 plus my required writing seminar. Not many pre-meds take 4 physics classes while taking the normal pre-med pre-reqs. I was taking Calc III and Chem II as they were required for my major and the biology was because I knew I needed to get stronger in bio for lab reasons. Starting my freshman Summer, I also started working in various labs. During the school year I was working 20-40 hrs/week, Summer closer to 70-80 hrs/week. I had a couple of publications, but those were miniscule compared to my lab contributions designing and building a beowulf cluster, writing programs to optimize genome analysis and annotation (I stopped by my undergrad a couple weeks ago while on vacation and noticed that at least 2 labs are still using the software I wrote based on their posters and the unmistakable drawings that my programs produced). I also TA'ed pre-med/intro Physics from Sophomore year until graduation.

So, MCAT, reasonable explanation for GPA, research, and teaching. Outside of that, while I haven't historically been the 'best' athlete in any group of people, you would have a hard time finding a sport or game that I'm not reasonably good at. I certainly have an ego that can get in the way of things, but I can very honestly tell people that project, sports, games etc. you will want me on your team. I am a superior communicator and I produce no matter what situation I am in. Oh, and I only need to sleep 4 hours a day. That is always a plus .


Willy38 said:
Where did you end up going if you don't mind me asking? I, hopefully, will have some tough decisions ahead of me and would appreciate some historical perspective.
Click to expand...

I don't tell people this because my field is so small. We only have 40-50 residents per year in the entire country. Any identifying information pretty much gives away exactly who I am. Where I ended up going was heavily influenced by what my girlfriend (now wife of 6 years) was doing with school/education.
 
mimelim said:
Originally posted here: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/thr...r-to-top-medical-school.967861/#post-13368085

I had a good MCAT score. My GPA was low for a medical school applications, but since I decided to apply to medical school in my Junior year, it simply reflected my pursuits up to that point. I never took less than 18 credits a semester and just as an example, my second semester freshman year I was taking Math 233, Chem 112, Physics 198, Physics 314, Physics 217, Physics 317, Biology 292 plus my required writing seminar. Not many pre-meds take 4 physics classes while taking the normal pre-med pre-reqs. I was taking Calc III and Chem II as they were required for my major and the biology was because I knew I needed to get stronger in bio for lab reasons. Starting my freshman Summer, I also started working in various labs. During the school year I was working 20-40 hrs/week, Summer closer to 70-80 hrs/week. I had a couple of publications, but those were miniscule compared to my lab contributions designing and building a beowulf cluster, writing programs to optimize genome analysis and annotation (I stopped by my undergrad a couple weeks ago while on vacation and noticed that at least 2 labs are still using the software I wrote based on their posters and the unmistakable drawings that my programs produced). I also TA'ed pre-med/intro Physics from Sophomore year until graduation.

So, MCAT, reasonable explanation for GPA, research, and teaching. Outside of that, while I haven't historically been the 'best' athlete in any group of people, you would have a hard time finding a sport or game that I'm not reasonably good at. I certainly have an ego that can get in the way of things, but I can very honestly tell people that project, sports, games etc. you will want me on your team. I am a superior communicator and I produce no matter what situation I am in. Oh, and I only need to sleep 4 hours a day. That is always a plus .




I don't tell people this because my field is so small. We only have 40-50 residents per year in the entire country. Any identifying information pretty much gives away exactly who I am. Where I ended up going was heavily influenced by what my girlfriend (now wife of 6 years) was doing with school/education.
Click to expand...

And I thought I was cool taking 4 science courses this semester… But really when did you sleep?!

That is extremely impressive! That's nice to see you did things on your own accord and not because the activity would look good for medical school admissions or something like that. Congratulations on your success!

And thank you for taking your time out to find that.

Are you MD/PhD (it's okay if you prefer not to say to maintain anonymity)?
 
Last edited:
senzen said:
And I thought I was cool taking 4 science courses this semester… But really when did you sleep?!

That is extremely impressive! That's nice to see you did things on your own accord and not because the activity would look good for medical school admissions or something like that. Congratulations on your success!

And thank you for taking your time out to find that.

Are you MD/PhD (it's okay if you prefer not to say to maintain anonymity)?
Click to expand...

I was not MD/PhD. My personal opinion is that there is no good reason to do MD/PhD for 99.9% of students.
 
mimelim said:
Originally posted here: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/thr...r-to-top-medical-school.967861/#post-13368085

I had a good MCAT score. My GPA was low for a medical school applications, but since I decided to apply to medical school in my Junior year, it simply reflected my pursuits up to that point. I never took less than 18 credits a semester and just as an example, my second semester freshman year I was taking Math 233, Chem 112, Physics 198, Physics 314, Physics 217, Physics 317, Biology 292 plus my required writing seminar. Not many pre-meds take 4 physics classes while taking the normal pre-med pre-reqs. I was taking Calc III and Chem II as they were required for my major and the biology was because I knew I needed to get stronger in bio for lab reasons. Starting my freshman Summer, I also started working in various labs. During the school year I was working 20-40 hrs/week, Summer closer to 70-80 hrs/week. I had a couple of publications, but those were miniscule compared to my lab contributions designing and building a beowulf cluster, writing programs to optimize genome analysis and annotation (I stopped by my undergrad a couple weeks ago while on vacation and noticed that at least 2 labs are still using the software I wrote based on their posters and the unmistakable drawings that my programs produced). I also TA'ed pre-med/intro Physics from Sophomore year until graduation.

So, MCAT, reasonable explanation for GPA, research, and teaching. Outside of that, while I haven't historically been the 'best' athlete in any group of people, you would have a hard time finding a sport or game that I'm not reasonably good at. I certainly have an ego that can get in the way of things, but I can very honestly tell people that project, sports, games etc. you will want me on your team. I am a superior communicator and I produce no matter what situation I am in. Oh, and I only need to sleep 4 hours a day. That is always a plus .
Click to expand...

And he's never never sick at sea!
 
Lucca said:
Wow, and he came from a public university (albeit an awesome one). What a hero. I was fully expecting to click, see " HYPS 3.9+, 38+" roll my eyes and get on with my life.
Click to expand...

That's like saying that someone did well after they went to UC-Berkeley. The top public schools are amazing and are as competitive as schools like harvard in many regards.
 
ridethecliche said:
That's like saying that someone did well after they went to UC-Berkeley. The top public schools are amazing and are as competitive as schools like harvard in many regards.
Click to expand...

Well yes but if you take a look at the students at the top 10 medical schools I think you will find that all of their student bodies are rather.....homogenous in a certain sense.
 
JPSmyth said:
I recently got the book "Medical School Essays that Made a Difference" by the Princeton Review as a gift, since my family knew that I would be applying to medical school this year. They basically give you the information about students, their #s and ECs, and their essays word for word. There are a lot of students in there that got into more than half of the schools that they applied to. How does this happen? On SDN it seems that even if you have a 3.9/35+ and a stellar application, you won't get more than a few (<3) acceptances? Some people are applying to 10 top schools and getting acceptances to 8 of them, I thought that this was unheard of before I read this book.

So, what is the best list of acceptances you guys have ever seen someone hold?
And have any of you guys personally ever held more than 2-3 acceptances?
Click to expand...

I applied to ~15 and was accepted to 8.
 
caffeinemia said:
What's so special about Cali?
Click to expand...
It's dry and barren. There are plants scattered around, sure, but nobody could ever call this state green. You have to drive around to find any decent weather variation or snow, and the roads absolutely suck - NO collateral circulation, it's highways or tiny streets. Plus, it seems like they figure they never have to repave since there are no freeze-thaw cycles. Well, you still have semis tearing up the blacktop! And the people may be beautiful, but the general attitude? No.

Sorry, @mehc012 I thought of you the moment I saw his post :laugh:
 
Cyberdyne 101 said:
It's dry and barren. There are plants scattered around, sure, but nobody could ever call this state green. You have to drive around to find any decent weather variation or snow, and the roads absolutely suck - NO collateral circulation, it's highways or tiny streets. Plus, it seems like they figure they never have to repave since there are no freeze-thaw cycles. Well, you still have semis tearing up the blacktop! And the people may be beautiful, but the general attitude? No.

Sorry, @mehc012 I thought of you the moment I saw his post :laugh:
Click to expand...
lolol, no, that's absolutely on point. Saves me the trouble of retyping it! :laugh:
 
SouthernSurgeon said:
I know where...

GIF--Staring-Look-Looking-wonder-wondering-smile-sneaky-stare-creep-creepy-GIF.gif
Click to expand...
creepaleep.
 
Sheesh, talk about making accepted applicants feel unworthy haha jk. I have a good number of acceptances but none of them are "fancy or top-20," but I'm ecstatic with them and whichever I attend will still get the job done at the end of the day!:soexcited: But seriously the members mentioned in this thread have done incredible things and deserve an unlimited amount of credit!
 
Aw man... we're getting a bad rep! I know a lot of beautiful Californians with beautiful personalities 🙂
 
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