Class of 2019!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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sunflower18 said:
If we know what our grades for those classes are, should we list them and then just select the current/future box? Or should we leave the grades off entirely?
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I concur with Person0715. My counsellor said to not put the grades in, unless they are on your official transcript.

Also: have made little to no progress on my secondary prewriting, which is disappointing since I start working full time on Monday. Hullooo 40+ hr workweek. Hope you guys are enjoying your summer (or are at least very close to enjoying your summer)! I am ready to get this app cycle on the road and over with.
 
I feel so freeeeee !!!! 😀

Going to New Orleans for a convention later this week, and I've resolved to do absolutely nothing until I get back ! Hooray!

@hellanutella prewriting secondaries is such a depressing thought... What job are you going to be working?
 
I took an AP exam in high school which I did not pass, so I got zero credits for it. It is shown on my transcript, but with zero credits compared with the other exams which I had passed that have credits. Do I still have to enter this even though I received no credits for it?
 
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hawkeye3211 said:
I took an AP exam in high school which I did not pass, so I got zero credits for it. It is shown on my transcript, but with zero credits compared with the other exams which I had passed that have credits. Do I still have to enter this even though I received no credits for it?
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If it's on your transcript, put it in as no credits and check the AP box at the bottom.
 
turayza said:
I feel so freeeeee !!!! 😀

Going to New Orleans for a convention later this week, and I've resolved to do absolutely nothing until I get back ! Hooray!

@hellanutella prewriting secondaries is such a depressing thought... What job are you going to be working?
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Ahhhhh that sounds beautiful. Never been to NOLA, but I'd love to go. Hope you have an astounding time (and don't spend any moment worrying about apps)!

Just doing more research. My job is pretty accommodating about the prospect of me going on interviews in the fall/winter, but I have to work weekends during the summer. ;___; At least I'll be making some money to cover my apps.

You guys have any awesome summer plans?
 
moop said:
Moving to DC this weekend! Will be there until mid-August working at a think tank on economic policy. Planning on writing some typical secondary essays over the summer (hopefully lol)
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Wot. Aren't you applying next summer?

Enjoy DC and your policy work... stay away from those secondaries! Hope this summer doesn't round out to be too swelteringly hot there.
 
hellanutella said:
Wot. Aren't you applying next summer?

Enjoy DC and your policy work... stay away from those secondaries! Hope this summer doesn't round out to be too swelteringly hot there.
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Yeah I'm applying next summer! I'm not a gunner by any means (the GPA tells the story lol), but I know next summer after graduation is going to be really busy and I am not going to let secondaries get in the way. I'll be doing lots of writing this summer, so it only makes sense to work some 2º writing in there once I'm in that flow. Just looking to do the diversity, greatest challenge, and school-specific ones for now.

Eh, mid-Atlantic coast is mid-Atlantic coast. Sweltering humidity and heat July to August. 21 years on this coast, and I'm used to it already. At least I don't have to suit up every day like I did during my yearlong consulting job a few years back...blurgh. That was disgusting.
 
moop said:
Moving to DC this weekend! Will be there until mid-August working at a think tank on economic policy. Planning on writing some typical secondary essays over the summer (hopefully lol)
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Distract yourself with secondaries until Blacklist resumes? 😀
 
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So.... the 2013-2014 school-specific threads were all started around 5/15 last year.... where are ours? 🙂
 
I keep tinkering with my school list.... I feel like I have too many reaches on there, but at the same time, maybe I'm reasonably competitive and would regret not applying to them? Ugh. I don't know. Stupid sort of lowish MCAT score messed everything up! Haha :/

I was productive with secondaries today though! I found all of the prompts from last year for the schools I'm applying to, and brainstormed answers for most of them. I'll start writing and editing over the next month with the hopes of having polished essays ready to plop into the secondaries once they start coming in. It's crazy and also sort of frustrating how many schools have the exact same prompt, just with different character/word limit. I feel like I'm going to have 8 versions of the same essay!
 
sunflower18 said:
I keep tinkering with my school list.... I feel like I have too many reaches on there, but at the same time, maybe I'm reasonably competitive and would regret not applying to them? Ugh. I don't know. Stupid sort of lowish MCAT score messed everything up! Haha :/

I was productive with secondaries today though! I found all of the prompts from last year for the schools I'm applying to, and brainstormed answers for most of them. I'll start writing and editing over the next month with the hopes of having polished essays ready to plop into the secondaries once they start coming in. It's crazy and also sort of frustrating how many schools have the exact same prompt, just with different character/word limit. I feel like I'm going to have 8 versions of the same essay!
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Oh my... your MCAT score is great! From your WAMC thread it looks like you're applying to a lot of schools (the "extra" ones being reaches), and you have enough target schools to be okay.
I think it's good to try to reuse the essays if the question is asking the same thing--just make sure the response matches with the school's mission. You gotta reuse or you'll go crazy writing!!
 
turayza said:
Oh my... your MCAT score is great! From your WAMC thread it looks like you're applying to a lot of schools (the "extra" ones being reaches), and you have enough target schools to be okay.
I think it's good to try to reuse the essays if the question is asking the same thing--just make sure the response matches with the school's mission. You gotta reuse or you'll go crazy writing!!
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I know objectively that my MCAT score is fine and should get me in somewhere if I apply broadly enough, it's just tough when everyone here has 37+! I feel like I'm way below everyone here. But I guess everyone feels that way! Thanks for looking at my school list -- I hope you're right! 🙂

Oh yeah for sure, I will absolutely reuse essays! But I'll slightly modify them to match word counts.
 
sunflower18 said:
I keep tinkering with my school list.... I feel like I have too many reaches on there, but at the same time, maybe I'm reasonably competitive and would regret not applying to them? Ugh. I don't know. Stupid sort of lowish MCAT score messed everything up! Haha :/

I was productive with secondaries today though! I found all of the prompts from last year for the schools I'm applying to, and brainstormed answers for most of them. I'll start writing and editing over the next month with the hopes of having polished essays ready to plop into the secondaries once they start coming in. It's crazy and also sort of frustrating how many schools have the exact same prompt, just with different character/word limit. I feel like I'm going to have 8 versions of the same essay!
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Yo shot in the dark but if you're thinking about a 5th research year, try Yale. They fund a full 5th year of research for an MHS, 70% of class does it.
 
moop said:
Yo shot in the dark but if you're thinking about a 5th research year, try Yale. They fund a full 5th year of research for an MHS, 70% of class does it.
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Mmmm good call! I will try and make room for Yale, as that definitely sounds intriguing. Thanks! Not that I have much of a shot there, but hey, stranger things have (probably) happened, right? 🙂

juliuspepperwood said:
I suppose I should jump in here since it looks like I will be reapplying.
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Welcome!! I'm sorry to hear that this cycle has been unsuccessful for you 🙁
 
Hey again you guys,

Can I have some advice on something? I wrote two versions of my PS over winter break, but now I'm looking at them and feel skeptical that they are appropriate/submittable...

Basically, PS #1 takes one reason why I want to be a doctor and shows how it has been consistent through my childhood and ECs. This one is nice because it ties my somewhat atypical childhood experiences into my current position. However, this PS only focuses on that singular reason for wanting to be a doctor, and it's not one that people normally think about. So I don't know that it is truly convincing to readers that I want to be a doctor for a bunch of reasons, this only being one.

PS #2 is organized in a series of stories about patients that I saw in different clinical settings, with each story followed by a brief summary of what I learned about that particular interaction and why that strengthened my resolve to become a doctor. The bulk of the statement is detailing these different patient encounters, including how I felt while watching it. I feel like it might not come across as revealing enough about me, because it instead focuses on just telling stories.

Should I try and write a new, more generic one that focuses on me and the multitude of reasons why I want to be a doctor and how my experiences have shown me that? Interest in science bolstered by research, interest in teaching through a bunch of tutoring/TAing experiences, interest in clinical medicine through scribing, interest in serving my community through volunteer work, etc. It'd be much more generic but if it's safer, that might be better...? I don't know. I like both of the statements I wrote already, I just don't want to get rejected because they aren't exactly what is expected!
 
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joonage said:
+1 😀 🙁 :ninja:

Still holding out on the BU waitlist but we'll see. I really should get started on my PS ...
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Also it really freaks me out that you didn't get an acceptance, as your ECs look great and your MCAT score is a bit better than mine..... I'm sure you're not too thrilled about it either though. Any idea what caused you to strike out this cycle, and any tips for us first-time applicants? Best of luck this time!
 
sunflower18 said:
Also it really freaks me out that you didn't get an acceptance, as your ECs look great and your MCAT score is a bit better than mine..... I'm sure you're not too thrilled about it either though. Any idea what caused you to strike out this cycle, and any tips for us first-time applicants? Best of luck this time!
Click to expand...

I have one. So many times a bad application cycle outcome is simply related to a poor choice of schools. If you score a 35 on the MCAT (a great score) but your GPA is 3.5, your LizzyM is still 70 and your list of target schools should reflect that. I've noticed many SDN'ers who have had problems this cycle, apply to what appears to be enough schools, but if you back out the inappropriate choices, they really only had a chance at a very small subset of the total list. If you want to apply to a number of reach schools (for example: all the top ten), then you must do this in addition to a sufficient number of match and safety schools)
Best of luck :luck:
 
sunflower18 said:
Hey again you guys,

Can I have some advice on something? I wrote two versions of my PS over winter break, but now I'm looking at them and feel skeptical that they are appropriate/submittable...

Basically, PS #1 takes one reason why I want to be a doctor and shows how it has been consistent through my childhood and ECs. This one is nice because it ties my somewhat atypical childhood experiences into my current position. However, this PS only focuses on that singular reason for wanting to be a doctor, and it's not one that people normally think about. So I don't know that it is truly convincing to readers that I want to be a doctor for a bunch of reasons, this only being one.

PS #2 is organized in a series of stories about patients that I saw in different clinical settings, with each story followed by a brief summary of what I learned about that particular interaction and why that strengthened my resolve to become a doctor. The bulk of the statement is detailing these different patient encounters, including how I felt while watching it. I feel like it might not come across as revealing enough about me, because it instead focuses on just telling stories.

Should I try and write a new, more generic one that focuses on me and the multitude of reasons why I want to be a doctor and how my experiences have shown me that? Interest in science bolstered by research, interest in teaching through a bunch of tutoring/TAing experiences, interest in clinical medicine through scribing, interest in serving my community through volunteer work, etc. It'd be much more generic but if it's safer, that might be better...? I don't know. I like both of the statements I wrote already, I just don't want to get rejected because they aren't exactly what is expected!
Click to expand...

Is there anyway to combine PS 1 and 2? For example, how you started out interested in medicine because of some reason in your childhood, but then that reason has grown and matured bc of your experiences?

Definitely stay away from a dry and impersonal PS. I was working on my PS for a week and a half and ended up writing a dry and boring PS. Then I decided to write from the heart and was able to whip it up in a couple of hours. It's still a work in progress, but it's much much better than my first draft.
 
sunflower18 said:
Hey again you guys,

Can I have some advice on something? I wrote two versions of my PS over winter break, but now I'm looking at them and feel skeptical that they are appropriate/submittable...

Basically, PS #1 takes one reason why I want to be a doctor and shows how it has been consistent through my childhood and ECs. This one is nice because it ties my somewhat atypical childhood experiences into my current position. However, this PS only focuses on that singular reason for wanting to be a doctor, and it's not one that people normally think about. So I don't know that it is truly convincing to readers that I want to be a doctor for a bunch of reasons, this only being one.

PS #2 is organized in a series of stories about patients that I saw in different clinical settings, with each story followed by a brief summary of what I learned about that particular interaction and why that strengthened my resolve to become a doctor. The bulk of the statement is detailing these different patient encounters, including how I felt while watching it. I feel like it might not come across as revealing enough about me, because it instead focuses on just telling stories.

Should I try and write a new, more generic one that focuses on me and the multitude of reasons why I want to be a doctor and how my experiences have shown me that? Interest in science bolstered by research, interest in teaching through a bunch of tutoring/TAing experiences, interest in clinical medicine through scribing, interest in serving my community through volunteer work, etc. It'd be much more generic but if it's safer, that might be better...? I don't know. I like both of the statements I wrote already, I just don't want to get rejected because they aren't exactly what is expected!
Click to expand...
Unless you are a URM/have a distinct "diversity" marker, I would save PS 1 content for your diversity statement. You might be able to use that story to explain what experiences you bring to the table that other applicants won't. I think PS 2 is a better route for your PS, but narrow it down to maybe 2-3 stories that are the absolute best that you can make a progressive story about your fascination with medicine, but also your compitencies/capabilities. Whether that be "This piqued interest, this showed my compitencies, this reaffirmed my interest/dedication to medicine" or some other interesting (but not too wildly creative) theme to elaborate on a progression rather than merely stories.

I remember an Adcom (I believe LizzyM, but would have an impossible time trying to find the quote) saying that most PS's are mediocre and forgetable. Very few are amazing and stand out, and all of the terrible ones are instant app-killers. But the vast majority fall somewhere in the middle.
 
nOchemallday said:
I remember an Adcom (I believe LizzyM, but would have an impossible time trying to find the quote) saying that most PS's are mediocre and forgetable. Very few are amazing and stand out, and all of the terrible ones are instant app-killers. But the vast majority fall somewhere in the middle.
Click to expand...

I have heard this as well. It's kind of bittersweet in that it takes the pressure off of writing a PS, but its disheartening.
 
nOchemallday said:
I remember an Adcom (I believe LizzyM, but would have an impossible time trying to find the quote) saying that most PS's are mediocre and forgetable. Very few are amazing and stand out, and all of the terrible ones are instant app-killers. But the vast majority fall somewhere in the middle.
Click to expand...
It was LizzyM in one of her Christmas "ask anything" threads. That narrows the scope for hunting down the quote 😛
 
Person0715 said:
I have heard this as well. It's kind of bittersweet in that it takes the pressure off of writing a PS, but its disheartening.
Click to expand...

I'm actually glad this is the case; IMHO I think the PS is the most subjective aspect of one's app. I think it can be of vital importance for non-trads, people with exceptional life experiences, and those with an atypical journey to medicine... but for your garden variety applicant there is not much explaining to do.

I'm really hoping adcoms just look at the PS for humility, decent writing ability, and sound reasoning behind the applicant's decision to pursue medicine. My PS is nothing particularly special – I just tried to be honest and forthright with my account. I'm sure adcoms are flooded with PSes that have a similar story to mine (personal experience with illness) but I wasn't going to go about and draft up a more "unique" story. Some of the "unique" essays I've read – even from successful applicants – sound somewhat contrived. Ah well... I'll see how well my sad little PS fares shortly.

EDIT: MY FIRST TOP
448.jpg
 
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Person0715 said:
I have heard this as well. It's kind of bittersweet in that it takes the pressure off of writing a PS, but its disheartening.
Click to expand...

Agreed that this is bittersweet. Shouldn't personality count for something in every case? Perhaps it's best to think of the PS as part of the interview, a first step in the school getting to know you as a person.
 
sunflower18 said:
Also it really freaks me out that you didn't get an acceptance, as your ECs look great and your MCAT score is a bit better than mine..... I'm sure you're not too thrilled about it either though. Any idea what caused you to strike out this cycle, and any tips for us first-time applicants? Best of luck this time!
Click to expand...
plumazul said:
I have one. So many times a bad application cycle outcome is simply related to a poor choice of schools. If you score a 35 on the MCAT (a great score) but your GPA is 3.5, your LizzyM is still 70 and your list of target schools should reflect that. I've noticed many SDN'ers who have had problems this cycle, apply to what appears to be enough schools, but if you back out the inappropriate choices, they really only had a chance at a very small subset of the total list. If you want to apply to a number of reach schools (for example: all the top ten), then you must do this in addition to a sufficient number of match and safety schools)
Best of luck :luck:
Click to expand...

What plumazul said. I was pretty picky this year with my school choices. I didn't include a lot of school that I had pretty good shots at (ie, Temple, Tulane, Creighton, Albany, etc) because I didn't like the location. Those decisions should factor in but it didn't help that I submitted to a lot of high tier schools as well. I took out many schools this year such as Stanford and Pritzker cause I know I have no chance there, especially as a re-applicant.

I only got 3 interviews so maybe I didn't write the greatest of personal statements? My ECs are pretty cookie cutter. I know in my UW interview, I said some stupid stuff in my interview out of nerves so I think that played a factor as well. A lot of things add up.

hellanutella said:
EDIT: MY FIRST TOP
448.jpg
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I'm quite disappointed you didn't use the gif version:

NUyttbn.gif
 
thanks everyone for your input, both on PS and on school lists! I rewrote my PS today (using bits and pieces from both previous drafts), and feel much more comfortable with it now. It's probably boring and exactly like everyone else's but hey, it's honest and fits what they are probably looking for. So that's good probably.

As for school lists, that's good to keep in mind too. Thanks everyone 🙂
 
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hellanutella said:
I concur with Person0715. My counsellor said to not put the grades in, unless they are on your official transcript.

Also: have made little to no progress on my secondary prewriting, which is disappointing since I start working full time on Monday. Hullooo 40+ hr workweek. Hope you guys are enjoying your summer (or are at least very close to enjoying your summer)! I am ready to get this app cycle on the road and over with.
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Hi guys, I also have a question about this issue. Someone told me on another thread that if we choose to send our transcript without spring grades, some schools will hold off reviewing our app? Is that true? So do we have to send an updated transcript to every school individually later on if we choose to send it early to AMCAS without the spring grades on it? Also, if we go this path, we should still list all of our spring courses and just check off "current/future" and not list the grade?
 
Allium cepa said:
Hi guys, I also have a question about this issue. Someone told me on another thread that if we choose to send our transcript without spring grades, some schools will hold off reviewing our app? Is that true? So do we have to send an updated transcript to every school individually later on if we choose to send it early to AMCAS without the spring grades on it? Also, if we go this path, we should still list all of our spring courses and just check off "current/future" and not list the grade?
Click to expand...
I'm going to assume this is motivated by a quarter system (as I am also on a quarter system and have considered not waiting for spring grades myself). Regardless, there are a few things to consider:

1. How many science classes (namely pre-reqs) have you taken. If you've taken most of the pre-reqs and shown that you can handle a few science classes at the same time, no need to wait for spring grades.
2. How will this term affect your GPA. If it is not going to change significantly (or if it is going to drop significantly) you should just do as you suggested and list the courses as "current/future" and will have to update each school individually. This will be a pain, as I'm sure you can imagine, but does give you the opportunity of sending update letters to remind the school of your existence. However the school is not required to update your GPA calculation based on your additional coursework, therefore if you were taking a ton of upper-level science classes and rocked it and gave your GPA a solid boost, then not submitting these grades in the primary would not be in your best interest.
3. I've never heard of an applicant actively being put off because of lack of spring grades; however, most premedical advisors at quarter system schools are encouraged to promote that you include spring grades in your primary. It may be perceived that schools will "hold off" on these applicants who do not submit spring grades because it takes time to process the update and append it to your file. But recall the timeline - most schools do not send out secondaries until mid-July at the earliest. To my understanding lacking spring grades does not significantly impair your chances of receiving a secondary, and for all eternity after the update has been processed, it will follow your file through the rest of the process.

An alternative, although not recommended, route is that you may list all of your current classes, marking them as such, and never update schools on these grades. While this is a possibility, it obviously doesn't look very good because it suggests that you are either trying to hide something or are "too lazy" to be bothered with it. So long as you submit before July 1st you will still be conidered "early", plus it makes it easier on you by not having to update each school individually.
 
moop said:
When you tag someone in the subsequent post after a top to buffer the top out.

I have no idea what it's for, ask @AgentB that, but it is what we do
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I haven't seen @AgentB in a long time... I think the account was deleted but not sure...
 
sunflower18 said:
thanks everyone for your input, both on PS and on school lists! I rewrote my PS today (using bits and pieces from both previous drafts), and feel much more comfortable with it now. It's probably boring and exactly like everyone else's but hey, it's honest and fits what they are probably looking for. So that's good probably.

As for school lists, that's good to keep in mind too. Thanks everyone 🙂
Click to expand...
Did you decide to try the MD/PhD thing? I can't remember
 
nOchemallday said:
I'm going to assume this is motivated by a quarter system (as I am also on a quarter system and have considered not waiting for spring grades myself). Regardless, there are a few things to consider:

1. How many science classes (namely pre-reqs) have you taken. If you've taken most of the pre-reqs and shown that you can handle a few science classes at the same time, no need to wait for spring grades.
2. How will this term affect your GPA. If it is not going to change significantly (or if it is going to drop significantly) you should just do as you suggested and list the courses as "current/future" and will have to update each school individually. This will be a pain, as I'm sure you can imagine, but does give you the opportunity of sending update letters to remind the school of your existence. However the school is not required to update your GPA calculation based on your additional coursework, therefore if you were taking a ton of upper-level science classes and rocked it and gave your GPA a solid boost, then not submitting these grades in the primary would not be in your best interest.
3. I've never heard of an applicant actively being put off because of lack of spring grades; however, most premedical advisors at quarter system schools are encouraged to promote that you include spring grades in your primary. It may be perceived that schools will "hold off" on these applicants who do not submit spring grades because it takes time to process the update and append it to your file. But recall the timeline - most schools do not send out secondaries until mid-July at the earliest. To my understanding lacking spring grades does not significantly impair your chances of receiving a secondary, and for all eternity after the update has been processed, it will follow your file through the rest of the process.

An alternative, although not recommended, route is that you may list all of your current classes, marking them as such, and never update schools on these grades. While this is a possibility, it obviously doesn't look very good because it suggests that you are either trying to hide something or are "too lazy" to be bothered with it. So long as you submit before July 1st you will still be conidered "early", plus it makes it easier on you by not having to update each school individually.
Click to expand...

Thanks! Your reply is very helpful. I am actually on the semester system but grades won't get posted on our transcripts until first week of June. I plan to submit 2nd week of June and was afraid that my transcript would be late and I won't get verified early. I have finished all of my science pre-reqs and only took one science class this spring semester. This is why I did not see a point in waiting for my spring grades because most of my classes were pass/fail anyways and taken out of interest. Including, the grades would make absolutely no difference on my GPA. I was planning to submit early without spring grades and not updating schools unless they ask. But you are right, this would make me look negligent or that I am trying to hide that I may have done bad my last semester 😛. I guess I will just wait for spring grades and rush mail it, hoping for the best. Thanks!
 
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