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

[joonage]

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How "autobiography" is autobiography? Is it like an extended version of the personal statement (why medicine? tell me about yourself--but really only if it's related to medicine) or for you to tell the adcom about yourself as a holistic person?

I think it's how you go about it. I mostly saw it as a question to talk about your upbringing and how it affected you. For UCSD, in particular, I just talked about my early life and my education and my interests. Pretty basic but just takes a while to write.

 

[thethreeheadeddragon]

Random question - When do rejection letters usually come in post-interview? I know I'm thinking really far in advance, but if you were to interview in August and not hear anything back by early October, this would be a good sign, correct? Wouldn't that mean that it would be more likely that the school at which you interviewed was holding onto your acceptance until the official earliest date in mid October? Schools can reject you at any time you want after your interview; they don't have to wait until that mid October date, correct?

 

[moop]

Random question - When do rejection letters usually come in post-interview? I know I'm thinking really far in advance, but if you were to interview in August and not hear anything back by early October, this would be a good sign, correct? Wouldn't that mean that it would be more likely that the school at which you interviewed was holding onto your acceptance until the official earliest date in mid October? Schools can reject you at any time you want after your interview; they don't have to wait until that mid October date, correct?

You can get rejected at any time; there is not "usual" time. Even if the school's rolling, they would still want to evaluate the borderline applicants once they've seen more people before rejecting them. So it's illogical to say that if you're not rejected by early October that things are looking bright. Things are looking neutral at that point; it's too early to tell. They can either be holding on to your acceptance and not informing you until mid-October OR sitting on a decision until they see more applicants get interviews and evaluate you against them.

Schools won't be so quick to discard people they took the time to interview by October. It just doesn't make any sense.

 

[hellanutella]

~waiting for autoclave to finish bump~

Ok, guys. I'm really hitting a wall with the "Where do you see yourself in 10 years?" prompt. How specific should we get? The only thing I know with near-certainty is that I'll be broke. 🙁

I'm not leaning towards a particular specialty, so should I just list attributes that I'm looking for in my future career (want to do clinical research, like collaborating with others, like having sustained relationship with patient, like working with my hands, etc...)? Really not sure how to tackle this. I'm specifically applying to a lot of schools with condensed preclinicals because I want more time/exposure to figure out what path I want to pursue.

 

[turayza]

~waiting for autoclave to finish bump~

Ok, guys. I'm really hitting a wall with the "Where do you see yourself in 10 years?" prompt. How specific should we get? The only thing I know with near-certainty is that I'll be broke. 🙁

I'm not leaning towards a particular specialty, so should I just list attributes that I'm looking for in my future career (want to do clinical research, like collaborating with others, like having sustained relationship with patient, like working with my hands, etc...)? Really not sure how to tackle this. I'm specifically applying to a lot of schools with condensed preclinicals because I want more time/exposure to figure out what path I want to pursue.

LOL. "In 10 years, I hope to be worthless." end. For real though, I do hope to be worthless in 10 years...and maybe even qualify for a home mortgage

It sounds like specifics are good, so if you can refer to experiences you've had that lead you to enjoy x, y and z adcoms will understand that you haven't seen enough to feel drawn to any particular field. You could throw in a sentence about the "I like condensed preclinicals because..." to emphasize why you are interested in their school in particular too.

 

[sunflower18]

~waiting for autoclave to finish bump~

Ok, guys. I'm really hitting a wall with the "Where do you see yourself in 10 years?" prompt. How specific should we get? The only thing I know with near-certainty is that I'll be broke. 🙁

I'm not leaning towards a particular specialty, so should I just list attributes that I'm looking for in my future career (want to do clinical research, like collaborating with others, like having sustained relationship with patient, like working with my hands, etc...)? Really not sure how to tackle this. I'm specifically applying to a lot of schools with condensed preclinicals because I want more time/exposure to figure out what path I want to pursue.

I'm basically using that prompt as an opportunity to express my interest in academic medicine -- research, teaching, clinical. Take a look at the Stanford secondary question from last year. I think it had this question but you had to choose from a list of possible practice scenarios and expand on it, like academia, rural health, private practice, industry, etc. Maybe that'd help?

I think that the things you listed are good to talk about too though! Say that you're keeping your options open as far as specialty, but you see yourself in X setting doing Y kind of work. Or something!

 

[sunflower18]

LOL. "In 10 years, I hope to be worthless." end. For real though, I do hope to be worthless in 10 years...and maybe even qualify for a home mortgage

It sounds like specifics are good, so if you can refer to experiences you've had that lead you to enjoy x, y and z adcoms will understand that you haven't seen enough to feel drawn to any particular field. You could throw in a sentence about the "I like condensed preclinicals because..." to emphasize why you are interested in their school in particular too.

hey @turayza , did you get verified? cause i did and you were before me. so what's up with that haha

 

[Person0715]

hey @turayza , did you get verified? cause i did and you were before me. so what's up with that haha

You guys got verified already? Mine is still at the "ready for review" stage. I know it's waaaaay early to be worried, but I just hope that I didn't mess up my courses too too much. I never received one of my transcripts for my two summer classes so I just filled those in from memory.

 

[sunflower18]

You guys got verified already? Mine is still at the "ready for review" stage. I know it's waaaaay early to be worried, but I just hope that I didn't mess up my courses too too much. I never received one of my transcripts for my two summer classes so I just filled those in from memory.

Yeah, I got verified an hour ago. Don't worry though -- literally every single one of my classes had to be corrected, and I still made it through in a timely fashion. There was a discrepancy with credits... At my school, classes are marked as "1 credit" but this means "4 semester hours", so I put 4 instead of 1 and AMCAS didn't like that. So they changed all of my courses. I'm worried that med schools will see that AMCAS had to fix every one of my classes, and that this will make them think I'm an idiot. Hopefully that doesn't happen.....

 

[hellanutella]

You guys got verified already? Mine is still at the "ready for review" stage. I know it's waaaaay early to be worried, but I just hope that I didn't mess up my courses too too much. I never received one of my transcripts for my two summer classes so I just filled those in from memory.

Not verified either, but I'm not freaking out (yet).
I had to send in a few transcripts thanks to high school classes (150+ credits total, oy vey), so my reviewer is probably going to need to take their sweet 'ol time.

Yeah, I got verified an hour ago. Don't worry though -- literally every single one of my classes had to be corrected, and I still made it through in a timely fashion. There was a discrepancy with credits... At my school, classes are marked as "1 credit" but this means "4 semester hours", so I put 4 instead of 1 and AMCAS didn't like that. So they changed all of my courses. I'm worried that med schools will see that AMCAS had to fix every one of my classes, and that this will make them think I'm an idiot. Hopefully that doesn't happen.....

Maybe your transcripts got forwarded to a special, über-fast reviewer because of the credit problem?
I wouldn't worry. You shouldn't be accountable for your school's awkward crediting scheme.

 

[Person0715]

Yeah, I got verified an hour ago. Don't worry though -- literally every single one of my classes had to be corrected, and I still made it through in a timely fashion. There was a discrepancy with credits... At my school, classes are marked as "1 credit" but this means "4 semester hours", so I put 4 instead of 1 and AMCAS didn't like that. So they changed all of my courses. I'm worried that med schools will see that AMCAS had to fix every one of my classes, and that this will make them think I'm an idiot. Hopefully that doesn't happen.....

My school does the same thing, and I was thinking of doing the same thing as you (that is, converting "credits" into "semesters hours"), but I was advised to enter my courses exactly how it appears on the transcript.

Not verified either, but I'm not freaking out (yet).
I had to send in a few transcripts thanks to high school classes (150+ credits total, oy vey), so my reviewer is probably going to need to take their sweet 'ol time.

150+ credits from HS? Yikes.

 

[sunflower18]

Not verified either, but I'm not freaking out (yet).
I had to send in a few transcripts thanks to high school classes (150+ credits total, oy vey), so my reviewer is probably going to need to take their sweet 'ol time.



Maybe your transcripts got forwarded to a special, über-fast reviewer because of the credit problem?
I wouldn't worry. You shouldn't be accountable for your school's awkward crediting scheme.

Haha yes maybe!!! I hope you're right. I am annoyed at myself for being confused hahah.

When did you submit?

 

[hellanutella]

150+ credits from HS? Yikes.

Ahahaha, no thank god! 150 total with HS + college. It was hellish trying to get all my transcripts in on time.

When did you submit?

About 10 minutes before you! I guess we West Coasters decided to get a little extra sleep that morning.

 

[turayza]

hey @turayza , did you get verified? cause i did and you were before me. so what's up with that haha

Do they send you an email? I'll go look


Edit: Nope, still under review. @hellanutella hahah seriously extra 10 minutes of sleep was worth it 😛

 

[turayza]

Yeah, I got verified an hour ago. Don't worry though -- literally every single one of my classes had to be corrected, and I still made it through in a timely fashion. There was a discrepancy with credits... At my school, classes are marked as "1 credit" but this means "4 semester hours", so I put 4 instead of 1 and AMCAS didn't like that. So they changed all of my courses. I'm worried that med schools will see that AMCAS had to fix every one of my classes, and that this will make them think I'm an idiot. Hopefully that doesn't happen.....

Hahahah wouldn't it be terrible if there was a space for AMCAS to put notes on your application...
"this applicant is an idiot and can't count" or "seriously can't follow instruction, do not accept!!"

 

[sunflower18]

Ahahaha, no thank god! 150 total with HS + college. It was hellish trying to get all my transcripts in on time.



About 10 minutes before you! I guess we West Coasters decided to get a little extra sleep that morning.

Heh yeah that was way too early for my last week of vacation! But then I got to nap that afternoon. And I love naps 🙂

 

[sunflower18]

Hahahah wouldn't it be terrible if there was a space for AMCAS to put notes on your application...
"this applicant is an idiot and can't count" or "seriously can't follow instruction, do not accept!!"

Oh my god that would be horrifying!!!!

 

[hellanutella]

Heh yeah that was way too early for my last week of vacation! But then I got to nap that afternoon. And I love naps 🙂

Well, you are the master of naps. 😉

 

[moop]

Well, you are the master of naps. 😉

I am, too. Let's nap together!

 

[turayza]

I am, too. Let's nap together!

 

[hellanutella]

I love that AMCAS congratulates you when your app is verified.

"Congrats Hella Nutella, Your 2015 AMCAS application has completed processing. Please log..."
Phew. Wow. Finally didn't screw something up.

 

[turayza]

I love that AMCAS congratulates you when your app is verified.

"Congrats Hella Nutella, Your 2015 AMCAS application has completed processing. Please log..."
Phew. Wow. Finally didn't screw something up.

It is an accomplishment worthy of congratulations.

 

[Person0715]

I love that AMCAS congratulates you when your app is verified.

"Congrats Hella Nutella, Your 2015 AMCAS application has completed processing. Please log..."
Phew. Wow. Finally didn't screw something up.

Darn, when is it my turn? My app is still in the "ready for review stage."

In other news, I finally drafted my diversity essay. However, I hate how so many schools ask for a diversity essay, but they all have different character limits. Why can't there just be a standard length to make it easy on us applicants!?

 

[Person0715]

@hellanutella, just saw your massive school-list on your MDapps. The woes of being a Cali resident I guess. Best of luck on secondaries!

 

[sunflower18]

Darn, when is it my turn? My app is still in the "ready for review stage."

In other news, I finally drafted my diversity essay. However, I hate how so many schools ask for a diversity essay, but they all have different character limits. Why can't there just be a standard length to make it easy on us applicants!?

I drafted mine too but it might be super terrible so I'm not sure hahaha. Should we focus on how different we are, or how our differences will add to the class? It felt like I was saying, "I'm super unique! But don't worry I'm gonna be okay in medicine, it actually works out really well this way!" And then I feel like I'm shoving my diversity under the rug. I don't know. Maybe it's not like that. I just am not sure what to emphasize, I guess.

 

[sunflower18]

@hellanutella, just saw your massive school-list on your MDapps. The woes of being a Cali resident I guess. Best of luck on secondaries!

Oh my gosh yeah wow! You have more schools than me! By 1, but still. Oh man. You are going to have SO MANY interviews and SO MANY acceptances. I'm really excited for you!

 

[Person0715]

I drafted mine too but it might be super terrible so I'm not sure hahaha. Should we focus on how different we are, or how our differences will add to the class? It felt like I was saying, "I'm super unique! But don't worry I'm gonna be okay in medicine, it actually works out really well this way!" And then I feel like I'm shoving my diversity under the rug. I don't know. Maybe it's not like that. I just am not sure what to emphasize, I guess.

Personally, I just talked about an experience I had growing up, how it shaped me, what I learned, and how I will enhance the med school community and/or be a better physician.

Here some advice I got browsing random threads on the topic:

One thing you need to keep in mind (for most schools) is that there is no real such thing as unique in the way most people think of it. No matter what you think about there will be someone out there who can talk to what you have experienced. The uniqueness aspect really comes from how you processed that experience. I am sure there is someone on this thread who can relate to such an experience or even had the exact same experience, but the way they responded or grew from that experience is probably different from the way I did, which is why I focused on discussing how I grew and what I have attained from such an experience. Its your perspective that is unique not your actual experience.
____________
Go into your upbringing, how it shaped you, how you will bring that to the medical profession and how it will help you relate to your classmates and patients from different backgrounds
____________
-Do I get the sense that this person would feel comfortable around others in both medical and non-medical contexts?

-Do I get the sense that this person has a perspective of the world and others that is beyond their own experience?

-Could I see this person interacting with a random person that comes to my school's hospital for treatment?

-Does this person bring something interesting to the class, be that interesting experiences, a different background, etc.?

More important than whatever experience(s) you talk about is how you explain them in the context of being a physician. Rather than just listing facts about yourself, be sure to explain WHY those experiences are important to who you have become as a person and HOW that background will help you operate as a better physician. If you do that, then I would consider your essay successful.

 

[Person0715]

Oh my gosh yeah wow! You have more schools than me! By 1, but still. Oh man. You are going to have SO MANY interviews and SO MANY acceptances. I'm really excited for you!

@sunflower18, don't sell yourself short. YOU will be getting so many interviews and acceptances as well~

 

[hellanutella]

@hellanutella, just saw your massive school-list on your MDapps. The woes of being a Cali resident I guess. Best of luck on secondaries!

California is awesome 99.9% of the time. The other .1% is a) when you're stuck in LA traffic or b) applying for med school. Other than that, it's a pretty sweet place to be. I can't complain (too much).

Thanks! I have a lot of writing ahead of me...

Oh my gosh yeah wow! You have more schools than me! By 1, but still. Oh man. You are going to have SO MANY interviews and SO MANY acceptances. I'm really excited for you!

Woah, let's not get ahead of ourselves! I haven't even finished any secondaries yet. ;___; Well... I finished UCSF's, which essentially asked "Do you have anything else to share?" to which I replied "no."

We have considerable overlap in our school list (along with most other mdapp-ers on this thread)! I wonder who we're going to bump into on the interview trail.

@sunflower18, don't sell yourself short. YOU will be getting so many interviews and acceptances as well~

Srsly. Sunflower is going to own this cycle. I know it.

And Person, thanks for the diversity essay pointers! Haven't drafted mine yet, but I've pasted your tips into my massive secondary word document.

 

[moop]

California is awesome 99.9% of the time. The other .1% is a) when you're stuck in LA traffic or b) applying for med school. Other than that, it's a pretty sweet place to be. I can't complain (too much).

Thanks! I have a lot of writing ahead of me...



Woah, let's not get ahead of ourselves! I haven't even finished any secondaries yet. ;___; Well... I finished UCSF's, which essentially asked "Do you have anything else to share?" to which I replied "no."

We have considerable overlap in our school list (along with most other mdapp-ers on this thread)! I wonder who we're going to bump into on the interview trail.



Srsly. Sunflower is going to own this cycle. I know it.

And Person, thanks for the diversity essay pointers! Haven't drafted mine yet, but I've pasted your tips into my massive secondary word document.

Man if you didn't multi-quote so much the next top and buffer should be getting ready already

 

[moop]

 

[turayza]

Woah, let's not get ahead of ourselves! I haven't even finished any secondaries yet. ;___; Well... I finished UCSF's, which essentially asked "Do you have anything else to share?" to which I replied "no."

We have considerable overlap in our school list (along with most other mdapp-ers on this thread)! I wonder who we're going to bump into on the interview trail.

Yeahhh I'm excited to possibly run into some of you!! We should sign up for the same interview day if we get IIs from the same schools 😀 I promise to make cookies??

 

[turayza]

Oh I got verified this morning!

 

[moop]

Oh I got verified this morning!

 

[moop]

Yeahhh I'm excited to possibly run into some of you!! We should sign up for the same interview day if we get IIs from the same schools 😀 I promise to make cookies??

🙁 I guess I have to find my own friends next year in the 2020 thread...unless I interview at schools you're attending! Ha!

 

[moop]

BOTTOM

 

[moop]

TOP (MOBILE & WEBPAGE!!!!)

 

[moop]

@turayza buffer

 

[turayza]

🙁 I guess I have to find my own friends next year in the 2020 thread...unless I interview at schools you're attending! Ha!

That would be pretty cool -- odds are you probably will 😉

Someday I will lifetime donor and delete two posts puahahah

 

[moop]

That would be pretty cool -- odds are you probably will 😉

Someday I will lifetime donor and delete two posts puahahah

NO

 

[No Limits]

Verified!!

 

[dechristine]

🙁 I guess I have to find my own friends next year in the 2020 thread...unless I interview at schools you're attending! Ha!

Don't worry, I'll be in the 2020 thread, and probably the 2021 one as well...

 

[sunflower18]

Personally, I just talked about an experience I had growing up, how it shaped me, what I learned, and how I will enhance the med school community and/or be a better physician.

Here some advice I got browsing random threads on the topic:

One thing you need to keep in mind (for most schools) is that there is no real such thing as unique in the way most people think of it. No matter what you think about there will be someone out there who can talk to what you have experienced. The uniqueness aspect really comes from how you processed that experience. I am sure there is someone on this thread who can relate to such an experience or even had the exact same experience, but the way they responded or grew from that experience is probably different from the way I did, which is why I focused on discussing how I grew and what I have attained from such an experience. Its your perspective that is unique not your actual experience.
____________
Go into your upbringing, how it shaped you, how you will bring that to the medical profession and how it will help you relate to your classmates and patients from different backgrounds
____________
-Do I get the sense that this person would feel comfortable around others in both medical and non-medical contexts?

-Do I get the sense that this person has a perspective of the world and others that is beyond their own experience?

-Could I see this person interacting with a random person that comes to my school's hospital for treatment?

-Does this person bring something interesting to the class, be that interesting experiences, a different background, etc.?

More important than whatever experience(s) you talk about is how you explain them in the context of being a physician. Rather than just listing facts about yourself, be sure to explain WHY those experiences are important to who you have become as a person and HOW that background will help you operate as a better physician. If you do that, then I would consider your essay successful.

This is incredibly incredibly helpful!!!! Thanks so much!!

@sunflower18, don't sell yourself short. YOU will be getting so many interviews and acceptances as well~

Srsly. Sunflower is going to own this cycle. I know it.

Thanks guys 🙂 I'm just stoked for all of us. We're gonna have a great year! And future! WOOHOO!

 

[moop]

Verified!!

ha

 

[No Limits]

ha

 

[hellanutella]

Verified!!

Welcome to the post-verification party! Here are 20+ secondaries!

O wait... you're already done with them. Well, enjoy your summer!

 

[sunflower18]

game of thrones is on tomorrow....... i'm so nervous/excited

 

[hellanutella]

game of thrones is on tomorrow....... i'm so nervous/excited

Really enjoying Sansa's storyline this season.

I've read the books, so I'm interested to see what they close the season with. It looks like we're getting the siege of Castle Black in the next episode, which is leaves a lot of speculation about the finale...

But oh god the last episode really got me in the feels. I knew what was coming, but it still scared the crap out of me.

 

[sunflower18]

Really enjoying Sansa's storyline this season.

I've read the books, so I'm interested to see what they close the season with. It looks like we're getting the siege of Castle Black in the next episode, which is leaves a lot of speculation about the finale...

But oh god the last episode really got me in the feels. I knew what was coming, but it still scared the crap out of me.

I have not read the books, so I have no idea what's coming!!! No spoilers 😉 I keep meaning to read them, I just haven't so far. Maybe I will this summer.

And yes, I love Sansa this season!! I've liked her since the middle of the first season, but I really like her now. Oh my god last episode though. That was so so gruesome. And sad. Ahhh 🙁

 

[hellanutella]

Finally finished pre-writing UCLA's secondary. One down. 28 more to go. I also completed Einstein's yes/no answer secondary... super awesome.

I can't complain. I signed up (and paid actual cashmoneys!) for this.