Disadvantaged Status Application Thread...

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Granted, people like Shemarty put my modest list to shame, though...:oops:
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I haven't decided if I am going to apply economically disadvantaged. I certainly was from 1-18, but I am not anymore. I'll decide when the time comes.

I hope you see a lot of luck :).
 
breeak said:
Just a couple of hours ago LET and I were trying to figure out why it takes so long. It really makes one wonder what holds up the process aside from sheer volume of apps.
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And even then, it doesn't make sense. I mean, if you have a minimum GPA and MCAT, that gets rid of a fair number of applicants, then I could see it taking a while to wade through interview decisions, but there are so many ways they could speed it up though...not interviewing only 2 days a month for example...
 
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tianac2 said:
Granted, people like Shemarty put my modest list to shame, though...:oops:
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I think the 2 kids thing trumps anything on a typical premed's list. I did a lot in college, but I wasn't very outcome driven; very young, and dealing with the present was all I could handle. Now that I'm very concerned with the outcome, apparently it makes me neurotic. :p
 
breeak said:
I think the 2 kids thing trumps anything on a typical premed's list. I did a lot in college, but I wasn't very outcome driven; very young, and dealing with the present was all I could handle. Now that I'm very concerned with the outcome, apparently it makes me neurotic. :p
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Ahhh, what can we say its the nature of the type-A overachieving beast...:laugh:
 
breeak said:
I think the 2 kids thing trumps anything on a typical premed's list. I did a lot in college, but I wasn't very outcome driven; very young, and dealing with the present was all I could handle. Now that I'm very concerned with the outcome, apparently it makes me neurotic. :p
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:lol: Except in my case, it's not just educational outcomes, it's the curiously clean kitchen syndrome I've developed, too. Motherhood turned me into a freak.
 
I got a secondary from Toledo, (screened) and one from Albany (not screened, had to call them). Other than that... nothing. No secondary requests, no rejections... just nothing. It's freaking me out.

S.
 
Nanon said:
:lol: Except in my case, it's not just educational outcomes, it's the curiously clean kitchen syndrome I've developed, too. Motherhood turned me into a freak.
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Please bring your freaky little self over to my place, your cleaning mojo is desperately needed STAT.

Nanon said:
I got a secondary from Toledo, (screened) and one from Albany (not screened, had to call them). Other than that... nothing. No secondary requests, no rejections... just nothing. It's freaking me out.

S.
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It is lame to have all the waiting. But just remember, silence doesn't = rejection (not until much much later in the cycle at least). :love:
 
breeak said:
Please bring your freaky little self over to my place, your cleaning mojo is desperately needed STAT.
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Oh, there is no cleaning mojo - except in the kitchen. Which is why it's "curiously" clean. Because the rest of my house is a pit.

It is lame to have all the waiting. But just remember, silence doesn't = rejection (not until much much later in the cycle at least). :love:
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You're awesome. I never thought I would say this, but at this point, I'm kind of wishing that someone would reject me. You know, pop that cherry, as it were, so I can stop feeling like a ghost in the med school process.

BTW, this is not my own little conversation that I'm having w/ myself and, occasionally, breeak. I'll be posting an update about once a week, but I invite others in this category to do the same. If I wasn't convinced last week that checking that box meant slowing stuff down, I am now. Looking over my excel spread sheet, I've noticed that I've been submitted to many schools since 7/14. Sigh. I just hope they're really looking at my application, and it's not just sitting in a "I'll get to this later" stack...

S.
 
Nanon said:
I never thought I would say this, but at this point, I'm kind of wishing that someone would reject me. You know, pop that cherry, as it were, so I can stop feeling like a ghost in the med school process.
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Oh, I hear ya, I totally wanted the same thing. Luckily my interview came first, but the first rejection wasn't bad. The second really hurt though. :(

If I wasn't convinced last week that checking that box meant slowing stuff down, I am now. Looking over my excel spread sheet, I've noticed that I've been submitted to many schools since 7/14. Sigh. I just hope they're really looking at my application, and it's not just sitting in a "I'll get to this later" stack...
S.
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Hmm, I don't see checking the box as slowing anything down except perhaps a rejection. I would guess most of the disadvantaged applicants have a weakness in their application, most likely GPA, that would otherwise get them rejected fairly quickly from some places. I believe all the disadvantaged check does is give a heads up to review the whole picture...which I guess does "slow" it down, but in a good way. What would really be interesting is to compare people with similar backgrounds (and thus PS material) and application strengths who either did or did not check the box and see what the effect is there. So I guess my point is that I don't think the disadvantaged status slows down time from complete to invite - our own application weaknesses do that. The disadvantaged status (well, the story behind that status) is what might make the difference between getting over that weakness or rejection.
 
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I decided to apply disadvantaged and I don't think it has slowed things down for me. I did submit my primaries really early - like within the first week. I've also submitted most of my secondaries within one week (Rosalind Franklin took longer cuz it was so absurdly long and difficult).

I think you have applied to a reasonable list of schools, UC's may be a long shot but you never know. I wish you the best of luck! :luck:
 
lainey234 said:
I decided to apply disadvantaged and I don't think it has slowed things down for me. I did submit my primaries really early - like within the first week. I've also submitted most of my secondaries within one week (Rosalind Franklin took longer cuz it was so absurdly long and difficult).

I think you have applied to a reasonable list of schools, UC's may be a long shot but you never know. I wish you the best of luck! :luck:
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i also applied disadvantaged and don't think it has slowed things down for me either. i also submitted my primaries the first week, and my last secondary was submitted third week in july. and yesterday i was invited for an interview at hopkins, so that has sort of validated this whole process for me. good luck!
 
Ya, I think what's probably holding things up for the screened secondaries is that I applied a little late.

In other news, got my first rejection today from WVU. AACOMAS isn't verified ( :eek: ) yet, probably because they lost one of my transcripts for a while. I'm still waiting on LOR's from my science professors, and I asked for them FOREVER ago, and have pestered them to the point where I feel a little stalkerish. I'm pretty sure that these two will write good letters. However, LOR delays are hard for me to understand. I write them for the program I direct, and a good one shouldn't take more than a half an hour over a glass of Merlot. To each their own, I guess.

Between work, my kid's lice plague, extended family drama, the waiting and the pdf file secondaries that I can't convert at home, I'm starting to get kind of ... irritable.

Thanks to everyone who responded and sent good luck! For those applying, right back atcha! :luck::luck::luck:
 
tabrazinski said:
i also applied disadvantaged and don't think it has slowed things down for me either. i also submitted my primaries the first week, and my last secondary was submitted third week in july. and yesterday i was invited for an interview at hopkins, so that has sort of validated this whole process for me. good luck!
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Woot!!! Congratulations! :D :clap:
 
Congrats Tabra!!! :thumbup:

Nanon - the first one hurts, and it sounds like life is crazy at the moment for you. Keep your chin up, I'm rooting for you! :love:
 
I also applied as a disadvantaged applicant, and I don't feel as if it has slowed anything down. No interviews yet, but I submitted most of my secondaries in the middle of last month.
 
I have applied Disadvantaged as well and I would agree with another post, that the status enhances the ad com's focus on our applications. I'm sure that many of the reviewers understand that life happens, and for some applicants, school couldn't always have been the priority (i.e family, financial issues, etc.).

Also I just received my first post-sec reject -- Yes, it hurts. But let's just give it our best shot and our all.

Best of luck to ya!
 
Do schools even verify that applicants are disadvantaged?

One of the things that have made me slightly bitter was a couple of my friends that got into good schools by filling disadvantaged(economically) even though they were relatively well off and able to get away with it since their familes had their own businesses and could fudge the numbers.
 
batman1983 said:
Do schools even verify that applicants are disadvantaged?

One of the things that have made me slightly bitter was a couple of my friends that got into good schools by filling disadvantaged(economically) even though they were relatively well off and able to get away with it since their familes had their own businesses and could fudge the numbers.
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a) Disadvantaged status isn't just about current financials, so numbers fudging is irrelevant. Apparently your friends were stealing financial aid, not admissions.

b) Do they verify activities? Do they verify personal statements? Just like many other aspects of the application there is a certain element of trust involved, and in any case many (I'd even venture to say most) disadvantaged applicants have LORs which backup their story. Those are a little harder to fudge.
 
Wassup everybody!!! How are we doing today?
 
breeak said:
That's a pretty big score there BD2B! Congratulations. :thumbup::thumbup::)
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Thanks Breeak!!! I was very shocked and excited! We shall see what happens! It is in the Lord's hands! How is the process going for you?
 
BlackDr2b said:
Thanks Breeak!!! I was very shocked and excited! We shall see what happens! It is in the Lord's hands! How is the process going for you?
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True dat, gotta let it go and see what happens. :) Way to represent for DA2013. ;) For me it's going really well. It feels excruciatingly slow from time to time, but I think that's just sdn-itis - I'm very grateful to have multiple interviews.
 
breeak said:
True dat, gotta let it go and see what happens. :) Way to represent for DA2013. ;) For me it's going really well. It feels excruciatingly slow from time to time, but I think that's just sdn-itis - I'm very grateful to have multiple interviews.
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Good stuff Breeak!!! You are really cleaning up! Congrats!
 
batman1983 said:
Do schools even verify that applicants are disadvantaged?

One of the things that have made me slightly bitter was a couple of my friends that got into good schools by filling disadvantaged(economically) even though they were relatively well off and able to get away with it since their familes had their own businesses and could fudge the numbers.
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Who knows, maybe you didn't know many of the personal details from their circumstances... just saying.

But, if they really did what you said... that's just malicious. I'm sure they'll try to pass themselves off as ethical doctors as well. Psssh...
 
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