Do some schools give II without reading personal statements?

[907914]

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Phones in hotel room then and just have a watch to keep track of time? I have a nervous habit of checking my phone.

So I have had a cell phone since I was 8 (don't judge me, it was apparently cheaper and more convenient than the landline) so my impulse to check the time has always been to reach in to my pocket to check the time, never looking at my wrist. Fast forward a decade when I went to basic training (Army) and no longer had my cell phone. I had my parents send me a pocket watch because I just could not adapt to looking at my wrist 😆 So, maybe that is an option if you are feeling extra fancy and need to give into your time-checking compulsions.

 

[calipremed5768]

What about after the interview? Long story short I’m thinking about going out after my interviews in the cities. What are the odds of running into an adcom member who would know who you are at a bar in the city?

Also thank you for your service. Don’t think that is said enough to people nowadays.

 

[907914]

What about after the interview? Long story short I’m thinking about going out after my interviews in the cities. What are the odds of running into an adcom member who would know who you are at a bar in the city?

I would not recommend going out to the bars in town just by chance of running in to anyone. Going out to eat at a restaurant and having a drink or two might not be bad. Just act like a normal person, don't party, always be "on", call it a day, wait until the plane ride home to chug the glug.

 

[Bonne Nuit]

What are the odds of running into an adcom member who would know who you are at a bar in the city?

That's a GREAT question, but to answer this, I'll need to know the populations of the cities to which you're traveling.

 

[calipremed5768]

Ranging from probably like 250000 to 10000000. Assuming some will only be like 1000 (won’t go out in these ones)

 

[deleted972488]

It’s fine to go out. Just don’t be stupid.

 

[Bonne Nuit]

Ranging from probably like 250000 to 10000000. Assuming some will only be like 1000 (won’t go out in these ones)

Yeah, IDK if I'd risk it if I were you. I once randomly ran into someone from my high school at a restaurant in San Diego (thousands of miles away, go figure), so it could happen to you too. Go to museums and art galleries instead, so in the 0.0004% chance you run into someone from your interview, you'll look really classy.

 

[ciestar]

I would not recommend going out to the bars in town just by chance of running in to anyone. Going out to eat at a restaurant and having a drink or two might not be bad. Just act like a normal person, don't party, always be "on", call it a day, wait until the plane ride home to chug the glug.

You don’t have to be that neurotic lol
Just be smart. Don’t get trashed. Don’t be stupid, basically, just as in any other situation in your life.

 

[ciestar]

Phones in hotel room then and just have a watch to keep track of time? I have a nervous habit of checking my phone.

Yeahhh, don’t do that. You could easily look bored. If you have it, keep it off. Get a watch.

 

[Moko]

There's a story somewhere on SDN about an applicant who was being escorted to an interview by a pregnant staff member when said staffer fell--and the applicant's first reaction was annoyance at the inconvenience, not to help her up. They were either rejected post-interview or immediately had their interview cancelled. Moral: behave like a functioning member of civil society at all times; it is not that hard

Agreed. As a general rule, be nice and civil to other people and you'll be fine. During interviews, applicants should assume that they are being watched the moment they step foot onto the campus. Being rude to the cleaning staff, front desk, etc, can sink an otherwise stellar applicant.

What about after the interview? Long story short I’m thinking about going out after my interviews in the cities. What are the odds of running into an adcom member who would know who you are at a bar in the city?

Use some common sense and you will be fine.

 

[AnMDtoB]

It is just hearsay, but there was a guy on the UMIch thread yesterday that stated they received an interview before the secondary had been submitted. Keeping that nueroticism at 100.

sounds like a troll if ever I've heard one

 

[mwsapphire]

There's a story somewhere on SDN about an applicant who was being escorted to an interview by a pregnant staff member when said staffer fell--and the applicant's first reaction was annoyance at the inconvenience, not to help her up. They were either rejected post-interview or immediately had their interview cancelled.

Moral: behave like a functioning member of civil society at all times; it is not that hard

We need more details here. It could have been a guy who panicked about whether or not it would be appropriate to touch a female staffer.

 

[AnMDtoB]

We need more details here. It could have been a guy who panicked about whether or not it would be appropriate to touch a female staffer.

Doesn't sound like it - calling for help doesn't require any touching. Neither does asking if she is ok

 

[deleted804295]

What about after the interview? Long story short I’m thinking about going out after my interviews in the cities. What are the odds of running into an adcom member who would know who you are at a bar in the city?

Also thank you for your service. Don’t think that is said enough to people nowadays.

In the unlikely event that we happen across each other on the interview trail let's hang out at a bar. I wouldnt pass up a moment to see you haha

 

[calipremed5768]

For sure bro. First round is on me

 

[KnightDoc]

For sure bro. First round is on me

But what if someone from the adcom sees you together? What happens then?? Please tell me @calipremed5768 starts reading from his PS. 🙂

 

[deleted987519]

For sure bro. First round is on me

I want in, but unfortunately I didn't an II to NYU (no brag)

 

[deleted972488]

I want in, but unfortunately I didn't an II to NYU (no brag)

+1

 

[honeybee87]

getting 3 or more considered a decent bet you will ultimately get an acceptance

That makes me excited

 

[Goro]

Does anybody know if you get judged on interview day by your performance at lunch with current students? Like for example should one try to be charismatic or just relaxed at the lunch thing.

You get judged by your actions the entire day, and my school has rejected people who were dinguses while touring our campus.

 

[calipremed5768]

I’m far from an dingus and actually tend to be a bit socially awkward. I meant more in terms of how easy is it for you to be well liked

Lol don’t know why it corrected the original word to dingus but..

 

[EdgeTrimmer]

Nah, I have been fairly consistent in being
1) Naive but willing to learn
2) wholly willing to share what I learn
3) Invested in sharing dank memage and smartassery.

Although, this does raise an interesting point - if an ADCOM, screener, or student interviewer does recognize someone off of SDN or Reddit or whatever based on their application, is there ever any follow through? Like, I know it has obviously happened from Facebook and the like, but an anonymous forum?

it may not be that difficult to find out who you are based on the info you post especially WAMC threads but I doubt any ADCOMs or screeners care or have time to remember unless it's very unique app. Other day I figured out who the anonymous poster is based on what they posted within 5 mins (goes to same school as my son) and advised the poster to modify their post 🙂

 

[mwsapphire]

There are at least 3-4 adcoms who participate on this site who almost always offer excellent advice and guidance.

It would not surprise me if other adcoms perused this site, especially their school-specific sites. They would do this not so much to check on applicants, but as a real-time source of market feedback. How are our essays landing? How is the overall process perceived by applicants. Are there any suggestions surfacing on how to improve? What hot spots are emerging so we can anticipate how best to respond? Etc.

I am not suggesting they are on here all the time, but a quick weekly peruse to see how things are going would be entirely reasonable.

Now to the extent that they encounter an applicant who is a prominent poster and easy identifiable than they might check that person out, especially if they had offered them an interview. It can be an interesting source of information.

I hate the feeling of being watched online in an anonymous forum so....*sweats nervously*

 

[Gregor Samsa]

Are these extra-neurotic trolls part of an organized effort to poison the premed culture? Maybe by naturopaths or sth? I love being annoyed by them, but I'd be pissed if these people ended up at my school and constantly unnerved me with these manic thought experiments. I'm really happy I didn't apply in the same cycle as this one and the other character that claimed you had to be an astronaut to gain admission at a top 10 school.

 

[vy2005]

Why would they send out an II for a limited amount of spots without doing due diligence, like seeing if you can actually write a PS?

If SDNers believe that schools simply send out IIs based upon stats alone, they are, well, delusional.\

There's data out there that suggests that people online personas are close to their real life ones, and so I strongly believe that your app reflects who you are, cali. You also may have a bad LOR, which wouldn't surprise me either.

UTSW does send out IIs based on stats alone FWIW

 

[TelemarketingEnigma]

I hate the feeling of being watched online in an anonymous forum so....*sweats nervously*

I think it's worth remembering that nothing on the internet is every truly anonymous. Whether by writing style, username, or various details dropped in posts, it's really not difficult at all to identify various users here or other "anonymous" forums. I know I've recognized multiple people here on SDN alone, and I'm sure someone has probably recognized me. I know I've shared enough details here that I'd be pretty easily identifiable if someone from my school cared to figure it out. I personally try to interact online as I would with people in everyday life, so that if someone I know finds my account then I won't be particularly embarrassed.

 

[Raryn]

Does anybody know if you get judged on interview day by your performance at lunch with current students? Like for example should one try to be charismatic or just relaxed at the lunch thing.

You can get judged on every action you take from the initial communication to the schools/programs, to your decorum walking in the door, to your decorum leaving - and every interaction you have with every person during your time there.

In most cases, there's too many premeds interviewing for them to routinely collect every bit of information from the current students, but any negative impression you leave can *absolutely* be relayed to the admissions folks. This is a much bigger deal at the residency interview level later on (programs are much smaller), but it is still a factor at the med school interview level.

You don't need to be super charismatic - trying too hard can also come off as weird - but do try to seem like a normal person.

 

[deleted987519]

but do try to seem like a normal person.

This is gonna be harder than I thought
😕

 

[deleted804295]

Are these extra-neurotic trolls part of an organized effort to poison the premed culture? Maybe by naturopaths or sth? I love being annoyed by them, but I'd be pissed if these people ended up at my school and constantly unnerved me with these manic thought experiments. I'm really happy I didn't apply in the same cycle as this one and the other character that claimed you had to be an astronaut to gain admission at a top 10 school.

I think it's nervousness. Everyone deals with nerves differently.

I really like OP because if you look towards his genuine posts he's really not that bad of a guy. His roller coaster nerves are enjoyable to read and an online forum is one of the few places he can get all his jitters out.

 

[907914]

I think it's nervousness. Everyone deals with nerves differently.

I really like OP because if you look towards his genuine posts he's really not that bad of a guy. His roller coaster nerves are enjoyable to read and an online forum is one of the few places he can get all his jitters out.

OP reminds me of myself here on SDN back in mid to late 2018. It just takes a learning curve to get over those jitters.

 

[Isoval]

Does anybody know if you get judged on interview day by your performance at lunch with current students? Like for example should one try to be charismatic or just relaxed at the lunch thing.

At one lunch, I sat with an orthosurg faculty.
He told me I'd be a good general surgeon because "I don't think about s*** before I say it".
Got rejected.

 

[Cornfed101]

There's a story somewhere on SDN about an applicant who was being escorted to an interview by a pregnant staff member when said staffer fell--and the applicant's first reaction was annoyance at the inconvenience, not to help her up. They were either rejected post-interview or immediately had their interview cancelled.

Moral: behave like a functioning member of civil society at all times; it is not that hard

That sounds like a good MMI scenario. Also, an important characteristic of a doctor. Helping people that are physically in need 🤔

 

[thegrind33]

My first statement did: at least 80% of applicants at any individual school get rejected pre-II. OP implied expectation of more II and therefore the only reason they did not was due to red flag in PS and therefore some schools must read PS only after II. Besides the twisted OCD premed overthinking, it shows a lack of understanding reality of this process

-All applicants should assume they will be rejected as 60% will, which is why all student should be enhancing their record now for the more likely prospect of being a reapplicant

-Getting ANY II should already should seen as successfull. Getting more than one should be seen as great, and getting 3 or more considered a decent bet you will ultimately get an acceptance

What would you say getting 4iis and not getting in yet the schools said the interview was ok mean?

 

[Isoval]

What would you say getting 4iis and not getting in yet the schools said the interview was ok mean?

Unlucky.

 

[Cornfed101]

What would you say getting 4iis and not getting in yet the schools said the interview was ok mean?

They just said it was "ok"? Did they tell you anything else about your interviews?

 

[thegrind33]

They just said it was "ok"? Did they tell you anything else about your interviews?

They told me answers from “it did not harm your chances to it was good”

 

[Cornfed101]

They told me answers from “it did not harm your chances to it was good”

That's kinda lame feedback. Sorry for your bad luck

 

[Big Tall Doctor]

I love being annoyed by them, but I'd be pissed if these people ended up at my school and constantly unnerved me with these manic thought experiments.

Conversations with the insane can reaffirm our own sanity.