ana.stomosis
New Member
- Joined
- Feb 18, 2025
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Hey y'all, looking for admissions folks/med students perspectives on this one.
I am 35, non-traditional even by nontrad standards. 3.93 graduating GPA from state school in CA, probably ~3.99 now that I've done all my postbacc work.
520 MCAT (first attempt) that I took June 13, so just submitted at 2:30AM July 17th, with typos I didn't catch.
Sources of angst:
- typos.
All 3 are activities typos: incorrect email for my clinic supervisor @ work, but what's much worse is that I ended the activity description with an incomplete sentence. It's nonsensical. The description ends with ". I am ". Lastly, in describing my capstone research I used the term meta analysis instead of lit review, which I fear will kick my ass when being looked at by research heavy T10s
I am applying to research positions.
- later submission (anticipating a mid-to-late August verification)
- 3 semesters of medical Ws from early edu; been consistent for 5 years since going back to school
I know 3 of my LORs are strong, and have medium hopes for the 4th.
I have volunteered where I could throughout the years, hours in the high hundreds for what I included, I've done more.
Plenty of clinical and non-clinical paid work. And honestly, none of this was done with the ulterior motive of med school apps, things just fell into place and I realized it's still what I want to do all these years later. I have 40 recent shadowing hours, probably 1000 older shadowing hours from 2007-2009 that I didn't put on there but can speak about, and a good understanding of healthcare from several diff perspectives. Waiting on Preview and Casper scores but I feel like they'll be decent. My PS isn't conventional, but I've been told it's good. No, it's not as annoying to read as this vent/anxiety post.
Not verified, received a secondary invite from Tufts presumably bc I met a minimum threshold. I want to be excited about secondaries, I want the chance to share my vision for a better future (damn don't we all need that rn) and how I can participate in generating it through medicine and public health, but several of the prompts focus on the past, and it has been adding to the din of self-doubt that I have ruined my chances to become a physician. I already addressed those Ws and gaps to the extent I could in my primaries. How much more do I need to say in secondaries? Are medical withdrawals PHI? Are adcoms allowed to ask for in-depth detail?
So the advice I'm seeking? I guess... should I give up and withdraw my app from the most competitive programs? The mistakes I made in my activities section feel minor, but they also don't. Should I keep on and just hope my app is given a chance somewhere? I have applied to ~43 allopathic schools.
Idk. I just feel like for what I'm shooting for, I'm too late, have too little research (capstone and microbio wet lab only no pubs like 300-400hrs), and the careless mistakes are nails in the coffin. I am less keen on DO schools purely due to finances, but am planning to apply to ~10 DOs if I can get the $ together.
So if any admissions savvy folks didn't die of boredom and somehow got to the end of this, am I being dramatic or realistic?
How do I address the 1000 character prompts about challenges, Ws and time off from school without making my failures a central focus over what I have done for the past 10 years? I already addressed a lot of this in the primary, and 1000 characters is not enough to fully explain. Can I skate over them and just refocus their attention on what I have demonstrated since?
Should I withdraw my apps from T10s? Should I withdraw it altogether and try again next year for better odds at full funding? I will already be starting residency at 40 if I get in this year. I am ready--I've been ready--to do so much more for my patients. But, I'm concerned adcoms won't see it, or won't care; concerned that I'll never be chosen over greener pastures, with more years to labor, and fewer incomplete sentences.
I am 35, non-traditional even by nontrad standards. 3.93 graduating GPA from state school in CA, probably ~3.99 now that I've done all my postbacc work.
520 MCAT (first attempt) that I took June 13, so just submitted at 2:30AM July 17th, with typos I didn't catch.
Sources of angst:
- typos.
All 3 are activities typos: incorrect email for my clinic supervisor @ work, but what's much worse is that I ended the activity description with an incomplete sentence. It's nonsensical. The description ends with ". I am ". Lastly, in describing my capstone research I used the term meta analysis instead of lit review, which I fear will kick my ass when being looked at by research heavy T10s
I am applying to research positions.
- later submission (anticipating a mid-to-late August verification)
- 3 semesters of medical Ws from early edu; been consistent for 5 years since going back to school
I know 3 of my LORs are strong, and have medium hopes for the 4th.
I have volunteered where I could throughout the years, hours in the high hundreds for what I included, I've done more.
Plenty of clinical and non-clinical paid work. And honestly, none of this was done with the ulterior motive of med school apps, things just fell into place and I realized it's still what I want to do all these years later. I have 40 recent shadowing hours, probably 1000 older shadowing hours from 2007-2009 that I didn't put on there but can speak about, and a good understanding of healthcare from several diff perspectives. Waiting on Preview and Casper scores but I feel like they'll be decent. My PS isn't conventional, but I've been told it's good. No, it's not as annoying to read as this vent/anxiety post.
Not verified, received a secondary invite from Tufts presumably bc I met a minimum threshold. I want to be excited about secondaries, I want the chance to share my vision for a better future (damn don't we all need that rn) and how I can participate in generating it through medicine and public health, but several of the prompts focus on the past, and it has been adding to the din of self-doubt that I have ruined my chances to become a physician. I already addressed those Ws and gaps to the extent I could in my primaries. How much more do I need to say in secondaries? Are medical withdrawals PHI? Are adcoms allowed to ask for in-depth detail?
So the advice I'm seeking? I guess... should I give up and withdraw my app from the most competitive programs? The mistakes I made in my activities section feel minor, but they also don't. Should I keep on and just hope my app is given a chance somewhere? I have applied to ~43 allopathic schools.
Idk. I just feel like for what I'm shooting for, I'm too late, have too little research (capstone and microbio wet lab only no pubs like 300-400hrs), and the careless mistakes are nails in the coffin. I am less keen on DO schools purely due to finances, but am planning to apply to ~10 DOs if I can get the $ together.
So if any admissions savvy folks didn't die of boredom and somehow got to the end of this, am I being dramatic or realistic?
How do I address the 1000 character prompts about challenges, Ws and time off from school without making my failures a central focus over what I have done for the past 10 years? I already addressed a lot of this in the primary, and 1000 characters is not enough to fully explain. Can I skate over them and just refocus their attention on what I have demonstrated since?
Should I withdraw my apps from T10s? Should I withdraw it altogether and try again next year for better odds at full funding? I will already be starting residency at 40 if I get in this year. I am ready--I've been ready--to do so much more for my patients. But, I'm concerned adcoms won't see it, or won't care; concerned that I'll never be chosen over greener pastures, with more years to labor, and fewer incomplete sentences.
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