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After a few recent conversations with family and friends, I took a step back and looked at this application cycle. By the title stats, I’m a very mediocre applicant to medical school, but a few standouts in my application and a wise school list made a lot of difference. I wanted to make this topic for 3 reasons:
1: to encourage folks in similar spots
2: to provide an anecdote that might help people pursue their dreams
3: to belay a LOT of false information and feelings that float around this website.
The information everyone wants to know is what 5 schools took me:
Rocky Vista SU campus:
-Wonderful looking school, with a fantastic staff. I would have been more than comfortable attending, as even though this school is new it is a branch campus of a school that I respect a lot. I know attending and resident physicians from the CO campus, and they are SHARP. The COA is high here, and the area is SUPER nice... but pricey.
NYITCOM-AR:
-Also a branch campus, but located on A-state’s campus. This helps with research connections. I liked the school overall and would have attended if it were my only acceptance. I had some red flags, including reservations about their telehealth initiatives. Very expensive for the area.
Des Moines University:
Fantastic in every regard. I would love to attend this school. The price is prohibitory, and they did have to pull me off of a waitlist. I loved all the students and faculty I spoke with. The campus is small but well-equipped for the majority of needs. The school is well integrated into the local community.
KCUMB:
Fantastic. I fell in love with this school. I liked the campus, faculty, and students I spoke to. I’ve worked with many grads from here, and it seems they get a stellar education.
State MD:
For privacy reasons I don’t want to identify, but let’s just say you’ve heard of this school’s football team. I was pulled off of their waitlist in a shocking turn of events. My stats put me firmly in the “lolz, don’t even bother applying” category. Glad I did.
Of these, I will be attending the state MD school. The largest reason is financial; RVU was much more than KCU, so I withdrew from RVU. KCU is much more than state school, so I will attend state school. I did not deposit DMU or NYITCOM as I had already earned acceptances to the schools I ranked higher on my personal list.
Now for the more important stuff, what I believed helped me:
1: I was accepted at every school I interviewed at.
5 II’s, 5 acceptances. I have no intention to sound arrogant (especially with a ~502 MCAT!), but the only conclusion that can be reached is that I interview well. Confidence without sounding cocky is key. Eye contact. And competence. For every question posed, I had a coherent, competent answer. That doesn’t mean making stuff up on the fly, but answering with integrity and an open mind.
Practice interviewing, practice adult conversation in a formal setting. It helps.
2: My nursing experience.
I’ve been in healthcare in a leadership role for a long time. My LORs (the ones I’ve been privy to) made me cry with honor. I will treasure them forever.
I have poured a lot of my life into proving my worth to a healthcare system, and the confidence my physician and faculty have in me is only due to them seeing how hard I am willing to work. I know a lot of people are going to roll their eyes at this... “Yeah, great for YOU, but I’m not a nurse! I don’t have the opportunity to impress!”
I believe anyone in any role can. If you work hard enough, have enough passion... people notice. I’m nursing, the focus of my drive and passion has been directed for me.
In a SMALL way, I’m sure being a nurse itself is some sort of a leg-up. I know how to talk to patients, and I have a unique perspective of clinical acute care. It doesn’t really mean I’d make a good doctor, though, and the admissions staffs knew this. Almost nobody asked about my hospital experience, they all wanted to know about my next line:
3: Standout ECs
My EC Work raised eyebrows. Instead of soup kitchen volunteering, I drove to the desert in Mexico and built a house with hand tools.
Instead of shadowing, I worked on special clinical projects in the hospital. (Never shadowed a physician in my life, technically.)
And finally... I’m a filmmaker who did some freelance work with a notable television show. This sounds WAY more major and cool than it actually is. I spent 3 days with my lips zipped and my camera rolling, signed away the rights to be credited, and will never be allowed to see my footage.
Literally every interviewer brought it up.
If that had been the end of it, it wouldn’t have helped me. However, I then pivoted the conversation into some videography work I’ve done in healthcare, and how the dissemination of health information is a passion that I plan to continue to foster in my career as a physician.
I know not everyone can be a filmmaker (I guarantee if you are you are better at it than I), but give them something interesting that will make you a standout. I even have a buddy who put down his experience as a DM on his app.
4: School list
Be realistic about your odds, and form a wise list. SDN has a couple posters who do a great job of helping you craft one. Of COURSE it helps to connections to a school, be it geographic or otherwise.
I want everyone reading this to know that I am not a guru or anything, just a lowly premed like you. I don’t intend to state my excellence or abilities, but I’ve come to terms with the fact that I’ve actually had a very successful cycle even though I blew tons of money on travel and deposits... at the end of the day I’m going to be a physician, and that is what I wanted.
I will update this topic as points occur to me, and I want anyone else who can add something beneficial to feel free.
I will answer and questions that you have that I feel comfortable answering, and feel free to PM me.
The past 6 months have been tumultuous for me. Emotional. Expensive. I’ve lost hair. But I want to express how happy I am and how truly blessed to live in a place where sheer determination is sometimes adequate to fulfill a small goal.
I’m just starting my medical school journey, but I already feel the imposter syndrome.
AMA
1: to encourage folks in similar spots
2: to provide an anecdote that might help people pursue their dreams
3: to belay a LOT of false information and feelings that float around this website.
The information everyone wants to know is what 5 schools took me:
Rocky Vista SU campus:
-Wonderful looking school, with a fantastic staff. I would have been more than comfortable attending, as even though this school is new it is a branch campus of a school that I respect a lot. I know attending and resident physicians from the CO campus, and they are SHARP. The COA is high here, and the area is SUPER nice... but pricey.
NYITCOM-AR:
-Also a branch campus, but located on A-state’s campus. This helps with research connections. I liked the school overall and would have attended if it were my only acceptance. I had some red flags, including reservations about their telehealth initiatives. Very expensive for the area.
Des Moines University:
Fantastic in every regard. I would love to attend this school. The price is prohibitory, and they did have to pull me off of a waitlist. I loved all the students and faculty I spoke with. The campus is small but well-equipped for the majority of needs. The school is well integrated into the local community.
KCUMB:
Fantastic. I fell in love with this school. I liked the campus, faculty, and students I spoke to. I’ve worked with many grads from here, and it seems they get a stellar education.
State MD:
For privacy reasons I don’t want to identify, but let’s just say you’ve heard of this school’s football team. I was pulled off of their waitlist in a shocking turn of events. My stats put me firmly in the “lolz, don’t even bother applying” category. Glad I did.
Of these, I will be attending the state MD school. The largest reason is financial; RVU was much more than KCU, so I withdrew from RVU. KCU is much more than state school, so I will attend state school. I did not deposit DMU or NYITCOM as I had already earned acceptances to the schools I ranked higher on my personal list.
Now for the more important stuff, what I believed helped me:
1: I was accepted at every school I interviewed at.
5 II’s, 5 acceptances. I have no intention to sound arrogant (especially with a ~502 MCAT!), but the only conclusion that can be reached is that I interview well. Confidence without sounding cocky is key. Eye contact. And competence. For every question posed, I had a coherent, competent answer. That doesn’t mean making stuff up on the fly, but answering with integrity and an open mind.
Practice interviewing, practice adult conversation in a formal setting. It helps.
2: My nursing experience.
I’ve been in healthcare in a leadership role for a long time. My LORs (the ones I’ve been privy to) made me cry with honor. I will treasure them forever.
I have poured a lot of my life into proving my worth to a healthcare system, and the confidence my physician and faculty have in me is only due to them seeing how hard I am willing to work. I know a lot of people are going to roll their eyes at this... “Yeah, great for YOU, but I’m not a nurse! I don’t have the opportunity to impress!”
I believe anyone in any role can. If you work hard enough, have enough passion... people notice. I’m nursing, the focus of my drive and passion has been directed for me.
In a SMALL way, I’m sure being a nurse itself is some sort of a leg-up. I know how to talk to patients, and I have a unique perspective of clinical acute care. It doesn’t really mean I’d make a good doctor, though, and the admissions staffs knew this. Almost nobody asked about my hospital experience, they all wanted to know about my next line:
3: Standout ECs
My EC Work raised eyebrows. Instead of soup kitchen volunteering, I drove to the desert in Mexico and built a house with hand tools.
Instead of shadowing, I worked on special clinical projects in the hospital. (Never shadowed a physician in my life, technically.)
And finally... I’m a filmmaker who did some freelance work with a notable television show. This sounds WAY more major and cool than it actually is. I spent 3 days with my lips zipped and my camera rolling, signed away the rights to be credited, and will never be allowed to see my footage.
Literally every interviewer brought it up.
If that had been the end of it, it wouldn’t have helped me. However, I then pivoted the conversation into some videography work I’ve done in healthcare, and how the dissemination of health information is a passion that I plan to continue to foster in my career as a physician.
I know not everyone can be a filmmaker (I guarantee if you are you are better at it than I), but give them something interesting that will make you a standout. I even have a buddy who put down his experience as a DM on his app.
4: School list
Be realistic about your odds, and form a wise list. SDN has a couple posters who do a great job of helping you craft one. Of COURSE it helps to connections to a school, be it geographic or otherwise.
I want everyone reading this to know that I am not a guru or anything, just a lowly premed like you. I don’t intend to state my excellence or abilities, but I’ve come to terms with the fact that I’ve actually had a very successful cycle even though I blew tons of money on travel and deposits... at the end of the day I’m going to be a physician, and that is what I wanted.
I will update this topic as points occur to me, and I want anyone else who can add something beneficial to feel free.
I will answer and questions that you have that I feel comfortable answering, and feel free to PM me.
The past 6 months have been tumultuous for me. Emotional. Expensive. I’ve lost hair. But I want to express how happy I am and how truly blessed to live in a place where sheer determination is sometimes adequate to fulfill a small goal.
I’m just starting my medical school journey, but I already feel the imposter syndrome.
AMA
