Interdisciplinary Non-Trad - Where to apply?

[bluerock]

I'm having a hard time gauging what schools would be interested in a inter-disciplinarian applicant. I'm thinking schools with holistic approaches, or who care a lot about humanities. I already applied to my state schools, which are my top picks.

I can't get into details about my inter-disciplinarian qualities without revealing my identity, but let's just say it's rare for a medical program and this year I was able to demonstrate its value to the medical community. I also have background in university-level science teaching. I was drawn to medicine after diagnosis with a chronic illness. Between help from admissions officers and a couple doctors, my application is a million times better this year.

Roughly by the numbers:
Post-Bacc and science GPA: 3.8
Total: 3.7
MCAT: 511
Translational Research: 400 hours
Shadow: 150 hrs
Clinical Volunteer: 200
Volunteer: 1000+

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[Ad2b]

If by interdisciplinarian you mean of the LGBTQ - specifically the T part of that - you're not alone. There are others on this forum that have applied and been accepted. IF that is what you are referring to, the only school from my POV that would get marked off is Med GA... a multi-reapplicant finally got accepted and matriculated there only to run into a myriad of issues and zero support.

If that's not what you were referring to, then I can't help as your stats look just fine for many MD and DO schools. Best of luck to you!

 

[Goro]

I'm having a hard time gauging what schools would be interested in a inter-disciplinarian applicant. I'm thinking schools with holistic approaches, or who care a lot about humanities. I already applied to my state schools, which are my top picks.

I can't get into details about my inter-disciplinarian qualities without revealing my identity, but let's just say it's rare for a medical program and this year I was able to demonstrate its value to the medical community. I also have background in university-level science teaching. I was drawn to medicine after diagnosis with a chronic illness. Between help from admissions officers and a couple doctors, my application is a million times better this year.

Roughly by the numbers:
Post-Bacc and science GPA: 3.8
Total: 3.7
MCAT: 511
Translational Research: 400 hours
Shadow: 150 hrs
Clinical Volunteer: 200
Volunteer: 1000+

I suggest:

Emory (maybe)
UCF (maybe)
Pitt (maybe)
U VM
Miami
Tufts
George Washington
Georgetown
SLU
Albany
Rush
Rosy Franklin
NYMC
MCW
VCU
EVMS
Wayne State
Wake Forest
Netter
Jefferson
Temple
Drexel
Creighton
Tulane
Loyola
Uniformed Services University/Hebert (just be aware of the military service commitment)
Oakland-B
Seton Hall
Nova MD
CUSM IF you're from CA
Kaiser if you’re from CA
TCU/UNT
Your state school.
Any DO program. I can't recommend Touro-NY, Nova, Wm Carey, LUCOM, for different reasons. MSUCOM? Read up on Larry Nasser and you decide. LMU has an accreditation warning, which concerns me.

 

[Musculo]

I can’t really comment on the school list, but I just wanted to share that schools really loved my background with teaching at the university level. I spun that into my diversity responses in secondaries and in interviews. You’ll understand both the student and the faculty side of things and at least at my interview as the faculty really appreciated that!

 

[bluerock]

If by interdisciplinarian you mean of the LGBTQ - specifically the T part of that - you're not alone. There are others on this forum that have applied and been accepted. IF that is what you are referring to, the only school from my POV that would get marked off is Med GA... a multi-reapplicant finally got accepted and matriculated there only to run into a myriad of issues and zero support.

If that's not what you were referring to, then I can't help as your stats look just fine for many MD and DO schools. Best of luck to you!

No, I don't have that diversity to offer. I have a really strong humanities background with a career to match.

 

[bluerock]

I can’t really comment on the school list, but I just wanted to share that schools really loved my background with teaching at the university level. I spun that into my diversity responses in secondaries and in interviews. You’ll understand both the student and the faculty side of things and at least at my interview as the faculty really appreciated that!

That's a really great idea. I always felt having that background made me a much better student. I didn't really know how to spin it though, because in theory all of the applicants should be pretty awesome students. I definitely think, however, it will probably also make me a good student leader.

 

[bluerock]

I suggest:

Emory (maybe)
UCF (maybe)
Pitt (maybe)
U VM
Miami
Tufts
George Washington
Georgetown
SLU
Albany
Rush
Rosy Franklin
NYMC
MCW
VCU
EVMS
Wayne State
Wake Forest
Netter
Jefferson
Temple
Drexel
Creighton
Tulane
Loyola
Uniformed Services University/Hebert (just be aware of the military service commitment)
Oakland-B
Seton Hall
Nova MD
CUSM IF you're from CA
Kaiser if you’re from CA
TCU/UNT
Your state school.
Any DO program. I can't recommend Touro-NY, Nova, Wm Carey, LUCOM, for different reasons. MSUCOM? Read up on Larry Nasser and you decide. LMU has an accreditation warning, which concerns me.

Thanks for this list, it's very good. How many schools do you think people can meaningfully apply to? I feel like at one point or another, the law of diminishing returns takes effect.

I didn't try Rosland Franklin before, because they seemed to be struggling with accreditation again. Would you say they're solid again?

Pitt is an interesting choice of a reach school. They do a little immunology there, which is my background. It'd be really fun to do research with them.

 

[Musculo]

That's a really great idea. I always felt having that background made me a much better student. I didn't really know how to spin it though, because in theory all of the applicants should be pretty awesome students. I definitely think, however, it will probably also make me a good student leader.

I specifically discussed how stressed students can be around midterm and finals, especially when exams tough courses are grouped together. I told them as a med student I will understand the stress but I will also understand how little control faculty truly have over it at times because of my experience as an instructor. There are just hell weeks at times. But also, there’s just no good way to do it (or students would have a major test literally every week and would be burned out from that too) and students just have to suck it up at times. With your experience, you’ll be able to see the forest so to speak. That’ll make you a “better” student as you know how futile it is to put energy in that fight vs putting energy into buckling down and getting through the crappy parts.

 

[Goro]

Thanks for this list, it's very good. How many schools do you think people can meaningfully apply to? I feel like at one point or another, the law of diminishing returns takes effect.

I didn't try Rosland Franklin before, because they seemed to be struggling with accreditation again. Would you say they're solid again?

Pitt is an interesting choice of a reach school. They do a little immunology there, which is my background. It'd be really fun to do research with them.

I'm not aware of any accreditation issues for Rosy F: Rosalind Franklin University Announces Continued Accreditation

My understanding of Pitt is that it is a world leader in organ transplantation.

I recommend people apply to 20-30 schools.

 

[bluerock]

I specifically discussed how stressed students can be around midterm and finals, especially when exams tough courses are grouped together. I told them as a med student I will understand the stress but I will also understand how little control faculty truly have over it at times because of my experience as an instructor. There are just hell weeks at times. But also, there’s just no good way to do it (or students would have a major test literally every week and would be burned out from that too) and students just have to suck it up at times. With your experience, you’ll be able to see the forest so to speak. That’ll make you a “better” student as you know how futile it is to put energy in that fight vs putting energy into buckling down and getting through the crappy parts.

That's so true. I think too, students spend way too much time fixating on grades and not much time actually learning.

 

[bluerock]

I'm not aware of any accreditation issues for Rosy F: Rosalind Franklin University Announces Continued Accreditation

My understanding of Pitt is that it is a world leader in organ transplantation.

I recommend people apply to 20-30 schools.

Yea, they were put on probation in 2004 and then again in 2013. I'm OK with a school that just got off probation, but it happened twice. Looks like they're doing good though.

 

[Goro]

Yea, they were put on probation in 2004 and then again in 2013. I'm OK with a school that just got off probation, but it happened twice. Looks like they're doing good though.

I know probation is a very scary word to pre-meds, but most of the times, schools are on probation for documentation issues.

 

[Ad2b]

No, I don't have that diversity to offer. I have a really strong humanities background with a career to match.

Then that's not anything new; the way I read it was you were T or Q and didn't want to disclose that (understandable).

Your background is NOT uncommon.

Yea, they were put on probation in 2004 and then again in 2013. I'm OK with a school that just got off probation, but it happened twice. Looks like they're doing good though.

Knowing current students at Pitt, I don't think you have the MCAT score for Pitt nor the research ... I would read the current 2018 - 19 thread on Pitt and see if it is a fit or not (I hate wasting money so if a school is a "maybe" - I go read those threads to get a better feel for what the school is looking for, what they accept for MS-1 and why...)

 

[bluerock]

I’ve been told by a couple different Admissions officers that my professional background is extremely uncommon. One said she had never seen it before. It’s also proven to be incredibly valuable to the trade, and I rather focus on the schools that are looking for these types of unique skill sets. Schools with the vision to help me use them.
Also, I do have my own stigmas to overcome. I’ve even been told by an admissions officer to hide things about my identity. Yet, what you wrote puts me in a position to defend myself. I think it’s important to be careful not to undervalue or dismiss others’ diversity. Our uniqueness isn’t assessed by our depth of hardship, but by who we’ve become in the face of it.

 

[Ad2b]

I’ve been told by a couple different Admissions officers that my professional background is extremely uncommon. Also, I do have my own stigmas to overcome. I’ve even been told by an admissions officer to hide things about my identity.

I'm 54 almost 55; my undergrad is English-Technical Writing with Journalism and Soviet Studies minors (it was still the Soviet Union when I took the arts, music, literature, language, history, politics, geography of the USSR). My MBA is in finance and I - last perm role - was VP of audit for some SEC international registrant (turned them in for fraud and watched my life explode into shards of nothingness). Talk about weirdness!! (It is, I'm okay with that)

There are adcoms here - @gyngyn @Goro @Faha @gonnif and a bunch of others that are escaping me right now. Ask them in private - there is the confidential consult where you can talk directly to them (or whoever has access - I do not), in private and ask about your situation and what you have to hide.

Unless you are a scorned politician, defrocked world class athlete (think Lance Armstrong here), I'm not sure what you have to hide and what you have to gain.

Best of luck to you this cycle!

 

[bluerock]

Let me comment on this in a few different ways

1) no school cares how different, unique, unusual or mixed you believe background is. Trying to gauge a school's interest on your perceived worth of uniqueness is nearly ludicrous. They care where you set out from, what you have achieved, and what that says about you and what that can mean for you as a physician

2) In the past cycle I have advised well-published, faculty-level PhD in public health; an incredibly smart, globe-trotting, professional engineer; a former Rabbinical student (who got his science degree at a recently co-ed Catholic college); a south-asian muslim woman from a poverty-stricken family (didnt have her own bed until she went to college); a much older lawyer specializing in technology start-ups; a professional athlete who dropped out of HS to pursue a sport; and a few others that escape me. All of them have received an acceptance. In the past I have advised or have known of the following successful applicants: an Ivy sociology professor, a PhD in bats, PhD in oceanography, MBA and high finance type, film maker and AIDS activist, bar bouncer, construction worker, plumbing supply truck driver, the list goes on.

3) Focusing too much on your uniqueness in background can backfire and it is a fine balance. It can easily be construed as overconfident and arrogant. Focus on your GPA and MCAT to start

What do you mean by focus on your GPA and MCAT? Those things are done. A 511 isn't jaw-dropping, but it's solid. I'm certainly not going to put of application to try and score higher. My GPA is also really good. Why would I write about these things? What more can I possibly say about them?

In a sea of applicants who all sound the same and all have very similar ECs and marks, I'd say what you can offer that's different is absolutely important. I'm not talking about "uniqueness" in terms of like, "look at my hardships" or "I'm a rare specimen." Rather, "I know I have a different background than most, but here are the tangible ways I've demonstrated how valuable it would be for more doctors to have this background." I'm not asking for help on how to write a PS or how to frame my application. It's in verification. I just want to know what schools really care about having doctors who think beyond biology, scores, and research. I think some make a point to seek out people with humanities backgrounds. Mt. Si even launched a Humanities-based medical program, just so they'd produce more doctors with this focus.

 

[bluerock]

Focus first on picking a school by your MCAT and GPA, not by targeting schools that you believe be interested in you being different. What you have done with it, how it may make you fit a school’s mission or focus, is what matters. a non-science background is not nearly as unusual as you may think. As I warn all applicants be careful the confidence in your background, and the belief in how it will make you an outstanding candidate, does not come across as arrogance and cockiness, which it can easily do

Ahhh, that makes more sense. Yes, I absolutely target schools that I'm academically a good fit for. It's tempting to pick one or two "reach" schools, but I don't think I'll waste my resources this round. It's just another chance to feel rejected.