Just applied and Hello!

[RockFoot]

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Hello, I am a non-traditional student, I studied an area of earth sciences for my undergrad, graduated and realized that I did not want to work in that field or pursue higher education in that area. My Grandfather had been a podiatrist and I spoke to him several times about the field. I soon reached the realization that I indeed wanted to do this. I shadowed some local pods and knew that I could not only do this but that I could love doing this type of work. Long story short, I went back to school at a local community college to get some pre-reqs out of the way. I got a job as a phlebotomist, hoping that that would give me some type of edge.

I'm taking the MCAT in March and I have now sent in my applications to several schools, OCPM being my favorite (I live in Cincinnati and its the most local school and in an area of the state I have previously lived and liked.)

I had a GPA of 3.43 out of school with a science GPA of 3.2. I took the GRE and had a combined score of 1340 and 4.5 on the written. As I said, I haven't taken the MCAT yet but I am now prepping for it and I have high hopes of getting into the fall 2012 class.

 

[flyhi]

welcome, Rockfoot! It sounds like you have a very solid background and your stats look really good (very nice on the GRE!). I'm sure you'll do fine on the MCAT. As you probably know, OCPM has a large class and will interview without an MCAT, so you should be fine. I'm sure you will be hearing from them soon.

Good Luck!

 

[BTR1208]

definitely keep us updated! I am about 2 hrs from cincy in Indiana. Thinking about OCPM as well.

 

[RockFoot]

Thanks for your replies, calling my stats solid really makes me feel better. I do have a question, when do we send the LORs? I didn't see anything about that on the AACPMAS application, will the schools contact me and ask for them?

Thanks!

 

[unitix]

Nope, send them in to the schools directly asap

 

[RockFoot]

With regards to the letter's of recommendation, should I ask my professors and the others to mail them directly to the school, to me in a sealed envelope and then I mail them... how do I go about this, I'm only familiar with digital letters of recommendation where the letter writer is sent an email by the program and given a place to submit their letter online.

Thanks in advance!

 

[trinifootdoc]

With regards to the letter's of recommendation, should I ask my professors and the others to mail them directly to the school, to me in a sealed envelope and then I mail them... how do I go about this, I'm only familiar with digital letters of recommendation where the letter writer is sent an email by the program and given a place to submit their letter online.

Thanks in advance!

When I was going through that process, I noticed that it was pretty standard for the professors to mail them out to the schools directly, however, I am sure if you ask your professors, they may be willing to just give them directly to you instead. You sound like a very good candidate and I wish you the best of luck on your upcoming MCAT and your future interviews, as I am pretty certain you will receive a few. 👍

 

[RockFoot]

Thank you I think I will email/talk to those who will write the letters and give them the addresses of the schools.

This forum is very useful, these things are issues I've worried about and now that I finally registered and posted my questions I've gotten answers in no time. THANKS A BUNCH!!🙂

 

[RockFoot]

My grades were verified yesterday, my sci gpa is unfortunately lower than I had calculated due mainly to AACPMAS not forgiving retakes. I had a 2.98, not too far below average but enough to make me anxious. My overall gpa was 3.54 which was higher than expected. I will take the mcat march 24. I think I've still got a good shot but my lower sci gpa was disappointing.

As an aside, when should I expect aacpmas to mail out my apps and when should I expect to hear from schools? OCPM has already contacted me to say they were awaiting my verified scores.

 

[SuperFeisty]

Rock the MCAT and they won't give a hoot about your GPA being 0.2 lower than the "norm." Believe me, my GPA was considerably lower than yours. That upward trend (I assume) from your retakes and upper division courses really tells them you're ready for school.

 

[RockFoot]

thanks thats what I needed to hear!

 

[RockFoot]

Well, My application was verified on the 27th, my apps were 'mailed' on the 28th, on the 28th I heard from AZPOD who apparently have their own additional application hoops to go through and yesterday I heard from Scholl who basically said they were waiting on my LORs. I'm anxious because from what I have read in this forum, OCPM is usually quick to send out interview invites and I haven't heard from them yet.

What type of time frame would you guys give for expecting to hear back from schools? If I don't hear from a particular school is it kosher to inquire with them as to the status of my application? Any experiences and info would be greatly appreciated!!

Thanks

 

[SuperFeisty]

You should hear within a week from all the schools. If they are further away, perhaps the mail takes an additional day to arrive.

 

[RockFoot]

As I said, AZpod and Scholl have contacted me, no invite as they are waiting on LORS, however.... I just got an interview invite from DMU!!! I'm pretty stoked! Now if Ohio would just get back to me...

 

[flyhi]

CONGRATS!! Pretty sure Ohio does interviewing on Mondays and Fridays, so maybe they were tied up? Patience... DMU is a good sign

 

[SuperFeisty]

Oh yeah, forgot to mention... As the academic year gets closer to the cut off date, the schools generally get busier. That could explain why your notices are a bit later than usual.

 

[trinifootdoc]

As I said, AZpod and Scholl have contacted me, no invite as they are waiting on LORS, however.... I just got an interview invite from DMU!!! I'm pretty stoked! Now if Ohio would just get back to me...

Congrats on your interview invite! I am not sure if Scholl will offer the interview invite unless you have your MCAT scores submitted but goodluck!

 

[RockFoot]

Thank you all for your help, advice, experience, congratualations, etc.

I wanted to update a little further. My interview at DMU is scheduled for March 12, and I have and interview set up at OCPM for March 30. I'm pretty stoked!! It'll be tough to choose if they both accept me😀. I have strong reasons to appreciate both.

 

[347932]

Thank you all for your help, advice, experience, congratualations, etc.

I wanted to update a little further. My interview at DMU is scheduled for March 12, and I have and interview set up at OCPM for March 30. I'm pretty stoked!! It'll be tough to choose if they both accept me😀. I have strong reasons to appreciate both.

Good Luck!!! Please let us know how it goes!

 

[RockFoot]

I believe the interview at dmu went very well. I received a follow up email within 3 days saying that my application would be on hold until they receive my mcat scores. I felt like the questions they asked me were great questions I felt like the answers I gave them were great answers. they just seemed to be very satisfied with what I had to say. There was an almost audible click torwards the end of the interview where I could tell I have passed some kind of threshold.

I have to say that now my favorite school is dmu. I was very very impressed by the campus and everything they had to offer. I am taking the mcat this saturday, I know it seems low but I would be happy with a 23. I have an interview scheduled with ohio on the 30th of this month, I'm very excited to see what they have to offer. I have an interview with School at the beginning of next month, and I need to schedule my interview with temple.

wish me luck on the mcat!

thanks for all the advice so far


Sent from my SPH-D600 using SDN Mobile

 

[SuperFeisty]

Keep asking questions! The more prepods ask questions the better informed a decision we can make! I know that I switched school preferences on average about once a day for 3 weeks due to new stuff I constantly learn. Every school is great but an informed decision is the best kind 😀

 

[NeilD]

You can get into the Ohio school now with two years of community college!!! Don't waste to much time stressing about it. Mostly smoke and mirrors. Applications down, administrators desperate.

 

[SuperFeisty]

Again, NeilD tries to compensate for something. I called OCPM, and it was explained to me that the Community College site was definitely wrong. No admissions is guaranteed.

 

[RockFoot]

If only it were that easy Neil. Maybe you could reapply elsewhere under a new name and move on with your life.

Btw my invite to ocpm was actually to the Kent State College of Podiatric Medicine, fancy huh? Do you think in state tuition will save me much if I go there?

 

[flyhi]

Unfortunately, tuition will not change for Ohio now that they are Kent State

 

[RockFoot]

thats disappointing, I know temple's tuition is a few grand cheaper for residents, I can always dream right.

 

[RockFoot]

This thread has become a quasi journal for my journey through the application process. I have received a message from DMU saying they are waiting for my MCAT scores to make a decision. This is very exciting for me as I very badly want DMU.

Tomorrow I take the MCAT, needless to say, words cannot describe my anxiety, I have studied and reviewed hard, the practice tests were harder than I imagined. I have confidence I will attain an acceptable score but needless to say, my sympathetic nervous system is going nuts.

Wish me luck!!

 

[flyhi]

Good Luck on the MCAT!!!! Wish you the best and I'm sure your hard work will pay off!

 

[RockFoot]

thanks the test went well I thought. now I have to wait for 30 days, why cant they give me a prelim score the day of like on the gre?

Sent from my SPH-D600 using SDN Mobile

 

[flyhi]

Congrats!! Exactly...it makes no sense. It's a loooong 30 days, btw.