Just squeezed by with acceptance from top choice

[WhiteRussian]

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With the admissions process being so crazy I was just curious who else feels like they were lucky and ended up getting that one acceptance at their top choice despite being rejected or waitlisted pretty much everywhere else. It's awsome if you get into several great schools, but obviously since you can only go one place it doesnt make much of a difference if you got into just your top choice or everywhere. So, i just wanted to see who else out there feels like they were lucky and just squeezed by

 

[MN81]

With the admissions process being so crazy I was just curious who else feels like they were lucky and ended up getting that one acceptance at their top choice despite being rejected or waitlisted pretty much everywhere else. It's awsome if you get into several great schools, but obviously since you can only go one place it doesnt make much of a difference if you got into just your top choice or everywhere. So, i just wanted to see who else out there feels like they were lucky and just squeezed by

Me. Much lower MCAT than average at my #1 choice.

My interviewer did say he was "mesmerized" by my essay.

Strangely, my two 'safety schools' didn't have the same impression. Outcome: accepted at top choice (and best ranked school), rejected by my two 'safety schools'.

As it has been said several million times... "There is no such thing a safety school."

 

[MN81]

By the way... I read your MDApp file. All your schools are pretty much top tier. Which did you consider 'safety'? UCDavis?

 

[eram]

Moi. Although my two top choices aren't exactly considered great schools, I consider myself really freaking lucky to have squeaked by with my GPA 🙂

And getting into these two felt 11ty billion times better than getting into the "better" schools that shouldn't have even looked at me ^^

 

[WhiteRussian]

By the way... I read your MDApp file. All your schools are pretty much top tier. Which did you consider 'safety'? UCDavis?

I guess i considered Davis and Irvine as safety schools. In retrospect I must admit it was pretty ballsy, i guess i was confident enough with my numbers, EC's and rec's. Fortunately it worked out fine, but i definetly would advise people applying now to apply to more safety schools. I've seen a bunch of MDapp profiles with just as high or higher numbers having to reapply.

 

[Brainsucker]

Oh hell yes. This is very true for me. I only got into two schools and there are only two programs in the country that I would have preferred.

 

[Wahina]

I didn't really have one top choice going in, but I definitely got in some places that I thought would be tough to do and waitlisted/rejected by a couple places that I thought would be much easier to get into. I have a feeling some schools don't waste their time if they get the impression you aren't going and are using them as a safety (ie, GPA/MCAT > their average, no real reason for applying to their school = rejection).

 

[JustBreathe]

Me! I got into my "safety" schools, but only got into one of the top schools I applied to and it was my favorite one 🙂

 

[jebus]

Does Lee Sobotka still teach at WashU? That guy was great (porn mustache and pink disney fannypack notwithstanding), seriously.

 

[Dov]

Three interviews, two waitlists, and one accetance to my top choice. It is apparent to me more than ever this thing is a crap shoot. I actually felt guilty for a few weeks after and didn't tell any of my pre-med friends for awhile. This round turned out bad for so many of my good friends. Many with better stats than I have only rejections to show for it. This whole process sucks.

 

[DrVanNostran]

Three interviews, two waitlists, and one accetance to my top choice. It is apparent to me more than ever this thing is a crap shoot. I actually felt guilty for a few weeks after and didn't tell any of my pre-med friends for awhile. This round turned out bad for so many of my good friends. Many with better stats than I have only rejections to show for it. This whole process sucks.

It scares the hell out of me to know that someone who was accepted to Columbia, only has one acceptance....damn it Burger King should open up a med school for me.

 

[deleted77919]

It scares the hell out of me to know that someone who was accepted to Columbia, only has one acceptance....damn it Burger King should open up a med school for me.

Don't despair friend. You needn't go to Burger King School of Medicine when there's Hollywood Upstairs Medical College featuring such distinguished alumns as Dr. Nick Riviera. "Hi everybody!" "Hi Dr. Nick!"

Edit: To respond to the OP's question, I was very pleased to get accepted where I did, confused by a few waitlists/rejections, and feel like I stumbled into doing the right things (classes, EC's, research) through undergrad. So, at the end of the day, pretty happy guy.

 

[Doctor&Geek]

Does Lee Sobotka still teach at WashU? That guy was great (porn mustache and pink disney fannypack notwithstanding), seriously.

Yeah, I think he does. 😀

 

[Non-TradTulsa]

Include me on this thread. I worked like a dog getting through pre-med courses at night and managed to pull a very respectable MCAT and a great GPA. I thought I was all ready to go - and applied to a lot of top schools, especially on the West Coast. In my heart, though, I really wanted to go to my state allopathic school - it's a very good school and a real bargain for a state resident.

Anyway, the out-of-state interview invitations that I thought would roll in never did. Being as objective as I can be - I also thought I had a very good PS and excellent ECs - I've worked in healthcare for twenty years. I still suspect that my advanced age as a non-trad (43) was a significant factor.

But my state school doesn't consider the intangibles until after the interview - if you're a resident and have the GPA and MCAT, they'll interview you. Once I got to interview, I liked them a lot and they seemed to like me and I was accepted in the first round. And it was at the school I really wanted to go to all along.

I'm very lucky, and happy, and grateful to my new school. There really is a lot that is random in this process - I worked hard to have good credentials - but I would also say that the fact that I "clicked" with the interview team that I happened to get was a huge help - I don't know if that's dumb luck or good karma.

 

[WhiteRussian]

Does Lee Sobotka still teach at WashU? That guy was great (porn mustache and pink disney fannypack notwithstanding), seriously.

I didnt take any chemistry classes past orgo and have never seen him, but apparently he is still here
http://www.chemistry.wustl.edu/faculty/sobotka