Med School Interview Inadequacy

[ginseng]

Okay, after reading thousands of posts, I feel kind of disatisfied with my whole application process. I got into schools I am happy with and now am in the process of deciding between UCLA and UCSF, but somehow I feel like I have kept my choices very limited. Once I got into UCSD early in the year, I basically rejected all other interview invitations, especially on the East Coast. I did the same with undergrad. Once I got into schools I am familiar with, I didn't give other schools a chance. I promised myself that I wouldn't do the same come med school, but I did anyway.
The East Coast is just very unfamiliar and I think it just scares me to think of going to somewhere totally different, I mean East and West are very different, e.g.lifestyle, weather, everything. Sure schools in Cali are awesome, and you can't beat the weather and price, but schools on the East Coast and in the midWest are awesome too. I just feel like I might have shunned away a great andexiciting new experience outside of Cali, that's all.

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[jules530]

Are you for reals?? What a show off!

 

[Scooby Doo]

HAha..goddamn man.

I would give anything to have been in your position. You know how much $$$ I wasted flying back and forth back and forth not even knowing if I was going to get into a damn school! Trust me, your choice is much more pleasant than you think.

I would give my left..nah..scratch that..my left and half of my right nut to be in your position.

 

[vyc]

i don't really think that ginseng's being a show-off... he/she's just being honest.

but.

i don't really feel sorry for you bc it was your decision...

it takes courage to risk all you're comfortable with and go some place new.

but some of us can't live without doing it.

 

[HanSolo]

<img border="0" alt="[Laughy]" title="" src="graemlins/laughy.gif" /> <img border="0" alt="[Laughy]" title="" src="graemlins/laughy.gif" /> I dont mean to spoil this thread...but darn, Scooby, your reply is just hilarious <img border="0" alt="[Laughy]" title="" src="graemlins/laughy.gif" /> <img border="0" alt="[Laughy]" title="" src="graemlins/laughy.gif" /> <img border="0" alt="[Laughy]" title="" src="graemlins/laughy.gif" /> cant help!!

 

[Papa Smurf]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by Scooby Doo:
•

I would give my left..nah..scratch that..my left and half of my right nut to be in your position.•••••I don't mean to get all technical on you scoobersons, but I'm pretty sure that we established a while back in the Lounge that you're missing a nut, no? Hence, you only have 1 left to give. Can't give away that which you don't have! :wink:

 

[deva]

Ginseng,

You were lucky to have the option of applying to many schools and flying out to interviews. I didn't apply to schools on the west coast because I knew I couldn't afford the plane tickets.

 

[ginseng]

My point of writing this post was not to show off, rankings, school names, don't really matter to me. And that's the thing, because they don't matter, I feel like I may have not chosen the school that was right for me. I love the choices I have, but somehow I felt like there was going to be some epiphany when I entered a school and angels would fly out with trumps to herald that that school was destined to be for me.
I flew to only one school on the East Coast and that was it. And because of thatI feel like I didn't give schools a chance. I mean, now, I'm hearing abou all these great schools that I rejected interview invitations from that in retrospect have great programs that would have fit me well. Sure I;m saving money, but is money important when you're dealing with the rest of your life. Sorry this sounds too philosophical but all my classes right now are dealing with philosophy and ultimate reality. S maybe blame my mood on these classes.

 

[oneironaut]

Nah, I understand what you're saying I think. I applied to 5 or 6 'Wishlist' schools.. where I never thought I'd even get an interview.

I got interviews at several of them, and am waitlisted at one. Now I wish I had applied to more of the 'big guns.' Not because the name is important, but because I realize it was my own feeling of inadequacy that prevented me from applying to really strong schools.

I only applied to some top schools on someones advice. 'apply to 10 you think are easy, 10 you think you have a fair shot, and 10 you don't think you have a chance in hell.' I'm waitlisted high on one of the 'chance in hell' schools, and wish I'd applied to more.

I never got any angels with trumpets either. . . but if Penn sends me that thick envelope. . .

 

[matthew0126]

man, i guess this tops off the cake to the thought that people are never satisfied
ginseng, whiel you did not have the pleasure/displeasure of visiting all those east coast schools, just rest easy knowing that most people from california would gladly trade you their east coast acceptances for your UCLA UCSF UCSD. chances are very high that you would have elected to go to one of those anyways.

btw, i know you already decided on UCLA, but how about you think some more about UCSF so one more spot opens up from the waitlist for me @ UCLA! hehe jk

 

[MissMedicine]

So did you decide on UCLA or UCSF?

•••quote:•••Originally posted by ginseng:
•Okay, after reading thousands of posts, I feel kind of disatisfied with my whole application process. I got into schools I am happy with and now am in the process of deciding between UCLA and UCSF, but somehow I feel like I have kept my choices very limited. Once I got into UCSD early in the year, I basically rejected all other interview invitations, especially on the East Coast. I did the same with undergrad. Once I got into schools I am familiar with, I didn't give other schools a chance. I promised myself that I wouldn't do the same come med school, but I did anyway.
The East Coast is just very unfamiliar and I think it just scares me to think of going to somewhere totally different, I mean East and West are very different, e.g.lifestyle, weather, everything. Sure schools in Cali are awesome, and you can't beat the weather and price, but schools on the East Coast and in the midWest are awesome too. I just feel like I might have shunned away a great andexiciting new experience outside of Cali, that's all.•••••

 

[otter]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by ginseng:
•My point of writing this post was not to show off, rankings, school names, don't really matter to me. And that's the thing, because they don't matter, I feel like I may have not chosen the school that was right for me. I love the choices I have, but somehow I felt like there was going to be some epiphany when I entered a school and angels would fly out with trumps to herald that that school was destined to be for me.
I flew to only one school on the East Coast and that was it. And because of thatI feel like I didn't give schools a chance. I mean, now, I'm hearing abou all these great schools that I rejected interview invitations from that in retrospect have great programs that would have fit me well. Sure I;m saving money, but is money important when you're dealing with the rest of your life. Sorry this sounds too philosophical but all my classes right now are dealing with philosophy and ultimate reality. S maybe blame my mood on these classes.•••••If you felt such strong epiphany at this one East Coast school, then can I ask why you are not considering that school instead of just UCLA or UCSF?

 

[oldman]

i think i know what you mean by inadequacy. when i got my 1st acceptance, i was really happy. then about a month later, i started to hope for one of the fancy famous big name schools. i got greedy! i think it's human nature to wonder what we could have had. we are never satisfied.

 

[Hero]

The headmaster of my school once said to me, "It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live, remember that."

 

[oldman]

the commandant of cadets at my school once said, "god damn birkenstock wearing tree hugging hippies."

he was special ops during the vietnam war

 

[racerx]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by oldman:
•the commandant of cadets at my school once said, "god damn birkenstock wearing tree hugging hippies."

he was special ops during the vietnam war •••••LOL!!!
A Drill Sergeant I had while in Infantry school had a shoe fetish by all apparent indications. His favorite saying was, "Private, I'm gonna kick your ass so hard you'll taste shoe polish." His co-favorite was, "Private, I'll kick your ass so hard, you'll think your ass is a boot factory."

He was actually a nice guy.

 

[ginseng]

I still haven't decided between UCLA, UCSF, and even UCSD for that matter. I have what nine days left?

 

[m2006]

It's true, you did shun away a new and exciting experience by not truly considering east coast schools. However, that doesn't mean you won't have a fantastic experience in CA. It's great that you're thinking about branching out, even if you're not quite ready to do it yet. You have your whole life ahead of you to try other places--since the residency match process is a bit more random than med school admissions, you could end up out here then. Fear not, you can always try new things!

 

[Vader]

Let me ask you: Why did you cancel the interviews on the East coast?

Most people would give an arm or leg (in Scooby's case other parts) to be in your position. From the tone of your post, it seems as though you haven't told us the whole story here.

 

[ginseng]

Vader,
A lot of things went into choosing not to take on East Coast Schools. One was time and money, interviews were so spread apart that I would constantly be flying back east almost every week for just one or two schools, while missing classes at the same time (I still have to pass right?) Also weather and tuition costs factored in. But in retrospect the last two factors are stupid reasons. To make a long story short, when I initially was applying, I thought I would have an easier time getting into schools back east because competition for schools in Cali are so damn hard. So when I started to get into Cali schools, I thought, well the hell with east coast schools without giving them a valid visit. Then when I started to visit friends on the east coast, I would make it a priority to just simply visit schools I refused an interview with, and I loved the feeling of them. But I didn't even give them a chance.

 

[oldman]

when you visited the schools did you fall in love with the buildings? how did you decide that you liked these school?

•••quote:•••Originally posted by ginseng:
•Vader,
A lot of things went into choosing not to take on East Coast Schools. One was time and money, interviews were so spread apart that I would constantly be flying back east almost every week for just one or two schools, while missing classes at the same time (I still have to pass right?) Also weather and tuition costs factored in. But in retrospect the last two factors are stupid reasons. To make a long story short, when I initially was applying, I thought I would have an easier time getting into schools back east because competition for schools in Cali are so damn hard. So when I started to get into Cali schools, I thought, well the hell with east coast schools without giving them a valid visit. Then when I started to visit friends on the east coast, I would make it a priority to just simply visit schools I refused an interview with, and I loved the feeling of them. But I didn't even give them a chance.•••••

 

[ginseng]

I liked the atmosphere, buildings, facilities, areas surrounding them, you know the obvious. I guess I should say that I didn't fall in love with them, because true it takes more than looking at the superficials to decide that, but my initial impressions were very favorable. That's why, I feel like I just didn't give them a chance.

 

[ginseng]

bump