my house burned down. MCAT in 2 wks. and other things.

[Chiasma]

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Hi all --

I'm in need of some guidance. Here are my fun facts:

Age: 25 years

Undergrad: Wesleyan 2006 (GPAs are cumulative)
1st year: GPA 3.8.
5.75 credits fall, 5.75 credits spring
2nd year: GPA 3.62
7 credits for fall semester, so had 1 W in fall for TA tutorial to get to 6 credits. Still tutored, but conflict w/timing of seminar, so I didn't get "academic" credit for it. C in orgo fall semester, but retook later with A+. 1 W in spring when my lab research was proving more time consuming.
3rd year: GPA 3.49
I actually didn't really attend university at all my third year - left in October. I was violently sexually assaulted and took a leave of absence, with incompletes for all my fall classes.
4th year: GPA 3.38
I returned to university abruptly, and had to do my incompletes at the same time as catching back up to pace with other classes. 2 W's that fall term: dropped my art double major to just focus on my major in neuroscience & behavior and graduate on time, as well as be able to do some work on those incompletes. Shaken up on the return to school, but focus was to push through it and move on.

Since graduation:
Working in biotech. I was a grant coordinator, then worked for a pharma, and then moved to research at UCSF. Currently in process of putting together a manuscript for the research I'm doing at UCSF in neuroimmunology.

Post bac:
UC-Berkeley Extension classes evenings & wkends. GPA: 4.0 with Orgo I (A+) Orgo II (A+) Physiology (A) Cancer Biology (A+) Statistics (A+) and Anatomy (A)


The thing about the academic record:
No one likes the downward GPA trend. I've always been an amazing student, so that experience was very heartwrenching. And I'm talking being an amazing student from since I can remember anything - Cum Laude Society in one of the toughest high school preps in the country. Taking 7 credit hours in a semester and still getting As. That has just been my style - and well, things happen. With the other things going on (as you’ll see below) in my life, it just hardly seems worthwhile to explain that I had all A+ on my exams for Bio 225, except one I failed: one because my mom was in the hospital & my friend committed suicide over the same weekend before an exam the professor wouldn't let me reschedule. So I got a B overall - so what? - life goes on.

Life Goes On: I've been shaped into one damn resilient person.

I've survived the undergrad sexual assault crisis pretty amazingly (except the academic record).

Starting in 2007, I went through a 2+ year period of continual, unrelenting daily pain from a rare neurological disorder. It's strange to know that the good days were the ones where pain was 3-4, with spikes of 7. I endured days on end of 9-10 pain. After 2 years, a correct diagnosis was made and has changed my life. Thankfully there is a simple NSAID medication that has made the pain entirely go away. Since fall 2009, I've had my life back. My neurologist says that it will work forever, no tolerance, and no ill effects. I appreciate so many small things now…

So, I've put myself to the test since then to figure out whether I'm in shape for med school. Full time lab work, evening classes, and in January 2010, I bought a house with my husband. We remodeled it together.

A few weeks ago, the house burned down. With our busy lives, we hired a contractor to do the bathroom, and he accidentally set the house on fire.

And sometimes life really happens... a week later, my mom was in the cardiac ICU with a pericardial effusion.

Now:
So, I just moved out of the hotel we were living in into temporary housing after I got back from seeing my mom. (She’s stable.) I have no books, no papers, no documents... nada. My MCAT is supposed to be June 17th.

I took the MCAT a couple years ago during my pain phase, with a 31S. My practice exams had been around 37-38, and I know if I'm in the right mind frame I can do better. My original scores are still good.

Dear readers:
Do I wait to send out my apps until I can re-take the exam?
Do I bother retaking the exam?
Do I still have a chance to get this all together?
What should be my order of operations here?


[I didn't even mention the parts about how I've been helping to run a hospital in Iran since I was 15. I was there last year. Is it worth mentioning that I've been able to scrub in and watch hundreds of surgeries? Even through the surgeon's scope? I'm awfully in love with it all... If I have to wait another year to apply I'll have died of anticipation...]

 

[Chiasma]

of course, the other things:

I've been doing lab research since I was 13 or 14. First it was summers at Yale, and then in undergrad for 2.5 years, and then at UCSF since 2007. Range from immunology, developmental neurology, and now neuroimmunology. I work in the lab a lot.

shadowing experience. casually with co-workers, but mostly at the hospital in iran and with my dad's clinic.

started fundraising for hospital when i was in high school. did non-profit paperwork with my sister and traveled to other countries to see how other non-profit hospitals operate. continued through college, and started ordering hospital equipment and contacting companies for donations. traveled to hospital and shadowed doctors there, where there are about 70-100 patients per day, and 8-14 surgeries per day. Have been there for stretches of a month at a time.

piano for about 15 years...losing track now. i make complicated electronic fire art, and part of a group that has gotten a guinness world record, other regional awards, and funding to travel through europe. i got my EMT cert in 2005. I fence (6 yrs), and go climbing and hiking. I tutor in farsi. I did things in undergrad like "science house" but that hardly seems to matter now it seems. Led the emergency medical group at college, but i doubt anyone's heard of it. All those things from undergrad seem like so long ago! are they still relevant?

 

[loveoforganic]

I'd include everything you mentioned. I'd apply, and you can check off that you have another mcat score coming. If you apply broadly, I'd be surprised if you didn't get in anywhere.

 

[noshie]

Nice to see another Iranian on here! 😉 Your story is really powerful. You should include everything, especially the illness and helping run a hospital in Iran. As for the MCAT, Maybe you can reschedule it..? The 31 is not bad, but with the downward GPA trend it can look that way. If you don’t have any MCAT materials to study with, this can be a problem with the test coming so close. I know I could not have reviewed before the test without my own hand written notes, picking up a random book just would not have helped that close to the test.

To answer your questions:

Do I wait to send out my apps until I can re-take the exam?
It depends on when you take it. If you will be taking it in Late July or early August then no, don’t wait to turn in your apps because it will take them a while to process it. Also you will likely not be weeded out quickly with the original MCAT score of 31.

Do I bother retaking the exam?
Only if you feel you can achieve at least 4 points higher. Even not hitting the 37-38 range you have been doing on practice tests, I think you still have a shot.

Do I still have a chance to get this all together?
This is a personal choice. It sucks waiting another year to reapply. I know how it feels to be in a position where you have to just decide that this year doesn’t feel right. I am a reapplicant and I didn’t apply last year because I realized that it would be much better if I came back and applied with a stronger application. If you feel like the things going on in your life are going to affect a shot at acceptance, there is nothing wrong with waiting a year to pull everything together! However, it also depends on if your first MCAT will expire next year or not.

What should be my order of operations here?

You should figure out what to do about the MCAT coming up. Don’t take it if you don’t feel ready. A downward MCAT and GPA trend will HAUNT you.

Then decide on when you will apply. Applying late in the cycle will really hinder acceptances. By late I mean submitting in August. If your new MCAT doesn’t come back by September you will be in a bad position.

You have so many unique experiences. I think that gathering your thoughts on how you want to present it will be the key in gaining acceptances. Having lost so much in a fire, it may be hard for you to put together an effective application right now.

Good Luck! I really hope you get accepted, I can tell that you are a very humble person that has been through a lot. Just keep your head up and focus on this journey. Don’t let anything bring you down.

 

[Chiasma]

@loveoforganic: I guess that begs the question: is it better to just get into any school and go to it or to hold off for something you really wanted? I'd love to go to a CA school so that I can keep my student loan debt down. I'm also married and would like to be in a place where my husband can find appropriate work (he is a biotech software engineer). Granted, he has said that he would come with me anywhere I got in for school.


@noshie: thanks my iranian friend! I very much appreciated reading your response. If I wait until next year, my scores will indeed expire, as I took the MCAT in July of 2008. I agree it is not a terrible score, but it was definitely *not* what I was expecting. However, all of my handwritten notes need to be re-done... and I had months and months of them. I guess it must be for the best, since I learn best when I make notes to begin with. It just takes time.

Would I have any chance at schools in CA or in Boston?

I should mention I am also interested in doing a MPH program; I'd ideally like to do a joint MD-MPH program. I'm thinking that if this year applications do not work out, I could do the MPH first. I've taken some classes at night here and there at UCSF in their mini med school program in epidemiology and loved it. I think it would be very relevant to my interests in the hospital in Iran, and I like the idea of being able to apply my analytical and health skills to a broader population.

 

[taciturngirl]

Hey, Chiasma. A couple thoughts -

1) I don't think you need to worry too much about the downward trend in the ug gpa, as this is clearly justified in light of the assault, etc, and is made up for by a great postbac performance.

2) You need to go with your gut as far as the MCAT is concerned, but I would personally reschedule the MCAT for a date in July - after you've had time to breathe, regroup with some new test materials, solidified your performance on practice exams, etc. I know that people on SDN treat a later MCAT like a serious detriment to your success, but many friends and I took later MCATs (July 31st onward) without it appearing to affect our experiences during the cycle. If you do decide to do a later MCAT, I would still suggest that you try to submit your AMCAS for verification as soon as it's feasible. Also, I would suggest 1) initially submitting primaries ONLY to a couple of schools that you know you'll apply to no matter what you end up scoring, and 2) during the interim between test date and score release, completing secondary app essay questions for the couple of schools that you submitted your primaries to and the schools that you *anticipate* submitting primaries to if your scores end up in your practice range (the secondary essay questions are under the 2010-2011 application threads). It sounds totally convoluted, and it is a pretty stressful way of doing it, but it enables you to potentially save lots of money if your MCAT scores end up not being what you expect.

I think you could have a really strong application, since you've overcome serious obstacles and seem to be able to frame it all in a positive, humorous light. I also had some bad personal health issues transpire during my junior year of college, and while I viewed it as a potential taint on my application, interviewers seemed to really appreciate that I discussed it with honesty and was able to explain how it made me a better person overall and stronger future doctor. I wish you luck!

 

[Chiasma]

Hey, Chiasma. A couple thoughts -

1) I don't think you need to worry too much about the downward trend in the ug gpa, as this is clearly justified in light of the assault, etc, and is made up for by a great postbac performance.

2) You need to go with your gut as far as the MCAT is concerned, but I would personally reschedule the MCAT for a date in July - after you've had time to breathe, regroup with some new test materials, solidified your performance on practice exams, etc. I know that people on SDN treat a later MCAT like a serious detriment to your success, but many friends and I took later MCATs (July 31st onward) without it appearing to affect our experiences during the cycle. If you do decide to do a later MCAT, I would still suggest that you try to submit your AMCAS for verification as soon as it's feasible. Also, I would suggest 1) initially submitting primaries ONLY to a couple of schools that you know you'll apply to no matter what you end up scoring, and 2) during the interim between test date and score release, completing secondary app essay questions for the couple of schools that you submitted your primaries to and the schools that you *anticipate* submitting primaries to if your scores end up in your practice range (the secondary essay questions are under the 2010-2011 application threads). It sounds totally convoluted, and it is a pretty stressful way of doing it, but it enables you to potentially save lots of money if your MCAT scores end up not being what you expect.

I think you could have a really strong application, since you've overcome serious obstacles and seem to be able to frame it all in a positive, humorous light. I also had some bad personal health issues transpire during my junior year of college, and while I viewed it as a potential taint on my application, interviewers seemed to really appreciate that I discussed it with honesty and was able to explain how it made me a better person overall and stronger future doctor. I wish you luck!

Thanks! I mean, I'd like to think that all this "other life experience" counts for something good -- just because I can't imagine thinking about it any other way. It has certainly solidified my ability to deal with ridiculous and unexpected difficult situations, and it is kind of nice to know that I have that quality now.

Re: MCAT - does this mean I should first apply to more my safety net schools and then up the ante after I get my scores? I heard from counselors that if you send your primary app to a school after August 1st, then you're pretty much asking to be waitlisted :-/ Is this true?


My other concern is that I very much want to go into ophthalmology, and the residency slots are quite competitive. I know it seems early to make a decision about a specialty, but the hospital in Iran is an ophthalmology hospital pretty exclusively. And I really like ophthalmology! I spoke with some great people over at Deaconness/Beth-Israel in the fall about my concerns wrt residency programs and going to medical school abroad (I was considering medical school in Iran since I could start that more immediately and be with the hospital during that time). They told me that it is very difficult to get a position coming from a foreign school; and they told me as well that a lot of the way that residency slots are assigned are based on which medical school you go into in the first place.

So, that is part of my concern as to whether to postpone applying or go for it. I'd like to not rule out my chances of ophthalmology training, and I'd like to go as expediently as possible so that I can help out this hospital.

 

[taciturngirl]

Thanks! I mean, I'd like to think that all this "other life experience" counts for something good -- just because I can't imagine thinking about it any other way. It has certainly solidified my ability to deal with ridiculous and unexpected difficult situations, and it is kind of nice to know that I have that quality now.

Re: MCAT - does this mean I should first apply to more my safety net schools and then up the ante after I get my scores? I heard from counselors that if you send your primary app to a school after August 1st, then you're pretty much asking to be waitlisted :-/ Is this true?


My other concern is that I very much want to go into ophthalmology, and the residency slots are quite competitive. I know it seems early to make a decision about a specialty, but the hospital in Iran is an ophthalmology hospital pretty exclusively. And I really like ophthalmology! I spoke with some great people over at Deaconness/Beth-Israel in the fall about my concerns wrt residency programs and going to medical school abroad (I was considering medical school in Iran since I could start that more immediately and be with the hospital during that time). They told me that it is very difficult to get a position coming from a foreign school; and they told me as well that a lot of the way that residency slots are assigned are based on which medical school you go into in the first place.

So, that is part of my concern as to whether to postpone applying or go for it. I'd like to not rule out my chances of ophthalmology training, and I'd like to go as expediently as possible so that I can help out this hospital.

Holy crap, I wrote a novel!

Re: the MCAT:

I think it's probably best to listen to experienced advisers, but in my own experience (anecdotal, but still), the SDN emphasis on super-early submission is a little overblown. Following the advice of my adviser, I initially submitted my primary to about four schools that I knew I would apply to no matter what (safeties, state schools, alma mater, etc). I then took the MCAT in late July and submitted more primaries as soon as I received my scores in early Sept. In other words, my application was considered complete (primary and secondary submitted, MCAT scores in, LORs in, etc) at the various schools through September and October. Overall, the app cycle went well for me and I was able to get into six schools (two being top-20) with a strong but by no means stellar application. I know several people who didn't take the MCAT until well into August - meaning they were complete a little later than me - who also fared well (some top 10 acceptances). It's a fine line, though. You're right in that a later submission can screw you over at some rolling schools - you may want to check out school threads from 2009-2010 and see what schools filled their interview slots earlier (NYU and Pitt stand out in my mind). You are potentially playing with fire if you don't achieve the MCAT score you expect and submit later, but if your MCAT score proves to be in the range that you described and your application is otherwise good, you *should* be okay with a later submission. You just have to keep in mind that the app cycle will be a little bit shifted for you - if you submit in Sept, you may be receiving interview invites for Dec/Jan/Feb interviews (in contrast to those SDNers who will be holding multiple acceptances on Oct 15). It also may be more important to apply broadly if you're submitting in August and September.

All of this is for nought if you truly think that you can do well at the MCAT date you already have set. But if you don't feel totally confident, then I do think it makes more sense to push it back a little and submit later with the *strongest possible application* than to submit earlier but with a glaring weakness.

I agree with the people who advised against going to a foreign medical school. At the hospital where I work, we have several people from foreign medical schools (Pakistan particularly) who have to jump over a lot of hurdles in order to get into *any* American residency programs. It is by no means impossible, but the residency matching system does seem to be exponentially more difficult for foreign medical students.