Hey y?all,
I?ve been a lurker here for a while and I think its time I shared my story, cuz I see some questions running around in the forums that I think I could address, especially ones about how to do a LOI (Letter of Intent/Interest). One year ago today I was the most depressed guy in the world and was sure that I was never going to make it, but here I am, in the middle of my 1st year at medical school, and I feel it?s something that I may have helped to push. But let?s back up a bit. I first applied 2 years ago, with overall GPA of 3.4 and a science GPA that was much, much lower, MCAT of 30N, so not bad, but not too great either. I applied uber-late, circa deadline time, and ended up with one interview in mid-March, that led to one waitlist, that led to nowhere. I reapplied the next year, but having been unprepared to apply again, not much of my application had improved, in fact very little at all had changed. Yet I procrastinated again and sent it in late, once again, about mid-September-ish this time. I waited for interviews and eventually scrapped out two, luckily. The first one went pretty bad. The interviewer was interested in medical ethics and I had no idea what he was talking about.
Interviewer: So what would you do if your neighbor brought his kid in because he hurt himself playing but couldn?t pay?
Me: I?d still treat him because it?s the right thing to do.
Interviewer: Okay, but what if it happened again the next week and the next?
Me: I still would treat him because I don?t think I can turn my back on a hurt little kid and do nothing, that?s not why I want to go into medicine.
(Few minutes of similar questioning later)
Interviewer: You know, I keep trying to lead you somewhere and you?re just not getting it. I?m talking about suspected child abuse here, but never mind.
Me: (Thinking ?Oh, F@&$!)
Next interview? My interviewer tells me I?m a nice guy, but probably not gonna make it at his school, just not competitive enough. End result? Wait listed at both, luckily. So, I sent the standard LOI?s to both and waited, as I had done before. Feb, Mar, and Apr rolled around with no change and no new interviews and things were looking grim for me, my friends. In mid-April I called both of my schools to ask for my current position. In both, I was in the lower 1/3 of the wait list pile, and in both I asked about my chances. Both replied that there was abnormally little movement on the WL this year, so I probably just wasn?t going to get in. The low point in my entire life. I sat on a bench on campus for an hour, thinking, ?That?s it, I?m just not gonna make it.?
The next day things changed for me. I knew if I wanted to make it, it was now or never. I proceeded to write LOI?s once again, but these were different. You see, here?s my new theory on LOI?s, based on talking to my other pre-med friends and my experience?many do them, but not everyone does it right, me in the past included. No one?s gonna care about a two paragraph generic letter about how you are still interested in the school, blah blah blah. What?s the real purpose of an LOI??to tell them you want it. You want it bad. Real bad. Real f**in? bad. So there?s no point in writing one if it?s gonna be like one that everyone else writes. I was determined to show them I wanted it REAL bad. My new LOI?s were 2-3 pages typed, single spaced, and addressed directly to the Dean of admissions of the schools, BOTH by snail mail and by email. I proceeded to send one in April, one in May, one in June, one in July, each one with its own theme, like a whole new Personal Statement. One set was about exactly what I like about the school, what I thought about it, my overall experience, and why I would fit in, plus an update on what I was doing. Another was about how much I had learned about medical school this past year and through my application failures, and how I was more determined than ever for medical school, plus an update. Another about what might not be apparent about me in the interviews and my application that I think they should know, plus an update. And for my school of choice, always a definitive ?If accepted, I will definitely commit to attending.? No more time to dilly-dally or beating around the bush. Time to let them know that I wanted it bad. Plus I proceeded to call, and call, and call to ask them if anything's changed. Then after that I called. Like I said, I wanted it BAD.
At this point, some readers may think to themselves, ?That?s too much.? Bull. Worse case scenario, they just won?t read it, you lose nothing. No one?s gonna count this AGAINST you and give you a bad mark on your file, you?re just showing them that, unlike the next guy on the list, you want it BAD, and you want it MORE. Best case scenario, someone will listen.
And someone did. A week before August, I received my first acceptance. Two days later, I received my second acceptance. You guys still waiting around have no idea how it feels to go from complete loser to stressing out about which school to choose (Of course I ended up going to the one that I firmly committed to?its bad form to tell a school you will accept if offered, and then not. But still, the option to choose was GREAT).
So, the lesson of the day? It may be too late to dramatically improve you GPA and may be mentally impossible to retake the MCAT and score an extra 5-6 points, but one thing you can do is show them that you?re serious about this Med school thing, and that you want it much more than the next guy. I was in a position of just about 0 chance of getting in before it turned around for me. Never give up, never surrender, and pray.
BTW, lesson #2: fill out your FAFSA when they tell you. I tell ya, these FinAid people get pretty mad when you inform them that its August and you haven?t done it yet b/c you didn?t think you were gonna get in. Trust me.
So, its a lot of work (remember how long it took to write a PS the first time?), but when it all comes down to it, just how bad to you want it?
I?ve been a lurker here for a while and I think its time I shared my story, cuz I see some questions running around in the forums that I think I could address, especially ones about how to do a LOI (Letter of Intent/Interest). One year ago today I was the most depressed guy in the world and was sure that I was never going to make it, but here I am, in the middle of my 1st year at medical school, and I feel it?s something that I may have helped to push. But let?s back up a bit. I first applied 2 years ago, with overall GPA of 3.4 and a science GPA that was much, much lower, MCAT of 30N, so not bad, but not too great either. I applied uber-late, circa deadline time, and ended up with one interview in mid-March, that led to one waitlist, that led to nowhere. I reapplied the next year, but having been unprepared to apply again, not much of my application had improved, in fact very little at all had changed. Yet I procrastinated again and sent it in late, once again, about mid-September-ish this time. I waited for interviews and eventually scrapped out two, luckily. The first one went pretty bad. The interviewer was interested in medical ethics and I had no idea what he was talking about.
Interviewer: So what would you do if your neighbor brought his kid in because he hurt himself playing but couldn?t pay?
Me: I?d still treat him because it?s the right thing to do.
Interviewer: Okay, but what if it happened again the next week and the next?
Me: I still would treat him because I don?t think I can turn my back on a hurt little kid and do nothing, that?s not why I want to go into medicine.
(Few minutes of similar questioning later)
Interviewer: You know, I keep trying to lead you somewhere and you?re just not getting it. I?m talking about suspected child abuse here, but never mind.
Me: (Thinking ?Oh, F@&$!)
Next interview? My interviewer tells me I?m a nice guy, but probably not gonna make it at his school, just not competitive enough. End result? Wait listed at both, luckily. So, I sent the standard LOI?s to both and waited, as I had done before. Feb, Mar, and Apr rolled around with no change and no new interviews and things were looking grim for me, my friends. In mid-April I called both of my schools to ask for my current position. In both, I was in the lower 1/3 of the wait list pile, and in both I asked about my chances. Both replied that there was abnormally little movement on the WL this year, so I probably just wasn?t going to get in. The low point in my entire life. I sat on a bench on campus for an hour, thinking, ?That?s it, I?m just not gonna make it.?
The next day things changed for me. I knew if I wanted to make it, it was now or never. I proceeded to write LOI?s once again, but these were different. You see, here?s my new theory on LOI?s, based on talking to my other pre-med friends and my experience?many do them, but not everyone does it right, me in the past included. No one?s gonna care about a two paragraph generic letter about how you are still interested in the school, blah blah blah. What?s the real purpose of an LOI??to tell them you want it. You want it bad. Real bad. Real f**in? bad. So there?s no point in writing one if it?s gonna be like one that everyone else writes. I was determined to show them I wanted it REAL bad. My new LOI?s were 2-3 pages typed, single spaced, and addressed directly to the Dean of admissions of the schools, BOTH by snail mail and by email. I proceeded to send one in April, one in May, one in June, one in July, each one with its own theme, like a whole new Personal Statement. One set was about exactly what I like about the school, what I thought about it, my overall experience, and why I would fit in, plus an update on what I was doing. Another was about how much I had learned about medical school this past year and through my application failures, and how I was more determined than ever for medical school, plus an update. Another about what might not be apparent about me in the interviews and my application that I think they should know, plus an update. And for my school of choice, always a definitive ?If accepted, I will definitely commit to attending.? No more time to dilly-dally or beating around the bush. Time to let them know that I wanted it bad. Plus I proceeded to call, and call, and call to ask them if anything's changed. Then after that I called. Like I said, I wanted it BAD.
At this point, some readers may think to themselves, ?That?s too much.? Bull. Worse case scenario, they just won?t read it, you lose nothing. No one?s gonna count this AGAINST you and give you a bad mark on your file, you?re just showing them that, unlike the next guy on the list, you want it BAD, and you want it MORE. Best case scenario, someone will listen.
And someone did. A week before August, I received my first acceptance. Two days later, I received my second acceptance. You guys still waiting around have no idea how it feels to go from complete loser to stressing out about which school to choose (Of course I ended up going to the one that I firmly committed to?its bad form to tell a school you will accept if offered, and then not. But still, the option to choose was GREAT).
So, the lesson of the day? It may be too late to dramatically improve you GPA and may be mentally impossible to retake the MCAT and score an extra 5-6 points, but one thing you can do is show them that you?re serious about this Med school thing, and that you want it much more than the next guy. I was in a position of just about 0 chance of getting in before it turned around for me. Never give up, never surrender, and pray.
BTW, lesson #2: fill out your FAFSA when they tell you. I tell ya, these FinAid people get pretty mad when you inform them that its August and you haven?t done it yet b/c you didn?t think you were gonna get in. Trust me.
So, its a lot of work (remember how long it took to write a PS the first time?), but when it all comes down to it, just how bad to you want it?
