Need wise non-trad words

[Nanon]

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When I started down this road, I was 25. I am now 39, and will be 40 soon, and am finally applying to medical school. Most of the time, I'm pretty calm about it. I figure that I've done my best given my circumstances, and if I'm supposed to end up in medical school, I will.

This is not "most of the time" tonight. I'm recovering from having my gallbladder removed on Thursday, and I did too much today by shopping and taking my kid to a birthday party. I have to go back to work tomorrow, and it's been a while since I was there 100%, so I'm going back to a very full in box. I have 4 secondaries to fill out, my AACOMAS application is down a transcript, my AMCAS application hasn't been verified yet, I still need an LOR from a science prof and I'm having a hard time getting one because it's been so long since I took science classes. Everyone in my life seems entirely convinced that I'll get accepted (even the docs that I work with!), except me. My gpa is just not going to cut it, no matter what the reasons are, and I can't change that without getting another ug degree. I'm still waiting for my MCAT scores, but I'm not expecting anything spectacular.

I really can't say that my life is worse for having tried to do this, but I'm steeling myself for the eventuality that I will have to change course and do something else. I'm not ready. It makes me really sad. I guess I could use some wise words from others who have faced this.

S.

 

[student1799]

I have 4 secondaries to fill out, my AACOMAS application is down a transcript, my AMCAS application hasn't been verified yet, I still need an LOR from a science prof and I'm having a hard time getting one because it's been so long since I took science classes. Everyone in my life seems entirely convinced that I'll get accepted (even the docs that I work with!), except me. My gpa is just not going to cut it, no matter what the reasons are, and I can't change that without getting another ug degree. I'm still waiting for my MCAT scores, but I'm not expecting anything spectacular.

I really can't say that my life is worse for having tried to do this, but I'm steeling myself for the eventuality that I will have to change course and do something else. I'm not ready. It makes me really sad. I guess I could use some wise words from others who have faced this.

S.

Clearly, today is not a good day, and everyone is entitled to one of those. But you can't give up now. For one thing, I've been taking comfort from the fact that you're less freaked out than me, so if you hang it up, what would I do for a role model?

Let's try to look at this from a couple of different angles. That always helps.

1. "Misery loves company" angle: yeah, there are other people going through some of this stuff. I don't have gallbladder, AACOMAS or LOR issues, but my AMCAS isn't verified either (I think you submitted earlier), and I'm really scared that they will screw me on the GPA calculation. The only BCPM course I took in undergrad was orgo, which was P/F--and I failed it. This should not count in my GPA, but my transcript makes no distinction between an F in a P/F course and an F in a course that was taken for a grade, so I'm scared that AMCAS will disallow the P/F and count the F in my average--which will ruin both my uGPA (will take below 3.0) and my BCPM. I am really terrified about this.

In addition, I realized last night that even though I'm generally a very strong writer, my PS is total ****. I disregarded my own instincts and listened too much to others as to what should be in it (clinical anecdotes rather than life story), but to make that work and still fit in the bare outlines of the story, I had to resort to Scrabble-like word games (like replacing "realized" with "knew") just to save characters. Result: my usually flowing writing style came out all clipped and choppy, like a bad parody of Ernest Hemingway. ("I worked at the hospital. It was good.") But because I was in such a rush to get the thing out, I didn't see what was wrong with it until it was too late.

Now I feel like shooting myself in the head. With a life story that is only one level below yours in complexity, I really needed a good PS to make my case to the schools, and now I've blown it. There goes any shot I might have had with the better places.

Plus I don't have ANY secondaries done yet (I've gotten 3 so far).

So, you have some company out there (me).

2. The "it's too late to give up" angle. It is, really. Think of all the work you've done already. Yeah, the GPA isn't great (although your uGPA is still a tiny bit better than mine!), but I bet YOU don't have a s***** PS, and I'm sure your surgeons wrote you great LORs. (P.S. Why not ask them to make some PHONE CALLS for you, to try and help out your application a bit? They must know someone at some med school somewhere. I doubt they can get you in just like that, but they may be able to ease the way somewhat, possibly helping you get an interview at a school that might otherwise have passed you over. It's time they did something for you. But you have to explain to them very frankly how much you really need your help--they may think you'll be fine on your own, and you have to convince them that you may not be.)

Although most allo schools will probably be an uphill battle, I think you do have a shot at DO school. (Dr. Midlife had stats remarkably like yours, and she got into a DO--NOVA, plus she still had a couple of interview invites outstanding when that acceptance came.) Check out her profile and make sure you've applied to all of her schools--add them if you haven't.

If all else fails, you can take a few science courses next year to boost your sGPA. (That's the real hurdle, because the uGPA is at least over 3.0, which would be MUCH harder to fix.) I bet you can improve it if you just allow yourself the time to take the courses. I think everything else about your app is going to be great, so even reapplying wouldn't be a disaster.

3. Everyone here knows you are tough as nails and have already been through worse in your life. You're a survivor, and too stubborn to let this bull**** get you down. Just replay some of those home movies in your mind of what your past was like, and look where you are now. THIS HAS TO BE EASIER THAN THAT WAS. You're almost there.

'Cmon, buck up. Your're gonna make it, I swear.

P.S. One more thought: you're not even 40, which is still young enough to keep trying for a while. Look at me: I'm 45 and applying for the first time. SO YOU HAVE FIVE MORE YEARS BEFORE YOU'RE EVEN IN MY BOAT. Doesn't that make you feel better?

 

[DrMidlife]

Take a week off from app season. You need to heal from surgery and even without app season you have a full plate. Take a sick day if you don't feel good this week. Don't make me come make you do it.

You can EASILY afford to take a week off, because all your apps are incomplete, and they're going to stay incomplete until your MCAT score and that LOR show up. You have time to breathe. This year sucks emotionally, but nothing that looks like a crisis actually IS a crisis.

When you're ready to face app season again, here's what to do, in order:

1. Go after that LOR - call, email, whatever you need to do. Full court press. Get on a plane if that'll close the deal.

2. Wait until you have a pile of secondaries, and then go after them wholesale, not more than once a week. All the essays, with some intriguing exceptions, want to know why you're special, why you love their school, and how you'll add diversity to their program. In a month you'll be able to answer this question when wakened from a dead sleep at 3 am. Start with a stock essay, and modify it for each school. Give yourself a time budget per school, and I'd be surprised if you could afford more than an hour apiece.
(p.s. there's no good answer to "why our school?" but you have to go through the motions of finding items of interest on their website, enumerating them in your "why our school" essay, and commenting on how they'd make your life complete)
(pps: don't hesitate to blow off a reach school if you lose enthusiasm for it. You're $30 invested now; don't blow another $100 plus stress if you're not excited to spend it.)

3. Don't panic. Don't panic. Don't panic. When you do panic, pick up one of your kids or put your face in your husband's chest. Put things in perspective: med school is something you want, what's done is done, it's out of your hands now, and what's going to happen is going to happen.

You're going to survive this, but it's going to suck for a while now. Hang in there.

Edit #1: Send another transcript for the one that's missing. It's what, $10? Just order another one. The day you order it, AACOMAS will show it received.

Edit #2: Apply to Nova so we can sit in back and be cynical together. I don't start until '09 now.

 

[Empi]

I went to an open house at PCOM last week and I realized that PCOM is the place I really want to attend. I started feeling a bit of panic realizing that only a fraction of qualified applicants get accepted.

I have decided that I am not going to worry about this stuff because its making me sick.

Rather, I am going to enjoy this life and look upon my endeavors as an adventure. How many people even get the privilege of *trying* to get into medical school. I also believe there is little random in this life; if you are to get in, you will get in.

You need to rest and recover from surgery (sorry, I didn't know or else I would have said a prayer for you.) As midlife said, take a week off, lallygag around and nurture yourself. Abdominal surgery takes something out of you and you just won't be yourself for a few weeks. This isn't a bad sign or a time to feed doubts, it's a normal weak time for an individual.

In a few weeks time, you will be your own old audacious self (and you are one of my favorite characters on this board.)

 

[Lacheln]

When I started down this road, I was 25. I am now 39, and will be 40 soon, and am finally applying to medical school. Most of the time, I'm pretty calm about it. I figure that I've done my best given my circumstances, and if I'm supposed to end up in medical school, I will.

This is not "most of the time" tonight. I'm recovering from having my gallbladder removed on Thursday, and I did too much today by shopping and taking my kid to a birthday party. I have to go back to work tomorrow, and it's been a while since I was there 100%, so I'm going back to a very full in box. I have 4 secondaries to fill out, my AACOMAS application is down a transcript, my AMCAS application hasn't been verified yet, I still need an LOR from a science prof and I'm having a hard time getting one because it's been so long since I took science classes. Everyone in my life seems entirely convinced that I'll get accepted (even the docs that I work with!), except me. My gpa is just not going to cut it, no matter what the reasons are, and I can't change that without getting another ug degree. I'm still waiting for my MCAT scores, but I'm not expecting anything spectacular.

I really can't say that my life is worse for having tried to do this, but I'm steeling myself for the eventuality that I will have to change course and do something else. I'm not ready. It makes me really sad. I guess I could use some wise words from others who have faced this.

S.

Hey Hon,

I hope you're feeling better already since you posted it a couple of days ago, but I wanted to say hi anyway. What struck me most about your post is that you sound very tired. I know that when I'm really tired, my mood takes a nose dive and EVERYTHING feels hard. You need to REST. NOW. Take a sick day, set aside the application stuff for the moment and get some sleep. I promise you will see things differently when you aren't exhausted.

 

[Nanon]

I just want to say how really touched I was this morning to read all of this, and the really wonderful pm's, too. I had NO IDEA that so many of you were rooting for me like that. Last night when I posted, I think I was really tired, and I think maybe vicodin is not my neurochemical friend. But a lot of what I said is what's lurking underneath my veneer of indifference most of the time. I only scratched the surface in terms of what's been going on this summer - my favorite thing was that we all came down with lice for 3 weeks. I took the MCAT with lice and gall bladder disease. That in itself made this whole thing feel like a subplot in a Woody Allen movie.

I'm taking everyone's advice and taking the day off. They won't be pleased, but they'll understand (or at least I hope they do). I have an appointment with a mentor of mine today who will be writing me an LOR that I think can replace the science LOR at some schools, and he's always someone who gives me a boost, even when he gives me bad news. After that, I'll send out the transcript request to AACOMAS and maybe even have my passport size pic taken if I can get it together to put makeup on. I'm going to make doctor's appointments that I've been putting off, too (eye and dentist). Just that makes me feel so much better about stuff.

I just want to say thank you thank you thank you! You guys are such a special community of people, and I really appreciate your support. Know that I've got your backs, too! And Dr. Midlife, I'm going to apply to NOVA, because that sounds too good to pass up...

S