No-II Gang HOW WE FEELIN ABOUT THIS WEEK? ~2020 edition~

[akg0119]

Title taken from the 2019 thread and ~ updated ~.

I realize it's super early in the cycle, but as we all know on SDN it's never too early to start worrying (before someone @s me.... this is a joke).

As we head into a II-free weekend, how are we feeling? Or are our vibes just:

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[Zebra88]

feelsbadman

 

[RJ McReady]

My advice to you...
You’re welcome.

 

[akg0119]

Thank you @RJ McReady for the validation I didn't know I needed

 

[deleted1009115]

 

[Bloobury]

*checks watch*

Captain's log, September 12th, 2020.

It has been 46 days since my first secondaries were completed. Still no word. We can only assume the worst.

*starts planning for next year's application cycle*

 

[M&L]

Guys I know that whatever I say, you will all still worry, but I didn’t get My first II till October , even though I submitted everything literally the first day application opened . And they slowly trickled till January - ended up with 6 invitations that turned into 4 acceptances and 2 WL. Don’t worry till at least January or February. I literally told myself : “ I won’t let myself think About it till January “. (Btw my first acceptance wasn’t until late February ).

 

[Bloobury]

Bless you sweet moderator M&L and all those who have been through this gauntlet who are helping us keep the faith!

 

[Microbe_Hunter]

Hoping this week is the historic II week

 

[zeddd78893]

>be me
>in middle school
>always picked last in basketball team
>even when in team no ball given to me
>grow up
>"if you work hard in life you will succeed"
>apply to med school
>don't get in
>work incredibly hard and apply again
>still get no II
>feels like middle school

ah how I miss green text :,)

 

[Zebra88]

Hoping this week is the historic II week

Wait is this a thing

 

[MDMechEngr]

Bless you sweet moderator M&L and all those who have been through this gauntlet who are helping us keep the faith!

Hope you dont mind me asking, but did you only apply DO? Your signature block says you only apply to 6 schools?

 

[Bloobury]

Hope you dont mind me asking, but did you only apply DO? Your signature block says you only apply to 6 schools?

Actually only applied MD. Given my MCAT and GPA I'm somewhere in the 50% chance of getting in range, given AAMC's tables. My state school is my top choice, so I figured I'd apply this year and see what happens. I'm old, so no point in wasting time and money applying to schools I don't have much chance of getting into or that I wouldn't want to relocate to. If I don't get in this year, I'll broaden to DO schools. I'm hoping my public health career, research experience, EC's, strong LORs, etc will help overcome my low GPA. Taking some more classes in the interim to get a bit of a post-bac boost, but I have so many credits there is just no budging my cGPA, unfortunately.

 

[Microbe_Hunter]

 

[MB190E]

Last week I became the only friend in the group without an II.
Feelsbadman

Trying to stay positive but that II can't come soon enough

 

[akg0119]

Wait is this a thing

I think by historic they mean "the week we finally get a II"

 

[KnightDoc]

Actually only applied MD. Given my MCAT and GPA I'm somewhere in the 50% chance of getting in range, given AAMC's tables. My state school is my top choice, so I figured I'd apply this year and see what happens. I'm old, so no point in wasting time and money applying to schools I don't have much chance of getting into or that I wouldn't want to relocate to. If I don't get in this year, I'll broaden to DO schools. I'm hoping my public health career, research experience, EC's, strong LORs, etc will help overcome my low GPA. Taking some more classes in the interim to get a bit of a post-bac boost, but I have so many credits there is just no budging my cGPA, unfortunately.

Please forgive me for either being presumptuous or stupid, but, why, given you are "old" (whatever that means ), have a low GPA that won't budge, otherwise have a decent MCAT, story and experiences, and seem to be at least a little picky regarding where you are willing to live, did you not just take the full shot now and apply DO in addition to MD?

I ask because, unless you have a really compelling reason to wait, why risk losing another year? If you get into MD, GREAT. If not, but you get into DO, what do you gain by waiting the year, assuming your situation is stable and there is nothing you can do in the next year to meaningfully more the needle for a MD reapplication?

If you don't want to waste time this year applying to schools you don't have much chance at, why waste a year applying to DO only after you see what happens with MD, when you can do both now? Just consider the DO application fees cheap insurance against losing a year. The money spent on fees will be nothing compared to beginning this career one year earlier. And, keep in mind that because the DO cycle runs later, you still have plenty of time to apply this cycle.

 

[Bloobury]

Please forgive me for either being presumptuous or stupid, but, why, given you are "old" (whatever that means ), have a low GPA that won't budge, otherwise have a decent MCAT, story and experiences, and seem to be at least a little picky regarding where you are willing to live, did you not just take the full shot now and apply DO in addition to MD?

I ask because, unless you have a really compelling reason to wait, why risk losing another year? If you get into MD, GREAT. If not, but you get into DO, what do you gain by waiting the year, assuming your situation is stable and there is nothing you can do in the next year to meaningfully more the needle for a MD reapplication?

If you don't want to waste time this year applying to schools you don't have much chance at, why waste a year applying to DO only after you see what happens with MD, when you can do both now? Just consider the DO application fees cheap insurance against losing a year. The money spent on fees will be nothing compared to beginning this career one year earlier. And, keep in mind that because the DO cycle runs later, you still have plenty of time to apply this cycle.

It's not stupid - I definitely fit the bill for a DO school in that I'm interested in primary care and have a low GPA, but that's about where my interest in DO ends. The DO school in my state costs almost double the MD school tuition, so it's the last resort for me. There are some other DO programs I looked at, but I'm not terribly interested in osteopathic medicine and have only shadowed MDs, so the only advantage of DO is that I have a better chance of getting in. But I have a great job with a good salary, my career is in a good place, and I'm reasonably happy where I am for now. I'm not in a rush to get into medical school, so I don't consider it "losing" a year. If it takes me two cycles to get in, so be it. I'm just a smidge past 30 and I've enjoyed my career, even if I know it's not what I want forever. I don't have any debt, and I'm not minding the prospect of having another year to work and travel and get more clinical experience prior to buckling down for school. Also, I chose schools very intentionally that are a good fit for my lifestyle (trail runner, rock climber, cyclist/mtber) with good access to the outdoors in places I wouldn't mind living for four years. My state MD school is my top choice, and I worked on that campus for 4 years with two super solid LORs from faculty at the school, so I'm hopeful that will act in my favor.

 

[Microbe_Hunter]

Wait is this a thing

I think its an SDN myth or maybe just a coincidence but theres usually a week to several week period where many schools give out IIs

 

[PeteytheFish]

For those panicking about IIs, just remember that it is super early and interview patterns cannot be predicted. I got my first II in November and my last II in March and got accepted without a waitlist everywhere I interviewed. I'm now an MS1 at the school that interviewed me in March.

It's incredibly difficult, but you just have to play the long game. Med school application cycles are lawless. Just go with it and expect to be surprised.

 

[akg0119]

For those panicking about IIs, just remember that it is super early and interview patterns cannot be predicted. I got my first II in November and my last II in March and got accepted without a waitlist everywhere I interviewed. I'm now an MS1 at the school that interviewed me in March.

It's incredibly difficult, but you just have to play the long game. Med school application cycles are lawless. Just go with it and expect to be surprised.

A truly inspiring post as we almost begin a new week.... lets hope we all get IIs and kick ourselves off this thread!!!

 

[WhatisMedicine]

I managed to make it a while without checking SDN/reddit and getting nervous, but I've back on and I'm more neurotic than ever. I'm just hoping I get an II soon so I can be sure there's no hidden red flag on my application.

 

[akg0119]

Me today + probably the rest of this week:

 

[Bloobury]

I managed to make it a while without checking SDN/reddit and getting nervous, but I've back on and I'm more neurotic than ever. I'm just hoping I get an II soon so I can be sure there's no hidden red flag on my application.

I feel that! I had been pretty accepting that I wouldn't be in any school's "first pick" pile, so as soon as I submitted my secondaries I was ready to hunker down for a few months. ...And then I got on SDN and saw all the II's rolling in and it made me start to feel bad. But here's another way to look at it - high stat people get a lot of interviews but can only go to one school, and once they start sending offers, those high stat people are going to start dropping out of the pool. So, at least for my school list, I'm hopeful that only a tiny amount of the higher stat/early interview folks will have those schools for their top choice, so they'll accept offers from higher tier schools and not actually take too many of the valuable slots at the schools where I'm hoping to get interviews.

 

[Bloobury]

Me today + probably the rest of this week:

View attachment 318281

With your LM and WARS, I wouldn't worry too much!

 

[bravemonwooper]

every email activates my fight or flight :')

 

[akg0119]

With your LM and WARS, I wouldn't worry too much!

I feel like I may be a case where LM/WARS don't accurately convey everything. I spent the last few years reinventing and I'm making up for a messy undergrad record. But I guess we'll see what happens

 

[Bloobury]

I feel like I may be a case where LM/WARS don't accurately convey everything. I spent the last few years reinventing and I'm making up for a messy undergrad record. But I guess we'll see what happens

I have to make up for my UG too, but I'm hopeful for both of us!

 

[drbatsandwich]

While I do have an interview, its not MD and the tuition is absurd, so I’m not really counting that one. Definitely a last resort situation. Please oh please let this be the week!

 

[babygreenbeans]

just realized UMich has given out a third of its interviews already lmao i hope other schools are not on the same track

 

[viralhiker]

just realized UMich has given out a third of its interviews already lmao i hope other schools are not on the same track

Michigan interviews at least 500 applicants. They’ve given out about 100 invites so far. That means 80% of their interview slots are remaining.

 

[EdgeTrimmer]

Michigan interviews at least 500 applicants. They’ve given out about 100 invites so far. That means 80% of their interview slots are remaining.

That's how it is at pretty much every school.

 

[babygreenbeans]

Michigan interviews at least 500 applicants. They’ve given out about 100 invites so far. That means 80% of their interview slots are remaining.

is the interview tracker on the website inaccurate? it says 158 interviews scheduled

 

[deleted1054719]

just realized UMich has given out a third of its interviews already lmao i hope other schools are not on the same track

The more wild number is Mich is at over 9k applications already while last year they barely broke 8k

 

[drbatsandwich]

The more wild number is Mich is at over 9k applications already while last year they barely broke 8k

How does one go about finding out that kind of information?

 

[deleted1054719]

How does one go about finding out that kind of information?

They have a tracker on their website for the current cycle and on the MD class profile of their previous cycle they had their past applications numbers

 

[WhatisMedicine]

The idea that I may have to wait until thanksgiving to know if I should be concerned abt no II is killing me inside.

 

[akg0119]

The idea that I may have to wait until thanksgiving to know if I should be concerned abt no II is killing me inside.

I have never seem time pass as slowly as September so far

 

[Light-Gas]

Radio silence so far, except for WashU trying to get my hopes up.

 

[Zebra88]

Another Thursday another lack of vita requests lol

 

[eartharte]

On the bright side, no pre-II rejections yet

 

[akg0119]

Radio silence so far, except for WashU trying to get my hopes up.

Dont know whether to be relieved or concerned I haven't gotten these emails

 

[babygreenbeans]

Dont know whether to be relieved or concerned I haven't gotten these emails

if you haven't heard with a hold from ucsd or drexel (assuming you're applying there) it's good

 

[PaladinX]

Anyone else submit secondaries late August/early September sittin here like:

 

[babygreenbeans]

sad, sad week

 

[tennismaven]

Bummer of a week. 515 MCAT, 3.9 sGPA, complete at 33 schools in late July to mid August. CA, ORM, traditional applicant.

 

[la flame]

those New York Podiatry emails are getting tempting now...

 

[futuretrashwoman]

SoCal resident here... I’m slowly withering away from no IIs and the poor air quality making it more impossible to do safe-socially distant outdoor activities. What a time to be alive.

 

[drbatsandwich]

This sucks

 

[Northern Orca]

Hang in there y'all! 2020 has been brutal but there's gonna be light at the end of the tunnel and let's continue doing our best in the things that are still within our control!