No Interviews Support Group

[MorieRo]

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I completed secondaries September through November and, naturally (?), i have not gotten any interview invites yet. Everybody around me seems to think I should be getting in somewhere--which makes me flip. I was wondering if there were others out there that are in the same position as I am.

I created this thread for the purpose of the support/whining/ranting of applicants that are in the same position as I am only. I appreciate all support, inspirational stories.

My mdapps profile.

 

[taponthecloud]

I completed secondaries September through November and, naturally (?), i have not gotten any interview invites yet. Everybody around me seems to think I should be getting in somewhere--which makes me flip. I was wondering if there were others out there that are in the same position as I am.

I created this thread for the purpose of the support/whining/ranting of applicants that are in the same position as I am only. I appreciate all support, inspirational stories.

My mdapps profile.

You applied as an international student with a 3.66GPA, 31 MCAT, to mostly top ranked MSTPs. Don't tell me you applied late as well...

 

[154465]

Oh I'm feeling the pain. If I got rejected after a couple invites I might be OK with it. But to go with no invites whatsoever is just downright depressing.

 

[MorieRo]

You applied as an international student with a 3.66GPA, 31 MCAT, to mostly top ranked MSTPs. Don't tell me you applied late as well...

yep..only the top ranked mstp s take international students. do you think there is no hope? i took the june mcat and started working on my PS after that. i got my secondaries around august. and started sending them out mid-august.

i feel like if i was going to get rejected anyways, they would not take so long. if the classes are already filled, they'd just send out the rejection letters and get it over with.

 

[taponthecloud]

yep..only the top ranked mstp s take international students. do you think there is no hope? i took the june mcat and started working on my PS after that. i got my secondaries around august. and started sending them out mid-august.

i feel like if i was going to get rejected anyways, they would not take so long. if the classes are already filled, they'd just send out the rejection letters and get it over with.

Yes, there is hope. But, I don't think it's true that you could have only applied to top ranked MSTP programs...Why didn't you consider more regular MD programs?

 

[1956Goldtop]

You probably should have applied more broadly, but at this point there is nothing more you can do but wait and see. You have a great application. Your GPA and MCAT may be holding you back from being a competitive applicant for MSTP programs.

 

[MorieRo]

I was sure I wanted to do MD/PhD and I went for it. Many of these programs have already rejected me from MSTP and are considering me for MD-only. As I look back, however, I realize that I should have gone for MD-only. I could probably get my PhD later if I still wanted to. It seemed to me that not only was MD/PhD exactly what I wanted to do, but I would also be considered for MD-only if rejected. It seemed like the reasonable thing to do given my aspriations.

 

[MorieRo]

You probably should have applied more broadly, but at this point there is nothing more you can do but wait and see. You have a great application. Your GPA and MCAT may be holding you back from being a competitive applicant for MSTP programs.

yeah it doesn't say it there but I got a 24 in the April MCAT. That might be yet another factor. My GPA is very competitive for Grinnell. Last year the highest science GPA was 3.88.

I applied to pretty much every school that accepts international students. I could not have applied more ant broader given my foreign status.

 

[1956Goldtop]

Unfortunately, admissions committees will not be comparing your GPA against other Grinnell students, but rather the applicant pool at large. That being said, I do thing your school has an exception reputation so that may help you out a bit. Your GPA isn't too far below the mean for MSTP acceptances, but your MCAT is a bit farther from the mean MCAT for accepted MSTP students.

 

[scotties123]

i just had my first interview a few days ago and before it, i was just as worried as you. hell, im still worried that i wont get any others. but i think its still kind of early to completely panic. if you dont get anything by march, then start worrying. i could be completely wrong on this, but the way i see it is med schools have a certain number of seats that they can give out. many students get multiple acceptances, but dont drop the ones they dont want until the last minute (march-april). when that happens, there are gonna be more seats opened up. dont worry, i think you'll be ok.

 

[Lshapley]

Unfortunately, admissions committees will not be comparing your GPA against other Grinnell students, but rather the applicant pool at large. That being said, I do thing your school has an exception reputation so that may help you out a bit. Your GPA isn't too far below the mean for MSTP acceptances, but your MCAT is a bit farther from the mean MCAT for accepted MSTP students.

Actually, this is not true across the board. I had heard this from an adcom at one school that they do look at your gpa relative to other applicants from your school (present and past). If I was to speculate, I would believe that this may work in your favor with schools Grinnell students tend to apply to/matriculate at. If only one Grinnell grad applies to a certain med school a year, your relative gpa would be meaningless.

 

[MorieRo]

i just had my first interview a few days ago and before it, i was just as worried as you. hell, im still worried that i wont get any others. but i think its still kind of early to completely panic. if you dont get anything by march, then start worrying. i could be completely wrong on this, but the way i see it is med schools have a certain number of seats that they can give out. many students get multiple acceptances, but dont drop the ones they dont want until the last minute (march-april). when that happens, there are gonna be more seats opened up. dont worry, i think you'll be ok.

that fills my heart with hope. i really do not want to reapply/take the mcats again/work as a lab technician next year. i am keeping my fingers crossed but i am getting smaller and smaller with every rejection. i am a hard working student who is highly involved in a huge spectrum of activities. i do not understand how everything can be stripped down to a two digit number. my impression was that although MCAT is important, it is not everything. i am still hopeful that this is true..

 

[MorieRo]

Actually, this is not true across the board. I had heard this from an adcom at one school that they do look at your gpa relative to other applicants from your school (present and past). If I was to speculate, I would believe that this may work in your favor with schools Grinnell students tend to apply to/matriculate at. If only one Grinnell grad applies to a certain med school a year, your relative gpa would be meaningless.

actually dartmouth seems to accept at least one international student from Grinnell every year. however, i do realize that this fact in no way suggests that they will take on this year, also. i am the only international med school applicant from grinnell this year. if an international student will make it to med school this year, it would have to be me. this is a very small school, i would know if there were others..

 

[NjD00]

Unfortunately, it seems to be more and more true these days at allopathic schools that GPA and MCAT account for 95% of the consideration in a candidate (imo).

However, Grinnell is an extremely difficult school and most of these schools will probably realize that. Along with your pretty-good MCAT and great EC's, I think you have a good chance. Good luck!

 

[MorieRo]

Unfortunately, it seems to be more and more true these days at allopathic schools that GPA and MCAT account for 95% of the consideration in a candidate (imo).

However, Grinnell is an extremely difficult school and most of these schools will probably realize that. Along with your pretty-good MCAT and great EC's, I think you have a good chance. Good luck!

thanks for the support. do you think it could be a good thing that I have not heard from most of the schools yet-i.e., does that mean they are seriously considering me for an interview? i feel that if they were going to reject me because of my stats, they would have done so much earlier through screening.