Official 2015-2016: LizzyM <70 thread
Started by kilez12
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You are giving me hope. Best of luck!
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Yasss congrats...how the hell did you get 9 II !?!??! tell me your ways.
Many years of working in a high-stress military environment as a civilian, many years of volunteering, traveled extensively, first-pub author on neuroscience research, and (according to two of my interviewers) my PS was brutally honest and a good read. I was also surprised by the number of IIs, but I've had a lot of difficulty translating them into acceptances. Perhaps my undergrad GPA was just too bad during the final review process at most of the schools, or perhaps I interview poorly. I was becoming certain that I would be that applicant with many interviews and zero acceptances. It just takes one, though! Thankfully, one of my favorite schools gave me a chance.
I have news! (No formal updates though)
I had a horrible interview on Monday. The interviewer drilled me and dug deeply into my application's weak points while making side comments like "That's a shame," or "At ___ SOM, we look for applicants who are committed for the long term." This experience really made me nervous and insecure about all the hard work that I did in the past four years. After the interview, I felt inadequate and incompetent.
But then I had a WONDERFUL interview today at another SOM. I'm crossing my fingers!!!
Anyways, here is my status:
II: 7 (6 attended)
Rejections: 3
WL: 1
Holds: 1
Silence: 23
I had a horrible interview on Monday. The interviewer drilled me and dug deeply into my application's weak points while making side comments like "That's a shame," or "At ___ SOM, we look for applicants who are committed for the long term." This experience really made me nervous and insecure about all the hard work that I did in the past four years. After the interview, I felt inadequate and incompetent.
But then I had a WONDERFUL interview today at another SOM. I'm crossing my fingers!!!
Anyways, here is my status:
II: 7 (6 attended)
Rejections: 3
WL: 1
Holds: 1
Silence: 23
whoa buddy!
Got an interview invite to OHSU!!
It was seriously such a long time between today and the last bit of news that I got months ago. I had to read the email a few times before I could react appropriately.
Update:
II: 3 MD 4 DO (declined 1 DO, yet to attend 1 MD)
Rejections: 2 MD
Post Interview hold: 1 MD
Acceptances 3 DO
Pending decisions: 1 MD
Waiting: handful MD
I can't believe the contrast between last cycle and this cycle. It's incredible. Last year I spent the entire cycle getting strung along. Not a single interview was offered, and many of my schools decided to silently reject me or wait to reject me until March. It was terrible. I can say that persistence and honestly evaluatng what needs to be improved can help. Keep your heads up! Some of you will be like me last year, but I'm confident you can have success if you work at it!
Got an interview invite to OHSU!!
It was seriously such a long time between today and the last bit of news that I got months ago. I had to read the email a few times before I could react appropriately.
Update:
II: 3 MD 4 DO (declined 1 DO, yet to attend 1 MD)
Rejections: 2 MD
Post Interview hold: 1 MD
Acceptances 3 DO
Pending decisions: 1 MD
Waiting: handful MD
I can't believe the contrast between last cycle and this cycle. It's incredible. Last year I spent the entire cycle getting strung along. Not a single interview was offered, and many of my schools decided to silently reject me or wait to reject me until March. It was terrible. I can say that persistence and honestly evaluatng what needs to be improved can help. Keep your heads up! Some of you will be like me last year, but I'm confident you can have success if you work at it!
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Any turnaround tips?
The best source for direction is the medical schools themselves. Call them as soon as they've made a decision on your application and look for guidance as to what they felt was lacking. Keep calling. Some of them will be very helpful, but any information from them is good information. Realize that another year to prepare can be a good thing for many reasons, and an unsuccessful attempt at admission does not mean you are worthless or unable to reach your goal. If you have specific questions feel free to message me.
Update time, haven't been on here in a while!
II: 3 MD
A: 2 MD
R: ~8 MD pre-interview
SILENCE: ~15 MD schools!
anyone else thinking its really late in the cycle for so many schools to be so silent?
I've been poking around and it makes me so happy to see so many of you guys getting interviews and acceptances 🙂 congrats everyone!
II: 3 MD
A: 2 MD
R: ~8 MD pre-interview
SILENCE: ~15 MD schools!
anyone else thinking its really late in the cycle for so many schools to be so silent?
I've been poking around and it makes me so happy to see so many of you guys getting interviews and acceptances 🙂 congrats everyone!
I'm excited to finally post a hopefully inspiring story that may give hope to others! My LizzyM is around a 58.. I applied to about 20 DO schools strictly because I want to be a DO. I applied pretty much in the beginning of the cycle and was starting to lose hope but finally got two interviews and have now been accepted to one and waitlisted at the other! My undergrad grades were pretty rough but I went through a Masters program and showed great improvements. I have a decent amount of volunteering experiences in a hospital laboratory and shadowing (200 hours or so). I've been working with adults and children with developmental disabilities for 8+ years. I know how hard it can be when you're sure you will be a great doctor but schools may not see past bad stats. In my opinion us <70'ers are probably more well rounded in a lot of ways. Anyways, chin up for those of you still working on it. Never give up and be aggressive (send in updates, letters of intent, etc.). Whatever it takes! If you have something valuable to give to a school make sure you bring that point across. Good luck everyone and be proud of what you've undoubtedly already accomplished!
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Congrats on both your acceptances!!! 🙂 🙂 But yes, has anyone else looked around at last year's application cycle timeline (I know every year is a little different) but I have a TON of schools that are dead silent...Starting to get really worried as christmas rolls around...hopefully Santa will pop his fat*ss down my chimney and hand me a II, or a few 🙂 I'll bake cookies and bring milk directly from the farm for him if i have to.
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Hi All, haven't checked in in a while and its good to see this thread hasn't devolved into some angry poo-slinging flame war lol.
I've had an awesome couple of weeks and got some great news!
LizzyM 69 (3.4, 3.2, 35)
II: 10 MD
Accepted: 4 (Tulane, Va Tech, FIU, FAU)
Waitlist: 1 (U Miami)
Rejected: 6 (Drexel, Dartmouth, GW, CMS Rosalind Franklin, AZ Tucson, Hofstra)
Offered a 1/3 scholarship from Virginia tech😍! Still waiting to hear anything from ~13 schools and awaiting decisions from 5. Good luck everyone!
I've had an awesome couple of weeks and got some great news!
LizzyM 69 (3.4, 3.2, 35)
II: 10 MD
Accepted: 4 (Tulane, Va Tech, FIU, FAU)
Waitlist: 1 (U Miami)
Rejected: 6 (Drexel, Dartmouth, GW, CMS Rosalind Franklin, AZ Tucson, Hofstra)
Offered a 1/3 scholarship from Virginia tech😍! Still waiting to hear anything from ~13 schools and awaiting decisions from 5. Good luck everyone!
I got the phone call and they said they'd be sending me an acceptance packet in a few weeks but didnt say anything about about scholarship. Like a month later I got the packet and it had the scholarship award in bold on the official acceptance letter. It was quite a nice surprise!
I read somewhere on here that many schools will wait until February when the multiple acceptance report comes out to give scholarships to students that also have acceptances elsewhere
I wonder that about my app too =/. I got interviews at school I thought were too good for me, and holds/rejections from the ones I thought were in my range. My only reaches were the top CA schools (excluding Stanford), and now I'm kind of regretting not picking some dream schools OOS.
Couldn't agree more...The number of BS essays I wrote for random private schools I had no connection to seem to have fallen on deaf ears anyway. I could've spent that time writing one or two extra reach secondaries! I haven't heard a peep from my home town DO school but interviewed at some serious MD schools I never thought I had a shot at
I guess it really illustrates how random this process can be...
Makes me think that schools really CAN tell how much effort and "care" you put into the school via their secondaries. The ones I did get interviews at were all secondaries I tried to pour as much of my heart in (but still thought they were out of my reach anyway).
Totally! I poured my heart out to U Miami and Emory (schools someone with a 3.2 sGPA has no business applying to) and got II's, albeit not acceptances, from both. But "why Quinnipiac" was painfully forced and its seems they noticed lol
AHH same with me for U Miami. That being said, I'm WL for Miami. At first, I was worried about my interview skills, but now after 2/2 DO interview --> acceptances, I think it's most likely my whole app just wasn't as good as everyone else who has interviewed thus far, and my interview wasn't amazing enough to overcome that. Here's to hoping we both get off of it eventually!!! I'm making it a mission to stay hopeful about Miami until April-Early May before panicking.
Hey! Don't be trash talking my only acceptance! 😉
I will say though, I was very impressed during my interview though. They truly care about their students and want to build the school to a top 20 one day.
This process continues to baffle me every single week honestly. Candidates get into super great schools they never dreamed of even getting into, then great rejected by much lower tiers school.
I took so much time in writing that Miami secondary and truly did put everything I had into them...and now after being "complete" since late July/early august am nearly 100% sure my application is used as a place mat for chinese food during the committee meetings. Nothing mops up soy sauce faster than a someones hopes and dreams in ink-form.
Rumor has it that adcoms don't use soy sauce. They get that same salty taste in their chinese food by using the tears of applicants, which are much more abundant than soy sauce anyway.
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Update: FIRST ACCEPTANCE TODAY!! Looks like it's wine o'clock again! Lol. I see this site in a whole new light now I swear. I'm just so relieved it's all over. To all those with low stats - keep the faith alive!
LizzyM <65
Applied: 25 MD
6II (attended 6 - 3 waitlists, 1 ACCEPTANCE)
3 holds
6 rejections, 2 secondaries never received, 1 withdrawal - wouldn't meet requirements
Silence from 7
LizzyM <65
Applied: 25 MD
6II (attended 6 - 3 waitlists, 1 ACCEPTANCE)
3 holds
6 rejections, 2 secondaries never received, 1 withdrawal - wouldn't meet requirements
Silence from 7
CONGRATS!!!!!
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Thank you!
Thanks 🙂 Loyola Chicago. I totally loved the school when I visited, so I'm happy this was my first acceptance.
Time for an update:
LizzyM 65 (3.69, 3.53, 504)
Applied: 12 MD, 7DO
II: 2 DO (GA-PCOM and CUSOM), 1 MD (Maryland)
Holds: 2 DO (WesternU, Midwestern) 1 MD (Arizona)
Rejections: 1 DO (AT Still) 3 MD (UCLA, LSU, NYMC)
Acceptance: 2 DO (GA-PCOM and CUSOM) 0 MD
Waiting to hear: 2 DO and 7MD
Super proud to just have acceptances! Everyone is killing it 🙂 Keep it going and best of luck to everyone
LizzyM 65 (3.69, 3.53, 504)
Applied: 12 MD, 7DO
II: 2 DO (GA-PCOM and CUSOM), 1 MD (Maryland)
Holds: 2 DO (WesternU, Midwestern) 1 MD (Arizona)
Rejections: 1 DO (AT Still) 3 MD (UCLA, LSU, NYMC)
Acceptance: 2 DO (GA-PCOM and CUSOM) 0 MD
Waiting to hear: 2 DO and 7MD
Super proud to just have acceptances! Everyone is killing it 🙂 Keep it going and best of luck to everyone
Update!
LizzyM 69
Applied: 33 Schools (2 DO)
II: 2 DO, 8 MD (Rochester, U Miami, LLU, Loyola, CNU, UCI, Gtown, Boston U)
Holds: 4 (Albany, NYMC, GW, Drexel)
Rejections: 8 (Hofstra, UCSF, UCLA, UCSD, UCD, Tulane, Brown, Rosy Frank)
Acceptance: 2 DO (Touro, WesternU) 1 MD!!!!! (Loyola)
Waitlisted: 4 (Miami, UCI, Gtown, CNU)
Silence on the rest
Waiting to hear back: 2 (BU and LLU)
I'm so relieved to have an acceptance today! I feel like getting the first one is the hardest...cried in the car after getting the call today because the worst of it is over! This process has been incredibly hard and soul-crushing, and I feel for everyone going through it right now.
LizzyM 69
Applied: 33 Schools (2 DO)
II: 2 DO, 8 MD (Rochester, U Miami, LLU, Loyola, CNU, UCI, Gtown, Boston U)
Holds: 4 (Albany, NYMC, GW, Drexel)
Rejections: 8 (Hofstra, UCSF, UCLA, UCSD, UCD, Tulane, Brown, Rosy Frank)
Acceptance: 2 DO (Touro, WesternU) 1 MD!!!!! (Loyola)
Waitlisted: 4 (Miami, UCI, Gtown, CNU)
Silence on the rest
Waiting to hear back: 2 (BU and LLU)
I'm so relieved to have an acceptance today! I feel like getting the first one is the hardest...cried in the car after getting the call today because the worst of it is over! This process has been incredibly hard and soul-crushing, and I feel for everyone going through it right now.
Couldn't not reply to these posts because I feel exactly the same way!!! I applied to a bunch of schools last cycle that were out of my LizzyM range, including all the UC's, USC, and Stanford as a CA resident. After being wait listed and ultimately rejected last cycle, I was super safe when choosing schools this year and have practically no reach schools. I applied to half the amount of MD schools and only 1 CA school... Immensely thankful for my 5 II's and one acceptance so far but can't help think "what if?" Sigh. Everything happens for a reason!
Like a boss! The two climates couldn't be any different! 😉 Congrats!
I can FINALLY say, I have been accepted.
I contacted a dean at one of the schools I had been rejected from and after basically being told my interview skills were so bad, I had no chance of acceptance this year, I am BLOWN AWAY. I am so relieved someone is taking a chance on me. This scares me to death should I receive any more interviews though...
I contacted a dean at one of the schools I had been rejected from and after basically being told my interview skills were so bad, I had no chance of acceptance this year, I am BLOWN AWAY. I am so relieved someone is taking a chance on me. This scares me to death should I receive any more interviews though...
Congrats!!!
Congrats!!!! Did the school you contacted tell you what in particular was wrong with your interview skills? Is it something you can work on for your upcoming interviews?
Something along the lines of I lack a filter and I come off as very unprofessional at times.
I have no further interviews as of now, but I am very satisfied and happy with the school I got into.
Accepted today. Keep faith comrades!
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Also watch what you say on here...
the adcom figured out who i was and apparently some of my posts weren't the most appropriate and that was actually used against me.
I was actually stunned for a moment, then desperately tried to recall everything I've ever said.
the adcom figured out who i was and apparently some of my posts weren't the most appropriate and that was actually used against me.
I was actually stunned for a moment, then desperately tried to recall everything I've ever said.
With all the info users voluntarily give up on this forum, it wouldn't be hard at all for someone armed with a complete AMCAS app to figured out who each user is...
It wouldn't be hard to figure out who I am if you really tried, but the amount of effort would likely be beyond that an adcom would want to spend considering they would have like 50 others to vet.
If you have the time, you can go to your profile page and see every comment you have ever posted on SDN so you can remove the questionable ones. Of course, if you don't plan on doing more interviews, then you can leave it but if you're hoping for more, there's no harm in doing some cleaning up.
Congrats on your acceptance btw! That's very exciting! 😀
Update!
I just received my second II at Stony Brook!!! Not sure if its like a last-minute waitlist fill up, but I'm still excited!
IIs: 2 - RFUMS (completed November, still waiting to hear back), Stony Brook (March)
Holds: 1 - GW
Rejections: 6 (Tulane, BU, Hofstra, UCLA, UCSF, Case western)
Silence: 17
I just received my second II at Stony Brook!!! Not sure if its like a last-minute waitlist fill up, but I'm still excited!
IIs: 2 - RFUMS (completed November, still waiting to hear back), Stony Brook (March)
Holds: 1 - GW
Rejections: 6 (Tulane, BU, Hofstra, UCLA, UCSF, Case western)
Silence: 17
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