Planning for the Worst

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Discover Your Odds of Getting into Medical School
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I think you need some patience; it's not even November.
 
ShenanigansMD said:
I think you need some patience; it's not even November.
Click to expand...

You are right. But there is no guarantee at this point. I realize right now I am very cookie cutter, and not someone an ADCOM would be very interested in giving one of their final invites to.
 
i don't understand why or how they could hold you back with credentials like that.
 
If only you were born black, bro!
 
Wow, I'm surprised at how your application cycle has been going. When were you complete and what are some of the safeties and matches you applied to?
 
You will get accepted somewhere. One month of waiting is nothing. It's a long application cycle. A long one.
 
Fivo said:
If only you were born black, bro!
Click to expand...

LOL I like the quote. Look man, nothing against you or any URM. Refer to my AA thread if you want to know my feelings on that. I've just been pretty bored these days and I've been closely checking a lot of allopathic threads and keeping up to date with who is getting interviews and who is not. And I find that almost everyone getting multiple interviews who have been complete in Sept/Oct are URM (save for people with LizzyM scores over 80....). Refer to the "Where ma late applicants at thread." There are like 10 people posting in there (last time I checked...) 9/10 have a total of 1 interviews (all ORM). 1/10 has 8+ at this point. Same stats as everyone else and complete about the same time as everyone else, but URM. Again similar trends in other allo threads. O, and in b4 someone brings up a stupid statistical argument. I'm not saying its statiscally significant, but when there are 10 guys, and one happens to have a ton more interviews than the others, and he happens to be the only URM, you have to wonder.

And fivo, please stop posting in the panic thread. You have 4 interviews 3 are top 15 schools after a month. Please, stop.
 
zwander said:
Hey SDN,

I know this is early, but I haven't heard any positive feedback from any of the medical schools thus far (one month) into the application cycle. As a 36/3.9 with 1.5 years of research/posters + 1 year working in a clinic doing an epidemiological research +TA/tutor/significant leadership and experience (3 years) working with global outreach + community serve + hospital volunteer. I also am a pianist and played a sport at a high level, albeit not in college. (FYI I applied 30 schools, a lot of top schools, but also a lot of match. O and I'm a CA resident)

While this may look strange, I think it's my rec letters that will hold me back this cycle. They are probavly average, nothing special and I don't believe they will flow with my PS and essays very well, as I wasn't able to provide them the documents before they wrote them.

Thus I am starting to think about planningt the future. I plan on traveling abroad for the next few months (even if I do get interviews, I imagine they won't be till next year). So when I get back in Jan, I will either have interviews, or I will either start enacting plan B....

So I am wondering, what is your opinion as to a plan B? I am very interested in research also. At this point, I am thinking about taking 1-2 years off and doing the post-bacc program at NIH to get more solid research experience and get $$$ at the same time. Also, I would need to take the MCAT again, this time I would be shooting for a 40+. I hesitate to reapply next year as I really have done nothing over the summer/this fall (because I moved/thought I would be getting interviews so didn't really pursue any special activies besides minimum wage job/tutoring.....)

Again, it sucks to have to talk about this, however I always wanted to go to a UCSF/UCLA/top california school, and at this point chances seem pretty bleak. I figure with a 40+ and NIH experience, I'll be good when I am finally ready to apply. And btw, I am turnign 23 in a few weeks.

Please let me know what you think of my plans!

Regards,
Zwander
Click to expand...

Your mdapplicants seems extremely top heavy..
You could get a better answer I'd you listed the schools you applied to, when you submitted, any ii's...
Something is not adding up with this story.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN Mobile app please excuse punctuation and spelling
 
phikapdoctor said:
Your mdapplicants seems extremely top heavy..
You could get a better answer I'd you listed the schools you applied to, when you submitted, any ii's...
Something is not adding up with this story.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN Mobile app please excuse punctuation and spelling
Click to expand...

my mdapps is imcomplete. I applied to about 4 "safeties" (drexel/jefferson/tufts/etc.) all CA school but loma linda, and most top 25s.

verified 9/11. Been submitting secondaries since 9/12. Complete at about 25/33 schools.'

Edit: no ii
 
zwander said:
Hey SDN,

I know this is early, but I haven't heard any positive feedback from any of the medical schools thus far (one month) into the application cycle. As a 36/3.9 with 1.5 years of research/posters + 1 year working in a clinic doing an epidemiological research +TA/tutor/significant leadership and experience (3 years) working with global outreach + community serve + hospital volunteer. I also am a pianist and played a sport at a high level, albeit not in college. (FYI I applied 30 schools, a lot of top schools, but also a lot of match. O and I'm a CA resident)

While this may look strange, I think it's my rec letters that will hold me back this cycle. They are probavly average, nothing special and I don't believe they will flow with my PS and essays very well, as I wasn't able to provide them the documents before they wrote them.

Thus I am starting to think about planningt the future. I plan on traveling abroad for the next few months (even if I do get interviews, I imagine they won't be till next year). So when I get back in Jan, I will either have interviews, or I will either start enacting plan B....

So I am wondering, what is your opinion as to a plan B? I am very interested in research also. At this point, I am thinking about taking 1-2 years off and doing the post-bacc program at NIH to get more solid research experience and get $$$ at the same time. Also, I would need to take the MCAT again, this time I would be shooting for a 40+. I hesitate to reapply next year as I really have done nothing over the summer/this fall (because I moved/thought I would be getting interviews so didn't really pursue any special activies besides minimum wage job/tutoring.....)

Again, it sucks to have to talk about this, however I always wanted to go to a UCSF/UCLA/top california school, and at this point chances seem pretty bleak. I figure with a 40+ and NIH experience, I'll be good when I am finally ready to apply. And btw, I am turnign 23 in a few weeks.

Please let me know what you think of my plans!

Regards,
Zwander
Click to expand...

I was complete mid July at most schools and it took over six weeks to hear back from many schools. That was in July. I was still getting invites over two months later...
 
phikapdoctor said:
Your mdapplicants seems extremely top heavy..
You could get a better answer I'd you listed the schools you applied to, when you submitted, any ii's...
Something is not adding up with this story.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN Mobile app please excuse punctuation and spelling
Click to expand...

Yeah man, your stats and ECs are good. There is other people who have gotten in with lower # and not all were urm. so I think something in this story is missing.
 
zwander said:
my mdapps is imcomplete. I applied to about 4 "safeties" (drexel/jefferson/tufts/etc.) all CA school but loma linda, and most top 25s.

verified 9/11. Been submitting secondaries since 9/12. Complete at about 25/33 schools.
Click to expand...

Hmmm.. Tufts is a safety school?
I think you could have added more safety's due to the results, but with your stats I would have done exactly what you did.
Best of luck in the application process, keep us posted.
Is it too late to submit to a couple DOs? They would eat you up even if it is very late.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN Mobile app please excuse punctuation and spelling
 
phikapdoctor said:
Hmmm.. Tufts is a safety school?
I think you could have added more safety's due to the results, but with your stats I would have done exactly what you did.
Best of luck in the application process, keep us posted.
Is it too late to submit to a couple DOs? They would eat you up even if it is very late.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN Mobile app please excuse punctuation and spelling
Click to expand...

I don't think I would ever go to a DO. I would rather just do the Plan B i listed above.
 
lobo12 said:
Yeah man, your stats and ECs are good. There is other people who have gotten in with lower # and not all were urm. so I think something in this story is missing.
Click to expand...

Again, I feel like the problem is my letters. I never really got to know my PI very well, and I asked for a letter from a professor who I took sophomore year (albeit it was a year of classes with him, and he loved me). My final rec though was from a person I worked for in a clinical setting. English was her second language, and so I really hope she was able to write me a good letter.

I should mention I have received a mayo LoR request and a vandy secondary, which seems to give my primary some validation....
 
As crazy as this sounds, I would almost want to take 1-2 years off for another crack at the MCAT/the chance to work for the NIH. I'm not sure what my chances are for getting into a top california school (my dream). But I figure if I achieved my goal on the MCAT and did some solid work, I'd have my choice of schools in two years.
 
Is an average LoR really that killer? I thought it was just a checkmark and only bad letters would be a red flag.
 
OP.....I'm in your shoes too (complete mid-september, no interviews). I really think you need to wait it out through November at least. There's a lot of schools (UCs especially) that are still processing apps sent in August. Give it some time! You have great stats...
 
Anathema said:
Is an average LoR really that killer? I thought it was just a checkmark and only bad letters would be a red flag.
Click to expand...

Yea, my worry is just the fact I didn't give them a PS to base their letter off of. So I hope it just isn't a strange letter completely random and out there with nothing to do with the rest of my app.....

They did have a resume....and my transcipts....and they did know me decently well...but not much about my goals as a physician. Kind of hard to bring up.
 
I don't know. I just have a hard time pitying people with stats like that and threads like this... You'll get in, chill.
 
zwander said:
my mdapps is imcomplete. I applied to about 4 "safeties" (drexel/jefferson/tufts/etc.) all CA school but loma linda, and most top 25s.

verified 9/11. Been submitting secondaries since 9/12. Complete at about 25/33 schools.'

Edit: no ii
Click to expand...

You've been submitting secondaries SINCE 9/12, meaning a lot of secondaries were probably sent in the week or two after that date, right?

It usually takes 4-6 weeks for schools to process and complete your application, so I wouldn't be surprised if you had a couple interview invites throughout November and beyond. Keep in mind you technically applied "late", since the most ideal time is to submit in June-July. You can't "panic" and compare yourself to all the other applicants on SDN, especially if a majority of them were verified back in June.
 
zwander said:
As crazy as this sounds, I would almost want to take 1-2 years off for another crack at the MCAT/the chance to work for the NIH. I'm not sure what my chances are for getting into a top california school (my dream). But I figure if I achieved my goal on the MCAT and did some solid work, I'd have my choice of schools in two years.
Click to expand...

Calm down zwander, it's still relatively early.

Retaking a 36 is silly pants, even if you got a score higher than that, the benefit to your application is negligible as scores in that range are all 97th percentile or higher. Med school's already know you're smart enough to handle the curriculum. Med schools will not care that you scored a 40 on your second MCAT retake.

Stay calm for now and start drafting up letters of interest/updates to send to schools in November if you still haven't heard by them.
 
OP actually said he had a 37 on the panic thread...either way, DON'T RETAKE! 🙄
 
premedgrad said:
OP actually said he had a 37 on the panic thread...either way, DON'T RETAKE! 🙄
Click to expand...

Trying to maintain some anonymity...its a 36 though. I would retake because I would have to...it will be 3 years this year.
 
1 month in means you must have applied late summer which means your probably still buried under tons of other apps. Last year I applied late and couldn't even get into a DO school, this year I've been turning down iis with multiple acceptances by oct 15. If you don't get in, apply June 1 next year with a new PS and maybe add some letters from some place you volunteer.
 
I think your downfall was getting verified in september. There's still a great chance of you getting II's. Just be patient.
 
dude you have a 36/3.9, with tons of extracurriculars. If you're not qualified for medical school, then who is really?

You just applied a little later, and you're going to have to wait a little longer.
 
zwander said:
Trying to maintain some anonymity...its a 36 though. I would retake because I would have to...it will be 3 years this year.
Click to expand...

Man, if you weren't waiting on MCAT scores, why did you wait so long to submit your primary? I think you'll be fine and get interviews, but it's not gonna be as smooth of sailing.
 
RG3forPresident said:
dude you have a 36/3.9, with tons of extracurriculars. If you're not qualified for medical school, then who is really?

You just applied a little later, and you're going to have to wait a little longer.
Click to expand...

+1, you'll get some IIs, be patient barring you don't have any major violations or red flags on your app (honor code violations, felony charges, etc), I'd be surprised if you're not attending medical school next Fall.
 
I empathize with you bro. I generally ignore SDN neuroticism, but I think in the case of early applications, the hivemind is dead-on. Which is very frustrating, since schools act like a September completion is still early into the app season. Oh well, I think I am only going to start considering seppuku once November passes and I still don't have interviews.
 
Doesn't help I got two rejections last 24 hours. I guess I can kiss BU and Pritzker goodbye
 
I know it's hard, but you need to relax and be patient. Your main issue is that you applied late, so it should be no surprise that you have not heard back from too many schools.

I wish I had the money to apply to 30 schools. I could only afford to apply to a third of that.

My stats: I have a 4.0/ 37L. My EC's are not as impressive as yours. A pretty unique aspect of my application, at least in my opinion, is that I have gone from 280 ---> 200 lbs since August 2011. I'm 5'11" by the way.

I sent out all of my secondary applications the first two weeks of August, and I have only heard back from 3 schools so far.

Rejection: Dartmouth 10/19 🙁
II's: UVM 10/22 and BU 10/23

On the 19th I was so bummed, but the back-to-back II's this week made me quite happy to say the least. My point is that you may get a couple rejections before you receive a deluge of II's.

I wish you the best of luck. 🙂
 
The worse that could happen to me is that I becoming a biomedical engineer.

Not too shabby, lol. It makes life much less stressful knowing your degree is highly functional.
 
zwander said:
... Refer to the "Where ma late applicants at thread." There are like 10 people posting in there (last time I checked...) 9/10 have a total of 1 interviews (all ORM). 1/10 has 8+ at this point. Same stats as everyone else and complete about the same time as everyone else, but URM with a 40+ MCAT. Again similar trends in other allo threads. O, and in b4 someone brings up a stupid statistical argument. I'm not saying its statiscally significant, but when there are 10 guys, and one happens to have a ton more interviews than the others, and he happens to be the only URM one with a 40+ MCAT, you have to wonder...
Click to expand...

Someone's been creeping me... Just threw some edits in there, btw. 😉
 
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