Post-Bac 2022-2023 Admissions

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filmtomd

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Hey everyone! I have yet to see a thread for those of us looking to be admitted into career-changer post-bac programs in 2022-2023 so I thought I'd go ahead and post this! Please feel free to drop any questions and advice here 🙂 Good luck to all of my fellow prospective students!!!
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Hello! Thank you for making this! Currently in the middle of writing my PS and very excited/nervous to apply in the coming weeks! Good luck to everyone 🙂
 
Hello! I've been scouring the page for weeks waiting for someone to make one 🙂 I'm also working on my personal statement and anxiously watching the program websites for more information... Good luck to you all as well! What careers/fields are you all transitioning out of?
 
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phys_enthusiast said:
Hello! I've been scouring the page for weeks waiting for someone to make one 🙂 I'm also working on my personal statement and anxiously watching the program websites for more information... Good luck to you all as well! What careers/fields are you all transitioning out of?
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Seems like we're all on the same page working on the personal statement and waiting for programs to put out more info! I'm transitioning out of the film and television industry - what about you guys? Excited for the next steps!!
 
phys_enthusiast said:
Hello! I've been scouring the page for weeks waiting for someone to make one 🙂 I'm also working on my personal statement and anxiously watching the program websites for more information... Good luck to you all as well! What careers/fields are you all transitioning out of?
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I'm transitioning out of education, what about you?
@filmtomd, that's very unique! Sounds like a cool x-factor 🙂
 
filmtomd said:
Seems like we're all on the same page working on the personal statement and waiting for programs to put out more info! I'm transitioning out of the film and television industry - what about you guys? Excited for the next steps!!
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Looks like it! A bunch came in a day or so ago... whew!

apizzapizza said:
I'm transitioning out of education, what about you?
@filmtomd, that's very unique! Sounds like a cool x-factor 🙂
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I am a tech worker right now! Dabbled in software development and technical writing. This is a bigger shift 🙂
 
It's so nice to meet fellow career-changers! Best of luck to all of us! Where are you all at with your applications? Have you submitted already, about to, or taking your time?
 
Does anyone have any advice on how to "prep" your recommendation writers? Right now I'm planning on providing them with a little background on why this is the path I want to take and things I've done but other than that what should be included to get a strong letter of rec?
 
filmtomd said:
Does anyone have any advice on how to "prep" your recommendation writers? Right now I'm planning on providing them with a little background on why this is the path I want to take and things I've done but other than that what should be included to get a strong letter of rec?
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I don’t know if I have the advice you’re looking for, but I can share my experience 🙂 since I’m many years removed from my undergrad, I asked my clinical volunteer coordinator, a VP from my college, and a former supervisor. From the clinical recommender, I asked if they could speak on my clinical responsibilities, my work ethic, and what they observe about my character. I asked the college faculty member to talk about my specific academic achievements that they were directly involved in, and how I was able to juggle academics, athletics, leadership, and extracurriculars. As for the former supervisor, I asked them to consider qualities about me as an educator that they think would translate well to a field in healthcare. To all three of them, I emphasized that these programs are likely looking for a well-rounded individual (though if I had two professors who wrote about my academic strengths, that might’ve been even better, but I didn’t have that available to me). I hope this helps!
 
apizzapizza said:
I'm transitioning out of education, what about you?
@filmtomd, that's very unique! Sounds like a cool x-factor 🙂
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I'm also considering transitioning out of education into medicine! Still have my student teaching year left but after that, I am going to sit down and really think about it. I feel like I would be fulfilling my desire to teach people through practicing as a physician because there is definitely an aspect of education within medicine (whether that's teaching med students during residency or educating patients about their conditions, etc.).
 
Hi all! Thanks for starting this up! Curious if anyone has seen any guidance/or talked to any current students about the Bryn Mawr supplemental essay? I saw one person from a previous year say that it should be completely unrelated to medicine, but not sure if it should still connect back in some ways or if I should just write about a hobby/something that makes me happy etc.
 
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t-bex said:
Hi all! Thanks for starting this up! Curious if anyone has seen any guidance/or talked to any current students about the Bryn Mawr supplemental essay? I saw one person from a previous year say that it should be completely unrelated to medicine, but not sure if it should still connect back in some ways or if I should just write about a hobby/something that makes me happy etc.
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Are you talking about the one asking "What influenced you to apply to Bryn Mawr" or the additional info essay?
 
@LindsayParis oh how cool! I hope you figure out what it is you really want to do ☺️ good luck with your student teaching year, and feel free to DM if you want to talk more about education/medicine!

@t-bex I haven’t seen much guidance other than someone explaining a bad grade they had. Personally I wrote about an extracurricular that is a large part of my experiences section that I didn’t really get to explain in my PS, and didn’t really relate it to medicine. It’s mildly infuriating how open-ended it is, but also a good thing I suppose hahaha
 
@t-bex @apizzapizza are you both talking about the 750 character additional info essay or the 5300 character personal statement for Bryn Mawr? I personally have been struggling to come up with what to write about for the personal statement and how I can make it different from the general personal statement. It seems so broad for such a long essay. Has anyone else started this and is willing to share what they wrote about?
 
dptomd said:
@t-bex @apizzapizza are you both talking about the 750 character additional info essay or the 5300 character personal statement for Bryn Mawr? I personally have been struggling to come up with what to write about for the personal statement and how I can make it different from the general personal statement. It seems so broad for such a long essay. Has anyone else started this and is willing to share what they wrote about?
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I'm talking about the 5300 character Additional Essay for Bryn Mawr (the one they call "Personal Statement" in their Documents section). It took me a while and a few different ideas, too, but I ended up writing about a sport that was a huge part of my experiences (student athlete, former job, leadership). I ultimately landed on this topic because it was/is a big part of my identity that I didn't get to flesh out in my PS and I went on to explain, through anecdotes, how it changed the trajectory of my life, taught me valuable lessons, and was overall impactful.

I was going to write about a "Why Me" essay because I read in an old forum that someone else did that since the PS is a "Why Medicine" essay, but it was way too direct for me and didn't feel right. I then wrote an essay about lessons I learned as a teacher, but it ended up being too irrelevant (I think this could have worked if I tied it in with medicine, but I got too lost in reminiscing old memories, haha).
 
dptomd said:
@t-bex @apizzapizza are you both talking about the 750 character additional info essay or the 5300 character personal statement for Bryn Mawr? I personally have been struggling to come up with what to write about for the personal statement and how I can make it different from the general personal statement. It seems so broad for such a long essay. Has anyone else started this and is willing to share what they wrote about?
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Yeah I'm also talking about the "Personal statement" with the prompt "Please write an essay that describes anything that would provide further insight about you to the admissions committee as we review your application (maximum of 5,300 characters with spaces)." Currently working on fine tuning my other personal statement and then am going to move on to this one. If anyone else has other examples, that would be super helpful! Thanks for all the responses already 🙂
 
filmtomd said:
That is awesome, seriously! What made you decide to take this leap?
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I've always been interested in it and prepared in high school with all AP science and math classes. When I got to college, I pursued other interests and got a degree in history. I got a job working in politics and realized that while I liked it, I wanted to have a more direct impact on people. I did TFA in the MS Delta and ended up with a plethora of experiences in education that have pointed me to medicine. Once I became a mom, I had a wide range of personal experiences as a patient and parent that confirmed this is the next direction I want to go with my career. This May, I caught a melanoma and luckily it had not spread, but that really kicked me into gear that life is short and I cannot just wait for the right time to pursue medicine--I need to just do it.
 
phys_enthusiast said:
Hello! I've been scouring the page for weeks waiting for someone to make one 🙂 I'm also working on my personal statement and anxiously watching the program websites for more information... Good luck to you all as well! What careers/fields are you all transitioning out of?
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Hi everyone, glad to be part of this community. I'm have a Bachelor's & Master degree in music therapy, piano performance, and psychology. Does anyone know how to check whether an institution has received transcripts through PostBacCAS? Do we contact them directly?

Best of luck to everyone!
 
I know this has been asked a million times by now but I'm really struggling with the Bryn Mawr personal statement asking about any additional insight about ourselves. It's just so broad and I don't wanna repeat anything I wrote about in my PostBacCAS personal statement. Anyone have any advice?
 
filmtomd said:
I know this has been asked a million times by now but I'm really struggling with the Bryn Mawr personal statement asking about any additional insight about ourselves. It's just so broad and I don't wanna repeat anything I wrote about in my PostBacCAS personal statement. Anyone have any advice?
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Do you have any ideas so far about what you'd like to write about? Here are some guiding questions that might help...
  • Do you have any red flags in your application (bad grades, gap in school, IA) that might be worth explaining?
  • Do you have any extracurriculars that is not related to medicine in your app that you didn't get to talk about much? Like a sport, hobby, or even a former job?
  • Which aspects of your former/current career (in your case, film) could you see overlapping/translating into your future career as a physician? Any cool transferrable skills?
  • Do you have any specific qualities about yourself that you'd like to highlight that you feel like would make you be a great candidate for BM's PBPM and all others?
  • Do you have any life-changing events, or situations that have taught you a lesson, and what did you learn from it, how did you adapt or overcome?
  • Might be similar to the above, but is there anything about your upbringing that is unique to you that helps explain why you are the individual you are now? (i.e. family illnesses, poverty, moving from place to place)
I think it's totally fine if there is any sort of repetition with your general PS, like if you mentioned something in there that you'd like to talk about further. Of course I'm no expert, but I feel like you can't go wrong with your gut/heart 🙂
 
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apizzapizza said:
Do you have any ideas so far about what you'd like to write about? Here are some guiding questions that might help...
  • Do you have any red flags in your application (bad grades, gap in school, IA) that might be worth explaining?
  • Do you have any extracurriculars that is not related to medicine in your app that you didn't get to talk about much? Like a sport, hobby, or even a former job?
  • Which aspects of your former/current career (in your case, film) could you see overlapping/translating into your future career as a physician? Any cool transferrable skills?
  • Do you have any specific qualities about yourself that you'd like to highlight that you feel like would make you be a great candidate for BM's PBPM and all others?
  • Do you have any life-changing events, or situations that have taught you a lesson, and what did you learn from it, how did you adapt or overcome?
  • Might be similar to the above, but is there anything about your upbringing that is unique to you that helps explain why you are the individual you are now? (i.e. family illnesses, poverty, moving from place to place)
I think it's totally fine if there is any sort of repetition with your general PS, like if you mentioned something in there that you'd like to talk about further. Of course I'm no expert, but I feel like you can't go wrong with your gut/heart 🙂
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Wow, thank you! This is actually super helpful 🙂
 
music_on_my_mind said:
Hi everyone, glad to be part of this community. I'm have a Bachelor's & Master degree in music therapy, piano performance, and psychology. Does anyone know how to check whether an institution has received transcripts through PostBacCAS? Do we contact them directly?

Best of luck to everyone!
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My college transcripts were received. You should be able to see your transcript request status under "My Application" > "Academic History" > "Colleges Attended". Mine says, "Received [Date] [Time]".
 
kpr9806 said:
Does anyone know when BM starts reviewing apps?
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I’m curious if anybody knows, too. It’s the only school I haven’t heard confirmation from that they received my app and/or it is under review.
 
slashin19 said:
On their website, it says they will start reviewing applications in October for this cycle.

Source: Early Action Admission Option | Bryn Mawr College
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“Please be aware that the admissions committee will start reviewing completed files in October and will continue on a rolling basis. We will accept applications for regular admission through mid-February.”

verbatim from the website 🙂
 
slashin19 said:
On their website, it says they will start reviewing applications in October for this cycle.

Source: Early Action Admission Option | Bryn Mawr College
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music_on_my_mind said:
“Please be aware that the admissions committee will start reviewing completed files in October and will continue on a rolling basis. We will accept applications for regular admission through mid-February.”

verbatim from the website 🙂
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Thank you, good to know! I just got an email confirmation from them that my app has entered their review process, so I'm glad to have heard something 🙂
 
apizzapizza said:
Thank you, good to know! I just got an email confirmation from them that my app has entered their review process, so I'm glad to have heard something 🙂
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Congrats on getting yours in! I'm 90% done but dragging my feet on those short answer questions... got to push through.
 
apizzapizza said:
Thank you, good to know! I just got an email confirmation from them that my app has entered their review process, so I'm glad to have heard something 🙂
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Congrats! How long did it take for your PostBac application to go from 'Received' to 'Verified'?
 
phys_enthusiast said:
Congrats on getting yours in! I'm 90% done but dragging my feet on those short answer questions... got to push through.
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Thank you! You are almost there, keep going! You have until 10/4 for early action admission for BM so that's still plenty of time 🙂

music_on_my_mind said:
Congrats! How long did it take for your PostBac application to go from 'Received' to 'Verified'?
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Thanks!! It took five days for me! What about you?
 
Does anyone know how long we have to accept or reject an acceptance offer? In general? I'm wondering if it would harm me to stagger my applications or if I should submit them all at once.
 
hotsaucemuffin said:
Does anyone know how long we have to accept or reject an acceptance offer? In general? I'm wondering if it would harm me to stagger my applications or if I should submit them all at once.
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I've read on other forums that it's approximately 3 weeks
 
rntomd24 said:
Rejected from Goucher as well. Still waiting to hear back from the rest of the programs I applied to. Has anyone heard back from UVA?
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May I ask how long it took between interviewing @Goucher and receiving their admissions decision? Wishing you the best for other applications!
 
rntomd24 said:
Rejected from Goucher as well. Still waiting to hear back from the rest of the programs I applied to. Has anyone heard back from UVA?
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Just heard back from UVA today. Submitted my application on the 12th I think?
 
Hi everyone! Is the COVID-19 impact essay required? And if not do you think it would look ignorant/bad for me to not write it? I just think I don't have anything unique that happened to me...I feel like I faced the same challenges everyone did. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
 
filmtomd said:
Hi everyone! Is the COVID-19 impact essay required? And if not do you think it would look ignorant/bad for me to not write it? I just think I don't have anything unique that happened to me...I feel like I faced the same challenges everyone did. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
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I don't think it's required, but make sure you consider it a lot before you do skip it! I thought I didn't have much and planned to skip it-- but when I looked at my experiences and decisions from 2020, there were a lot of ways COVID factored into them. Don't feel like they have to be unique challenges- maybe you just had unique solutions/approaches! Or maybe you specifically didn't have unique approaches because of how unusual everything was. You might find something worth writing about.
 
Oh boy! How weird it feels to be writing applications again...

I am applying to 21 schools and it sucks.

I received an acceptance already from my safety option (Hofstra University) and am currently waiting for one of my LoR writers to finish up so that all my PostbacCAS applications go through (except for BM and Scripps because I am procrastinating :c). I wish everyone the best of luck!

I am legitimately so nervous coming off a business degree background.
 
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vCorrin said:
Oh boy! How weird it feels to be writing applications again...

I am applying to 21 schools and it sucks.

I received an acceptance already from my safety option (Hofstra University) and am currently waiting for one of my LoR writers to finish up so that all my PostbacCAS applications go through (except for BM and Scripps because I am procrastinating :c). I wish everyone the best of luck!

I am legitimately so nervous coming off a business degree background.
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I felt the same! Don't worry, that's exactly what these programs are for. You've got one acceptance, and I'm sure you'll get more. 21 schools is a lot! I applied to 9.

As for BM and Scripps, you just have to sit down and bust them out. There's no way around it. But I have no leg to stand on-- I'm currently procrastinating on Temple! 😛
 
vCorrin said:
Oh boy! How weird it feels to be writing applications again...

I am applying to 21 schools and it sucks.

I received an acceptance already from my safety option (Hofstra University) and am currently waiting for one of my LoR writers to finish up so that all my PostbacCAS applications go through (except for BM and Scripps because I am procrastinating :c). I wish everyone the best of luck!

I am legitimately so nervous coming off a business degree background.
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Congratulations on your acceptance! That’s huge! 🙂
 
Other than Goucher, Bryn Mawr, and Scripps- what programs are yall applying to?

My list is heinously long:
Columbia, Thomas Jefferson, UVA, Wash. University (St. Louis), NYU, Northeastern, UPenn, Rowan, Rider, Fordham, Johns Hopkins, Northwestern, UDelaware, Univ. Southern California, Hofstra, Drew, Georgetown, and UMiami
 
vCorrin said:
Other than Goucher, Bryn Mawr, and Scripps- what programs are yall applying to?

My list is heinously long:
Columbia, Thomas Jefferson, UVA, Wash. University (St. Louis), NYU, Northeastern, UPenn, Rowan, Rider, Fordham, Johns Hopkins, Northwestern, UDelaware, Univ. Southern California, Hofstra, Drew, Georgetown, and UMiami
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I applied to GWU as well! And wow, that’s a huge list— best of luck! I’m curious to know if you’ll apply to a few at a time and stop once you get your top choice or if you’re going all out at once?
 
vCorrin said:
Other than Goucher, Bryn Mawr, and Scripps- what programs are yall applying to?

My list is heinously long:
Columbia, Thomas Jefferson, UVA, Wash. University (St. Louis), NYU, Northeastern, UPenn, Rowan, Rider, Fordham, Johns Hopkins, Northwestern, UDelaware, Univ. Southern California, Hofstra, Drew, Georgetown, and UMiami
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For me it’s Goucher, BM, Scripps, UVA, CU Boulder, UC San Diego, Temple, UMich, UVM. So far I've only really heard from Goucher and UVA, though the rest have officially acknowledged receipt of my complete application.
 
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