post one (1) helpful tip for people who will be applying....

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resident1 said:
One very helpful tip:
IT DOES NOT MATTER WHERE YOU GO FOR MEDICAL SCHOOL TO GET A RESIDENCY IN CALIFORNIA. GO OUT OF STATE IF THAT'S WHERE YOU WANT TO GO. :luck:
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what about staying in CA and going east for residency? any biases?
 
If you print out your AMCAS application, you shouldn't eat it, even if you are really hungry.
 
Olanzapine said:
If you print out your AMCAS application, you shouldn't eat it, even if you are really hungry.
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I disagree...that just depends on the type of paper and ink you use. Ollie should clarify that you shouldn't eat it at once...and, for god's sake, don't eat your only AMCAS print out!

but, my one piece of advice would be - spend time on your personal statement...this is your reflection to the adcom, and you are only as interesting an applicant as this one sheet of paper. No pressure,
 
Don't ask people on SDN to choose your medical school for you. Sit in a room by yourself, and THINK about the next four years of YOUR life!
 
speedbird001 said:
Make that post by felipe5 #19.

Here's another one:
20. Follow the golden rule. Be nice to everyone you see at your interview. Not only should you treat your interviewers with respect, but also do the same for the secretary and any other staff. I've heard stories of people getting rejected simply because they were rude to the secretary.
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Now how in the heck could you possibly know that?????? :laugh:
 
Horseradish99 said:
Every morning when you step out of the shower, step into your positive shell. Pull it up around you like a warm towel and zip it up. Look in the mirror and remind yourself that you are worthy and that the world (and the world of medicine) is a good place to be.

In short, train yourself EVERY DAY to think positive. For some of us this comes naturally. Others... you have to do something silly like ritually put on a "positive shell." Sounds dumb, but I do it every single morning, and my med school classmates can attest that I tend to be one of the most happy-go-lucky, positive people out there.

Not only will positivity affect how you come across in interviews, it will affect your outlook on the whole application process. Plus, it's just a great life attitude to have.
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Very interesting idea.....I'll give it a try!
 
Stay HUMBLE. The faintest sign of arrogance = REJECTION.

--Funkless
 
don't spend a lot of time in the sdn forums, they will make you crazy. do read the interview reports, however.
 
Look sharp on your interviews 😎

Be clean and fresh smelling, and for goodness sake, take out the tongue/nose/eyebrow ring. I've seen a number of people on interviews with these things (especially the tongue ring) and it always surprised me.
 
Do not underestimate the power of the interview. No matter how good of a writer you are, you in person does not equal you on paper. The interviewers see hundreds of interviewees in an admissions cycle. The last thing they want is a regurgitation of your AMCAS application. There were several times I sat with a group of med school applicants in ice-breaker sessions during interviews and listened to them ramble on about there life. They spewed out text-book, well-rehearsed answers to the simplest of questions. They appeared rediculously two-demensional. Do not be one of these. Understand that the GPA and MCAT and extra-currecular activities land you an interview. Nailing the interview will land you an acceptance. Mock interviews are great but they still are not the real thing. Try to schedule some of your first interviews with a school that is lower on your list. When it comes time for an interview with the school you are very interested in, you'll have some experience with the real thing. I did mock interviews, but when it came time for my first interview I was still nervous as hell. By my third, I was considerably more comfortable.

This is an incredibly long process. No matter how hard I tried I obsessed over my numbers and statistical chances to get into each school. Try not to do this as much. Its a waste of time and energy. I can remember checking for my MCAT scores every day for a month before they actually came out. Don't become so overwhelmed by the numbers. Remember that in the end, just less than 1 out of every 2 make it into one school. Just because each school has 4 billion applicants and 2 seats doesn't mean that you don't have a shot. Keep in mind that each applicant applies to about 10 to as much as 30 schools.

Get as much done during the summer before your senior year as possible. Especially if you are going to have a big courseload during your senior year. The application process was its own six credit class for me. If you can, schedule your interviews as far away from mid-terms and finals as possible. The last thing you want to do is blow off an interview because of an exam. Or even worst, for whatever reason you don't get accepted during this admission cycle, blow off a class for an interview and bomb the class. This won't look so good during the following admissions cycle.
 
Please! said:
Look sharp on your interviews 😎

Be clean and fresh smelling, and for goodness sake, take out the tongue/nose/eyebrow ring. I've seen a number of people on interviews with these things (especially the tongue ring) and it always surprised me.
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If you take out the tounge ring, doesn't it close up? 😱
 
132. Don't submit your primary application to a school unless you're prepared to fill out a horrendous secondary application, like Rush's 12 essays. This is a good way of figuring out whether your serious about a place or not.

(BTW - I've totally lost count on the numbers so I'm starting us back at 132.)
 
133. If you ask a question on SDN, don't be discouraged by any cynical a-holes who mock you at every turn. Stay relaxed and don't look at this crap too much.
 
have copies of all your transcripts sent to yourself a few months ahead of time (especially important if you've taken courses at more than one school.) This will let you 1) check them for errors 2) have them handy for filling in every #@$^%& course you ever took on your AMCAS and 3) have a sense of how long it takes the records office to process a transcript request & get it out.
 
*If you did well in chemistry or physics, sign up to be a tutor at the beginning of your junior year. I personally enjoyed tutoring, but it also forced me to start reviewing the material that would be on the MCAT

*Someone else already mentioned this, but try to stay with a host student when you're interviewing. It will save you money, and you'll get a better feel of the school

*If you can, try to take a lighter load first semester of your senior year. If you apply to a lot of schools, filling out secondaries is like a class in itself

*If you did research, review it before your interview!! Most of my interviews were exteremely laid back, and I usually only got a few questions about my research, but there was this one interview . . . . I got drilled and was very glad I had read over my research that morning

*relax and stay on top of things so you can have a kick a$$ senior year 🙂 Good luck!
 
oh I forgot to mention . . . don't freak out if you go to that MDapplicants website. I think people either exaggerate their scores on their profile or only the brightest of people actually make a profile. Either way, most people who take the MCAT don't get 39's or 40's 😉
 
Know that you have to request a letter from your school's premed committee...and then once you send the AMCAS primary...go back and tell your school who to send the letters to (with envelopes and stamps) Thank god a friend told me....because I had no idea.
 
NEVER rehearse an answer. NEVER EVER EVER. Try to have a general idea of how you'll respond to something, but don't memorize, like, you know, words.

--Funkless
 
Has anyone suggested this yet? Start drinking heavily! I know it kept me alive during the process. 👍
 
Spitting Camel said:
Don't ask people on SDN to choose your medical school for you. Sit in a room by yourself, and THINK about the next four years of YOUR life!
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This should be #1?.well?.at least #2!
 
funkless said:
NEVER rehearse an answer. NEVER EVER EVER. Try to have a general idea of how you'll respond to something, but don't memorize, like, you know, words.

--Funkless
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Can't stress that enough!
 
Keep all of your secondary application responses together in the same folder on your computer. You'll notice that after a couple of secondaries, a bunch of the questions are similar and you'll be able to save a lot of time by cutting and pasting.
 
I highly recommend using the retired MCATs released by AAMC to practice from. The exams assembled by companies like Kaplan and Princeton Review are good enough for government work, but after taking four actual MCATs, I felt far more familiar with their style of questioning. This was key for the verbal section, where many of the questions seem to be open to interpretation. Developing an intuitive sense for what they were looking for made a HUGE difference for me.

The hitch, of course, is that the tests are pricey. Like good crackmongers, the first one is free, but then you've got to pay $80 for three more (or $40 each, if you just want one). You can check out the deal here:

http://www.aamc.org/students/mcat/practicetests.htm

Good luck everybody!
 
Buy a nice suit that makes you feel like a million $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$. Your confidence will be a lot better at you interviews.
 
I'm sure someone has already posted this, but APPLY EARLY. There was actually a school that was my lowest ranked "safe" school, but I got waitlisted. When I called the person who interviewed me, he said that since I had applied late, I was interviewing for a waitlist spot. I really endangered my chances of getting in at some of the other schools by sending my secondary in late. I sent my UCLA secondary in late after I missed the secondary deadline. I know a lot of you might be thinking 'Well, at least she got into...' but honest to goodness, God pulled this one off.

Also, make sure to have a reliable email service. Most all the schools I applied to sent me the link to the secondary by email. Best of luck to the class of '09!
 
1. Remain calm! I freaked out consistently, this proved to be a significant waste of time and energy. Remember, the randomness of the process can work in your favor, getting waitlisted at your 3rd or 4th favorite school in no way indicates that you'll be rejected from your 1st choice.

2. Be assertive, get the schools to work with you. Call schools where you would like to interview, let them know when you'll be in the area. If a schools sends you an interview date that seems sort of unreasonable (ie. the day AFTER you'll be leaving town post-christmas Christmas) call them, ask them to rearrange. This can almost always be done, even for the schools that promise you they don't change interview dates, or won't do it over the phone, or whatever.

3. I wouldn't necessarily say that you need to do practice interviews unless you happen to know there are things you need to work on (ie. you tend to stare at your shoes, stutter, bite your lip, look at your watch, or some other little habit you want to practice NOT doing). But I would definitely have an idea of how you would answer some of the basic questions. Particularly the tough ones (strengths/weaknesses? if not medicine then what? why medicine? how do you know you'll be able to hack medical school? happiest/saddest times in your life? what you're proudest of? exactly what statistical methods did you use to analyze that data on the research you did 5 years ago, the research that convinced you that you had to go into medicine because you'd absolutely go crazy if you had to spend one more day in the lab? [That last one really just means, know your research well.])
 
Relax at your interviews. I know this is hard since the interview will make or break you. If you screw it up, consider yourself rejected and all hope is lost....until the next interview. Have fun. 🙂
 
Stop eating. Ugh, I gained 10 pounds between MCAT and interviews.
 
If January comes around and you still haven't been invited to interview at schools on your list, write them. Express your interest and specifically ask for an interview. A friend passed this advice on to me and it worked. I wrote to 4 schools I had not heard from, in a matter of weeks was invited to interview at 3 of them, and was fortunate to receive acceptances from all three. And it wasn't because my application was anything special. With piles of literally thousands of similar applications of well qualified applicants, anything you can do to get someone in admissions to pull your file will help.
 
edj80 said:
If January comes around and you still haven't been invited to interview at schools on your list, write them. Express your interest and specifically ask for an interview. A friend passed this advice on to me and it worked. I wrote to 4 schools I had not heard from, in a matter of weeks was invited to interview at 3 of them, and was fortunate to receive acceptances from all three. And it wasn't because my application was anything special. With piles of literally thousands of similar applications of well qualified applicants, anything you can do to get someone in admissions to pull your file will help.
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wow, thats a really great tip! keep them coming, thanks for the help guys
 
Tezzie said:
33. Do not lie on your application !!!

Yes that includes conveniently "forgetting" about shady past activities that can be found out.
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Can you elaborate on this? I went to Amherst College then left towards the end of my first semester because I was very unhappy there... will they ask Amherst why I left?
 
Don't be afraid to reapply more than once. There are a lot of people out there applying for a limited number of spots. Reapplicants get accepted all the time.
 
I'm gonna join the chorus:

With regards to the interview

BE YOURSELF throughout this entire process. No matter how pompous or socially inept your interviewers come across (and there will be a few of them), just be relaxed and be yourself. Use your sense of humor if you have one but don't go overboard. I liked most of the thirty-or-so interviewers I met with. I fell asleep in one interview (later accepted) and one of my interviewers was sort of insulting (later rejected). But for the most part, the rest were cool. They just want to get to know you and make sure you're not crazy 🙂

The schools I got into were the schools where I felt most relaxed during interviews. I pretty much chit-chatted through two of them with some really nice people at the school I am going to attend. Unfortunately, when I'm nervous I sound really formal and I made the mistake of rehearsing some answers to common interview questions (do not do this). One interviewer actually cut me off and said, "I can tell you're nervous and you seem like you have prepared answers to these questions; so let's instead talk about something you really enjoy." We talked about a sport I was involved with and he told me I seemed much more relaxed and personable enough to have a place in the class (waitlisted).

One last suggestion: bring up something that you feel passionate about. Whether it be the sport you play, your experience with the legal aspects of medicine, or a favorite musical hobby. This will insure that your interviewer stays awake for the interview and actually remembers who the heck you are when it's time to review your file.

Good Luck with the application cycle.
 
Steer clear from competitive, uptight pre-meds.
 
snowhite said:
Steer clear from competitive, uptight pre-meds.
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I take this a step further and steer clear of premeds in general. Why mess with them when you're stuck with them for 4 years during med school whether you like it or not. 😉

Has anyone mentioned this one yet: don't procrastinate (on AMCAS and in life in general.)
 
Super Rob said:
I'm gonna join the chorus:

With regards to the interview

BE YOURSELF throughout this entire process. No matter how pompous or socially inept your interviewers come across (and there will be a few of them), just be relaxed and be yourself. Use your sense of humor if you have one but don't go overboard. I liked most of the thirty-or-so interviewers I met with. I fell asleep in one interview (later accepted) and one of my interviewers was sort of insulting (later rejected).
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You fell asleep during your interview? 😕 How is that possible? Did the interviewer challenge you to a staring contest or something?

I second what you say about being yourself. I was 100% myself during all my interviews and I think it makes a huge difference. Of course, with my personality the way it is, being fake isn't possible anyway so I guess I was at an advantage there. I'm sure the more perceptive interviewers can tell if a student is being fake. Of course, that sucks if you're being genuine but you just come off as fake (which some people can based on first impressions.)

Quick digression but it's kind of funny how perceptions work. It's almost as if what you're saying or doing isn't as important as what's actually being perceived. For example, people are used to seeing how certain emotions (happiness, anger, etc) are stereotypically expressed on TV, movies, whatnot. If you're really sad but you don't seem sad based on what a stereotypical reaction is to sadness, people will just assume you aren't sad, just the way if you seem fake even though you're being genuine, you'll still be judged as being fake.
 
After your interviews, relax. Try not to talk about med school, the applications, etc. Make it a point to intentionally try to avoid talking about med school. Don't stress about which school you're going to. Nobody cares whether you go to a #15 school versus #50 school. Really. Most people don't know squat past the harvards and stanfords. Don't obsess. If you're losing sleep...you're obsessing. I speak from personal experience. Try to keep your mind on the big picture in relation to life...your kid getting sick, people getting laid off, etc. is a lot more stressful than applying to med school. Keep in touch with your friends. Drink beer, not hard liquor. Toss a football around at the beach.
 
If your mail goes to your parents' house, talk to them about how you want it handled. The school I wanted to go to sent a reject letter to me and I didn't know about it until after I finished all my interviews. It was nice of them to think about sparing my feeling, but I think knowing that I was rejected would have somewhat modified my answers at the other school just because I would have known that that school was no longer an option....Bottom line: TALK TO YOUR PARENTS!!!
 
I'm personally a beer person...dark and bitter...anyhow, the comment was kind of a hogarth reference to two sketches that he made...beer alley and gin lane. beer was the happy drink that signaled prosperity in england while gin (hard liquor) was fueling the country's moral decline.
 
I'm not sure if the aforementioned interviewer intended for me to fall asleep. I don't think he caught me either. It was one of those things were I felt myself drifting off and then I kind of like gasped and woke up. He was talking really slowly, he had a really soft voice, and he was sort of going off on a tangent about something he wasn't too enthusiastic about... and I was running on three hours sleep and a McDonalds breakfast, which leads to my next tip: get plenty of sleep before your interviews and eat real food. A breakfast burito and yogurt won't keep you awake when you're up against Dr. V. Ray Borring. 🙂
 
docmemi said:
be honest. be confident. be brave and corageous...dont be afraid to take risks. dont give up...be positive. write letters. keep in touch with your first choice. (turn in secondaries immediately). have a theme or short list of things that you want to convey to the committee (on paper, interview)...keep tieing things back to that theme or list of things. tell stories in your interview if you can. be very chill with your interviewer...speak to him/her like a friend or a date, not like you are making bs up. return all secondaries...dont reject yourself, apply to many places.
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Best posting yet. Thoughtful and short.

I'd like to emphasize two things:

1) Theme or short list idea
2) Letters stating your interest in the school to the dean of admissions. Tell them it's your top choice, if it is. I
 
Do you think its alright to turn in your secondary in person. I only live a couple minutes away from my top choice school and I was thinking that way I could get it in wuick and I wouldn't have to worry about it getting lost in the mail. Or am I just being stupid and should just mail it in like everyone else? Thanks! 🙂
 
I'm not aware of anything taboo regarding hand-delivering secondaries. The only advantage it will probably give you is the assurance that it won't get lost in the mail.
 
For interviews, get comfortable shoes!!!! I spent $75 on mine, but after 8 interviews, and not complaining after having to walk so much when others did, it was worth the investment of no blisters!
 
wldhokie said:
Do you think its alright to turn in your secondary in person. I only live a couple minutes away from my top choice school and I was thinking that way I could get it in wuick and I wouldn't have to worry about it getting lost in the mail. Or am I just being stupid and should just mail it in like everyone else? Thanks! 🙂
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I turned in the secondary to my undergrad school in person because I was in town that weekend. The lady in the admissions office was really nice and answered some of my questions. I'd definitely advise it.
 
- After your interview day, write down all of the pros and cons about the school while they're fresh in your mind. After several interviews, it's easy to forget the small things that you liked or didn't like.

-wear comfortable shoes to your interview!

-talk to as many students as you can during interview day.
 
When I was applying, I found out that one school had been sending me an interview offer to the wrong email address! 😱 It set me back a few months for that school. Make sure you check your status with the admissions office at least once a month. Just because you filled out your application correctly does not mean that there will be no mistakes.
 
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