Premed Horror Story

[veaselhaufen]

I know a kid with 4.0/ 38 who looks like he will not be accepted. Only 2 interviews aswell. I dunno, is this sort of thing common at all?

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[Textuality]

Common? Doubt it. But it happens. The usual culprits are a lack of EC's, a badly written personal statement, late or narrow application, and/or bad LOR's.

 

[SketchLazy]

I know a kid with 4.0/ 38 who looks like he will not be accepted. Only 2 interviews aswell. I dunno, is this sort of thing common at all?

If he/she has nothing else, didn't apply broadly, and/or applied late, then it can happen.

 

[backinyourhead]

Not that I'm happy that someone didn't get in, but I'm kind of relieved that this kind of thing can happen, in a way.

 

[fireflygirl]

That's sad. But there are thousands of people that don't get accepted every year for a variey of reasons. Some of them don't have the credentials and some of them have credentials of your friends but lack so many other things that are important for medicine such as ECs or personality or the ability to convey their desire for medicine through their PS. I know someone with similar credentials who did not get in twice and now is doing a psychopharmacology degree because she just gave up and refused to think about the DO route.

I think it's a shame for such people since they have worked so hard but it does go to show that schools are looking for people that have more than just good grades and MCATs.

 

[Carissa]

Not that I'm happy that someone didn't get in, but I'm kind of relieved that this kind of thing can happen, in a way.

I have to say I agree. It's nice to know that some colleges look beyond the numbers, despite how good they may be.

 

[ADeadLois]

I have to say I agree. It's nice to know that some colleges look beyond the numbers, despite how good they may be.

I don't think it's so much that the places he applied to looked "beyond the numbers"; he likely a major negative on his application. Probably a bad LOR or PS.

 

[Vihsadas]

I know a kid with 4.0/ 38 who looks like he will not be accepted. Only 2 interviews aswell. I dunno, is this sort of thing common at all?

He should have applied to WashU!

 

[Rotinaj]

Can the OP offer some more background like did this 4.0/38 have any EC's or is he an arrogant jerk/soulless robot?

 

[veaselhaufen]

Can the OP offer some more background like did this 4.0/38 have any EC's or is he an arrogant jerk/soulless robot?

The applicant is a really quiet/shy kid but doesn't seem like a jerk or soulless by any means. EC's may be weak, but I dunno.

 

[Maxprime]

Maybe he/she only applied to WashU & UCSF with no EC's. Stuff happens, but stuff like this happens for a reason.

 

[Jolie South]

There are lots of reasons this person might not have been accepted.

-bad LORs
-weak ECs
-little to no clinical exposure
-bad interviewer

Or a combination. An SDNer on an ADCOM posted a link to a worksheet that clearly showed that people with these kind of stats do get rejected.

 

[dienekes88]

The first thing to ask is: when did he submit his secondaries?

Not applying early enough was probably the greatest of my many sins in the application process.

 

[paranoid_eyes]

im dead afraid of LOR's. I mean, what if the prof decides to play a dirty trick!???

 

[Wylde]

Common? Doubt it. But it happens. The usual culprits are a lack of EC's, a badly written personal statement, late or narrow application, and/or bad LOR's.

What other culprits are left haha

 

[Textuality]

What other culprits are left haha

Haha..umm...lack of personality? Sabotage? The really random, out there reasons. Pure bad luck?

 

[bluemonkey]

I'm guessing he/she applied really late...Even super-competitive applicants have a hard time applying in September and beyond...

 

[Textuality]

I'm guessing he/she applied really late...Even super-competitive applicants have a hard time applying in September and beyond...

Heh...I guess I lucked out then. I wasn't complete at most schools until late Sept - early Oct, mostly due to delays in my school committee process. I don't think being complete by end of September is THAT late is it? Makes me wonder if things would have fallen out differently if I had been complete in July. (Not complaining, just wondering) Who knows...

But yeah, the biggest lesson for applications on SDN seems to be to apply EARLY.

 

[Vihsadas]

Meh. I dunno. I know that I need to apply earlier...for my specific application its a huge failing. I still say that the biggest lesson of my life, and I want to say this to all of you <3.3 freshmen or sophmore students:

DON'T SUCK DURING YOUR UNDERGRADUATE!

You all have the capability to do better. Learn from me and Maxprime. Fix your habits, NOW.

 

[Bananas Foster]

I finished my secondaries Nov 7th

Is that why northwestern and OK wouldn't give me the time of day? I dunno, having application date be a major factor in the admissions process seems even more shallow, shortsighted and ridiculous than making admission decisions based on other trivial matters, like UG college attended or freshman year humanities grades.

but I'll be waiting until march when the process is dying down and I know for sure if I'm in or not before I start asking schools what I specifically need to be improving on my application.

 

[Bananas Foster]

There are lots of reasons this person might not have been accepted.

-bad LORs
-weak ECs
-little to no clinical exposure
-bad interviewer

Or a combination. An SDNer on an ADCOM posted a link to a worksheet that clearly showed that people with these kind of stats do get rejected.

Jolie, I'm too lazy to search, do you know roughly where you saw this?

 

[TheMemoirist]

Meh. I dunno. I know that I need to apply earlier...for my specific application its a huge failing. I still say that the biggest lesson of my life, and I want to say this to all of you <3.3 freshmen or sophmore students:

DON'T SUCK DURING YOUR UNDERGRADUATE!

You all have the capability to do better. Learn from me and Maxprime. Fix your habits, NOW.

I agree with your sentiment. I was kinda in the same boat. Low GPA, high MCAT, but still, most med schools happily deposited my application fees without much consideration of the application itself. Fortunately, I got in somewhere, but I'm sure that if I hadn't sucked during undergraduate (which was a while ago now), I could have gotten into a few other places as well.

I feel bad for the person with the 4.0/38 if it turns out he doesn't get in anywhere. But if he does get rejected, I can't help but feel that maybe there's a pretty good reason he didn't get in--he had all the numbers, obviously, but perhaps the adcoms could sense he wasn't really into it or the remainder of his application was questionable. Goes to show that admissions really is about a "total package."

Then again, maybe he just had some seriously bad luck.

Here's to hoping he gets some good news soon!

 

[GZA]

Common? Doubt it. But it happens. The usual culprits are a lack of EC's, a badly written personal statement, late or narrow application, and/or bad LOR's.

well i'd hope so considering that is every other factor in the application proces

 

[45408]

I finished my secondaries Nov 7th

Is that why northwestern and OK wouldn't give me the time of day?

Northwestern doesn't do rolling admissions, so you're probably not hearing from them for another reason.

I dunno, having application date be a major factor in the admissions process seems even more shallow, shortsighted and ridiculous than making admission decisions based on other trivial matters, like UG college attended or freshman year humanities grades.

I disagree. If you really want to go to med school, you should make sure that you hand in your papers on time. If you're throwing it all together at the last minute, what does that say about how much you want to do this? Besides, if a school does rolling admissions, their class may well be full and their interviews all scheduled until the end of the season by the time your application hits their desk. If your secondaries were done by November 7th, the LORs probably showed up even later.

 

[Lawliet2008]

He should have applied for the University of Toronto (the other UT). They'd have picked him up in a heartbeat. It's all about numbers here in Canada.

 

[UVAbme2009]

im dead afraid of LOR's. I mean, what if the prof decides to play a dirty trick!???

I can't believe a professor would actually do something like that. I've had professors tell my classes that if they don't think they can write a good LOR, they will tell you. You'd have to be a complete jerk to write a bad LOR for a student, no matter how deserving they may have been.

 

[Myuu]

He should have applied to WashU!

I would laugh, but I'm in a similar boat and WashU is one of the two schools that has given me the time of day. Go!Go!Lateandnarrowlyapplied. >.>;;;


I'll take what I can get at this point.

 

[Jolie South]

Jolie, I'm too lazy to search, do you know roughly where you saw this?

It was in a thread a while back that had a title dealing with how much the interview was worth.

It was someone from an adcom at case western.

 

[SocialistMD]

I think it's a shame for such people since they have worked so hard but it does go to show that schools are looking for people that have more than just good grades and MCATs.

Not that I disagree with you because it does suck to work so hard to achieve a goal and not be able to attain it, but do you feel the same way about athletes?

 

[Maxprime]

You all have the capability to do better. Learn from me and Maxprime. Fix your habits, NOW.

Hey - who are you calling an idiot in undergrad!? Oh . . . me, yeah that's about right.

I know there are outliers in this process, but there is a very simple yet unstated reason why this kid didn't get any acceptances. In today's world, if you don't have any clinical experience it can easily sink you.

 

[Drogba]

I would laugh, but I'm in a similar boat and WashU is one of the two schools that has given me the time of day. Go!Go!Lateandnarrowlyapplied. >.>;;;


I'll take what I can get at this point.

You use silly smilies that I've never seen outside anime fan typing (and judging by your name you are still not breaking the mold). >_<;; ;;

 

[Myuu]

You use silly smilies that I've never seen outside anime fan typing (and judging by your name you are still not breaking the mold). >_<;; ;;

I'm not entirely sure what you mean by that, but I acknowledge the correctness of your two factual statements?

 

[Bananas Foster]

I disagree. If you really want to go to med school, you should make sure that you hand in your papers on time. If you're throwing it all together at the last minute, what does that say about how much you want to do this? Besides, if a school does rolling admissions, their class may well be full and their interviews all scheduled until the end of the season by the time your application hits their desk. If your secondaries were done by November 7th, the LORs probably showed up even later.

See, in my opinion, if a school wants my application by a certain date, they should set that date as their deadline. My secondaries and letters were submitted before Nov 7 (October actually), the 7th was just when I was acknowledged complete at all schools. But every school published their deadlines either Nov 15, or sometime in Dec.

Now I'll admit to being a neophyte and kinda naive, but it seems silly to call an applicant late, and discount their file, when it was submitted before deadlines. Heck, my fiance works in HR, and to my understanding for many jobs they won't even look at applications until after the submission deadline. And in academia is not like professors graded papers before they were due. With that in mind, not slapping things together, I took my time on my application starting in july. Maybe in medical admissions I'm the one being silly, I dunno.

I understand how rolling admissions works, but it seems to show a lack of planning to fill up all the slots for interviews when applications are still being accepted, I don't really beleive that many counselors would be that shortsighted.

Anyways, like you said, it probably was for another reason, goodness knows I do have more than a couple weaknesses. I'd also feel a whole lot better about the process if it were for another reason.

 

[Vihsadas]

I agree with you, Bananas. I'm convinced that rolling admissions is more a problem of volume than a deliberate tactic to divide applications between "those who really want it" and "those who don't really want it." There are just way too many applications to wait until after the deadlines to start reviewing. The quicker they fill up their class with qualified applicants the less work that needs to be done toward the end of the admissions season.

Here is something to consider:
Rolling admissions is going to severely affect so many more applications from here on out. The instigation of the MCAT over multiple dates from January (Sitting very pretty in terms of application tardiness) to September (Forget about applying this year) is going to cause a large number of applicants every year to be extremely late in their applications. It almost makes me feel like there will be a mad rush every year to get those coveted May/June MCAT spots.

Rolling Admissions: Necessary Evil in my opinion.

 

[Jolie South]

I'm going to have to agree with the Prowler on this one.

If you're looking at applicants, wouldn't you look more favorably on someone that was prepared enough to have their application in on the first day? I would. It shows enthusiasm and foresight.

 

[dienekes88]

I don't think it's so much the fact that your app submission date is factored into the strength of the file... as the fact that a late app is only looked at after a lot of the interview dates have been given away. As the number of interview days dwindles, the admissions office becomes more strict.

 

[dizzyorange]

I finished my secondaries Nov 7th

Is that why northwestern and OK wouldn't give me the time of day? I dunno, having application date be a major factor in the admissions process seems even more shallow, shortsighted and ridiculous than making admission decisions based on other trivial matters, like UG college attended or freshman year humanities grades.

but I'll be waiting until march when the process is dying down and I know for sure if I'm in or not before I start asking schools what I specifically need to be improving on my application.

I think applying late really does hurt. I wasn't complete until December/January this cycle. Heck, Columbia just emailed me today telling me my app is complete.

I agree that it seems like a shallow criteria for admittance. Many people who apply late do so because of some summer commitment (or summer/fall commitment in my case). That's no reason to make it much harder for them to get in. They might as well make the deadline earlier.

Bananas, looking at your mdapps, it's very hard to believe you won't be accepted. Did you try to explain that you're taking Biochem this semester?

 

[Bananas Foster]

Bananas, looking at your mdapps, it's very hard to believe you won't be accepted.

As the number of interview days dwindles, the admissions office becomes more strict.

yeah, i suddenly feel like i've been kinda defensive and the center of attention... eh....

In reality, I'm not personally too worried about it, i know even if admissions becomes more strict, I'm luckily and thankfully not the type of candidate who suffers the most. But it is something that bothers me on principle, The 33, 3.7 applicant is just as perfectly qualified Nov. 15th as s/he was June 1st, why allow the process select against them?

If you're looking at applicants, wouldn't you look more favorably on someone that was prepared enough to have their application in on the first day? I would. It shows enthusiasm and foresight.

Y'know, after the time and credit card debt put into test fees, secondaries and interviews, I think just about everyone on SDN has shown more than a fair share of enthusiasm, no matter their date. I personally am just about as enthused and excited about medicine as I am about anything that comes out of an oven, and I think that comes through in a lot areas of an application better than the submission date.

And don't get me wrong, I have nothing against rolling admissions, it just makes sense that AdComs are intelligent people, and if they know they normally have only received, say 50 percent of completed secondaries by a certain date, they would only grant an appropriate amount of interviews by that date, like 40-50 percent allowing for annual fluctuations, thus allowing everyone equal consideration. It seems from my monitoring of UMich's page that was close to the case for them. Perhaps an adcom has a good explanation for why this would not be the case.

 

[Phoenix.]

I finished my secondaries Nov 7th

Is that why northwestern and OK wouldn't give me the time of day? I dunno, having application date be a major factor in the admissions process seems even more shallow, shortsighted and ridiculous than making admission decisions based on other trivial matters, like UG college attended or freshman year humanities grades.

but I'll be waiting until march when the process is dying down and I know for sure if I'm in or not before I start asking schools what I specifically need to be improving on my application.

I could be misreading your mdapps, but if you've only had 6 months of clinical experience/volunteering when you applied, that could be a definite weakness at many schools. I'm assuming "resident assistant" is more an undergrad RA position than something medically related, and that your EMT work just started recently. If so, a lot of schools will see only a few months of clinical exposure right before application time as not enough.... Regardless, I think you will get in this cycle, but you would definitely have had more options if you'd applied earlier, and possibly if you had more clinical exposure. But really, I think you'll be fine.

EDIT: Oh, and regarding your comment about still being enthusiastic despite being late, if I were an adcom and someone got their application in late and didn't have a lot of clinical exposure.....I might wonder if this was a little bit more of a "last minute" decision. Granted, it's an expensive and long process regardless, but maybe I'd wonder if med school wasn't seen as a back-up considering from their application it looked like they hadn't really considered medicine for more than a few months. Ditto with procrastination, or letting other things get in the way of applying to med school - which should be a first priority. Granted, life happens, but in this crazy process where we're trying to show our dedication and devotion to medicine.... *shrug*

 

[thejonqproject]

this happened to me. 3.9+ 36 mcat

applied late, narrowly, had a questionable lor ( i think? ) - im not a bad person just miscommunications and personality conflicts with certain grad students.

anyways, this year i have 9 acceptances ( withdrew from 5) so thats probably a bit better , unfortunatly i think some schools ( my state schools ) may have kept some of my files from last year so they may have affected some stuff.

 

[SocialistMD]

...i have 9 acceptances...unfortunatly i think some schools ( my state schools ) may have kept some of my files from last year

It only takes one acceptance. You are already holding eight extra that many people on this forum want. So what if you don't get into your state schools; let some other people get into medical school, too.

 

[thejonqproject]

It only takes one acceptance. You are already holding eight extra that many people on this forum want. So what if you don't get into your state schools; let some other people get into medical school, too.

i withdrew from all but 4 ( still deciding )

 

[Bananas Foster]

I could be misreading your mdapps, but if you've only had 6 months of clinical experience/volunteering when you applied, that could be a definite weakness at many schools. I'm assuming "resident assistant" is more an undergrad RA position than something medically related, and that your EMT work just started recently. If so, a lot of schools will see only a few months of clinical exposure right before application time as not enough....

yeah, exactly, like i said, i didn't really want this to be about me, there are probably more than a couple good reasons to reject me. Just I hear from people who don't know my stats the "oh, you probably would be sitting on acceptances if you had applied in june" line and this just seems like a silly reason/excuse to reject anyone, especially solid applicants around the average matriculate stats.

 

[Phoenix.]

yeah, exactly, like i said, i didn't really want this to be about me, there are probably more than a couple good reasons to reject me. Just I hear from people who don't know my stats the "oh, you probably would be sitting on acceptances if you had applied in june" line and this just seems like a silly reason/excuse to reject anyone, especially solid applicants around the average matriculate stats.

Yes, silly. But frequently, true.

 

[Drogba]

I'm not entirely sure what you mean by that, but I acknowledge the correctness of your two factual statements?

I don't mean anything, I was, in fact, just making two assertions.

I find it funny how some smilies are associatedwith certain interets.

 

[Myuu]

I don't mean anything, I was, in fact, just making two assertions.

I find it funny how some smilies are associatedwith certain interets.

Oh, okay. I was thinking it was something along those lines, but your last two faces were rather suspect.

 

[Drogba]

Oh, okay. I was thinking it was something along those lines, but your last two faces were rather suspect.

>.> <.<

 

[135892]

>.> <.<

 

[Drogba]

-_-;;

 

[RunShare]

It was in a thread a while back that had a title dealing with how much the interview was worth.

It was someone from an adcom at case western.

Not to beat a dead horse or anything, but has anyone been able to find this thread? My search turned up nothing...