Scrambling for Nothing?

[BleepTastic]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

I didn't know much about the process so I contacted the advisor person from my undergrad back in August and sent out a bunch of information that she requested. I sent it by mail as well as by email (a response to her original email). She also told me how extremely busy she was and that she wouldn't be able to reliably get back to me. I just got an angry email today about how I never sent anything to her, I have bad communication skills, and finally over the phone she told me that I'd make a bad doctor because of it (I'd be unable to make life and death decisions).

I had also sent her my amcas stuff and I was waiting for her to look over my Personal statement, but now since I'm the devil incarnate I need help on this front. Gotta keep on truckin' right? If anyone knows of a quick (and moderately priced) service that reviews personal statements, I would appreciate it. If anyone is familiar with what these statements should ideally look like and can volunteer to look it over...well that would be fantastic.

For other info, my gpa is about a 91 and my Mcats don't come in for about 2 more weeks. I think I'm nontraditional since I am about 3 years out of college, but reading the Med School websites, I get the distinct impression that without a pre-med committee letter, I'm out of luck. Um. Am I screwed?😱

 

[mlcal06]

my school doesn't have a premed committee, so don't worry there are others without such a letter

on the secondaries that asked for a committee letter, they also had an option for if your school doesn't have one, or if you just don't have a letter from your committee, they ask for you to give a reason. or maybe it was give a reason if you are sending them without a letter service.. well either way, you're not screwed - in my opinion

 

[spicedmanna]

I think I'm nontraditional since I am about 3 years out of college, but reading the Med School websites, I get the distinct impression that without a pre-med committee letter, I'm out of luck. Now I didn't know much about the process so I contacted the person from my undergrad back in August and sent out a bunch of information that she requested. I sent it by mail as well as by email (a response to her original email). She also told me how extremely busy she was and that she wouldn't be able to reliably get back to me. I just got an angry email today about how I never sent anything to her, I have bad communication skills, and finally over the phone she told me that I'd make a bad doctor because of it (I'd be unable to make life and death decisions).

I had also sent her my amcas stuff and I was waiting for her to look over my Personal statement, but now since I'm the devil incarnate I need help on this front. Gotta keep on truckin' right? If anyone knows of a quick (and moderately priced) service that reviews personal statements, I would appreciate it. If anyone is familiar with what these statements should ideally look like and can volunteer to look it over...well that would be fantastic.
For other info, my gpa is about a 91 and my Mcats don't come in for about 2 more weeks. Um. Am I screwed?😱

Are you sure you want to apply this year? I'm not asking to be mean, but it sounds like the conditions aren't as idea as they could be if you took your time next year. You really want to apply when things are as ideal as they can be, if you don't have some sort of time restriction. Think hard.

If you are wanting to apply for 2007, no matter what, then you should know that you are running a bit late, but it's still doable. You might want to snap to it, since many medical schools have a deadline of Oct 15 for your primary. If you are set on applying this year, then apply broadly.

I am assuming that when you are referring to "the person from my undergrad", you are talking about your premed advisor. It's my experience that premed advisors (especially of large state universities) are extremely busy this time of year and can get pretty grumpy. This is understandable, since they have around 300 people to process. It sounds like you have not built the best relationship with your advisor. That's somewhat unfortunate, since it is this person who will ultimately be writing your committee letter. If you want a strong letter from your advisor, and there is a way to get back into his or her good graces, I'd suggest doing it now. A bad letter can really hurt your chances. Having a committee letter is certainly advantageous, but only if you think it will be in strong support of your candidacy. You should make sure of that. There are alternatives. You can handle all the letters yourself through an a service like interfolio. Many schools will ask you to write them a letter explaining why you don't have a commitee letter though. Not hard to explain, considering you've been out of school a little while.

As for editing services... Most schools have free editing clinics; you just need to ask the English department or professional services, etc., to find them. If you know an English professor, you can ask them. However, if you can't find any of those individuals, there are editing services available online. Do a search on google and you will come across a number of them. Read up on their free essay-writing/personal statement advice (that they offer on their websites) and then decided which one you like.

Well, this is all my humble opinion, and imperfect musings, so take it as you will. I'm sure others with more experience and insight will respond to your thread.

Good luck.

 

[alwaysaangel]

I didn't know much about the process so I contacted the advisor person from my undergrad back in August and sent out a bunch of information that she requested. I sent it by mail as well as by email (a response to her original email). She also told me how extremely busy she was and that she wouldn't be able to reliably get back to me. I just got an angry email today about how I never sent anything to her, I have bad communication skills, and finally over the phone she told me that I'd make a bad doctor because of it (I'd be unable to make life and death decisions).

I can't imagine any of this anger was prompted and I honestly suggest you contact her supervisor about this. It is extremely unprofessional and rude, and she should be reprimanded for such behavior.

I had also sent her my amcas stuff and I was waiting for her to look over my Personal statement, but now since I'm the devil incarnate I need help on this front. Gotta keep on truckin' right? If anyone knows of a quick (and moderately priced) service that reviews personal statements, I would appreciate it. If anyone is familiar with what these statements should ideally look like and can volunteer to look it over...well that would be fantastic.

There's a list of people who do this on this site somewhere - search "Personal statement edit" or "personal statment review"

For other info, my gpa is about a 91 and my Mcats don't come in for about 2 more weeks. I think I'm nontraditional since I am about 3 years out of college, but reading the Med School websites, I get the distinct impression that without a pre-med committee letter, I'm out of luck. Um. Am I screwed?😱

91 GPA?!? Thats like 33 times as high as mine 😉

If you're 3 years out of school then no one would expect you to have a committee letter - saying you are out of school 3 years and no longer have a relationship with the school is more than sufficient for schools who want an explanation for not having a committee letter.

 

[girlincogneato]

Bleeptastic- pm me if you need an essay consultant just PM me. She charges $45 an hour- but only one hour was necessary for mine. She has editorial experience and has a super quick turnaround time.

 

[BleepTastic]

91 GPA?!? Thats like 33 times as high as mine

Heh, What can I say? I'm just_that_smrt. I mean smart. But really, that's how my school grades (100 scale) so I'll wait for Amcas's opinion on what my GPA is on a 4.0 scale. I'm guessing it's not nearly as impressive.

Thanks to all for the advice. I think I'll actually take it.
Yes, spicedmanna, I am very sure I want to apply this year. Although it doesnt sound like it, I sacrificed to be able to get even this far. I quit a good job and turned down others paying around 60-70k. I dedicated a month and a half to cramming for the MCATs and I'd also like to not be quite so old when I get out of medical school. If I don't apply, any job I'd get would be a poor poor consolation prize and probably a go-nowhere job too because it would be hard to explain to an employer (my field was in media) why I've been out of the field for so many months without pointing to the med school thing. I don't mean this to be a sob story. My point is that I can't let go of this now.

Here's the new twist to the story: Now she IS willing to help me and sounds ...nice? And alwaysangel, I think it was after she talked to one of her bosses (also one of my old professors). So I'm going to leave my complaints unspoken for now. With the turnaround, should I still try to get the committee letter or go at it on my own? The way it works is that all my references send letters to her, and she summarizes it. There is the danger of her interspersing the letter with some good ole ire.