Things you HATE about this damn process!!

[NYCDesi]

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There's quite a list, but I'll give one of my favorites -

I get an interview from school A and then hear absolutely nothing from any other schools for two weeks. At this point, I am compulsively clicking refresh on my inbox every 2 min and panting like a rabid dog everyday (except sunday) at 1PM waiting for the mailman (once in a while, I even lunge for his jugular when I see no med school correspondence).
Then suddenly, on my 1,678,543rd click of the refresh button, I see a new email with the word "interview" in it and almost hit the ceiling in elation. It's not until I read the entire subject line that I see that it is only an update about my upcoming interview at school A, at which point I drive my fist through the screen.

On my way to circuit city to buy a monitor for my computer. 4th one this month....

Anybody else have any grievances?

 

[EvoDevo]

I feel the E.X.A.C.T. same way. 👎

 

[Psycho Doctor]

There's quite a list, but I'll give one of my favorites -

I get an interview from school A and then hear absolutely nothing from any other schools for two weeks. At this point, I am compulsively clicking refresh on my inbox every 2 min and panting like a rabid dog everyday (except sunday) at 1PM waiting for the mailman (once in a while, I even lunge for his jugular when I see no med school correspondence).
Then suddenly, on my 1,678,543rd click of the refresh button, I see a new email with the word "interview" in it and almost hit the ceiling in elation. It's not until I read the entire subject line that I see that it is only an update about my upcoming interview at school A, at which point I drive my fist through the screen.

On my way to circuit city to buy a monitor for my computer. 4th one this month....


Anybody else have any grievances?

loved your post...you should be a writer 😀

did you really count the number of times you refreshed? 😛

 

[Termwean]

I hate that I am really wishing that all my friends get into Med School with me....but at the same time realizing that they could be taking MY spot!

P.S. If you are a friend of mine.....I really do hope that you get in too.

 

[morganlefay]

The endless, maniacal, stress-inducing w a i t i n g........
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See how annoying that is? 😛

 

[hot_lunch_69]

chill out, dude. don't mess yourself. 🙂

 

[fakin' the funk]

Anybody else have any grievances?

YES! The appalling lack of anything even remotely resembling standardization among secondaries.

School A just wants money; fine.
School B wants you to reiterate your ECs, including description, location, hours/week, total hours, etc. Something that deserves the response: READ MY AMCAS.
School C wants the above plus one essay question asking what your values are, and a second asking what life experiences have influenced your decision to pursue medicine (4000 character limit). Something that deserves the response: READ MY PERSONAL STATEMENT.
School D wants all of the above, but you only get 200 characters (including spaces) in which to do so.

Which is not to mention the ridiculously inconsistent manner of transmitting the secondaries. I get a letter from a school telling me the secondary's web address from which I'll print out my app (which are not submitted online) and mail it in. ?!?!?! Or submit your entirely online app electronically, THEN print out and mail. ?!?!?!

The only solution: a standardized service just like AMCAS but for secondaries. Schools let the service know when they want you to fill out a secondary, and your online account is populated with all the essay questions. There is no redundancy of character/word limit: no answering "which service activity had the most impact on you" in 300 characters, 50 words, 1000 characters with spaces. This boils down to one question, let's say - 500 characters. PERIOD. Next question: a problem or obstacle you faced - 1000 characters. Long story short, the schools get the answers they want, maybe not in the exact format they want, and applicants save hundreds of hours cutting their 1300 character essay down to 500 or trying to restate their PS.

I'm exhausted.

 

[Caesarsgrl]

YES! The appalling lack of anything even remotely resembling standardization among secondaries.

School A just wants money; fine.
School B wants you to reiterate your ECs, including description, location, hours/week, total hours, etc. Something that deserves the response: READ MY AMCAS.
School C wants the above plus one essay question asking what your values are, and a second asking what life experiences have influenced your decision to pursue medicine (4000 character limit). Something that deserves the response: READ MY PERSONAL STATEMENT.
School D wants all of the above, but you only get 200 characters (including spaces) in which to do so.

Which is not to mention the ridiculously inconsistent manner of transmitting the secondaries. I get a letter from a school telling me the secondary's web address from which I'll print out my app (which are not submitted online) and mail it in. ?!?!?! Or submit your entirely online app electronically, THEN print out and mail. ?!?!?!

The only solution: a standardized service just like AMCAS but for secondaries. Schools let the service know when they want you to fill out a secondary, and your online account is populated with all the essay questions. There is no redundancy of character/word limit: no answering "which service activity had the most impact on you" in 300 characters, 50 words, 1000 characters with spaces. This boils down to one question, let's say - 500 characters. PERIOD. Next question: a problem or obstacle you faced - 1000 characters. Long story short, the schools get the answers they want, maybe not in the exact format they want, and applicants save hundreds of hours cutting their 1300 character essay down to 500 or trying to restate their PS.

I'm exhausted.

Get out of my head.. get out of my head!!!! 😱
lol I totally know what you mean!

 

[hot_lunch_69]

Y'all need to take a chill pill. 😀

But I agree: this process sucks and blows at the same time.

 

[VFrank]

I hate the time that I'm WASTING checking my Email and logging onto SDN. I still have three secondaries to get done, but whenever I sit at my computer to do them, I'm like "well, I guess I could check these other things first" and then I never get around to the things I'm supposed to get done.

 

[btowngirl]

I hate the time that I'm WASTING checking my Email and logging onto SDN. I still have three secondaries to get done, but whenever I sit at my computer to do them, I'm like "well, I guess I could check these other things first" and then I never get around to the things I'm supposed to get done.

you are describing what i am doing at this very moment

 

[NYCDesi]

loved your post...you should be a writer 😀

did you really count the number of times you refreshed? 😛

Thanks 🙂, I do write whenever I get a chance. I figured I should put my english major to use before med school.


Actually, I clicked refresh a few thousand more times after I posted that.....sad, I know.

 

[Ypo.]

I felt like posting something like this today-I'm glad someone else did so I can add to it. After weeks of frantically submitting secondaries, its wierd that my emails have suddenly slowed to a sporadic trickle.


I feel like I wish I had more secondaries to fill out or something. Anything is better than the slowness. And I really feel like screaming when I see something in the inbox-and its nothing related to med school.

 

[Shorty43]

Not sure how its been for the rest of you, but for me at least... the whole process is quite deceptive:

You send in your AMCAS early... expecting it to take forever to get verified like it did in the previous years... and then boom... one week later you're its all set. So at this point you're like hell yeah, I'm on my way.

Unscreened secondaries start to pile up... you're not ecstatic, but if gives you something to do.

You start getting screened secondaries at which point, you're like... damn straight... I'm getting into med school baby!

Wham, right away you get one or two interviews and you're just on top of the world.

4 weeks later... still filling out these "screened secondaries", still only have 1 or 2 interviews, but you KNOW that about half of the schools you're complete at are already interviewing, and now you're starting to think... I'm never getting into med school!

👎 👎

 

[Fed Meat]

1) Schools that require letters of recommendation outside of the usual 2 science profs and a humanities prof.

2) Schools that feel as if your recommenders must fill out their individual "check the box" forms

3) Schools that place crazy restrictions on who can give you a recommendation that K-I-L-L non-trads.

4) The belief that letters of rec mean squat. They're usually just fluff from someone who drones on and on how student X is wonderful. I worked for an admissions office for a few years, and we would laugh about how Student A was exactly the same, wonderful person as Student B, C, D, E, and F.

Guess where I've had the most frustration this admissions cycle?

 

[EvoDevo]

Not sure how its been for the rest of you, but for me at least... the whole process is quite deceptive:

You send in your AMCAS early... expecting it to take forever to get verified like it did in the previous years... and then boom... one week later you're its all set. So at this point you're like hell yeah, I'm on my way.

Unscreened secondaries start to pile up... you're not ecstatic, but if gives you something to do.

You start getting screened secondaries at which point, you're like... damn straight... I'm getting into med school baby!

Wham, right away you get one or two interviews and you're just on top of the world.

4 weeks later... still filling out these "screened secondaries", still only have 1 or 2 interviews, but you KNOW that about half of the schools you're complete at are already interviewing, and now you're starting to think... I'm never getting into med school!

👎 👎

This is me to the letter!

 

[NubianPrincess]

I hate how it's making me broker (is that possible? 😕 )

 

[AsianDoc816]

This is me to the letter!

So true....You get four interview invites in ONE WEEK, and you're like, "Wow, I'm the smartest person in the whole world!" Then it slows down, and you're lucky to get one interview invite in a timespan of two weeks. You hear about people getting interviews at the other schools that you applied to, and you frantically check your e-mail/mailbox for YOUR invite. It's not there. After this happens week after week after week, you begin to ask yourself, "Do I really want to go to med school anyway? Cuz this is TOTALLY ruining my HEALTH." The tears stream down, you're numb the next day, and the next....until you check your mailbox (with no intentions of receiving anything important), and see a big, shiny envelope from School XYZ addressed to you. You tear it open, and suddenly everything is better....until you get greedy and expect more invites to flow your way. Up, down, up, down, up, down....

 

[VFrank]

So true....You get four interview invites in ONE WEEK, and you're like, "Wow, I'm the smartest person in the whole world!" Then it slows down, and you're lucky to get one interview invite in a timespan of two weeks. You hear about people getting interviews at the other schools that you applied to, and you frantically check your e-mail/mailbox for YOUR invite. It's not there. After this happens week after week after week, you begin to ask yourself, "Do I really want to go to med school anyway? Cuz this is TOTALLY ruining my HEALTH." The tears stream down, you're numb the next day, and the next....until you check your mailbox (with no intentions of receiving anything important), and see a big, shiny envelope from School XYZ addressed to you. You tear it open, and suddenly everything is better....until you get greedy and expect more invites to flow your way. Up, down, up, down, up, down....

This meaning you have, like, five interviews already? That's it, you're not allowed to complain anymore.

 

[AsianDoc816]

This meaning you have, like, five interviews already? That's it, you're not allowed to complain anymore.

It was actually supposed to be hypothetical, but summarizes my experience (I am applying in Texas, where there are eight medical schools).

 

[leechy]

Ha, this entire thread is sooooooooo me.

RAAAAAAWWWWWRRRRRR!!! (it's a lion... it's Howard Dean.... Noooooo, IT'S A NEUROTIC PRE-MED!!!!)

 

[Ypo.]

Not sure how its been for the rest of you, but for me at least... the whole process is quite deceptive:

You send in your AMCAS early... expecting it to take forever to get verified like it did in the previous years... and then boom... one week later you're its all set. So at this point you're like hell yeah, I'm on my way.

Unscreened secondaries start to pile up... you're not ecstatic, but if gives you something to do.

You start getting screened secondaries at which point, you're like... damn straight... I'm getting into med school baby!

Wham, right away you get one or two interviews and you're just on top of the world.

4 weeks later... still filling out these "screened secondaries", still only have 1 or 2 interviews, but you KNOW that about half of the schools you're complete at are already interviewing, and now you're starting to think... I'm never getting into med school!

👎 👎

You really just explained my situation better than I ever could have. 👍

 

[Shorty43]

So true....You get four interview invites in ONE WEEK, and you're like, "Wow, I'm the smartest person in the whole world!" Then it slows down, and you're lucky to get one interview invite in a timespan of two weeks. You hear about people getting interviews at the other schools that you applied to, and you frantically check your e-mail/mailbox for YOUR invite. It's not there. After this happens week after week after week, you begin to ask yourself, "Do I really want to go to med school anyway? Cuz this is TOTALLY ruining my HEALTH." The tears stream down, you're numb the next day, and the next....until you check your mailbox (with no intentions of receiving anything important), and see a big, shiny envelope from School XYZ addressed to you. You tear it open, and suddenly everything is better....until you get greedy and expect more invites to flow your way. Up, down, up, down, up, down....

No complaining for you is right! Ms. "I only get an interview once every two weeks!"

JK. Thats awesome. Congrats <def. jealous... I hate being a Cali resident 😱 >

 

[Fusion]

All of you complaining about "It's early September and I only have four or five interviews" need to chill. Here I am, got my AMCAS submitted on June 2, verified on June 10, complete at 14 schools, all of whom are waiting for my new August MCAT score before they will even review my file. You guys could be sitting on an acceptance or two before we August MCAT'ers even get screened for an interview!!!

 

[hot_lunch_69]

All of you complaining about "It's early September and I only have four or five interviews" need to chill. Here I am, got my AMCAS submitted on June 2, verified on June 10, complete at 14 schools, all of whom are waiting for my new August MCAT score before they will even review my file. You guys could be sitting on an acceptance or two before we August MCAT'ers even get screened for an interview!!!

Word. Preach on, dude.

These jokers gotta chill.

 

[meister]

All this talk makes me scared for next summer.

 

[IndyZX]

i dunno, im having fun with it thus far. of course, ill be a lot happier if i get in somewhere early, but i figure ill get in somewhere anyway, so im takin it easy.

 

[Mr. Seeds]

Word. Preach on, dude.

These jokers gotta chill.

I got 3 of my 4 interviews in the last two days. Before that I hadn't heard from anyone since early August, and was beginning to get seriously worried

Of course, its been a whole day of silence since my last invite, and I'm already getting restless again. This whole process just sucks...

 

[dr.z]

Eventhough I completed everything early (including my LOR), I haven't heard anything yet. I hate waiting and all the rejection letters I recieved thus far.

 

[SaltySqueegee]

The worst part was not knowing.

I liken it to running towards the light at the end of the tunnel at full speed, only to find out at the end of next summer whether it was a train, or the wonderful light of day. Either way it all comes to a climactic end...

Worst thing I've ever been through. It changed me big time.

 

[BlueMagpie]

The worst part was not knowing.

I liken it to running towards the light at the end of the tunnel at full speed, only to find out at the end of next summer whether it was a train, or the wonderful light of day. Either way it all comes to a climactic end...

Worst thing I've ever been through. It changed me big time.

I completely agree. I feel like the whole process was set up to give me maximum emotional trauma. I wonder if they have people who think up ways to torture us, like the already mentioned retyping of stats on secondaries when you've already done it on your AMCAS. Aaaarrggghh.
👎 👎

 

[twizzlers]

All of you complaining about "It's early September and I only have four or five interviews" need to chill. Here I am, got my AMCAS submitted on June 2, verified on June 10, complete at 14 schools, all of whom are waiting for my new August MCAT score before they will even review my file. You guys could be sitting on an acceptance or two before we August MCAT'ers even get screened for an interview!!!

I agree. As an August MCATer from the last cycle, I didn't even get my first interview until late January of this year. And for the school I'm currently going to, UCLA, I didn't even hear about my interview until this March. March!!! 😱

Thinking back on it, I'm glad I wasn't on SDN last September or October. Reading people complaining about only having a few interviews while I wouldn't even be getting my first until January - I just might've killed myself.

 

[DianaLynne]

Thank God, here's a bunch of people just as neurotic and OCD as me. I thought I was the only one compulsively checking mail boxes.

Being a non-trad applicant, I've totally lost patience with the folks writing my letters of recommendation. I got my stuff sent in super fast, but my letters aren't in so my file isn't open! Why does this process have to be so torturous? I think it's a weeding out process. Only the most neurotic can take this torture, and are probably the only ones that can make it through medical school.

RRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

Thanks for the venting, y'all.

Diana

 

[Jason110]

What annoys me the most is the varying degrees by which schools use AMCAS Some ask you to retype everything for their secondary. For others, you only need to send them a check and photo. It's complete bull****.

Jason

 

[DoctorMalki]

The most frustrating part of this process is WAITING! Waiting for your AMCAS to be verified, waiting to receive Secondaries then Waiting for rec letters then waiting to be complete at schools and now waiting for the mail carrier and emails (every 5mins) for interviews. I think this whole process is driving me insane!! 🙄

 

[leechy]

Guys, do you have suggestions for hobbies that will keep me occupied (and keep me from obsessively checking my email)? I'm serious here - I need stuff to distract me from all this med stuff!

 

[morganlefay]

Go biking or rollerblading, hang out with friends, if you're in school let that distract you, do some reading, volunteer somewhere (love the animal shelters--puppies! get them adopted).....tis all I can think of for now.

I'm in the same boat, though, we all are! ::refreshes email:: um, heheh 😛

 

[Pinkertinkle]

I hate it when other people get interviews from schools I applied to before I do, damn them!

 

[VFrank]

I hate it when other people get interviews from schools I applied to before I do, damn them!

Well, I hate it when people who were complete AFTER I was get interviews from schools I applied to (ahem -- NU and GW. Where are you guys?!?)

 

[DoctorMalki]

Well, I hate it when people who were complete AFTER I was get interviews from schools I applied to (ahem -- NU and GW. Where are you guys?!?)

I know, I have been complete at GW since early august and still nothing 🙁 starting to get kinda worried

 

[Medikit]

I haven't gotten any interview invites so far. I know it's still early but it's very draining and feels crappy.

 

[Cerbernator]

i got an interview like a month and a half ago and haven't heard jack since then

 

[Kazema]

For me it's just the whole thing of having no clue whatsoever about what's going to happen a week, a month, or a year from now. Will I get an interview? After the interview will I get an acceptance, waitlist, or rejection? And will I be in medical school next year or doing this all over again?

With undergrad I had a good idea of what schools I could get into and what schools I had very little chance at. So when I picked schools to apply to I had some reaches, most of which rejected me, and safeties, all of which I got into. Very clear, with just some uncertainty.

Whereas with medical schools I really have no idea. And I hate that.

Plus, if I get on a waitlist, this uncertainty might last throughout summer. It's very easy to see why they call it Waitlist Hell.

 

[hot_lunch_69]

And you all think being anxious about this crap will help your application or chances of being accepted???

You're better off if you just chill and wait it out. After all, it's only freakin' mid-September. Things will pick up.

 

[Medikit]

For me it's just the whole thing of having no clue whatsoever about what's going to happen a week, a month, or a year from now. Will I get an interview? After the interview will I get an acceptance, waitlist, or rejection? And will I be in medical school next year or doing this all over again?

With undergrad I had a good idea of what schools I could get into and what schools I had very little chance at. So when I picked schools to apply to I had some reaches, most of which rejected me, and safeties, all of which I got into. Very clear, with just some uncertainty.

Whereas with medical schools I really have no idea. And I hate that.

Plus, if I get on a waitlist, this uncertainty might last throughout summer. It's very easy to see why they call it Waitlist Hell.

If anything happens can you please instant message me or somehow remember to tell me? I really want to find out what ends up happening with you.

 

[stinkycheese]

I know, I have been complete at GW since early august and still nothing 🙁 starting to get kinda worried

Did you guys get notification that you were complete at GWU? I got a postcard saying they received my secondary, but it didn't say whether my file was complete, and I am getting worried. I might call them tomorrow.

 

[DoctorMalki]

Did you guys get notification that you were complete at GWU? I got a postcard saying they received my secondary, but it didn't say whether my file was complete, and I am getting worried. I might call them tomorrow.

I got a postcard saying that they have received my AMCAS, GW Secondary and LORs so I am guessing that means that my application is complete. I don't think they sent another postcard.

 

[DoctorMalki]

And you all think being anxious about this crap will help your application or chances of being accepted???

You're better off if you just chill and wait it out. After all, it's only freakin' mid-September. Things will pick up.

I like your attitude! i am trying to RELAX !! 👍

 

[rockstar2525]

The worst part for me is the not knowing where I'll be next year, and the fact that I change my mind about what I want EVERYDAY. For example; I fill out application A, do some research on city A and for two days I am totally set that that is my #1 choice. Two days later I fill out application B, surf the web for things to do in city B, then become totally sold that I want to go to school B. I repeat this process over and over and once I get through all the schools I start over.
Also the thought of moving again is unsettling. I moved this time last year to do my post-bac and am willing to move again, but I want to know NOW where I'm gonna end up. I really want to go to med school, and am willing to relocate to do so, but if that is what is going to happen I want to know. I hate not knowing!! 😱

 

[rockstar2525]

Oh yeah, I also hate the addiction I've formed to SDN. I go to the official interview and rejection threads like a crack-***** goes to a crack house. I seriously thought about asking the IT people here at my job to block this site from my computer