MD WAMC - Unconventional Nontrad
Started by polymerization
First, great job. I think we gave you advice previously, so I hope you have done the suggested networking. Going to SNMA? Got a mentor with MSPA?
Second, do you want to stay in Florida? Why (yes or no)? The current atmosphere against equitable education and access has intensified in Florida (and you would know better than me). I don't know if any of this will push against you or admissions committees considering you. Hence, I hope you have done the suggested networking.
Third, what do you see yourself doing 10 years from now (presuming funding and mentoring is not interrupted)? Is it just to work in psychiatry? Is it to become more engaged in policy and community health?
We can't be sure of any lists until you get your MCAT scores back. Kill it as best as you can.
Second, do you want to stay in Florida? Why (yes or no)? The current atmosphere against equitable education and access has intensified in Florida (and you would know better than me). I don't know if any of this will push against you or admissions committees considering you. Hence, I hope you have done the suggested networking.
Third, what do you see yourself doing 10 years from now (presuming funding and mentoring is not interrupted)? Is it just to work in psychiatry? Is it to become more engaged in policy and community health?
We can't be sure of any lists until you get your MCAT scores back. Kill it as best as you can.
You have, and I continue to be deeply grateful for your assistance. 🙂
I've been trying to reach out to these affinity groups for a couple of years now, but I haven't made headway. I have a mentor at Project SHORT, and am part of MiMentor, which has a Hispanic focus, but they are not very active. Currently working with my SHORT mentor on pre-writes for secondaries.
I am open to any and all opportunities available to me. I share your urgency: the last few weeks have appeared to rock academia, and FL has been leading the pack in regressive policy in the areas I care about most deeply. In that way, I'm ambivalent. I can be in an ostensibly more comfortable progressive environment in another state, where I do not need to concern myself with what's happening back home. That said, my journey has shown me that I am drawn to the places where I can make the most significant impact—and I've shown I can do that, even here in the most intense of milieu. I will apply to all of my state schools, and would be proud to attend any one of them. It's a challenge I welcome.
While I am certainly partial to psychiatry as a neuroscience major, I'm very open to exploring more specialties as a medical student. I hesitate to say that my contribution must certainly be in psychiatry, I have learned over the last several years that I'm drawn to tough, interdisciplinary challenges—the hard questions. Whatever the specialty, I know that my angle always lies at the intersection of practice, innovation, and policy. I could lean Mohs and work on bringing advanced diagnostics to darker skin tones through advances in imaging, like I did at Max Planck—and specialize in working with those patients as a surgeon. I could see myself tackling mental health in an increasingly digital world, where much of our reality is virtual—like I did studying emotions at NASA. It's hard to say without donning the white coat for the first time and occupying that space.
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I suggest these schools with your stats and ECs:
U Florida
Florida State
Central Florida
Florida Atlantic
Florida International
Miami
USF Morsani
NOVA MD
Howard
Meharry
Morehouse
Charles Drew
Emory
Tulane
Belmont
Alice Walton
Roseman
TCU
Rosalind Franklin
Rush
Loyola
Medical College Wisconsin
Oakland Beaumont
Wayne State
Indiana
Virginia Commonwealth
Eastern Virginia
Wake Forest
George Washington
Georgetown
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
Pittsburgh
New York Medical College
Albany
Vermont
Quinnipiac
Dartmouth
Brown
U Florida
Florida State
Central Florida
Florida Atlantic
Florida International
Miami
USF Morsani
NOVA MD
Howard
Meharry
Morehouse
Charles Drew
Emory
Tulane
Belmont
Alice Walton
Roseman
TCU
Rosalind Franklin
Rush
Loyola
Medical College Wisconsin
Oakland Beaumont
Wayne State
Indiana
Virginia Commonwealth
Eastern Virginia
Wake Forest
George Washington
Georgetown
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
Pittsburgh
New York Medical College
Albany
Vermont
Quinnipiac
Dartmouth
Brown
Thank you so much for your response, Faha. I'm a little choked up to finally see your list, and very grateful for your help identifying schools.
To the room: I've received some conflicting advice today—some have told me that Ivies will not even read my application. Some have said Ivies don't have anything to prove and there is a lot about my profile that is widely strategic specifically for the tippy-top.
While I don't care at all for prestige (if I'm honest, Faha's list feels optimistic in light of my expectations at this score), I do know I have been flirting with an academic career for the last several years, where a prestigious path could be more advantageous, which begs the question...
If I start now, is it worth it to add all the Ivies, even if it is just a donation? Is there a Hail Mary to be played here?
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Dartmouth and Brown like non traditional applicants so you could receive interviews there. The other Ivy league schools are unrealistic with your MCAT of 506.
I had been targeting Dartmouth and Brown in particular because of their strong social missions, so that is reassuring to hear. Thank you for your help, again.
So, the first two applications I submitted, UCLA and Dartmouth became IIs.
You'll absolutely will hate me for this but I applied to over 50 schools. It's been an emotional rollercoaster for the last several weeks. Now that I know UCLA wasn't a fluke, I can breathe a little bit.
You'll absolutely will hate me for this but I applied to over 50 schools. It's been an emotional rollercoaster for the last several weeks. Now that I know UCLA wasn't a fluke, I can breathe a little bit.
A quick update for posterity: I got in at Dartmouth!
I'm so beyond relieved and, at this point, overwhelmingly grateful for the help I've received here over the years. Looking forward to seeing how everything shakes out. I know I put out a lot of lottery tickets.
I'm so beyond relieved and, at this point, overwhelmingly grateful for the help I've received here over the years. Looking forward to seeing how everything shakes out. I know I put out a lot of lottery tickets.
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Happy PTE Day!
To the advisors: thank you so much for all the guidance you’ve given over the years. Before finding SDN, I often felt lost in this process. I didn’t feel empowered to use on-campus resources, and I rarely felt taken seriously by the advisors available to me. SDN became the place where I could learn what the process actually looked like, understand the real level of competition, and start organizing myself in a way that gave me a genuine chance.
I’m so deeply grateful for the work you do, especially the work no one sees: answering messages on weekends and at odd hours, reading countless essays, offering honest guidance, and continuing to support applicants in a system that can feel increasingly closed off.
Thank you for making this process feel a little less impossible.
To the advisors: thank you so much for all the guidance you’ve given over the years. Before finding SDN, I often felt lost in this process. I didn’t feel empowered to use on-campus resources, and I rarely felt taken seriously by the advisors available to me. SDN became the place where I could learn what the process actually looked like, understand the real level of competition, and start organizing myself in a way that gave me a genuine chance.
I’m so deeply grateful for the work you do, especially the work no one sees: answering messages on weekends and at odd hours, reading countless essays, offering honest guidance, and continuing to support applicants in a system that can feel increasingly closed off.
Thank you for making this process feel a little less impossible.
Technically, you haven't matriculated yet unless UCLA REALLY started med school this week. 🙂 But regardless, hat tip and champagne to you!
Now from an old retired doc- don’t wear blinders for the next 4 years. It is VERY HIGHLY LIKELY you will end up not doing what you envision today. Be sharp, open, humble, make CONNECTIONS and you will be fine.
