What else to do?

[Mistress S]

So the interview season is clearly winding down, and with only 2 invites so far I'm not feeling too optimistic about my chances this year. Besides those 2 invites, I have had 4 rejections, 2 "pre-interview hold/pending", and 7 schools from which I have yet to hear anything. I have decent grades and MCAT (3.75/32), but I took the Aug MCAT and I have a weird score breakdown (15 VR, 8 PS, 9 BS) so either of those reasons could be affecting me, or something else entirely (who knows?). Since I took the Aug test, my app was complete at schools ~mid to late Oct. I sent update letters last week to 7 schools I haven't heard from in which I reiterated my specific interest in those schools, the only result so far is rejection from 2 of those schools and "pending" status from another. I have called the schools I am waiting to hear from 2-3 times in the past couple of months to check on my status and generally have just been informed that my app is "under review" or "no final decision has been made." So what else can I do? I don't see the point in calling anymore or sending any more letters, except maybe to the schools I didn't send updates to already. Are there any other proactive things I can do to help my chances this year, or is it pretty much over for me?

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[blump]

So the interview season is clearly winding down, and with only 2 invites so far I'm not feeling to optimistic about my chances this year. Besides those 2 invites, I have had 4 rejections, 2 "pre-interview hold/pending", and 7 schools from which I have yet to hear anything. I have decent grades and MCAT (3.75/32), but I took the Aug MCAT and I have a weird score breakdown (15 VR, 8 PS, 9 BS) so either of those reasons could be affecting me, or something else entirely (who knows?). Since I took the Aug test, my app was complete at schools ~mid to late Oct. I sent update letters last week to 7 schools I haven't heard from in which I reiterated my specific interest in those schools, the only result so far is rejection from 2 of those schools and "pending" status from another. I have called the schools I am waiting to hear from 2-3 times in the past couple of months to check on my status and generally have just been informed that my app is "under review" or "no final decision has been made." So what else can I do? I don't see the point in calling anymore or sending any more letters, except maybe to the schools I didn't send updates to already. Are there any other proactive things I can do to help my chances this year, or is it pretty much over for me?

why don't you concentrate on those two interviews that you had and write letters to those schools. A lot of people don't get two interviews (i know plenty of them), so you have a good chance at acceptance. Is it that you don't like the schools at which you interviewed?

 

[americanidiot]

So the interview season is clearly winding down

Winding down? Most of the schools I applied to are interviewing through March. Many are interviewing through April. Some are even interviewing through May. I called a school TODAY and the words "don't worry, there are plenty of interview spots still available" passed through the guy's mouth.

Bottom line: don't believe the hype - there's still plenty of time left, depending on the schools to which you've applied. It is true it is late for SOME schools, but on the whole SDNers seem to be giving up early. I know I have personally posted a panicked post here and there about interview worries considering I haven't received ANY invites yet, but after a few calls to a few schools, I think there is still hope.

 

[saki0005]

I called a school TODAY and the words "don't worry, there are plenty of interview spots still available" passed through the guy's mouth.

what school? what school was that?

 

[Mistress S]

Thanks for the responses so far--I want to believe that it is not over yet and that I still have a chance, but it seems like interview invites have slowed to a trickle (at least on SDN) and I keep reading how some schools are done or almost done sending out invites, so I'm a little freaked. BTW, I don't mean to sound ungrateful for the interviews I have (had one in early Jan and one is coming up in 3 weeks). They are at two great schools (OHSU and Mt. Sinai) and I'm very excited about both of them, and I know I could get into one of those so it's not necessarily true that I won't get in this year (I certainly hope not). But I haven't heard anything other than rejections since mid-Dec, so I don't know what to think. I feel very frustrated and more than a little scared, and I want to do everything I can to avoid having to go through this again.

 

[KiKat37]

Hey Mistress,

I'm right there with you! Seems like we really have similar stories. As you probably remember, I got an invite mid-december... and, that was it. After that, I got 3 rejections and 2 holds. Nothing from the other schools I have applied to (~7-8? I lost count!). I haven't called any of these schools, but I sent update letters/interest letters to all of them on friday of last week. Again, none of them got back to me... It's becoming really frustrating!!

BUT, remember, all it takes is ONE acceptance. ONE. Let's focus on the interviews that we have. Mine is next week and I'm freaking out! Gluck on yours!

I have faith. We will both get in. You'll see...

 

[CA med app]

I've become somewhat of a fan of your threads, Mistress, since we are so similar in our experiences with this process. I have only received 2 invites and 2 rejections, and I'm still waiting for a response from 19 more schools

I'm even contemplating on retaking the MCAT for a 3rd time due to my 7 in vr.

But, I'm trying to stay optimistic at the moment and I'll start worrying when I don't receive any more invites after January is completely over. So, let's just give ourselves a couple of weeks to relax a bit.