What has ticked you off during the med school application process?

[Yogi Bear]

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Just wanted to hear of things that have annoyed u during the application cycle.

just today, i open my p.o. box and find a little piece of paper saying that i had a package. i'm psyched cuz i knew that i hadn't ordered anything so i might be getting some good news. as i'm waiting in line to pick up package, i'm puzzled to see the number .37 on it. i give my paper to the clerk who digs through some boxes for a minute before coming out w/ a business-sized envelope. she then tells me that i owe the post office 37 cents cuz the sender didn't put a stamp on the envelope. wtf? 😡 turns out that it was columbia notifying me that they'd received my alternative list paper. i dunno if i should call them demanding they refund me 37 cents. j/k

 

[aquaboy]

The most annoying thing for me is receiving all of the applications and brochures for non-MD programs. I wouldn't have taken the MCAT and put myself throught the premed torture to become a PA, CNA, nurse, etc. I think it should be outlawed to receive this mail because of the trees it wastes. I also sware that AAMC sells our contact info to credit card companies, telemarketers, etc. because they are always contacting me by phone, email or sanil mail. I should keep all of my junk mail and send it to the AAMC with a note that says, "Have a nice day".

 

[Street Philosopher]

Getting shut out at the UC's kinda ticked me off. UC Davis's email rejection will be the target of constant spite and ridicule.

 

[Sweet Tea]

WAITING. i interviewed at my first-choice school exactly 6 months and 13 days ago, and i haven't heard anything from them yet (i've sent multiple update letters and an LOI). siiiiiiiiiigh. so impatient. 🙁

 

[Moskeeto]

right now I'm pretty ticked I can't get ahold of anyone at UCD to schedule my interview, I'm hoping that they havent all left for spring break, that would suck.

 

[lola]

moskeeto, it may be an administrative holiday at ucd today.

 

[Tweetie_bird]

REALIZING THAT I MAY NOT BE GETTIN IN!@!@!!! :MAD: :MAD:

 

[Medical123]

Lost letters of recommendation

Waiting

Brochures for Nurse Anesthetist and MPH programs (I am like the above poster, if I wanted to apply for these programs, I would have done so in the first place).

Applications that have been deactivated because of lost letters of recommendation.

Being rejected by a certain school and getting told that my MCAT was not competitive enough when I know that plenty of other people are getting in with the same score at this very school.😡 The school could at least be a little more creative in their response.

I am on the waiting list at one school that keeps sending out all sorts of information in the mail. I get so excited when I see their return address only to see that it is a letter reminding me to fill out my financial aid forms, etc. What a downer! At least, I am still on the waitlist and not rejected.

 

[Moskeeto]

thanks lola, I just read that other thread talking about this, so I checked and sure enough its Cesar Chavez day here too. thats wierd that ucsf has it on another day. on a completly stupid side note, its my best friend from elementary schools birthday, i have no idea why i remembered that.

 

[lola]

oh yeah CESAR, not caesar. tee hee.

what pisses me off the most is when pricks on sdn get into multiple top schools, and people like poor tweetie are struggling. it just goes to show that some people are really good at faking a pleasant/caring/non-arrogant demeanor at interviews.



i haven't gotten any brochures for other health programs. the only thing i've gotten is one letter from the army. are you sure you guys specified during the mcat that you didn't want that stuff?

 

[sperry]

What I absolutely hate the most is clerical errors in the admin office - and their response to their %&*-ups. "Oh, we're sorry. Your file is complete after all. Sorry about that, I didn't see your LOR - you're right, it was complete last month. Btw, now you're 4 weeks behind rolling admissions and hosed!!" 😡

I actually lost out on an interview at VCU last year because of that. They were out of interview slots, yes it was their error, and no they couldn't do anything about it. *sigh* bygones...

So that - and those podiatry school brochures 😛

 

[Trajan]

1. Georgetown rejecting me (that alone I could have cared less about) and then sending me information about their masters program, implying I wouldn't get in anywhere -- but I have multiple acceptances, so there!

2. The attitude that volunteer work which one slaps on a resume is the only way to show that one is a good person.

3. nonsense secondaries (BU, Jefferson, Harvard, NYMC, Upstate, Buffalo, to name a few) that ask for a page of info easily found on AMCAS and a hefty check.

 

[sunflower79]

One should ask, what DOESN'T tick us off about the process?!?!

In no particular order:

- the waiting, like someone told you to hold your breath and then ran off and forgot to tell you to breathe.

- the secondaries!!!!! 😡 I have finessed the art of answering the same question in infinite number of ways

- money, money and more money.

- missing a flight home 😛

- snooty applicants on interview days

- the self-doubt this instills on ppl who are otherwise great human beings


Good God, I'm glad I don't have to do this again!

 

[MichiMO]

LETTERS OF RECOMMENATION FROM 2-3 SCIENCEPROFESSORS!!!!!!!

I know this may not be a big deal for those of you who are science majors, go to small schools, or have one of those pre-medical committees. But for me, an ENGLISH major, who basically just took the prerequisits along with 700 other people, finding those letters has been the most stressful, aggravating process imaginable. It is basically just humiliating to go to some professor, who doesn't know you from a hole in the wall, and ask them to recommend you.
Not to mention, what is the bloody point? Essentially, all the letter will tell them is my grade and that I seem like a nice girl, if that, which they already know from my transcript and possible interviews.
I personally think it is just ridiculous.

I also second the secondary complaint. Just an excuse for them to ask you for more money. I would like it better if they just sent me a letter asking for a check. At least that would be upfront and real.

😡 😡

 

[Medical123]

Originally posted by lola

i haven't gotten any brochures for other health programs. the only thing i've gotten is one letter from the army. are you sure you guys specified during the mcat that you didn't want that stuff?

I did specify that I did not want any of that other stuff, but the stuff is coming from schools that rejected me. It is like, you are not good enough to attend our medical school, so let's pawn you off on one of these other programs.

I keep getting Navy and Airforce brochures.

 

[Trix]

More than anything the randomness of this entire process REALLY ticks me off.

Lola nailed it straight on...there are several people who haven't gotten in yet, and there are several complete horses arses that have multiple acceptances.

Case in point : I bumped into someone I knew from Berkeley the other day who is a complete mess. This guy is very close to dysfunctional on a social level, and he is holding multiple acceptances at very good schools. To top it off, he is sitting on these acceptances to seemingly see how many he can amass. How does someone who can barely hold a conversation and will NEVER make eye contact while speaking to anyone get into medical school, while others continue to wait. I just don't get it ???????

 

[UCLAMAN]

I like how Vandy was the first school to interview me last cycle. Then this year they are one of the first schools to reject me. Then after they got my august mcat scores they sent me a second rejection letter for this cycle! So I've been rejected from Vandy a total of 3 times!

Not to mention last year they lost my secondary after I interviewed. Fortunately I called to check on my status and they realized they lost my file. What a bunch of nincompoops. 😀

 

[buglady]

My biggest complaint of all is how cheap and unprofessional some of the rejection letters appear. Hey, guess what? I didn't pay a $95 secondary fee to only get some crap-ass letter with a stamped signature of a dean who most likely DID NOT review my application.

And they've all come on really cheapo thin paper.

And some of them are very badly written. ALthough, I did appreciate George Washington's use of the exclamation point in their letter, "At present, there are nearly 9,000 applicants for our 150 places!" Places of what? Nice grammar.

Case Western didn't even bother to date my rejection letter.

Med schools should give us a booby-prize for just applying. I wouldn't mind a pen or some useless article. It's the thought that counts--especially when I shelled out the dinero.

 

[Joe Joe on da Radio]

flying across the country for a 15 minute interview, including the phone call interruptions, only to get waitlisted pissed me off the most.

--joe joe

 

[carrigallen]

I'm doing my financial aid stuff now, my only problem is the credit reporting agencies are reporting my stafford loans twice, thereby doubling the total debt. I faxed my correction request to one 20 days ago, only to receive a letter today, "please resubmit your request, because your identity needs to be verified. Provide a copy of your social security card with the resubmission"

I guess my driver's license copy, account statements, pay stubs were not enough. There is a long list of items to include with the dispute form, and the social security card is not one of them.

Maybe in another 25 days they will ask me to resubmit with my birth certificate!

 

[HouseHead]

The worst thing: When AMCAS decided to re-calculate my college-given GPA, despite having agreed with my college last year. Maybe if it had helped my GPA I wouldn't have minded, but of course it didn't- dropped it from a 3.65 to a 3.51.

Ticks me off that having my official transcripts sent directly to the schools probably won't rectify the above problem.

Ticked me off that Stony Brook flat-out rejected me (got the letter today) when I was waitlisted there last year.

Ticks me off that NJ schools are high on my list of prefered schools, yet their strong in-state preference has already gotten me rejected from one (after the best interview of my life). This, while the SUNYs are showing no in-state love this year (I stand by what I heard from Upstate and Buffalo).

The fact that none of the schools to which I applied (either time!), as far as I know, pre-screen secondaries. I'm really glad I knew how the game is played this time around, since it made me much more aware of how on-the-ball I had to be to get all my secondaries in (oops, I didn't even do that- didn't finish Yale's 🙄 ).

The fact that I had to ask my parents to help me pay for this whole process the second time- thanks to a sucky economy and job market! 🙁

 

[manicmaven]

That schools like Oregon have had my secondary for 6 months...and they have a mere 400 applicants to interview. And they can't f****** make up their minds until MAY...
MAY! And I'll be put on the godda** waitlist and people from freaking minnesota will get in. Ack people! We only have one school!

 

[2ndave]

And I'll be put on the godda** waitlist and people from freaking minnesota will get in

"Freaking" is right! And where is Minnesota, anyway?

Hey, I know what you mean though, even if I do live there...

 

[JM.]

well - the worry that I won't get in this time around definitely bugs me...
my nymc interviewer
the speeding ticket i got going to my columbia interview
waiting
waiting
waitlists
temple ccl and that mean secretary that works there...

 

[JM.]

Originally posted by ColoradoCCT


One School sent me an envelope containing my rejection letter.....along with the rejection letters of two other applicants. So I got a total of three rejection letters from the one school.

LMAO (sorry - but I find that to be really funny, what a bunch of boobs)

I think I woke everyone in the house up laughing at that...

 

[Enkindu]

Originally posted by carrigallen
I'm doing my financial aid stuff now, my only problem is the credit reporting agencies are reporting my stafford loans twice, thereby doubling the total debt. I faxed my correction request to one 20 days ago, only to receive a letter today, "please resubmit your request, because your identity needs to be verified. Provide a copy of your social security card with the resubmission"

I guess my driver's license copy, account statements, pay stubs were not enough. There is a long list of items to include with the dispute form, and the social security card is not one of them.

Maybe in another 25 days they will ask me to resubmit with my birth certificate!

Beware! Credit reporting agencies are run by psychotic nazi *****s. I had incorrect info on my report- made about 25 phone calls, filed a correction, requested an investigation.. and they wouldn't correct the problem. I had to hire a lawyer to fix it. ($1200!!!)

 

[KBCoch]

I'm annoyed with the fact that Maine doesn't have a single allopathic medical school. Some other states that are in this situation have neighboring states that offer in state tuition, NOT MAINE. They have this program that gets me special consideration for ADMISSION at Dartmouth and UVM but NO TUITION BREAKS AT ALL. So I'm forced to pay private school tuition as I have no "state school" options.

Word to the wise: if you are from Maine and planning to go to an allopathic med school, do what you have to to claim residency in another state.

 

[wazupshah]

The fact that my roomate (who is also applying) has heard back from every school that we both applied to much sooner than I have.
In one instance, he interviewed at a school a month after I did, and he still recieved his notification before me(I'm still waiting)!!!

 

[GoodMonkey]

schools that drop you.... from whom you don't hear a peep once that secondary check is cashed. not even a rejection. just silence.

and the complete, socially inept toolios who somehow get multiple acceptances to competitive schools while i watch good friends of mine get rejection after rejection.

oh yeah and doing that gawd awful need access thing just to make the financial aid deadline of a non-rolling admissions school right in time to get the rejection letter in the mail days later.

 

[garnetgirl]

having to pay for rejection...😡 😡 😡
Rejection shouldn't have a $100 price tag😡

 

[UTH2003]

Interview Day-
*Drove to city of the Medical School that night.
*Stayed with student of Medical School and went to bed at reasonable time.
*Got up early.
*Ate good breakfast.
*Shaved, showered, took time getting dressed while concentrating on keeping
myself calm.
*When it was finally time to head to the school for the interview, finding out
your truck is not where you left it, and you don't know if it was stolen or
what happened to it.
*Showing up to the school over an hour late, still not knowing where the
truck is.
*After interview day is over, paying over $150 to get it out of the pound.
*All because an old man was frustrated that you parked on the street in a
gated community.

 

[OB1🤙]

One thing that gets me is that on top of all the randomness you've already been subjected to, once at an interview, it's a complete luck of the draw as to whom you're assigned. Of course, this can be good or bad depending on whether your interviewer got up on the wrong side of the bed, had his/her morning coffee, or got some the night before.

Seriously, the randomness of the entire process, the cost of applying and the WAITING involved is insane. May 15 is so far away...

 

[lola]

Originally posted by Hawaiian Bruin
One thing that gets me is that on top of all the randomness you've already been subjected to, once at an interview, it's a complete luck of the draw as to whom you're assigned. Of course, this can be good or bad depending on whether your interviewer got up on the wrong side of the bed, had his/her morning coffee, or got some the night before.

i totally agree with you there. on top of the randomness of getting an interview, who you get may play a big role in admissions. for example:

nymc faculty interview: bad interview (weird guy, ornery, didn't agree with my opinions) = lola would make a terrible doctor

pitt faculty interview: ok interview = lola would make an ok doctor

tulane: great interview = lola would be the best doctor ever! -- but then my student interview was very mediocre (after having 2 great student interviews at other schools where my faculty interviews weren't all that great)

uci: interview was ok i think but got changed at the last minute so i interviewed with someone i wasn't supposed to interview with. the sad thing is is that everyone kept raving about how fantastic of a guy my original interviewer supposedly is!


it's so RANDOM i tell you 😡 hmph!

 

[Tweetie_bird]

Dear Lola,

You're such a sweet person; your unique nature obviously shows itself on paper which is why you have had so many interviews already. It's good to know people like you are going to be physicians someday (and I know in my heart that you're going to get in this time around; just waiting for you to spill the news). Thank you for the kind and encouraging words in your earlier post. It means a lot to me. Wishing med school ad coms were reading into how desperately I want to be a physician.

Still hoping,
Tweetie

 

[abw]

Tweetie -
It kills me that you haven't gotten accepted yet - I haven't seen you post in a while so I was hoping you had gotten in somwhere and were focusing on other things. You're so supportive and sweet that I don't see how that doesn't knock admissions people over the head like "admit her!!!" There's something really wrong with this process that both you and lola haven't been accepted. Good luck to the both of you!!!

 

[Tweetie_bird]

Thanks abw. I haven't been posting much because it's far too depressing for me to come to SDN and see all the multiple acceptances and be holding on to just one shot with one interview......so I just do my Moderator duties behind the scenes and carry on. This is so depressing. ::sigh::

I don't want to convert this thread into a pity thread for me, so I'll stop whining. Sorry. Hope you guys have a nice day.

 

[Neuronix]

Originally posted by KBCoch
I'm annoyed with the fact that Maine doesn't have a single allopathic medical school. Some other states that are in this situation have neighboring states that offer in state tuition, NOT MAINE. They have this program that gets me special consideration for ADMISSION at Dartmouth and UVM but NO TUITION BREAKS AT ALL. So I'm forced to pay private school tuition as I have no "state school" options.

Word to the wise: if you are from Maine and planning to go to an allopathic med school, do what you have to to claim residency in another state.

Same with Delaware. Only helped my decision to go MD/PhD...

 

[Adcadet]

Originally posted by 2ndave
"Freaking" is right! And where is Minnesota, anyway?

Hey, I know what you mean though, even if I do live there...

Oh please! Why all the hate? Don't make me send our mascot to beat you up! I've warned people before but they payed no attenting. And look (http://www.r.umn.edu/images/Goldie-UMR.jpg) what jumped from behind a bush and mauled them!

 

[rebaj]

Oh, since you asked, let me get a few things off my chest:

1. THE COST. THE COST. THE COST. A couple thousand dollars for application fees, travel expenses, days off from work, on top of MCAT costs, seriously put the hurt on my finances. I've been packing PBJ sandwiches in my lunch for months.

2. The arbitrariness. Not getting interviews at schools where I was well above their published 'averages' for acceptances.

3. The insensitivity of some adcoms. Already covered, but here's my gripe. I applied to a linkage program with Cornell last year. My rejection from them (post-interview) was a one line e-mail. "Dear Ms. , We are writing to inform you that you have not been accepted into the Cornell linkage program". THAT WAS ALL. No nothing else - not even a signature. After I calmed down I replied, very politely thanking them for taking the time to interview me, and copied the text of their letter, and inquired whether that was the entirety of the intended letter of rejection, and if not, they should be aware that they might have some problems with their e-mail system. Their reply was the full standard text of the rejection letter. No apology. No personal reply. No direct response to my letter. Basically, I got rejected by Cornell twice in the same year! And then again this year. Screw 'em!

4. The fact that the uninitiated don't know how competitive this process is. When your friends and family just assume that of course you'll get into dozens of schools because you're awesome and you work hard, it makes it really difficult to tell them you got rejected, and you don't know why.

That said, I can't really complain, because I'm in at least one place where I'm psyched about going (SUNY Downstate, yes, I KNOW the anatomy labs suck, back off already, we can't all go to Cornell (see above)), and I'll be paying in-state tuition and I already live near the school!

 

[Doc Ivy]

I don't know if this has happened to anyone else but here goes...

I hate schools that inform you of interviews by email (good), but don't follow up with a snail mail invitation (very bad)... I just found out that while I was out of town interviewing (ironically), my hotmail got full and my invitation to interview at X School of Medicine was bounced to cyber purgatory...Of course I only found this out once said school sent me a rejection letter referring to the missed interview...cripes!!!

I know this is partly my fault but jeez....leave a a snail mail trail... stoooopid Hotmail 😡

 

[Mr. H]

Vanderbilt interview:

Halfway through the interview my interviewer told me "You know, you are probably going to be waitlisted, I'd guess pretty high on the waitlist, but there is so much competition with much higher mcat scores (mine is 33).

WTF?!!!
How is he going to tell me I'm waitlisted when he's just a freakin interviewer!!?!!? So right then I knew he was freakin bias or something, and of course I got waitlisted. The old bastard!
OH well, the SOUTH sucks!

 

[Desdemona]

Schools with rude people who answer the phone in the admissions office, especially when you're calling to schedule your interview. Sinai stands out in my mind, and Temple, too. The lady I spoke to at Temple was for no reason SO UNBELIEVABLY MEAN!!! Do you absolutely hate your job, lady, I couldn't tell...

 

[paramed2premed]

So let me get this straight.

On the one hand, medical schools emphasize how humanistic their programs are, turning out physicians attuned to patients physical, emotional, and spiritual needs, while maintaining a culturally appropriate attitude.

They want to produce physicians that will remain commited to serving patients despite any economic obstacles, arbitrary regulation, or absurd time pressures.

Furthermore, to select for these special people, the adcoms state that they are evaluating applications for evidence of altruism, sensitivity, and service.

So they take this pool of motivated, sensitive, and idealistic applicants, and ... Well, I think what they do next has been described more eloquently in this thread than I could write here.

Perhaps WE could interview applicants for the positions in the admission offices!

 

[Moneyless]

Originally posted by paramed2premed

Perhaps WE could interview applicants for the positions in the admission offices!

word up yo

 

[2ndave]

"Freaking" is right! And where is Minnesota, anyway?

Hey, I know what you mean though, even if I do live there...
------------------------------------------------------------------------


Oh please! Why all the hate? Don't make me send our mascot to beat you up! I've warned people before but they payed no attenting. And look (http://www.r.umn.edu/images/Goldie-UMR.jpg) what jumped from behind a bush and mauled them!

Sounds like this is one sensitive topic!

I better warn you though--I hail from West Central, which means I'm tough! I bet I could take on your mascot any day.

 

[ShaylaFinn]

I've been frustrated by: 1) the waiting; 2) getting led on during interviews only to be placed on the waitlist; and 3)the $$$ - getting hit up for app fees twice. Jefferson comes to mind. Their secondary doesn't really cover any new ground that's not in the AMCAS, but they get another $100.

And don't even get me started about how arbitrary the process is and how some people who would truly make good physicians get overlooked because of it .... 🙁

It's sad indeed to read the postings in the "No Acceptances Yet Club". There are SDNers with GPAs >3.4, MCATs >29, with advanced degrees, years of research, publications, good volunteer experiences, etc. and no love from the adcoms.

 

[SM-UCLA tech]

When Saint Louis lost my secondary after telling me that everything had been received.

I still have to check with the bank to see if they cashed both of the $100 checks !!!! 😡

 

[wdotzler]

Two things have really bothered me through this process.

1) Receiving secondaries from schools before my primary application was reviewed. Why should I send $100 to a school that might know from looking at my primary that they will reject me?

2) Being wait-listed at several schools past the time where I would need to be reapplying for 2004. I think that is outrageous.

I can't believe we all put up with this, but it is the only way. Oh well.

 

[kmedgal]

OHSU rejected me a couple of months ago, and yet I continue to get letters from their finanical aid office notifying me that I have not provided all of the information necessary to complete my financial aid file. I wish the admissions office and the financial aid office would communicate just a wee bit so that I wouldn't be constantly reminded of my reject status. durr.

 

[ironey]

OHSU

6 months of waiting to get an interview (complete silence from the school until then).

At the interview:

"We have a three-tier system. After you interview you will be either 1) accepted 2) Rejected 3) Placed in the hold pool.

In mid-May, your hold pool status will be turned into either an acceptance, or a ranked waiting list position."

May 7: Hold Pool notice

May 14: Rejection

WTF??? Why didn't they just reject me outright? Why lead me on (even if for only two weeks?). But I didn't have it as bad as others, some had been in the HP since November only to be rejected.