What will you remember most about your application cycle?

[amph119]

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I'm not talking your first acceptance or your favorite interview. I'm talking like if you think of the application cycle, what are those little things that you won't forget anytime soon?

I will start:

-The "(1)" on my G-mail inbox (and later, when I discovered G-mail notifier, the "bah bing" that it makes when an e-mail message is received)
-Always wondering if I had any letters buried inside my roommate's Wall Street Journal and opening up the WSJ very slowly to check (I have the mailbox key so I always checked our mail and our mailman always put envelopes inside the newspapers for some reason)

 

[amph119]

Quite obviously the wrong forum! Could anyone move it? Haha.

 

[ButImLETired]

Moving to PA.

 

[airplanes]

How fast it went by...in retrospect. Doesn't it seem like just yesterday we were procrastinating on secondaries and lamenting AMCAS verification?

 

[amph119]

How fast it went by...in retrospect. Doesn't it seem like just yesterday we were procrastinating on secondaries and lamenting AMCAS verification?

Ha true that.

 

[ButImLETired]

Haha yeah the (1) was such a killer. Also, the feeling of "holy crap I'm really doing this" I had at my first interview. That was basically the scariest, coolest moment ever.

 

[ButImLETired]

Oh also, the fact that every single folder I got at interviews was blue. Different shades of blue, but all blue. It's extremely puzzling.

 

[phospho]

I don't know how people can go through this process without gmail.

I think the one thing I'll always remember is checking my email as soon as I wake up. As in, I'm still half asleep, squinting at the monitor, and hoping I got an interview invite.

Also, I think this is the only phase of my life where I hated weekends, since there was no mail, and admissions offices were closed, so no emails.

 

[ButImLETired]

I don't know how people can go through this process without gmail.

I think the one thing I'll always remember is checking my email as soon as I wake up. As in, I'm still half asleep, squinting at the monitor, and hoping I got an interview invite.

Also, I think this is the only phase of my life where I hated weekends, since there was no mail, and admissions offices were closed, so no emails.

Hahaha yes!! And the only time in my life I'd think "ok it's 2 o clock here, so east coast offices are closed...there goes THAT interview invite...an hour from now I can give up on the central ones...but hey, 3 more hours until pacific closes!"

 

[airplanes]

I don't know how people can go through this process without gmail.

I think the one thing I'll always remember is checking my email as soon as I wake up. As in, I'm still half asleep, squinting at the monitor, and hoping I got an interview invite.

Also, I think this is the only phase of my life where I hated weekends, since there was no mail, and admissions offices were closed, so no emails.

Yeah. I went so far as to go to bed with my ipod touch in my pocket so that when I woke up first thing in the morning...I could power that bad boy on and check my mail right away. I would lay there, blurry eyed without my contacts, and check all the relevant SDN secondary threads as well.

 

[amph119]

I'll remember having a heart attack every time my phone rang during business hours.

 

[Chemist0157]

Positive - Seriously, my first acceptance! 😀

Negative - How the head of my school's pre-med committee mixed up the committee letter and his own personal letter when he uploaded them to Interfolio...then I had to wrestle AMCAS to get everything in order. 🙁

What a ride.

 

[umean2tellme]

1. My "safe" schools rejecting me and my reach school accepting me with full scholarship.
2. How relaxed I was compared to the previous app cycle where I didn't get in.
3. That it's OVER!

 

[PremedIowa]

Getting accepted by accepted to Mayo, WashU, and Minnesota in the span of 2 hours. Best afternoon ever.

 

[Bacchus]

Although I got no allopathic love, expected by me, I realized how fortunate I was to know by the second week of October that I was in. The acceptance phone call was "dulled" due to the fact I was in PChem lab, however. I have friends that still are interviewing/don't know where they are going and I can see the stress all over their faces as they ponder grad school, post baccs, a year off, etc.

Edit: To add to this, my application cycle basically lasted a month. My first interview was 9/24, the second 9/29, and the third 10/13. I had acceptances from every school by 10/20.

 

[Bacchus]

Haha yeah the (1) was such a killer. Also, the feeling of "holy crap I'm really doing this" I had at my first interview. That was basically the scariest, coolest moment ever.

I was shaking as I walked into my first interview. I was praying it wasn't a disaster because I had that interview on a Wednesday and one coming up the following Monday. If for some reason I was horrible at the interview thing I would have been screwed.

 

[ButImLETired]

Although I got no allopathic love, expected by me, I realized how fortunate I was to know by the second week of October that I was in. The acceptance phone call was "dulled" due to the fact I was in PChem lab, however. I have friends that still are interviewing/don't know where they are going and I can see the stress all over their faces as they ponder grad school, post baccs, a year off, etc.

Yeah, same here. I also find myself being a bit awkward when talking about my success this cycle, since so many of my friends weren't as lucky. I've never ever felt that I was competing with them, so this is all new to me. I never really know what to say 🙁

 

[Vido]

I was expecting my interview decision call at 9 am and i remember waking up at 5 because i couldn't stop thinking about it and then when the call came at 10 the ringtone before i answered was the longest few seconds in my life.

I also remember getting my first secondary way earlier than i expected.

 

[Bacchus]

Another good rememberance: My top two schools I was applying to on the DO side had me at their first interviews 🙂. That's just a confidence booster.

 

[aznb0y129]

Oh also, the fact that every single folder I got at interviews was blue. Different shades of blue, but all blue. It's extremely puzzling.

Hahaha, so true! Though I did get a white one one time, I don't quite remember where now.

I don't know how people can go through this process without gmail.

I think the one thing I'll always remember is checking my email as soon as I wake up. As in, I'm still half asleep, squinting at the monitor, and hoping I got an interview invite.

Also, I think this is the only phase of my life where I hated weekends, since there was no mail, and admissions offices were closed, so no emails.

I didn't use gmail but I basically left my email account open while I was at work and would hit refresh every 5 minutes or so.

As far as what I would most remember about this application cycle, I guess I would have to go with CRB and how fast it all went by. Seriously, 6-7 months went by in the blink of an eye.

 

[smgfan]

*

 

[CantFigure1Out]

i def agree with the stuff about email.

 

[Druzie]

I'll also never forget the poor girl that I almost made cry on my interview... she and I were joking about how terrible it would be to spill food on yourself (interviews were post-lunch)...and moments later she drops a dressing-drenched piece of lettuce onto her outfit....to lighten the moment I tried to tease saying "ooo, you'll never get in now!"...not realizing how incredibly inappropriate this was of me to do.....her face turned bright red as she looked up at me in astonishment, tears starting to well up "whaaat?"..........I felt like a terrible human being.

😱

 

[Druzie]

I've been trying to think of what I remember from this cycle, and honestly it's already a completely indistinct blur. All I can take away from this is that, no matter how much you plan and ponder and strategize, it probably won't make any difference in the end.

 

[Vido]

I'll also never forget the poor girl that I almost made cry on my interview... she and I were joking about how terrible it would be to spill food on yourself (interviews were post-lunch)...and moments later she drops a dressing-drenched piece of lettuce onto her outfit....to lighten the moment I tried to tease saying "ooo, you'll never get in now!"...not realizing how incredibly inappropriate this was of me to do.....her face turned bright red as she looked up at me in astonishment, tears starting to well up "whaaat?"..........I felt like a terrible human being.

You are a terrible human being

 

[FrickenhugeMD]

I was at setting up for work in the morning when I excused myself to use the restroom for my usual post-coffee ritual. I heard my phone ring half way though and figured it was one of my buddies calling giving me crap for taking a crap. I couldn't have been more wrong when a nice lady from my current schools admission office was on the other end telling me I was being offered a place in that year entering class.

I would have s*** my pants if had I not already beaten myself to that point

 

[olemissbabydoc]

12:23 AM on October 16.

That is all 😍

 

[Narmerguy]

I'll also never forget the poor girl that I almost made cry on my interview... she and I were joking about how terrible it would be to spill food on yourself (interviews were post-lunch)...and moments later she drops a dressing-drenched piece of lettuce onto her outfit....to lighten the moment I tried to tease saying "ooo, you'll never get in now!"...not realizing how incredibly inappropriate this was of me to do.....her face turned bright red as she looked up at me in astonishment, tears starting to well up "whaaat?"..........I felt like a terrible human being.

I hope she got in.

 

[RoadRunner17]

The main things I'll remember about this cycle will probably be the people I got to meet on the interview trail... whether it was student hosts or fellow interviewees... That was definitely a lot of fun to meet different people and talk shop about both school-related stuff and non-school related stuff, but especially the latter.

 

[ChubbyChaser]

For me...how ****ty this need access stuff is, how much the secondary essays sucked, and how boring alot of the interviews were.

 

[DOquestions]

Yeah. I went so far as to go to bed with my ipod touch in my pocket so that when I woke up first thing in the morning...I could power that bad boy on and check my mail right away. I would lay there, blurry eyed without my contacts, and check all the relevant SDN secondary threads as well.

And you called me psycho? That, sir, is called an addiction.

 

[RoadRunner17]

For me...how ****ty this need access stuff is, how much the secondary essays sucked, and how boring alot of the interviews were.

I agree with that. Adding to my previous post, I will have to say that was the only thing I really found positive about this application cycle. Everything else sucked. Waiting for my MCAT score, writing my personal statement, begging professors for LORs, writing and turning around secondary essays in short time frames, keeping my gmail window open 24/7, traveling halfway across the country for interviews, the sheer boredom of explaining your motivations going into medicine over and over again, filling out financial aid crap, and most of all, paying my way for all of this crap to happen. Yeah. Fun, right?

 

[qmcat]

I'll also never forget the poor girl that I almost made cry on my interview... she and I were joking about how terrible it would be to spill food on yourself (interviews were post-lunch)...and moments later she drops a dressing-drenched piece of lettuce onto her outfit....to lighten the moment I tried to tease saying "ooo, you'll never get in now!"...not realizing how incredibly inappropriate this was of me to do.....her face turned bright red as she looked up at me in astonishment, tears starting to well up "whaaat?"..........I felt like a terrible human being.

🤣

 

[Dr Lyss]

I will always remember the night before my 1st interview/morning of. Me & my dad drove to Temple and test-drove the route so we wouldn't get lost. Then we went to dinner and tried to avoid any topic that would make me nervous... then that morning my dad steamed my suit for me so I could look my best & I could see he was as nervous as I was! It was a great feeling to know they were with me every step of the way.

 

[Carlin]

For me, it was standing on a corner in Queens with my little carry-on suitcase and wondering where the hell the subway went...

I had decided to take public transportation from Manhattan to Laguardia after my NYU interview, and at one point, had to switch between subway lines somewhere in Queens. I had made several switches before then with no problem, but this time, as I followed the signs to the next line I needed, I ended up on street level, completely confused. It took me 20 minutes, wandering around, looking for another subway station, before I asked a woman where the 7 line was. She pointed up. It was an elevated train.

 

[whoisthedrizzle]

Was standing in the OSU anatomy lab on a tour with two students.

Student 1: "So this is the anatomy lab. You'll see the windows out there, you don't get those at many schools. It's nice to know that there's normal life happening out there. And the undergrad girls ain't bad either..."

Student 2: (with a smirk on his face) "professionalism Jose..."

OSU is now my first choice.

 

[RySerr21]

the kid at my UCI interview that could imitate the noise of a bubble popping with his mouth.........it was pretty crazy. Haha. No but really, i loved meeting all the people. I especially loved the parts of the day that were usually at teh beginning when applicants would share their name, college, and something interesting about themselves that was non-medicine related. Did anybody else do this at like every interview??? I always enjoyed learning the interesting things about the people sitting next to me. And it always turned out that threw some weird divine intervention there was always at least someone in the room that I had some sort of connection with (eg they knew someone from my school, grew up in my city, etc etc).

Some examples:

1. my faculty interviewer at UCI grew up a block from my house and was part of the first graduating class of my high school.

2. The roomate of my student host at Loyola Stritch grew up in eagle rock, which is where my undergrad is.

3. I played rugby against a number of people that I met along the trail

There are so many weird ones that i cant remember right now, haha. Maybe they will come back to me.

But yea, overall i had a great expereince!

 

[gingersnaps08]

getting lost in dc...and philly...and boston...

*sigh* 🙄

 

[muggle911]

The thing I'll remember is how repetitive the interviews got. At the first one I was so excited and then my energy level went way down for all the others. Especially the schools that gave you 2 interviews.

It was nice to meet new people but it was also a bit repetitive within each school b/c as new people came into the waiting room, everyone already there would have to re-introduce themselves again and again.

 

[qmcat]

my most memorable experience...

i was interviewing on the east coast and decided to stop by NYC because i had never been to the city (even though all the NYC schools i applied to rejected me). i met a small group of guitarists on the subway and eventually i ended up beatboxing to one of their songs. it was one of the most random experiences i've ever had. NYC is pretty awesome... i should have applied to more schools there.

 

[airplanes]

And you called me psycho? That, sir, is called an addiction.

To which I openly admit to having had. Are you implying something else? go back to the lounge and respond to me in that thread if you have an issue with what I was saying, don't try to start somethin up in Pre-Allo because your panties got all bunched up.

 

[ImNotBritish]

I'll remember driving my mailman crazy last month. My state school sends letters out on a certain day of each month, so with last month's set, I put the flag up on our mailbox (even though there was no outgoing mail) so I would know if the mail had come without having to go outside. I must have looked at that stupid flag 200 times that day.

Didn't hear anything last month, so I just might have to repeat that little charade again in about a week...🙄

 

[xoLissaLuvsU]

Bad stuff first: it was pretty painful to submit secondaries, buy plane tickets, pay for hotels (and sometimes cabs) and see my checking account just hemorrhage cash,

BUT i really did love going on interviews and meeting people. I like traveling, so it was nice to do that, and... this sounds so corny, but it made the whole going to med school thing seem more real? And i will definitely never forget getting my first acceptance! Literally running around my apartment screaming like a fourteen-year-old girl

 

[chemnerd89]

This has been the most draining, life-altering thing I have decided to do. I can't believe people used to have to do this without email.

It all started with the MCAT. After ~1 month of neurotic email checking, I got my magic number, and I thought "YAY! I did it!" Not yet.

Then filling out AMCAS, arduously picking schools that I probably had no business applying to. 5-10 would have done the trick. I went with 25.

I learned a lot about myself and my real reasons for doing this just by writing my personal statement.

Submit AMCAS, commence email checking.

Then the flood of secondary applications and forking out $50+ for each one, and explaining my reasons for wanting to become a doctor, without "repeating information from [my] AMCAS essay." Commence further email checking.

Interviews. 5 total, 5 great schools. Commence 5 months more of email checking. Finally accepted this past Friday.

Was it worth it? Yes.
And this has been the easy part!

 

[funkymunkytoes]

1) Getting MCAT score
2) Getting accepted

*3) When one of my interviewer's made this joke regarding men and women entering medical school, and how med schools are accepting more and more women every year:

"For women, the odds are good, but the goods are odd!"


AMAZING.

 

[dw2158]

*3) When one of my interviewer's made this joke regarding men and women entering medical school, and how med schools are accepting more and more women every year:

"For women, the odds are good, but the goods are odd!"


AMAZING.

so much win for this interviewer. 👍

 

[ButImLETired]

1) Getting MCAT score
2) Getting accepted

*3) When one of my interviewer's made this joke regarding men and women entering medical school, and how med schools are accepting more and more women every year:

"For women, the odds are good, but the goods are odd!"


AMAZING.

God, this just made me think of this unbelievably stupid thing I did.

I was at one of my interviews, and I was one of 2 girls there in a group of 12-14 people. There were also some people interviewing for a spot in the oral and maxillofacial surgery program and those were all guys too. So I'm sitting there, and I say (rather loudly) "man, this is quite the sausage fest, isn't it?". And of course the asst. director of admissions was standing right next to me, she chuckled awkwardly and then she was like "I could point that out to the dean hehe"...

yeah. Not gonna forget that part of my application cycle anytime soon either.

 

[pianola]

I remember getting my MCAT score and my first interview.

I remember not getting the phone call for my acceptance to Baylor and having to hear it from my mom 😛😛😛.

I remember how much I procrastinated after getting accepted!! 😛😛😛

 

[majahops]

I'll remember the kindness and praise that I got from interviewers at the schools I visited. Through the Georgetown postbacc program, kids seemed to resent me for my idealist nature and my [perhaps naive] belief in the world-changing power of altruism. They also seemed to be turned off by my straight-forwardness and for being "different" and many times politically incorrect (for the sake of making people laugh). Many of them didn't even acknowledge my presence, I guess because they just thought I was TOO different and TOO expressive - in summary too "volatile" to be worth their time getting to know me. So I had almost begun to believe these things about myself too...

But then, as I visited schools, interviewers would tell me how much they appreciated about me those very things that seemed to repulse my classmates. To them, my faith in the power of altruism, my relentless effort to make people laugh and smile (even if it meant making a politically incorrect joke), my vocal stance AGAINST the disgustingly insincere practice of patronizing professors by coming to their office hours and asking questions you already know the answer to - just to get your face in their memory, my "different" view of the world, my belief that the homeless are our family and need to be treated as such via social policy and most importantly, my belief that you should STAND UP for what you believe is right - even when it might make you look bad or rub people with power the wrong way... these things the interviewers seemed to appreciate about me. It was so, so, SO encouraging and helped me rediscover faith in myself and in my potential to improve every day as a caring human being.

That is what I will remember most.

 

[whoisthedrizzle]

God, this just made me think of this unbelievably stupid thing I did.

I was at one of my interviews, and I was one of 2 girls there in a group of 12-14 people. There were also some people interviewing for a spot in the oral and maxillofacial surgery program and those were all guys too. So I'm sitting there, and I say (rather loudly) "man, this is quite the sausage fest, isn't it?". And of course the asst. director of admissions was standing right next to me, she chuckled awkwardly and then she was like "I could point that out to the dean hehe"...

yeah. Not gonna forget that part of my application cycle anytime soon either.

HAHAHAHA

That is absolutely classic.