What will you remember most about your application cycle?

[majahops]

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So I'm sitting there, and I say (rather loudly) "man, this is quite the sausage fest, isn't it?".

You just earned mega respect points in my book, seriously. 🙂 Kudos to you for not being an uptight, super conscientious premed.

 

[enjoydrywax]

I'd say it was my Harvard interview experience.. It wasn't actually the interview day or interview class (they were actually pretty lame, except for shemarty) but the time I spent in Boston.

I was really lazy when scheduling a student host and subsequently had to stay in a cushy nearby hotel. For dinner I decide to order a pizza and being the pot-head that I am, I figured I'd ask the delivery dude where I could pick up a dime-sack (fyi this is the best method for finding marijuana in a new city) and being boston apparently it was on every street corner. He gave me the number of a Harvard ugrad student none the less and I took a taxi over to cambridge to pick up.

Now back at the hotel I rolled my J and smoked a little in the bathroom with the shower blasting full steam and the vent fan on high (lol pun). I bundled up and went for a walk afterwards. There was just something about the cold boston air chilling my face that was totally invigorating, and being from California it was a totally new and awesome experience. I could see my breath, and my face was starting to tighten up, but for the first time in a while I felt alive. Around 1am I became hungry again (haha weed) and I asked the hotel desk if anything was open. The only thing was an Au Bon Pain (apparently there are a ton of these in hospitals all over the country) at Brigham and Womens two blocks down the street.

I went and bought this amazing bbq-chicken wrap and a 20oz coke and ate it on the way back to my hotel. After finishing it, all I could really thing was man what an experience. I slept well that night because I scheduled my flight for late in the afternoon. Ah those were a great three days. I honestly didn't even care how I did in my interview (which, in my opinion, was lukewarm at best).

 

[Bahadur]

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.

You are interesting. 😎

If i ever get accepted to med school, hope my classmates are similar to you.

 

[LittleRocker]

When I was talking to my interviewer about a book I had read about Captain Cook and she stopped me and said, "Wait, he was real?!"

 

[majahops]

Awww man, that's just about the nicest thing I've ever heard. You seriously just made my day. You're clearly a very kind person.

You are interesting. 😎

If i ever get accepted to med school, hope my classmates are similar to you.

 

[RySerr21]

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.

ahhhh yes. That was an amazing feeling, knowing that I wouldnt ever have to take it again. I was honestly more excited about that than my first acceptance.

 

[majahops]

ditto.

ahhhh yes. That was an amazing feeling, knowing that I wouldnt ever have to take it again. I was honestly more excited about that than my first acceptance.

 

[Lacheln]

I went and bought this amazing bbq-chicken wrap and a 20oz coke and ate it on the way back to my hotel.

It's just tragic what pot can do to one's sense of judgement. *shakes head sadly* 😉

I will always remember the feeling I had the other day after I was accepted to UMass, when it occurred to me that it is almost exactly 4 years ago that I sat down to figure out how I was going to get in there. It really is true that there is nothing sweeter than reaching a goal into which you've poured so much energy and faith.

 

[efitzpat]

I was at my Tulane interview. A bunch of other interviewees and I were sitting in the student lounge waiting for our interviews. Randomly, 2 4th years walk in. They were doing their ophthalmology rotation and apparently had loads of free time. They plopped down next to us and proceeded to ask us what type of liquor we liked, and then where the best places to get drinks were in town. It was odd. THey made med school seem like a party. Their excuse was that they were the "Katrina class" so they never learned anything in the first place. Still debating about whether Tulane is right for me or not...

 

[nars etc]

1. Meeting awesome interviewees along the trail; and then running into them again at random airports strewn across the nation.

2. Having good rapport with (most) of my interviewers.

3. Visiting Duke Med campus, and thinking....wow. They're so out of my league. Like, if me and Duke were two people in a bar, I'd be a 4 who was pushing my glasses and adjusting my pocket protector and Duke would be a perfect 10 Brazilian supermodel with Einstein's brain and Conan's sense of humor. Almost an intellectual horniness.

4. Reaching two of my interviews an hour late, and still getting acceptances there.

5. Realizing my carry on with interview suit which had been checked in ended up in the wrong city; I was in homeless person sleep clothing attire at the DC airport. Stopped at Walmart on the way, bought a suit for the opposite gender, and went to my interview, where my bag was subsequently delivered.

6. Had an interviewer ask me if I knew any religious fundamentalists. Wanna guess what part of the world I'm from

7. Having a medical student who took us out to lunch ask me if I was dating anyone. This point should have followed the Duke/horniness one in terms of BOOYA feeling.

8. Realizing that I disliked the Dean at Georgetown as much as he disliked me. I also remembered thinking that he was a fairly attractive man, but probably would look better if he had been born a woman.

9. Interviewer (surgeon): I could see you going into surgery! You'd be an excellent surgeon.
Me: Really? Thank you, what makes you say that?
Interviewer: Your patient would wake up and say, "I can't see!" , and you'd reply, "Oh stop malingering!" You're just a tough cookie like that, very resilient.
Me: *horrified* No, really, I do have empathy with patients.
Interviewer: Oh, now, really we only have empathy till we cut them open. Remember, to cut is to cure! And second, all bleeding eventually stops.
Me and interviewer: *laughter*

10. Realizing that I had begun to imitate my interviewers' nonverbal language in an attempt to create a communicative connection. It was strange to bend over at a 90 degree angle to shake hands with someone with severe scoliosis, but weirder to discover I had sat the entire interview in that posture.

11. It's difficult to interview with cross-eyed interviewers. What eye to make contact with?

12. Me: So whats you're favorite class so far in basic sciences?
Medical student: Yes.
Me: Anatomy..... ? Physiology?
Medical student: Yes.
*awkward silence*
Medical student: You're really smart. Don't worry, you'll get in.

13. Interviewer at Penn: You do not have organic chemistry yet.
Me: Yes, but I am taking it right now and have a letter from my professor saying I have an A. Also, I studied it on my own for the mcat and did reasonably well; I hope that my transcript reflects that I enjoy academic challenges instead of finding them intimidating.
Interviewer: But, you DONT have it!! *quizzical, angry, accusatory look*
Me: Yes.
*2 minute stare between me and interviewer, while I contemplate saying "Yo man! Obviously you hate me coz your a biochem prof, and I dont have ochem yet! So, lets just save ourselves the time, Imma go get a philly cheesesteak, peace out!". Then, reminding myself that I had flown out and missed lab, dealt with the wrath of a snowstorm, and darn diddly arn, I was here. So sell yourself, I said, like a friggin prostitute!*
Interviewer: Well, good. So tell me about your research.

14. Realizing one of my flights got canceled two hours before an interview, realizing Alamo was the only car rental available, realizing I had to pay 300 dollars for not being 25, wanting to drive, and wanting a Garmin, getting a ticket on the highway on my way to an interview, driving in the snow for the first time without chains on my tires, and still getting an acceptance.

15. Getting my first acceptance over the phone with my mom screaming. Usually mom screaming=shat load of trouble. Sometimes mom screaming=something good. Are pigs flying out? .... When I got home the acceptance was laminated and on the refrigerator.

Alright sorry for the long list, but its been a rollercoaster and a fun, demented, twisted, dark, evil, rewarding, maniacal one. I feel like a convoluted, perverted psycho who just wants to help people, and somehow it feels like I'm closer to being a doctor for being that.

 

[majahops]

2 things

1. your mom sounds awesome
2. you mention gender issues quite a bit here.... hmmm

1. Meeting awesome interviewees along the trail; and then running into them again at random airports strewn across the nation.

2. Having good rapport with (most) of my interviewers.

3. Visiting Duke Med campus, and thinking....wow. They're so out of my league. Like, if me and Duke were two people in a bar, I'd be a 4 who was pushing my glasses and adjusting my pocket protector and Duke would be a perfect 10 Brazilian supermodel with Einstein's brain and Conan's sense of humor. Almost an intellectual horniness.

4. Reaching two of my interviews an hour late, and still getting acceptances there.

5. Realizing my carry on with interview suit which had been checked in ended up in the wrong city; I was in homeless person sleep clothing attire at the DC airport. Stopped at Walmart on the way, bought a suit for the opposite gender, and went to my interview, where my bag was subsequently delivered.

6. Had an interviewer ask me if I knew any religious fundamentalists. Wanna guess what part of the world I'm from

7. Having a medical student who took us out to lunch ask me if I was dating anyone. This point should have followed the Duke/horniness one in terms of BOOYA feeling.

8. Realizing that I disliked the Dean at Georgetown as much as he disliked me. I also remembered thinking that he was a fairly attractive man, but probably would look better if he had been born a woman.

9. Interviewer (surgeon): I could see you going into surgery! You'd be an excellent surgeon.
Me: Really? Thank you, what makes you say that?
Interviewer: Your patient would wake up and say, "I can't see!" , and you'd reply, "Oh stop malingering!" You're just a tough cookie like that, very resilient.
Me: *horrified* No, really, I do have empathy with patients.
Interviewer: Oh, now, really we only have empathy till we cut them open. Remember, to cut is to cure! And second, all bleeding eventually stops.
Me and interviewer: *laughter*

10. Realizing that I had begun to imitate my interviewers' nonverbal language in an attempt to create a communicative connection. It was strange to bend over at a 90 degree angle to shake hands with someone with severe scoliosis, but weirder to discover I had sat the entire interview in that posture.

11. It's difficult to interview with cross-eyed interviewers. What eye to make contact with?

12. Me: So whats you're favorite class so far in basic sciences?
Medical student: Yes.
Me: Anatomy..... ? Physiology?
Medical student: Yes.
*awkward silence*
Medical student: You're really smart. Don't worry, you'll get in.

13. Interviewer at Penn: You do not have organic chemistry yet.
Me: Yes, but I am taking it right now and have a letter from my professor saying I have an A. Also, I studied it on my own for the mcat and did reasonably well; I hope that my transcript reflects that I enjoy academic challenges instead of finding them intimidating.
Interviewer: But, you DONT have it!! *quizzical, angry, accusatory look*
Me: Yes.
*2 minute stare between me and interviewer, while I contemplate saying "Yo man! Obviously you hate me coz your a biochem prof, and I dont have ochem yet! So, lets just save ourselves the time, Imma go get a philly cheesesteak, peace out!". Then, reminding myself that I had flown out and missed lab, dealt with the wrath of a snowstorm, and darn diddly arn, I was here. So sell yourself, I said, like a friggin prostitute!*
Interviewer: Well, good. So tell me about your research.

14. Realizing one of my flights got canceled two hours before an interview, realizing Alamo was the only car rental available, realizing I had to pay 300 dollars for not being 25, wanting to drive, and wanting a Garmin, getting a ticket on the highway on my way to an interview, driving in the snow for the first time without chains on my tires, and still getting an acceptance.

15. Getting my first acceptance over the phone with my mom screaming. Usually mom screaming=shat load of trouble. Sometimes mom screaming=something good. Are pigs flying out? .... When I got home the acceptance was laminated and on the refrigerator.

Alright sorry for the long list, but its been a rollercoaster and a fun, demented, twisted, dark, evil, rewarding, maniacal one. I feel like a convoluted, perverted psycho who just wants to help people, and somehow it feels like I'm closer to being a doctor for being that.

 

[Dr Lyss]

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.

maja, I think we are soul mates! haha

 

[nars etc]

2 things

1. your mom sounds awesome
2. you mention gender issues quite a bit here.... hmmm

Hey Maja
Haha yes, although inadvertently. I think gender issues are the funniest things out there. I guess I seem to pay a lot of attention to them. My fave part of Physio was male and female endocrinology. Totally random: Chris Rock's Never scared stand up show has a hilarious part about men and women, and married vs single peeps. You should check it out if you're into standup and gender jokes.

Agree with a poster before who said you're a good man. (or woman, either way... haha there goes that gender overanalysis again). Wouldn't mind having a few dozen of you in my med school class. Btw, compassion and empathy are things you should never feel apologetic for. Way I look at it, we have decades of life to feel jaded, but at least at this point, its refreshing, and age appropriate, to be optimistic, and excited. 👍

 

[ButImLETired]

1. Meeting awesome interviewees along the trail; and then running into them again at random airports strewn across the nation.

2. Having good rapport with (most) of my interviewers.

3. Visiting Duke Med campus, and thinking....wow. They're so out of my league. Like, if me and Duke were two people in a bar, I'd be a 4 who was pushing my glasses and adjusting my pocket protector and Duke would be a perfect 10 Brazilian supermodel with Einstein's brain and Conan's sense of humor. Almost an intellectual horniness.

4. Reaching two of my interviews an hour late, and still getting acceptances there.

5. Realizing my carry on with interview suit which had been checked in ended up in the wrong city; I was in homeless person sleep clothing attire at the DC airport. Stopped at Walmart on the way, bought a suit for the opposite gender, and went to my interview, where my bag was subsequently delivered.

6. Had an interviewer ask me if I knew any religious fundamentalists. Wanna guess what part of the world I'm from

7. Having a medical student who took us out to lunch ask me if I was dating anyone. This point should have followed the Duke/horniness one in terms of BOOYA feeling.

8. Realizing that I disliked the Dean at Georgetown as much as he disliked me. I also remembered thinking that he was a fairly attractive man, but probably would look better if he had been born a woman.

9. Interviewer (surgeon): I could see you going into surgery! You'd be an excellent surgeon.
Me: Really? Thank you, what makes you say that?
Interviewer: Your patient would wake up and say, "I can't see!" , and you'd reply, "Oh stop malingering!" You're just a tough cookie like that, very resilient.
Me: *horrified* No, really, I do have empathy with patients.
Interviewer: Oh, now, really we only have empathy till we cut them open. Remember, to cut is to cure! And second, all bleeding eventually stops.
Me and interviewer: *laughter*

10. Realizing that I had begun to imitate my interviewers' nonverbal language in an attempt to create a communicative connection. It was strange to bend over at a 90 degree angle to shake hands with someone with severe scoliosis, but weirder to discover I had sat the entire interview in that posture.

11. It's difficult to interview with cross-eyed interviewers. What eye to make contact with?

12. Me: So whats you're favorite class so far in basic sciences?
Medical student: Yes.
Me: Anatomy..... ? Physiology?
Medical student: Yes.
*awkward silence*
Medical student: You're really smart. Don't worry, you'll get in.

13. Interviewer at Penn: You do not have organic chemistry yet.
Me: Yes, but I am taking it right now and have a letter from my professor saying I have an A. Also, I studied it on my own for the mcat and did reasonably well; I hope that my transcript reflects that I enjoy academic challenges instead of finding them intimidating.
Interviewer: But, you DONT have it!! *quizzical, angry, accusatory look*
Me: Yes.
*2 minute stare between me and interviewer, while I contemplate saying "Yo man! Obviously you hate me coz your a biochem prof, and I dont have ochem yet! So, lets just save ourselves the time, Imma go get a philly cheesesteak, peace out!". Then, reminding myself that I had flown out and missed lab, dealt with the wrath of a snowstorm, and darn diddly arn, I was here. So sell yourself, I said, like a friggin prostitute!*
Interviewer: Well, good. So tell me about your research.

14. Realizing one of my flights got canceled two hours before an interview, realizing Alamo was the only car rental available, realizing I had to pay 300 dollars for not being 25, wanting to drive, and wanting a Garmin, getting a ticket on the highway on my way to an interview, driving in the snow for the first time without chains on my tires, and still getting an acceptance.

15. Getting my first acceptance over the phone with my mom screaming. Usually mom screaming=shat load of trouble. Sometimes mom screaming=something good. Are pigs flying out? .... When I got home the acceptance was laminated and on the refrigerator.

Alright sorry for the long list, but its been a rollercoaster and a fun, demented, twisted, dark, evil, rewarding, maniacal one. I feel like a convoluted, perverted psycho who just wants to help people, and somehow it feels like I'm closer to being a doctor for being that.

I love your post and totally feel you on the Duke thing. Not only was I extremely intimidated by the school, but both my host's good friend (and his roommate) and my interviewers were extremely hot. I was surrounded by ridiculously brilliant, hot people. So the 4 vs. 10 thing was slightly more realistic than I'd like it to be.

 

[Lukkie]

hopefully i'll remember getting the vandy tour from LET 😀

 

[qmcat]

11. It's difficult to interview with cross-eyed interviewers. What eye to make contact with?

😆 😆 😆

usually i just look at their nose if they're cross-eyed

 

[nars etc]

k