When to give up hope?

[Chorboke]

When is too late to recieve an interview request? I applied near the deadlines, but I have good MCAT scores(11V 13B 13P) and a decent GPA (3.73). I also have a lot of clinical experience (over 400 hours in doctors' offices and approaching 200 in a hospital) and some community service (Red Cross and and Make-A-Wish foundation). When should I give up hope for the interviews? Did I mention that I got rejected from all of my choices last year without interviews.

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[jase133]

To what kind of schools did you apply? That will make the difference

 

[katiep]

Why did you apply so late? A lot of these schools are on a rolling basis.

 

[A. Caveman]

you should change your name to ChorBROKE, cuz you are. you broke yourself applying so late, brother. I feel so bad for you because you look like an EXCELLENT applicant. i dont' get it. did you have that mcat and gpa last year when you applied? more importantly, what did you do to change your application since last year? obviously you didn't put in the effort to apply early, so you're screwed there, but maybe the problem was your essays. maybe they weren't "compassionate" sounding. believe me man, there is an ART to getting into med school. it's crap that someone who's on top of their shat like you doesn't get in. i'm sorry. but you didn't make it easier on yourself by applying so late. if all goes well, you won't have to do this again next year, but if you do:

1. apply early (DUHHH--it actually bothers me that you didn't--i'm too emotionally involved in this....)
2. change your essays a LOT!!
3. Drop Your Standards. if you only applied to Harvard and Hopkins this year, maybe you should think about toning it down, just for good luck. Have some safety schools, in your case...many of them, unless you wanna find yourself applying a 4 time (at that point i'd just go to St. George's or Ross).

good luck fella, and please, do something to help your chances outside of busting your ass for school and the mcat (ie get better letters of rec too, along with all the other stuff i said).

 

[A. Caveman]

PS. Give up hope when you're dead. until then, stand UP muthaf#@$%. Good luck, i hope you make it.

 

[EMTgirl]

DEFINITELY don't give up yet. it's only january. you have two solid months of interviewing ahead. i am also wondering what kind of schools you applied to...your stats are awesome, definitely good enough for finch, albany, NYMC, etc. did you apply to these?

 

[EMTgirl]

DEFINITELY don't give up yet. it's only january. you have two solid months of interviewing ahead. i am also wondering what kind of schools you applied to...your stats are awesome, definitely good enough for finch, albany, NYMC, etc. did you apply to these?

 

[reesie0726]

I agree that it is still early in the process especiall considering the amcas fiasco this year. I do not understand why you would apply late especially after having not gotten in to any schools last year. Caveman, I am with you. That boggles my mind. It also depends on the schools that you applied to. I would assume that the Harvards and Yales have alot of applicants with your stats that applied on time. So I hope that you did not only apply to only those top schools. Why did you not get in last year? Did you get interviews? I know someone with stats similar to yours, published papers and all that stuff who ended up at that school in the carribean, the one in granada, st. georges?? He was actually an arrogant, obnoxious jack ***. So I know why he did not get in. But seriously, if you start to get interviews, make sure to be prepared differently for them this year.

 

[Maple]

Hey Chorboke,

I think you still have a shot this year. I noticed that quite a few people completed their applications late this year..and with the AMCAS fiasco, those who applied early (like me!), didn't get much for our promptness!

I think we are about half way through the cycle..so you may still get invited..I hope you selected a wide range of schools (in terms of competitiveness, stats) because that will be to your advantage. Finally, I would recommend writing to a couple of your schools to update/express interest. I don't think that will hurt. If you don't hear anything this year..then be sure to submit your AMCAS, the ist possible day.

btw A. Caveman, you sure are getting aggressive in your posts!

 

[serpiente]

I'm surprised Chorboke that you got rejected from all your first choices w/o interviews last year--did you a different MCAT score? did you apply late then too? were your top choices Harvard and the like? Other than that, maybe you had some bad letters--though it's not easy to find that out. Hopefully you applied to a good range of schools this year, especially some with non-rolling admissions. I think you certainly still have a chance.

 

[Lecular]

"When to give up hope?"

Uh...NEVER! Dude, hope is what keeps you alive and breathing!

I agree with AC, what sort of schools did you apply to? If you applied to only 4 IVY Schools, then there lies your problem.

You have excellent stats, don't worry you'll get in..just hang tight and be HAPPY...moping and being miserable just sucks.

 

[Chorboke]

I took the MCAT's once and my GPA had been the same. I have spent the this year increasing my clinical experience and community service.
I applied to these schools this year:

Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Emory University School of Medicine
University of California, Los Angeles
Boston University
Mayo Medical School
Creighton University School of Medicine
Loma Linda University
Tufts University
Saint Louis University
Joan and Sanford I Weill Medical Col. of Cornell Washington University
Loyola University of Chicago
Albany Medical College
Univ of Calif - Irvine
University of California, San Diego
University of California, Davis
University of Southern California
Chicago Medical School
University of Chicago
Tulane University

 

[Chorboke]

Last year, applying early didn't help, so I didn't really bother this year.

 

[barb]

Don't give up hope yet! I applied to a lot of the schools you applied to and completed most of my apps in September and I am just now receiving the interview invites. Up until two weeks ago, I had two invites, now I have five. I'm still waiting on several schools, so don't worry, they're just slow.

 

[mpp]

I also applied early (most secondaries complete by September) and I am just receiving interviews now (three in the last week). There is no reason to give up hope quite yet...

 

[Chorboke]

ok...feeling a little bit better. Thanks guys.

 

[A. Caveman]

good, feel better man. but the thing is, if it comes down to it, you have to be willing to do what you must. the example given of the obnoxious guy with good stats who's at St. george's now--there's an example of a guy who's attitude was "i don't care what your committee says, i'm going into medicine." maybe he had this attitude DURING the interview, which certainly would have hurt him, but the point is that probably the same reason he's not in Medschool here is the reason he's in medschool in the carribbean--he's stubborn (arrogant too i guess). but what he realizes is that he'll be back here for his residency at a top hospital in a few years because he'll go out there to work, and obviously he's shown he can do very well when he works. so he said screw these schools, i'm starting next fall whether they like it or not.

i mention this because maybe you might have to make this decision. i definitely am not applying a 3 time. if this time doesn't work out..i'm done here. nobody stops my progress for TWO freakin years!! only i can do that, and i'd rather go to st. george's and do well so i place well for residencies. good luck.

PS. maple, you want some. Growlll

 

[reesie0726]

Caveman, I think that you are exactly right about your assessment of the obnoxious guy that I wrote about. He figured that he could either try to transfer in to a u.s. school 3rd year or still get a good residency later. I think that you still have time to get in. I completed a couple of secondaries late and still got interviews. Some schools did not send out secondaries to almost november anyway. So just relax and chill. I hope the invites will start coming soon.