who's the "worst" applicant.....

[Diogenes]

who's the "worst" applicant you know that still got accepted somewhere? And where? (US schools only) Obviously no names, just describe GPA, MCAT, ECs, or lack thereof....

This might help some of us who haven't received acceptances yet feel better.

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[rockaway]

I really can't understand how this thread would be helpful. or even amusing. I look forward to SDN because of the supportive environment. The humor here is also great, you can get into trouble taking yourself too seriously. But honestly? "the worst applicant"? It doesn't seem all that positive. Also, I don't think it even exists. If someone is an applicant in an environment such as pre-med, regardless of their actual academic accomplishments, then good for them for trying. (Just my $0.02)

 

[serpiente]

OK my ex had a 3.7, 36 MCAT but No, (not a single one) EC, work, or volunteer experience, or any medically related experience whatsoever, and no idea about what medicine is all about (his parents weren't docs, he never was seriously ill etc.) He got into an IVY med school. Top it all off he was a complete ass. No, I'm, not bitter

 

[Diogenes]

yes, good for them for trying. And it's not like I'm asking to identify the people. I just want to get some re-assurance that people without 4.0s and 40s and 1000 ours of volunteer work can still get accepted to a medical school in this fine nation of ours.

 

[E'01]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by serpiente:
•OK my ex had a 3.7, 36 MCAT but No, (not a single one) EC or volunteer experience, or any medically related experience whatsoever, and no idea about what medicine is all about (his parents weren't docs, he never was seriously ill etc.) He got into an IVY med school. Top it all off he was a complete ass. No, I'm, not bitter •••••Serpiente were we dating the same guy?? My ex had the perfect 4.0 and I think a 36 or 38 - and yep, no ECs or medically related stuff either. Just research with flies. He used to tell me how Cornell Med MD/PhD program was his safety - sadly enough it ended up that way since he got into all top schools and is now at Harvard. He didn't even want to be a doc!

 

[Daredevil]

It's not fair, I tell you! I thought the whole admission process is to weed out people who don't have a genuine interest in medicine or helping people.

 

[rockaway]

sorry bjc, I misunderstood the idea here ~~

 

[serpiente]

"Serpiente, were we dating the same guy?"

Ha ha. LOL. Definitely the same type of guy anyway. The sad thing is that the medical schools that accepted him really didn't care that he didn't have a clue about medicine (clinical medicine anyway, he had done some research). And supposedly schools want well rounded applicants with real world experiences...Barf...I was so disgusted with the school that he matriculated at that I didn't even apply there! Oh well I think people like that will get what they deserve when they're on rotations/residencies and they all of a sudden realize that doctors have to take care of sick people and they don't like sick people...

 

[sandflea]

i too question the usefulness of this thread. if an applicant was accepted, obviously the school saw something competitive about them, so they are in no way the 'worst' applicant. competitiveness is not necessarily measured by our numbers. in my book, anyone who manages to be accepted is a good candidate, for their own reasons and in their own ways. what we perceive to be a weak candidate may not be what a particular school considers weak.

 

[Diogenes]

sandflea

what I meant by "worst," and one reason it was in quotation marks, is "most deviating, in a seemingly negative way, from that which is generally considered to be the stereotypical ideal of a medical school candidate." It doesn't mean bad, because bad for one isn't bad for all.

 

[nray]

Worst applicant I have heard thus far has been a 3.3 with a 39 on the MCAT. Supposedly this person had a Masters in biochemistry and several publications. They also started a foundation for battered woman, and went on several humanitarian trips to Mexico. So much for bad stats huh?

 

[LizardKing]

I don't know their stats but I know an awful lot of pricks who got into good schools like NYU, Yale, and Harvard, etc. I'm not being bitter, it's just I don't understand how someone could interview any one of them and be like, "Oooo, we GOTTA take this applicant!"

So if this thread is meant to talk about people like that and ponder how they possibly got in, by all means it does serve a purpose.

Serpiente and E'01, it boggles my mind how med schools, especially Harvard, would nab people like that and shun a lot of others who demonstrate that they actually give a **** about people.

 

[Trek]

I'm sure it's possible to fake being a decent, caring, kind human being for 30 minutes, even if you're the biggest prick in the world. --Trek

 

[serpiente]

"in my book, anyone who manages to be accepted is a good candidate"

Call me cynical but I think there are jerks in every profession, medicine included. I find it hard to believe that EVERY single person accepted truly has a genuine interest in medicine, although the vast majority do. I think ad coms do a pretty good job of weeding out the fakers, but a few bad apple do manage to slip in. I met a wide variety of applicants while interviewing. Most are very nice and interesting people. I have also met a few jerks who are rude to the admissions secretaries and say they're not sure about medicine etc. It's just human nature.

And when I think of the worst applicant--I'm not thinking of the person with the 20 MCAT but great experiences etc. I'm thinking of the person who has no idea of what medicine is all about.

 

[Diogenes]

I'm not one to interrupt when people are on a roll, but I guess I was looking more for who looks the worst on paper, not who's the biggest prick. But whatever your 2 cents is, it's welcome here!

 

[LizardKing]

Oh Trek, I don't doubt that people like that could be socially appropriate for 30 min...but even with the best acting, some of these people still couldn't pull it off.

Not only that, but like others said before, some of these applicants who got in don't really have any EC's or med experience. I would think these things are basically requirements nowadays.

 

[racergirl]

Who's the "worst" applicant? How about ME? I've got 9 Fs on my record...9!!! Every advisor I talked to said I didn't have a prayer. They were wrong! I'm proof you can overcome anything!

OK but yeah, I did well on the MCAT, have all the ECs and stuff, have a strong upward trend in my grades...so I guess I'm proof you can work HARD and overcome anything!

 

[nray]

I am the worst applicant. Only one interview, doesn't get much worse than that.

 

[SMW]

There's still time, nray. Don't get down on yourself.

 

[doc3334]

a

 

[souljah1]

racergirl,

you sound like me! i've had to work my way out of a nice little ditch. the antediluvian days of elitists only getting accepted to medical schools are over. make room for the nontrads.

any idea where you are going yet?

 

[matthew0126]

LOL, luke

 

[racergirl]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by souljah1:
•racergirl,

you sound like me! i've had to work my way out of a nice little ditch. the antediluvian days of elitists only getting accepted to medical schools are over. make room for the nontrads.

any idea where you are going yet?•••••I haven't carved it in stone, but yeah, I have a pretty good idea where I'll be next year. I'm just thrilled to have a choice. And uh...not to display my dumb@ss past, but what the heck does "antediluvian" mean? (color me a dummy...still.)

 

[Jamier2]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by lukewiegand:
•in my 10 year vision, i said i see myself reapplying to med school for the 10th straight year...•••••I think that's the best advice for the "vision" essay yet.

 

[Papa Smurf]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by racergirl:
•And uh...not to display my dumb@ss past, but what the heck does "antediluvian" mean? (color me a dummy...still.)•••••antediluvian = anachronistic,

 

[souljah1]

Racergirl,

It means old, and kind of like "out of biblical times"...old school.

I haven't "chisled" my decision yet either. I'm still waiting on a few very important schools to make their decisions. It does feel nice to have broken the AMA seal.

I remember your post speaking of your 2.something gpa and returning to school and kicking ass. Same old story for me.

 

[sandflea]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by serpiente:
[QB]"in my book, anyone who manages to be accepted is a good candidate"

Call me cynical but I think there are jerks in every profession, medicine included.

[QB]••••i would agree entirely with this. there are jerks everywhere. but there are plenty of doctors who aren't exactly the warmest, most compassionate people out there but they get their job done, and they do it well. there are some specialties that are notorious for being full of pricks.

so the question really becomes, A) who is the 'worst' applicant, in terms of the stereotypical premed traits, or B) who is the 'worst' applicant, in terms of their future ability to be a competent physician? those are two very different issues and i don't think we're all talking about the same thing. so to clarify my first post, at the very least, anyone who manages to be admitted to med school is a good candidate because they figured out a way to make themselves stand out among the 40000 applicants to med school and to get themselves admitted. they found a way to 'win' at the premed game.

 

[TheSouth]

I wasn't too strong a applicant. I had a funny major (Religion) with a 3.3 GPA (2.8 Science)and a 25P MCAT. I really didn't have a whole lot of medically related EC's, mainly just Church work. I did take a medical mission trip to Honduras though. I did have a ton of work experience though because I had to work my way through college, but Papa John's isn't quite medically related. I even had two D's and one F on my transcript. The funny thing was is that I was able to justify my F and D because academically I had a A and B respectively in the classes, but got the D and F because I didn't go to lecture. My interviewers told me those profs were real jerks. That helped alot. But anyway, I got in and start in Aug.

 

[A. Caveman]

um..nray..what are you smoking/shooting up?

how is a 3.3 and 39 mcat bad stats? i'd think this guy got into LOTS of schools. especially with those incredible EC's. but even with ordinary EC's, a 3.3 accompanied by that outrageous mcat score is more than enough to get into plenty of 2 tier schools. 33 plus 39 is a 72 total!!!! most schools average 36 plus 30 (mcat), which equals 66. although the gpa wasn't good, it's not horrible. and that mcat score could bring the dead back to life.

 

[nray]

I was being sarcastic Caveman. The message I was trying to convey is that even the worst applicant has something that stands out about them that gets them in.

 

[Jalby]

I'm SHOCKED no one has mention Macguyver yet. My first nomination.

 

[Doctora Foxy]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by Jalbrekt:
•I'm SHOCKED no one has mention Macguyver yet. My first nomination.•••••haha that's what I was thinking!

 

[Street Philosopher]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by Papa Smurf:
• •••quote:•••Originally posted by racergirl:
•And uh...not to display my dumb@ss past, but what the heck does "antediluvian" mean? (color me a dummy...still.)•••••antediluvian = anachronistic, •••••NQR... antediluvian = old, anachronistic means out of time, like in the wrong time period (e.g. a computer in a play about ancient rome)

 

[Street Philosopher]

worst applicant = all those bastards who sit in the front row and asks stupid questions without raising their hand.

 

[Coalboy]

•••quote:•••you sound like me! i've had to work my way out of a nice little ditch. the antediluvian days of elitists only getting accepted to medical schools are over. make room for the nontrads.••••I think you should get in just based on the fact that you used "antediluvian" in a SDN post.

And for the record, the word literally means "before the flood," i.e. the biblical Noah-get-your-boat sense.

 

[racergirl]

Wow! Am I the only person who didn't know what "ante-blee-blah-blah" means? Thanks for the lesson!

More proof that I am INDEED the worst applicant...

 

[Doctora Foxy]

ok fine, I'll admit it. I didn't know what it meant either.

 

[souljah1]

My goodness! If I had known ahead of time that the use of that word would provide this thread with the "push" it needed!!

I have another good word for you. Shadenfreude.
I think that is the right spelling. Otherwise, it may be with a Sch beginning.

 

[Coalboy]

Good one. I had to go to the dictionary for that one.

(It does actually start with a 'sch')

 

[lollipop]

haha, i had to do the same thing
boy, i learn from this site everyday! <img border="0" alt="[Laughy]" title="" src="graemlins/laughy.gif" />

 

[Medic171]

Me, I am the worst ever, what about it?

 

[nvrgvup]

Hey TheSouth, can you tell me where you were interviewed......I have a 2.96-science, 3.2overall, 3.6-all other...and straight 9's on the MCAT...tons of experience, EC"S, community work, church stuff, and esp work with underserved pops.....ANyways, I havent heard a thing about interviews, all the schools just tell me my file is under review. Can someone give me some advice...To hear that someone with similar credentials has already gottten in and i haven't heard about interviews is a bit strange.....thanks all!!

 

[bla_3x]

My GPA would be 3.4 before AMCAS screws it up. I got some Fs on my record early on, WAY before I thought of medicine. I never had the chance to get a lot of med ECs, just a summer of volunteer work in a ER and now I am getting my EMT-B. I have been doing research in pharmacology since Oct. '01, and I am pretty confident about the MCAT. Despite my #s, I will not settle for anything less that becoming a physician! No matter where I end up going I KNOW that I will become a great doctor.

 

[ADL]

As a longtime observer to SDN but only a recent member, I have to say I am totally disgusted by this post by racergirl:
Who's the "worst" applicant? How about ME? I've got 9 Fs on my record...9!!! Every advisor I talked to said I didn't have a prayer. They were wrong! I'm proof you can overcome anything! :

Whatever-- the fact that she has a choice leaves me speechless. I am bitter and I'll say it, what with great EC's, a 37 on the MCAT and a degree from a great school AND NO CHOICES YET!

 

[EMDrMoe]

ADL, do you think you deserve racergirl's spot (more than she does) because she had 9 Fs and you have stellar stats? Maybe she's smarter than her old grades show; maybe she's compassionate; maybe the committee liked what they saw in the interview so much that her grades didn't matter any more; maybe she's just plain likeable & humble enough to admit she screwed up before and has grown from the situation.

That's the second time I have read this sentiment about a fellow applicant in the past week. What I cannot understand is how you openly demean other applicants and then think med school admissions committees can't feel that attitude in an interview.

IMHO, this thread is good, because it shows that it is possible to get in with less-than-perfect stats. If you have great stats, more power to you. In most cases, it will be easier for the 4.0, 40s to get in than those of us with Cs, Ds, and Fs. However, grades and scores do not make the person. Good adcoms see that.

PS- I had 3Ds & 3Cs all in bio. I got in November 1st. Does that mean I think I'm better than you? No, I think someone finally saw past the grades and the old mistakes to the real me.

 

[souljah1]

I could not agree more. ADL, perhaps you should consider that mcat, gpa, and "ECs" are not all that you need. Perhaps many adcoms interiew applicants to determine whether or not they have any admirable personal traits. Regardless of your numbers, there are thousands of applicants just like you on paper. What distinguishes you is your personal statment and your ability to effectively communicate with other people (the interview). Maybe you should become a bit less critical of other people who may very well indeed have better people skills than yourself. Your demeanor suggests that this is true.

 

[futrfysician]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by ADL:
•As a longtime observer to SDN but only a recent member, I have to say I am totally disgusted by this post by racergirl:
Who's the "worst" applicant? How about ME? I've got 9 Fs on my record...9!!! Every advisor I talked to said I didn't have a prayer. They were wrong! I'm proof you can overcome anything! :

Whatever-- the fact that she has a choice leaves me speechless. I am bitter and I'll say it, what with great EC's, a 37 on the MCAT and a degree from a great school AND NO CHOICES YET!

•••••Your arrogance and childish attitude might be a reflection on why you have no choices yet. No one wants you. She overcame and worked hard to become acceptable and you feel some divine right to have it presented to you on a silver platter. Get over yourself. No one cares about your "great school". Not even the ADCOMS when it comes down to it. They choose the person whom they feel will not bolt out the door when Mr. Smith starts vomiting all over the place. The person who can handle the volume of material and not become a pain in the @$$ to their classmates when the going gets tough for everyone.

You have a long way to go.

 

[UCLA2000]

futrfysician I kinda agree with you on that. My initial thoughts when I read ADL's post were "wow what a jerk"...well if he comes off like a jerk during his interview then no wonder he has no choices yet.

ADL your stats are exceptional. If you don't get accepted then it's because you didn't have good interviews. I'd do some serious introspection before the interview season is over...

 

[ADL]

I wasn't trying to be overtly harsh, I was just wondering where the realism is. Outside circumstances of racergirl aside, there are certain elements that are necessary in becoming a doctor and it really made me think about where those 9 F's were listed on her transcript. I wasn't trying to be stuck up about it, just realistic. I guess working hard to get good grades and demonstrating that you have a strong commitment to wanting to become a doctor aren't enough anymore for ADCOMS-- which I think is unfortunate.

 

[racergirl]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by ADL:
•I wasn't trying to be overtly harsh, I was just wondering where the realism is. Outside circumstances of racergirl aside, there are certain elements that are necessary in becoming a doctor and it really made me think about where those 9 F's were listed on her transcript. I wasn't trying to be stuck up about it, just realistic. I guess working hard to get good grades and demonstrating that you have a strong commitment to wanting to become a doctor aren't enough anymore for ADCOMS-- which I think is unfortunate.•••••Okay, first of all, thanks to all the SDNers for backing me up!

To ADL, here's a little more of the skinny on me: The 9 Fs I mentioned are indeed on my transcipt, but the latest one was in 1993. After 1993, I left college without a degree and began bicycle racing full-time. I had a pretty successful national-circuit career, and retired in 1998. Fall 1998 I returned to college and changed my major to Biology. Since my return to college, I maintained a 3.96 GPA. My MCAT score was 37-39.
Further, I had other things going on too. I did significant reasearch in immunolgy (second author and a grant from the Lupus Foundation). I worked as an Ochem lab TA for three semesters, where I won 2 teaching awards. I also have the usual ECs--volunteering in the ER, tutoring kids, etc.

Finally, let me say it was my racing career that got me interested in medicine. I had several magor injuries (broken neck, compound fractures, etc), and it was the experiences I had as a patient which made me want to become a doctor. So when I retired from racing and went back to school, I made sure I did everything possible to make that dream come true.

I'm sorry my original post about the 9 Fs got your dander up--I know this process can be frustrating and at times seem maddeningly random. I usually post the 9 F's story to encourage others, to show them that one can overcome past "black marks" with hard work and dedication. But by your post(s), I see now I might be broadcasting the wrong message to people such as yourself. You have worked hard from the get-go, and I don't want you to think someone can just flippantly get 9 Fs and get into med school on charm--that's just not true! I had to work VERY hard to overcome my questionable academic past.

Anyway, I hope all this makes you feel a little better. Look, unlike me, you knew what you wanted to do with your life early, and have worked hard to prove it. I had to go off and do other things first, but in the end I had to work hard too. In the end, I'm sure it will work out for both of us. I wish you the best of luck.

racergirl