I knew my GPA was going to screw me, so I applied to 28 schools. So far, I've been rejected by 20 of them. Applying broadly is great and all, but I drove myself insane trying to keep up with all the automatic secondaries and schoolwork. Hopefully all the stress will be worthwhile.
One major mistake I made was not studying sufficiently for the MCAT. While most would probably consider a 35 excellent, I'm pretty sure I cost myself at least a few points by only taking 3 weeks to study and working ~25-30 hours per week during those weeks. I basically had to teach myself organic chemistry all over again, too, since it had been 2 years since I'd taken the class.
My GPA is horrendous by med school standards, but that's what happens when you double major in two of the most difficult subjects your school offers. That was not a smart decision in terms of getting into med school, but I don't regret tacking on my physics major. College would have been a lot less interesting without it, and I would have felt like I cheated myself out of valuable knowledge. I also didn't have the benefit of taking lots of easy courses to boost my GPA since I came into school with well over 40 hours of credit. It was pretty much biology, math, physics, and chemistry for 9 semesters. C'est la vie.
According to an admissions director, everything about my profile is 'extremely good,' 'exceptional,' etc. It's the GPA that's killing me. It figures that the only thing wrong is the one I can't fix, eh?
-------------------------Updates----------------------
3/31: I received the rejection letter from Creighton today. Suck. I was hoping I'd get a chance there. At this point, I guess it's just a matter of making the rejections offical. I can't imagine I'll be getting any more interviews. Come oooooooon, Arkansas!
4/02: Rejected by Tulane. Bah. On the bright side, it was a very cordial rejection, for whatever that's worth.
4/22: Rejected by Louisville while I was on vacation. Oh well. The letter just makes it official. Still no word from Arkansas (dammit).
5/1: Uh...I got rejected by Wright State at some point last week. Arkansas's assistant admissions director told me that all of the Rural Practice applicants have been accepted, so I guess that's a plus. Now we'll actually get some real waitlist movement. Also, I've applied to Tulane's ACP, Drexel's IMS, and Tufts's MBS, which I completed the app for today. Hopefully I'll be doing something productive next fall even if it isn't med school...
5/2: UIC rejection letter. Georgetown SMP app submitted. Nothing to see here, folks. Move along.
5/8: Rejected from Tulane's ACP? Are you kidding? My GPA's even keeping me out of SMP's? Wonderful. Well, here's hoping one of the other three (or Arkansas!) comes through for me. I want this post-waitlist acceptance so bad I can practically smell the...well, whatever there's a lot of in Arkansas. Diamonds? Pigs? Whatever.
5/15: Accepted at Arkansas! Holy crap! I've never been this excited in my life. I also got accepted to Tufts's SMP, but who cares?! I'm gonna be a doctor!
5/26: I'm just waiting on my housing assignment and for Arkansas to confirm that I didn't kill anyone or fail all my classes since I applied. I'm pretty sure I'll be sucking up an all-loan financial 'aid' package, so I'm not worrying about that. I'm still floating from the acceptance, and I'm pumped for this fall. I gave away my MSAR and MCAT study books to a friend of mine who'll be applying in the future, and that was a GREAT feeling. This summer has gotten off to an incredible start, for sure.
6/10: My file's complete at Arkansas, and all pre-matriculation requirements are met! Woohoo! Now all I have to do is get my loan package back, get CPR certified, and turn my head an cough, and I'm in.
6/29: As of roughly a week ago, all of my pre-matriculation requirements were finished up. Immunization records updated, CPR certified, housing secured, and laptop bought. As soon as my financial aid is made official, I'm completely in the clear. Since that's on Arkansas, I'm just hanging out and enjoying myself for the first time in a year. This last month is going to rock.
7/24: Well, I got Arkansas's confirmation that they've received my financial aid today. Woohoo! Time to pack. If anyone knows of any obscure items that are helpful for med school, let me know.
8/4: Rejected from Georgetown's SMP. Oh, wait, I'm already in med school. Georgetown, I sincerely hope you enjoy both of my application fees. Could you at least spend my $260 on something cool?
