Undergraduate College: Mid-tier
Undergraduate Area of Study: Engineering/Technology
MCAT: BS 14, PS 14, VR 10, R
Overall GPA: 3.90
Science GPA: 3.90
Brief Profile:
Chemical engineer for 2 yrs in industry, want to do something more challenging that carries greater significance, decided to apply to med school in late 2010 for 2011-2012 cycle.
AMCAS submitted: 6/30/2011
Application Complete
Combined PhD/MSTP: No
- Submitted: Yes
- Secondary Completed: Yes
- Interview Invite: No
- Interview Attended: No
- Waitlisted: No
- Accepted: No
Summary of Experience:
Small pooled, then nothing.
Application Complete, Rejected
University of Michigan - "Michigan prefers people who went to top undergrads + great stats, or URMs. I am neither. "
Combined PhD/MSTP: No
- Submitted: Yes
- Secondary Completed: Yes
- Interview Invite: No
- Interview Attended: No
- Waitlisted: No
- Accepted: No
Summary of Experience:
Michigan prefers people who went to top undergrads + great stats, or URMs. I am neither.
Emory University - "School seems to prefer to interview people from South/ivy league grads. "
Combined PhD/MSTP: No
- Submitted: Yes
- Secondary Completed: Yes
- Interview Invite: No
- Interview Attended: No
- Waitlisted: No
- Accepted: No
Summary of Experience:
School seems to prefer to interview people from South/ivy league grads.
Boston University - "Shouldn't have applied. School with over 10000 apps. If you have high stats and no particular track ..."
Combined PhD/MSTP: No
- Submitted: Yes
- Secondary Completed: Yes
- Interview Invite: No
- Interview Attended: No
- Waitlisted: No
- Accepted: No
Summary of Experience:
Shouldn't have applied. School with over 10000 apps. If you have high stats and no particular track record of working with low income people, my advice is don't bother.
Duke University - "Silent rejection. Similar with Emory, prefers applicants from South/ivy grads + high stats. Shouldn'..."
Combined PhD/MSTP: No
- Submitted: Yes
- Secondary Completed: Yes
- Interview Invite: No
- Interview Attended: No
- Waitlisted: No
- Accepted: No
Summary of Experience:
Silent rejection. Similar with Emory, prefers applicants from South/ivy grads + high stats. Shouldn't have applied.
Combined PhD/MSTP: No
- Submitted: Yes
- Secondary Completed: Yes
- Interview Invite: No
- Interview Attended: No
- Waitlisted: No
- Accepted: No
Summary of Experience:
Rejected for being OOS
Combined PhD/MSTP: No
- Submitted: Yes
- Secondary Completed: Yes
- Interview Invite: No
- Interview Attended: No
- Waitlisted: No
- Accepted: No
Summary of Experience:
Rejected for lack of patient experience
Combined PhD/MSTP: No
- Submitted: Yes
- Secondary Completed: Yes
- Interview Invite: No
- Interview Attended: No
- Waitlisted: No
- Accepted: No
Summary of Experience:
School prefers other ivy grads. Shouldn't have applied.
Dartmouth College - "Interesting school, very flexible pre-reqs, good communication, wish they have a better secondary we..."
Combined PhD/MSTP: No
- Submitted: Yes
- Secondary Completed: Yes
- Interview Invite: No
- Interview Attended: No
- Waitlisted: No
- Accepted: No
Summary of Experience:
Interesting school, very flexible pre-reqs, good communication, wish they have a better secondary website tho.
Combined PhD/MSTP: No
- Submitted: Yes
- Secondary Completed: Yes
- Interview Invite: No
- Interview Attended: No
- Waitlisted: No
- Accepted: No
Summary of Experience:
School seems to be very serious about serving low-income people and people from humanities background.
Combined PhD/MSTP: No
- Submitted: Yes
- Secondary Completed: Yes
- Interview Invite: No
- Interview Attended: No
- Waitlisted: No
- Accepted: No
Summary of Experience:
Nothing since completion.
Tufts University - "No response since completion. Assuming silent rejection. Another example of a school with many apps ..."
Combined PhD/MSTP: No
- Submitted: Yes
- Secondary Completed: Yes
- Interview Invite: No
- Interview Attended: No
- Waitlisted: No
- Accepted: No
Summary of Experience:
No response since completion. Assuming silent rejection. Another example of a school with many apps that I shouldn't have applied.
Attended Interview, Rejected
Combined PhD/MSTP: No
- Submitted: Yes
- Secondary Completed: Yes
- Interview Invite: Yes
- Interview Attended: 12/5/2011
- Waitlisted: No
- Accepted: No
Summary of Experience:
Great 5 yr program. Honored to have interviewed there. But not a good fit for me. Portfolio/essay based eval, no grade, no test, everything is group based learning. Awesome facility and physician mentors tho.
Attended Interview, Withdrew
Combined PhD/MSTP: No
- Submitted: Yes
- Secondary Completed: Yes
- Interview Invite: Yes
- Interview Attended: 11/4/2011
- Waitlisted: No
- Accepted: No
Summary of Experience:
Great location, ok school, poor financial aid. Shouldn't have applied as an OOS.
Attended Interview, Waitlisted
Combined PhD/MSTP: No
- Submitted: Yes
- Secondary Completed: Yes
- Interview Invite: Yes
- Interview Attended: 11/14/2011
- Waitlisted: 3/13/2012
- Accepted: No
Summary of Experience:
Dream school. Ideal location, great research opportunities, fantastic facility, and traditional curriculum/no pbl. Liked the people there too.
University of Pennsylvania - "Not sure how I got an interview here, but certainly glad I did! Very impressed with the school and a..."
Combined PhD/MSTP: No
- Submitted: Yes
- Secondary Completed: Yes
- Interview Invite: Yes
- Interview Attended: 1/11/2012
- Waitlisted: Yes
- Accepted: No
Summary of Experience:
Not sure how I got an interview here, but certainly glad I did! Very impressed with the school and admission office. Great people, both current students and fellow interviewees. Awesome hospital. Not a big fan of Philly.
Attended Interview, Waitlisted, Rejected
Northwestern University - "Not a good fit for me. Personally don't like the city of Chicago, don't like the panel interview for..."
Combined PhD/MSTP: No
- Submitted: Yes
- Secondary Completed: Yes
- Interview Invite: Yes
- Interview Attended: 9/28/2011
- Waitlisted: 11/14/2011
- Accepted: No
Summary of Experience:
Not a good fit for me. Personally don't like the city of Chicago, don't like the panel interview format. Great facility tho
Attended Interview, Waitlisted, Withdrew
University of Virginia - "Great school and location. Very relaxed and laid back atmosphere, true P/F. Great people and facilit..."
Combined PhD/MSTP: No
- Submitted: Yes
- Secondary Completed: Yes
- Interview Invite: Yes
- Interview Attended: 10/4/2011
- Waitlisted: 10/20/2011
- Accepted: No
Summary of Experience:
Great school and location. Very relaxed and laid back atmosphere, true P/F. Great people and facilities. However, I'm unsure of the new curriculum and the move away from printed materials, and it might be too laid back for me.
Combined PhD/MSTP: No
- Submitted: Yes
- Secondary Completed: Yes
- Interview Invite: Yes
- Interview Attended: 11/1/2011
- Waitlisted: 3/9/2012
- Accepted: No
Summary of Experience:
Great school, glad I applied. I like the campus and the location, and the rec center is awesome. Not sure about PBL, but school has a great match list.
Accepted off Waitlist
University of Pittsburgh - "Awesome school and facilities! Loved the students and interview experience. Love the research emphas..."
Combined PhD/MSTP: No
- Submitted: Yes
- Secondary Completed: Yes
- Interview Invite: Yes
- Interview Attended: 9/28/2011
- Waitlisted: 11/14/2011
- Accepted: 2/8/2012
Summary of Experience:
Awesome school and facilities! Loved the students and interview experience. Love the research emphasis. Bummed when waitlisted, but got excited again after taking off the waitlist in the first wave.
New York University - "Very glad I applied. Great school with a great new administration. Recent improvements in funding/fa..."
Combined PhD/MSTP: No
- Submitted: Yes
- Secondary Completed: Yes
- Interview Invite: Yes
- Interview Attended: 11/30/2011
- Waitlisted: 2/8/2012
- Accepted: 5/25/2012
Summary of Experience:
Very glad I applied. Great school with a great new administration. Recent improvements in funding/facility upgrade strongly indicate NYU will move up the ranks. Great location and hospital. Bummed about the waitlist. I think if you interviewed after mid-nov, the likelihood of straight acceptance is much smaller.
Accepted
University of Iowa - "Great school! I like Iowa City and the friendliness of everyone I met. Older hospital, great researc..."
Combined PhD/MSTP: No
- Submitted: Yes
- Secondary Completed: Yes
- Interview Invite: Yes
- Interview Attended: 9/21/2011
- Waitlisted: No
- Accepted: 10/25/2011
Summary of Experience:
Great school! I like Iowa City and the friendliness of everyone I met. Older hospital, great research opportunities. Fast turnaround. Only concern is OOS tuition.
University of Kansas - "State school. Love my interviewers. Solid choice for any kansas residents. "
Combined PhD/MSTP: No
- Submitted: Yes
- Secondary Completed: Yes
- Interview Invite: Yes
- Interview Attended: 10/12/2011
- Waitlisted: No
- Accepted: 11/2/2011
Summary of Experience:
State school. Love my interviewers. Solid choice for any kansas residents.
Combined PhD/MSTP: No
- Submitted: Yes
- Secondary Completed: Yes
- Interview Invite: Yes
- Interview Attended: 12/6/2011
- Waitlisted: No
- Accepted: 12/14/2011
Summary of Experience:
Great admission office! Fast turnaround, great communication. Impressed by the students and the energy. Not too excited about pbl or Cleveland.
Summary of Application Experience
Updating my info and linked it with SDN to help the next wave of applicants. Here is what I learned:
1. Be honest and true to yourself. Don\'t pretend to be someone you are not. Have a personality, stand up for what you believe in. Be genuine and passionate, but not over the top/fake it.
2. Follow the check-list. When schools say they don\'t want a cookie cutter applicant, they mean you have to meet all the qualifications and more (see below).
3. Be patient. Take rejections with a smile, and seize every interview as if it was your only one. Apply only to schools you won\'t regret going to. Do your research on the schools. Read SDN, figure out what each school is like. Don\'t apply to 35+ schools and hope to win the lottery. Be specific and strategic with your school choices, I wish I have done a better job eliminating some of the schools I applied to. Be realistic. Unless you have a very special background/URM, don't bother apply to top 20 with a 28 MCAT. My strategy was to apply to schools where I can at least match the median LizzyM (MCAT + 10*GPA-1).
4. Stay organized. Don\'t rush your apps/essays. Submitting on 6/1 versus 7/31 doesn\'t make much of a difference in the long run. Wish I knew this when I applied.
5. This process is random, expensive, and unfair at times. Some school select based on geographical location, some based on race, some based on stats, some based on reputation of your undergrad. Don\'t get upset when you get rejected for things you have no control over. I was lucky this cycle, but things could have easily turned the other way. Do the best you can, and be proud of what you have accomplished. Have a back-up plan.
Best summary of the admission process, from SDN:
Originally Posted by Perrotfish
I think the key is that top school\'s don\'t want you to \'just\' box check. As in, check all the boxes, and then make sure you devote a significant amount of time to at least one memorable, completely unrelated to medicine, asanine waste of your time so that you seem reliably well rounded. There are three main ways to go about it:
1) Be rich: Rich activities are fun, make you well rounded, and may even be educational. Sail around the world on a tall ship. Climb mountains. Do a sport that requires you to buy multiple horses. Travel, while paying for medical experience along the way. Medical schools love things that only the children of physicians can afford to do.
2) Be old: Jobs, military experience, Peace Corps. Nothing says \'I\'m ready for medicine\' like several years of experience in not medicine.
3) Do something that no reasonable person wants to do: You need a schtick, it needs to be memorable, you don\'t want to take extra years to do it, and what that means is doing something really, really f-ing stupid. Learning the guitar? Meh. Bagpipes? Better. Extra degree? No. From clown college? Yes! Involved with your church? Too common. By ringing the giant bells, hunchback of Notre Dame style? Good to go.
OR you could not worry about top schools, just check the boxes, and go somewhere mid range.
