Application Cycle One: 2007

• Undergraduate college: SUNY Binghamton
• Undergraduate Area of study: Premedical Studies

• Institution: Public Health
• Area of Study: Computing and Information Science
• Degree Obtained: MPH

• Total MCAT SCORE: 500
• MCAT Section Scores: B/B 123, C/P 126, CARS 126   Detailed Breakdown
• Overall GPA: 3.44
• Science GPA: 3.35

Summary of Application Experience

So here is the deal. I had no idea how schools would respond to me 1) as a non trad and 2) because my prereq's are over 10 years old and I did not retake, so I decided to blanket the east coast to see what sticks. Not a wise strategy if you cannot afford it because this is an EXPENSIVE process. But if you have that luxury, go for it. In hindsight, I could have saved myself some money by not applying to the Harvards and Yales, but I figured they should be the ones to weed me out, not vice versa.

I do not have a week by week analysis of my progress, but here are the take home points:

1) You are more than your numbers. The strength of my application lies in the fact that I have had a lot of interesting work experience - both global and domestic - and worked on some high profile public health activities in NY. Your uniqueness is what sets you apart from the others.

2) Research and learn from other peoples experiences, but in the end, do what is right for you. I was dissuaded by the fact that my pre-req's were old. Had I listened to it all, I would not have applied this year. I was not willing to take another 2 years to retake classes. This may have prevented 50% of the schools from reaching out to me, but 50% interviews is not bad either. I took a biochem class in the fall of my application year to demonstrate that I can still tackle complex material and made sure I aced the class. I think this will be a decision factor for a few schools that have interviewed me or are determining whether to do so.

3)APPLY EARLY!!! I cannot stress this enough.

I could go on, but will stop now and add to this when the process is over.

March 2008
So the process is winding down. It has been an expensive whirlwind and I found myself turning down interviews from schools I would have strongly considered however it became WAAAY to expensive. I ended up interviewing at 7 schools of which I was accepted at 4 and waitlisted at 3. I'm obviously a non trad, which means that I had a life and started a family before this so it is not so easy to make a decision about where to go. I am waiting for May 15th to roll around for several reasons 1) my husband is getting out of school and is looking for work in DC or NY. I hope he gets a job before then so that his location will determine where we go. 2) if he gets a job before May 15th its a no brainer - I go where he goes 3) if no job my May 15th, I pick a school and hope that things work out!

May 14th 2008
So it's May 14th with one day to go. Unlucky for me, it's down to option 3 - no job so I have to close my eyes and hope I pick the best place for all of us. Tussling between GW and Downstate. I have to make the list tonight and just make a decision already. The GW high tuition factor is a big deal but not a deal breaker...

July 2008
GW here I come...