well, even though this profile isn't really anonymous, i feel i owe it to give back a little to the site when it's something i've used so much in the planning process. expect periodic updates if you are interested.
while it is impossible to know where the future will lead, i am applying to medical school with interests in health policy, global health, underserved communities in the US, infectious disease, and possibly pursuing the MD/MPH. my range of schools is pretty top-heavy. i didn't feel like including any 'mid-tier' options, because i can't justify the expense of attending a private school over my state school if it doesn't have something outstanding to offer. that was my litmus test for inclusion on my application: with no financial aid, would i conceivably attend this school over OU?
*deleted earlier posts*
11/30/06: as we approach the turn, midway through the application season, all i can say is that you win some and you lose some. i have been accepted to OU and UTSW and received interviews from yale and vanderbilt. yet i have also received post-secondary rejections from mayo and UCSF and been put on hold by michigan, a school that gave automatic interviews to people with lower stats than myself *grumble*. i guess the key is to stay on an even keel no matter what happens, for every time you get too happy something incredibly humbling will soon follow. i'm really hoping for some love from baylor, emory, and chicago, three schools where i feel i can really be competitive (although that doesn't mean you can't throw a few kisses my way stanford, penn, and harvard!)
12/6/06: haha, well i just got invited for interview at harvard, and i really feel validated now more than ever. i did not attend a prestigious undergrad, my research experience is near nil, i am not a urm or disadvantaged, i did not submit any letters of rec from research supervisors, and i still managed to wangle a spot up there in boston. i think what i wrote up there in my activities description is now advice actually backed up with some results: do what you want, do it well, and let the chips fall where they may.
impressions of interviewed schools:
1.) UTSW: (pros): excellent price (can't emphasize this enough), outstanding hospital experience available to medical students, very friendly and large student body, and administrators that really seem to bend over backwards to be supportive. (cons): very poor interdisciplinary options unless your interest is in bench/clinical research, grading curve set in stone.
2.) Yale: (pros): yale system (duh!); integration with a larger campus means every option a heart could want in terms of curriculum: public health, medical humanities, etc.; small, tight knit really chill group of students (cons): yale-new haven is a nice hospital with some excellent research, but i don't think i'll get the clinical exposure i would at a hospital like parkland in dallas...all my interviewers tried to convince me otherwise, but i don't know; i still can't get over the tuition sticker shock, so here's hoping that FA takes care of me if i am so lucky as to get in; the small student body may be a little TOO small; and here's what's not a con: the city...new haven was perfectly fine in my book.
3.) Harvard: (pros): unsurpassed research and international and interdisciplinary options, the combined resources of 18 top-notch affiliated institutions, the slick new integrated PCE 3rd year (cons): harvard really didn't seem like a welcoming place, somewhere I could easily fit in. everyone seems to be off doing their own amazing thing and saving the world. (interestingly, this is reflected in their interview day 'structure', which is essentially: here is your schedule, have a nice day). i get the feeling that if you don't know exactly what you are doing, you will easily get lost in the crush.
4.) OU: (pros): in-state tuition, i'll know a large portion of the student body, close to home (cons): i'll know a large portion of the student body, close to home, very poor interdisciplinary options, and to make matters worse, OU doesn't really have much in the way of exciting research going on either.
We help students become doctors. TM
