Application Cycle One: 2007

• Undergraduate college: Penn State University
• Undergraduate Area of study: Biological/Life Sciences

• Institution: Small Liberal Arts School
• Area of Study: Computing and Information Science

• Total MCAT SCORE: 514
• MCAT Section Scores: B/B 127, C/P 130, CARS 127   Detailed Breakdown
• Overall GPA: 3.59
• Science GPA: 3.56

Summary of Application Experience

6/21/07 - Submitted my AMCAS, waiting for review. I changed the schools I was applying to somewhat, took a couple off and added a few others, but not huge changes.

6/28/07 - AMCAS verified, no changes except they took an Astronomy course I took freshman year and made it BCPM since it was offered by the Physics department (there was no physics in it at all really).

7/30/07 - My Committee LOR was finally uploaded today.

8/2/07 - Finally getting 'complete' emails from schools.

8/21/07 - Well, some schools were very quick at downloading my LORs from VE, others taking forever. Pitt just FINALLY downloaded them (I sent in my secondary in mid-July), and PSU, Maryland and Albany still don't have them.

9/12/07 - Three interviews so far! After a month or so of waiting and doubting myself, it's nice to at least know that there are some schools that are interested in me. I really hope they go well, I'm excited about all three schools!

11/1/07 - Have been offered a total of 7 interviews so far! Completed 5 of them . . . but of course it all means little until I get that first acceptance. So far I have a decent idea of how the schools rank in my mind, but a few are hard to separate. Gotta get accepted somewhere first, then worry about that.

11/7/07 - Waitlisted at Jeff . . . I'm pretty bummed. I was hoping to receive the afternoon acceptance phone call today, but apparently they had already decided LAST Wednesday to waitlist me. I'm technically a 'High Priority Alternate' but they say they don't rank the waitlist, so does that actually mean anything?

11/23/07 FIRST ACCEPTANCE!!! University of Maryland. I loved it there and even though my interviews went well, I didn't think I'd get accepted since they take so few OOS people. It hasn't yet set in that I'm finally going to be a doctor.

4/5/08 - Clearly it's been a while. I was accepted to Penn State the day after Christmas, so now I think it'll come down to either Maryland or Penn State. I'm going to PSU's second look weekend next saturday to get a better idea about what they're all about. I like Maryland's location better, but I like PSU's price better. I've been accepted to 5 out of 7 schools, with two waitlists. If I got in at either Jeff or MCV where I'm waitlisted, I'd legitimately consider them too. Both will be about as expensive as Maryland.

4/29/08 - So I went to PSU's second look day and really enjoyed it. The people (both students and faculty) are just so nice. I do get a good vibe from it. I also had an informal second look at Maryland this past Friday. Had lunch with two M1s, sat through a lecture, walked around the area. It's a really cool area, and I think I'd be happy there too. It's just the price that's the main hurdle, but the two students I spoke with said that the $72,000 estimate for COA was very generous, and that it's usually more like $65,000. Two weeks left to decide!