5/23/08:Took MCAT. BS section was fun. Being a genetics major in college, I liked it.
6/23/08: I got 32P. I am little disappointed with it. I was hoping for 34. This score will make it difficult to get into the programs I want.
7/7/08: Submitted AMCAS. No verification yet.
7/8/08: Received Cincinnati secondary. This secondary is very redundant. MSTP specific essays are pretty much same as the AMCAS MD/PhD statements. I will have to figure out how to tackle it! :)
7/9/08: Second day in a row. Received Chicago secondary. Very ecstatic as this is one of my top choices. The question about how am i fit at Pritzker will be tricky to answer
7/17/08 Received Yale secondary
7/21 Submitted Baylor my first secondary....so exciting $80
7/21 Send LORs from Interfolio to AMCAS
7/21 Sent LORs to UChicago, Ucin, & Yale!
7/22 Received and submitted PSU (A very short secondary)!$ 70
7/26 Submitted UChicago Secondary! $ 75
7/28 AMCAS verified!!!! Onslaught of secondary begin :)
7/29: Received Case, U Michigan, MCW, SUNY Buffalo, Upenn, Mount Sinai, Vermont, & UMDNJ RWJ
7/29 Submitted MCW ($70), Upenn ($80), UMDNJRWJ ($85), Vermont (85) & Buffalo ($65)
7/30: Got Standford, NYU, and UIC secondaries. Submitted UCin ($ 25)
7/31: Submitted NYU (freaking 100 bucks!!!!)
8/3: Submitted Case ($85)
8/4: Submitted Yale ($85). This was one of the harder one as the essays required me to research the Yale curriculum. I think I am happy with the way it turned out. Now, I am crossing my fingers.
8/4: I am half-way through my process. I have so far received 15 secondaries, and I have submitted 12 secondaries so far. Still have to work on Michigan, Stanford, and Mount Sinai (almost done with that one)...:)
8/4: Jefferson secondary received and submitted ($80)
8/4: Mount Sinai secondary submitted ($105)....ouch this is gonna hurt big time. I better get an interview there!
8/5: No secondary today :(
8/5: Submitted Michigan ($85)
8/7: UWash MD Rejection b/c of OOS but still a shot for MSTP.
8/10: Submitted Stanford ($80)
8/11: Submitted UW MSTP app (FREE!!!)
8/14: UPitt Secondary received and submitted ($75)
8/16: No interviews yet :( I want some interviews. Message to adcoms....please!
8/17: I am having hard time working on the U of Maryland secondary. I think I am losing my steam and starting to slack. I need some motivations. Help me people :)
8/20: Added Wisconsin
8/21: Received and submitted Wisconsin secondary ($45)
***8/26: First INTERVIEW w00t. U of Nebraska.
8/27: Submitted Maryland after 3 weeks. I lost steam in the middle and was busy with some other stuff. Anyway, I am done with majority of secondaries :) ($70)
9/3 MCW email stated that I am reviewed favorably and may (or may not) receive interview. To be honest, I am little confused about their email. Why email if you are not going to interview. They could have just update the status page!
***9/3 NYU interview invite. I am very excited and nervous as the interview will be on 9/19. This gives me only 2 weeks to prepare for it. It will also be my first interview.
***9/4 UT Houston interview invite. Interview will be on 10/30
***9/8 PSU interview invite. Interview will be on 11/2
9/9: I was not getting any love from OHSU and Case rejection seems imminent. I added JHU and Cornell. I was going to add these schools initially, but did not think my stats were competitive. Now, I think that I might have tiny shot, so I decided to 'waste' another $60 and take a chance. Let's see if that pays off or not!
***9/15 UMDNJ interview invite. Interview will be on 12/19
***9/22 Buffalo interview invite. Interview will be on 11/19
:( 9/22: UWisconsin Rejection. This was among my top choices. Yike. This really gonna suck (Now I only have Stanford, Yale, Mich, UWash, Upenn, and Upitt left from my top choices)!!!
:( 9/22: Case pre-interview hold...so basically half rejection
:( 9/27 Yale MSTP Rejection (surface mail was sent on 9/19)
:( 9/29 Tri-I rejection (surface mail was sent on 9/24)
***10/6 Jefferson interview invite. Interview will be on 11/11-11/12.
:( 10/8 UWash MSTP rejection....Dream crushed!!!
:( 10/20 Case MD rejection.
10/20: It seems that my interview flow has been relatively slow lately. I am going under review at many top schools as we speak, so I am eagerly waiting for good news.
***10/27 MCW MSTP invite. Interview on 12/10-12/12
:( 10/27 MSSM MSTP and MD rejections in one letter...that is cold!
:( 11/03: Chicago Rejection.
:( 11/10 Pitt MSTP Rejection
*^*^ 11/13 PSU acceptance...first acceptance, but it does not feel as exciting as I thought it might. Still very cool though *^*^
:( 11/22 JHU MSTP and MD Rejection in a single letter....dream destroyed
:( 12/8 UAB and U of Michigan rejection on the same day...kinda hurts
*^*^ 11/13 MCW MD acceptance...MSTP decision is yet to come, so I will update it when I receive it *^*^
!*!*!*!*12/30: After careful consideration, I have decided to send the Letter of Intent to UTH MD/PhD program. It has the best combination of research and clinical training among all the schools I have interviewed at. The quality of research at MD Anderson is amazing. The resources are plentiful. The program director seems very flexible. BASCIALLY, I CAN NOT THINK OF ANY OTHER PLACE FOR MY PHYSICIAN SCIENTIST TRAINING (SPECIALLY IN ONCOLOGY)!*!*!*!*!* The committee is meeting on Jan 27th......cross your fingers
:( 12/31: Last day and hopefully the last rejection of the year. Mayo MSTP rejection...still being considered for MD only.
Please leave comment. Thanks for visiting my profile.
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Interview impressions (ranked on scale of 1-10)
*NYU(9/19): [Stress: 2; Research quality: 8; clinical facilities: 8; Responsiveness of administrative office: 6; overall: 7]
The school has top notch research and clinical facilities. The research buildings are new and there is plenty of lab space. The anatomy lab was straight out of 60s and reminded me of a dungeon. The faculties were very nice. I had 4 interviews. One with the director, and 3 with faculties. Each interviews were roughly One of the faculties was on the MD ADCOM, so I do not have to go there again for an interview, should I get rejected from MSTP. The students had very collegial temperament.
*UT Houston (10/30): [Stress: 3; Research quality: 10; clinical facilities: 10; Responsiveness of administrative office: 6; overall: 8.5]
It was very low stress interview. I was expecting the 3rd degree as it is MD Anderson, but all of my interviews were very friendly. I had my MD/PhD and MD interviews on the same day, so I had 6 interviews 30-45 minutes each on one day. I was exhausted at the end of the day, but I had a great time nonetheless. The clinical and research facilities are undeniably the best in the country if not the world. TMC is right in the hussle and bussle of the city, so crowded places are not your thing than you are at the wrong place. TMC is going under constant expansions which is annoying but at the same time very good. I got the feeling that they retain many of their MD/PhD graduates. This could be potentially good thing for career development. Students were helpful and seemed very happy. They have unique curriculum in which you do MS1,2,3; then take step 1 and then join the G1. It allow you stay with you MD class for MS3 and also gets your feet wet with clinical medicine. I think it is very good to get you oriented for translation research. You can do some longitudinal clinical exposure during your graduate years, and it would count towards some credits in MS4, so you can finish MS4 in about 6 months which will give extra time for residency apps. ***currently my top choice***
*PSU (11/3): [Stress: 2; Research quality: 7; clinical facilities: 8; Responsiveness of administrative office: 7; overall: 7.5]
*Jefferson (11/12): [Stress: 2; Research quality: 6.5; clinical facilities: 9; Responsiveness of administrative office: 6; overall: 7]
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Expenses so far:
Kaplan 1800
Books 150
MCAT 210
Interfolio 15
AMCAS 740
Total...........I will put up big total in the end :(
