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MD Applicants

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  • User #10370

  • Application cycles: 2008
  • Demographics: Male, 43, Caucasian
  • Home state: California
  • Last Active: 10/03/2012
  • Brief Profile: •USMC 1999-2003, Sergeant

    •Supplemented my GI Bill by working my way through college, both in psych lab and at the student veterans\' office.

    •Graduated Summa Cum Laude (and debt free!), Phi Beta Kappa, and with distinction. Earned a few scholarships in college.

    •Conducted independent research project as undergrad for thesis.

    •Worked 6 months as a ward clerk in a specialty clinic at VA hospital (this is what made up my mind to become a doctor). Switched to research at VA in September, now work as an RA in health services research.

    •Currently involved in planning for a clinical trial and a few other outcome related studies.
  • // Applications //

    Application Cycle One: 2008

    • Undergraduate college: University of Colorado at Boulder
    • Undergraduate Area of study: Psychology/Social Sciences
    • Total MCAT SCORE: 516
    • MCAT Section Scores: B/B 130, C/P 129, CARS 127  
    • Overall GPA: 3.90
    • Science GPA: 3.96

    Summary of Application Experience

    •8/4 - Finally officially rejected from UCLA ... UCSD here I come!
    •6/30 - Withdrew from UCD. They offered me a nice scholarship, but, in the end, I feel UCSD is a better fit for me.
    •5/29 - Accepted to UC-Davis. I will wait to have a look at their financial aid package before making a final decision.
    •5/8 - Withdrew from Dartmouth. I\'m down to 1 acceptance now, UCSD is the victor.
    •5/4 - Withdrew acceptances from USC, UCI, Wisconsin, Colorado. WD from Vandy waitlist.
    •3/10 - Rejected for the 6th time from Stanford. First was grad school, times 2-5 were for research jobs that I thought I was well qualified for.
    •2/21 - Rejected post-interview from the JMP. Not entirely sure what happened; I thought it went very well. This is probably for the best.
    •1/23 - Interviewed at UCSF-UCB Joint Medical Program. They have a very interesting 5 year program where you get a MS from Cal and an MD from UCSF. They only matriculate 16 students and the curriculum is completely PBL/case-based. The students come up with their own learning objectives for each case and really teach each other. This is the first time I\'ve seen problem-based learning in action. Although the concept is unfamiliar, I could see myself truly learning a lot with this format.
    •1/11 - Sent update to UCLA, would have sent one to Stanford also, but they do not accept pre-interview updates.
    •12/8 - Accepted to USC, letter dated 12/1
    •12/1 - Impressions thus far: Wow, I\'ve received a lot of interviews. The three interviews I\'ve been on thus far have been very impressive. All I need now is an acceptance. I\'m about to embark on a tour de California where I get to visit 3 UC schools in a single week. Then, a week later, I\'m following it up with UWisc and Dartmouth interviews. That will be a total of 5 interviews in one month. We\'ll see how my bank account holds up.
    •9/23 - Vanderbilt, simply put, was amazing. I would be honored to make the next cut.
    •9/13 - interview invite - USC
    •9/2 - first invite - Vandy
    •8/29 - first rejection - Mayo
    •8/24 - submitted LOR to secondary schools, I was previously waiting on a delinquent letter.
    •8/5 - primary verified, it\'s a mess of Xs. AMCAS decided that my military schools should be my freshman year and this caused a trickle-down effect for all me subsequent courses classifications, it shouldn\'t matter though.
    •7/27 - added 5 schools to app.
    •7/13 - submitted primary w/7 schools, will add more.
    ••••••letters••••••
    ? u-grad thesis advisor, she is not a science prof but should be a very good letter.
    ? o-chem prof, he doesn\'t know me very well but it is a science letter.
    ? upper division science prof; i did well in his class but we aren\'t otherwise acquainted.
    ? clinical letter from MD who i worked closely with
    ? work/research letter from current PI, should be very strong

    ==========================================
    AAMC PRACTICE TESTS:
    30 4/07/08 AAMC 3r: 11p, 10v, 9b
    32 5/05/08 AAMC 5: 11p, 10v, 11b
    35 5/16/08 AAMC 4: 10p, 12v, 13b
    34 5/25/08 AAMC 6: 13p, 10v, 11b
    36 5/28/08 AAMC 7: 13p, 11v, 12b
    36 5/31/08 AAMC 8: 12p, 12v, 12b
    36 6/7/08 AAMC 9: 12p, 12v, 12b
    38 6/11/08 AAMC 10: 12p, 13v, 13b
    34.6 grand average of all AAMC tests
    35.8 average score after content review
    34 real score from 6/13/08 2pm MCAT
    ===========================================

    tally of costs to date--starts at bottom:
    $140 - Flight to San Diego for 2nd look
    $140 - Flight to LAX and back
    $85 - Hotel and ground transportation (UCLA)
    $30 - Gas and parking (Berkeley JMP)
    $48 - Gas and bridges (Boston/Dartmouth)
    $61 - Hotel near Dartmouth
    $166 - Rental car in Boston for drive to Dartmouth
    $120 - Nice dinner for friend who hosted me in Chicago
    $10 - Public transit in Chicago
    $38 - Gas and parking for nice guy who drove me to Chicago
    $3 - Bus fare in Madison
    $490 - Ticket to Madison/Boston/Home
    $10 - UC Davis parking and bridge toll to return
    $59 - Hotel in Sacramento
    $30 - Gas for drive to Sacramento and back
    $80 - Hotel in Irvine
    $50 - Housewarming gift for friend in San Diego
    $6 - San Diego parking
    $120 - Gas for drive to San Diego and Irvine and back
    $115 - Hotel room and ground transportation (LA)
    $305 - Plane ticket to LAX to DIA to SJC
    $152 - Hotel room and ground transportation (Nashville)
    $269 - Plane ticket to Nashville
    $1090 - Secondary fees
    $240 - Added 8 more schools
    $340 - Primary app. fee w/7 schools
    $210 - MCAT registration fee
    $75 - MCAT prep materials for self-study, mostly used
    $77 - Interfolio
    $65 - transcript fees
    $28 - 2009-2010 MSAR (after tax and shipping)
    $~ 12 - Postage
    $~ ? - forthcoming cost

    Application Complete, Rejected

    Mayo Medical School
    Stanford University

    Application Complete, Withdrew

    Medical College of Wisconsin

    Invited for Interview, Withdrew

    University of Vermont
    Oregon Health & Science University

    Attended Interview, Rejected

    University of California, San Francisco

    Attended Interview, Waitlisted, Rejected

    University of California, Los Angeles

    Attended Interview, Waitlisted, Withdrew

    Vanderbilt University

    Accepted off Waitlist

    University of California, Davis

    Accepted

    University of Southern California
    University of Wisconsin
    Dartmouth College
    University of California, San Diego
    University of California, Irvine
    University of Colorado

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