S: Secondary submitted
C: Complete
II: Interview Invite
I: Interview
A: Acceptance
WL: Waitlist
R: Rejection
6/12/08 - Submitted out of frustration even though one of the transcripts isn't there yet. I know it'll be on hold but I kept tweaking and changing stuff on my application out of restlessness and I was starting to mess it all up. Now it's out into the ether. Asked a Muslim friend, a Jewish friend, and a Christian friend to pray for me. Figured I should cover all my bases.
6/26/08- My AMCAS was finally verified...and I got a swift kick in the butt with my GPAs. Gotta love it. At this point, I'll be happy to get in pretty much anywhere.
7/9/08- Little update: Well, secondaries are on their way. They don't send them all to everyone at the same time, which is a little frustrating. I realize I'm very early anyway but it's still annoying to see people on SDN who've gotten a certain secondary while you haven't. My undergrad's committee letter is also on VirtualEvals so I guess whenever the schools want to get them, there they are.
The schools that screen (i.e. my first judgments...oy vey) aren't supposed to get back to us until the end of July at the earliest. I'm getting antsy. I really just hope I'll be all set by January...
7/21/08- Another update: things are winding down a bit. I gotta say, I'm patting myself on the back cause I'm actually getting stuff done relatively quickly- highly unlike me. However, now that fewer are coming in at once I'm becoming less efficient and more paranoid. I'm currently sitting on two applications (NYU and Tulane) and dreading the beast that Duke is known to be. I also spend most of my work day refreshing my email and checking all the status pages compulsively, even though I'm perfectly aware of the fact that nothing is really supposed to be happening yet, interview-wise. One of my best friends from college applied to 23 schools and is only wait-listed at one and is waiting for that to answer.
The stress, it taketh over.
On the other hand, I don't have that many secondaries left, and if that isn't a reason to celebrate, I don't know what is. These things are ANNOYING.
7/29/08- I'm officially starting to lose it. I am unbelievably thankful that I even made it past the pre-screen at the UC's, and really glad things are going as smoothly as can be. However, there are just. so. many. essays. UCLA has like, 8, and UCSD has this 4-page beast of an autobiography. The evil monster known as Duke is a-looming, and meanwhile my job has really picked up so I can't just write essays at my desk. I'm getting tired of discussing my dreams and motivations and deep inner secrets. I stare at these inane essay questions and all I can come up with is snarky answers. Anyways, it's true what they say kids, 27 applications is a LOT of applications. Trust me. Once you're done with the first, like, 15, you'll just feel like you're done and won't want to go on. If you're me, however, you'll go on. Sigh...back to work.
8/4/08- So I'm finally done with all the major secondaries. People are already getting the really early interview but I haven't gotten any yet (argh!) which is frustrating, but definitely not surprising. I'm still waiting on Vandy, Emory, Loyola, Drexel, and Mayo (which doesn't actually have a secondary). All in all, things are going smoothly, and while I'm glad to take a break from the incessant BS-writing, this leaves me with nothing to do but waiting and seeing...NOT a skillset I would consider to be my best. I'm deathly broke and permanently checking my online status pages. This is going to be a looooong year. Here's to hoping for an interview invite soon!!!!
8/7/08- Secondary and simultaneous interview invite at Vandy! I'm so excited! I did a little dance outside my apartment and I'm pretty sure my neighbors think I'm absolutely insane, but hey, it's a good day.
8/13/08- Today is just....wow. I woke up to an interview invite at NYMC, which was exciting of its own right, but it also gave me the opportunity to email all the NYC schools being like 'I'm from California and I'm going to be in NYC at the end of september/beginning of october, so if you can schedule an interview around then it'd be great.' I got an answer from most like 'alright, we'll try' and I believe I sent Sinai a letter like 'honestly, i dont care, i'll fly whenever for sinai'. I guess they liked that cause a couple of hours later, I got an interview invite!!! I can't even tell you how excited I am, since Sinai is really really high on my list. Ok, I'm gonna try to calm down now. Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out. GAAAAAH!
8/23/08- So the past 10 days have been the most horrendously uneventful 10 days ever. Every email I get gives me a small stroke, and I'm kinda just starting to lose it. I know this is just the beginning of the waiting process (and for that matter that I have 3 amazing interviews already lined up, so I should just shut up in general) but I am stresssssed. Whenever I tell myself that I'll take a break from my own insanity and stop checking my email, it lasts...oh...30 seconds max. Sigh. Anyways, I'm rambling. Maybe next week...?
8/26/08- Interview invite at UCSD! Wow, this is definitely surprising...actually, my success thus far in general is really surprising. I'm going to have to remind myself of this when I'm complaining about certain schools that seem to be giving me the cold shoulder. I'm even more broke now that I'm buying plane tickets, but hey. I'm broke cause I get to go to some amazing medical school interviews. Not a bad reason :D
9/4/08- My really strange good luck streak is continuing, and in a bout of what must be madness/a stroke, Duke has offered me an interview. I'm all atwitter. It's DUKE! I'm just...speechless. I hope this luck continues, although I know I definitely can't ask for anything more. There are still some top choices that haven't invited me...so I'll hope for them. Either way, wow. Either the whole medical world has lots its mind or I'm not as awful an applicant as I had assumed. Probably the former.
10/7/08- It has occurred to me that I haven't updated this little makeshift blog of mine in forever. Well, let's see.
First of all, I haven't gotten an interview invite in over a month, which is making me more than a little antsy. I have, however, received a hold and two rejections (hold at Loyola, rejections at BU and Gtown). These aren't my favorite schools, granted, but only getting bad news all month has NOT been kind to my already fragile psyche.
On the other hand, I've been on 3 interviews already, so I figured I'd write a few things about the schools at the bottom.
Yes, I'm lucky to have gotten what I've gotten, but...ugh...I'm still waiting on 19 schools....
10/15/08- Got into Vandy. And now this becomes FUN. :D :D :D :D
11/11/08- It's been a while since I've written some musings, so I figured I'd do so today (for anyone who might actually read this stuff...). So far I've gotten into 2 outstanding, amazing schools and was waitlisted at another. This process is insane, and a roller coaster of emotions. I have cried my eyes out both out of happiness and self-pity. I have met some incredible people on the way (professors, doctors, admissions people, other interviewees) and am even more excited than ever before to have the honor to go into medicine. And the idea that I might actually have an option (and a hell of one, at that!) is unbelievably humbling and terrifying. I feel like these schools have faith in me and that I owe them to become an amazing doctor. I have no idea how I'll make this choice, so I'm hoping to be struck by some sort of epiphany at second look weekends. I am SO excited. I feel like I've been waiting SO LONG for this....
as for the process, it appears to be as random as everyone says. A year ago, I would have never suspected this would happen- all the schools I thought I had a good shot at have totally ignored me and some schools I applied to 'for the hell of it' gave me a shot. I guess I did the right thing by applying all over the place. My advice to future applicants is: be flexible. Be open-minded. You might be surprised. Ok, now back to waiting....:D
11/19: This was a totally crazy day. I got an interview at Emory (yay!!!) and a phone call at 10:30 pm East Coast time from- get this- the dean of Sinai Med. He tells me that he calls a handful of people each year who have personally impressed him and that I am one of those handful of people, that he think Sinai is the perfect fit for me, that I am an extremely impressive applicant (my response: uhmmm...seriously?) and that he wanted to impress upon me how badly he wants me to go to his school. Needless to say, I am shocked and amazed and so overwhelmed. I have NO idea why things have been going as well as they have. I worked hard in college, but to see some of those SDNers...I feel like a total slacker. I am so glad to have schools that believe in me and my potential. Anyways. Wow. I'm still in shock.
12/18- I can barely type. I just got a full tuition scholarship to med school, and Vanderbilt at that. I could pretty much die right now and be ok with that. AaaaaahhhhhhhHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
1/15 - Well, it looks like my cycle's mostly over. I'm waiting to hear back from Emory and Duke but I felt like those weren't good interviews so I don't think it's going to be good news- and even if they were, I doubt they could match Vandy's unbelievable offer. I'm definitely not expecting any more interview invites, so I think I'm done on that end as well. I have compiled some of my thoughts about this crazy, maddening process, and figured I'd write them here in hopes that they'll be of use to a future applicant.
1) It's true what they say about applying early. Do it. The earlier the better. If you are the perfect applicant, applying late might not hinder you (since non-rolling schools won't care) but any other kind of applicant HAS to apply early.
2) Apply broadly. Apply to places you don't know well. Don't be afraid of trying out the south, or the north east, or the west coast. Apply intelligently. Avoid state schools that take few or no out of staters, and don't fill your list with reaches. Have a few reaches, a bunch of high-chance schools, and a bunch of 'might work out' schools. Do keep those reaches though: shooting for the stars is good sometimes, and you've worked hard for it.
3) Don't ever, ever, EVER have a first-choice 'if I dont get in here I will jump off a cliff' school. This process is way too far out of your control to really know what schools are looking for, and even if you think you're perfect for a place, they might very well disagree, and if you insist on going there and only there you might not give other great places a shot. There are zero guarantees. Be open-minded.
4) Lots of people say this process is random. I disagree. I just don't think that we really know what each school is looking for. Because of that, if you get rejected, take it as a sign that the school wouldn't have been a good fit for you, and move on.
5) If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. But first, ask schools to figure out what was wrong with your application in the first place, fix it, and then apply again. Don't apply 'just cause' and don't do it unless you're planning on going in full-force. Don't figure that by applying to 60 schools someone is bound to take you because of random chance. If you're not good enough for 1/30, you're not good enough for 1/60.
6) Be gracious. No school is beneath you. Get over yourself.
7) MD schools in this country all teach you the same exact stuff. The Step 1 is the same exact Step 1 everywhere. If you rock that test, do well in your clinicals, and impress a few doctors, you will get a great residency. Stop worrying so much about prestige. Your patients and future employers won't care. Find a place that you don't think you'll hate and that won't bankrupt you forever and go there. Think about your experience in college: do you really think you enjoyed it because of your college's name, or because of the people you were with?
8) Try not to compare yourself to other premeds too much, especially not the ones on SDN. Their performance is irrelevant. Worry about yourself.
9) Work with your uniqueness. Whatever you think makes you different from every other premed in America- work with that. Emphasize that in every part of your application, every essay, in every interview. Have a 'theme' that people will remember.
10) Be nice, courteous, smile a lot at interviews. Being professional is all well and good, but you also want to be a real person. Think about every activity you've done and what it's meant to you and how it refers back to your central 'theme'. Be a multi-dimensional human being. Don't bug the admissions people too much.
I think that's it. Good luck to all!
4/5/09: I just got back from the Vanderbilt second look, and while I was already planning on attending Vandy, I am now 10 times as sure that that's the school for me. Go figure. I really only applied to that school cause a friend of mine suggested it, and now I can't imagine that I'd be happier anywhere else. The people I met were wonderful, I had a great time hanging out with current students, and my fellow future class of 2013ers were pretty awesome- I already know who I'll hang out with on a normal basis. I am so, so happy with how things turned out, and feel so unbelievably lucky. I can't wait to start my new adventure.
VANDERBILT SCHOOL OF MEDICINE CLASS OF 2013!!!!
Interview Impressions:
Vanderbilt - Vandy was amazing all around. Great, beautiful campus, incredible library, 'happiest students in the nation', incredibly supportive environment, great location within Nashville. I like that it's a big fish in a small pond, cause it seems like a lot of resources are spent on that hospital. Love that all the hospitals are on the same campus- makes life a lot easier. Awesome curriculum that's been going on for a couple of years so I won't be a guinea pig. Awesome financial aid, which doesn't hurt. SO excited to attend!!
NYMC - I'd recommend it for anyone who wants to become a really competent clinician and isn't necessarily interested in going into academic medicine. It felt cozy, but a little 'small college campus'-ish. Beautiful campus, and I do think it'd be nice to be able to walk to class from the dorm in like, 30 seconds. However, I think I'm kind of a city girl and it feels a little removed. The hospital on campus is teeny. I like the bigger academic centers with a lot going on.
Mt. Sinai- Loved, loved, loved Sinai. Amazing location in NYC. Awesome curriculum. Great patient population. Beautiful hospital. GREAT dorms. Honestly, it was a really tough decision between here and Vandy, but ultimately Vandy gave me more money and I might end up in NYC for residency or beyond, so I should move around now while I can.
Duke- An honor even to visit it. Loved the campus, I met great people, the dean is awesome, incredibly innovative curriculum. Durham though is kinda depressing, and why is the med school in a basement, anyway? Sad to be waitlisted, but maybe it's for the best.
UCSD- Not a great fit for me, ultimately. Really So-Cal kinda place, and I'm not a So-Cal kinda girl. La Jolla is gorgeous but it reminded me a bit too much of Palo Alto in its 'beautiful white rich people only!' sort of theme. Also, UCSD Med campus is kinda depressing. Great school though, and you can't beat having the beach right there!
Emory - Beautiful campus, great people, great curriculum, amazing clinical opportunities. Grady rocks. The brand new med school building is definitely a plus. Atlanta is a little too 'urban sprawl'-ish for me though, it doesn't really feel very cohesive. The curriculum is brand new, and while I think it's awesome, I'd still be a bit apprehensive about being one of the first classes to have it.
We help students become doctors. TM
