Brief Profile:
Took June 18, 2009 MCAT!!!!!! Annoyed by the 9 in PS but forget it, my score is better than I even dared to hope for!!!
I got my undergrad degree in scientific illustration (art) and now I\'m getting a Masters in Anatomy at a medical school. My grades aren\'t amazing, but I\'ve taken a lot of relevant coursework at this point. (graduate-level histo, biochem, immuno, cell bio.) I\'ve taken gross anatomy with the med school class and I will be a TA for it in the fall, so I hope that experience will give me a boost. I\'m also doing a research project on a clinically relevant anatomy topic, I will be the first author and if all goes well it will get accepted for publication. after that, i have another project up my sleeve so if i have time to do that too, i might get two first-author papers. My graduate GPA is 3.29 . . . which kinda sucks but, I hope adcoms will realize it\'s pretty good considering I had very little science background when I started. Graduate science is hard!
i guess i have a pretty typical volunteering record (hospitals, tutoring) and some really good shadowing. I\'ve probably done about 60-70 total hours of shadowing, with a few different physicians. I plan to keep doing more though so that number might be closer to 100 when I actually apply. I also worked in a hospital as an OR Aide for ~3 months, 40 hours a week, so that\'s about 400 hours of non-shadowing clinical experience.
Update: by the time I was interviewing, I was in the middle of TA-ing for anatomy, so it was a really good experience to talk about. I had also submitted my manuscript for publication at that point, so it was another great talking point. And it got accepted for publication the day before my Rush interview! So I was able to mention it then, which I think helped a lot.
MCAT DATE- 6/18/09!!! Practice scores: 3/8/09-AAMC#5, 28. VR11,BS10,PS7. Haven\'t really started reviewing PS content yet so I should be able to improve on that without too much trouble. 5/25/09- AAMC#4, 34. VR12,BS12,PS10. Oh man, brought it up six pts, this is a huge relief. Unless this is one of the \'easy\' ones?? 5/29/09- AAMC#8, 28. VR10,BS10,PS8 . . . OUCH. Ok time to take on PS like there\'s no tomorrow. 6/10/09- AAMC#6, 36!!! VR13,BS12,PS11. Studying PS is finally paying off. I hope this is a trend and not a fluke!
I\'d love suggestions for schools to add or drop. My original list was based on a much lower predicted MCAT, now I really don\'t know. I haven\'t taken Calculus either so some schools are out for me like Dartmouth, Duke, etc. THANKS EVERYONE!! :-) So excited to be applying this year!
// Applications //
Application Cycle One: 2009
Undergraduate Area of study: Fine Arts/Architecture
Total MCAT SCORE: 519
MCAT Section Scores:
B/B 131,
C/P 126,
CARS 132
Overall GPA: 3.42
Science GPA: 3.54
Summary of Application Experience
Got my first invite on 9/28, MCW! I still have five unsubmitted secondaries. Due to my brokeness I could only submit secondaries 1 or 2 at a time, and those were the schools that kept being at the bottom of my priority list for one reason or another. And now I am thinking it\'s a bit too late to submit any more at this point. I might still submit Creighton if I can afford it this week but I think I am going to just let the rest go, especially now that I\'ve gotten an invite. Update-Accepted! 11/13/09 Update- withdrew. i want to stay in chicago, but also, just didn\'t really feel that i fit with the vibe. nice school though and will always be warm and fuzzy that it was my first interview invite/acceptance.
10/7/09- Interview invite #2!!! UIC! :-) Update- As of January I am still under review. At this point I am not too concerned about it because I liked Rush a lot better anyway. April 28- wow, actually got accepted. i sent in my card requesting chicago, but sure i won\'t get it. if i don\'t, will withdraw. actually i probably will anyway because i am set on rush, but thought it was worth a shot just to see...
10/16/09- Interview invite #3 Rush!! Update- ACCEPTED 1/5/10!! So excited. I am pretty sure this is where I will end up . . . unless I miraculously get an interview/acceptance from someplace where it doesn\'t snow. But I think I\'m done getting interviews. 5/1- attended second look and i am pretty much sold. Rush, I will see you in September <3 <3 :-)
1/7/10- Nice rejection letter from Rochester. No hard feelings there. I\'m still in limbo at about half (HALF!) of the schools I applied to. Since I know I will probably be ultimately rejected from most or all of them, I\'d rather they get it over with sooner than later. I need closure, but I can\'t bring myself to actually withdraw from anywhere.
Applied, Rejected
Wake Forest University
Applying for combined PhD/MSTP? No
Submitted: 07/22/2009
Secondary Completed: No
Interview Invite: No
Interview Attended: No
Waitlisted: No
Accepted: No
Rejected: 08/11/2009
Summary of Experience:
I wasn't even going to apply here . . . wish I hadn't spent the $31!!!!
Summary of Experience:
rec\'d email to fill out secondary 7/23, submitted 8/5. complete! II: 10/7, Interview 10/22!! Email Jan 3: \"We will continue to review your file . . . \" 4/48/10 Well I\'ll be damned- I was sure I was going to be rejected as of May 15. Acceptance!! I am still pretty set on Rush but I will see if I can get a Chicago placement or some good finaid before a final decision . . . WITHDREW!
