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MD Applicants

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  • User #17522

  • Application cycles: 05/31/2009
  • Demographics: Female, 38, African
  • Home state: New Jersey
  • Last Active: 03/15/2010
  • Brief Profile: SDNers have made me paranoid, so I\'m keeping this anonymous. Suffice it to say, I have a good number of ECs (fewer than some, but most are 3-4 yrs of involvement with leadership positions), went to a top 10 university, and should have good, personalized LORs.

    I am now blogging about this ridiculous experience. Feel free to peep in at http://operationmd.wordpress.com/ to see a fellow applicant go slightly crazy during this process! haha
  • // Applications //

    Application Cycle One: 05/31/2009

    • Undergraduate college: Top 10
    • Undergraduate Area of study: Psychology/Social Sciences
    • Institution: Top 10
    • Area of Study: Biological/Life Sciences
    • Total MCAT SCORE: 472
    • MCAT Section Scores: B/B 118, C/P 118, CARS 118  
    • Overall GPA: 0.00
    • Science GPA: 0.00

    Summary of Application Experience

    I\'m applying early in hopes that buys me something...I hear it does :)

    Stay positive folks and gl all!!!
    ___

    MAY -
    Early May - finishing up classes and finals, moving, redrafting PS, compiling a list of med schools to apply to, committee letter interview and ensuring all letters are turned in on time, job searching, etc.

    JUNE -
    06/02: AMCAS submitted (1st possible day too!)
    06/08: Yale secondary publicly posted online (GWU\'s is also posted online)
    06/10: Wake up to an email that my AMCAS is verified?Hoping it really does pay to be early :)
    06/10-06/24: Working on secondaries based on what I found at SDN. Anxiously awaiting AMCAS to send my info to designated schools so I can turn these secondaries in quick.
    06/23: Received first secondary (from Dartmouth)! Guess AMCAS has sent out my app :)
    06/25: Secondaries are starting to trickle in - I\'m getting myself prepared in case of an overload of them at an inopportune time
    06/27: Realized that my committee letter won\'t be ready for a few more days, so I\'m holding off on submitting secondaries until Penn sends it out - why rush?
    06/29: Just found out I have two job offers (NSLC: Medicine and Health Care TA and research lab assistant at UPenn w/ poss. of publications) - holding off a week or so on submitting secondaries until I finalize these plans...I would hate to not write them down if I can

    JULY -
    07/01: Pritzker and HU both send secondaries...turns out HU\'s was a psych-out and won\'t really be sent until Aug :(
    07/02: Temple\'s came in today
    07/05: UMDNJ-NJMS\'s came today (on a Sunday)
    07/07-08: Mt Sinai and Georgetown came today :) Two schools I absolutely love, but realize they are both long shots...
    07/10: GWU confirmed receipt of secondary, just submitted Georgetown\'s and MSSM\'s online. Still waiting on AMCAS LORs receipt...UPenn claims they already sent it and for $85, I need them to be on top of this!
    07/13: Tulane\'s came today. Love the school, but hearing shady things about the area...I guess I\'ll submit and see what happens. Submitted Tulane and Pritzker. Also, I need this LOR hold-up to be resolved - it\'s the only reason all of my received secondaries are not compelte. UPenn is trying my patience. Whooo-Saaa!
    07/15: NYU\'s came today. Going to have a talk with Penn\'s Credentials Services in-person (since they won\'t answer the phone) to see what the hold-up is...Apparently the post-bacc program just hasn\'t written the committee letters yet...smh. Weeks behind...
    07/21: Yay. Committee Letter was finally posted this morning! Completes are rolling in :)
    07/22: Keck came
    07/24: Pritzker complete e-mail received. Very nervous. I truly love this reach school and would be heart broken if they gave an immediate rejection. Praying for at least a hold...

    AUGUST -
    08/01-07: Polishing off Loyola and Northwestern. Found a FT job semi-related to my field of study :) God is good!
    08/08-08/17: Sitting and waiting for the last 3...and repeating to myself, \'Patience is a virtue!\'
    08/18 - HU and Drexel\'s came. Drexel\'s was simple (though, in filling it out, I realized I didn\'t quite fill out my AMCAS as completely as I could have...). Howard\'s requires payment with a cashier\'s check or money order...so unnecessary...talk about jumping through hoops. Now, just waiting on Emory and I\'ll be done!
    8/24 - FINALLY got Emory\'s...just have to find a non-Mac computer to use to submit it :/ Might add UCF...

    SEPTEMBER and OCTOBER -
    Interviewed at Tulane, UMDNJ-NJMS, and Drexel. Accepted at TULANE!!! Yay! I will be a doctor. Subsequently was accepted at UMDNJ-NJMS and Drexel by the end of October. I feel truly blessed! October, however, felt like the longest month of my life. No more interviews lined up as of yet, so I sit back, relax, and try to stay up-to-date with health care reform in the good ol\' US. God is good!!!

    NOVEMEBR -
    Working on a few letters of interest since I have nothing but my jobs and church to keep my free time occupied. Another interview invite would help erase my boredom... However, it\'s really nice to know that I am into a school I love (Hi, Tulane) and am really just sitting back waiting for financial aide stuff in the Spring. I pray that they come through with some funds for me, otherwise, I\'ll happily settle at NJMS. Drexel, I\'m not really feeling that much, but perhaps things will change in the upcoming months...

    DECEMBER -
    Interviewed down the street at UMDNJ-RWJMS. It was an intense interview. Should be hearing back by the end of January/early February. They cut their class size by ~40 seats, which means increased competition to get in - yikes! Also, withdrew from Howard. I was starting to get the sense that it just wasn\'t the school for me. As a blessing and a curse, I\'ve been working 3 jobs, which has kept me plenty busy and exhausted. Expecting to hear some news from all these schools I\'ve heard nothing but silence from. Still writing update letters.

    JANUARY -
    Expecting some sort of activity now that admissions offices are reopening. I\'m actually starting to feel pressed for time. Ideally, if I chose Tulane, I\'d be doing the MD/MPH program and starting in May. Meaning, I\'d need to definitively know prior to May 15th...meaning if I am granted any more interviews, finding out in March would be rushing things. Oy! (started the month with 3 rejections...good thing I\'m happy with my options!)
    ___

    COSTS:
    Kaplan review course = $1649
    MCAT = $210
    AMCAS verification = $718
    UPenn\'s malicious fee to send our committee letter to AMCAS = $85 >:0
    Secondaries =
    - Dartmouth: $85
    - Drexel: $75
    - Emory: $100
    - GWU: $125 (waste of money)
    - Georgetown: $130 (waste of money)
    - Howard: $75 (cashier\'s check or money order only - silly)
    - Loyola: $75
    - Mt Sinai: $75
    - NYU: $100
    - Northwestern: $ 75
    - Temple: $70
    - Tulane: $100
    - UMDNJ-NJMS: $80
    - UMDNJ-RWJMS: $75
    - UofChicago: $75
    - UofM: $85
    - USC: $90
    - Yale: $85
    --------
    $1575
    Interview costs:
    - new suit (on sale) = $100
    - Tulane interview = $450 flight
    - Drexel, UMDNJ-NJMS, and UMDNJ-RWJMS interviews = $35 total :) yay for local interviews

    I don\'t know what to say. I applied last year and got 0 interview invites. Not much in my application changed this time around (except applying early) and have basically been done (read: bored) since October 16th. Go figure :/

    Applied, Rejected

    University of California, Los Angeles

    Application Complete, Rejected

    Temple University
    Mount Sinai School of Medicine
    Dartmouth College
    University of Southern California
    George Washington University
    Yale University
    New York University
    University of Michigan
    University of Chicago
    Georgetown University
    Northwestern University
    Emory University

    Application Complete, Withdrew

    Loyola University Chicago
    Howard University

    Attended Interview

    UMDNJ - Robert Wood Johnson

    Accepted

    Tulane University
    UMDNJ - New Jersey
    Drexel University

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