Key:
DC - Did Not Complete
SR - Secondary Received
SS - Secondary Sent
C - Complete
H - Hold
II - Interview Invite
I - Interview
A - Accepted
WL - Waitlisted
WD - Withdrew
R - Rejected
------------------------------
Timeline:
----------
JULY
----------
7/14/2009 - Transcript 1 Received
7/22/2009 - Transcript 2 Received
7/31/2009 - MCAT Taken
----------
AUGUST
----------
8/1/2009 - LOR 1 Received
8/4/2009 - AMCAS Submitted, Boston SR
8/6/2009 - George Washington SR
8/10/2009 - Tufts SR, MCG SR/SS, JHU SR
8/20/2009 - Tufts SS
8/21/2009 - Dartmouth SR
8/24/2009 - LOR 2 Received
8/26/2009 - Dartmouth SS
8/27/2009 - AMCAS Verified, Virginia SR, Boston SS, CWRU SR
8/28/2009 - Georgetown SR, OSU SR, Pittsburgh SR, Rosalind SR, Emory SR, Duke SR, CWRU SS
8/31/2009 - Harvard SR
----------
SEPTEMBER
----------
9/1/2009 - Rochester SR/SS, Harvard SS, Pittsburgh SS, Emory SS, JHU SS, Temple SR, MCAT (32R)
9/3/2009 - GWU SS, Duke SS/C
9/5/2009 - Georgetown SS
9/9/2009 - Tulane SR
9/10/2009 - Temple SS, Tulane SS
9/11/2009 - Virginia SS
9/14/2009 - Virginia C
9/15/2009 - Drexel SR
9/16/2009 - Drexel SS, LOR 3, CWRU C
9/17/2009 - Georgetown C, Temple C, Pittsburgh C, MCG C, Boston C, Rochester C, GWU C, Drexel C
9/18/2009 - Tufts C
9/19/2009 - Miami SR
9/21/2009 - Emory C, Miami SS
9/23/2009 - Harvard C
9/30/2009 - OSU SS
----------
OCTOBER
----------
10/2/2009 - OSU C
10/13/2009 - GWU H
10/14/2009 - UAB SR
10/19/2009 - MCG II, Loyola SR
10/26/2009 - Boston R
10/28/2009 - OSU II
10/29/2009 - Dartmouth C
----------
NOVEMBER
----------
11/2/2009 - Pittsburgh R
11/3/2009 - JHU C
11/12/2009 - Vanderbilt SR
11/13/2009 - CWRU H
11/16/2009 - Vanderbilt SS/II
11/18/2009 - Miami C
11/19/2009 - Tulane C
11/23/2009 - Duke R
----------
DECEMBER
----------
12/6/2009 - Vanderbilt SR/II
12/11/2009 - GWU R, MCG I
12/15/2009 - JHU R
----------
JANUARY
----------
1/7/2010 - Rochester R
1/8/2010 - Drexel H
1/14/2010 - Vanderbilt I, Georgetown R
1/19/2010 - CWRU R
----------
FEBRUARY
----------
2/15/2010 - OSU I
2/18/2010 - Miami II, UVA R
2/26/2010 - Emory R
----------
MARCH
----------
3/2/2010 - OSU H, MCG H
3/3/2010 - Tulane R, Vanderbilt WL
3/12/2010 - Miami I
3/15/2010 - Temple R
3/16/2010 - Dartmouth R, Harvard R
3/19/2010 - Tufts R
3/23/2010 - MCG WL
3/24/2010 - Miami WL
----------
APRIL
----------
MAY
----------
5/6/2010 - Drexel R
5/7/2010 - MCG A
5/14/2010 - Miami A
5/26/2010 - MCG WD
----------
JUNE
----------
6/7/2010 - Vanderbilt R
------------------------------
Total $ (Estimated):
1600, Kaplan
150, Extra Study Books
150, AAMC Tests
900, Primary AMCAS
225, MCAT (32R)
1850, Secondaries (Approximately 80 * number schools)
300, Interview Outfit
425, Interview Travels
5600, Total
------------------------------
Interview Experiences:
----------
MCG (12/11)
----------
I loved it! The educational facilities are very good and impressive. The hospitals are beautiful, especially the Children\'s Medical Center. They have an integrated curriculum, and students seem to think it is a much more effective program. The students appear to like the school, and they have excellent match lists. I love the area, and it\'s close to home. Also, I thought it was very interesting that they allowed elective clinical rotations throughout Georgia, and because I intend on practicing in Georgia, it would be a good glimpse at hospitals throughout the state.
\"On hold,\" whatever that means.
Hold, then officially on alternate list.
ACCEPTED!!! I am sooo excited!!!
After the Miami acceptance, I withdrew from MCG.
----------
Vanderbilt (1/14)
----------
Wow, just wow. I think I\'m in love. Wow. What an amazing school, amazing faculty, amazing curriculum, amazing students... Just wow. Alright, so after being speechless for the past couple days, I\'ve finally gathered my thoughts. What appealed to me most of all was their focus on collaboration. It seemed like they train physicians, ready to provide more than just medicine to a community. Also, their \"Emphasis Program\" seems like a really neat way to explore personal interests, whether that leads you to travel internationally and perform research or pursue a masters degree. Something else I really appreciated about Vanderbilt was their four \"colleges\" that provide a support and mentor system for their students. The location of the school is great, and Nashville has a smalltown feel despite it\'s size. The facilities at the school are top notch, and the five hospitals provide nearly endless clinical opportunities. The students and faculty seem genuinely happy and satisfied at the school, which contributes to a very healthy learning environment that fosters intellectual and personal growth. Overall, I fell in love with the school, and I hope they liked me too.
And waitlisted. Ouch, this one hurt.
Finally rejected!
----------
OSU (2/15)
----------
Oh man, if both Vandy and OSU accept me, I am going to have one hard decision in front of me. I love this school. I really love their focus on service and service-learning, and I definitely appreciate this facet of their curriculum. It seems like they put great effort into training servant leaders. The Independent Study Pathway is an interesting option, but I doubt I would ever choose that over the Integrated Pathway. Class size is big and a little intimidating, but my student host help ease my anxiety on this, especially with the idea of Learning Communities. The campus itself is beautiful and so is Columbus. Also, something really neat at OSU is that after one year, they allow OOS students to become IS, granting access to IS tuition. As in MCG and Vandy, it would be a true honor to be a student here. I can\'t wait to find out their decision!
Deferred. Well, that\'s disappointing.
----------
Miami (3/12)
----------
What an incredible school! So, basically, I have a new favorite school. The facilities of this school are top notch, and the hospitals are amazing. The student atmosphere seems to be collegial. The school emphasizes research, but research in a multitude of different fields. The joint MD/MPH degree offers a communications path, which would be perfect for me, especially if I want to pursue health communication research. Also, Miami has something called \"DOCS,\" which stands for the Department of Community Service. This program works with several clinics throughout the community and gives students a service-learning opportunity, which is right up my alley and which is something I know I would love to do. The location is awesome, despite the awful traffic, and I would be near my boyfriend. Here\'s the real kicker though: the admissions committee as well as my interviewer both admitted that the class this year is full, and I will either be waitlisted or rejected after the interview. Oh well. Sigh.
Waitlisted. That was expected though. Temporary waitlist, which is a good thing apparently!
ACCEPTED!!! To my TOP CHOICE!!! This is where I will be matriculating!!!
------------------------------
General Thoughts (Mistakes Made, Advice for Others):
----------
Apply EARLY, it really does matter: Finish secondaries as soon as you can. SDN is a great resource to get the secondary questions ahead of time, so you can have your secondary application ready to submit before the school even sends it to you.
----------
Study for 2-3 months for MCAT: I studied >8 hours per day for about a month, and I felt as though if I had one more month, I could have mastered the material. Also, on test day, opt for the ear plugs. Those noise-cancellation head phones didn\'t work all that well, and because they have staggered starts, other students are typing away on the WS while you are still attempting to concentrate and finish another section.
----------
Apply to a broad range of schools: I realized a little late in the process that my school list was pretty top-heavy. In fact, I really didn\'t apply to any safety schools, which is really scary to think about now. If you can afford to apply to more reaches, then go for it. Otherwise, limit how many reach schools you apply to. Also, remember that you along with 10,000 other people are applying to some of the mid-tier schools, so it is very important to include several safety schools.
----------
Get your LORs in EARLY: I would have been complete much much earlier at schools had I not had to wait for one LOR to arrive.
----------
Explicitly list shadowing experiences on AMCAS: I\'ve had several clinical experiences that I listed on my application, but I realized that I never listed/stated shadowing. Next best thing if you forgot to put it in AMCAS, put it in an update letter!
----------
Clinical experience > unique extracurriculars: While schools claim to want students with unique extracurriculars, I have not found it to be the case that unique curriculars > clinical experience. Do not underestimate the importance of clinical volunteering. Even though I felt like mine was enough (or more than enough), I am beginning to believe it wasn\'t.
----------
When looking at school averages, it is important to keep in mind that OOS applicants averages will be inflated comparing to IS. I didn\'t realize this while applying, so my numbers were actually probably much lower than the average OOS applicant as opposed to right on with the average for the school itself.
----------
Diversity question on secondaries: I have come to realize that when schools ask you \"How can you contribute to the diversity of X University,\" they mean what I now refer to as \"diversity on paper.\" At one time, I believed \"diversity\" meant a unique part of your life experience, but I have now come to believe that it means how something on your application can contribute to their diversity in statistics. That can mean your major is unique, you are URM, you\'re from a rural hometown, etc. Of course, you must elaborate on why this makes you unique or why it has contributed to your particular perspective, but that is the type of diversity schools value.
----------
In-the-Area Emails/Update Letters/Letters of Interest/Letter of Intent: I truly believe that a combination of these four items helped with my acceptance at the University of Miami. However, keep in mind to use these with discretion and honesty. If you really will be in the area, let them know. If you have something to update the school on, let them know and then reiterate your interest. And then, if you really do intend to attend that school should they give you an acceptance, tell them. Different schools will value these messages differently, but I don\'t believe that they can ever hurt your application. At worst, your letters and updates may just go ignored.
----------
Last, but not least... \"By perseverance, the snail reached the ark.\" -Charles Spurgeon: It is so important to keep your chin up in all this. Applying to medical school is brutal, but there\'s no way around it. It will be filled with self-evaluation and self-doubt, and it\'s okay to rely on your support system to help you through it. If you know that you want to be a doctor, hold onto that goal. That deep sense of clarity, most of all, will help bring you through the rough patches that the application process will present.
