Application Cycle One: 06/03/2010

• Undergraduate college: 1st Tier Liberal Arts College
• Undergraduate Area of study: Foreign Language/International Studies

• Total MCAT SCORE: 517
• MCAT Section Scores: B/B 130, C/P 129, CARS 129   Detailed Breakdown
• Overall GPA: 3.74
• Science GPA: 3.80

Summary of Application Experience

Good luck everyone!

Application Timeline:
6/4 - AMCAS submission
7/14 - Still waiting on one LOR for my committee packet. Grrr!!
7/28 - AMCAS received my letter packet! Sweetness.

9/20 - Finally finished all my secondaries, lol. Or should I say, I finally finished my Stanford secondary. And now I am applying to more schools that are places that my girlfriend wants to go to.

9/24 - Interview attended at University of Colorado. I really enjoyed this interview, especially considering it was my first. My state school impressed me more than I expected -- the most important thing I\'m looking for is a cooperative, friendly student body and CU seems to be great in that respect! The facilities are brand-spanking-new, and the curriculum is quite awesomely integrated. The students were very laidback, and seemed to be involved in a lot of outdoorsy stuff (hiking, snowboarding, etc). CU has a good spread of clinical affiliates too: great tertiary care hospital, children\'s hospital, hospital for the underserved, VA, etc.

9/29 - Just had interview at Temple University, I really liked the school and think it\'s great overall! Student body is very friendly, the facilities are amazing, and it\'s location in North Philly is both its biggest strength and weakness, as paradoxical as it sounds. There are incredible outreach opportunities that the students engage in, and Temple seems to have a lot of respect for its part in the Philadelphia community.

I should also add that my student host was AMAZING and answered all my questions about Temple, gave me a lot of advice about the rest of the application process, and was overall really cool. She definitely reflected well on the student body there at Temple.

10/8 - Interviewed at Case Western. This is a superb school yet one that does not seem \"hung up\" on the fact that it\'s an excellent school... that\'s my kind of style. Campus is beautiful, but the medical education building really does not have windows (except for this huge section of the building called the fishbowl which is all window), which is kind of funny. The anatomy lab is austere, which is appealing in an aesthetic way :) The students I met I seemed to get along with very well, and the curriculum is basically hand-tailored to my learning style. I mean, people bash PBL, but Case students seem to really like it there. The area immediately around Case is quite nice, but I did not have the time even to walk around in downtown Cleveland, so I can\'t comment on the lifestyle there. I got a GREAT vibe from this school, in part because the students were amazing, and it is at the top of my list! My two hosts were great, and I stayed up the night before my interview having one of the best conversations of the entire year with one of them. I was beginning to worry I wouldn\'t feel a \"connection\" at any school, but I definitely felt it at CWRU. My fingers are crossed....

10/15: First medical school acceptance ever at Temple University School of Medicine! This day will be marked in the annals of my life, forever.

10/19: Accepted at University of Colorado School of Medicine! I am thrilled and utterly grateful with how things are turning out!

10/20: Accepted at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine!! Unbelievable!!!

10/29: Interviewed at Georgetown, it was great to see my brother there but man interviewing is starting to get old.

11/3: Had a great interview at USC, got to visit a good friend and then my girlfriend too!

12/2: Accepted at USC. I have received far more than I deserve at this point! I have received acceptances at all of my \"realistic top choices.\" If nothing else happens for the rest of the year, I will still be extremely happy!

12/3: Fun interview at AECOM. I think I had a bit too much fun but hopefully this doesn\'t mean a rejection :)

1/17: Had a string of rejections in the last two weeks. Duke, UNC, and Georgetown. I get the feeling that my application cycle is winding down... Everything is very quiet from my other schools.

3/4: More rejections, withdrew from several schools. At this point I sort of want to withdraw from everywhere else, so I\'ll mull it over before I go ahead. I\'m really thrilled with how my application cycle turned out, and it\'d be nice to put this whole thing to rest!

3/30: Final rejection from UCLA. I am waiting to hear back on financial aid, but super glad to be done with this process! I am really looking forward to starting med school! Can\'t wait to learn stuff again instead of spending my day working at a boring job!

5/15: Decided on USC! It was really close between USC and Case Western, but USC won out in the end.