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MD Applicants

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  • avoidthetiger

  • Application cycles: 06/17/2010
  • Demographics: Female, 37, Caucasian
  • Home state: Illinois
  • Last Active: 05/07/2012
  • Brief Profile: MCAT: 3 attempts.[Raised PS score from 7 to 11]
    c/sGPA: 3.4-3.6 (History, Biology)
    gradGPA: 4.0 (Biology, M.S. 2 year thesis program.)

    Re-applicant. Applied 2008-2009. No interviews.
    28Q MCAT, 3.48cGPA, 3.37sGPA.
    DON\'T do what I did:
    I applied July 16th, application was processed by August 8.
    I completed most secondaries end of Aug. - Sept. Some in October.
    I took my first MCAT examination Aug. 2008.

    c/sGPA (approximations) --
    freshman: 3.4c/3.2s
    sophomore: 3.5/3.3
    junior: 3.5/3.4
    senior: 3.9/3.9

    AMCAS activities:

    volunteering --
    1. Nursing home volunteer (~200 hours at 2 locations, collected over several years)
    2. Volunteered at a local high school - ACT prep (~80 hours over one year)

    research --
    3. Paid research assistant. work study - 1.5 years, ~2-5 hours per week.
    4. Research with medical department for one semester.
    5. Graduate degree thesis.

    Teaching--
    6. TAed a small class.
    7. TAed a class with over 100 students.

    Employment --
    8., 9., 10. Various hospital internships in different departments at a teaching hospital. 6-8 weeks, 40 hours per week. Involved lots of shadowing.
    11. Work-study employment - 3 non-clinical jobs. Worked 12-20 hours per week during school for 2 years.

    Extracurriculars --
    12. President of a social justice chapter - fundraising and community involvement (~5 hours per week of work).
    13. Sorority sister - limited involvement.
    14. Involvement in an organization to encourage students to join the medical field - I was involved during high school.
    15. Involvement in my graduate housing cooperative (~5 -15 hours of work).

    I also sent an update to most of my schools regarding additional shadowing during summer of application (~20 hours with 2 doctors).

    LORs:
    1. my PI - graduate advisor. Knew me for 1.5 years (activity 5 and 6)
    2. PI involved in my undergrad research. Knew me for 6 months (activity 4)
    3. Undergraduate adviser in the humanities. Knew me for 3 years. Took two classes with him and advised me on my capstone research project.
    4. Science professor who taught me a class. Knew me for 5 months.
    5. Boss involved with paid research experience. Knew me for 1.5 years (activity 3)

    I had 2 science faculty letters, 1 humanities/social science letter, 1 research letter, and 1 research/boss letter. I also sent an additional LOR for an undergraduate science professor who knew me for 5 months to schools that required 2 science letters from faculty who taught me during undergrad.
  • // Applications //

    Application Cycle One: 06/17/2010

    • Undergraduate college: Top 50
    • Total MCAT SCORE: 513
    • MCAT Section Scores: B/B 129, C/P 128, CARS 127  
    • Overall GPA: 3.58
    • Science GPA: 3.45

    Summary of Application Experience

    Key:
    reapp: Applied here before
    SR: Secondary Received
    SS: Secondary Submitted
    SC: Secondary Complete
    SP: Small Pooled
    II: Interview Invite
    I: Interview
    OH: Post-Interview On Hold aka Active Status Pool

    Completed AMCAS: 6/18/2010
    AMCAS Verified: 7/2/2010

    Completed AACOMAS: 7/5/2010
    AACOMAS Verified: 7/19/2010

    --- Costs ---
    Primaries: $1130(AMCAS) + 335 (AACOMAS)
    Secondaries: $2500 + $260

    interview 1:
    Round-trip Flight to Roanoke (with transfers): $300.21
    Hotel ( first time staying at a hotel by myself): $77.28

    interview 2,3,4 (friday, saturday and monday - clumped interviews):
    Flight to Chicago -> Omaha -> Chicago -> Home: $317.30
    Staying with Host in Omaha: $40

    Interview 5:
    Renting a Car for Two Days: $88 + $33 for gas + $10 for tolls (round-trip)
    Hotel in Pontiac, MI: $78 + $30 on gas + $10 on tolls

    Interview 6, 7 (thursday, friday):
    Flight to Kansas City -> Chicago -> Home: $272.80

    Interview 8,9 (friday, monday):
    One-way Flight to Milwaukee, Wis: $120
    got family pick up from WIS to Chicago (free)
    One-Way Amtrak from Chicago to La Plata, MO: $94
    Flight from Kirksville, MO to St. Louis (Cessna 402): $49
    St. Louis to Home: $79

    Interview 10:
    Roundtrip to Chicago(via megabus): $30.50

    Total: $ 5854.06 :/
    I\'m keeping some costs down by staying with people I know OR student hosts. yay.
    I didn\'t include taxi ride, public local transit, and food costs.


    --- Interviews ---
    Virginia Tech Carilion: Very interesting interview. Lots of fun! But very draining and left you confused as hell about how you did. Nice staff, students, new building -- still alittle unsure about their curriculum as they are still setting everything up (I did not like that they were talking about changing the 3rd/4th year even though they had no idea how and no idea what they are doing -- so that made me nervous) -- but I am sure everything will befigured out so I am excited to see how the first year turns out. Hopefully I get accepted because this program seems perfect for me.... even if it does have some hmmmmm moments

    Rosalind Franklin (CMS): Really liked the atmosphere, people and the old-school curriculum. Also -- great clinical teaching hospitals (even if not affiliated), nice to do rotations elsewhere, and great match list. Classes recordered and interprofessionalism. Downside: Large classes, middle of nowhere location (mainly no bars nearby), relocating during third/fourth year, and the whole feel that alot of students only got accepted there. Why does CMS have such a \\\"bad\\\" rep because it seems pretty wonderful. Lots of focus on preparing good physicians (with a tad bit of research if you want to do that)

    Creighton: Absolutely loved the school. Stress free interview, nice tours, and friendly students and staff. Great focus on service and internationalism and working together. It seems like a great school to go to. Omaha looked very nice too -- lots to do! Good clinical rotations also (and can be in phoenix) concerns: high tuition, nothing else really...

    CCOM: Overall a very good school -- good match list, clinical rotations, and reputation. Everyone seemed friendly and happy. Seemed like a lot of class time though and no video/audio recordings. Alittle too much of a white suburban sterile environment for me.

    Oakland: Very impressed by this new school. They have the curriculum well thought out, a very nice campus, and an amazing hospital system (over 1000 beds at the main one, 80 ORs, and just gorgeous). I would see alot of different types of patients from day one. Also -- relatively cheap admission and small class size (50 for the starter class). I would be very excited to be accepted! The only down size is the lack of mentoring from older classes -- but I\\\'m hoping for some type of scholarship to make that downside seem less important (here\\\'s hoping)

    KCUMB: !! I very much liked this school and Kansas City. faculty seems to care, laid back students, system-based integrated learning program [probably the coolest part about the school], clinical research (only place in kansas city area that does Trial 1 testing). They have an great interview day setup that really makes you feel like you already belong there (even took my white coat size). Only downside is that it\\\'s a big class of 250, but it has everything I am looking for in a school. [I need to look into their match list though]

    UIC: So excited and blessed to have been interviewed here. I really enjoyed the interview day -- and the interviewers were great. It\\\'s the first interview I think I did really well at and I felt comfortable there. pros: great location, great schools, diverse student body, very active student body (lots of clubs, student-run health center), urban med focus, research opportunities, nice staff, cheap tuition. cons: somewhat run-down facility, but that can be overlooked due to the tuition. Very hopeful for an acceptance!

    MCW: pretty much this schools has everything I wanted (from all the other schools) and a pretty low tuition and pretty close to home. I think this is officially my top choice. Integrated curriculum, usmle-style tests, Team-based learning, good clinical rotations, happy students, nice staff, early exposure to patients, new gorgeous building. No downsides whatsoever. I am suppose to hear from them in a week or two (ah!)

    ATSU KCOM: Had two one-hour interviews and 1 30-minute interview. I enjoyed two of the interviews very much and felt like I had an overall good day. When I enjoy the interviews, I tend to love the school. Great campus and student body, best omm set-up, great match list. Cons: old-school curriculum, traveling for 3rd/4th year, and middle of nowhere campus (but this is also a positive in some respects because I need exposure to rural populations)

    Rush: great sounding curriculum (mixture of lecture and small groups) and LOVED the clinical rotations. Would love to be at cook county by 3rd/4th year. Unfortunately, alittle too much primary care focus the third year .. and the building seemed alittle old... and some weird-vibe from current students (they were all happy with the school... but not my type of people...).... but this is a good contender -- even with the other acceptances -- I might end up here for family reasons (if accepted).

    Applied

    Southern Illinois University

    Applied, Rejected

    Mayo Medical School

    Applied, Withdrew

    University of Toledo
    New York College of New York Tech.

    Application Complete, Rejected

    Jefferson Medical College
    Saint Louis University
    Boston University
    University of Pittsburgh
    University of Vermont
    George Washington University
    Temple University
    University of Cincinnati
    Columbia University
    Georgetown University
    Albert Einstein of Yeshiva University
    Cleveland Clinic Medical School
    Case Western Reserve University
    Drexel University
    University of Rochester
    Northwestern University
    Loyola University Chicago
    Tufts University
    Wake Forest University
    Philadelphia College - Philadelphia

    Invited for Interview, Withdrew

    Ohio State University
    New York Medical College
    Hofstra University
    Wayne State University
    Arizona College of Mid. University

    Attended Interview, Rejected

    Oakland University
    A.T. Still University - Kirksville

    Attended Interview, Waitlisted

    Rush Medical College

    Attended Interview, Waitlisted, Withdrew

    Chicago College of Mid. University

    Accepted

    Virginia Tech Carilion
    Creighton University
    University of Illinois
    Medical College of Wisconsin
    Rosalind Franklin University
    Kansas City University

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