I put this together on a whim, just so that all those worried people out there stalking these profiles take a little breather and relax about your chances. My point is that my numbers are average and despite that, I still got in! Stay positive, be yourself during interviews and know that it will always work out!
NOTE: I took my MCAT twice, first getting a 29 (BS12,PS10,V7,R) and then the second time when I got the above listed 31. Again, posting this just to show that anything is possible and your MCAT is not the deciding factor as to whether you interview at the school or not. Take a good amount of time with your essays. They really read them closely. And prepare for your interviews, be able to have an actual answer to \"why do you want to be a doctor\" that relates to your application!!!
Take the opportunity to meet the admissions officers when they visit your particular school. This will come in handy later on when you are applying and want to send an update about what you have been up to in the summer of the application cycle. But be genuine, if you aren\'t interested in a particular school, then don\'t waste that admission officer\'s time. There are others that may be dying to go there.
- 160 hours of ER volunteering
- Shadowed 4+ doctors at random times
- various merit based awards + merit based scholarships
- long charity bike ride to Anchorage for cancer
- Merck summer research program
- undergraduate teaching assistant/student preceptor/tutor
- some random organizations - (imo they are a waste of time unless you do something significant and/or hold an elected position).
-2 individual undergrad research projects
In my extracurriculars, I wanted to emphasize the fact that I stuck through with the organizations/jobs/experiences as opposed to just went out and did as many as I could. The two biggest ones for me were the bike ride which was an intense year and a half commitment and Merck where I was actually able to produce good stuff due to 40+hr workweeks.
Jan 28, 2011: I finished the application cycle. I submitted my match preferences to TMDSAS and as of right now, I am going to UT Houston!!! I have a Baylor interview coming up, but I don\'t know how enthusiastic they are about giving people spots this late, hopefully they are!!!
Random suggestions for applicants:
1. Submit your stuff early!!! I can\'t stress this enough. The reason I got so many offers with such modest stats was because I submitted my app, LORs, grades, etc EARLY!!! Texas A&M HPO is really good about making their kids submit their TMDSAS early. And it shows! At all my early interviews, at least half of the interviewees were from A&M. It also just shows the fact that you are responsible and you care enough about your future to work on it early.
2. Polish your TMDSAS. You don\'t want it returned when they find an error on your side. If that happens, once you resubmit, you just go to the back of the line. This was told to me by a TMDSAS rep. There is a function where you can print out a PDF of your completed app before you submit it. Print out a few copies and give them to your friends/family/whatever. Let them mark it up. Give them candy in return. It\'s not only important to edit your personal statement, but a well written paragraph about a particular extra curricular is just as important.
3. If you do some internship thing or whatnot during the summer, get a LOR from the supervisor if you got along well and your boss liked your work. Although TMDSAS doesn\'t like it when you do it, I think that it bolstered my application because I didn\'t have a very significant research experience in college.
4. Keep in touch with the admissions office. Call them every now and then to check on the status of your app. By every now and then, I mean once/twice a month, not every week. A great way to contact them with actual meaning is to send an update letter with stuff that you have been doing via email.
5. Breathe and relax. You have done everything you can, but a big part of the process is just to wait.
6. Get a new suit! Make your family pay for it! This is probably the last time you can make them buy you something nice before you go broke in med school. :)
Good luck to everyone applying and if you have any questions, send me a message. I will do my best to help you out!
