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MD Applicants

  • fpo-profile-avatar
  • ex post facto

  • Application cycles: 09/18/2010
  • Demographics: Female, 37, South Asian
  • Home state: Ohio
  • Last Active: 04/22/2012
  • Brief Profile: Hopefully this helps people with their cycles!

    ECs in undergrad:
    - Taught organic chemistry I & II honors discussion section for 2 years (USI)
    - Public health econ research project summer after graduation
    - Student group for health education
    - Volunteering & shadowing
    - Scholarship Society member (partial merit scholarship to undergrad)
    - MENSA member

    Majored in Economics, 2009 grad
    1 year economic consulting
    1 year research on reproductive health
    - Volunteered at a free clinic while researching
    - 2 clinical research abstracts submitted (one first author) and poster presentations at a conference

    Fantastic LORs (I know, because my interviewers actually commented on these)
    1 from chemistry dept supervisor (also orgo prof, science, knew him for 2 years working).
    1 from research supervisor (great relationship, excellent researcher and mentor, interviews pre-meds so knew what I needed and since I worked hard on research, had a great impression of me even though she wrote my letter within 2 weeks of knowing me).
    1 from econ prof (did well in the class, good relationship with prof).
    1 from a summer course in anatomy I took (a grad student - I don\'t think this was the best letter, but it helped that my others were good, and I didn\'t submit this letter to every school. Had it because I needed one more science letter).

    MCAT: taken in July 2010 (overlapped completing a bio lab to finish my pre-reqs)
    Took TPR Online Hyperlearning class, had about 3 weeks in between the class being over and my MCAT date. Mostly it just helped me keep myself on track with time and work on the PS section (not my strong subjects), especially since I hadn\'t taken gen chem since high school. Did some EK review as well. I actually got to take the MCAT at home while mostly doing nothing - which was amazing, i think my score is almost directly attributable to this. There were a lot of stressful things going on in my life at the time, and being at home was critical in me not falling apart. I was worried that not starting more volunteering/etc, would look bad on AMCAS, but I think schools are happier with a better number than 2 more months of volunteering.

    AMCAS was complete around 10/15/2010
    Most of my secondaries were complete very late (I tend to procrastinate), but I\'m very glad there were schools that didn\'t hold that against me. I was also working on 2 research projects at this point so I had less time than I would have liked, but that\'s really not good enough of an excuse for submitting secondaries in November and December (almost prohibitively late). I was very lucky to have great LORs and people who were willing to edit my secondary essays within 24 hours. If nothing else, it\'s good to know that it\'s never too late to apply! But seriously, I should have applied earlier.
  • // Applications //

    Application Cycle One: 09/18/2010

    • Undergraduate college: top 20 public university
    • Total MCAT SCORE: 517
    • MCAT Section Scores: B/B 129, C/P 129, CARS 130  
    • Overall GPA: 3.50
    • Science GPA: 3.20

    Summary of Application Experience

    I feel very lucky to have my application cycle turn out the way it did - I think having a well-written PS, secondaries, diverse activities, and especially excellent LORs really helped me to get to the interviews (as did my MCAT score, since my gpa was borderline). Although I should have applied earlier, I think it pays to spend an appropriate amount of time on the essays, especially the PS (I think that is one of the things that tipped the scale - I didn\'t write about a traumatic experience or anything like that, I was simply mature, reflective, and clear about my future goals). I sent in most of my research info in update letters, which I also think helped me get a couple interviews.

    Looking back, I would have applied to some of the more \"reachy\" programs that I had mentally ruled out even though I thought they\'d be a good fit since I was a) applying late, and b) thought my stats weren\'t good enough for them. I think medical schools really do tend to look at a bigger picture though, and I don\'t think I was as careful as I should have been in selecting schools. I would have also applied earlier and less blindly - I should have done more research into schools\' tuition/etc (i.e., would not have applied to UIC had I known how expensive OOS tuition is).

    In conclusions: I\'m very happy with my cycle (can\'t dwell on what could have been, especially with a process so random as med school apps), and excited to be entering in the c/o 2011!

    Application Complete, Rejected

    Washington University in St. Louis
    Tufts University
    Duke University
    University of Michigan
    Loyola University Chicago
    Rush Medical College
    Boston University
    Georgetown University

    Application Complete, Withdrew

    University of Cincinnati

    Invited for Interview, Withdrew

    University of Illinois

    Attended Interview, Rejected

    Cleveland Clinic Medical School

    Attended Interview, Waitlisted

    Case Western Reserve University

    Accepted off Waitlist

    University of Pittsburgh

    Accepted

    University of Oklahoma
    Ohio State University
    University of Toledo

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