Brief Profile:
I'm just putting up my information now because a lot of people and even schools discouraged me from applying to some higher-ranked places. And I did anyway. I've gone on some amazing interviews, and I want to let you know that there is hope for you even if you don't have a 42 MCAT, a 3.98 GPA, or an insanely amazing life story. Sometimes SDN makes you think you don't have a chance if your stats don't hit a certain LizzyM mark or median score. Don't let this process get you down!!!
Here's what I thought about my chances before setting out: 1) Thought: "I've got a shot at UC-Davis, Cincinnati, and USC." 2) Hoped: "Maybe I can get an interview invite for Case Western, UCLA, or Cornell and wow their pants off if I keep my wits together on the interview day." 3) Dreamed: "Please please please, gods of all religions everywhere, please give me a chance at either Stanford or UCSF, please!" 4) Didn't even think about interviewing at Penn, Hopkins, or Harvard... See below for current results... Strange and beautiful how life works out.
// Applications //
Application Cycle One: 06/19/2012
Undergraduate college: State university
Total MCAT SCORE: 514
MCAT Section Scores:
B/B 127,
C/P 128,
CARS 130
Overall GPA: 3.80
Science GPA: 3.70
Summary of Application Experience
Statistics slightly skewed but overall stats are pretty straight on.
Applied, Rejected
Vanderbilt University
Applying for combined PhD/MSTP? No
Submitted: Yes
Secondary Completed: No
Interview Invite: No
Interview Attended: No
Waitlisted: No
Accepted: No
Rejected: Yes
Summary of Experience:
Applied as part of the "my MCAT was lower than expected" freak-out. They must have sensed my lack of love. Didn't even get a secondary.
Summary of Experience:
Knew it was a very long shot as I am out-of-region, but thought I'd give it a shot since I have tons of experience with the underserved. Rejected pre-secondary. Oh well. Expected that.
Summary of Experience:
Major typo in the first sentence of the secondary essay because I copied and pasted hurriedly since I was about to miss a once-a-week ferry off the coast of Turkey. Didn't know when I would have Internet again and wanted to "apply early." Probably ruined my chance at one of my top choices. Face-palm.
Summary of Experience:
Once again, the medical school admissions process defies logic. I thought I had a really good shot here. One could even call me a little cocky (secretly, in my head, I didn't verbalize it in the real world) about getting an interview invite here. No news. Huh. Here's your large dose of humility pie, ed1282!
Summary of Experience:
They make it clear that they look for people with 11s in all sub-sections of the MCAT. Eh, I'll apply anyway. You never know if you don't try. No word back yet...
I've got friends in NYC and would love to go to Columbia.
Summary of Experience:
Applied super-late after getting three rejections and no interview invites in early September. Didn't actually want to do the program. Mostly applied because I was applying to Case, and it was free to add the Cleveland Clinic on, so why not?
Summary of Experience:
Applied super-late when I found out so many people get massive/full scholarships. And I've got connections to the region. Got the LOR request but then got dropped. Ouch. My sour grapes stage over Mayo included lots of reminding myself how I hate winters in Minnesota.
Summary of Experience:
This was the first rejection that really hurt because I thought that I was a good fit and had a decent shot at an interview. I was wrong. This process can squash your self-esteem into smithereens.
Summary of Experience:
Amazing school (and definitely best cadaver lab view)! Tied for first choice in my world of medical school dreams, for personal reasons that dictate I should stay in the SF area. Sobbed for a few hours after getting the interview invite. I was downloading the letter on a very slowly phone connection and was convinced I was downloading a rejection letter for about the seven minutes it took to download.
Summary of Experience:
Dear people-who-think-Baltimore's-sketchy, Try living in the real world. I've lived in the inner city for years, and Baltimore wasn't so bad as everyone seems to think. Although I'm comparing it to Phnom Penh or Johannesburg so it seemed like a nice little city. School was amazing with awesome opportunities to participate in mind-blowing research!
Summary of Experience:
I <3ed Penn like I couldn't have even imagined. Students were the most generous, authentic, awesome people I met on the interview trail. I applied because of the reputation, thought I had zero chance because the median MCAT is a 37, and fell head-over-heels in love on the interview day. Would probably be first choice if I weren't so in love with California (and my SO who lives there)!
Summary of Experience:
Accepted! Second acceptance! First choice (with UCSF) for personal reasons, and because it's amazing! Will probably matriculate here unless I get a gazillion dollars somewhere else!!!
