Application Cycle One: 07/01/2012

• Undergraduate college: Washington
• Undergraduate Area of study: Biological/Life Sciences

• Total MCAT SCORE: 523
• MCAT Section Scores: B/B 130, C/P 132, CARS 130   Detailed Breakdown
• Overall GPA: 3.30
• Science GPA: 3.30

Summary of Application Experience

~250 hours shadowing
~150 hours clinical volunteering
A lot more non-clinical volunteering
Upward trending grades last few quarters of undergrad/still taking classes

I'd like to depart from the standard interview recaps that this site's members like to do. Instead, I'll share a little bit of my dining experiences in the different cities that I've visited for interviews. Which brings me to the only advice about interviews that I'm going to give: this process can be stressful, so try and stop and enjoy your time in whatever area you are visiting. Pre-medical students tend towards the neurotic, don't put undue pressure on yourself and try to have fun. Some of the cities you may go to might not be your idea of perfection, but there's beauty and excitement everywhere if you look hard enough.

UW:

My hometown and Alma mater. The Ave is brimming with options, which sometimes can seem overwhelming. For example, there are no fewer than eight Thai options on the Ave. My favorite Thai option is probably Banana Leaf Cafe, which is also the first place to eat when you're walking up the Ave from Pacific street, where the hospital and med school are located. Than Brothers is your best bet for pho. For mexican, Chipotle. I know, I know, not exactly a "foodie" pick, but Memo's is terrible. If you are willing to walk up to about 55th, which is kind of a trek, you get to Hawaiian BBQ, where you can gain back the calories you just lost ten-fold. I could really go on and on. If you want a recommendation, feel free to drop me a line in the discussion section of my profile.

EVMS

After my interview, I went to Nana sushi in the Ghent area. I was having dinner with my student host afterwards, so I only had one roll, the angel roll, which was deep fried and beautifully plated with three sauces. The fish in my roll was cooked, so I cannot comment on the freshness of the fish at Nana, but the angel roll was definitely tasty. The restaurant was nicely decorated, the menu was extensive, prices were reasonable and the owner was very friendly.

Albany

I had dinner at Shogun sushi, a half mile walk from the front entrance of the medical center. I had the crab salad, Hawaii roll and white tuna sashimi. The crab salad had shredded imitation crab, shredded cucumber and tempura flakes and was tossed in spicy mayo. It was great! The Hawaii roll had the option of tuna or salmon, and I went with tuna. The roll was good, but not great; the fish was fresh but the sweet chili sauce on the roll was overpowering. The white tuna was super fresh, though just a bit mild for my taste. Even though the sushi was not excellent, the large menu, fair prices and good atmosphere would probably bring me back if I were to move to Albany. The next day, prior to my flight, I walked to a hole-in-the-wall chinese restaurant called China House for lunch. I got the general Tso's chicken ($5 after tax!), which came with a large portion of chicken fried rice. Now, I'm a big guy, but I ended up finishing less than 70% of my meal even though I was very hungry going in. What the meal had in quantity, though, it lacked in quality. The sauce was bland, the friend rice was stale, and the whole meal left me feeling a little queasy. I probably would not go back to China house (unless I was hungry, of course).

Creighton

Didn't eat sushi here (bummer), but of course asked about it. Blue and Hiro seem to be the places to go. For the M0 post-interview dinner, a bunch of us applicants went with some current students to Zio's Pizzeria in downtown. I had a slice of the Thai pizza and the mini meat calzone. I had asked how big the mini-meat calzone was, and one of the servers held his hands up in the size and shape of a football. I thought he had to be joking, so I went ahead an ordered it. HE WAS NOT JOKING. The mini calzone was huge and I was only able to eat half of it, so I have absolutely no idea what kind of monstrosity the dinner-sized calzone must have been. The calzone was good and came with a side of marinara sauce, but I didn't think the pecorino cheese went well with the other flavors. Still, my fault for not asking them to hold it. The Thai pizza was unique and came with sweet chili sauce for dipping, but I do not think I would order it again.