Brief Profile:
Plenty of paid clinical experience as a patient care aide, worked in labs for > 2 years during UG, experience abroad and heavy experience in public health. Currently working in a public health job for my two gap years, guess I could be viewed as a non-traditional student, but I don't feel that way since medicine was my plan all along. Highly recommend taking a year or two off, it's been great to enjoy life outside of school and also pay off some student loans in the process.
I feel like my application is missing some long-term shadowing and more extensive service-based volunteering. I've tried to make up for it with my paid clinical experience and on-campus activism, but I'm sure it has hurt me a bit. Submitting on the early side helped, but I felt my personal statement and secondaries were just ok.
// Applications //
Application Cycle One: 06/19/2014
Undergraduate college: Liberal Arts College
Undergraduate Area of study: Biological/Life Sciences
Total MCAT SCORE: 519
MCAT Section Scores:
B/B 130,
C/P 129,
CARS 129
Overall GPA: 3.65
Science GPA: 3.80
Summary of Application Experience
15 schools seemed to be the perfect number for me, very happy with where I applied.
Timeline: AMCAS submitted - Mid June AMCAS verified - Mid July Secondaries submitted - Mid July - early August First Interview invite - Mid July Interviews attended - Early August-Early December Decisions - Mid October - Early March
Total: $4364... I didn't have to travel for 3 of my interviews and some I stayed with family etc.
12/3 - So now that the interviews are done for me (I think), I feel like I've found 6 schools that I could really see myself being happy attending. Still waiting to hear back from most of them, but I'm hopeful that I could be accepted to at least 2-3 of them.
12/19 - the expected rejection from Vandy came, but was followed the next day by an acceptance from Feinberg! I expected this decision to be delayed by the holidays, but it came early! I would love the opportunity to live in Chicago.
12/23 - Xmas reflection: incredibly grateful to have been invited to interview at 11/15 schools that I applied to. Only one rejection and three silent schools, so I can't really complain about any thing. Being accepted at 4/9 schools that I attended an interview at is a great feeling, below is my prediction for the rest of the cycle as of now: Pitt: Acceptance, just feel good about this one. Duke: rejection, just not my best MMI. NYU: waitlist, they have accepted people from my day, but I'm hopeful. Einstein: Acceptance, Had a great interview here.
1/27/14 The waiting is getting tough now... So anxious for the end of the week.
2/4 going to play the waiting game some more, I'm really happy with my cycle so far, but the waitlist from Pitt really bummed me out. But the Einstein acceptance cheered me up!
3/4 so my predictions were all correct other than Pitt. Now I'm working on narrowing down my list!
6/1 attempting to add some more information...
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:
I assume I was screened out. Cool school, but I'm ok with not having to write that secondary.
Summary of Experience:
Somewhat of a reach, not sure how good of a fit I would have been here. I have some ties to the school, but don't feel it's worth it to pull strings to get an interview.
Summary of Experience:
Was considering attending the interview, but the date wasn't great for me. Combined with the cost of flying out there, some personal reasons, and my Rochester acceptance, I withdrew.
Summary of Experience:
Applied for Primary Care Leadership Track (PCLT), longest turn around due to difficulty of secondary.
I'm so happy I'll have the opportunity to visit here, this has been high on my list for a while. Everytime I go back and read more about the school and PCLT, I fall in love.
Note on the PCLT process: I received an II for the MD track (MMI, on campus) in mid-October. I was complete for >2 months prior to that, but since Duke isn't rolling it's not a huge deal. I assumed I was screened out of the PCLT process when I got the MD II, but to my surprise I was contacted ~3 weeks later to do a PCLT phone interview prior to my on-campus MD interview.
Summary of Experience:
I went into the interview day with no perception of the school, but completely loved it there by the end!
12/14/14 - others from my interview day have received acceptances, I'm still in silence. My gut says waitlist, but I'll likely have to wait until January to find out for sure.
Summary of Experience:
Such a relaxed interview, couldn't imagine it going better. Loved the emphasis on training "creative leaders in medicine". Gonna be a long wait for this one.
Pretty bummed by the waitlist. I was going to send an update/LOI, but I was placed on 2nd tier list. I couldn't see waiting until May or June, so I did not send anything.
Summary of Experience:
I expect this was my last interview, I'm glad it was a positive one. I really enjoyed my day here, it's clearly a special school. Reminded me a lot of Pitt.
Accepted! Only 2.5 weeks after my interview, I'm so pleased with this acceptance.
If you had asked me if I would be moving to Chicago now, I would have said you were crazy. But I'm so happy to be headed to Feinberg and the second city.
Summary of Experience:
Been high on my list since early on, a great interview day. Students felt very relaxed, yet focused on learning in their community. It would be cool to learn and live in the Bronx, where lots of my family used to live. Anticipating another decent wait until decisions.
Very happy to have another option in the city, I could definitely see myself here.
By far the hardest withdrawal, I loved the school and their scholarship was very generous. The location would require my significant other to have a crazy commute and we're ready to leave New York.
Summary of Experience:
Impressed by the school as a whole, I didn't really know what to expect when I went in. The students seem VERY relaxed, the clinical training would be amazing here.
Acceptance numero dos!
Withdrew after I had a financial aid offer that was close to the IS cost.
Amakhosi took the old MCAT and scored a 36 which is in the 97th percentile of all old scores.
We converted this to a 519 on the updated scale which is in the 97th percentile of the updated MCAT. We also converted Amakhosi’s section scores as follows:
Amakhosi scored a 13 on the Biological Science section of the old MCAT which is approximately equal to a 130 on the Biological and Biochemical Foundations of Living Systems.
Amakhosi scored a 12 on the Physical Science section of the old MCAT which is approximately equal to a 129 on the Chemical and Physical Foundations of Biological Systems.
Amakhosi scored a 11 on the Verbal Reasoning section of the old MCAT which is approximately equal to a 129 on the Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills.
