General thoughts: I suppose that the apply early advice works well - I only know from my one cycle that I submitted my AMCAS on 6/3 and wrote most of my secondary essays within 2 weeks of receiving them. July and August were painful months, but I received most of my interview invitations in August, September, and October. I found that most of my interviewers asked very straightforward questions such as "tell me about yourself", "why medicine", and "why do you wish to attend this medical school." I did experience a rather odd interview at one school, but the rest of my interviews were rather vanilla. I am also convinced that body language, tone, and confidence are much more memorable than actual dialog during an interview.
In my experience, the most random part of this process is interview invitations. I received interviews from schools that I thought were out of my league (Case Western); I was rejected from schools that I thought were within my reach (Univ of Toledo). For that reason alone, I suggest applying broadly because the criteria that captivates a particular school's individual screener is an unknown variable.
Applied
Loma Linda University
Applying for combined PhD/MSTP? No
Submitted: 06/02/2014
Secondary Completed: No
Interview Invite: No
Interview Attended: No
Waitlisted: No
Accepted: No
Rejected: No
Summary of Experience:
Read the secondary and didn't submit it. Although I actually would really enjoy learning more about Christianity from a purely academic perspective, I don't see myself socially integrating with this student body culture.
Summary of Experience:
Rejected pre-secondary. This process is unpredictable. I also called their admissions office with a question, left a voicemail, and did not hear a response.
Summary of Experience:
I wrote an appeal to them, but I was still rejected. Worried me b/c this was 7/9. Oh well, not a big deal. Did not have a strong desire to live among corn and wheat fields. I did have a desire to attend a Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholder meeting, but I'll have to go at another time.
Summary of Experience:
I didn't really want to go here anyways.....what a lie! I would have loved to attend this school, but c'est la vie. Maybe I'll come here as a resident, fellow, or an attending. Oh well, good luck to all the future trojans.
Summary of Experience:
Excited to receive the LOR request. Disappointed to be rejected, but I wasn't interested in living in MN anyways. Well, I might be just experiencing cognitive dissonance. Anyhoo...I would have loved to visit the school because it's supposedly like Disneyland.
Summary of Experience:
Bought a plane ticket and then decided to withdraw after my top choice acceptance. I then went to Chicago just for fun and was very glad that I decided to withdraw. Chicago itself is fine, but it's too cold. My flight out was cancelled due to a snowstorm.
Summary of Experience:
Great secondary, just did an easy copy & paste of another school's essay. I like schools that just give blank space and let you fill it.
Summary of Experience:
Sent an in the area email back in Oct. Didn't respond. Received an interview invite in Feb after an acceptance to my top choice. Wish that I could have visited back in Oct when I was in Cincinnati.
Summary of Experience:
I like the school decently. It wasn't the best fit for me in some ways. Half of the graduates go into primary care and I have 0 interest in this field. Not a good match, but I did admire the school's innovative and new architecture. I also like the director of admissions - she's a put together lady. I do suggest that this school interview less people. They admit ~25% of the people who interview and many other schools admit ~50% of the people who interview. I don't think they need to interview such a large group of students to form the class that they want. Maybe they could implement a telephone interview like Western MI to screen out some folks. My $.02.
Summary of Experience:
Stand in for Western MI Homer Stryker SOM
Telephone interview invite 8/15 Telephone interview 8/22 On campus interview invite 9/10/14 On campus interview 10/20/14
Beautiful new building. MMI format was all right. Felt a bit eerie to be inside a huge building with very few students. Not a fan of Kalamazoo. I had a rather awkward one-on-one interview and was not surprised that I was waitlisted. I was surprised to be taken off the waitlist - I sent in no updates or letters of interest after I was waitlisted. I just woke up to a surprising email one morning. Glad to have this acceptance, but I felt the school was lacking in bench research opportunities.
Summary of Experience:
Not surprised by the waitlist. I had an awkward interview and was asked some bizarre questions. I was incredibly impressed by the medical school city in Miami. Awesome urban planning, but it had a high cost of living. Received an email on 6/1/15 stating that was the next person on the waitlist who would be accepted. A little surprised by this good news because I sent them no updates and did not make any effort to be taken off this waitlist.
Summary of Experience:
Beautiful building. Very well organized interview day. Dean German is an impressive lady. She's fantastic and almost sold me on the school. I didn't care for the letter grading system, but I do like that the system is not based upon a curve.
Summary of Experience:
I interviewed with a M4 who was awesome. My faculty interview also went well. Cleveland is wanting and I learned that a fire once burned in a polluted city river back in the '60s. Hm, I'm not surprised. I liked pretty much all aspects of this school except the location.
Summary of Experience:
Thought I would be rejected, but I was accepted. The school itself is great, but I wasn't a huge fan of the location in Philadelphia. Gorgeous library.
Summary of Experience:
I appreciated the short interview day. The students here seem very down to earth and considerate. I also learned that lots of Canadians attend this school.
Summary of Experience:
School exceeded my expectations. MMI was easier than I expected. Nice tour of the campus. As a CA resident, I could actually qualify for in-state tuition the first year. Nice deal.
