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MD Applicants

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  • pedsmdplease

  • Application cycles: 06/06/2014
  • Demographics: Female, 35, Caucasian
  • Home state: California
  • Last Active: 07/15/2015

// Applications //

Application Cycle One: 06/06/2014

  • Undergraduate college: UC Davis
  • Total MCAT SCORE: 509
  • MCAT Section Scores: B/B 127, C/P 127, CARS 127  
  • Overall GPA: 3.50
  • Science GPA: 3.50

Summary of Application Experience

Primary application

Non-traditional applicant with extensive clinical, research (several publications, including first author + oral and poster presentations), and non-medical volunteering experience. Upward trend in GPA after sophomore year of college + much higher post-bacc GPA. PS focused on the fact that I knew I wanted to be a doctor after years of careful consideration, thoughtfully eliminating alternatives, and real exposure to the practice of medicine. I emphasized that this was an educated decision, that I had taken time to mature after graduating from college, and that I am ready for this challenge. LOR were strong, from professors/mentors that know me well.

Note: No writing score from my MCAT

Secondaries:

I probably could have turned my secondaries around quicker, but I work full-time and spent a LOT of time making sure I was happy with my responses. I tried to insert personality into my secondaries whenever possible and spent a lot of time organizing my thoughts while writing. My goal was to make sure that the responses were personal and thoughtful, while also highlighting traits I felt I possessed that matched well with their mission statements. I highlighted the fact that I worked A TON during undergrad to help support myself, and the lessons I had learned from my first (horrible) MCAT score about achieving life balance etc etc.

My MCAT and GPA aren't super competitive, and considering I got interviews at some fantastic schools, I'll bet that my secondary responses helped quite a lot.

Updates

I after I received my first II, I sent in-area notices with or without updates to all schools that accepted updates within a 6 hours driving distance. I'm pretty sure this helped a LOT with getting II to Wake Forest and Maryland. I sent an update regarding a website I started in late August, and another update in mid September-mid October regarding the provisional acceptance of a first author paper to any schools that accepted updates.

Traditional Interviews:
I prepared answers for "Why do you want to be a doctor" and "Why our school" for every interview. I had 2 school specific and 3 generic questions questions to ask each interviewer. I hand wrote and delivered thank you cards to each interviewer + the dean of admissions (if he or she took the time to meet with us) to the office of admissions before leaving campus that day. I included anecdotes from our conversations, re-iterated why I felt I was a good fit for the program, included any information I forgot to mention, and thanked them again for their time.

MMI: I reviewed the ACA, current medical or medically-relevant news (ebola, immigration, etc). I made sure to note if the state had adopted the Medicaid expansion and how that had gone over.

During the MMI, I tried to use the following format for ethical scenarios (though at U of A I rambled)
1. This is an interesting question because there are multiple angles/sides/opinions: ___ and ___
2. While some might believe ___ to be true because of ___, I personally would argue/do/proceed with ____ because of ___, ___, and ___
3. Explain each idea I wanted to highlight
4. Summarize that there are many viewpoints to be considered, summarize my points in one sentence

After the MMI, I hand wrote a thank you note to the dean of admissions/office of admissions and dropped if off before leaving campus that day. For Duke, I was instructed to email Richard Wallace rather than hand write a note, so I did that.

Acceptances:

Still numb, sent thank you emails to each office of admissions, cried, danced, and drank a lot of celebratory wine.

6/07/2014: AMCAS application submitted
Mid June: Added Dartmouth and U Pittsburgh
6/18/2014: AMCAS application verified

Application Complete

University of California, Davis
University of Toledo
Emory University
Queen's University
University of Illinois
University of California, Irvine
Albert Einstein of Yeshiva University
Tufts University
University of Calgary
Albany Medical College
University of Vermont
Pennsylvania State University
Stanford University

Application Complete, Rejected

Oakland University
Tulane University
Hofstra University
University of Rochester
New York Medical College
Columbia University
University of Pittsburgh
University of Virginia
Rush Medical College
The Commonwealth Medical College
University of Southern California
Cooper School of Rowan University
Western University of Health Sciences
University of California, San Francisco

Attended Interview

Dartmouth College

Attended Interview, Rejected

Duke University

Attended Interview, Waitlisted

Virginia Commonwealth University

Accepted

University of Arizona
Wake Forest University
University of Maryland

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