Brief Profile:
I will add a bit more information once the cycle is complete
// Applications //
Application Cycle One: 07/18/2015
Undergraduate Area of study: Physical Sciences
Total MCAT SCORE: 472
MCAT Section Scores:
B/B 118,
C/P 118,
CARS 118
Overall GPA: 3.50
Science GPA: 3.50
Summary of Application Experience
Got a 515 on the new MCAT (PS:130 CARS:129 BS:128 PsychSoc:128)
My application timeline (2015): 10/19: First interview invite! MUSC! Thank god! I was starting to get nervous (although I did get my secondaries in pretty late...) 11/13: Last minute interview invite from VCU! Only two weeks away. 11/18: Rejected from UPitt. Director was amazing though and gave me feedback/advice for my upcoming interviews. 11/23: Even more last minute interview invite from Cincinnati! Just one week prior, and the same week as the VCU interview. Luckily VCU interviews Sun-Tue and Cincinnati Thur-Sat. I finished my Cincinnati secondary 11/2, so I'm surprised to have heard from them so soon. 11/30-12/1: VCU interview!!! Very small, personalized interview process! There were only 4 applicants interviewing and we all had our own rooms. Met with lots of very happy students, and the program is very clearly student-centric! It's not a MSTP program, but it's fully funded and the admin emphasized their focus on applying for MSTP status. 12/1: Rejected from Hopkins as I finished up my VCU interview visit. Bleh. 12/3-4: Cincinnati interview! Had a really great time! I was very impressed. There were 16 applicants (shared hotel, paid travel) and the administration had our schedules very well coordinated. Everyone was so welcoming and all the students clearly got along! My interview group got to attend the annual MSTP holiday party at the director's house - what a treat! All of the MSTP students clearly know each other well, and many seem to be good friends. By the end of the interview I was absolutely exhausted. Two interviews in one week was too much! But my fault for getting my secondary in so late. 12/3: Rejected from UPenn while on my Cincinnati interview visit. 12/8: Rejected from UNC. At this point, I'm starting to think the remaining schools are all going to be rejections :/ 12/11: FIRST ACCEPTANCE: CINCINNATI!!!! I'm going to be a MD/PhD one day!!! I was incredibly impressed with the speedy turnaround time to hear back - less than a week! SO SO thrilled!!! 12/17: MD acceptance notification from VCU via the portal - I'm a little confused if it's just the MD or also the MD/PhD acceptance. During my interview, the MD/PhD program said I would hear back before now and I haven't been contacted directly. 12/18-19: MUSC interview! Charleston is such an amazing place to live. Travel wasn't paid, but we all got our own hotel rooms! I think MUSC spent a lot less time trying to convince applicants that their program is the best (although their 70% success rate for F30 grants is very impressive) and more time letting applicants see the area. The interviews themselves were compressed into one day (Friday) and the second day was spent on a horse-carriage tour of Charleston, enjoying an amazing brunch, and walking through the Charleston market. MSTP students aren't as close as I've seen at other programs - none of them had each others numbers or seem to hang out - and I heard several say that they aren't as "cliche-ish." I heard this about MUSC before visiting so it wasn't a surprise; it's not necessarily a negative either, just depends on the person. 12/18: Yale interview invite! Wow! Super excited!! At this point, I had chalked up the remaining schools as rejections. Still waiting to hear from Jefferson, Tufts, Emory, Vanderbilt, Duke, and Harvard. 1/8: Rejection from Vandy. I expected to hear from Duke by today based on their website, but I'm sure that rejection will be following before long :/ 1/9: The MD/PhD acceptance letter from VCU arrived in the mail! Apparently the MD and MD/PhD acceptances go through different committees and have different feedback processes. 1/12: Rejection from Jefferson 1/13: Rejected post-interview from MUSC. Completely blind-sighted by this! All my interviews went really well as far as I know, and one in particular even made it clear that he was going to fight for me. I expected a wait-list at the very least. 1/19: Saw on SDN that Duke's website has been updated to say that all interviews are given out. So, rejection. 2/2: Emory rejection 2/4: Tufts rejection. They just keep piling in... 2/15-16: Attended my Yale interview. WOW. This is my first choice! Fingers crossed. 3/2: Harvard rejection. No surprise. 3/8: Yale waitlist. I am so hopeful that this turns into an acceptance. Please please please...
Application Complete, Rejected
Vanderbilt University
Applying for combined PhD/MSTP? Yes
Submitted: Yes
Secondary Completed: 08/19/2015
Interview Invite: No
Interview Attended: No
Waitlisted: No
Accepted: No
Rejected: 01/08/2016
Summary of Experience:
Emailed a pre-interview update (11/11/15) (no email response) Called 11/18/15 to follow up. Never heard back.
Summary of Experience:
Submitted pre-interview update via the "other correspondence" tool on the website (11/11/15) Rejected via the portal - no email notification. Didn't request feedback.
Summary of Experience:
Emailed a pre-interview application update and received confirmation 11/18/15; Saw on SDN that Duke's website has been updated to saw that all interview invites have been given out - so, silent rejection
Summary of Experience:
Emailed pre-interview update (11/12/15) Received an email confirmation that the update was received a month later - I'm guessing this is when they got to reviewing my application? (12/16/15)
Summary of Experience:
Emailed pre-interview update (11/11/15) Received response that program is no longer accepting updates (11/16/15) Requested feedback following my rejection, and got a couple pointers via email from the assistant director. This one was disappointing since it's in the area and one of my recommendation letters (my current VP) is a UNC physician/professor (12/10/15)
Summary of Experience:
Emailed a pre-interview update (11/11/15) Called to follow-up. The MSTP director was extremely nice! (11/17/15) Received confirmation that update email was included (11/18/15) I was pretty disappointed to be rejected, particularly since I've done research at Hopkins in the past and have a recommendation letter from a tenured professor there. The director of the program answered my request for feedback on my application - unfortunately she didn't have any specific pointers and cited the "insanely competitive" nature of the program. Again, she was very nice and I can't complain!
Summary of Experience:
Requested feedback following rejection and was extremely pleased with the willingness of the Director to discuss my application with me. Got some really great advice that will be a great resource going into my interviews! Regardless of being rejected, I can't say a single negative thing about Pittsburgh.
Summary of Experience:
Submitted pre-interview update via the "document" tool on the website (11/28/15) Wow! Super excited about the interview! At this point, I had chalked up the remaining schools as rejections (12/18/15) Great interview experience! I love the Yale system. I love the research opportunities. Please love me Yale! (2/15) Waitlisted. There's still hope. I think? (3/8)
Summary of Experience:
I love love LOVE Charleston!!! Travel wasn't paid, but we all got our own hotel rooms! I think MUSC spent a lot less time trying to convince applicants that their program is the best (although their 70% success rate for F30 grants is very impressive) and more time letting applicants see the area. The interviews themselves were compressed into one day (Friday) and the second day was spent on a horse-carriage tour of Charleston, enjoying an amazing brunch, and walking through the Charleston market. MSTP students aren't as close as I've seen at other programs - none of them had each others numbers or seem to hang out - and I heard several say that they aren't as "cliche-ish." I heard this about MUSC before visiting so it wasn't a surprise; it's not necessarily a negative either, just depends on the person. Completely, absolutely blinded by this rejection post-interview!!! All my interviews went really well, no one brought up any concerning points in my application, and the MD-interview directly said he would fight for me. I have no idea what went wrong. My significant will be upset - this was his favorite option.
Summary of Experience:
Emailed pre-interview update (11/11/15) Called to follow up on email (11/18/15) The director called me back to say that my email was received, and to invite me to an interview! She discussed the program and some professors I may want to meet with as well. Awesome personal touch. (11/23/15) Had a really great interview! I was very impressed. There were 16 applicants (shared hotel, paid travel) and the administration had our schedules very well coordinated. Everyone was so welcoming and all the students clearly got along! My interview group got to attend the annual MSTP holiday party at the director's house - what a treat! I was also very impressed with the speedy turnaround time to hear back - less than a week! SO SO thrilled to be accepted!!!
Summary of Experience:
Very small, personalized interview process! There were only 4 applicants interviewing and we all had our own rooms. Met with lots of very happy students, and the program is very clearly student-centric! It's not a MSTP program, but it's fully funded and the admin emphasized their focus on applying for MSTP status. (11/29/2015) Was expecting to hear back by 12/15 based on what was said during the interview. Got an automated portal notification on 12/17 that I was accepted to the MD program, but I'm very confused if this means the MD/PhD program too! Having trouble getting in touch with anyone to find out. Finally accepted to the MD/PhD program via snail male on 1/9/2016!
SheBlindedMeWithScience took the old MCAT and scored a 3 which is in the 0 percentile of all old scores.
We converted this to a 472 on the updated scale which is in the -1st percentile of the updated MCAT. We also converted SheBlindedMeWithScience’s section scores as follows:
SheBlindedMeWithScience scored a 1 on the Biological Science section of the old MCAT which is approximately equal to a 118 on the Biological and Biochemical Foundations of Living Systems.
SheBlindedMeWithScience scored a 1 on the Physical Science section of the old MCAT which is approximately equal to a 118 on the Chemical and Physical Foundations of Biological Systems.
SheBlindedMeWithScience scored a 1 on the Verbal Reasoning section of the old MCAT which is approximately equal to a 118 on the Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills.
