(6/20/05) Just submitting application, excited after MCAT results. Looking forward to the process, but definately not the expenses.
(7/23/05) Received plenty of secondaries, trying to get them done. Added UChicago Pritzker and Case Western (for Cleveland Clinic Lerner College)
(9/5/05) Took some time off to get married in August. Finally got most of the secondaries done, but decided to add Mayo. Still thinking about Stanford, but it's getting late, and I have plenty already. Interviews scheduled at U of Mich and Northwestern.
(9/30/05) Rejected from UCSF pre-sec. Bummer. Never been to California, and won't be going anytime soon. Maybe I should have tried Stanford. Oh well, both UofMich and NW interviews went well. Hoping for more soon...
(10/15/05) First Acceptance: University of Michigan!!! I'm so excited! Michigan residency, plus the school's rank and nature in genearal make this a top choice! Will still be going to interviews for other interesting/awesome schools, but this is the one I'm comparing them all to!
(11/19/05) UofChicago was pretty nice. I was really impressed by WashU- the location, faculty, and facilities were great. Most of the students were as well, but I've heard some negatives about them, and each class seems to be quite different, so I'll have to look more into that.
Harvard was amazing. I don't know how I'd ever graduate period, they have so many opportunities that I'd like to do (research, mentoring, clinical opportunities abroad, more research, etc.). Everything impressed me, except the cost of living. Oh well. When is March again?
(12/06/05) It's been a crazy few days. UPenn on Friday (really impressed), visit friend in South Carolina over the weekend, Duke on Tuesday (more impressed than I expected), and all connecting flights through Atlanta (yes, even Detroit -> Philly). While at Duke, Pritzker called and offered me an acceptance and $$. Definitely a good way to end (probably) my interview season. Cramming for finals, and then Holiday!!!
(1/17/06) I believe I am finally done with interviews. Mayo was, as expected, a great school with truly astounding facilities. Would be quite a change going from a huge undergrad to a class size of ~40. Cleveland Clinic actually amazed me- students were chill and fun, faculty was uber-involved in teaching and planning, increadibly flexible curriculum. Only problem is its youth, only two years old, with no match list yet. Case was a good school, but I'd need a second look to see if its new curriculum matched with me.
Time to work on FinAid, FAFSA, etc. Also piecing together an update letter, if my paper ever gets submitted for publication.
(2/08/06) Working on Financial Aid applications and update letters for some schools. People keep asking for my ranking of school's I'd like to attend, and unfortunately I have so many complications that the list would be different depending on which concern has precedence at the time. A big issue is my wife's ability to get into a teacher education program; obviously UMich is the easiest by far for that. I want to revisit UMich, Chicago, and CCLCM to get a better idea of student life, and to give my wife a chance to see the area. I guess I can say UMich has a slight lead right now, but we'll see what happens when March comes around (Harvard/Penn/Duke + FinAid packages).
(3/18/06) Harvard! I can't believe it! And I thought my interview there was only mediocre. Plans have changed drastically since February, with the Duke/WashU/Harvard (and upcoming Penn) decisions. I like aspects of all of these programs, and am going to concentrate on them from now on, mostly because I'm very interested in academic medicine. I'll hold the others for a little while to consider financial info, but they will likely be dropped.
Now I am busy planning which schools my wife and I want to revisit (UMich and Harvard are a given, the others depend on cost of the trip). I really need to review each school's information; I'll post here when I make any real decisions and why I chose that way. Oh, and why, Harvard!? Why did you schedule your second-look during my AND my wife's graduation! My wife and I, our parents, our grandparents, and our siblings are not amused. Oh well, can't really complain, it's still Harvard!
(3/22/06) What a crazy day: Penn waitlist, Cleveland Clinic Dean's (full-tuition) scholarship, and UMich Dean's (full-tuition) scholarship all within four hours! UMich's offer is most appealing to me, and is now my most likely choice. I'll be heading to Boston with my wife to see how Harvard, the area, and the students seem (see if it's worth the extra $150k in debt), but as long as the students I meet at UMich's second-look aren't horrible I'll likely be heading there. Besides the money, UMich keeps impressing me again and again.
(4/24/06) Thanks again for all the comments, everyone. I am leaning towards UMich at the moment, but have the HMS revisit next week. I should know by May 5, which is also my graduation, Cinco de Mayo, and my wife's birthday. Should be fun! If I am blown away at Harvard, and my wife enjoys Boston, I may be able to stomach the increased cost of HMS. But I've talked to numerous students and physicians from both Harvard and Michigan, and I don't think my future will be limited by attending Michigan. There are a few things I'd love to do at Harvard (Cancer Vaccine Lab), and some I'd like to do at Michigan (football, 'maybe better' clinical education). But I think I'll have access to just as many opportunities for residency regardless of where I go, and can head to Boston then if I want to. But who knows, things may change next week... Stay tuned, 11 days to go!!!
(5/5/06) After days and days of thinking, discussing, and fretting over my decision, I have decided to attend Michigan. I went to both Harvard and UMich's second looks, and both were great. I loved Boston, and the students there were outstanding, as expected. But Ann Arbor was a ton of fun too, and I think I actualy mesh better with the Michigan students...but who can really tell till they've spent a year or more with people? Anyways, I will say the facilities at HMS were outstanding, truly remarkable, but I feel that most of them would be off-limits (mostly due to time constraints, not actually people saying NO) to me as a medical student. I also feel that I will be able to do well enough at Michigan to go back to an HMS hospital later, if I want to. I don't feel like I'm giving anything major up, and I don't feel like the financial difference is my driving factor, more a 'general fell' mixed with family concerns.
This means of course that this likely doesn't apply to many other candidates. Everyone has their own experiences, their own goals, their own priorities. Michigan fits best with mine. I met a few undecided people at HMS who I also hope will choose Michigan, just because I thought they were cool people. For me, getting the chance at a Harvard education is great, but not the most important thing to me. Finally, I will note that I chose to attend Michigan State for my undergrad for similar reasons, and feel pretty confidant in saying that worked out for me. Thus, experience suggests that I won't be dissapointed at Michigan.
Thanks everyone for the comments, questions, and congratulations. I wish everyone luck in finding their best-matched school and enjoying their time there. And remember, medical school is just a short chapter of our lives, we have experienced greater things before and are likely to find greater things in our futures.
We help students become doctors. TM
