Brief Profile:
A bit nervous about this because I'm foregoing a level of anonymity. I wish I knew if that mattered at all, because I'm a sharing kind of person. I would love to help anyone quell their anxiety or make positive decisions. I'm taking the risk because I've really appreciated the sharing by others.
MCAT is 514 (PS128, CARS128, B131, P127). I took it once before. I did very mediocre, but I found that to be a major shock and immediately retook it. I received more along what I expected the first time.
A few tidbits about myself: Non-traditional Horrible, horrible GPA affected by a year of college before I dropped out, GPA was ~3.75 after returning, though. 5 years experience in clinical hospital role (prompted my return to school). CC->Ivy. Multiple years of research. Volunteer, paid and a couple very good (IMO) fellowships. Posters, no pubs. Plenty of mentoring/tutoring service. Small amount of journalism experience. Tons of cool hobbies in my past life (IMO). Multiple jobs in different fields with varying level of coolness or responsibility.
I'm also a reapplicant. I applied last year. I applied much too narrow and much too late. My goal was to flip that script this year, which I've half done. I applied much more comprehensively (and consequently I've also gotten much more excited about the schools I've picked), but I was hampered by a financial issue. I was unable to have everything completed until late September. It was very disappointing to not have been able to submit early. As a note, I put all my secondary app submission dates, but my applications weren't complete until late September/early October (and November for Einstein).
I was also very fortunate that many schools granted me a fee waiver even though I didn't qualify through AMCAS because they don't allow a candidate to financially decouple themselves from parent finances (even though I'm old and have been financially independent for years). Thank you, fee waiver schools, it really is an incredible help.
Can you contact me on here? If so, please do. I would love to share stories or tell more of mine!
// Applications //
Application Cycle One: 07/31/2016
Undergraduate college: Ivy
Undergraduate Area of study: Biological/Life Sciences
Summary of Experience:
So, I filled this secondary out and submitted it on 8/27/16, but in late October, it appeared that I didn't finalize and lock my application? It wasn't showing that my committee letter was received. At that point, in a bit of a panic, I clarified and locked the app. Soon after, my LoR was registering in the status page. I have no clue if that made any difference, but I was rejected nonetheless. Shame, I have a good friend at UChicago and really liked the personality of the school (inasmuch as I could see it through indirect means).
Summary of Experience:
10/28: Very excited to hear from Columbia. VERY excited! 12/19: Columbia expanded its special place in my heart after this visit. I loved everything about it and my interviewer was truly a pleasure. Pure admiration from my end. Maybe I'll get more into it later. 2/17: Waitlisted. Not happy, but definitely not sad.
