Brief Profile:
Lots of research (biological and economic), lots of leadership stuff. Significant musical experiences, some shadowing, some hospital volunteering, quite a bit of non-medical related volunteering. Significant involvement in two campus groups.
Spent a lot of time and effort on writing up EC descriptions and personal statement - I realized looking through all these profiles that the difference between the MCAT/GPA and schools accepted to, the so-called 'x-factor', is the essays. If your numbers are decent, essays make all the difference as far as I can tell. I also had some really nice recs and was told by one interviewer that one of them was the best he'd ever seen.
Make sure your recommenders know you very well, that's all I can say. Bug them and talk to them about how school is going, good books you've read, etc. Just make friends with them, don't be the weirdo talking to them only to get a recommendation out of it. Believe it or not, they are very interesting people too and many are quite interested in getting to know students.
// Applications //
Application Cycle One: 2005
Undergraduate college: University of Michigan
Undergraduate Area of study: Psychology/Social Sciences
Total MCAT SCORE: 519
MCAT Section Scores:
B/B 130,
C/P 132,
CARS 127
Overall GPA: 3.76
Science GPA: 3.76
Summary of Application Experience
Wasn't quite sure how this thing would end out for me so I applied to tons of places. Things have turned out really well - dropped lots of places after UMich acceptance.
As for interview tips: confidence. Just relax and have fun, it's only as stressful as you make it out to be.
