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MD Applicants

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  • daydreamerr

  • Application cycles: 06/16/2017
  • Demographics: Female, 30, African
  • Home state: Utah
  • Last Active: 04/26/2018
  • Brief Profile: Hoping my profile will be helpful for future applicants, especially URM. In brief, the theme of my application is geared toward urban underserved medicine. My experiences are heavily focused on service, mentorship and teaching with very minimal research. I am applying in my second gap year while working full time as a scribe and volunteering at a safety-net clinic.

    Work and Activities:
    - Non-clinical volunteer: 1100 + hours with same non-profit over 4 years, multiple leadership positions and awards
    - Other leadership: 400 hours (3 years) in community outreach program and student govt
    - Clinical volunteer: 250 hours (4 summers) hospital volunteer in various departments
    - Teaching/Tutoring: 500 hours (4 years) peer tutor, mentor for underrepresented in STEM
    - Physician shadowing: 80 hours (4 years) various specialties and settings
    - Paid employment--Non-medical: 2,000 + hours (4 years) sales associate
    - Paid employment--Medical: 250 hours (gap year, ongoing), medical scribe
    - Research/Lab : 400 hours (1 summer/winter break) lab assistant, no productivity

  • // Applications //

    Application Cycle One: 06/16/2017

    • Undergraduate college: Small Liberal Arts
    • Undergraduate Area of study: Biological/Life Sciences
    • Total MCAT SCORE: 520
    • MCAT Section Scores: B/B 130, C/P 128, P/S 132, CARS 130
    • Overall GPA: 3.90
    • Science GPA: 3.90

    Summary of Application Experience

    Timeline:
    6/17/17: AMCAS submitted (including committee letter and MCAT scores)
    7/10/17: AMCAS verified
    8/04/17: Complete at all schools except UW, which requires a mission statement pre-secondary for OOR applicants

    Things that went well:
    Pre-writing secondaries: I recommend doing this for as many schools as possible! The prompts do not change much from year to year and most can be found on the SDN school-specific threads or even directly on the school websites. I only ended up pre-writing for 3 schools, but this relieved so much stress when the secondaries started pouring in after my AMCAS was verified.

    Staying with a student host: This was a great way to cut costs for an already insanely expensive process and also get a better feel for the school before interview day. All of my hosts walked or drove me to the admissions office the day of, which also relieved the stress of potentially getting lost. I thanked each of my hosts with a card and small gift under 20 dollars- e.g. Starbucks tumbler, candy or gift card to a nearby restaurant.

    Thanking people who contributed to the interview day: Has little to no sway in your chance of acceptance but it is a kind gesture. I sent brief thank-you emails to interviewers if I felt we really clicked or if there was something to follow up on. In all honestly, I did not send thank-yous to the majority of my interviewers and this did not seem to have any impact on my admissions decisions.

    Enjoying the process: While it can be grueling and stressful, the application cycle is a chance to do some serious self-reflection, make new connections and explore new cities. Be proud of yourself for having the persistence to get this far!

    ** Note: To remain somewhat anonymous, I did not list my actual home state or my state schools that I applied to.

    Application Complete, Rejected

    University of Southern California
    University of California, Los Angeles

    Invited for Interview, Withdrew

    Emory University

    Attended Interview, Rejected

    Harvard University

    Attended Interview, Withdrew

    Dartmouth College

    Attended Interview, Waitlisted, Withdrew

    Duke University
    Mayo Medical School

    Accepted

    Columbia University
    Boston University
    University of Chicago
    University of Colorado
    University of Michigan
    New York University
    Cornell University
    University of Washington

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