Brief Profile:
Stuff that anyone who wants to do can do. In other words, nothing extraordinary. Here are the highlights.
1. Monitored emergency room and interviewed possible patients for clinical study and treatment. I did this for a year, definitely puts me in my place on the totem pole of things. Learned how to be professional and how things are run when time is of the essence.
2. Worked with a clinic with the homeless and uninsured taking medical and social histories. Crucial experience as it allowed me to meet and appreciate people outside of the elitist academia bubble.
3. Volunteered, then later paid for part time work in a clinical lab. Here, I learned how to work alongside coworkers who I'd rather not work with.
4. Worked as a photographer for the school paper for nearly 2 years in my freshman and sophomore years. Totally time consuming, but totally worth it. I still do some photography on my own time.
5. Medical work in Central America. Good experience but it was a rip off. I feel like I could have contributed more through a different program. Basically, don't do this if you are just doing it to look good on paper.
6. Then worked in another clinical lab as a fulltime research assistant. My PI is a good mentor and is painting a very positive picture of research for me. Published as 40837041th author after six months here. Learned more work place skills and how/what/when to say things. PR is important.
// Applications //
Application Cycle One: 2006
Undergraduate college: UCLA
Undergraduate Area of study: Biological/Life Sciences
Total MCAT SCORE: 513
MCAT Section Scores:
B/B 129,
C/P 128,
CARS 127
Overall GPA: 3.67
Science GPA: 3.68
Summary of Application Experience
AT A GLANCE
06/12 3:10am Submitted 36 primaries
06/14 AMCAS Processing Complete
06/26 Secondaries are beginning to flow in
07/14 Rec letters complete
09/10 Finally finished 20 secondaries. I hate word limits...
10/16 Bad news, my car suffered two hit and runs within a week. Now the front bumper is hanging and the side has a huge dent. GOOD NEWS...I'm going to be a doctor! Temple wants me baby!
10/22 Little motivation to do the remaining secondaries, but I think I will finish Case Western and Drew/UCLA at least. Haven't heard anything from any schools since 9/12 - no interviews, a couple holds, no rejects. The waiting game...Thank goodness for Temple or this game could be many times worse.
10/28 Submitted Case Western. Took one look at Drew/UCLA and gave up for the time being.
11/5 Unexpected acceptance from Downstate! Woah! I didn't think they would be so quick! Now I have the choice to go to a cheaper school and pay in state tuition for 2nd-4th year. YAY~
11/20 All I want now is an interview from a CA school. Anybody?
12/5 First official rejection of the season from CWRU. whoo! Last to receive my app and first to reject. Interesting.
2/4 Looking at my record thus far (10 invites, 9 interviews, 6 acceptances, 1 waitlist, 2 awaiting decision), I feel pretty good about my interviewing ability. Definitely a confidence booster. I never thought prior to this whole experience that I was any good at talking about myself. I've always been a listener, not a talker.
2/23 Filed taxes. Working on FAFSA.
3/21 Wait listed at UCLA. Looks like I won't know for certain where I will be next year until possibly August. hmmm...
4/20 Deciding between AECOM and BU. Most likely AECOM right now b/c of its P/F first two years. Also due to new developments in my personal life, I'd like to be closer to NYC.
Applied, Rejected
University of California, San Francisco
Applying for combined PhD/MSTP? No
Submitted: Yes
Secondary Completed: No
Interview Invite: No
Interview Attended: No
Waitlisted: No
Accepted: No
Rejected: Yes
Summary of Experience:
9/7 letter - 1st rejection...meh not surprised
User #5641 took the old MCAT and scored a 32 which is in the 88th percentile of all old scores.
We converted this to a 513 on the updated scale which is in the 89th percentile of the updated MCAT. We also converted User #5641’s section scores as follows:
User #5641 scored a 11 on the Biological Science section of the old MCAT which is approximately equal to a 129 on the Biological and Biochemical Foundations of Living Systems.
User #5641 scored a 11 on the Physical Science section of the old MCAT which is approximately equal to a 128 on the Chemical and Physical Foundations of Biological Systems.
User #5641 scored a 10 on the Verbal Reasoning section of the old MCAT which is approximately equal to a 127 on the Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills.
