Brief Profile:
Research for 2.5 years, honors thesis. Volunteered at 2 different hospitals and a free clinic. Officer in a student organization on campus for 2 yrs. Published in campus undergraduate science journal. Mentored high school student for 1 year.
// Applications //
Application Cycle One: 2004
Undergraduate college: UC Berkeley
Undergraduate Area of study: Biological/Life Sciences
Total MCAT SCORE: 519
MCAT Section Scores:
B/B 130,
C/P 130,
CARS 129
Overall GPA: 3.70
Science GPA: 3.61
Summary of Application Experience
AMCAS processed early July. All secondaries done by the end of September.
2/5/05: I hate this process. I am very grateful for the NYMC acceptance, but why is it so hard to get accepted post-interview? And what does a guy have to do to get into a CA school? What is so horribly wrong with my app?
3/9/05: Two things I have learned. The later in the season you have your interview, the harder it gets to be accepted. It seems like your chances diminish pretty rapidly unless your interview is before December. Secondly, the longer you have to wait to hear back post-interview, the more likely it becomes that you will be sent a rejection.
7/19/05: Waitlists are bullshit. They're just delayed rejections. Update letters, letters of intent, phone calls...none of it matters. Pray that you never get stuck in waitlist hell.
7/20/05: Funny how life works. Got accepted to UC Irvine today. It was my first choice. Anteaters.
8/3/05: My last words of wisdom before the start of med school. Lots of ups and downs during this process (for me, mostly down), but I'm very happy with the way things turned out. I just want to say for all those who end up waitlisted - don't ever give up hope until you have actually physically matriculated at a school. If you want to go to a school badly enough, be very persistent and very patient. I was shocked at how much waitlist movement there was in the last 2 weeks of July. Keep hope alive until the very last possible moment. Even if you call a school and they tell you that your chances are slim to none, keep hope alive. For instance, I was told by Davis that I had very little chance of getting off the waitlist because I was ranked in the bottom half of the waitlist. 5 days after I get into Irvine (and 4 days after I had already emailed my withdrawal to Davis), guess who calls? UC Davis. Apparently you can get in from the bottom half if you wait long enough (they hadn't checked their email before they called me). Luckily, I had already decided many months prior that Irvine was my top choice, so no harm done.