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  • User #3710

  • Application cycles: 2005
  • Demographics: Female, Hispanic
  • Home state: California
  • Brief Profile: Well, I had one difficult year in college due to personal, family, and financial problems so my overall GPA is lower than I would like. I did well in my last two years of college and in my informal post-bacc studies (post-bacc GPA is 3.5) but while there is a general upward trend, the overall GPA is still low for medical school acceptance. I\'m hoping that the fact that I worked almost full time while in school, during my post-bacc studies, and performed well on the MCAT will help me out! I\'m still really nervous that I\'m not competitive enough. I\'m continuing to take classes (upper-level science classes) while I apply to help with the GPA in case I have to apply again.

    My EC\'s: 2 psychology summer internships, numerous long-term (>2 years) leadership roles while in college, musician (vocal, piano, guitar, musical theater), sang in school choir and in a capella vocal jazz group, Senior award for exemplary service to community, paid mental health counselor in SF (1.5 years), clinical research project director at local medical school (almost 4 years), trained as medical interpreter at local ER (8 months), patient advocate and medical interpreter at free clinic once a month (almost 2 years), on steering committee of free clinic (1 year committment), phlebotomy and EMT trained (use skills at work and at clinic but never worked as an EMT unfortunately), sing in community choir and travelled to Europe twice with group to perform.
  • // Applications //

    Application Cycle One: 2005

    • Undergraduate college: Carleton College
    • Undergraduate Area of study: Psychology/Social Sciences
    • Institution: San Jose State University
    • Area of Study: Premedical Studies
    • Degree Obtained: 2000
    • Total MCAT SCORE: 520
    • MCAT Section Scores: B/B 131, C/P 129, CARS 129  
    • Overall GPA: 3.10
    • Science GPA: 3.40

    Summary of Application Experience

    KEY
    Sub: Date secondary submitted
    Com: Date file complete
    In: Date of Interview Invite
    Sch: Date of Interview

    I know, I applied to a lot of schools! I want to do this only once and with my GPA I need to do all I can to make that happen. I'm not sure how likely it will be that I get in but I'm going to keep trying.

    6/20 AMCAS submitted
    6/26 AMCAS verified

    8/3 Went to Europe for the last two weeks of July and came back to a pile of secondary. Now I'm quickly having to play catch-up. I have received two screened secondaries and one pre-secondary rejection. So far, so good.

    8/8 So, I've been receiving all this unsolicited mail and e-mail from medical schools and I it's driving me crazy! Not because of the actual mail but rather that it's tempting me to apply to more schools and there is NO WAY I can handle more secondaries. : )

    8/27 OK, I did end up adding one more school since I posted that I wasn't going to. There has been lots of drama surrounding this application process, especially with my pre-medical advisor letter but I think it's almost cleared up now. It looks like my recommendations will be sent out the second week of September which means I should be complete at all schools by the end of September. While I still feel as if my letters should be sent out sooner I'm happy that the 'complete' status will be occuring soon! And it does give me another 2 weeks to finish up another 12 secondaries which is doable. PAST THE HALF-WAY MARK WITH SECONDARIES!

    9/15 I'm only complete at 5 schools. Ironically, I got my first interview invite from a school I haven't even turned in an secondary for! I'm really excited that things are moving forward.

    9/30 3 days before my first interview and I am really excited about starting this whole process. Or maybe I am excited about the 6:30AM wake-up call inviting me to an interview at Loyola!

    10/13 Was getting nervous there because a week went by without an interview invite. But just received 2 more so I'm feeling good about the process again. Funny how paranoid applying makes you feel. I'm not sure how my interviews are going. It's hard to tell. But since Oct. 15 is just a few days a way, I hope I'll getting feedback in the form of rejections, acceptance, or waitlists!

    10/17 After much thought, I've decided not to turn in my secondary to several schools I've been holding off on. It has nothing to do with the schools but rather that I have a better understanding of what schools I'm highly interested in. I'd rather use that money to go to my interview expenses. I hope I'm not making a big mistake! A bit of advice to those who are gearing up to apply: really think about what type of school you really want to go to and apply wisely. I think I wasted a lot of money on schools I wasn't really interested in. Oh, well, on to the regulaly scheduled application drama!

    10/21 I'm so excited! I'm going to be a doctor.

    11/1 Received an acceptance from Iowa! I have a feeling deciding where to matriculate is going to be tough. I honestly find things about each school that I love!

    11/4 I can't believe how hard it was to cancel all those East Coast interviews. But considering the interviews and acceptances I've received to schools I'd be more likely to go to, it makes sense. I didn't realize until I was travelling to interviews that didn't really want to go further East than the midwest. Could have saved myself a lot of money if I had thought about it more earlier!

    11/9 Really excited about my Loyola acceptance! I was really happy there and loved the facilities and opportunities.

    11/18 Now I'm faced with a real dilemma. Stay in-state and reap the benefits of living in a wonderful location (CA) and in-state tuition or go explore another part of the country for a few years (i.e. Ohio, Illinois, etc.). The reason this is such a difficult decision is that I loved the out-of-state schools I've been accepted to. They had a great sense of community, balanced and integrative curriculum, and good professor/student/administration interaction. On the other hand, San Diego is a perfect location for me because I'm interested in Latino health and Border health issues, it has great clinical opportunities, and a Deaf and Hard of Hearing fellowship I could apply for that excites me above all else. However, I didn't feel that same sense of community, the curriculum is very lecture based, and I didn't get a sense of there being the same interaction as the previously mentioned private schools. What to do? If anyone has input, I'd gladly consider it!

    11/29 I fell in love with UCSF. If I am lucky enough to get in, I think it would be hard to pull me away from there!

    12/2 First post-secondary rejection goes to Pritzker. I'm not suprised but I'm a little sad. It really was the only school I hadn't heard from that I was REALLY excited about. Fortunately though, I've received acceptances to schools I'd be really happy about so I'm not too upset.

    1/10 I can now say that I have 'top' choices: Oregon and UCSF. I really liked both schools. Of course, neither is a sure shot for me! I guess I'll have to wait until next month to hear about my status. Honestly, if it wasn't for the tuition, I would go to Oregon without any qualms. I loved the city and school that much. But that OOS tuition is pretty scary!

    2/8 After much thought this weekend, I've readded UCSD as my top choice. Who knows how long that will last, but at this point it looks like I'm heading to San Diego this fall!

    2/17 Was so excited when I got the Northwestern acceptance but am overwhelmed by the UCSF acceptance today!

    2/27 PRIME acceptance at UCI. One last interview to go (UWashington) this week and I'm done! I have 5/9 financial applications finished. And two of them are so horrible that I'm very tempted to just withdraw from the schools. I'm giving it serious consideration...

    3/16 So all the decisions are in. My top choices are University of Washington, UCSF, and UCSD. If I had to pick one without financial consideration, I would be at University of Washington in a second. But, unfortunately, financial aid is important. So, let the the Financial Aid Battles begin!!

    4/3 Received Tufts rejection letter, despite sending a withdrawal letter. That's ok, I can take the rejection at this point!

    4/24 After an incredible time at the UW Second Look, I can't imagine going anywhere else. So, I'm made a decision to formally withdraw my acceptances to all other schools and set course towards Seattle. What a crazy year!

    5/18 I wish everyone the best of luck in their med school application. If you have question for me, feel free to send me a message on www.studentdoctor.net. My username on the site is titoincali.

    Applied, Rejected

    Wake Forest University

    Applied, Withdrew

    Boston University
    Tulane University
    Stanford University
    University of Colorado
    Medical College of Wisconsin
    Georgetown University
    George Washington University
    University of California, Los Angeles

    Application Complete, Rejected

    Tufts University
    University of Chicago
    Emory University

    Attended Interview, Withdrew

    Rosalind Franklin University
    University of Cincinnati
    Drexel University
    Saint Louis University
    Albany Medical College
    Rush Medical College
    University of Kansas
    New York Medical College
    Jefferson Medical College
    University of Rochester
    University of California, Davis
    Charles Drew University/UCLA
    University of Toledo

    Accepted

    University of Washington
    University of Iowa
    University of California, Irvine
    Oregon Health & Science University
    Northwestern University
    Case Western Reserve University
    University of California, San Francisco
    Loyola University Chicago
    University of California, San Diego

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