Menu Icon Search
Close Search

MD Applicants

  • fpo-profile-avatar
  • User #3778

  • Application cycles: 2005
  • Demographics: Male, Hispanic
  • Home state: California
  • Last Active: 08/24/2019
  • Brief Profile: ** Education **
    --BSE, Engineering Physics, Full Scholarship
    Studied Abroad at Univ. of Bristol, England (1 year)
    --MS, Biomedical Engineering, Full Fellowship

    ** Medical Research **
    --1 year research at UMich Orthopaedic Research Laboratory.
    --2 years neurology research for MS. w/ publication abstract.

    ** Medical/Community Experiences **
    --Volunteer at U of M Medsport Physical Rehabilitation (50 hours)
    --Shadowed various doctors (50 hours)
    --Volunteer, High School Job Mentor, San Francisco (50 hours)
    --Volunteer, Emergency Department, San Francisco GH (200 hours and counting)

    ** Professional **
    --Software Engineer, USWeb/CKS (1999 - 2001)
    Project lead on Al Gore's 2000 Presidential Campaign Website
    --Engineering Manager, Inktomi (2001 - 2003)
    --Sr. Software Engineer, Inovis (2003 - 2005)
    --Sr. Software Engineer, M-Factor, Inc. (Present)

    --Married with son
  • // Applications //

    Application Cycle One: 2005

    • Undergraduate college: University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
    • Undergraduate Area of study: Engineering/Technology
    • Institution: University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
    • Area of Study: Engineering/Technology
    • Degree Obtained: MS
    • Institution: University of Bristol, England
    • Area of Study: Engineering/Technology
    • Degree Obtained: none
    • Total MCAT SCORE: 511
    • MCAT Section Scores: B/B 127, C/P 128, CARS 127  
    • Overall GPA: 3.40
    • Science GPA: 3.55

    Summary of Application Experience

    9/20/2005 - Got rejected UCSF pre secondary. THAT HURTS. They didn't even want my money. I have really good recommendations. Damn that sucks.

    10/10/2005 - **University of Michigan Interview** I felt it went really well! It's an amazing feeling when one feels in command of the interview. I was relaxed and just had conversations with the interviewers. There were one or two questions I wish I had answered better, but that is not an indication that I was nervous. Simply, there are some questions that are more difficult to answer than others. I should hear their decision by Oct 17th, either rejected, accepted, wait list, or deferred decision.

    10/17/2005 - Designated as deferred decision from Univ. of Michigan. That is upsetting, but not all hope has been lost. Actually, I figured I had a 50/50 chance at acceptance/deferred decision, and I believe I'm competitive there. They just want to see some other applicants to see how I stack up.

    11/2005 - ** Temple University SOM Interview ** Again, a great interview. My interviewer was incredibly nice and just wanted to chat and wonder why I was interested in TUSM. We spoke well after the 30 minute limit (about 1 hour) and we talked about several things not necessarily related to medicine. He also mentioned that he was confident I'll get in somewhere and I'll have choices - he hopes I attend Temple. I was impressed with some of Temple's offerings but the location is left to be desired. But they really do turn out good clinical physicians and have a great reputation for that. Temple is also extremely expensive and that might play a role in my decision if I'm fortunate to have more than one option.

    11/2005 - ** Albany Medical College Interview ** One of my best, and I was really impressed with the entire campus. It's not the higest ranked school in the nation, but I can totally see myself going there. The reasons why I liked Albany are 1) I loved the student tour guides. In many ways they represent what I want out of my classmates. Affable, friendly, and smart. They are not necessarily overachievers, but they do take students from excellent colleges (Yale, Harvard, Princeton, Michigan, Stanford) but they are not the top candidates from those schools. 2) all enclosed campus, everything is right there. Not spread out. 3) I liked Albany as a city. There isn't much to do there but I felt safe. It's a small town atmosphere, but good for a kid. Negatives...1) cost (it's super expensive) and 2) kind of in the middle of nowhere. But I would be happy there and had a wonderful interview.

    11/2005 - ** Cornell WMC Interview ** Didn't go so well, although I enjoyed my time there. I was peppered with questions on why I want to become a doctor and just didn't feel I gave my best performance. Other than that, Cornell is impressive...1) In Manhattan, a cool place to live, 2) program is PBL and I find that really attractive. They don't spoon feed you medical school material, you need to do some work yourself, 3) they have older students, 20% are non-traditional and average age is around 26. I think that's great. 4) tuition is cheap, NYC is expensive. Some of the negatives...1) Manhattan is expensive, 2) NY people can be jerks. Overall would love to go there.

    11/2005 - ** USC Interview ** Went really well! That is, my faculty interview was awesome. Just fantastic. My student interview didn't go well though. For some reason I think she didn't like me. Overall USC is good because 1) excellent clinical exposure to a diverse patient population (best in the nation) 2) nice non-traditional class. Some negatives... 1) cost, it is the most expensive medical school in the nation (ad hoc), 2) not a great area, 3) have to commute. But I think I would be happy there. Looking forward to an acceptance there.

    11/2005 - ** Wayne State Interview ** Was fine, I've interviewed there in the past. Great clinical experience, bad location. What else is there to say. An enormous class too (300 people for 2006)

    11/2005 - ** UC Irvine Interview ** This also went really well, as good or better than the USC interview. The school is pretty much out in the middle of nowhere, but within 15 minutes is the beach (yea!). In state tuition helps too. I would be totally happy going to UC Irvine.

    12/2005 - ** Northwestern Feinberg SOM Interview ** It was a great, long day at Northwestern. I went in the middle of December and it was really cold. My panel interview was first and it was as everybody described it. Two faculty/one M4 and three candidates, including myself. Many of the questions Northwestern asks appear to be unilluminating and in fact I think some are. The purpose of the interview is to get to know you better via non-medical related questions (even though there are some medical questions), and to see how you think about certain issues that you 1) don't necessarily know a lot about and 2) have no right or wrong answer. My one criticism of the panel interview is that it is a static process. There was never any followup (or very little) to any of the answers given. For instance, if someone asked me 'what kind of music do you listen to' and I respond by saying 'heavy metal, satanic worshipping bands' I would think that response would command a followup question. Anyway I suggest reading over the last two years of NU interview feedback questions. I prepared by reading and answering about 100 questions and I definitely think it helped. There were about 30 questions asked (in total) of all three candidates.

    Northwestern has awesome facilities, in a great part of Chicago, is a top 20 school, has gobs of money, and really looks like a great place to learn medicine. I hope I get in there!

    Applied, Rejected

    University of California, Los Angeles
    University of California, Davis
    University of California, San Francisco

    Applied, Withdrew

    Charles Drew University/UCLA
    Yale University
    Boston University

    Application Complete, Rejected

    University of Chicago
    University of California, San Diego
    Stanford University
    Rush Medical College
    New York University
    New York Medical College
    Loyola University Chicago
    Jefferson Medical College
    Harvard University
    Georgetown University
    George Washington University
    Drexel University
    Dartmouth College
    Columbia University
    Case Western Reserve University
    Brown University
    University of Rochester
    University of Pittsburgh
    University of Pennsylvania

    Attended Interview, Withdrew

    Tufts University
    Mount Sinai School of Medicine

    Attended Interview, Waitlisted, Rejected

    University of California, Irvine
    Temple University
    Albany Medical College
    Wayne State University
    University of Michigan

    Accepted

    Northwestern University
    Cornell University
    University of Southern California

    // Share //

    × Wait!

    Are you sure you want to delete this application cycle? This will remove all application data and cannot be undone.

    × Wait!

    Are you sure you want to delete this school? This will remove all application data and cannot be undone.