I did this page for future Holy Cross students because those are the best people I found to talk to while applying.
August MCAT right after graduation: P8, B9, V10, WSR = 27R
Retook MCAT the following April with 10-10-10-P
FYI: I procrastinate everything possible.
AMCAS completed near Halloween. Essay kicked @$$.
Overwhelming majority of secondaries were completed on the day before or the due date itself and hand-delivered to the post office for the correct postmark. FYI: the GPO in NYC is open 24/7.
I was completing secondaries in a few hours each, and getting rejections and interview invitations at the same time. This was exciting and meant I had zero anxious waiting periods.
Interviews were about every other week from mid February through mid April. These were usually approaching the last week the schools were interviewing, but they all said they still had seats available. Got my first acceptance the day after my first interview.
Best Advice:
1. Listen to Futterman and do your AMCAS and secondaries in the summer, especially if you're still in college. I think I would have had more interviews if I sent things in earlier. Don't think I'm complaining...I think I'm pretty freakin lucky.
2. Make sure your personal statement is unique and incredible. I used the 10 page personal statement I wrote for the HC pre-med committee and just re-worked it to 1 page. Then had a friend who had never read the 10 pager read it to see if it made sense. He cried. All my interviewers wanted to talk about the essay...the lady at Dartmouth said I gave her goosebumps...advice: make it good and your interviews will be cake.
3. Don't call the schools every two weeks to see if they have any info about your application. They don't. When they know something, they will tell you, and once you've sent everything in, you can't control the situation, so just chill.
4. Don't go on that student doctor website. I've witnessed friends cry as a result of stuff they've read on it. It's a waste of time and it will only stress you out. They are applicants too and they don't know any more than you do. Plus, all the interviewers I met said they hated the website because the info that is posted is usually wrong. They read it daily, so if you do post something, especially something negative, for goodness sake do not make it possible for them to find out who you are.
5. If you happen to be a procrastinator, fear not...everyone you're interviewing with will be in the same boat. This meant I had some pretty fun groups on my interview days...not competitive at all.
6. Wear a conservative dark suit. You do not want them to remember you for your choice of outfit. They should remember you for your personality and impressive normalness. As the woman in Ann Taylor said, 'Black suit for the interview, navy on your first day, red when you're quitting and telling your boss to go to h*ll!'
7. Realize that medicine is a wonderful job, but it is not the only job, and it is certainly not the best job in the world. There is no such thing as the best job in the world, unless you count parenting. Your life will not be over if you do not get into medical school, and your life will not be magically fantastic if you do. If you get rejected out-right 2 years in a row, realize that it may be a blessing in disguise, even if you never wanted to be anything but a doctor. If you're supposed to become the world's greatest mom, or the person who will fix the public school system, or the one to negotiate peace in a warzone and you're wasting your time applying to medical school for the 10th year in a row, I'm coming to get you.
Good luck with it all.
Keep bleeding purple.
