Brief Profile:
Molecular Biology Major (Honors) Chemistry Minor Research Scholars Program
150 Hours Shadowing (8 specialties) 10 Weeks Volunteer- Sexual Health Center 10 Weeks Volunteer- Emergency Medicine 1 Year Volunteer- HIV Testing Center
Head of TA Program Leadership Positions- LGBQT Society, Student Government, HIV/AIDS Volunteer, Residential Advisor X College Course Organizer- \"Sociology, Politics, and Anthropology in Medicine\" College Admissions Office (Tour Guide, Interviewer) Alumni Society Leader
2 years undergrad research neurobiology (HHMI Fellowship, Thesis Award, 1 abstract, 1 first author publication, 3 presentations) 2 years post-grad research developmental biology (Top 3 Research Hospital, 3 presentations, 1 first author publication)
Studied Abroad- United Kingdom, 6 months, @ European Medical School Completed Two Marathons (now 3!) 18 years classical piano (chamber music performances mainly for fun)
Enjoy biking, long walks on the beach, and getting caught in someone\'s eyes :)
// Applications //
Application Cycle One: 06/05/2009
Undergraduate college: Haverford College
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: 3.75
Summary of Application Experience
Will update once everything is over.
Application Complete, Rejected
University of Chicago
Applying for combined PhD/MSTP? No
Submitted: Yes
Secondary Completed: Yes
Interview Invite: No
Interview Attended: No
Waitlisted: No
Accepted: No
Rejected: Yes
Summary of Experience:
deferred decision, following by pre-interview rejection in january.
Summary of Experience:
(Withdrew) Loved it, just not the people. Bad interview, a lot of students seemed pretentious, and I didn\'t need an hour explanation of why Columbia was better than Penn. Area isn\'t the greatest, but the train up there isn\'t actually that bad. Great curriculum, students seemed to have fun, amazing research and clinical opportunities.
Columbia is by far the best medical school in Manhattan. Good research, cool hospitals Presbyterian/Harlem/Children\'s. Plus I liked the P/S club. I just didn\'t feel like I fit in there at all. The students annoyed me a lot, I couldn\'t see myself living in Washington Heights for 4 years, and I did get a sort of a \"institutional red tape\" feel from Columbia. They have a larger class size (165-170 students) compared to other schools I\'m considering, and it just seemed less....personalized.
(WIthdrew). Ultimately, it might have been hard to turn down if I got in off the waitlist. But a bad interview day and the general feeling that I wasn\'t a good fit for the school left a sour taste in my mouth. The only reason I could justify going here over Sinai was the prestige factor. I just don\'t think I care that much.
Summary of Experience:
(WIthdrew) Great research, chill students, amazing curriculum. Having worked here, I know Penn is not without its faults. But, given the immense quality of life in the city, it\'s proximity to home, the 1.5 year pre-clinical, it\'d be almost impossible to turn down. Philly is just so awesome, and because you don\'t live in dorms, you can make your own life outside of school. I really like that vibe of being able to maintain the other things in my life that are important.
Part of wants to stay here, but another part of me REALLY wants to leave Philly for a fresh start. So I won\'t be too upset if I don\'t get in.
Tier 1 Waitlist :( Oh well.
Withdrew (Stanford acceptance). It really saddened me to finally give up the idea of going to Penn and staying in my hometown. I do love it here, but I decided that it is seriously time for me to get out of Philly. 24 years is a lot :) I\'m old enough that now is the time to try out living new places and seeing what the world has to offer. I think 4 years doing something new in someplace completely different will really be better for me in the end.
SIgh. Penn made that easier this year by accepting practically no one off the waitlist. I was probably rejected anyway.
Summary of Experience:
(Attending) WOW. Ridiculous everything. Loved the \"major\" approach, loved the research opportunities, facilities are mind-boggingly beautiful, Palo Alto is nice. Incredible amount of resources that are practically thrust onto students. $$$, any interdisciplinary opportunity you want, ability to mingle with top law and business students too. Stanford is seriously a grad school mecca, there\'s really no other place like it.
It\'s definitely missing the urban feel, and I worry that socially I might long to be out of the suburbs. ALthough, I admit the Penisula is way different socially than say the Main Line (old money vs. new money). Everyone seemed to love it there, but wish I had met more students though.
NYC beats it for location, but Stanford wins in most everything else. This could be a complicated decision should I have the options.
Update: Waitlisted two weeks later....apparently very few get outright acceptances, maybe 130 total?
Update 2 (May 22): Accepted off waitlist!!! 2 weekd to decide. Wrote update letter and letter of interest to Dean Garcia.
Update 3: After a revisit to campus, 2 weeks of agonizing debate, and considering financial differences.... Attending! This whole process is just so whacky, I can\'t believe it turned out this way for me.
Summary of Experience:
(Withdrew) liked it, definitely didn\'t love it. Seems sort of a very traditional curriculum. Not a huge fan of Boston. Boston seems expensive for a relatively mediocre quality of life.
Deferred then accepted. But withdrew. BU is great, but the research/training at Sinai is better. Plus, I prefer NYC and Sinai\'s location.
Summary of Experience:
(Withdrew) A great school, but my goals were different than what Temple offered. Temple + Research = Meh. I\'m interested in a research career so this really isn\'t the place for me. If you want to do community health, internal medicine, or ER. This place is pretty awesome.
Summary of Experience:
(Withdrew- :( Big Sad Face ) LOVED, LOVED, loved it. One of my top picks. Great facilities, sweet housing, diverse patients (rich, poor, black, white, jewish, hispanic, etc.), really liberal-artsy type feel to the student body, seemed like everyone had lives outside of school. Shooting up in the rankings as well, and I could see why.
Direct views of Central Park from your apartment and anatomy lab? Incredible!
It doesn\'t have the \"prestige\" factor of other NYC schools (Columbia, maybe Cornell), but I get the sense it\'s a better school/fit for me.
ACCEPTED! Woot. So glad to have this so early.
Withdrew after Stanford acceptance. Sinai will always hold a special place in my heart.
Summary of Experience:
(Withdrew) something about this school really hit me badly. didn\'t feel like the whole jesuit ideals really seemed to permeate anything. Facilities old, students nice (but competitive sounding and workaholic). No P/F. Great talk from the admissions woman though. It\'s a med school interview experience you will never forget. Georgetown is nice...but I think I have some sort of aversion to DC. It\'s just not my type of city.
Withdrew gladly after Sinai acceptance. This just wasn\'t the place for me.
Summary of Experience:
(Withdrew) Decently impressed. Redesigned curriculum seems awesome (but worried about being guinea pigs), Bellevue is cool, but I\'ve heard mixed things about the training environment there (great nurses, mediocre doctors). But...some old facilities (anatomy lab=depressing), wasn\'t too impressed by the students (although, they were very nice). Great area of NYC though. Liked Sinai/Cornell way more though (location, opportunities, \"academic\" atmosphere).
Summary of Experience:
(Withdrew) Not impressed. This was my first interview, and I think almost every other interview day beat it by A LOT.
The Bronx sucks for social life. Facilities are old, run-down. My interviewer was the most stoic, boring person I\'ve met on the trail. She actually made me worry that I one day would become her. Disorganized admissions department. Tour guide quotes of the day, \"Einstein is a Top 5 institution for NIH funding\" (ummmmmm.......no...it isn\'t by a longshot).\"Einstein is the best medical school in the world!\"
Pluses: P/F, cheap, nice housing. Free MPH. Cool clinical opportunities with diverse patients.
Withdrew after Sinai acceptance. I am clearly biased against this place, but my experience was very negative. I don\'t think I would have gone here if it was my only acceptance.
Summary of Experience:
(Withdrew) later interview, worried i\'m just there for the waitlist. good excuse to visit friends in LA!
Like the curriculum, board scores (235 average holy crap!), USC-LA hospital, campus, facilities. Not a huge fan of LA (or the part of LA that USC is in). Expensive...and students seemed cool, but I wasn\'t blown away by their accomplisments. I will admit, everyone there is so nice and genuinely happy (students and faculty). My perceptions of it definitely became way more positive after interviewing, but I think I\'m more of a NorCal interested East Coaster, than a SoCal interested East Coaster.
(Withdrew) Decided Sinai was the better option. Higher ranked, closer to home. I think only UCSF or Stanford could have drawn me to the west coast over Sinai.
squirreldoc took the old MCAT and scored a 36 which is in the 97th percentile of all old scores.
We converted this to a 519 on the updated scale which is in the 97th percentile of the updated MCAT. We also converted squirreldoc’s section scores as follows:
squirreldoc scored a 12 on the Biological Science section of the old MCAT which is approximately equal to a 130 on the Biological and Biochemical Foundations of Living Systems.
squirreldoc scored a 13 on the Physical Science section of the old MCAT which is approximately equal to a 130 on the Chemical and Physical Foundations of Biological Systems.
squirreldoc scored a 11 on the Verbal Reasoning section of the old MCAT which is approximately equal to a 129 on the Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills.
