Actual (8/17/12): 15/14/12 = 41R. What an incredible surprise!!
--Extracurricular Activities-- 300 hrs hospital volunteering (with leadership) 600 hrs research (2nd author publication; many posters) 120 hrs tutoring/mentoring kids 50 hrs tutoring peers 1 semester TA 2 summer jobs in retail 225 hrs non-clinical volunteering (with major leadership) A few university-level awards 1 major scholarship 2 mission trips
--Shadowing-- 60 hrs (derm, ortho, family, neuro)
--Letters of Recommendation (letter quality is subjective, of course, but I did read most of them)-- PI (science, very strong) Faculty Mentor/professor (science, strong) Professor (science, strong) Volunteer coordinator (non-science, strong)
// Applications //
Application Cycle One: 06/30/2013
Undergraduate college: State School
Undergraduate Area of study: Biological/Life Sciences
Total MCAT SCORE: 524
MCAT Section Scores:
B/B 132,
C/P 132,
CARS 130
Overall GPA: 3.98
Science GPA: 3.99
Summary of Application Experience
Boy was this a long ride. I regret not applying to more schools, but some personal circumstances made it impossible to travel as much as necessary for interviews. I'm creating this profile now, at the end of my cycle, because this website was so helpful to me. If you're reading this, please pass the favor forward and create a profile for future generations.
Applied, Rejected
Mayo Medical School
Applying for combined PhD/MSTP? No
Submitted: 06/30/2013
Secondary Completed: No
Interview Invite: No
Interview Attended: No
Waitlisted: No
Accepted: No
Rejected: 11/14/2013
Summary of Experience:
Was probably too cold for me anyway!
Summary of Experience:
A great school, from what I've heard from fellow applicants. Sad that I never got the chance to interview, but understanding because UCSF is such a lofty institution.
Summary of Experience:
I expected to visit WashU and walk into a hungry pack of gunners. Only the opposite was true. While the students here are incredibly motivated and ambitious, I never caught scent of any competition. While I'm sure it exists, the students here seemed pretty happy, albeit a little quirky. WashU is great in that they set you up with free housing in their student dorms during the interview. Keeping with the intimate theme, my interview group consisted of only 8 students. Really makes you feel exclusive. The actual interview (singular!) was probably the most chill one I had all cycle.
The facilities here are magnificent, paralleling the top-flight research that goes on at WashU. I would have loved to attend, but this is the type of place where there's no room for the laid-back. The students weren't gunner-y but I don't think you can escape the competition that naturally comes from being surrounded by such ambitious people.
***Everyone should read this*** WashU's need-based aid policy is surprisingly generous, yet surprisingly uncelebrated. The deal is this: your loans are *capped* at 25K/year. This means that, for the ~70K/yr total cost of attendance, if you pull out 35K/yr in loans, they will convert 10k of that into grant money. On the extreme end of the spectrum, if you need to pull out loans to cover the full cost of attendance, you will ONLY end up with 25k/yr in loan money. This sounds too good to be true, so fact-check it yourself. But still, what I said should be generally correct.
Summary of Experience:
The medical center is beautiful. And so are the students. Baylor does a great job of selecting well-rounded applicants and it shows when you speak with them. Everyone is down to earth and laid back, but also motivated and hard working. The 18-month pre-clinical curriculum is also one of the best set-ups in the country. The results speak for themselves -- Baylor consistently scores a Step 1 average >=240. Houston weather is miserable by my standards, but I take solace in knowing that I can get between most buildings without going outside for long.
This school tied as a first choice alongside Michigan, but a $60K scholarship ultimately swayed me to stay in Texas. Attending in August!
Summary of Experience:
Michigan is a place that's easy to fall in love with. The admissions office there puts on an impressive interview day and sends a strong and clear message about what Michigan stands for. What was especially attractive to me was the level of student happiness I saw here. The 2 full years of *true* pass/fail really works wonders for reducing stress and encouraging a "team" mentality amongst classmates. How great is it? Many students noted that they were having more fun in med school than in undergrad. Granted, those students came from private institution notorious for the opposite atmosphere (e.g. Cornell), but they said it with such enthusiasm that I know they were being truthful. A couple other students phrased it this way: Michigan is a place where you can fit med school into your life, not have to fit your life into med school. (I believe this statement too).
A contributing factor to their up-beat atmosphere is the fact that they're adjacent to the undergraduate half of the university. Coming from a state school myself, this played a big role in making me feel at home. I know I will miss college when I leave for med school, so the thought of staying "in" college, especially at a sports powerhouse like Michigan, seemed like a dream come true. These things, combined with Michigan's prestige, put Michigan at the top of my list. However, steep out-of-state costs and scholarships at competing schools beckoned me back to reality. Painfully withdrew 5/1/2014.
Summary of Experience:
UTSW was one of my top choices going into the cycle. After visiting the school, however, I left relatively unimpressed. Though UTSW is a fine institution with some great facilities, I got the sense that the students were overworked. This isn't to say that they were not happy, but it seemed like they had the heaviest workload of the schools I visited. That would be okay if it translated into tangible benefits down the road, but I couldn't find any payoffs for it. Students at other schools seemed as successful while being happier and less stressed. Still, it's a great school. Just not the one for me.
