Brief Profile:
GPA & MCAT are altered for anonymity, but they are within range (MCAT > 37, GPA > 3.75 ). MCAT was taken without the writing section. Demographics also altered.
This is fictional, but close (enough) to the truth: I double majored in Biology and Philosophy and took a gap year.
Here is a vague list of activities that represents the spirit of what I actually did & put on AMCAS. Hours are also similar but not exact:
- clinical volunteering in several different settings (some semi-"unique" non-hospital volunteering): 300 hrs - science research in several settings with publications (not first author, minor journals): 2000 hrs - president of 1 science and 1 non-science club: 250 hrs - work (minimum wage): 400 hrs - TA: 300 hrs - shadowing: 50hrs - senior thesis - misc honors & awards of not very significant nature - hobbies (sports & things)
When listed as above it sounds pretty boring. However, I think the activities section is a place to showcase the interesting things you learned from your experiences. You can have awesome sounding experiences that you learn nothing from. I think it's better to have experiences that are awesome because of what you got out of them and what you were able to accomplish.
The dates for interviews listed below are also not exact, but they are in within 1-2 weeks of my actual interview dates.
I applied and was accepted to my state school, but I have not listed it. As you can probably tell, I am a little weird about anonymity.
Undergraduate Area of study: Biological/Life Sciences
Total MCAT SCORE: 523
MCAT Section Scores:
B/B 130,
C/P 130,
CARS 132
Overall GPA: 3.80
Science GPA: 3.80
Summary of Application Experience
Done with the application voyage and getting ready to start school, so I am trying to pay it forward. I found MDapps quite useful for deciding where to apply and figuring out when it was reasonable (most of the time) to expect news from schools. Profiles I found highly useful (I hope it is OK to list them here): Tots, TheKDizzle, pyrrion89, jeghaber. There are many more, but I can't recall them at the moment.
In the end I "took the money" at one of the generous institutions that offered me a scholarship. I really can't believe the amazing things that happened to me over the past year. I am very grateful. I mention this because I know there is a lot of debate after acceptances come out about "following one's heart" vs. "taking the money". Tricky choice that will be different for everyone. I would like to say that any decision is "right" so long as you make it so. I am really excited and thankful to soon be a med student.
Some of my other ramblings/ observations:
I applied to too many schools. I was nervous and figured it would be better to over-apply than under-apply. Hindsight is 50/50 blah blah blah.
I will not be posting any interview impressions because I wouldn't be contributing that much more objective information. There is already a lot of good stuff out there. I came out of interview season feeling that most schools are fundamentally very similar. It is like the frequently made observation that although applicants strive to look unique, most applicants are not unique. In the same way, medical schools try to stand out from each other, but most of them are really all the same where it matters (providing reasonable medical education). It is to everyone's benefit to focus on the "unique", but I think that most people who get accepted to similarly ranked medical schools will be fine wherever they go.
This process is seemingly very random. Ultimately, you will (probably) only attend 1 medical school. It doesn't matter whether you get in right away or are accepted off the waitlist if you end up in the same place. Hopefully you will end up where you want to go, but if not hopefully you can make whatever school you end up at your "dream school".
Application Complete, Rejected
Columbia University
Applying for combined PhD/MSTP? No
Submitted: Yes
Secondary Completed: 07/11/2013
Interview Invite: No
Interview Attended: No
Waitlisted: No
Accepted: No
Rejected: 02/26/2014
Summary of Experience:
SR 7/8 | SC 7/8 | C 7/12 | R 2/27
Summary of Experience:
SR 9/9 | SC 9/10 | C N/A | II 11/12 | IA 12/15 | R 3/4 Not sure why I applied here late/ at all. I have weird feelings about Harvard that I don't exactly understand. Didn't apply here expecting much, and I didn't get much. I felt like the interviewers I had really emphasized the question "where will you be in _____ years?". Might just be me, but I think they wanted me to tell them the awesome things I'd be doing in the future. Unfortunately, I hadn't prepped a dazzling answer. Not sure that would have ultimately mattered either way.
Summary of Experience:
SR 7/3 | SC 7/6 | C 7/12 | II 8/8 | IA 9/21 | H 12/24 Initially apprehensive about small class size, but interview day was awesome. Oddly (or tellingly?), I was not too bummed by the waitlist/ hold.
Summary of Experience:
SR 7/3 | SC 7/6 | C 7/12 | II 8/8 | IA 9/22 | H 10/16 | W 4/18 Unfortunately, Case seemed very lackluster to me after the CCLCM interview. Perhaps I was just tired.
Summary of Experience:
SR 7/9 | SC 7/11 | C 7/22 | II 8/30 | IA 9/30 | W 4/24 I would've been surprised by the outcome (I have ties to Baylor), but I learned that nothing should be a surprise in this process. They took a really long time in getting back to me, though.
Summary of Experience:
SR 7/4 | SC 7/23 | C N/A | II 8/28 | IA 10/25 | W 3/10 | A 5/19 Quite surprised to be accepted off the waitlist. According to what I remember from interview day, the 2012-2013 cycle saw no waitlist movement. Apparently 2013-2014 was very different.
Summary of Experience:
SR 7/15 | SC 7/16 | C 7/17 | II 8/21 | IA 9/24 | A 10/31 Surprised and impressed by Mount Sinai. Prior to interview day, I didn't have a very good feel about what Mount Sinai's deal was. I think they sell themselves very well on interview day.
Summary of Experience:
Fee paid 7/3 | Fee received 7/5 | LOR request 7/8 | C 7/21 | II 8/25 | IA 9/13 | A 10/15 I really don't know how I got accepted here. My only guess is that my personal goals aligned really closely with the school's mission (?)
Summary of Experience:
SR 7/2 | SC 7/3 | C 7/23 | II 8/9 | IA 9/10 | A 12/12 Went in slightly skeptical, came out completely in love. Definitely my hands down favorite out of all the schools I interviewed at. I was really impressed by the down to earth but crazy smart students and the top notch clinical education offered. If not for financial drawbacks, I would have matriculated here.