I completely understand that I am a long shot for medical school. My GPA is awful, I'm old, and I have a kid and a husband. But I figure that I was a long shot for UC Berkeley, too - I didn't get past my sophomore year in high school, after all. My GPA reflects my lack of academic preparation for the sciences in college, and it was also impacted by an ethical decision I made while I was working toward this goal, regarding taking care of a very ill family member. I have no regrets about that decision at all, as that experience informs who I am and the research that I do now. (And the research I do now rocks, btw.)
All that said, I'd love some constructive advice.
Good luck to everyone applying this year!
PS: I'm applying to Harvard for the rejection letter. I'm going to frame it! :D
Submitted AMCAS Application: 7/14
Submitted AACOMAS Application: 8/1 (needed to wait for my paycheck, lol. I maybe should have put it on my AMEX card, given how long it seems to take to get verified. At least the deadlines aren't looming). Update: 8/22, Major transcript confusion is holding up my app. Starting to get worried about this. Won't have time to resend until next week... ack!
AMCAS Verified: 8/12 (woot!)
8/22: So far, 2 screened secondaries (yay!) and no rejections. Schools have now been reviewing my completed application for 5 days now. The suspense is actually kind of fun, kind of torture. I am particularly anxious about the UC's. I'm just happy that they seem to be reading my application instead of sending me a rejection out of hand, based on my numbers. In other news, UW's secondary is killing me. I've now spent 2 evenings trying to fill out their, 'Since highschool' question and their essay. I'm learning a lot about myself in this process, though. Finally, thank you everyone for your really wonderful comments - they have done wonders for my serotonin modulation. ;)
9/2: Rejected this morning from WVU. Not happy to be rejected, of course, but happy to have the first one out of the way. Still waiting on 2 LORs. Once those are in, all secondaries will be complete.
9/16: Rejected yesterday from EVMS. BUT, got a secondary from OHSU. STILL WAITING on an LOR to come through. She sent it out Thursday snail mail to Interfolio, and they haven't posted it as being received yet. I've had to ride them like a pony this whole time to get stuff up on my profile. Le sigh. Also AACOMAS is still processing my application. Le bummer.
10/9: Got the coveted secondary from Touro-NY on 10/6! This means I have an interview!!! I'm so, so surprised! I've also gotten all of the secondaries from the DO schools I applied to, and will be filling them out for the rest of the week. My goal is to have all of the outstanding secondaries in by next Tuesday. Most of them are 80% complete. Still waiting on any UC to show me secondary love. Haven't been rejected from any but Drew. Thanks to everyone who's been commenting and rooting for me
10/16: Got rejected from UCSF. I've been suffering from a low grade depression all week. And on top of that, I wrote down the deadline for Loyola one day late on my calendar. Still writing secondaries. Work has been really crazy, home has been extra crazy with special sauce... I'm starting to get tired and frustrated.
10/20: Rejected from Pritzker and Vermont today... so far. I'm at work, so we'll see what's in the mail when I get home. Sad, but not surprised. Still, it would be so nice to get a phone call from a school wanting an interview. Note to self: Do not get excited about any particular school for the rest of the season.
10/27: Rejected from MCW. Husband is delighted, thinks Milwaukee is dreary. I tried to get hold of Touro NY today, and the phone just rang and rang. And, I got my letter from AMCAS telling me that my dismal writing score will stand. OK. I just need one school, just one, to see the whole picture. In the mean time, I'm going to enjoy my family, rock my job and keep moving forward.
10/29: Called UW this morning. The nice lady told me they'll be sending me an interview invite 'soon.' AHHHH!!! Wooooohooooo!
11/25: Been a while since I updated - some crazy personal stuff going on 'round these parts. Anyhoo, I got rejected from Boston U and Tulane (soooo sad about that) this month. I also appealed my rejection from UCSF in the middle of the month, but haven't heard back yet. I turned 40 at the beginning of the month. I have an interview with Touro - NY at the beginning of Dec., and I'm preparing for that by reading the entire website, my entire application, interview feedback, and watching a lot of documentaries on healthcare issues. Wish me luck!
Every once in a while, I get really excited about all of this... and then I lapse back into that weird existentialism that seems to define this whole process.
11/28: Got my official interview invite from UW. They told me on the phone when I called for a status update, but kind of figured that it was a clerical error until today. I'm just blown away and so excited. YAY!!!!
12/6: So, I decided to appeal the pre-secondary rejection from UCSF... and I prevailed! They told me by phone last week that I'll be getting it sometime this week. I am very, very grateful. All I want is an opportunity to throw my hat in the ring for the JMP - Prime program. I was homeless on and off for 4 years in San Francisco in my teens and early 20's, most of my work to date has been with that population, and I'm hoping that will be the case for the rest of my career. I know that realistically I'm probably wasting money. Wish me luck anyway. One more thing - I interviewed at Touro-NY last Tuesday, and it felt like it went really well. I love NYC, it was nice to be back!
12/15: I started down this path 14 years ago. My family thought I was insane. Friends who have known me since high school thought it was a joke. But guess what, folks? I'M GOING TO BE A DOCTOR!!!! WOOOOOOT!!!!
1/22: Went to my UWisconsin interview... wow. What a fabulous school. I am so impressed with them - hopefully, they're impressed with me, too! :D
2/13: So, I got into U Wisconsin, and couldn't be happier. And now I'm going to let the cat out of the bag, so to speak - I'm 20 weeks pregnant. No hiding it now, lol! The baby is due 7/2! Wish me luck - what a year!
2/24: I got as big a scholarship from U Wisconsin as a person can get. I am stunned. Just blown away. I'm buying a styrofoam block of cheese for my head, buying Badgers regalia for my entire family and renting our house. We're going to MADSION!!! WOOHOO!!!
2/27: Final comments (and I'm so happy that I can make them before March): This whole process has been a pretty wild ride for me. Part of it is that I've spent most of the cycle pregnant. Part of it is that I have a lot of other life issues that are riding were riding on the outcome - work, family, house, lack of money, etc. And part of the drama was admittedly self generated, as I have the pre-med neurosis as much as anyone.
I genuinely went into this thinking that I was simply going to spend a lot of time and energy getting closure on a life-long dream. I didn't think I'd get into medical school, and probably would have tried to apply again, but once I got pregnant, I thought even that door would be closed for a long time. So I was genuinely surprised to get into not one, but two schools. And this final bit of news about the scholarship ... I haven't really processed it yet. I do know that it will allow me to really do what I wanted to do in the first place, which is provide culturally competent medical care for poor folk and do good research on the issues of poor folk.
I got into the right schools. Both of them had mission statements that were in perfect accord with my own ideals. I really believe now that these admission committees know what they're doing.
For me, this cycle is done and I'm getting ready to move the fam to Wisconsin. Feel free to comment, though! :D
3/14: OK, so final, final comments: I have been getting a lot of comments and pm's lately politely asking how I got in with my stats, and so I thought I'd answer them here. I took a few classes after I graduated and did well, but I don't think they had much bearing on the outcome. This is not to say that it wouldn't for someone else, and I often advise my volunteers to do post-bacc work if they're a little weak in either gpa or mcat.
I think what got me in is something that won't work for 99.999% of applicants with my stats. I'm an anomaly in the application process. Without going into personal details, I fit into an unusual demographic that these particular schools are looking for, and no, I'm not a URM. Other things that might have worked in my favor: I have a good reason for wanting to be a doctor; I told a consistent story in my application and secondaries; my extra-curriculars were unusual but consistent with my story, and long term; I'm older, so I've had a LOT of leadership positions. Finally, I've been working toward this since 1995. Were some of you even alive in 1995? Lol.
Good luck to all of you!
