Application Cycle One: 05/31/2010

• Undergraduate college: University of Wyoming
• Undergraduate Area of study: Biological/Life Sciences

• Total MCAT SCORE: 513
• MCAT Section Scores: B/B 130, C/P 126, CARS 129   Detailed Breakdown
• Overall GPA: 3.78
• Science GPA: 3.69

Summary of Application Experience

6/2/2010 - AMCAS Submitted

Having completed my second lap through this application nonsense I feel like I should write a little bit about how it\'s all gone. Since I\'m from Wyoming WWAMI was always the best option. Low tuition at one of the best schools in the country is definitely a win. With this in mind I only applied to UW my first time through. This is was a mistake, as I found out when I received word I was on the alternate list. I didn\'t get accepted that cycle, so then I kicked it into overdrive. I\'ll be damned if I have to go through this 3 times. Applied to lots of schools, played my cards, and came up better for it this time. Luckily and praise be to god I got into WWAMI this year. I also received a few other interviews, and I got to travel and see things that I wouldn\'t have been able to otherwise. I\'ll give a quick rundown of my two other interviews and my impressions.

+Temple+
This was my first interview, and I really had a good time travelling and seeing the school. It felt kind of like an honor that the school was interested in me. The school (brand new) was very nice, and the guides seemed happy, but that\'s their job right? Everything was well organized and informative. I was interviewed by one of the deans of the medical school, and he was kind of a downer. The interview lasted an hour, which made me half an hour late for my student interview. This codger asked me all sorts of questions about Wyoming, and seemed fairly skeptical of me and my motivations. The student interviewer was nice though. Main con for this place is the RIDICULOUS tuition. The whole debt picture kind of came into focus during this fin aid talk.

+Tulane+
Another fun and interesting trip. The facilities here are understandably less shiny than Temple, but there was a sense of service and comraderie here that I didn\'t feel as much at Temple. Some of the buildings were old, and kind of spread apart, but overall not too bad. Again, had a really goofy interviewer who made sticking to my guns and answering questions very difficult. Student interview was fairly mediocre as well. My second faculty interviewer here was a nice old southern man who was fun to talk to. He too seemed skeptical of my origins in Wyoming, but he was more inquisitive and less judgemental than the Temple guy. He had a bowtie too, which is cool with me. Main con again is expense. Ugh.

Update 2/16/11 - Accepted! After what I thought was a lackluster interview, I found out I got the nod. Makes me feel good even though I won\'t be attending.

Overall, thank the lord I finally got into an amazing school that I can afford to go to. I love the west and people out here much better than the east coast, and I feel blessed for the opportunities I have been given. In terms of advice I would just say that it is important not to let med school applications define you. Keep being yourself and eventually someone will pick you out of the crowd. There are certainly many issues with the whole process that place undue strain on applicants, but I hope for the best for everyone else travelling down this ridiculous road. :)