Brief Profile:
MCAT: 3 attempts.[Raised PS score from 7 to 11] c/sGPA: 3.4-3.6 (History, Biology) gradGPA: 4.0 (Biology, M.S. 2 year thesis program.)
Re-applicant. Applied 2008-2009. No interviews. 28Q MCAT, 3.48cGPA, 3.37sGPA. DON\'T do what I did: I applied July 16th, application was processed by August 8. I completed most secondaries end of Aug. - Sept. Some in October. I took my first MCAT examination Aug. 2008.
volunteering -- 1. Nursing home volunteer (~200 hours at 2 locations, collected over several years) 2. Volunteered at a local high school - ACT prep (~80 hours over one year)
research -- 3. Paid research assistant. work study - 1.5 years, ~2-5 hours per week. 4. Research with medical department for one semester. 5. Graduate degree thesis.
Teaching-- 6. TAed a small class. 7. TAed a class with over 100 students.
Employment -- 8., 9., 10. Various hospital internships in different departments at a teaching hospital. 6-8 weeks, 40 hours per week. Involved lots of shadowing. 11. Work-study employment - 3 non-clinical jobs. Worked 12-20 hours per week during school for 2 years.
Extracurriculars -- 12. President of a social justice chapter - fundraising and community involvement (~5 hours per week of work). 13. Sorority sister - limited involvement. 14. Involvement in an organization to encourage students to join the medical field - I was involved during high school. 15. Involvement in my graduate housing cooperative (~5 -15 hours of work).
I also sent an update to most of my schools regarding additional shadowing during summer of application (~20 hours with 2 doctors).
LORs: 1. my PI - graduate advisor. Knew me for 1.5 years (activity 5 and 6) 2. PI involved in my undergrad research. Knew me for 6 months (activity 4) 3. Undergraduate adviser in the humanities. Knew me for 3 years. Took two classes with him and advised me on my capstone research project. 4. Science professor who taught me a class. Knew me for 5 months. 5. Boss involved with paid research experience. Knew me for 1.5 years (activity 3)
I had 2 science faculty letters, 1 humanities/social science letter, 1 research letter, and 1 research/boss letter. I also sent an additional LOR for an undergraduate science professor who knew me for 5 months to schools that required 2 science letters from faculty who taught me during undergrad.
// Applications //
Application Cycle One: 06/17/2010
Undergraduate college: Top 50
Total MCAT SCORE: 513
MCAT Section Scores:
B/B 129,
C/P 128,
CARS 127
Overall GPA: 3.58
Science GPA: 3.45
Summary of Application Experience
Key: reapp: Applied here before SR: Secondary Received SS: Secondary Submitted SC: Secondary Complete SP: Small Pooled II: Interview Invite I: Interview OH: Post-Interview On Hold aka Active Status Pool
interview 1: Round-trip Flight to Roanoke (with transfers): $300.21 Hotel ( first time staying at a hotel by myself): $77.28
interview 2,3,4 (friday, saturday and monday - clumped interviews): Flight to Chicago -> Omaha -> Chicago -> Home: $317.30 Staying with Host in Omaha: $40
Interview 5: Renting a Car for Two Days: $88 + $33 for gas + $10 for tolls (round-trip) Hotel in Pontiac, MI: $78 + $30 on gas + $10 on tolls
Interview 6, 7 (thursday, friday): Flight to Kansas City -> Chicago -> Home: $272.80
Interview 8,9 (friday, monday): One-way Flight to Milwaukee, Wis: $120 got family pick up from WIS to Chicago (free) One-Way Amtrak from Chicago to La Plata, MO: $94 Flight from Kirksville, MO to St. Louis (Cessna 402): $49 St. Louis to Home: $79
Interview 10: Roundtrip to Chicago(via megabus): $30.50
Total: $ 5854.06 :/ I\'m keeping some costs down by staying with people I know OR student hosts. yay. I didn\'t include taxi ride, public local transit, and food costs.
--- Interviews --- Virginia Tech Carilion: Very interesting interview. Lots of fun! But very draining and left you confused as hell about how you did. Nice staff, students, new building -- still alittle unsure about their curriculum as they are still setting everything up (I did not like that they were talking about changing the 3rd/4th year even though they had no idea how and no idea what they are doing -- so that made me nervous) -- but I am sure everything will befigured out so I am excited to see how the first year turns out. Hopefully I get accepted because this program seems perfect for me.... even if it does have some hmmmmm moments
Rosalind Franklin (CMS): Really liked the atmosphere, people and the old-school curriculum. Also -- great clinical teaching hospitals (even if not affiliated), nice to do rotations elsewhere, and great match list. Classes recordered and interprofessionalism. Downside: Large classes, middle of nowhere location (mainly no bars nearby), relocating during third/fourth year, and the whole feel that alot of students only got accepted there. Why does CMS have such a \\\"bad\\\" rep because it seems pretty wonderful. Lots of focus on preparing good physicians (with a tad bit of research if you want to do that)
Creighton: Absolutely loved the school. Stress free interview, nice tours, and friendly students and staff. Great focus on service and internationalism and working together. It seems like a great school to go to. Omaha looked very nice too -- lots to do! Good clinical rotations also (and can be in phoenix) concerns: high tuition, nothing else really...
CCOM: Overall a very good school -- good match list, clinical rotations, and reputation. Everyone seemed friendly and happy. Seemed like a lot of class time though and no video/audio recordings. Alittle too much of a white suburban sterile environment for me.
Oakland: Very impressed by this new school. They have the curriculum well thought out, a very nice campus, and an amazing hospital system (over 1000 beds at the main one, 80 ORs, and just gorgeous). I would see alot of different types of patients from day one. Also -- relatively cheap admission and small class size (50 for the starter class). I would be very excited to be accepted! The only down size is the lack of mentoring from older classes -- but I\\\'m hoping for some type of scholarship to make that downside seem less important (here\\\'s hoping)
KCUMB: !! I very much liked this school and Kansas City. faculty seems to care, laid back students, system-based integrated learning program [probably the coolest part about the school], clinical research (only place in kansas city area that does Trial 1 testing). They have an great interview day setup that really makes you feel like you already belong there (even took my white coat size). Only downside is that it\\\'s a big class of 250, but it has everything I am looking for in a school. [I need to look into their match list though]
UIC: So excited and blessed to have been interviewed here. I really enjoyed the interview day -- and the interviewers were great. It\\\'s the first interview I think I did really well at and I felt comfortable there. pros: great location, great schools, diverse student body, very active student body (lots of clubs, student-run health center), urban med focus, research opportunities, nice staff, cheap tuition. cons: somewhat run-down facility, but that can be overlooked due to the tuition. Very hopeful for an acceptance!
MCW: pretty much this schools has everything I wanted (from all the other schools) and a pretty low tuition and pretty close to home. I think this is officially my top choice. Integrated curriculum, usmle-style tests, Team-based learning, good clinical rotations, happy students, nice staff, early exposure to patients, new gorgeous building. No downsides whatsoever. I am suppose to hear from them in a week or two (ah!)
ATSU KCOM: Had two one-hour interviews and 1 30-minute interview. I enjoyed two of the interviews very much and felt like I had an overall good day. When I enjoy the interviews, I tend to love the school. Great campus and student body, best omm set-up, great match list. Cons: old-school curriculum, traveling for 3rd/4th year, and middle of nowhere campus (but this is also a positive in some respects because I need exposure to rural populations)
Rush: great sounding curriculum (mixture of lecture and small groups) and LOVED the clinical rotations. Would love to be at cook county by 3rd/4th year. Unfortunately, alittle too much primary care focus the third year .. and the building seemed alittle old... and some weird-vibe from current students (they were all happy with the school... but not my type of people...).... but this is a good contender -- even with the other acceptances -- I might end up here for family reasons (if accepted).
Applied
Southern Illinois University
Applying for combined PhD/MSTP? No
Submitted: 06/24/2010
Secondary Completed: No
Interview Invite: No
Interview Attended: No
Waitlisted: No
Accepted: No
Rejected: No
Summary of Experience:
No further contact. Not from rural area nor am I an urban minority.
Summary of Experience:
SR: 8/13 SS: 8/25 SC: 9/7 R: 2/16/11 \"Although your application was in an interview category, we can only interview a small percentage of our applicants.\"
