Brief Profile:
I graduated in 2007 with a degree in Computer Systems Engineering. I worked full time for 2.5 years with a local telecom company as a hardware engineer. Released several products to the field but never felt very satisfied by the work. I decided to quit in October 2009 to pursue medicine. I worked for this particular company from October 2005-October 2009.
I worked for a year, part time, as a CNA at a skilled nursing facility. I enjoyed working with the patients and learned a lot in the time I was there.
In November 2011, I started working full time at the Arizona Humane Society in the Admissions department. I deal with animal turn ins, strays, and euthanasia requests from the public. It sounds sad but my coworkers are a lot of fun and it\'s all in a day\'s work.
ECs, in no particular order: Kappa Kappa Psi, January 2005-May 2008, ~400 hours Active member of Kappa Kappa Psi, National Honorary Band Fraternity through college (joined spring of 2005). Served as Vice President of Membership in 2006-2007 and President in 2007-2008 (I stayed on part time after completing my degree, participating in band and the chapter).
Played flute from third grade on. Not actively involved in an ensemble though I plan to join a community band this fall.
Hospital volunteer, March 2009-July 2010, ~210 hours Child Life & ER
AZ Humane Society Volunteer, February 2011-November 2011, ~70 hours
Research, Summer REU program (2005), 400 hours Poster presentation at SPIE conference in 2006, paper in conference proceedings The research was computer science focused but medically related as well. I wasn\'t even considering medicine at the time so it\'s interesting looking back that I chose to do this particular REU as I applied to others and had a choice of where to go that summer.
I worked as a lifeguard every summer from age 15 until I got the REU gig in 2005. I taught lessons, coached swim team, served as head guard, and got hired as assistant manager for part of the summer until I left to do the REU. Really fun job, worked with a great staff and have lots of good memories. Not sure how many hours, but it was full time for 10 weeks every summer. At least 2000 plus the part time weeks pre and post season.
Shadowed a pediatrician for about 60 hours, a psychiatrist for 20, and an ER doc for probably another 40.
I am married to a DO.
I\'d like to stay in Arizona so here\'s hoping. I applied widely anyway because I couldn\'t stand to repeat the application year if things didn\'t work out.
Oh, I forgot to mention, I took most of my prerequisites at a community college. This was my best option financially and when the classes were offered. We\'ll see if and how much it hurts me. I don\'t expect it to matter much or at all to the DO schools or to my in-state school. I have no upper levels to back that choice up, either. We\'ll see how it turns out.
As for this next year, I will try to find a retail job but I don\'t know how good my chances are at finding something. I will fill my time volunteering, going to the gym, studying spanish, and playing in a community band. I\'ve also got a few other hobbies and projects I can do so I\'m not too concerned about not working, though financially it would be nice.
// Applications //
Application Cycle One: 05/31/2011
Undergraduate college: Arizona State University
Undergraduate Area of study: Engineering/Technology
Total MCAT SCORE: 517
MCAT Section Scores:
B/B 130,
C/P 128,
CARS 130
Overall GPA: 3.95
Science GPA: 3.98
Summary of Application Experience
AMCAS & AACOMAS verified on 6/6.
Application costs: MCAT, including reschedule fee and study materials: $651.39 Interfolio: $81.90 AMCAS: $457 AACOMAS: $321 Secondary Fees for 13 schools: $665 Travel: $1740.45
Total: $3916.74
Applied, Withdrew
University of Wisconsin
Applying for combined PhD/MSTP? No
Submitted: 05/31/2011
Secondary Completed: No
Interview Invite: No
Interview Attended: No
Waitlisted: No
Accepted: No
Rejected: No
Summary of Experience:
Decided not to submit the secondary after my AZCOM acceptance.
Summary of Experience:
Nice school, my first MD interview and I was surprised that the school and hospital were on the same campus (I think many schools are like this but I was not aware of that since none of my local Phoenix schools are like that). I am not expecting an acceptance; I said something in the interview that probably put me on the waitlist, if not rejected. Otherwise I liked the school and the students seemed reasonably happy.
I am only a tiny bit surprised that I got outright rejected instead of waitlisted, but I told them in my interview I\'d rather go to school in AZ. I was nervous and I let too much slip out. Oops. Oh well, I didn\'t really love the school on interview day and I have no connections to NC. It\'s for the best.
Summary of Experience:
MMI was interesting. The new building is going to be awesome. Maybe I\'ll be lucky and get an acceptance 10/17?
Wow, I can\'t believe my in-city school, my #1 choice, rejected me. Sure, I\'m bitter. My professional opinion of this school is now rock bottom. Why were they unable to reject me 4-6 weeks after the interview? Why lead me on for 5 months? I think the application process needs some major tweaking here.
Summary of Experience:
Large facilities and lots of research opportunities available. Seemed like the students study all the time though. I know, it\'s med school, but the students here seemed busier than any other campus I visited. And a test every week? I guess that\'s good to help keep you motivated but I can\'t say I like the sound of that.
Decided to withdraw. My initial goals were to stay in AZ and I\'ve been accepted in AZ, no need to wait it out.
Summary of Experience:
I loved DMU! Very laid back, beautiful and modern facilities, and Des Moines was a lot cooler than I expected. Probably most cities are cooler than Phoenix, though, and the smaller size (but not really \"small\") was refreshing. Should hear my fate in 3 weeks.
Finally withdrew from this school. Loved it, but will be attending SOMA if I don\'t hear from UA Phx.
Summary of Experience:
Small pooled 8/22. Had a great experience at the interview, very friendly faculty and the interview was very laid back and conversational. Huge facilities. Terrible tour! They did not show us most of what MCW has to offer.
Yay! First MD acceptance. Looking back I did like the school a lot, too bad it\'s in WI! It would be so tough to go to WI while my husband is stuck in AZ.
Decided to withdraw to stay in AZ. No need to leave them hanging.
Summary of Experience:
I have been to the campus several times but never seen all of the facilities associated with the medical school. I was really impressed. The faculty were very nice and the interview was very laid back.
Finally withdrew. Will be attending SOMA if I don\'t hear from UA-Phx.
Summary of Experience:
The facilities are nice and the curriculum has been updated to semi-systems based. Students are no longer in class 8-5 every day, and they do block testing now instead of multiple tests for every subject. My husband went here so I was expecting what he went through, but I am happy to see the updates.
The students here seem happy, and KCOM has an excellent reputation in the DO world. I don\'t know that I would handle being away from my husband very well, but the faculty were nice and they have some nice new facilities.
Wow! Quick turnaround on this acceptance. I was on my way to the UI interview.
While I did like the school a lot, it didn\'t top DMU, which is the only school I loved enough to consider going out of state to. So I went ahead and withdrew my acceptance.
Summary of Experience:
Fairly low-stress interview, enthusiastic faculty and students. I\'m hoping for an acceptance here as I think I would be really happy at this school.
My initial feeling of this school, which I didn\'t try to capture at the time, was how at home I felt on this campus. There is so much positive energy it is infectious. As a result, SOMA was my #1 choice as I started my interview season. There is definitely enthusiasm here for this program, the students are humble, and the dedication to the underserved is truly visible here. Everyone believes in the mission of this school and that makes it powerful. I have to decide if I want to be a part of that.
My other interviews confused me. Most programs have bigger/\"better\" facilities than SOMA. It might be nice to have 2nd years on campus. It would be nice to know where I am going to be for 4 years, though most DO programs can\'t promise that, and hopefully my connection to Phoenix is strong enough to keep me here. I might have a really tough decision if I get into UA-Phx--I live right in between the two schools and if those issues are big enough to make a decision on, I know none of them would be a problem at my state school.
Summary of Experience:
Eh. That about sums up my experience here. MMI was conducted in a sort of odd way, and even though the day was apparently beefed up over past years, I think they could have done more to sell their program. The hospital was pretty nice though.
Wow, UA offered me $15,000! Their stock just went way up. My decision has been made even more difficult now.
