1. Extensive research. A few rotations in undergrad (1 poster presentation and 2 pubs). Senior thesis (1 symposium talk and 1 pub). 4 year position after graduation (1 book chapter, first author, and 6 pubs, 1 first author). Some Nature, Cell, and/or their sister journals. 2. Volunteering <100h when applying but continuing through application cycle. 3. Physician shadowing ~30h across 2 specialties. Always looking to add to this. 4. Hobbies and such
// Applications //
Application Cycle One: 06/07/2011
Undergraduate college: Boston University
Undergraduate Area of study: Engineering/Technology
Total MCAT SCORE: 472
MCAT Section Scores:
B/B 118,
C/P 118,
CARS 118
Overall GPA: 0.00
Science GPA: 0.00
Summary of Application Experience
SR = secondary received SS = secondary submitted C = complete (secondary received + LORs received) II = interview invite IA = interview attended WL = waitlisted A = accepted W = withdrew R = rejected
TImeline:
Primaries: 08/19/2010 - Took MCAT ($235) 05/24/2011 - Transcript 1 received by AMCAS ($6) 06/03/2011 - Transcript 2 received by AMCAS 06/08/2011 - AMCAS submitted and waiting to be processed ($886) 06/16/2011 - AMCAS processed! Total damage = $1,127
Secondaries: 06/20/2011 - UPitt ($85), UMich ($85), and Cornell ($75) secondaries received 06/24/2011 - UChicago ($75) secondary received 06/25/2011 - Cornell secondary submitted 06/27/2011 - Baylor ($100) secondary received, UPitt secondary submitted 06/28/2011 - UMich secondary submitted 06/30/2011 - Columbia ($85) and UCinn ($25) secondary received Damage this month = $530 Total damage = $1657
07/01/2011 - UVA ($80) secondary received 07/05/2011 - AECOM ($120) and UWash ($0) secondary received, AECOM secondary submitted 07/06/2011 - UIC ($70) and Emory ($100) secondary received, Baylor secondary submitted 07/07/2011 - Stanford ($85) secondary received 07/10/2011 - Columbia secondary submitted 07/12/2011 - UMaryland ($80), UIowa ($60), and UWisconsin ($56) secondaries received 07/13/2011 - UCinn secondary submitted 07/15/2011 - Tufts ($105) and Mayo ($100) secondary received, UWash secondary submitted 07/16/2011 - Mayo, Tufts secondary submitted 07/18/2011 - NYU ($100) secondary received 07/19/2011 - UVA, Emory secondaries submitted 07/20/2011 - UIowa secondary submitted 07/21/2011 - Stony Brook ($100) secondary received 07/25/2011 - Vanderbilt ($0) secondary received Damage this month = $1056 Total damage = $2713
08/01/2011 - Indiana University ($50) interview invite, UWash rejection - first interview invite and rejection same day! 08/02/2011 - UMaryland secondary submitted 08/05/2011 - NYU secondary submitted 08/09/2011 - UIC secondary submitted 08/11/2011 - Cornell rejection 08/12/2011 - Added 3 more schools ($99) - Drexel, Medical College of Wisconsin, and MUSC 08/15/2011 - MCW secondary received ($70), MCW, Stony Brook, Vanderbilt secondaries submitted 08/18/2011 - Stanford secondary submitted 08/23/2011 - UWisconsin secondary submitted 08/24/2011 - NYU rejection, UChicago secondary submitted Damage this month = $219 Total damage = $2932
09/06/2011 - submitted the MSP application for UIUC (they use the primary and secondary for UIC) 09/07/2011 - Drexel secondary received and submitted ($100) 09/08/2011 - UWisconsin rejection 09/09/2011 - AECOM rejection 09/10/2011 - Stanford rejection 09/12/2011 - MUSC rejection, added 1 more school ($33) - Jefferson 09/13/2011 - Jefferson secondary received and sent ($80) 09/15/2011 - UChicago rejection 09/16/2011 - UNC Chapel Hill rejection 09/28/2011 - attended Indiana interview (~$500) Damage this month = $713 Total damage = $3645
10/13/2011 - UIC MSTP interview invite 10/14/2011 - UMich rejection 10/14/2011 - Stanford MD only rejection 10/21/2011 - MCW rejection 10/25/2011 - UMaryland rejection 10/31/2011 - Tufts and Mayo interview invites Damage this month = $0 Total damage = $3645
11/01/2011 - Cornell MD only rejection, Vanderbilt rejection 11/02/2011 - Stony Brook rejection 11/10/2011 - UPitt rejection Damage this month = $0 Total damage = $3645
12/11/2011 - Drexel rejection 12/28/2011 - UIowa rejection Damage this month = $0 Total damage = $3645
01/05/2012 - assuming silent rejection from Columbia 01/09/2012 - attended UIC interview (~$100) 01/17/2012 - Emory rejection, UIC ACCEPTANCE 01/18/2012 - attended Tufts interview ($0) 01/24/2012 - Baylor rejection 01/26/2012 - UIUC MSP interview invite 01/27/2012 - UWisconsin MD only rejection 01/30/2012 - Stony Brook MD only rejection, withdrew from UIUC MSP Damage this month = $100 Total damage = $3745
02/03/2012 - attended Mayo interview ($0) 02/05/2012 - UIowa MD only rejection (not sure when the date was, hadn\'t checked mail in 2-3 weeks) 02/15/2012 - NYU MD only rejection 02/18/2012 - attended IUSM 2nd visit (~$100) 02/24/2012 - WL at IUSM 02/27/2012 - UVA rejection 02/29/2012 - WL at Mayo Damage this month = $100 Total damage = $3845
03/09/2012 - UCinn rejection 03/20/2012 - Jefferson rejection 03/28-31/2012 - UIC 2nd visit (~$150) Damage this month = $150 Total damage = $3995
04/15/2012 - deadline for UIC MSTP acceptance ($100) 04/23/2012 - withdrew from IUSM WL 04/29/2012 - withdrew from Mayo WL --- OFFICIALLY MATRICULATING AT UIC MSTP Damage this month = $100 Total damage = $4095
Stats-wise, I knew I wouldn\'t make the cut but I was hoping all my cancer research/pubs would give me a leg up, what with the Tri-I including MSKCC. Guess not =\\
assuming silent rejection from MSTP (last interview date is 01/06/2012 and it is 01/05/2012). called and said files are moved to MD screen without notifying us.
Invite! Only local school I applied to. Glad I don\'t have to travel for this one.
Although everyone says the preclinical training \"doesn\'t matter\", I think Tufts\' preclinical curriculum is really quite impressive. The level of integration is the most unique and comprehensive that I\'ve encountered so far. The program and students focus really hard on culturing other aspects to life other than science, which for me is important as I am an older non-trad applicant. I think it\'s funny how a lot of the students and faculty that I met are very anti-HMS XD
Beautiful medical campus. Quiet city (from the very limited scope of what I did see = taxi ride from airport to campus). Very impressed with the current students we met for lunch. They seemed very happy with and confident in their education at IUSM. A juicy statistic is that the entire medical school class average on Step I is the 95% percentile. Impressive if true (can I even verify this?)! The relatively new co-director of the MSTP has the right goals in mind for the program. The faculty I met with all seemed to put a great deal of emphasis on mentorship, which is great!
I received an email notifying me that I am one of the top candidates and they would like to invite me back for an all expenses paid second visit (02/16/2012-02/18/2012). This is great because I felt that 1 day at the school didn\'t give me any time to see the city at all.
Second visit was awesome. Met a BUNCH of students. Saw a lot of Indy (it\'s not a small city at all, lots to do). The sim center here is even more impressive than the one at Mayo! (icing on the cake) They are still actively building brand new buildings constantly. Huge projected growth in program and city in next decade... very very attractive school in my eyes now.
Apparently one of the LOR never made it to the office, so my application wasn\'t complete until they emailed me about it and I followed up.
Invite! The trip is from Thursday to Sunday (actual interview days are Friday and Saturday). They pay for lodging and reimburse $400 travel costs. Sweet because I\'m pretty broke right now (had to front the money for a mega pricey conference in Houston).
Well, Mayo really does a good job selling their MSTP program. They have a history they are proud of, and still hold strongly to their mission statement that the patient always comes first. Extensive tours were offered (about 5h total, even of their helipad!) and a dinner at the program director\'s house the night before we left to mingle with more faculty/current students was a nice touch. Unfortunately, I met almost all BME track MD/PhD students (the other large representation was from neuro), which is kind of funny (engineers are the most social?!). I wish I could have spoken to some BMB track students. Bottom line though, the way Mayo views the continuum of clinical practice to bench research to clinical trials (and further iterations) creates a heaven for physician scientists, no matter what your degree, so, this is a great place to train for MD/PhD. The facilities are the nicest I\'ve seen (meditation rooms in the teaching hospital? an old ward converted into sleeping rooms for MS3/4\'s and residents? a rehabilitation center open to employees/students with an amphitheater spinning room and teaching kitchens?). Yeah, Mayo\'s 3 shields - patient, research, education - are obviously quite well funded.
WAITLISTED!!! (but told very highly ranked on the list)
Withdrew 4/29/2012... got an acceptance call after withdrawing.
UIC MSTP will pay for lodging and reimburse $150 travel costs. Decent because my flight to Chicago costs $180.
The city of Chicago was more awesome than I had imagined. It is gorgeous, more \"city\" than Boston, and the canal/lake makes it seem like it\'s on the coast (what I\'m used to). As for the school itself, it has an old look to it like a lot of parts in Boston, but the research buildings I visited are all pretty new. The MSTP staff and research faculty members were all super awesome and friendly. The current students were all really funny people who were from all over the country. I can definitely see myself being happy at UIC and Chicago.
Director emailed me a week later, said the admissions committee met late last week and that I\'M IN!!! YAHOOOOOoooooooooooo!!! Second visit is March 29-30.
Officially matriculating here!
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UIUC MSP starts their file review after January 3rd since it is run by the graduate schools.
Invited for their graduate school recruitment weekend in March. All expenses paid trip. Need to consider whether or not I\'ll go since I\'m already accepted to the UIC MSTP.
Withdrew application pre-interview from UIUC MSP because I would not attend over UIC MSTP. Gave up that free trip!
