Brief Profile:
I submitted a year after I took the MCAT with a retake in mind, since I scored in the mid 30\'s on practice exams. However, I didn\'t have the time to retake and decided that D.O. was a better fit for me. Even though my stats are sub-par for almost every MD school I decided to apply to a few that I felt would resonate with my life experience and commitment to service. I also chose schools that had stats close to mine (based off of the MSAR). I\'m not even sure if I would choose an MD school over a DO school but I will leave that decision for later after I have interviewed and have a better feel for each school.
I will be sure to detail my experience so that it is educational, unlike many profiles on this website. Hopefully you will find it encouraging if not informative.
EC\'s -500+ hrs of community service -Executive Director of a large philanthropic organization -600+ hrs of research (no pubs, two posters and one presentation) -250 hrs of clinical experience -60 hrs shadowing -Member of Phi Delta Epsilon pre-medical fraternity -Leader and member of a medical missions team -Rugby player and coach -Studied abroad at Oxford University -Bunch of tutoring -Supervisor of a high ropes course -Singer-songwriter/musician -Writer -Francophile -Blahblahblah
// Applications //
Application Cycle One: 07/08/2012
Undergraduate college: Azusa Pacific University
Undergraduate Area of study: Biological/Life Sciences
7/26 - As expected, filling out both apps was a pain in the bootay but now that it's done I'm anxious to get more secondaries. AACOMAS verified first, still waiting on AMCAS, which I'm guessing is because of the higher number of applicants. LECOM, DMU, CCOM, and KCOM sent the first secondaries. Grateful for their brevity. More updates as they come.
7/30 - Received secondary from MSU-COM, more essays, wooo....
8/10 - So far received secondaries from Western, PCOM, KCOM, DMU, LECOM, CCOM, Penn State, NYMC, MSUCOM.
9/6 - Received secondaries from all school except for OHSU and UCI. Not sure if I'm going to submit UNECOM's because it's mo money and their match list isn't too impressive. At this point, I'm just wrapping up a few loose ends with my secondaries and waiting for rejections or II's. Or just a long 5 month wait until their classes fill out. I'm not freaking out yet, that'll probably happen in a few months. NOTE: I'm going to compile a timeline of the application thus far when I get the time.
9/14 - First II last week, first rejection this week. II from a DO school, rejection from an MD school (USC). Can't say I'm surprised or very disappointed about USC. I emailed them to get some feedback but I'm pretty sure it was my MCAT that kept me from an interview. I knew coming into this that my MCAT was the primary weak point of my application but applied MD anyways to see if any schools would look past it. I'm pretty sure I want to go DO so this is an experiment: I think MD schools say "We want well rounded, mature, experienced applicants who show they can succeed in medical school," but think, . It's about performance not character or capability. I could rant about this. But I won't. Yet. I'll save that for the end of the app cycle.
Tally of money spent: AMCAS = ~500 AACOMAS = ~500 Secondaries = ~1,000 Total = ~2,000
ATSU - PS = 6/31; SR = 7/25; SS = 8/16; C = 8/30; II = 09/07 CCOM - PS = 6/31; SR = 7/25; SS = 8/17 Creighton - PS = 7/9; SR = 8/20; SS = 9/4; C = Pending approval of LORs DMU - PS = 6/31; SR = 7/26; SS = 7/27; C = 8/10; II = 10/8; IA = 11/29 KCUMB - PS = 6/31; SR = 8/20; SS = 9/5; C = 9/5; II = 9/26; IA = 10/22; I/W = 11/5 LECOM - PS = 6/31; SR = 7/26; SS = 7/26 LLU - W = Pending MSUCOM - PS = 6/31; SR = 7/30; SS = 9/4; C = 9/11 NYCOM - PS = 6/31; SR = 8/27; SS = 9/7; C = 9/17 NYMC - PS = 7/9; SR = 8/3; SS = 8/10; C = 8/10 OHSU - PS = 7/9; SR = N/A Penn State - PS = 7/9; SR = 8/6; SS = 8/7; Complete waiting on II or R PCOM - PS = 6/31; SR = 8/9; SS = 9/5; RFU - PS = 7/9; SR = 8/16; SS = 8/26; C = 9/15 Rush - PS = 7/9; SR = 8/15; SS = 8/28; W UCD - PS = 7/9; SR = 8/16; SS = 9/3; C = 9/3 UCI - PS = 7/9; SR = N/A USC - PS = 7/9; SR = 8/22; C = 8/22; R = 9/14 UNECOM - W = Pending Western - PS = 6/31; SR = 8/2; SS = 8/24; C = 9/4
Legend PS = Primary Submitted SR = Secondary Received SS = Secondary Submitted C = Complete II = Interview Invite RNI = Rejection No Interview RAI = Rejection After Interview I/W = Interview Waitlisted A = Accepted A/W = Accepted from Waitlist
Applied
University of California, Irvine
Applying for combined PhD/MSTP? No
Submitted: Yes
Secondary Completed: No
Interview Invite: No
Interview Attended: No
Waitlisted: No
Accepted: No
Rejected: No
Summary of Experience:
No secondary invite still. Not sure if that means silent rejection or what.
Summary of Experience:
After doing a lot of research into the school and talking with a friend of mine who got in last year, this school has jumped into my top 3 schools. Here\'s hoping!
Summary of Experience:
Again, I really learned a lot about the school filling out the secondary, and enjoyed the approach they took with their secondary questions.
Summary of Experience:
I don\'t feel to hot about this one, the questions were really cut and dry, didn\'t allow me to put my heart into which I think is my best asset. But we\'ll see. I\'d be the first of my school to get an interview if it works out.
Summary of Experience:
Submitted the secondary a while ago. Not really expecting much, and to be honest, after reading through the website the vibe of the school is not service oriented enough for me.
Summary of Experience:
This application is a beast. I finished most of it then put off the essay question to focus on less demanding apps. They basically require you to write a whole new personal statement (blech). But I\'m glad I got it in, I still would love to go to this school.
Summary of Experience:
This was a pain to send out. The PDF form they send out doesn\'t save inputted information properly so I ended up having to half type, half write out the app then mail it in. Lame, but I\'m glad I got it in, I would love to go to this school.
Summary of Experience:
I waited for the secondary invite for a while before realizing no invitation was needed. Funny thing is, four days after submitting the app I received an \"official invite\" lol.
Summary of Experience:
AT Still, the founder of Osteopathic Medicine, and the founder of the first DO school in the nation. Though it wasn\'t at the top of my list at the beginning of the cycle, I am very excited and honored to be invited for an interview.
Summary of Experience:
Took forever to get my secondary completed. Went through a few drafts then sent it in but got delayed when Western lost one of my letters and took two weeks after receiving the re-send to update my profile. I got an interview anyways though :)
11/5 got invited to an interview, scheduled it for 11/29. Glad I don't have to travel too far :)
Summary of Experience:
I submitted on a whim and was surprised to get an interview invite. I liked the school on an intellectual level but wasn't really sure if it was a place I wanted to go to. I ended up falling in love with the school and its students only to find I was wait listed. Though that wasn't a surprise, I was super sleep deprived, rambled too much, and wasn't myself during the interview. Apparently a lot of people get accepted off wait list so there's still a chance.
