Brief Profile:
The cycle is FINALLY over for me, after a full year of much cursing and hand-wringing and craziness. I was accepted to my top choice school (University of Colorado) off the wait-list exactly one year and one day after I submitted my AMCAS primary application. I was waitlisted at the majority of schools at which I interviewed; not sure if it\'s because I\'m just not as awesome in person as I think I am, or if I chose schools who waitlisted a ton of people in general, or if this year\'s applicant pool was just super incredible overall.
About me: I enjoy long walks on the beach, scented candles, and chocolate fondue. Oh, sorry, that\'s my match.com profile. I graduated college in 2009 with a government degree, but after doing some political campaigning and working at a law firm, I finally realized that politics was not the right career for me. I volunteered as an EMT for two years and honestly that was the only part of my college experience that I really loved, so I started a post-bacc at my state school immediately afterwards.
I qualified for the AAMC\'s Financial Assistance Program and applied to the full 14 schools that were free for me. I have many years of clinical experience as an EMT and as a CNA, but not much research, so I chose schools that valued community service and patient care above research. Didn\'t want to waste one of my free primaries at a school that I didn\'t have a shot with.
Extracurriculars: ~Volunteer EMT in college with several leadership positions (1500+ hours) ~Several jobs in college; worked for the theater department, a law firm, the School of Foreign Service ~College Democrats with several leadership positions ~Hospital volunteering, quit after a year because it was kind of soul-sucking (150 hours) ~Women\'s Health volunteer (100 hours) ~Undergraduate TA for Calc-Based Physics for one semester ~Some private tutoring for AP chemistry students in high school ~CNA on a telemetry floor for two years, just transferred to rehab closer to home (2500+ hours) ~Physician shadowing; endocrinologist/PCP and occupational health physician (20 hours) ~Homeless shelter volunteer for two years as weekly kitchen lead for dinner service
I don\'t really have a match.com profile.
// Applications //
Application Cycle One: 2011
Undergraduate college: Georgetown University
Undergraduate Area of study: Psychology/Social Sciences
Institution: University of Colorado Post-Bacc
Area of Study: Premedical Studies
Total MCAT SCORE: 514
MCAT Section Scores:
B/B 127,
C/P 129,
CARS 129
Overall GPA: 3.71
Science GPA: 3.97
Application Complete, Rejected
Drexel University
Applying for combined PhD/MSTP? No
Submitted: 06/21/2011
Secondary Completed: 08/16/2011
Interview Invite: No
Interview Attended: No
Waitlisted: No
Accepted: No
Rejected: 04/30/2012
Summary of Experience:
I was put on hold early on in the cycle, then received a rejection letter at the end of the cycle. Probably didn\'t have much of a shot in the first place since this school has so many applicants, but I really liked that you can choose between two pre-clinical pathways.
Summary of Experience:
Received a rejection email at the end of the cycle. I was really interested in this school and love Chicago so much! Bye-bye Loyola. :(
Summary of Experience:
I was super excited about this school, but after several months with no word I was finally rejected. Sad face, New Orleans is AWESOME.
Summary of Experience:
Withdrew after SLU acceptance. After interviewing at NYU, I realized that I wouldn\'t want to move so far away from home and NOT go to school in Manhattan. Fantastic school, though!
Summary of Experience:
Withdrew from this interview because, after consideration, I wouldn\'t have chosen it over the school I\'d been accepted to already that was closer to home.
Summary of Experience:
This was the first time I\'d ever been to NYC and I felt like a deer in headlights the entire time, including at my interview. NYU and Bellevue are stunning places with incredible clinical opportunities. They have a very young, close-knit class but I did get the sense that students were worked really hard. Ultimately, I was rejected post-interview. I was really upset at first, but I think it turned out to be for the best. Maybe this small-town Colorado girl is not cut out for NYC.
Summary of Experience:
I stayed with a fellow SDN member in Cleveland the weekend before the interview and enjoyed the city a lot more than I thought I would. Case has phenomenal clinical and research opportunities. I sat in on a PBL session and wasn\'t entirely sold, but I like the fact that there aren\'t many lecture hours and students are really encouraged to find faculty mentors, get involved in research, etc. I was put on hold after my interview and finally placed on the alternate list. Withdrew after their first round of alternate list acceptances came out--figured I didn\'t have much of a chance after that.
Summary of Experience:
I didn\'t get a great feel interviewing at Rochester. Maybe I was having a bad day, but I didn\'t find the city that exciting and didn\'t get a good vibe from the school overall. There\'s a lot of great research here, but I\'m not that into research and compared to a lot of other cities I visited, Rochester didn\'t offer that much in terms of a diverse patient population.
Summary of Experience:
I was familiar with the med school and facilities already since I was an undergraduate here. The interview day was a little underwhelming, but I thought the students were very friendly and happy. I don\'t love that pre-clinicals are graded, but I\'m not entirely sure that it makes that much of a difference in the long run. I LOVED living in DC and would be happy to return. I did eventually withdraw from the waitlist after I was accepted to my state school.
Summary of Experience:
USC was one of my top choices from early on in my pre-med journey and I was stunned to even get an interview. This school absolutely exceeded my expectations! The students were happy and friendly, and LA County Hospital is just phenomenal. Campus isn\'t in the most exciting area, but LA overall is so big and awesome, it doesn\'t really matter where the campus is. I felt more at home here than any other school save my state school. I ended up being accepted off the waitlist two weeks before the start of classes. It was SO hard, but I had to turn them down in favor of Colorado. I will always <3 you, Keck, and I hope to see you during residency!
Summary of Experience:
MATRICULATING!!! My state school and top choice. The facilities and faculty at Colorado are AMAZING. There is so much growth going on at this school, in terms of both buildings and reputation. Pretty sure I blew one of my interviews, although the other I thought went great. Children\'s Hospital is fantastic, especially since I\'m interested in peds. My mom also is part of a clinical trial here so I know that there\'s some great research going on. I was waitlisted here and had pretty much given up because there weren\'t many spots opening up, but due to some miracle, they pulled me off the waitlist in mid-June. I\'M THE LUCKIEST PERSON IN THE WORLD!!!
Summary of Experience:
This school was my first interview invite, my first interview, and my first acceptance. I was so nervous with it being my first interview that I barely remember it, other than my interviewer was friendly and the security guards were really nice to me and showed me where I was supposed to go. Didn\'t spend enough time in St. Louis to like or dislike it. St. Louis has a really diverse population, though, so this would be a great place to go to med school! I did end up withdrawing my SLU acceptance in favor of Creighton, because I simply liked the feel of Omaha better and it was closer to home.
Summary of Experience:
I interviewed here the last available weekend and was really impressed. I love that this school values community service, and more than any other school I visited, the students really seemed to have developed close bonds with the rest of their class. Omaha was far better than I expected. I chose Creighton over SLU and was planning to go there until I got accepted off the waitlist at my state school I love their program though!
