Application Cycle One: 06/01/2012

• Undergraduate college: Washington State University

• Total MCAT SCORE: 513
• MCAT Section Scores: B/B 129, C/P 128, CARS 127   Detailed Breakdown
• Overall GPA: 3.72
• Science GPA: 3.56

Summary of Application Experience

Will matriculate at University of Washington School of Medicine.

These are all the updates I sent to UW.

Interviewed early October

Update 1:

Sent late November by mail.

Dear Executive Committee,

With the first round of acceptances being given out, and upon being put on the “Under Consideration” status, I wanted to write this letter stating my specific interest in being considered for acceptance at University of Washington School of Medicine in the fall of 2013.

From the moment I arrived in Seattle, I knew I wanted to stay in Washington and return to the Puget Sound area. I cannot express the feelings I felt at lunch, being able to look out the window at Lake Washington and seeing the trees, sky and water together. At first it was overwhelming, but I soon discovered that I missed the region. Truth be told, I felt like I was home. Being at University of Washington School of Medicine will make me happy in a way that other schools will not. In addition to liking the area, my support group is already established in the region, allowing me to be a more focused student.

In addition to the surroundings, I was amazed by the facilities at UW Seattle and unique opportunities for third and fourth year clerkship sites around the WWAMI region. Regional sites are a huge benefit and I would love to be placed in sites that have a larger Hispanic population so I could fine-tune my Spanish speaking skills. Even if I was not selected to do a clerkship in one of these sites, the advantage of having interactions with physicians and patients in other locations is enormous.

I am also writing to notify the school that my fiancée accepted grants for her Master’s in Teaching that requires her to teach in underprivileged regions. The reason why I am stating this is that both she and I studied Spanish at Washington State University and her goal is to teach at the underserved Hispanic schools in Washington, the same locations that I would eventually like to practice primary care medicine. This reinforces that I will work for the underserved Latino population in disadvantaged areas.

Finally, I would like to keep you updated on my recent activities. Due to the financial aid debacle at Washington State University, I have had to work three jobs to finance my education and application process for medical school. I currently work two teaching assistant jobs and an undergraduate research technician job. I am writing to notify UWSOM that I will be continuing one of the TA jobs the following semester, hopefully teaching three of the anatomy cadaver labs, and continuing my work in the X Lab. I am also in the process of applying for other full time jobs, so hopefully I will be working full time in January. I am currently finishing up the last of my classes and will graduate in December with a B.A. in Foreign Languages and Culture and a B.S. in Zoology, two degrees that will help me tremendously as a medical student and physician.

I am confident that I will make an outstanding addition to the incoming class of 2017. I believe that my background, experiences with the Hispanic population, passion for preventative medicine and academic achievement will make University of Washington School of Medicine a perfect match to my medical education. The ability to do clerkships at smaller hospitals and the culture of the student population highlights that UWSOM will make me the physician that I have always dreamed of being. I hope this new information is taken into account during the next EXCOM meeting when you vote on my application.

Thank you for your time and consideration,
BABSstudent

Update 2:

Sent early January by email.

Dear EXCOM members,

Upon completion of my education at Washington State University, and still being “Under Consideration,” I wrote this letter to update my application for University of Washington School of Medicine for acceptance in the class of 2017. I believe I will be a valuable contribution to the class and that my recent graduation, teaching jobs, research and volunteer work should be added to my application for consideration at the next EXCOM meeting.

I recently finished my college education, completing two degrees in four and a half years. While this has been difficult to do, I graduated with the class of 2012 in December with a B.S. in Zoology and B.A. in Foreign Languages and Cultures. I wish to update my application by stating that I am now advanced in my Spanish speaking abilities. I had been on the verge of becoming advanced, and this last semester of grammar courses and earning an A in it has helped me fix some minor errors in my speaking abilities. While my Spanish is still not perfect, being a University of Washington medical student will benefit me because of the regional sites with a larger Hispanic population. This is the population that I hope to eventually serve.

I also finished up my first semester of being a teaching assistant for both the WSU anatomy class (which uses the Pullman WWAMI anatomy lab and cadavers) and a parasitology class. In both labs, I received high marks as a teacher and have been invited to be a TA for the anatomy class again for three labs. The professor of anatomy invited me to be a TA for another class he teaches, Comparative Anatomy. I will be teaching this class for two labs per week. I enjoy teaching and I believe it builds communication skills which all doctors should master.

In addition to the five labs I mentioned above, which requires working 25 hours per week, I will also be working in the X research lab for 15 hours per week. I have worked there since September 2011 and have enjoyed this introduction to research. The research job and teaching assistant are both paid positions, resulting in me being a full time employee at Washington State University. The hours of work interfered with me being President of the Pre-Health Club, so I stepped down from my position after meeting with advisors and the new President to discuss what I planned for the club. I still will be a member involved in their volunteer efforts.

During my time as President, my main volunteer work that I did was with the Pullman Food Banks. This semester we raised 1,651.5 pounds of food for the food bank. In total, the Pre-Health Club raised 3,592.5 pounds of food donations this last year. Raising food for the food bank has been main volunteering point this semester for the club and me. We raised food for the food bank because some Palouse families had difficulty obtaining food and because my past history using food banks as a child.

I hope all of this is taken into consideration at the next meeting. I believe I will make a great addition to the class of 2017 at UWSOM. Of the schools that I have interviewed at, none have left such a dramatic desire to attend and work in the area as University of Washington has. I hope you will consider my recent graduation with two degrees, teaching experience, fulltime work and volunteer contributions to the food bank from this last semester. I believe my passion for medicine, experiences and my disadvantaged background will add diversity and be a contribution to the University of Washington School of Medicine class of 2017. I hope this new information is taken into account during the next EXCOM meeting when you vote on my application.

Thank you for your time and consideration,
BABSstudent

Update 3:

Sent early March by email.

Dear Executive Committee,

Five months have passed since I interviewed at University of Washington School of Medicine. Since the executive committee will begin making the final group of acceptances, rejections and waitlist positions, I wanted to reaffirm my desire to attend UWSOM while also providing other updates in the hope of being accepted or gaining a higher position on the waitlist at my dream medical school.

First, I have continued all of my jobs with Washington State University. However, one of my job titles has changed since my last update; I am now an instructor with the School of Biological Sciences (verifiable by searching my name on wsu.edu and clicking on the staff link). Previously my title was Teaching Assistant, but this semester it changed due to the higher amount of classes I teach. I will continue these instructor jobs until May and then work in the X lab full time until July.

I have also contacted Dr. X and asked him if I could shadow him again, to which he responded I may. I will shadow Dr. X from Mid-March through April (verifiable by contacting Dr. X on my AMCAS application). Now that I have applied to medical school, I am investigating which specialty I would like to pursue with primary care being something I want to learn more about.

In addition, I began moving towards my goal of being involved with the health aspect of my fiancée’s elementary school class. I recently finished helping to create health lesson plans for her first grade students (verifiable by contacting X on my AMCAS application). The lessons rely heavily on preventative medicine; focusing on teaching the benefits of being active, brushing their teeth, eating a balanced diet and telling adults about problems they may have. This project culminated on the day before Dr. Seuss’ birthday, March 1st, when I went to the class and talked to the students about my career goals and reading to them Dr. Seuss and other books about health and doctors. I hope to make this a yearly activity, as I have enjoyed this opportunity immensely.

Finally, I have been told repeatedly that if I do not get into UW this cycle that I should apply the following cycle. However, I want to notify the executive committee that I have been accepted to Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine and Creighton University School of Medicine including a Medical Dean’s Scholarship for $100,000 over four years to CUSOM. I sincerely hope this does not change the committee’s view of my application to UW.

While I am extremely grateful to been awarded a scholarship like this and admission to other medical schools, I am willing to turn down these offers to attend UW for admission to the class of 2017. Simply put, UW has many opportunities that I wish to utilize that do not exist at these other schools. The ability to stay in state, the underserved focus of UW that would allow me to use my B.A., the third and fourth year sites of WWAMI, the strong research funding UW receives, the primary care focus of UW, the mission statement of the school and my fiancée’s teaching certification in Washington State are all reasons that we have placed UW at the top of our preferred medical school list. If granted an acceptance to UW, I will withdraw from my acceptances to the other medical schools without a second thought.

I hope you consider this at the next meeting or when the waitlist is created. It has been a great honor to be invited to interview as well as remain under considered for admission. I hope my dreams to matriculate at UW come to fruition. I truly believe that I will be a great fit for the University of Washington School of Medicine and attending this school will be best choice for me. I hope you all see this too. Thank you for your time, consideration and work in creating the next generation of doctors.

Best of luck with your voting,
BABSstudent