Undergraduate Area of study: Biological/Life Sciences
Total MCAT SCORE: 517
MCAT Section Scores:
B/B 129,
C/P 129,
CARS 130
Overall GPA: 3.90
Science GPA: 3.85
Summary of Application Experience
Hoping AMCAS will be verified in 7-10 days (today is 08/08)...oh well, gives a bit of time to write good essays for secondaries Hoping to submit all secondaries in August (haha, that didn't happen...).
Verification date: mid-august
A bit about me: speak many languages (it's my hobby), research since freshman year (contributed to poster presented at national conference, secondary author publication pending this semester/year), studied abroad several summers, volunteered abroad, volunteering at a skilled nursing facility and children's nursery, on exec board of a few organizations...love to play basketball, run, and exercise...love to read articles and books...love talking to people and learn new things/give advice
UPDATE (09/04): School's started, still working on secondaries. I should be completely finished within a week or so. Still have about 8 left :/. Decided not to complete secondary for RFU because I can't see myself going there.
UPDATE (09/11): Submitted Texas A&M secondary few days ago, waiting for them to update me to complete. Also submitted Northwestern secondary. Will finish/submit Emory secondary today, then move onto Iowa's and the atrocious UCSD secondary (6000 character autobiography). Last one will be Loyola's, if I decide to do it. Still waiting on UNC to send me their secondary (essays pre-written). Maybe I'll call?
UPDATE (09/24): All apps submitted except for Loyola's. Will probably finish that by tomorrow. Darn unique essays...
UPDATE (09/25): Finally DONE! Submitted Loyola's app, just waiting to be marked complete at Iowa. Nice, LOR request at Mayo.
UPDATE (10/22): Had interview at SLU today. School and interview impressions at UTSW, UTMB, and SLU have been posted. Also corrected my GPA..forgot AMCAS had it slightly higher than what it really is, haha.
UPDATE (10/31): Silence from 17/23 schools. Hopefully November will be a bit better than October, haha. Wish I had applied in June/July so I could have saved myself the trouble of waiting so much.
UPDATE (04/02/14): Going to either UTMB or UTSW if I get in off the waitlist there (should hear back by mid-May). This whole process has been very strange, as I received 2 interviews from TX (no connections) state schools and just 1 from IL (resident), which was UIC (was expecting Rush and/or Loyola), and serves to prove the unpredictable nature of admissions. Will update again when I have a final decision.
Cost Breakdown:
MCAT-$240 (due to $30 Amazon gift card) AAMC exams-$245 AMCAS (19 total schools) and TMDSAS-$790+$135=$925 Secondaries-$1609 Suit/Dress shoes/3 dress shirts on sale with discounts at Macy's-$401
Travel fees: used airline miles for TX trip-$7.50 dad's tickets to TX (ORD-HOU, HOU-DFW, DFW-ORD)-$475 hotel in Galveston-$63 hotel in Dallas-$99 rented cars in TX-$102 food in TX-$150 (don't ask...) rented car to St Louis (dad came down and didn't want to use family car)-$70 food in St Louis-$22
OVERALL-
If you guys have any questions, feel free to PM me.
Applied
Rosalind Franklin University
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:
don't think I'll do the secondary, can't see myself going here....
Summary of Experience:
submitted 09/09, sent e-mail on 16th and received reply (09/18) that I was marked complete (having some technical difficulties this year)
Interview day was really nice. Parkland is a fantastic (and huge) teaching hospital (great clinical training-emphasis on really honing skill during 3rd and 4th years) with one of the largest trauma centers in the US and also nearly delivers most babies in the world (aside from a hospital in Indonesia). Top-notch research and good atmosphere. Learned about extremely diverse patient population (one of my interviewers claimed to know how to say basic phrases in about 10 languages or so, including Punjabi!...being able to practice my language skills would be really nice)
Other notes: 1st semester P/F, 2nd year integrative courses, no crazy exam weeks, average STEP 1 around 237 (but don’t teach to test), in metropolitan Dallas, clinical contact in pre-clinical years (doing things as first year), opportunities in global health (sister schools in southwestern China, South America, Pakistan/India??), strong research institution, has distinction in global health with sister schools in other countries, also distinction in health policy, large school with separate children’s hospital, student center with great gym facilities (no pool, indoor track, basketball courts, nice weight room, and Tornado foosball tables lol...for those of you who don't know, Tornado is a pro-tournament level brand, so it was pretty exciting when I felt the rods move so well haha...love foosball if you can't tell)
Summary of Experience:
no essays (didn't do optional essay), II 09/11, IA 10/22, WL 11/22
St. Louis is a large Midwestern city with a lot of activities. It's similar to Chicago, but doesn't seem to have the same traffic issues. Being connected to the undergrad campus has lots of benefits (additional opportunities, nice gym, etc). 2 things that stood out for me were that SLU administration listens to student feedback and that student wellness is a priority. Wednesdays are an elective day (at least during MS2, not sure about MS1), so students can choose to do whatever they want that day, whether its research, volunteering, relaxing, studying, etc. The pre-clinical curriculum is now 1 and 3/4 years long (completely P/F, making AOA based on Step 1 and shelf exams), so there's more time for clerkships in MS3/MS4. Student atmosphere is quite collaborative. Tuition is 48k, and 5k (based purely on student income)/10k scholarships (based on both student and parent incomes) are available.
Interview was pretty conversational, had a few standard questions, most questions based on my AMCAS activities.
Summary of Experience:
doesn't have a secondary, II 08/14, IA 10/04, accepted 11/18
School atmosphere was really laidback. First interviewer spoke with me like we were really good friends (extremely conversational), second interviewer asked a lot of questions (2x length of first interview)-but she was nice as well.
all courses integrative, 1 exam a month, ½ day schedule, teaches to the test (step 1), sequestered tests, BSL4 facility with opportunities for research (only 2 in the nation-other one is at CDC), has strong initiative/tracks in global health and bilingualism (Spanish), small school with sense of community, not much to do in Galveston compared to other cities, good gym facilities (indoor basketball court, heated outdoor pool, outdoor track, weight room)
therealfinale took the old MCAT and scored a which is in the percentile of all old scores.
We converted this to a on the updated scale which is in the percentile of the updated MCAT. We also converted therealfinale’s section scores as follows:
therealfinale scored a 11 on the Biological Science section of the old MCAT which is approximately equal to a 129 on the Biological and Biochemical Foundations of Living Systems.
therealfinale scored a 12 on the Physical Science section of the old MCAT which is approximately equal to a 129 on the Chemical and Physical Foundations of Biological Systems.
therealfinale scored a 12 on the Verbal Reasoning section of the old MCAT which is approximately equal to a 130 on the Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills.
