Brief Profile:
I made this profile solely to help other applicants. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to message me!
Extensive Volunteer work with Refugee Children living in the Houston area. Volunteered all through undergrad. Shadowing Experience for a full semester at a hospital in the Texas medical center. Experience as a medical Spanish interpreter for a full semester. Participation in 2 week long international service project. Participation in domestic week long service project. Leadership Experience: Led a weeklong domestic service project and a two-week long international service project. Basic Lab Work at Baylor College of Medicine- no publication over the course of about 1 semester. Public Health Research Project in Ethiopia that led to a second author publication. Recreational long distance runner- completed two marathons in undergrad.
// Applications //
Application Cycle One: 06/03/2014
Undergraduate college: Top 20 Private
Undergraduate Area of study: Physical Sciences
Total MCAT SCORE: 524
MCAT Section Scores:
B/B 131,
C/P 132,
CARS 132
Overall GPA: 3.84
Science GPA: 3.82
Summary of Application Experience
14 interviews, with a total of about 3500 dollars spent on airfare. Always stay with student hosts to save money and learn more about the school!
Applied, Rejected
University of Texas, Houston
Applying for combined PhD/MSTP? No
Submitted: Yes
Secondary Completed: No
Interview Invite: No
Interview Attended: No
Waitlisted: No
Accepted: No
Rejected: Yes
Summary of Experience:
By far the most interesting of my decisions. I hear they reject people that are over qualified and that would choose Baylor over them. The second point makes plenty of sense. Keep these things in mind when you don't hear back from schools that you think you are qualified for. They might just know that you are too good for them!
Summary of Experience:
HMS was my dream school coming in to the application cycle because of its prominence and location. I was ecstatic to receive an interview invitation (actually happened during my Southwestern interview haha) and I really had my hopes up for getting in given my work with the related Harvard School of Public Health and other credentials. The interview day was, as most people will tell you, cold and uninviting. Which was, for me, a good change of pace given the other day-long interviews I had been a part for the better part of a month. I was somewhat disappointed by the admissions decisions as I really did believe I was going to get in, but it really did help to have other great options. Who knows, perhaps with the upcoming new curriculum it was for the best for me to go somewhere else to avoid being a guinea pig for future students.
Summary of Experience:
Probably my favorite interview day. Students were absolutely awesome and welcoming and it really did seem like the school wanted all of the interviewees their. Michigan is a great school, but I don't see myself living in a midwestern college town so I withdrew my application after hearing back from schools I was more excited about attending.
Summary of Experience:
I love the city of Chicago because my father lived there when I was younger. Come to think of it, that may be the only reason I applied. The interview day was great (pizza was a huge plus!), but my faculty interviewer was somewhat dry. This was the first time I felt uncomfortable in an interview, but my student interviewer more than made up for it (she was a complete sweetheart). I decided to withdraw my application from this school after hearing back from Hopkins, and also coming to the conclusion that Chicago is too damn cold.
Summary of Experience:
As a previous resident of New York, I loved the idea of going back to study medicine there. Columbia isn't in the best area of the city, and it takes about 20 minutes via public transport to get to the good areas but that doesn't detract from the location appeal of Columbia. Interview day was great and everyone was incredibly friendly. The main Presbyterian hospital was amazing, as it had to be to make up for the mediocre student housing facilities. I knew I could be happy here at the end of the interview, but my acceptance to Hopkins has made Columbia a bit of a long shot for me so I may end up withdrawing.
Summary of Experience:
I absolutely loved this school. Michigan put on a great show, but I truly felt at home at UCSF. Going in to the application cycle UCSF was one of the schools at the top of my list because of its reputation and stellar location (probably the best of all the schools to which I applied). The school did its part in showing us what they have to offer, but their was a slight bit of arrogance surrounding the day no doubt due to the high volume of applications (over 8000) the school receives on a yearly basis. This attitude, however, was countered by the genuine hospitality provided by the school and the constant reminder that they wanted each and every one of the interviewees which is quite evident by the fact that they only interview 500 students out of the over 8000 applicants and hand out about 275 acceptances. I really enjoyed how UCSF only interviewed applicants who had a shot at being accepted and how they were very transparent about the review process. I was a bit bummed about getting waitlisted. Would I have committed to UCSF? I really don't know. Paying top dollar for a public school is a bit of a problem for me, so at the moment I am not pursuing a spot off of the waitlist very actively.
Long School of Medicine - University of Texas Health Sciences Center, San Antonio
Applying for combined PhD/MSTP? No
Submitted: Yes
Secondary Completed: Yes
Interview Invite: Yes
Interview Attended: 08/21/2014
Waitlisted: No
Accepted: Yes
Rejected: No
Summary of Experience:
To be honest I don't even remember if I was accepted, but it doesn't really matter. Students here were the friendliest I encountered along the interview trail and this place will hold a special spot in my heart for being my first interview. Substantially better offers had me withdraw my application.
Summary of Experience:
The Duke secondary was hell to complete, and perhaps going through all of that trouble to begin with gave me a subconscious reason to love the school when I went for the interview. Everyone was incredibly friendly, and the MMI interviews were great as they allowed interviewers to see applicants for who they really were rather than who they can prepare (e.g. preparing for the interview) to be. I liked this in that it gave the committee a better look into the personality of the individual and removed the need to go over what was already stated very clearly an the AMCAS application. The interview was stressful by the sheer nature of it, but I can honestly say that I am a huge fan of the MMI. Super excited to get accepted to such a great school and receive a half tuition Dean's Scholarship, but not really considering the offer too much since it falls in line with my other acceptances: great school, poor location (Hopkins, WashU), and as great as Duke is it is definitely not in the same caliber as Hopkins.
Summary of Experience:
Penn's interview day was spectacular. The school and affiliated hospitals were incredible and the effort that the school made in attracting applicants was rivaled only the effort put forth at Michigan. Given the stature of the school I was surprised to see so much go into the interview day, and the welcoming environment really helped put Penn somewhere at the top of my list. I would love to throw Penn into my medical school matriculation decision making process, but only time will tell.
Summary of Experience:
The facilities at WashU are world class, and as any set of ranking will tell you so is the medical school. The interview day was pretty standard, but what really stuck out was the food (hot breakfast and salmon for lunch). Not much else was noteworthy, and I am not a huge fan of St. Louis. I withdrew my application as soon as I was accepted.
Summary of Experience:
Awesome school. My top choice within my home state, and a place where I know I would be happy. I am expecting a merit scholarship, but I don't know how much that will affect my decision since tuition is already so cheap. Interview day is short (noon to like 5pm) and casual, and students seemed to really like going here. Still a possible choice for me despite other acceptances for the happiness factor that comes with living close to home and not going into crazy debt.
Summary of Experience:
For such a renowned institution I was surprised by how much effort the school put into its interview day. Facilities were top notch, and I got goosebumps from just walking around the school and hospital. I was thrilled to hear back on the first wave of acceptances, particularly because Hopkins was at the top of my list (along with 2 or 3 other schools) from the get go. I have my reservations about living in Baltimore, but Hopkins is worth biting the bullet for. Probably the only school I would choose above Hopkins without regrets would be Harvard given the similar level of prestige coupled with a much better living environment.
Summary of Experience:
Accepted with scholarship, but no intention of going. Great feel to the interview, and it is clear that the faculty really wants the students that it invites over. I knew I would have better options though.
Summary of Experience:
Accepted with scholarship. Truly a great school, and definitely the premier medical institution (along with Baylor) in Texas. Tuition is cheap for residents, so that along with the fact that my parents have saved up a bit for grad school meant that the scholarship didn't do much to sway my decision. W/drew my application because I prefer Houston to Dallas and thus prefer Baylor to Southwestern.
