Brief Profile:
Started the pre-med track sophomore year and studied abroad junior year, but I finished everything in four years. It's possible folks!
Was complete at most schools mid-august b/c that's when my committee letter was sent, but I still tried to get secondaries in ASAP (<2 weeks) after receipt.
// Applications //
Application Cycle One: 06/04/2015
Undergraduate college: Top 5
Undergraduate Area of study: Biological/Life Sciences
Total MCAT SCORE: 516
MCAT Section Scores:
B/B 129,
C/P 130,
CARS 127
Overall GPA: 3.60
Science GPA: 3.30
Summary of Application Experience
Verified 6/19
7/16 Update Pre-writing secondaries is everything! Definitely took loads of stress off. Apply early. Aim to have your primary verified before the first day AMCAS transmits data to schools assuming verification takes ~2 weeks at the early stages. My school list is longer than I would like it to be (sooo expensive) but better safe than sorry. My premed advisor wanted me to apply to 22-25 schools, but I wasn't comfortable applying to places I didn't actually see myself living for four years.
10/10 - This cycle has gone way better than I was expecting. I've gotten interviews at 8 of the 16 schools I applied to (including my top 3 choices pre-interview), and I have yet to receive any rejections. I feel so lucky and humbled! My stats are slightly below average for top 20 schools, but I have had a decent amount of success. Though there's no way to know for sure at this point, but I think my unique ECs (and a somewhat controversial personal statement that ties them all together) are a large part of the reason.
3/8: Cycle is finally over!! wooo! I feel extremely lucky to have had the outcomes that I did. I was accepted to 2 of my top 3 schools, met a bunch of great people, and learned that I am a people-person and a strong interviewer. It was certainly difficult at times to stay sane with all the waiting but we made it! Barring vastly different financial aid packages, I have a pretty solid idea where I'm headed.
Applied, Withdrew
Howard 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:
Not completing the secondary...mostly because it came super late and I'm out of money.
Summary of Experience:
Blown away! Pre-interview top choice. So humbled and grateful.
Interview confirmed everything I already loved about this school. March 15th will be an interesting day!
This was a sad waitlist. :'(
Aaaaand rejected! So Penn, as a school, was my number one choice med school for most the of the process. The sheer amount of resources at this place is staggering, the quality of the students is absurd, and the faculty/staff were super welcoming and nice. My only gripe about this place was that the student body seemed very similar to that of my undergrad (and I'm tired of those kinds of people). As I received my final acceptances, I realized that culturally, this wasn't the best choice for me--despite being perfect on paper. So tchau Penn, maybe I'll see you for residency. <3
Summary of Experience:
Actually really liked it here. Probably my fave of the NYC schools. Hugely academic institution, tons of research, great location. Don't really have anything bad to say...except the undergrad campus is in Ithaca.
I feel like this wait list was about my lower numbers. I thought both interviews went excellently, but oh well, can't win em all!
WD - I liked Cornell a lot, but i'd rather begin planning my future once I've made my own decision. No more waiting!
Summary of Experience:
Sooo glad to have submitted this behemoth.
LOVED Miami. Definitely could see myself living there - especially getting to use multiple languages that I speak. The school itself: the students were really chill, super happy, not stressed at all. Faculty seemed supportive, high board scores. The only thing is that the buildings are kinda old. But Jackson Memorial Hospital is pretty much unrivaled. Umiami definitely surprised me in a good way. Fingers crossed for good news!
They told us on interview day that pretty much everyone gets waitlisted at some point before being accepted, but it still didn't soften the blow :/
Still love Miami, but I didn't want to wait anymore. Withdrew.
Summary of Experience:
Liked this school. Bmore has been changing rapidly, and I don't think I would mind being there. It's close to family, the facilities were nice, solid choice!
Summary of Experience:
WUSTL has so much going for it. My only reservation, really, is the Midwest. Not sure it's for me. But STL is super cheap, Wash U has so much money, M1's were relaxed, M2's not so much..Definitely would be happy here.
Summary of Experience:
Ecstatic! Pre-interview top 2
Columbia is interesting. I'm still very undecided about whether or not I want to live in NYC and I think that may have colored my interview day. They have everything you could imagine in terms of extracurriculars and very much emphasize that students have a life outside of medicine. My interview was about musical theater, so that's interesting. IDK, I think I was left wanting a bit more...
Summary of Experience:
MMI wasn't bad at all. Felt pretty meh about the interview day though. Maybe i'm just getting tired and it's affecting my perception of these schools. Nothing really stood out. Bellevue is really awesome, but that's about it. M3 tour guide also wasn't super enthusiastic and seemed to not want to be there (which is fine b/c rotations are hard), but he was there. Was also really cold; that's never fun.
Summary of Experience:
Really liked this school. The students/M2s/other interviewees were all nice/interesting/sociable. Both of my interviewers (one open-file one closed-file) were amazing people! Super involved in the community surrounding Temple, super knowledgeable, and super dedicated to their profession and underserved communities. It was definitely refreshing to hear their perspectives.
I'm starting to think that all these schools are amazing and I'm going to have to go on gut feeling...and money.
YAAASSSSS I'MMA BE A DOCTAAA!
Withdrew. As much as I loved temple, I wouldn't go there over other schools where I've been fortunate enough to be accepted.
I'm so so glad that I decided to apply here. I didn't know much about the school before applying to be honest, but I was shocked by how comfortable I felt. SF is really cute with easy access to Oakland/Berkeley. Students were awesome. I REALLY see myself here. omg, am i going to become a west coaster? We shall see!!
Summary of Experience:
And with that, I'm 95% sure that my interview season is over. Emory was nice. The campus is beautiful - it's in a more residential part of Atlanta adjacent to the undergrads. Not too far from downtown. Definitely need a car here. Emory has exceptionally strong clinical training probably as a function of Grady hospital. All students i met were very nice. From speaking with M1s, there are some students with more conservative attitudes, but no one who is overtly hostile. Definitely wanted to see more students of color especially for a medical school located in a city that is 75% black. Very long interview day. Got good overall vibes from the school, but I'm not sure it's the best fit for me. Definitely an excellent choice though.
rudyin78 took the old MCAT and scored a 34 which is in the 94th percentile of all old scores.
We converted this to a 516 on the updated scale which is in the 94th percentile of the updated MCAT. We also converted rudyin78’s section scores as follows:
rudyin78 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.
rudyin78 scored a 13 on the Physical Science section of the old MCAT which is approximately equal to a 130 on the Chemical and Physical Foundations of Biological Systems.
rudyin78 scored a 10 on the Verbal Reasoning section of the old MCAT which is approximately equal to a 127 on the Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills.
