Biology major/ Pysch minor - graduated 2015 -21 yo -Graduated valedictorian of my class ~550 -small liberal arts school in MA -CT resident -SES disadvantaged (government aid growing up, paid most of undergrad through scholarships and working 20+ hours a week)
RESEARCH -Research assistant through Brown University. Worked on 2 NIH funded studies and worked with patients suffering from bipolar disorder and depression (~12 months) -Presented poster as first author at national conference in Boston MA -Co-author on peer-reviewed article published in Journal of Psychiatric Practice
-Granted a research fellowship at my undergrad and worked in a microbiology lab where I worked on characterizing new species of bacteria. Completed and defended and honors thesis (~1.5 years) -Part of my fellowship I supervised and mentored 2 students in the lab who were transferring from CC to our undergrad -Presented poster as first author at MassMyco Meeting -Publication as 1st author currently in the works (hopefully submit sometime this month)
CLINICAL/SHADOWING -Internship/Shadowing in the ED for 1 summer (~200 hours) -Offered a scribe job by the hospital I shadowed at and have been working as an ED scribe (~2 years) -Brief stint as a scribe in orthopedic surgery (~1 month)
VOLUNTEERING -Volunteered in a locked psychiatric ward at the VA (~50 hours) -Volunteered in a special needs classroom for 1 semester (~50 hours) -Habitat for Humanity (~1 year) - but not on AMCAS application
OTHER EC'S -Commuter rep on SGA Class of 2015 Committee (~2 years) - award committee of the year both years. Took on a personal project where I worked with MassDOT to place crosswalks at entrances of school -Tutor/TA/PLTL Leader for Cell Biology, Biological Principles, Orgo I and II, and General Chemistry II (~3 years) -Worked at an animal hospital as a kennel attendent (~1 year) -Assistant manager for the catering department for my schools food company (~3 years)
AWARDS - 2015 Outstanding Biology Student -Organic Chemistry Award
10 great LOR (PI's, science faculty, non-science, 2 physicians, and bosses) - will get a committee letter
AMCAS submitted: 7/7/15 AMCAS verified: 8/3/15 Committee Letter uploaded: 9/14/15
// Applications //
Application Cycle One: 07/06/2015
Undergraduate college: Stonehill College
Undergraduate Area of study: Biological/Life Sciences
Total MCAT SCORE: 472
MCAT Section Scores:
B/B 118,
C/P 118,
CARS 118
Overall GPA: 3.96
Science GPA: 3.97
Summary of Application Experience
~November 15th I am just about 2 months complete at all of my schools and have decided to send an update since I am either currently under review or will be under review within the next few weeks. 1) I received a promotion in early September at my catering job and am now a supervisor. 2) I also began volunteering for a local hospice center around the end of September (3-5 hours a week) 3) First author publication is in the final stages (literally waiting on my PI to get back to me since July...) Not sure if updates help, but I figured it was the last thing that I could do to boost my application!
Applied, Rejected
Virginia Commonwealth University
Applying for combined PhD/MSTP? No
Submitted: 08/17/2015
Secondary Completed: No
Interview Invite: No
Interview Attended: No
Waitlisted: No
Accepted: No
Rejected: 01/01/2016
Summary of Experience:
Update: I am now on 3+ months of waiting for a secondary. Have called the admissions office and they report that my application has yet to be checked out for initial review…
Summary of Experience:
Sent an "In-the area" email to the generic admissions email after speaking with someone on the phone. Will be in Philadelphia for my Jefferson interview in early March so I figured since I was still under review at Temple it may be worth letting them know.
Summary of Experience:
Finally under preliminary review around 1/25 after submitting everything around 9/14 (almost exactly 20 weeks since submission).
Rejected shortly after being put under preliminary review
Summary of Experience:
SR: Secondary was received at the end of August but got lost in my email somehow. Found it 12 days later and was able to submit it before the 2 week deadline!
II: First one of the season! Got this II before my LOR were uploaded on 9/14. Earliest date was in January but am on the waitlist for November/December dates
Edit: Got my waitlist interview date today. Was scheduled for 1/18 but rescheduled to 12/3 now!
Place on the waitlist approximately 1.5 weeks after my interview via letter in the mail. Not very shocking seeing as how I am an OOS applicant. Hoping for movement come May 1st!
Summary of Experience:
Do not accept any pre-II updates but when I was offered the interview there was a place on the portal to then upload an optional 1000 character update, which I did use.
Summary of Experience:
Sent 1st update in mid-November to the general admissions email.
Sent my 2nd update about a week before my II and sent this to Dr. Brooks and Dr. Callahan. Got a generic thank you response from Dr. Callahan and never heard back from Dr. Brooks. Not sure the II had anything to do with the update or if it was just a coincidence
ACCEPTED! Got the call today while I was at work from Dr. Callahan. Completely surprised as I thought my faculty interview didn't go as well as my other during this cycle. Will be an incredibly difficult decision between Jefferson and UConn!
Summary of Experience:
II on 1/4 - dates offered were 1/15 and 1/22
At my interview I was told that I would hear back by mid-February/end of February. When I called to confirm this (wasn't sure if I would hear back before accepting my other interviews) I was told I would likely hear back by mid-March. Therefore, I will attend the Jefferson and Albany interview and will hopefully hear from UCONN shortly after.
FIRST ACCEPTANCE!!! Couldn't be more happy. Just missed their second-look weekend last weekend so I am hoping to get back to CT and check out the campus again/find out more about the new DeltaM curriculum
catie_jane 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 catie_jane’s section scores as follows:
catie_jane scored a 1 on the Biological Science section of the old MCAT which is approximately equal to a 118 on the Biological and Biochemical Foundations of Living Systems.
catie_jane scored a 1 on the Physical Science section of the old MCAT which is approximately equal to a 118 on the Chemical and Physical Foundations of Biological Systems.
catie_jane scored a 1 on the Verbal Reasoning section of the old MCAT which is approximately equal to a 118 on the Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills.
