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MD Applicants

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  • User #9473

  • Application cycles: 2008
  • Demographics: Male, Caucasian
  • Home state: California
  • Brief Profile: GPA Note:
    --------
    Just an FYI to all of you California residents. If your counselor tells you that your better off just purposefully getting an F rather than Withdrawing 'because you can replace one grade on your record', they're 'misinformed'. A few years ago I was signed up for a physics course that I didn't get to finish b/c of some family stuff and my head wasn't in the right place. I hardly even got to start. I got bad advice from a counselor and just let the course go to avoid the W and got stuck w/ a D. So when I actually took physics like 1.5 yrs later and I went in to have my grade replaced (A's both semester of Physics + LOR from head of physics Dept), I found out that my counselor was an idiot and it wasn't removed from my permanent transcript! I petitioned for retroactive withdrawal, and all I got was a 'sorry kid'. So, isntead of BCPM / Overall being 3.82/3.79, I got 3.75/3.68; not bad, but still irritating.

    That 'experience' I had was at a JC (3.68/3.52 GPA), since then I've had an uptrend at the University 3.89 / 3.88GPA.

    Awards
    ------
    Deans list all the time- blah. Who hasn't had it?

    Extracurricular Activities
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    Health/Fitness: Invovled in weight training. I worked as a personal trainer for quite some time, and while I didn't like some aspects of the job I found it very rewarding to be actively involved in improving peoples lives through health/diet and fitness. It's hard to explain, but, for example, guiding/training/watching a 5'2' client who wears a 16/18 dress drop to a 6, lower her blood pressure significantly, reduce her cholesterol to a very healthy level, and improve her overall aerobic capacity is very rewarding.

    Shadowing
    ---------
    Shadowed two different radiologists. Largely they performed a number of arthrogram's, but what I found to be most informative was my opportunity to interact with the entire radiology staff and to see what each and every person did, and how they collaborated their work, etc. It was a pretty cool experience. I've got close to 20hrs there. Both the radiologists were very nice, but one of them constantly told me I shouldn't get into medicine even though there are significantly rewarding aspects associated with being a physician.

    Shadowed a Neurosurgeon specializing in Brain/Spine. He performed two spinal decompression surgeries (that's what he referred to them as I believe). Again, watching the surgeon perform in a team element was very informative.

    Shadowed a Nephrologist in the clinical setting and in the dialysis center. This was a pretty neat experience for me. Not only was the physician really friendly and helpful, I got to see first hand how a (in my estimation) caring physician interacts with chronically ill patients.

    Overall, I think I'm at about 35+ Hrs total.

    Volunteer Work
    ------------
    I've got 100hrs dedicated at a 'local' hospital--I say 'local' because where I live the nearest hospital with sufficient insurance to have volunteers that aren't relegated to answering phones is 1.5Hrs away. So far its been a great experience. I'm not a religious person, however, I've found that this particular hospital (which openly operates as a christian facility) presents a great patient-care environment. I'm very happy with my experience so far. I'll be in the ER soon, so that will be fun. I'm hoping I can get 200+ hrs in.

    Involved in a really cool 'Sister City' association. I provide a wide array of services from media contacts, to event setup, to event worker, to graphic design, attending board meetings, etc, etc. Its very cool. I only wish I'd have the opportunity to go on some of the trips to our sister cities. Unfortunately, that's not a possibility for me :-(

    I was also involved with a local VA facility that caters to disabled veterans and has a facility dedicated to drug and social rehabilitation. One of my responsibilities will be to help rehabilitate veterans into the workforce by teaching them computer and basic job skills. Unfortunately this didn't last too long due to a very awkward 'power struggle' within this VA facility regarding who had control over volunteers. The 'main boss' said that her friend the directors assistant would be coordinating volunteer activities, but the director (under the 'main boss') didn't like that. So, I'd be told to show up, then go home, etc. I don't even know why this is up here anymore :-D LOL.

    Obligatory Pre-Med Club Statement
    ------------------------------
    Like everyone else, I hang out with the premedical club. Blah, that's not really important IMO.

    Research
    -------
    Molecular Biology experience. >1,000Hrs. I'm not going into detail so that I can stay anonymous. No publications.
  • // Applications //

    Application Cycle One: 2008

    • Undergraduate college: California State University--San Marcos
    • Undergraduate Area of study: Biological/Life Sciences
    • Institution: Community College
    • Area of Study: Computing and Information Science
    • Total MCAT SCORE: 514
    • MCAT Section Scores: B/B 130, C/P 128, CARS 126  
    • Overall GPA: 3.68
    • Science GPA: 3.70

    Applied

    Charles Drew University/UCLA
    University of Washington
    University of Utah
    University of Nebraska
    University of California, San Francisco
    University of California, San Diego
    University of California, Los Angeles
    University of California, Davis
    Tufts University
    SUNY Stony Brook
    Stanford University
    Oregon Health & Science University
    Northwestern University
    Loma Linda University
    Johns Hopkins University
    Rosalind Franklin University
    Duke University

    Applied, Rejected

    University of Colorado

    Application Complete

    University of Vermont
    University of Virginia
    University of Maryland
    New York Medical College
    Jefferson Medical College
    Harvard University
    Dartmouth College
    Yale University
    University of Southern California
    University of Pennsylvania
    University of Michigan
    University of California, Irvine
    Boston University
    Baylor College

    Application Complete, Rejected

    Vanderbilt University
    East Tennessee State University

    Application Complete, Withdrew

    Creighton University

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