Application Update - Interview at a Top School

No.  It wasn't actually Harvard.  That would just be silly.

          Recently, I interviewed at a top med school.  We are talking top 10 or 15 depending which ranking system you're looking at.  As I described in this article, I am not a stellar applicant.  I have a wildly mediocre GPA only partially balanced by a good MCAT.  Typically these top schools interview kids with great GPAs and great MCATs who have been published and done other spectacular things.  So yeah, I was surprised when I got the invite.  In all honesty, I thought this school in particular was the one I had the least shot at of all 25 on my list.

          I went into town a few days early, because I actually have friends who go/went there for undergrad.  I met up with them for coffee and to watch some football and all the usual things.  The funny thing is that I knew most of these kids from way back in high school or summer vacations.  What does that mean?  Well, when they heard I got an interview there, they had with some shock assumed I had turned myself into a top notch med school applicant who gave up his undergrad experience for perfect grades, when they know me more as the decent student and frat boy.  I was quick to reassure them that things had changed... but not that much.

Book Review: In Stitches

          I got In Stitches by Anthony Youn for Christmas.  Up until now, any reading I have done related to medical school has been aimed at getting in.  Now that I have an acceptance, I want to get an idea of what the hell I'm getting myself into.

          In that regard, I actually feel like I am well behind most other pre-meds.  It seems like all other pre-meds either have a parent who is a doctor or a long line of relatives who are doctors, and these students have some idea of what the whole process is like.  In my family, it'll just be me, and I have no idea what the hell is coming next.

          I have mixed feelings about the book.  I thought the first half was pretty disappointing.  Literally the first hundred pages were concerned with his troubles with girls, and I have to say... I just didn't care.  Also, his thoughts on his jaw surgery were remarkably brief, which was disappointing.  As a doctor who would go on to become a plastic surgeon, I had hoped he would share more thoughts on his own time under the knife.

Application Update - Withdrawal

          Shortly after your acceptance into a school you like, you're expected to begin withdrawing from schools that you are less interested in.  Most medical schools operate on a rolling basis with a finite number of interviews to offer.  If you have been accepted somewhere and are offered an interview at another school that you are no longer interested in, you are only hurting someone else's chances by going to that interview.  That's aside from the financial costs of flying out to the interview and missing a day of work as well as the fact that it can be a pain.  Even as I say that, I have to admit that I have thoroughly enjoyed interviewing and the interview day experience.

          Having been accepted into a medical school, I have had to begin the process of withdrawing from other schools, although I have kept my applications in at a few that are potentially higher up on my list.  I mentioned previously that I had two interviews scheduled in January, but over the course of the last week, I have canceled both of these.  My hope is that it is far enough from those dates that they will be able to offer those interviews to another applicant.  It's kind of an odd feeling knowing that there is a very real possibility I may be completely done with this cycle.  I still have yet to hear back from the other school I interviewed at and the third interview that is coming up, but what I am referring to is the highly likely scenario where I don't get another interview.

Application Update - ACCEPTANCE!

          I was accepted into medical school.  This is a victory.  This is beyond a victory.  I am one of the few who will actually get to do this.  I am going to be a doctor.

          I loved this school when I interviewed there.  I thought things went really well, and I got an awesome vibe there.  I thought the students were cool, and I thought I would fit in well with them.  I also got along extremely well with everyone.  This is a school in south, which excites me since I have lived my whole life in the northeast.  It's time for a change of pace, and I want to broaden my horizons by getting some experience in another part of the country.

Application Update - Where I Am Today

          Unfortunately I started this blog in December, which is pretty deep into this year's med school application cycle.  I wish I had started it a year ago.  Then you could have enjoyed the journey with me as I struggled to pull great senior year grades, graduated, and went on to take the MCAT.  You could have seen my frustration with secondary applications and the waiting game since finishing those applications.  But, I started a few days ago, and that's just the way it is.  I will, however, update you on the process, in what will undoubtedly prove to be a long post.