<p>The gap year viability is going to be dependent on other commitments, choosing a flexible job that also is good for med apps would be helpful; for example DD is a research asst (paid with benes!!!) for a lab, in & out of surgical suites, working with patients, physicians, administration, lab techs, etc collecting samples, testing, recruiting, learning a ton and yet they are flexible about interviews. One thing she has done right is pick this job!</p>
<p>Somemom: Can she pass the job on to my daughter when she’s done? ;)</p>
<p>Maybe for a small fee 
The person she replaced moved on to med school, so maybe they have a revolving door of premeds?</p>
<p>Fun for people who like stats:</p>
<p>[Medical</a> School Admissions and Rankings](<a href=“http://www.eduers.com/Medical/]Medical”>http://www.eduers.com/Medical/)</p>
<p>click the state of choice, then click the school of choice, you can see how many apps, how many interviews offered, # of admitted from interviews, etc. We already sold our MSAR, so this is a fun place to see it all in one place</p>
<p>Thanks for the link, somemom. Great data!</p>
<p>That is a nice link somemom! Gives nearly the same info as USNews Graduate on-line and it is free!</p>
<p>First TX interview, awaiting insider info from Curm on the best way to pursue getting the other TX schools to join in so it can be one big trip.</p>
<p>Any one applying to TX- they took a long time to verify, so learn from our error and do the secondaries without waiting to be invited.</p>
<p>If you are applying to TX schools, maybe write that PS first (5000 char) then expand it to the 5300 for AMCAS. If you are not waiting for the final transcript, do the TX app in May so that you can be verified and try for summer interviews.</p>
<p>BTW- that is 4 interview invites by Sept 15th for a 29 MCAT and 3.6+ GPA </p>
<p>Also, DD STILL have 4-5 secondaries to finish!!! Applying to more than 30 schools is a logistically intense experience</p>
<p>Check yo’ emails. I’m on it. WooHoo!!!;)</p>
<p>First interview done. Make a note for your kids, the travel involved is exhausting, even if you get a student host, it is generally for only one night, so either your kid travels home the night of the interview or pays for a night in a hotel and loses another day to travel.</p>
<p>DD left her job mid afternoon day one and traveled home (she is out of country) then left home at 430AM PST day two arriving at her host room at about 11PM EST. Up for an interview at 9AMEST and tour, then back on a shuttle at 230PM EST to arrive home about 3AM PDT. She is taking the weekend with family and friends, but I am not sure she will return to work well rested.</p>
<p>When your student is scheduling, consider the travel time & exhaustion as well as the missed time in class & studying or the missed $$ at work.</p>
<p>Lots to think about.</p>
<p>But ,all that being said,…Yay!!! </p>
<p>What did she think? Does she realize how many students never even get to the stage she’s at right now? I know my kid’s first interview was (and these are MY words based on how she was reacting) some sort of …almost …validation. She’s in the hunt for a spot. She’s a player. ;)</p>
<p>My DD is not home yet…still 3 hours away…and got to her student room not much more than 24 hours ago- a jet setting lifestyle officially has no mystique nor appeal.</p>
<p>I look forward to the debriefing as it may the only interview after which she is actually home ;)</p>
<p>Well, mine is spending a second night at her latest interview site. In a another freakish turn of fate (remember the grade school chum she ran into at an earlier interview?) , her most significant medical mentor happened to be undergoing chemo and radiation at the same school 1000 miles from home. They managed to spend the rest of the day together. </p>
<p>She had a great visit. Great interviews. Great interview-ees. We have a new leader. I hope they return the love. Their post interview acceptance rate is daunting. </p>
<p>I had one tired but excited kid on the phone. Heck, she was just as excited about meeting a girl from USC she announced was “the coolest kid ever and if we end up at the same med school she’ll be my best friend”. lol. At least mine is having fun. May be flunking out of college because of all the missed classes…but having fun nonetheless. ;)</p>
<p>First interview is Wednesday. Pretty excited. I then have 4 in the first 3 weeks of October, which should make life pretty busy. Manageable, though. I’m very happy to be enrolled in only 3 classes, who have pretty lax attendance policies…</p>
<p>Sadly still sitting on a secondary, Duke. Pathetic, I know. Future applicants - I strongly recommend prewriting your essays some during the end of junior year. Some may change, but likely not - <em>none</em> of my 12 secondaries changed (granted, 3 didn’t have essays). I studied abroad all summer, one of the best decisions of my life, but will be the first to admit it didn’t leave much time for work when the secondaries started pouring in. Well worth it, though.</p>
<p>Another interview invite, the sad part is DD got back to her home Sunday and received the interview invite this morning for a school very close to the place she just interviewed. It was expensive and inconvenient travel and she had contacted all the near by schools by email and telephone.</p>
<p>She is grateful for the invite, but wondering why it could not have come last week so she could have done it in one trip 
</p>
<p>somemom, I understand the frustration…but again…woohooo!!! </p>
<p>Meanwhile, back at the ranch…the interview invites have just flat stopped. Wouldn’t be that bad a thing but several of the OOS schools that could unseat her favorites here at home are among the missing. </p>
<p>On a potentially brighter note, October 15th is getting closer which means that this process has at least a small chance of becoming more fun. ( If she gets an early acceptance, she at least knows she won’t be a re-applicant next year. Everything after that first one- if she’s fortunate enough to get that one- is gravy. The meat is “acceptance one”. )</p>
<p>Yes, not at all trying to sound ungrateful, but the journey was about $800 and less than 48 hours after her return home she got the next invite.</p>
<p>But, hey, 5 interviews my mid-Sept for an average MCAT, sweet</p>
<p>Somemom, Congratulation for your D’s 5 interviews by mid-Sept. There must be something in your daughter’s qualification which distinguishes her from many other applicants.</p>
<p>MCAT2, reading the SDN board it seems like no big thing or even not enough ;)</p>
<p>I think what honestly distinguishes my DD is that she is incredibly authentic and it shows. Everything she does is because she wants to do it and it all makes sense. She has all the requisite items on her list, shadowing-check, volunteer work-check, research-check, ECs-check, GPA above 3.5-check, but not one thing was done to impress an adcom, it was done to assist her in determining if this is the right path for her and it was done her way.</p>
<p>She only consulted the pre-med advisers once at her university, she was extremely unimpressed with their cookie cutter recommendations, so I became her pre-med adviser using CC & SDN to figure out how she should do things.</p>
<p>The same thing happened in HS apps for undergrad, she is just so ‘her’ that if the fit it there, she is of interest. Some of her activities are a little unusual, so she may also garner a second look just because something is eye catching.</p>
<p>Every single answer to every question is authentic, every activity is what she wanted to do. I really think it shines through.</p>
<p>Numerically she is entirely incredibly average.</p>
<p>BTW, my reason for pointing this out is that too many kids want to try to be that cookie cutter applicant, you know, “What should I do” and they do it for the adcom not for themselves. I think many kids would do better in the process if they can be more true to themselves.</p>
<p>Then, if you are admitted or denied, you know it was really YOU who they saw. </p>
<p>I also think if a student does what they need to do to find out what is best for them, tries different activities, gets involved, etc, they will look better on the app. This could be a musical or artsy kid, a sporty kid, even a kid who must work 30 hours a week and is a manager at Burger King, but put themselves through school and did it their way. I would suggest that those kids not feel embarrassed that they are not cookie cutter perfect, but instead feel confident in showing who they are and why they would be attractive to the school.</p>
<p>Congratulations to parent/student teams on the interviews and good luck for October acceptances!</p>