<p>Ditto on what Pharmagal said. Lots of great stuff going on in this thread!</p>
<p>Great posts, somemom. I know from “conversations” we have had back-channel (and on that ancient voice-phone thing ;)) that you speak the truth about her apps. I’ll take authentic and “not perfect” over robo-applicant any day and twice on Sundays. It does appear that there are some adcomms that agree with me, don’t it? Again, great job by the kiddo.</p>
<p>Yeah, Curm, at times she can threaten to be a bit too honest and authentic, eh ;)</p>
<p>How imp are EC …if you have MCAT 38 and GPA 3.91 is that enough</p>
<p>Depends on what your goal is.</p>
<p>Well, it seems that no matter what the score MOST schools expect enough shadowing to show you have a solid understanding of life as a physician and you need to not just have the grade, but know your prof well enough to get a solid letter of rec. One of my DDs letters if from a Prof/Dean from whom she got not one, but two B+ grades in premed prereqs, but they had a great rapport.</p>
<p>Research and other outside interests are critical for some schools and not so important for others.</p>
<p>There are people with such stats that don’t get in. I can only assume that:</p>
<p>1) They died
2) They were terrible interviewers
3) They had poor ECs
4) They only applied to top schools.</p>
<p>I think there are a few more possibilities:</p>
<p>5) Their 38 was the result of multiple efforts.
6) They were the girl at my kid’s interview that she described as “had never met a brush”.
7) They had an infraction on their record.
8) They were the boy she described as “had never talked to a live girl”.</p>
<p>By and large, my D has been blown away by the quality of the interviewees she has met. There have been a few exceptions. ;)</p>
<p>^^^^^^^</p>
<p>CRAP, that stuff is funny! </p>
<p>My D thinks CC is my crack, but I definately have to forward this. :)</p>
<p>Doesn’t a CC member go to Sinai?</p>
<p>Steeler, Shades goes to Sinai.</p>
<p>Well, D visited Steelerville today. Came home very tired. Just got in. She says the school is just as wonderful as she thought it would be. Ranks it (if I translated her mumbles correctly) equal to her top 3. </p>
<p>My kid is a pretty hard sale and without hyperbole, she has really liked every school she has visited. </p>
<p>The worst thing she has said about any school was “I think they will be a great med school in ten years but right now they have some growing pains between their two campuses.” The horror. She has bought in fully to the “every med school is a good school” concept. </p>
<p>No new invites in well over a month (but that’s not all bad schedule-wise). Still has 8 schools on the pending list. Still just one reject. </p>
<p>Dad’s ready for it to be over. Kid may not be far behind. (She’s just flat doing too much.) Other apps for other opps are due Monday.</p>
<p>Pitt is a lovely school. It has an impressive simulation center, and I doubt that you will find opportunities that exceed the one’s there at any medical school. It’s actually the only school that no one ever had anything bad to say about.</p>
<p>DS has his Pitt interview coming up. He is very interested in that school. I am keeping my fingers crossed. Got one rejection yesterday and one interview request too. He expected that rejection as the school was a long shot. So far 7 interview requests and 2 rejections. October looks to be a busy interview month for DS. Still have several schools that he has not heard back from.</p>
<p>7 interviews, that is awesome!</p>
<p>I have my Pitt interview Monday. Glad to hear she liked it.</p>
<p>I was not thrilled with my interview experience at Pitt, and I’m from the area! The area around the school is dreadful, if you ask me, and the fact that student housing at the time seemed hard to come by was a big turn-off. </p>
<p>In addition, my student interviewer and I didn’t click. During the interview, when it came time for me to ask questions, I said, “What do you do in your free time? Volunteer at a clinic? Study Spanish?” He shot me a withering look and replied, “No, I don’t have time for that.” Suffice it to say that it cemented my impression of Pitt as a school where students were encouraged only in an academic manner.</p>
<p>One of the reasons I selected Sinai was the school’s focus on student life inside and outside the classroom and on and off the school campus.</p>
<p>Shades, I got a Sinai invite! Sorry to hear you didn’t like Pitt.</p>
<p>“The area around the school is dreadful” . Unfortunately, that statement rings true for way too many medical schools, including some very top med schools!</p>
<p>Congrats, Steeler! Break a leg!</p>
<p>Just thinking about dreadful areas around med school, following schools come to mind.</p>
<p>Columbia (the campus by GW Bridge), JHU, BU Med school, NYU, MCP Hanneman, UMDNJ areas are just as bad.</p>
<p>By the way, Shades, Do med schools have clinic internships/volunteering opportunities for med students in specific specializations; neurology, GI, radiology etc or are you referring to a GP clinic? How early can med students begin this activity?</p>