<p>Maybe I need to say this directly on this thread…</p>
<p>Med school can be a 4 year climb up a $%#$ hill. And then residency is worse. IMO, some adcoms want to see that you have outlets, coping mechanisms, interests, a life outside science, even <hush-yo-mouth> a life outside academics. Moto-Cross. Cooking. Building a wooden canoe with your teeth. It doesn’t really matter what it is. (Well, maybe the beaver thing will raise some questions.) Something/anything that shows balance in your life. Some humor. Some personality. </hush-yo-mouth></p>
<p>Don’t leave all of that for the interview. You may not get there. Get it out there early and often. To the exclusion of the academic or the honors or the glowing stats? Heck, no. But in addition. Let them know something about you. “Hey. This dude might not suck to be around for 4 years AND he’s un-likely to come to class with an AK, too”. IMO these are important elements to an app. Will it overcome a 3.0 or a 25? Nope. But will it separate you from Robot-Girl or Dan the Data Dude? Maybe.</p>
If they’ve got the groceries (stats and coursework and volunteering and clinical exposure) …these things will be what separates them from the pack of “usuals”. But I’d find a way to get it in front of the committee before the interviews if possible. (Many schools have a “What else do you want us to know about you?” or purely optional essay. Edit: And there is always the “update letter”. )</p>
<p>Nah, blue. We can’t carry assault weapons of any kind into medical schools even with a permit to carry. Just churches , nudie clubs, and elementary schools. </p>
<p>Edit: But there is a pending bill to rectify that unconstitutional limitation on our Second Amendment right to scare the crap out of the rest of the nation.</p>
<p>Pshaw! Bears are nothing! Happens all the time in Yellowstone. Esp since she was up there early in the season and the elk were calving about 30 feet from her residence cabin…</p>
<p>It’s the mama moose that are scary. (Moreso, because DH told Youngest since she was tiny that moose were vicious blood-sucking fiends that would leap at your throat the instance they scented you… We were way mean parents…)</p>
<p>As long as they are still safe in churches. </p>
<p>WayOutMom: the point being that ‘dem thar city slickers’ wouldn’t know the difference between a mad grizzly and an obstinate moose (mama or no). They’d be suckers for any furry story. :)</p>
<p>Wayoutwestmom- absolutely totally completely assure your DDs that their unusual experiences may be what sets them apart from the pack.</p>
<p>If you’ve read the old threads you know that my DD had a lowly 29 MCAT…nearly a harbinger of despair on SDN, advice to head to DO schools etc. She was admitted in the fall to UWSOM, a highly rated state school. Personally I am convinced it is because she is so much her own person, a strong personality, and that came through on the apps & essays.</p>
<p>DD was the antithesis of a cookie cutter app, she gave up on Berkeley advising in her junior year (and she only began to talk to them in her junior year!) as they wanted her to do what every one else was doing…my DD is not like that. She does what she wants and does it her way, not a brat, just unique. Her experiences and attitude shone through on the app and essays- ask Curm, sometimes is was a bit scary.</p>
<p>But that is why she got 10 interviews and an early admit with her low score, because she is so authentic and not the usual applicant. So, embrace yellowstone and if ya’ll are from Montana, yee-hah, there are several schools that allow MT/WY applicants, but no others OOS, so that gives you some nearby schools PLUS the UWSOM WWAMI area allows about a 10-20 MT residents entry each year! PM me if you have questions about UW or about being unusual :D</p>
<p>They are who they are, they cannot become usual or unusual all of a sudden. It is important to be yourself also. </p>
<p>Can somebody tell me though, after they send primary, when and what they supposed to receive as a feedback besides secondaries from few schools that are being send automatically to all applicants. As far as I know D. did not get anything back at all for 2 weeks now. 2 of her 7 schools are in-state.</p>
<p>MCAT- yes they are who they are, no disrespect to the kid who does it all just the way they are ‘supposed’ to, but rather a shout out of encouragement for those kids who are different and feeling a little off track when they hear their more traditional friends stories.</p>
<p>^My D. said that one of her friends also taking it in Aug. But he has sent his Primary already. Apparently, you do not need to have a score to apply.</p>
<p>^ Thats a good policy - just comply with whatever the local laws are. Wal-mart and other large stores have the same stance, on both open and concealed carry.</p>
<p>After DS had submitted his AMCAS primary, there were 2 schools (btw, not the schools he had applied to) which sent him an email inviting him to apply there. One of them is even a different kind of program (MD/PhD), which is definitely not what he is pursuing right now.</p>
<p>I know this kind of emailing/mailing (in order to increase the number of applicants so that their admission rate would be lower and their ranking will be higher) is very common during college application cycle. Is this practice also common for medical school application? If the odds oof getting into these two schools would not be higher because of the email, I think DS would not add these two schools in his list. (I hesitate to name these two schools here, but one of them may be a top-20 (or top-15) and the other may be a top-30.)</p>
<p>A few weeks after I got my MCAT results, I received a letter and catalog from a couple of schools, one of them Wash U Medical School. My parents were flattered and insisted that I applied, but knowing that it is probably “a numbers thing”, I did not bother. I am not interested in the school anyway…</p>