<p>^^^ From my experiences, most pre-meds tend to argue over grades a lot more than kids on other tracks. Pre-meds generally tend to be quite confront. when it comes to getting the grade they “deserve”.</p>
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<p>My D has several friends on the pre-med track at your school and she has not heard that at all (after 2 years.) I’m curious, how do they argue about being “deserving?”</p>
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This may be one of the reasons why some high-power science processors dislike premeds. It seems to me that, once you become a PhD track student, the professor will more likely favor you. I remember at one time, NCG posted jokingly that “I am a premed. So I am ashamed while I am walking across the campus.” (or some remark like that.) DS really dislikes this aspect of a premed life. (Constantly keep not one, but two eyes on your grades for ANY class you take. How high-school like!)</p>
<p>Some students on other track work hard to get a good internship in the summer or even during school in session. They still work very hard, but put relatively less emphasis on the grade. The overall “education experiences” out of the classroom setting may be somewhat different.</p>
<p>^ I guess some premed students may argue with their TAs in order to potentially gain a few points. This may happen more frequently in the first intro science classes. TAs may grade the tests not very carefully as there are just too many students. DS almost wanted to quit the premed track after one of these not-so-pleasant intro classes. (not because of the grade he got, but because of the whole atmosphere is not so pleasant. – Considering this factor alone, there is some merit to skip one of these intro classes if you are capable of starting from an intermediate one.)</p>
<p>Just to let you know. That note was completely out of character for S which is why he didn’t do anything this drastic for two months but nothing was happening. The last straw was when the PI told the grad student who offered to help him with the upload (PI is technologically challenged) that he needed to work on other things and couldn’t spare the 10 minutes.</p>
<p>MCAT- it is very intimidating to hear friends, real or online, posting their admissions results when you have not heard anything.</p>
<p>The applicant needs to check SDN to be reassured that it is their school choices, not the quality of their application that causes some kids to have earlier offers than others.</p>
<p>Last year on Oct 15th, it was tough to read all about the multiple acceptances online even though I knew DD only had one school that could potentially offer her an Oct admit (waitlist in her case, which was fair, she was qualified, but really disliked the school and area) SO, remind your kids not to be disheartened when they hear of others with admissions, it may not be them, it may be just the timing of the various schools…then again, it could be them ;)</p>
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<p>Thanks for the words of wisdom. I hope DS does not know the Oct. 15 magic date, as there is likely none for him by that date as he applies late. There is a chance he really does not know that magic date, as he visited SDN very infrequently. Actually, he has one school that has that magic date (uva), but my guess is he has probably decided not to apply there (i.e., not completed its secondary). He did know the Nov. 15 magic date on texas schools. I hope he can handle it well if it turns out he does not get a love on that date or shortly after. (He applied later than your D did last year.)</p>
<p>Another premed kid in his lab applies to Univ. of NC as a NC in-state. I wonder whether he (or she?) will get acceptance on Oct. 15. That is, is UNC a very early school or a late school? DS said that premed friend seems to be most interested in going to UNC, his in-state school, and it appears he did not apply to too many schools. In the end, DS may need to skip more workdays and shell out more money for the flights and hotel stays than he may.</p>
<p>DD was working abroad and is not an online nerd like me, so she was blissfully clueless about the dates and perfectly content to have me impart any CC/SDN wisdom. I never mentioned what was going on with ‘her’ schools or others, I just waited for updates from her.</p>
<p>mcat,
My perception is that they are all aware of “the Oct. 15 magic date” and they are mature enough to be cool about it.<br>
D. is skipping her classes also. And they are the same couple weeks in a row too. Good that somebody is going to let her in on Sunday to work on lab assignment. On my part, I will be worrying about her driving more than anything else. But she is a good driver. Hopefully all will work out one way or another for all of us. Wish everybody here the best!</p>
<p>None of the schools that I am applying to have the Oct 15th magic date, so I guess I am in for the long run…However, good news to report!.. I got an interview invite at Yale after three weeks of being complete, so i am realizing that patience pays!.. I have been doing some mock interviews with my friends, so I am a little less nervous now… Still doing some volunteer work…Let’s see how the rest of the week goes!</p>
<p>MyOpinion, Big congrats! Now you could be in the same school as curm’s D :)</p>
<p>Is it common for medical schools to provide a free lunch (or dinner, not not both) for their non-MD/PhD applicants?</p>
<p>DS just finished his very first interview. He said it was a low stress one. But he has no idea about whether the adcoms like him or not, even though he said they are all very friendly/nice.</p>
<p>He has probably screwed up one of his interview invite opportunities. One school asked him to call the school to schedule an interview. Over the phone call, the person from the school originally wanted to give him an interview date in October, but DS requested one in January because he will be very busy in October. The answer he got from him: Why don’t you call us again whenever you are ready for an interview. DS also found out later the person who answered the phone is actually one of the adcoms. Oops! It is not very good as he has failed to show passion for this school. (He said that medical school is very small so some of the adcoms themselves answer the phones themselves.)</p>
<p>But he got another invite recently. For this one, he will probably schedule it some time in November. He dare not schedule it next year any more.</p>
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<p>During interviews? Yes, its expected.</p>
<p>Congrats, MyOpinion!</p>
<p>I imagine that they provide lunch during interview and hopefully water bottles. I did not ask though. D’s interview was from 7:30am thru 4pm, included group sessions and 3 one-on-one.</p>
<p>Contests myopinion! I have been complete for over a month at some schools, is all hope lost for me at these schools? I know it’s still early, but I am worried that being complete for so long without hearing back is a bad sign…</p>
<p>lollybo, not always a bad sign but, of course, it’s never a good sign. I can think of 2 schools where my D got interviews much later than she would have expected - Tulane and (somebody else I can’t remember, maybe USC) - with no updates or Letters of Intent or any action on her part. She figured she was “done for” at those two but…nope. Had she not had Pre-match acceptances at Texas schools 11/15 she’d have been doing more updates.</p>
<p>At the end of her admissions cycle she threw a Hail Mary out to her 5 USNWR Top Ten research schools and that generated a very late interview and first day acceptance at the school she now attends. </p>
<p>If you have something to say in an update, I’d say send it. It’s early still (and I’ll let one of the pros talk about timing) but…I’ve seen some students succeed at a target school with a series of updates. The update letter is IMO often used and maybe not that often used well. Some I’ve seen bantied about on sdn sound : strident, desperate, almost antagonistic, smarmy, weasel-like , or maybe reptilian. None of those are positive. ;)</p>
<p>Thanks for the encouragement! I did get interviews at many fantastic places, but not a whole lot of top ten schools given my stats and ECs, so I was worried that there was a part of my application that was a red flag or something. I really expected an interview from Emory (45 minutes away from my home) and my alma mater. A rational part of me tells me that I probably shouldn’t be getting worked up over this considering just how dismal everyone’s chances at these schools are, but seeing many of my friends getting interviews at top places is making the irrational part of me somewhat uneasy. I hope I’m not becoming an SDN-esque neurotic!</p>
<p>This is also a good thread, “it’s not over until it’s over”</p>
<p>[“It’s</a> Not Over Till March” - True or False | Pre-Medical Allopathic [ MD ] | Student Doctor Network](<a href=“"It's Not Over Till March" - True or False | Student Doctor Network”>"It's Not Over Till March" - True or False | Student Doctor Network)</p>
<p>lollybo, isn’t it apparently true that, among those applicants who get into at least one top-10 school in the end, a majority of them will not have many invites from top-10 schools?</p>
<p>Let’s say each of these 10 schools invites 700 applicants for interview. They may reserve 150 for those with “good hooks.” (Isn’t the admission to the top few colleges quite the same here?) Then, 300 are those extremely good ones (major award, significant achievement, 41 MCAT, and so on) who got invites from many of these 10 schools. Then, only 700 - 150 - 300 = 250 for the rest. In this overly simplified math, there are only 250*10 + 300 + 150 = 2950 who ever got at least an invite. Out of 2950, 2500 got a single invite only.</p>
<p>I guess what happens is that almost every highly qualified one applies to the same set of schools, and the extremely qualified ones (there maybe only a couple of hundreds of these) take away a big chunk of interview slots from most top-10 schools and each school gives out, say, 700 invites only.</p>
<p>DS’s way to deal with this concern is simple: He really does not want to apply to too many of these top-10 ones. Since they may not want him in the end, why should he devote so much time on these schools?! He might consider being admitted by one of these as “being stricken by a lightening” – not likely to happen so why even think about it.</p>
<p>Quick update for my CC pals:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Secondaries complete for 11/13 (just have Duke and Northwestern left–Northwestern’s half finished too). Files complete at 9–waiting on word that Mayo received my letters and that my SLU file’s complete. </p></li>
<li><p>Reliable sources tell me that Mizzou–still one of my faves–apparently has a very generous interview policy for Mizzou undergrads. I believe I interview quite well, so knowing I’ll have an interview here is pretty exciting. Plus, turnaround time from interview to decision is typically less than a week.</p></li>
<li><p>No interview invites yet. Not concerned though, what with my files complete about a week to two weeks ago, I assume that it’s a popular time to be applying and thus the offices are backed up. Any opinion on how long to wait before checking on my apps?</p></li>
<li><p>I was reciting my List to one of the oncologists I shadow the other day. I told him about Mayo and he congratulated me, and then he said “So you’re really gonna leave us, huh? After all these years of you shadowing me, I was really looking forward to you coming here.” <em>friendly nudge on shoulder</em> From the chief of the department, former head of the med school adcom, and a very respected mentor, the idea that he’d like me to stick around here was quite heartwarming (compliments/emotion are few and far between with this guy). </p></li>
</ol>
<p>Seems like the rest of you are chugging right along! Good luck with your upcoming interviews, MyO and lolly–hope you rock em!</p>
<p>Does anyone know - </p>
<p>Is it better to send update letters to the schools via e-mail or snail-mail??</p>
<p>I got an email from one of my colleagues(a physician) last night. His son interviewed at UT-Southwestern yesterday. His son has a 4.0 from UT-Austin in Biomedical Engineering and got a 40 on the MCAT(I kid you not), Anyway, he only applied to Texas Medical Schools and UTSW is his first choice. He was very upset after the interviews. He was interviewed by two PH.D.'s, no M.D.'s, and the first interviewer was an Indian ‘with an attitude’ who stated to my friends son ‘I can keep you from getting into medicine’ and then went on a harangue about ‘practicing in underserved areas’. The second interview apparently was much better, but he left very soured on UTSW. He interviews at Galveston this week with a few others lined up. The father wants my son(who interviews for one of the Texas schools) and me (a faculty member) to meet them for dinner this week to chat with him and ‘talk him off of the ledge’. I just wondered that since the kid has ‘perfect stats’ if the interviewer wanted to see if he could push any buttons or if he was just an *******?</p>