<p>MyOpinion, Congrats! D. did not get it. She has only one interview left. I think of two that are under review as rejections, which is fine.</p>
<p>Mcat2, "DS finally had a chance to see “dead bodies” " - D. had this experience while in HS. Came out of gross anatomy totally excited and could not stop talking about it. I was glad to see this reaction. Tomorrow they are skinning a cat which they dissect on Thursday in one of her lab classes.</p>
<p>Congrats with all those invites MyOpinion, those are some very solid schools!</p>
<p>For those of you with some experience on this matter, there is a school that I am really eager to hear back from (Emory, which is less than an hour away from my home) which I have not received an invite from yet. Since I am interviewing at another school in Georgia and I will return home for Thanksgiving, is it okay to send a letter politely asking if they were thinking about interviewing me, it would be nice if they could let me know earlier so I don’t have to pay more for plane tickets? Or would this seem too pushy?</p>
<p>lollybo, research successful “in the area” emails on sdn. (You might even search by that phrase + emory.) My D never sent one so I don’t have a format but I know I’ve heard/read plenty of stories of that strategy working. My gut tells me that an email should be sent and it wouldn’t be a negative.</p>
<p>Edit: At least I think email is the way they do it. Research that , too. ;)</p>
<p>Still patiently awaiting interview invites. Hopefully I’ll get some soon–I have a feeling now is high time for processing applications, and the earliest I was complete anywhere was mid-September (with most “complete” notifications coming between weeks 2 and 3 of September)–perhaps accounting for some perceived delay. Interesting point, mcat2; if Tufts’ practice is true (I did apply there), and if it’s widespread, then it may explain my lack of interviews because of my seemingly lackluster stats (30/3.8). Surprisingly reassuring!</p>
<p>Talked with SLU–my file’s “under review” there (they didn’t send a “your file’s complete” notice which is why I called). I know only one person who has been offered a Mizzou interview, but I am almost assuredly going to get one (because I’ve heard from reliable sources that Mizzou UG who meet certain standards–that I exceed–are all granted interviews).</p>
<p>New question: a buddy of mine has, I believe, a 28/3.8 and a nice mix of high quality ECs/research/clinical/volunteer/leadership/etc (though different than mine). Right now she’s applying to 8 schools–3 DO, 5 MD. She occasionally seeks my advice about this (after all, I’m about a month ahead of her, since she retook MCAT in August)–any words of wisdom?</p>
<p>Only 8 schools? My gut feeling is that she should apply to more schools. 8 schools may be too few for almost all applicants, especially for an applicant who does not apply early because of a late MCAT retake. (unless she has some special “hook.”) But is it a little bit too late to add more schools now?</p>
<p>Well… I know it is easier said than done. DS appears to have reduced the number of schools quite significantly as well, even though he is fully aware that it is wise to stick to his original plan of applying to about 22 schools. After he has seen first-handed how much it would cost to go to any interview, he now believes he should have applied to more schools whose locations are such that he could go there with much less traveling cost.</p>
<p>Only 8 seems like a very low number unless she lives in a state with a lower stats threshold and is above that number.</p>
<p>28 is scary low for the applications time. That being said, DD had 29 and is having an easier time so far than her good friend who had a 36, so numbers aren’t everything, but you need to get in before you can show that.</p>
<p>Since she had DO schools she may be okay, I don’t know how risky it is to only have a couple of those though??</p>
<p>I think DS has applied to 15 schools only, although he has known he will be able to go to 7 interviews (3 IS and 4 OOS) – at least this is his plan before the end of November – about half a month after the first batch of prematch offers are given out.</p>
<p>But still, the number 15 makes me nervous</p>
<p>Somemom, do you think DS has applied to enough schools? Is this a risky move by reducing the number of schools from 22 to 15? He really does not want to spend more money if possible.</p>
<p>"he now believes he should have applied to more schools whose locations are such that he could go there with much less traveling cost. "</p>
<p>-The same here. I am not sure why D. even mentioned it. She has very few interviews, all within driving distance of no more than 6 hours (from where she is now), which was her criteria of choosing schools. She is driving to all of them, staying with students and we are paying all expenses, but she still mentioned that it costs a lot.</p>
<p>I mean, I think the goal for a top student should be to aim for about ten interviews. In situations where an application will be a little bit uncertain – in my case, for example, I had strong MCAT scores but one particularly bad grade – you might have to send out a lot of applications to be sure to get those ten interviews. But once you’ve gotten those, no sense doing all of the interviews.</p>
<p>DD had 10 interview offers and had she not gotten a November acceptance, but rather had to wait until the spring like so many schools do, or had her fall offer been from one of the schools in which she had less interest, I would have been relieved there would be more schools to hear from.</p>
<p>As it ended up she flew to three locations to do 4 interviews and we had already paid for the flights to another place, we ended up eating a big chunk of that ticket, but it was the time away from work (or worse, from school for those still in school) that seemed the most expensive in terms of opportunity costs. I agree with your DD, we were just surprised by all the costs, I remember something about planning for public transport for a university back east, but when her flight was delayed in the middle of the country, I had to be on the phone booking a shuttle that was something like $80 to and from the airport in order for her to get there, as she was then arriving too late for public transport. That trip was so awkward and so miserable, it ended up being a good thing that the had the airport shuttle not the bus & train & more connections, but it was a horrid trip and we’ve heard many other such stories.</p>
<p>Do you mean he already has 7 interviews or that he only will have time to attend 7 interviews?</p>
<p>Interviewing is really expensive, and I am grateful my parents are really helping out. I am taking the train to a couple of cities that are close by, but I will be doing a lot of flying. Scheduling the flights is also a pain, especially because I want to avoid connections so that I do not miss more school time.</p>
<p>I have been lucky so far with the number of interviews, but I would be afraid of turning down any future ones unless I already have an acceptance. All my interviews are this month so it is going to be very hectic. In addition, only a couple of schools I am applying to have “rolling admissions” and I will have to wait until march and april to really find out how I did.</p>
<p>I have not heard from about 8 schools, and two of those are my state schools (which are being pretty slow with the process). I am also already looking at a couple of likely “silent rejections”. </p>
<p>I am going to try to squeeze in all my interviews but I if I get one of those “rolling” acceptances, then I may be able to withdraw from some schools and save some money and stress!</p>
<p>
He has received 7 interview invites. By the end of this weekend, he will have gone to 3 out of these 7 schools for interview.</p>
<p>Actually, besides these 7 invites, he has had another two interview invites, which he does not feel like going to — I am fully aware it is not wise to do so. A quite stupid move actually, as these two are IS ones, which he could go through the match process even if he ends up not getting a pre-match offer. But I respect his decision if he really prefers to skip these two. Since it is likely he won’t go there for interview, these two schools are worse than other silence schools, because he will not have any chances there.</p>
<p>I think he may NOT receive 10 invites in the end.</p>
<p>Thanks for the input from all of you!</p>
<p>News! DD got her first interview invite, in an MSTP program at one of her in-state schools! Yay! This was the first school she was complete, too, which maybe means something. If you remember, she was held up for months by her pre-med committee review. But anyway, we’ll take this one!</p>
<p>Congrats to the boy, kschmidt!!!</p>
<p>I guess because I have a little distance now that my kid is not in the chute…I’m recognizing that the way some folks and schools and committees and letter writers hamper student’s application efforts (students who have their act together and are ready to apply at the most opportune time) …</p>
<p>really</p>
<p>ticks</p>
<p>me</p>
<p>off. </p>
<p>Some good candidates this year are being victimized by the systems in place (or sometimes just an individual) at their schools. I didn’t notice it as much last year as I was tunnel-visioned on my own horse.</p>
<p>Schools need to get their crap more together. This wait till Fall nonsense and their ignorance of the importance of application timing is hurting their students.</p>
<p>Congrats, kschmidt!!! Tell her the best wishes and relax. So far my D. had only one that kind off “grilled” her, and it happened to be her very first interview. But she stayed cool and did not take it personally. She enjoyed all others, mainly conversational according to her. On my part, I was stressed more about her driving than anything else. But she did an awesome job, GPS was a key to success in this area. She stayed with students.</p>
<p>Sorry, kschmidt. Boy. Girl. S. D. Whatever. Sheesh. I got so riled thinking back about the delay I misplaced a gender. ;)</p>
<p>Curm,
Some schools are on top of it. D’s committee did exceptionally good job, they advised additional school, which she applied to and got an interview too! She would not if it was not for committee. Maybe they had positive experience with this school before. But besides, they were done well before most. D. was very pleased. She is at state school that does not have a Medical School.</p>
<p>Thanks, everybody! This invite happens to be at a Univ only 45 minutes from home, so needless to say this prospect makes Mom very happy. SHe’s more excited than nervous, and I think ready to show her stuff. She did three summers of research at an affiliated lab so that may have been the hook. I hope a few others show some love too!</p>
<p>kschmidt, Congratulations! It appears she has had very solid research experiences. It is also nice to have the interview place so close to home.</p>
<p>I am not sure if this is true: I heard the interview schedule for MSTP applicants tends to be different from that for the regular MD applicants. (earlier maybe?) Also, they are often treated “better” by the school. Sometimes, if there is a second round of interview, the school may even fly the MSTP candidate to the school at the school’s expense. (like a job interview?)</p>
<p>Thanks for the info, Mcat2. I was actually kinda hoping that the interview process was a little slower than regular MD, thus explaining the lack of love. But we’ll see, I guess. I know that after the interview invite email, DD got another email from them inviting her to dinner the night before with the current md/phd students, and asking her to email with any questions. I don’t know if this happens with the regular md interviewees or not. And I’m not checking SDN; that place just makes me nervous!</p>