<p>Although my daughter researched each of her schools as well as one can, in the end I’m pretty sure she just wrote BS</p>
<p>I think that’s going to be true more often then not for these questions, so you’d think SOMs would realize that and get rid of that question.</p>
<p>It would be one thing is an applicant could write, I already live here, I love the area, my spouse is a grad/med student at this university, so it really is the best situation for me…but, hey, most applicants don’t have a particularly excellent reason why they want (or need) to go to X med school.</p>
<p>For D1, it ranges from curriculum related (eg. one school is very big on independent, self-directed students), to programs/concentrations/student run clinics/organizations/etc. (mostly from the webesites) in her area of interest. None of the schools in our geographic region have a general Why us? prompt :(, although she was able to slip a little regional preference in on the sly for one school ;).</p>
<p>She has only visited one of the schools but does know people either attending or accepted to some of the schools and has asked them for input. And she’s tapped some local CC folks as well :).</p>
<p>D2 has informally visited 4 med schools: her sister’s, her undergrad’s, the one she worked at last summer and the one she currently works for. So she has some ideas of what different schools are like. </p>
<p>She has list of schools she *won’t[/] apply to because she hates the location. (Not a NYC/NJ/Philly kidda girl.) And a shopping list of things she’d like to have in a med school.</p>
<p>Maybe developing her list won’t be so hard next year. </p>
<p>(BTW, she took her first MCAT diagnostic test today…and errr… let’s just say she really needs to work on her genchem.)</p>
When it came to the “why us, specifically?” essays I remember my kid being able to articulate very good reasons for about one out of every two essays. The schools where she had to dig to find something/anything to say (i.e. BS)…she did not do very well (as in no II). When it came quickly to hand, she did much better. That’s what I meant by there was a correlation. </p>
<p>Or maybe it was a self-fulfilling prophecy. lol </p>
<p>Maybe her experience was different and out of the ordinary. I dunno.</p>
<p>Supplementals are brutal (especially remembered the Miami one, very very long). Good luck to your S during the process. </p>
<p>Our updates, D took MCAT in June and scores went up by 4 pts so we were happy. Applied to a long list of schools, 6 interviews for Sept & Oct (lots of classes will be missed, so way stressful). Oh, let’s not forget the expenses, felt a strong gust of wind sucking the dollars out the window.</p>
<p>Haha, a strong gust of dollars. Just wait until tuition hits ;)</p>
<p>As far as missing class for interviews goes, I’m glad she opted to miss class for interviews. Sure it sucks to miss class or have to make up exams or end up with a lower grade in a class as a result, but the end result (ie going to med school) is worth it. And certainly, the earlier the interviews the better, especially for rolling admissions school (many!). </p>
<p>I was planning to postpone an interview to winter break so that I could be around for a few days of lectures right before finals. My advisor (perhaps jokingly?) said “Would you rather go to art history lectures, or get into med school?” Well, that one was a no-brainer, and from that point forward, I didn’t hesitate to miss school for interviews!</p>
<p>Glad to hear of all the progress! Hang in there with secondaries, I remember we kept thinking D1 was over the hump and that only a few easy ones were left, then she’d discover extra essays for a special program, etc.; and unfortunately our IS public was the worst!</p>
<p>Congrats to your D on the MCAT boost! </p>
<p>D2 will miss quite a bit of work for interviews, but luckily the non-profit she works for has had med school applicants before and knows what to expect. She’ll have to take a few days off w/o pay, but that’s a drop in the bucket compared to all the other costs.</p>
<p>Try to schedule interviews as early as possible, even if you need to talk to tons of people (profs, supervisors, employers) to re-arrange your schedule. Traveling in winter time is not fun at all, escaping those storms is another stress level that you want to avoid as much as possible. Yes, sometime there is no choice, especially for those who applied in Cleveland / Chicago, etc. Case is swesome with early interviews, not so much NorthWestern. Been in situation, worried sick, prayed and thanked the god many times over. But last winter has been a blessing, let’s hope for another like that. Best wishes.</p>
<p>Let’s not forget snowmageddon! My daughter called me at 4 a.m. during the storm and told me that even campus police wouldn’t drive her up to the bus stop , it was too dangerous! I already knew the Peter Pan was running so I told her in loving mommy terms to get her lovely boohiney up to the bus stop, as her ticket to UChicago was non refundable. Being the loving daughter she is, she carried her luggage up hill in the middle of the street as that was the only visible sort of pavement. To her amusement, their were two guys at the bus stop in their Halloween garb, one which included NO shirt! She made it to Chicago with remnants of fake blood paint on her from being a zombie prom queen (they had no power to take shower after Halloween party) had a great interview and got accepted. </p>
<p>I guess the point is that if you want it bad enough, you’ll do it…or your mom will make you! :)</p>
<p>We are juggling interviews around exams, classes, and of course other interviews (feeling very lucky for this). Hoping that we will hear back before Thanksgiving (?) so that the traveling can stop. Of course, we are flying D nonstop whenever possible since the process is so stressful without adding on the possible snags with the airlines.</p>
<p>We (the parents) daydream of where in the world we could have been vacationing with the money spent for the medical school applications process. Hawaii or Fiji, London or Paris but instead Philly, Columbus, etc… (and very grateful for the chance to book these tickets!)</p>
<p>LOL! The money vacuuming doesn’t stop even after they’re IN med school. </p>
<p>D1 lost her phone (long story involving a backpack going off a 1000 ft cliff two weeks ago…) and needed a replacement but wasn’t eligible for an upgrade on her cell acct. So I ponied up for her b-day last week–in part because she was using my cell phone and I wanted it back. </p>
<p>I got her an iPhone because “that’s what all the doctors and med students have”. (Lots of medical apps apparently. She was using her praeceptor’s cell to look up medication dosages in the ER this summer.)</p>
<p>At the Apple store, the clerk told D1, “Nice phone. Now when you graduate from medical school you need to send your mom an really nice cruise as a thank you.”</p>
<p>Yes, Yes to the cruise… May be one of those Around the World ones for a month! Hey, why not dream big.<br>
For those parents like Curm, MiamiD, WOW Mom, who are ahead of us rookies parents, please let us know if you can get your kiddos to come up to scratch and buy you a THANK YOU for being so GREAT presents when they finish up. That way we can say, I’ve heard once that … . It will be the stuff of Folklores and Legends!</p>
<p>^The best presents for all of us is to get them all to Med. School. Of course, there are challenges ahead, but taking one step at a time and hoping for the best outcomes!!!</p>
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