<p>camomof3</p>
<p>A significant chunk of the kids at Brown and NW are “HYPS type kids” anyway. They don’t need the combined programs the way other schools do. But you are on to something. There’s a reason the other top schools don’t have these programs.</p>
<p>Yeah, I meant to say “accelerated and/or early acceptance programs like HPME and PLME”…</p>
<p>I hope they get rid off the pass/fail for pre-requisites. The whole idea of letting somebody get a degree with only pass/fail courses is nutty, to me. That’s an open invitation for kids who are experiencing the freedom of being on their own for the first time, to goof off.</p>
<p>They never will. It defeats the purpose of the program and runs counter to the ethos at Brown of academic freedom. These are kids who have put in their academic dues in high school - getting into PLME is certainly no small feat. I think it’s harder to get into PLME than med school. Brown prides itself on giving students the freedom to define their academic program for themselves. Is it “goofing off” that my friend was an archeology major and spent his free time coordinating/designing historical battle reenactments on campus instead of putting all his effort into orgo? What about my other friend who was spending her time doing SAT tutoring for the under privileged instead of studying physics? Sure, pre-meds still do lots of stuff outside the classroom but the idea behind PLME is to take really successful kids and say “don’t worry about marketing yourself to med school, just come here and be a strong presence in the community, whatever that means to you.”</p>
<p>At a school like Brown, there’s no point to having a strict BA/MD program. What would the point of it be? Brown has no trouble attracting successful students like most of the other schools that have the combined programs.</p>
<p>
I think DS hated the marketing aspect of the premed life.</p>
<p>I guess, in retrospect, he might have appreciated it more if he had spent a little bit more time on marketing himself to a potential girlfriend (if any) in UG years (so that he does not have to be concerned about this in med school) :)</p>
<p>Wonderful news about jc40’s and TatinG’s Ds and kal’s S; congratulations to plumazul on the H invite (no surprise to us here, I’m sure).</p>
<p>DS, who started interviewing back in mid-August, had his last interview, pending any unexpected surprises, this past Friday, at a PNW school where he spent a summer working alongside a neurointervential team. He is happy to be done—we think—with all the travels.</p>
<p>It is a grueling process, both physically and mentally. Certainly not all sunshine, lollipops and rainbows. (Oh, Lesley Gore, where are you now?) DS does not expect to hear back from many of the schools where he interviewed for some time (a couple not until March), but his first three responses have been…no response; i.e., waitlist, “alternates” list, etc.</p>
<p>For him, a high stats kid with high hopes, this has been tough. Tough on DH and I as well, as we ache for him. One of the above three schools sent him a scholarship application form to fill out “just in case.” Insult to injury: the form requires an additional two essays.</p>
<p>We suspect that something will eventually come through, and are encouraging him to keep his spirits up and prepare his update letters carefully. No wonder they say patience is a virtue.</p>
<p>On the bright side, he does have a girlfriend (who is a true delight). ATexan, by the way.</p>
<p>UG - hang in there. What is your State and how do the instate med schools work?</p>
<p>Is he completely done with interviews? If he has more, may be someone here can provide some tips. It is important to follow up with the schools that are in a holding pattern. Again, many here can provide advice by PM if you send info about schools and what status the app is in. Being a little aggressive helps but I don’t know what ways you can push each school. A few here do.</p>
<p>If 2012-13 has taught us onething, a waitlist at the end of July can still be fruitful.</p>
<p>kal,
“I have always been fond of some of the accelerated BA/MD programs like PLME and HPME”
-my D. was NOT in either, but she was in bs/md at state public in our state. Later on when she applied out (the only bs/md in her class of 10 who applied out), she actually got accepted to the Northewestern Medical School (Feinberg) as a Regular route applicant (turned down, attending another Med. School). I cannot tell you about others and I cannot tell you anything about other programs.
However, my worked very hard (the participants of bs/md (10 in her class) were mixed with the regular pre-meds. In fact, they kept it low profile and not let others know that they are in bs/md to avoid the social disturbances. D. has graduated with straing A’s (GPA=3.98), had 3 A-, all in her Music minor, no single P/F, no single summer class, while doing all of her EC’s during school year. She recieved the top pre-med award at Graduation (only one was awarded).
i love to brag, but the point is not about bragging here. I would like to tell you that not all bs/md participants take it easy. But participating in bs/md gave my D. great freedom from worrying for 4 years, this is true. It did not free her from working hard. It has helped her to sit thru MCAT as requirement in a program was only 27, not worrying has helped to get her much higher score. It also has helped her tremendously during interviews as she already had a spot before she even applied to Med. Schools outside of her program. In addition, she was well equipped to meet Med. School chalanges and has done well so far while being in class with vey high percentage of students coming from the top Ivy / Elite colleges in the country.</p>
<p>RE: the cancellation of the interview. My DD had 10 interviews scheduled when, a week after #4, she got an offer from that school, her known #1 choice. She cancelled everything right then and there. I know GA2012 and I spoke during her DD’s application trail. When you begin the process, you are concerned, will I get interviews, will I be admitted? Is 5 enough? Is 10 enough? I say there has to be some sanity and some money saving. If your son truly likes the admittance he has, then why bother spending the money and time going to extras.</p>
<p>Save the money and time for residency interviews when you really need to do a dozen or more interviews and where there are no options to be admitted early in most specialties.</p>
<p>@UG–I feel your pain. D2 is also a high stats kids with high hopes/ambitions. She’s had a decent number of interviews (plus 2 upcoming–on different coasts, of course!). While her news has been better, she’s still taking it hard that she hasn’t gotten interviews to each and every one of the schools on her carefully selected list. </p>
<p>She’s been complaining at how random and un-transparent this process appears to be on a micro-scale. Why did this school luuuuurve her and that one give her a silent rejection? </p>
<p>The med school application process is really tough on the ego.</p>
<p>Thanks for the warm wishes and offers of help, texaspg and WOWMom. I may be in touch via PM at a later point.</p>
<p>I really hesitated before posting this morning, since I didn’t want to cast a pall over what has been a spectacular series of weeks on this thread, and I have been rejoicing vicariously in everyone’s triumphs. I ended up doing so because future applicants and their parents are following this thread, and our experiences can serve as an important object lesson.</p>
<p>WOWM: I hear you. If there is any lesson that future applicants could learn from reading this thread it’s this: Apply to a lot of places! There is no rhyme or reason as to which schools will love you and which won’t. In D’s case, the hometown medical schools have been silent so far. Schools that were in the reach category have been great! Schools that were considered in-state safeties, one sent an interview invite, the other didn’t yet. </p>
<p>I really do think medical schools should be more transparent, not only in the process, but what type of candidates they are looking for. The usual advice to look at the mission statement doesn’t give much information. Most of those mission statements are completely vague and ambiguous. </p>
<p>My dad and mom and other relatives (who have no idea how difficult and random the process is) thought D was a shoe-in to a school that rejected her. They thought we were throwing our money away on so many applications and on so many interview trips. The average person hasn’t a clue at how difficult, expensive and exclusive the process is. </p>
<p>16 = silence for 4 months (not a good sign at this point).
1 post interview rejection
3 pre-interview rejections
10 interviews
2 acceptances (Yippee)
2 interviews yet to go
5 waiting for word</p>
<p>Hang in there.</p>
<p>^^
If you think the med school application cycle is confusing, expensive and non-transparent—just wait until it’s time to apply for residencies!</p>
<p>(Hint: it doesn’t get better….)</p>
<p>I can confirm WOWmom’s comments. Think $$$$ & hassle & time</p>
<p>UrbanGardener,</p>
<p>Hang in there. The worst part of the med admissions game is the waitlists and/or deferrals. If your son is really interested in the waitlisted schools, tell him to keep sending updates/LOIs on a regular basis. With high stats and many interviews he is bound to get in somewhere. He could hear all the good news at once in March.</p>
<p>UG.
I echo Kali’s comments. I am sure your son will be getting some good news, it may just not be on the early timeline he anticipated. Sending good vibes.</p>
<p>DS knew of a student (one year older than him) with high stats (3.95/40) from a HYPS, with an additional year of full time research, attended tons of interviews but did not get into ANY school till either March or April. He is a California kid with a high aspiration of getting into a highly ranked school on either coast.</p>
<p>Sometimes I feel that one reason why the med school application requires “thick skins” is that they want to make sure their students could survive the somewhat military-like residency years when anybody one or more years senior can be a jerk to you anytime for no reason, and you need thick skin to get through those years.</p>
<p>UG,
I believe that a student like your S will hear good news in the end. It is just the timing is different.</p>
<p>When DS was at an IS school for a second look, he happened to stay at a hotel from which he could see the residents, etc., working there. He made the following comment to one of his parents who went there to stay with him: Those residents would be abused the whole night. I think he is going into this knowing what to expect.</p>
<p>Thanks to TatinG, kal, learning and mcat 2 for your words of reassurance. We’re hanging tough.</p>
<p>In positive news this week, DS
<p>Life is good. Enough about the UG family. I’m looking forward to hearing news about all of you.</p>
<p>“DS knew of a student (one year older than him) with high stats (3.95/40) from a HYPS, with an additional year of full time research, attended tons of interviews but did not get into ANY school till either March or April.”
-this student must have applied only to top 10 and other very selective places where they do not consider stats as much as others (I am aware only of Cleveland Clinic - free 5 years Med. School with only 30 spots, maybe Mayo is the same?). Cleveland Clinic has put my D. on hold, then she withdrew because she decided after interview that the program does not fit her well. Her friend has applied 2 years later, also was put on hold and accepted later. Apparently places like this put large number on hold. So, I understand if one applies only to very selective/exclusive places, then they might know much later. D. had 3 acceptances in her hands on the night that schools are allowed to let applicants know (Oct. 16). She applied widely, did not include only very top and she did not have 40 either, not even close. Her application process was way cheaper than most, not comparable at all to others on this thread. Not a single flight, not a single stay in hotel, only 6 application fees (8 schools total).
It depends, if one wants to be in the very top, then I can see that it would be expansive and stressful. If one wants to see which one will match her around her home state, and not beeing too much attracted to the highly ranked, then the application process might be much cheaper. I am glad that we have saved, but on the other hand, any cost of application even the very high is sooooo miniscule in comparison to a cost of Med. School that later it will be though of as irrelevant,…and then there is Residency application…I am trying not to think about this one, it sounds pretty overhelming in regard to everything, money, time, uncertainty, it seems that not much is in applicant’s control at all, they all work so hard and not all will be where they want to be.</p>
<p>MiamiDAP, Unlike DS, that student did apply to the very top schools only - and only to the schools in a “hot” area. (DS avoid applying to many med schools that look "too hot/crowded with competitive applicants, places like H, Penn, JHU, Duke, Mayo, Vanderbuilt, Chicago, Georgetown, Emory, all California schools, originally all schools in NYC and wustl, were his “no, thanks” schools in his list of schools to apply to.) Because DS had learned of his case (he was his coworker) before his own application, he knew very well that this process could be very unpredictable. So his goal all along had been to earn the “instate love” of his IS’s schools. And we kept telling him that he is from a state which is as “good” (in terms of getting into ONE school) as it could be for med school application. This helped relieve some pressure out of his application process and during interviews.</p>
<p>At one time, he even said he had better made better use of these interview trips to know these places (not the schools as many interviewers might focus on.) This was because he might not have a chance to visit those places for a long time, maybe forever. (Our family has almost never had an OOS vacation. So, having the opportunity to fly to many places could be “exciting experiences” for him :)) He took a lot of pictures like a tourist would do! His point was likely that since the outcome is so random, why should he spend time on worrying about its outcome?!</p>
<p>Hopefully, he will keep this attitude when he applies for residency programs.</p>
<p>mcat2,
My D’s attitude is very similar to your S’s, I describe “down to earth/do not listen to others / stay away from all the hype”. It has worked for her so far, not only applying but also at all of her edcucational places. Even now she has already indicated, that she is very much out of synch with waht others consider to be hot/popular places and hopes that because of that, her chances might increase. She is also very sensitive to her surroundings and even some gorgeous locations might not match her at all (one of them was Chicago). She knows exactly what she is looking for.
She is not looking forward to travel at all, she has traveled much more and much further and more frequently than probably 99% of entire Earth population. She has done abroad a lot to very exotic places also and trip to Europe (as one example) might not be anything special for her.<br>
She probably will fly to some residency interviews (hopefully, she will have few invitations), but she most likely will apply in Midwest, although her radius will be much wider than when she applied to Med. Schools (limited by 5.5 hrs of driving by her own desire)</p>