I am so grateful for this forum. I think one reason why those who follow this premed forum have (or their kids have) a high success rate is because of the warnings of missteps, etc. I am concerned for a family I have just met whose child is going thru the process. She has good stats, but she applied late, is still doing secondaries. I will not be surprised if she gets no II’s. It’s unfortunate that many don’t realize that the app deadline for med schools is not like an app deadline for undergrad.
Yes I agree, a lot of people don’t seem to know the timing. My godson applied to dental school few years ago in December with great stats. Got couple of IIs in the spring but no acceptances. That summer I accidentally stumbled upon this forum and one weekend when both kids and husband were gone read it cover to cover. Told my girlfriend about it. Her son is now at dental school. I used this forum to help my son with all the timings of the application because his prehealth advisor was no help. Both me and him used SDN to help with the list of schools to apply to. After he got his MCATS score he went to his advisor with his list and she basically shoed him away and said that she can’t help him with it. I found that ridiculous. His at a school that’s known for their “pre-med program” and advising. I was not impressed with it. Me and this forum was his advisors
Pre med advisors don’t have god-like knowledge of all medical schools in the US, nor should they be expected to. These people are not only advising med school applicants, but also kids applying to dental, osteopathic, OT, PT, vet, PsyD, AA, PA and advanced nursing programs. All of these have different timelines and different expectations for applicants. For allopathic med school schools an application in July/August is important; for osteopathic med school–December, even January, is just fine.
To expect them to give anything other than generic advice is expecting way too much, especially if the school doesn’t track where its health professions grads end up at. (And most don’t. Or if they do the info is voluntary–which means much of the data the advisor has is incomplete and biased.) Also remember that much of the process is out of the hands of advisors–who may not even see a student’s LORs-- and in the students’.
Advisors know about their own local professional schools. And by local, I mean the in-state publics, maybe the instate privates, but they know nothing about schools beyond their own local region (except for hearsay, rumors and speculation–just like everyone else).
D1 was a westerner who graduated from a highly ranked East Coast school (one known for it’s pre-med advising @momworried) but she never expected for a hot minute that the advisor would know anything at all about the midwest and western schools she planned on applying to. (So she simply by-passed the pre med office for everything except her committee letter.)
BTW, expect to revisit the issue of “bad advising” in 3 years when your child is applying for residencies. Many, many med schools (including many top ranked med schools) do very poor job of advising their students where to apply.
Advising is also highly specialty-dependent at schools because it’s up to a student’s specialty-specific mentor to make suggestions about programs. Some are better at it than others.
At best, the PD will have a talk to your student, telling them whether or not their numbers are competitive for the field the student wants to pursue. (“Sorry, Joe, your 203 USMLE just isn’t going to cut it applying to orthopedics. Pick something else. How do you feel about family practice? Don’t like it? Tough.” OR “I see you failed your gen surg rotation and had to remediate. Don’t apply to any of these top 40 programs in Ob/Gyn.” OR “Your numbers look good for peds. Let me know how it turns out.”)
So DS has choices finally! Good instate option and solid Midwestern school. Lower ranked than his state school but students are happier there and he loves the city and the commitment to improving student mental health.It is a long season, but I am happy that he has options.
Happy news today! D2’s roommate (and BFF from HS) got her first med school acceptance today. It’s from the in-state public that holds most acceptances until March 15, but does accept a handful (<6) as early rolling admits. so the school must have really liked her.
So the 3 amigas are all going to doctors and will graduate from the same med school–just not in the same year. The peculiar thing–none of them planned on a medical career during high school and none of them majored in bio in college. (Among the three of them you have majors in Italian & Spanish, math & neuroscience, and geography.)
D got her first acceptance last week. Finally! She was on pins and needles since she didn’t hear back on Oct 15th - most of her schools haven’t announced results yet, but a couple had and she was worried sick that she hadn’t heard. Now, that stress is off As one of the docs she shadowed said - the difference between zero and one is huge, but the difference between one and many more is not that important
First post-interview rejection (waitlist actually). Can I just say that I am secretly relieved? He would have gone here because he liked the students so much but it would be $100,000 more than his state school and it isn’t even as well-ranked.
Much more important to him is enjoying his senior year. I am urging him to take a light load and enjoy himself. He is still fighting me a bit on the number of classes, but I am hoping fun will win.
Same here. First post interview wait list. He’s not too upset. Didn’t want to apply there. I kind of made him. Thought it was a great fit for him. But it is far away from home so he’s relieved.
First of all, this board is a wealth of information and I have learned so much from reading it. Thank you.
My D is just a freshman in college, but I feel that there is so much information to be learned about the application process that it’s not too early to start educating myself. Plus, it sounds like being a CA applicant is an extra hurdle.
Having said that, I have a question (probably one of many and I thank you in advance for any wisdom that you share).
I read somewhere (I think it was last year’s application thread), but I can’t find it now that there’s a mailbox a student can set up to put letters of rec there before professors forget them? Is my understanding correct and if so, is it too early to ask professors for LORs? Do they go stale after a certain time period?
Way too early for LORs. Your D will need to do it in her junior year. Don’t know about the mailbox. I’ve heard of it also but my son didn’t need to do it. He has a committee at his school so all LORs were sent to committee which in turn to AMCAS.
Just wanted to add that it’s never too early to start getting info. I discovered this forum when my son was a sophomore and it’s been a great help. I don’t think he would of been where he is now without everyone’s great help and knowledge on this forum. So thank you everyone!
The mailbox you’re referring to is an Interfolio account. An Interfolio account allow a student to upload and hold LORs without compromising the confidentiality of the letter. (Med school applicants waive the right to read their LORs.) Those letters can later be downloaded to AMCAS or AACOMAS. Interfolio charges a fee for the account. (IIRC it’s $40-45/year)
But it’s way, way too early to ask for LORs because letters indeed do get stale. Med school adcomms very strongly prefer letters written in the same year as the application is submitted.
And you need to stop worrying so much so soon! There will be plenty of time later on in the process to stress out.
Welcome, @sjam2mom ! These forums have been invaluable to me! I just wanted to say, that while LORs are not a concern at this point, establishing relationships with professors and being a good student is. I did get to read one of the LORs a professor wrote about my daughter … She referenced her first taking an entry neuroscience class, and then another class, and finally her senior seminar with her. She talked of her growth from my D’s sophomore year to her senior year, referenced her research, and things that made her stand out. It was personal and not a form letter at all. I think those kinds of things can be encouraged right now : )
As one of the docs she shadowed said - the difference between zero and one is huge, but the difference between one and many more is not that important