The Med School Update Post

Keep this page bookmarked, as I'll update my progress here.

Schools I've Applied To:

The University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine
Got Secondary?
Yes (6/29)
Secondary Submitted?
Yes (9/1)
Got Interview?
No dice (12/1)
Accepted?
No final verdict yet, but "outlook grim"

Emory University School of Medicine
Got Secondary?
Yes (8/14)
Secondary Submitted?
Yes (10/1)
Got Interview?
No (2/26)
Accepted?
No (2/26)

The University of Florida College of Medicine
Got Secondary?
Yes (7/17)
Secondary Submitted?
Yes (9/1)
Got Interview?
Nope.
Accepted?
No Dice. Undergrad GPA was too much for them. (11/23)

Florida State University College of Medicine
Got Secondary?
Yes (8/3)
Secondary Submitted?
Yes (8/9)
Got Interview?
Still waiting to hear.
Interview Completed?
Not yet
Accepted?
No verdict yet

The University of Miami Miller College of Medicine
Got Secondary?
Yes (7/24)
Secondary Submitted?
Yes (8/9)
Got Interview?
Still waiting to hear.
Interview Completed?
Not yet
Accepted?
No verdict yet

Tulane University School of Medicine
Got Secondary?
Yes (6/20)
Secondary Submitted?
No, I withdrew my application.

Keck School of Medicine of USC
Got Secondary?
Yes (7/21)
Secondary Submitted?
Yes (10/1)
Got Interview?
Still waiting to hear.
Interview Completed?
Not yet
Accepted?
No verdict yet

University of South Florida College of Medicine
Got Secondary?
Yes (8/3)
Secondary Submitted?
Yes (10/1)
Got Interview?
Still waiting to hear
Interview Completed?
Not yet
Accepted?
No verdict yet

Wake Forest University School of Medicine
Got Secondary?
Yes (7/26)
Secondary Submitted?
Yes (7/26), though they didn't get my letters until 10/1
Got Interview?
Still waiting to hear
Interview Completed?
Not yet
Accepted?
No verdict yet

Addition #1: After being convinced by Jen Srygley

Harvard University Medical School
Got Secondary?
Yes (7/27)
Secondary Submitted?
Yes (10/1)
Got Interview?
Still waiting to hear.
Interview Completed?
Not yet
Accepted?
No verdict yet


Addition #2: Expanding my options



Temple University School of Medicine


Got Secondary?
Yes (12/7)
Secondary Submitted?
Yes (12/8)
Got Interview?
No (2/26)
Accepted?
No (2/26)


Saint Louis University School of Medicine


Got Secondary?
Yes (12/7)
Secondary Submitted?
No, withdrew application (2/15)



Oklahoma State University College of Osteopathic Medicine


Got Secondary?
Yes (2/5)
Secondary Submitted?
Yes (2/8)
Got Interview?
Not yet
Interview Completed?
Not yet
Accepted?
No verdict yet


Nova Southeastern University College of Osteopathic Medicine


Got Secondary?
Yes (2/5)
Secondary Submitted?
Yes (2/8)
Got Interview?
Not yet
Interview Completed?
Not yet
Accepted?
No verdict yet


Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine - Bradenton, FL Campus


Got Secondary?
Yes (2/5)
Secondary Submitted?
Yes (2/8)
Got Interview?
Yes (2/14)
Interview Completed?
Yes (2/20)
Accepted?
No verdict yet


The Process:
For those not familiar with the med school application process, here's a quick guide of what you have to do:

1) Take the MCAT. Much grueling study and sleep deprivation is involved in this step. Avoid if at all possible. If you do poorly on step #1, repeat a few months later, remit $300, do not pass Go.

2) Submit an application to AMCAS, the American Medical College Application Service, in which you designate which schools you're interested in applying to. This step is either the "AMCAS" step or the "Primary" step. You submit a personal statement, as well as an unofficial transcript where you list every class you've ever taken and the corresponding grade earned. Yes, that step did take a while, especially when you're sitting on 180+ undergraduate credit hours like this fool is. In addition, you must submit official transcripts from each school you've taken classes at.

3) Your AMCAS must then be verified, which means that somebody sits there with the grades you reported and the grades from your transcript, and makes sure they agree. If not, you've got trouble. Luckily, this went through without a hitch here. Guess I'm that honest.

4) The verified AMCAS is sent to the schools you indicated, and at this point the schools themselves can elect to do one of three things: to offer you a university-specific application (the most common step, these are called "Secondary" applications), to deny you admission completely (which would suck), or the very rare case of inviting you for an interview.

5) Secondaries are then completed and submitted along with the required letters of recommendation. Admissions boards then can either invite you for an interview or again, deny you admission. For those at home, that's weed-out step #2.

6) After completing an interview (usually a face-to-face interview on campus, though some do it by phone - which is odd), boards will only then make the final decision to accept, deny, or wait-list a potential student.

Now do you understand why this is such a long, drawn-out process? Lots of work to do in there. Lots of time and lots of decisions to be made.


The Updates:

Update: 7/24/2006
Today I got my Miami secondary, after apparently meeting their GPA requirements. My AMCAS application was marked as verified some time last week, and the dates listed above note the date of the last email I've gotten from each school. The only schools I have yet to hear anything from at this point are Wake Forest and Tulane, who apparently does not contact students but does have their Secondary online for all to download and complete. USF, FSU, and Emory have all expressed that my secondary application packages are on the way. I've secured three of my necessary letters of recommendation (2 science professors and 1 professional evaluation so far, need 1 non-science professor and 1 peer evaluation), but as of right now only one has been submitted. That's entirely my fault, as I just got the letter packages out to three of my (potential) letter writers. My goal for now is to have my Secondaries all submitted the first weekend of September, after financial aid comes in (to pay for the applications). I'll keep you posted.

Oh and JS, yes, I know - I'm leaving something out. Don't worry though, it's there.

Update: 7/26/2006
Got and submitted my WFU application today. Interesting thing about WFU is their application comes with a very strict time limit - it must be completed within 3 weeks of reception. So regardless of my early September goals, looks like this one was going to beat that mark by quite a while. It's been interesting to see how these different institutions can vary so much in their applications. Not that I expected things to be any different, that is.

Update: 8/1/2006
Emails from both FSU and Emory indicate that due to technical issues, no secondaries have gone out yet. No word from USF in a while. Emory indicated at first that they expected to have the secondary website up by the end of July, but that's been pushed back to mid-August. Neither of these really disturb me, as I've got enough on my plate for the next few weeks anyway. Hopefully they'll come online just as I'm wrapping up my other applications. Summer semester ends on Friday so I don't expect that I'll be doing much application work this week - I mean, I'm always thinking of the essays on some level, but I think I'll devote the majority of thought to finishing physiology and psychology this week.

Update: 8/3-4/2006
FSU and USF secondaries arrived today, leaving only Emory is left. Secured my final letter of recommendation writer, and added the "schools that have invited me to apply" section above after receiving emails from Michigan and the NY College of Podiatry. Of note: I have no desire to do podiatry. Just to clear up any confusion. School has ended for the summer semester, and I've got 24 days to finish my applications before the fall semester stars. Well, make it 23. I'm not going to be productive today.

Update: 8/9/2006
It's been a very productive week so far. I've finished applications for Chicago, UF, FSU, and Miami. So far, only FSU, Miami, and Wake Forest have been submitted, as I have to wait until financial aid money comes in to send in the application fees. Still need to finish USF, USC, and Tulane. That, and hope that my letters of recommendation all get done in a timely fashion.

Update: 12/8/2006
Funny how that whole "school and 3 jobs" things tends to get in the way of the updates. So far, the news has not been positive - I'm out at two of my original 9 (since I decided against applying to Tulane). Today however was a bit of a big day, as I decided to fill out the AACOMAS for application to Osteopathic medical schools, as well as added St. Louis U and Temple to my AMCAS. That's 5 new schools, just trying to give myself some more options. I've thought about what Plan B would be right now if this whole "doctorin'" thing doesn't work out, and I'm not a fan of any option I've proposed so far. So let's hope I can crank out an acceptance somewhere - it's just that low undergrad GPA from GT holding me back. Oh, and in other news, I might be getting a biochem degree from FSU afterall. Details to come on that after next Friday when I'm done with exams.

Update: 2/22/2007
Okay, so a lot has happened since the last update. The AACOMAS service took forever to "certify" my application, and as a result, I just barely beat the deadlines for application to the 3 Osteopathic schools I applied to. I decided not to pursue SLU any further, and opted out of completing their secondary. I received all three of the Osteopathic applications on 2/5, and had them all out 3 days later. Within 1 day of receiving my application, LECOM called to schedule me for an interview - due to a cancellation they told me there was an available slot this past Tuesday (2/20), so I took it. [The other option was to wait until the next slot at 3/15]

I drove down Monday night (after teaching) and stayed in Sarasota with my friend Jeanette, and headed off to the interview early Tuesday morning. Due to awful directions from Mapquest (Google Maps were just as bad) I was a bit late, missing the Dean's introduction (doh!) but from then on the rest of the day went great. I met with two faculty members, answered their questions as well and as honestly as I could, and I don't things could've gone better. The rest of the day was filled out with a tour and various other presentations. The admissions committee met on 2/21 to mail out acceptance letters, but even if I did get accepted, mine might be held as they're still waiting on one letter of recommendation from a D.O. that I know. I'll keep you posted.

Update: 2/28/2007
Well, LECOM still hasn't gotten my DO letter, so I'm still waiting for the admission decision. Not really fun times for me. Also, I heard word from both Emory and Temple that I'm a no-go at both schools. As we get closer to the middle of March I suspect I'll see quite a few more of those types of letters from the MD schools. Looks like MDJDO is going to be more probable than MDJMD. Good thing I didn't splurge on monogramming or anything.