1-2 Hit Combo. Round 1: KO'd

Rejected from Georgetown. Can you tell it's been a great two days?

I'm going to sit in my room and whimper now.

Here's the score:

Completed Secondary:
Howard
Drexel
Tufts
NYMC
University of Rochester
SUNY Buffalo
SUNY Downstate
SUNY Upstate
Robert Wood Johnson (NJMDS)
New Jersey (NJMDS)
Jefferson
FSU
Temple University
Albert Einstein
Albany
Miami
UF
University of Maryland

Secondary Submitted, Not Complete:
Penn State

Rejected:
Boston University
EVMS
WVU
Georgetown University
VCU

Interview:
George Washington

I predict I'm out of the running in Maryland and Tufts soon. Also the SUNYs, Albert Einstein, and Rochester.

Damn. What a day. I worked really hard on that essay too.

This looks awfully familiar.

Rejected from VCU.... this does not bode well for the coming application season....

Update

~EDIT~
So, I believe I am complete at Miami (their strange status page doesn't say pending, it says received and confirmed...but I'll e-mail them at the end of this week just to make sure). Also, I am complete at Albany.

UF is still having trouble with my damn peer letter. I don't know if anybody else is experiencing this, but I've had like 2 people give me their PERSONAL e-mail addresses to have my peer letter person send this damn thing to, and they haven't received them either. Is my peer letter writer screwing me over? What's going on here? I want this application to be complete like a month ago. Damn.

~~~~~~~
Ok, so it's been pretty quiet out here. I'm complete everywhere except for my Florida schools, I believe.

So, I finished UF around July 20th, (a week after I received the application), but my peer letter writer sent their letter last week. Unfortunately, I received an e-mail recently telling me that I was still incomplete, and it turns out that they have not received his letter, so he's sending it again. Should I call now? I'm pretty anxious to have this application completed.

I finished Miami last night, so I'll e-mail next week to check my status.

And, finally, after reading a consensus, I've decided not to apply to USF. 1. I'm not actually interested in their program, and if I were to get in anywhere up north, it would be one of the first places I would withdraw from. 2. For reapplicants, there are about 80 essays to finish. 3. I hear they are very unlikely to give you an interview unless you have at least a 30 on the MCAT.

However, I did finish Howard and Drexel, and am complete at both schools. Woohoo! Although, stupidly, I did forget to upload a picture for Drexel's, so that was 3 days later before I realized it. Which is a shame, because I finished everything else the day I received it. (Easy secondary).

Anyone else loving those Howard e-mails? I love that the lady doesn't take herself too seriously. It makes a stressful situation a lot lighter on the shoulders.

Anyway, that's all for now...I think I'm complete everywhere except for Miami and UF.

So final tally:

Completed Secondary:
Howard
Drexel
Tufts
NYMC
University of Rochester
SUNY Buffalo
SUNY Downstate
SUNY Upstate
Robert Wood Johnson (NJMDS)
New Jersey (NJMDS)
Jefferson
FSU
Temple University
Albert Einstein
Albany
Miami

Secondary Submitted, Not Complete:
Penn State
UF

Pre-interview Hold:
VCU ("sub-committee" message.... uh oh.)

Rejected:
Boston University
EVMS
WVU

Interview:
George Washington

So, 19 more schools to hear from (...that's less than I thought I had applied to..maybe I should apply to more? Yikes. If so, any other schools I should consider?)

That's all! Hopefully I'll hear something from the other schools soon....

Thinking is a very dangerous pasttime.

...I feel like there are too many t's in my past-time...Pastime? Pas-ti-me...can't be right.

Anyway, I spend most of my time sitting here feeling optimistic. I'm moving out of my home soon, and living in a different city for a while. Should be a good getaway. Until then, however, I'm here watching my old anthology shows and playing minesweeper. It keeps me from thinking.

Last year, I remember being so optimistic. Turning in my applications late, thinking foolishly that I still had a chance. I remember having only 5 definite rejections and thinking to myself: well no worries, there's a bunch left to hear from! I was so proud of myself with each secondary I turned in. My parents don't know much about the process and thought that getting a secondary was a feat in itself. I didn't have the heart to tell them it meant nothing for most schools.

With every rejection letter that came I became more panicked, more disheartened. It began to dawn on me: wow, I'm really not getting in this year. I fought constantly with my significant other who had no clue how to comfort me, because they had no idea how I felt. By the spring semester I was devastated, still waiting on some schools that never deemed me worthy candidate to even send a rejection letter to. My dad was optimistic that by March I would have an interview. March came and went, and he realized where I stood. Probably one of the most depressing times of my life.

After a while, I learned helplessness, and just sat there, letting a tide of rejection roll over me. How do you tell your family members that you didn't get in? All of them had been keeping tabs of my progress, hoping to hear good news. At my graduation dinner, they had all learned not to ask. They accepted the pretty transparent lie that I had "withdrew" my application earlier on.

I live in a small town , and word gets around. Word I'm desperately trying to prevent. Believe me, schadenfreude exists.

Anyway, I'm sitting here again, feeling vaguely optimistic, even though I should know better. I sit here and think "well interview season has barely started, I still have time to get a few more." Foolish. Then I remember: this is exactly how I felt last year. I hope we don't get the same results.

Sorry for the depressing-...ness? I figure until I get an update, I made this blog to talk about my feelings. That sounds so stupid. I instantly regret typing it. Anyway, I remain hopefully optimistic regardless of my experience. The more I hear about other people in my situation the better I feel, especially when they start getting interviews! If anyone reads this, hopefully I'll see you around the med school interview circuit :-)

Here I Go Again...

On my own...that song is far too happy. Oh Whitesnake.

Anyway, interview season is gearing up, and people are getting interviews everywhere! I'm not really expecting many interviews this season, and if I get anymore, I suspect they will be later in the semester. At the moment, I'm focusing on my GW interview with such intensity, it's actually quite unpleasant. Part of me feels like I should just wing it. I hope I don't sweat. Profusely. As I have a tendency to do when I'm nervous. It's really disgusting, and you kind of want to wipe it off, but where? So it drips, and God forbid it drips down your face. Gross.

Maybe handkerchiefs serve a purpose after all.

To prevent yourself from focusing on an intensity that may make you come off serial-killer-ish during your interview, I recommend attempting to watch an entire television series, while simultaneously learning how to conquer minesweeper: advanced. It has gotten my mind of things a little too well. I'm currently working on "Alfred Hitchcock Presents". I'm on Season 2. I mean, this advice is appropriate provided you are in my situation, and have a gap year. Also..you know.. tweaking your resume and finding a job. Which I will have to do in 2 weeks.

You know, it wouldn't be so bad, if I knew more people in my situation.

Anyway, stay encouraged, interviews have just begun, and there are plenty more to go. Nothing much has changed, except that I've finished all of my secondaries, except for USF (I decided not to apply).

I just received UMiami, and I'm still waiting for Howard and Drexel. Everything else is finished though. Nothing left to do but wait. As long as you can wait, you'll be fine during this application process. I mean and wait. Patiently, without thinking about it constantly. Yeah right.

Ok, so...no updates so far...hopefully I'll feel motivated enough to finish Miami tonight! Motivation is key. It just has to be one of those days where I wake up and all I'm thinking about it is what I'm going to write.

I feel like not applying to USF is going to end up being some sort of horrible mistake, but honestly, with the 500 essays you have to finish as a reapplicant, not to mention it's been over 3 weeks since I received it, not to mention, I really am not interested in the school....I figured I could sacrifice it. Kids: Never get into this frame of mind. I'm a horrible role model.

That is all.

Oh the plight of a medical school applicant....

Nobody ever believes you when you tell them that applying to medical school is a completely different beast than any other graduate school application process.

Last year, I thought, "Just one interview, one interview and I'll be happy" Now it's "Just an acceptance, one acceptance and I'll be happy." Luckily GW is my top choice, so if I am accepted there, then I'm finished with this whole process... This process burns you out. Last year I was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. It's hard when nobody understands exactly what you're going through. How you feel like you exerted so much effort, spent so much money, worked so hard for something for 4 years, and in the end, you get nothing. It's discouraging, it's stressful. People wonder why so many doctors seem brusque or harsh, and why pre-med students are a pain in the ass, and they dont' realize that these people have been shaped by their experiences.

I made a point to make friends with non pre-med people in college. Sometimes you need an escape from this high pressure, high stress, never satisfied world. Then they started applying to PhD and Masters programs. One by one they got in, and they looked at me and asked, "Why?" And it wall tinged with this frustrating sympathy. What you need during this problem is empathy, not pity. Someone who understands what you're going through. I don't, by any means, condone a pity party, but sometimes it's good to get out a, "Yeah I suck, but I'll be better next year". Ph.D. and Masters applicants don't realize that even if you're qualified, it may not work out. They don't realize the 40% acceptance rate. Medical school applications are a larger world, not as close-knit. No connections. Impersonal and intimidating. You applied to 3 schools? I applied to 23. And not a single one wanted me.

I am happy with what I have right now, it's more than what I had last year, and it's from my top choice. I want this more than anything. I hope that comes through on interview day.

Oh Boston Massacre.

I am another victim.

So updating:

By the end of the night, I will have completed Tufts, Penn State, and (hopefully) Albany. I have been rejected from Boston. That's 3 rejections and 1 interview so far!