2017-2018 Albany Medical College

Discover Your Odds of Getting into Medical School
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Received sec 20 minutes ago
Do I have any chance with Gpa 3.55 and MCAT 505
 
Has anyone submitted yet? I keep trying to click the certify or pay buttons and nothing is happening...
 
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DrivenAndDangerous said:
I was able to successfully submit 7/11 and was marked complete 7/16
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Never mind, I put "N/A" in all of the prompts that didn't apply to me but missed the last one. I guess it doesn't let you hit certify if you leave anything blank :laugh:
 
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BurntFlower said:
In the "Work and Activities" section on your AMCAS application, you provided the following list of experiences. Please select the experience that you feel has been the most meaningful in influencing your desire to pursue a career in medicine, explain why, and also describe what aspect of that experience best equips you to make an impact in the medical profession.

I'm confused; I thought our mini-essays on 'most meaningful' experience on our primary app answered this already.
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Any thoughts on this?
 
LatSandwich92 said:
Any thoughts on this?
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Basically asking you to pick your most influential experience, develop on what your responsibilities were, talk about what you learned from it, and then explain how these revelations will help you be successful as a clinician. General thought is that it is acceptable to rehash ideas from the primary application (work/activity entries or PS), but do not use word-for-word copied sentences.
 
LatSandwich92 said:
Any thoughts on this?
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Becuase they already know about my three most meaningful activities from AMCAS, I selected another activity and wrote about how that activity is meaningful to my development as a future physician.
 
Mr.Monster said:
Becuase they already know about my three most meaningful activities from AMCAS, I selected another activity and wrote about how that activity is meaningful to my development as a future physician.
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I did the same.
 
Does anyone know a ballpark time frame for when Albany tends to send out some of their earlier interview invites?
 
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Just received an II! Complete 7/14 and OOS tristate area!
 
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Also received an interview invite this morning :) I'm feeling very grateful and happy
 
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This secondary has been sitting in my inbox. I still have no idea what to write for "Describe yourself." I really just want to put "I like sports, margaritas, and sinning"
 
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How long did it take you all to get a 'yes' for the application complete status? I've had a 'no' for about a week now and all of the other materials have been confirmed as received :unsure:
 
sss1219 said:
How long did it take you all to get a 'yes' for the application complete status? I've had a 'no' for about a week now and all of the other materials have been confirmed as received :unsure:
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I've had a 'yes' for about a week. I submitted 7/10
 
Sixsuit said:
Very excited for you! What are the interview dates?
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I believe there were a couple of options for next month. I'm not sure if the option menu changes based on openings still available


Edit: and thank you!! Sorry didn't mean to be rude, hadnt got out of bed yet and forgot my manners :)
 
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Dr.DrakeRamoray said:
Are there people still waiting for the secondary here?
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Yeah, complete last week. Received almost all my other secondaries, but still waiting on this and a couple others. It happens, and there is no reading into it. We're still very, very early in the cycle.
 
For the question:

Please explain any inconsistencies in your university, graduate, or professional school academic performance and/or MCAT scores.

I took the MCAT twice... should I talk about that here?
 
spicyboi said:
For the question:

Please explain any inconsistencies in your university, graduate, or professional school academic performance and/or MCAT scores.

I took the MCAT twice... should I talk about that here?
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Only if there was a significant inconsistency between the two scores, since that's what the prompt is asking about.
 
fldoctorgirl said:
Only if there was a significant inconsistency between the two scores, since that's what the prompt is asking about.
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What would define a significant inconsistency? I have a 10pt different between my two scores.
 
Pooossibly dumb question, how do "describe yourself" and "tell us one thing to determine if we should admit you" differ? Sixsuit suggested picking 2 defining traits about myself for the former, so should I discuss something other than those traits for the latter?
 
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The second one... I would go with diversity essay. Anyone else's opinion?
It's not about defining your traits, that's the "describe yourself". It's not about why Albany (I wouldn't think you wanting to go to their school is why they should admit you). Rather, I'd say to write about how your diversity would contribute to the school.

Both questions are almost 100 percent open ended


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Beat me to an answer, MCATISEZ. I wandered into last year's thread and found these too:

OrangeMed said:
How should I make the "Describe yourself" and "Tell us one thing about yourself that would help the Admissions Committee determine if you should be admitted to our program" unique? It seems like both questions are about what qualities do you have that make you stand out?
For the second question, should I focus on one key aspect of the school itself and why I'm a good fit for the program or should I pick one of my personal qualities that I am proud of which I'll use to succeed in their program?
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Andante12 said:
As to your latter question, I would go with one of your qualities that makes you feel you'd be a good fit rather than the other way around, since that's basically what the question asks.
And the former question, you can go the description-of-personal-qualities/interests route (minus talking about the one you would use for "Tell us one thing..."), which is how I did it (so basically a kind of diversity essay). But here are some other ideas from last year's thread:
  • Non-medical approach (personal hobbies, interesting childhood upbringing, a unique experience)
  • Write a straightforward autobiography ("I was born in California...")
  • Medically-related approach (why you would be a good doctor)
  • Why you want to attend Albany specifically
  • Use the diversity essay from another secondary
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Someone else there went the autobiography route, so I might do that in order to get practice (aka a partial draft) for UCSD. I still have that one waiting on me too...
 
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MCATISEZ said:
The second one... I would go with diversity essay. Anyone else's opinion?
It's not about defining your traits, that's the "describe yourself". It's not about why Albany (I wouldn't think you wanting to go to their school is why they should admit you). Rather, I'd say to write about how your diversity would contribute to the school.

Both questions are almost 100 percent open ended


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
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For the "describe yourself" I briefly mentioned my past and present and then included a few sentences about my plans for the future. I approached the second prompt as a diversity essay, highlighting what makes me diverse.
 
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Mr.Monster said:
For the "describe yourself" I briefly mentioned my past and present and then included a few sentences about my plans for the future. I approached the second prompt as a diversity essay, highlighting what makes me diverse.
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Do you think it's okay to copy/paste/adjust a diversity essay here, then? (Though my present diversity essay touches upon child me a bit--admittedly on a very cultural tack rather than the "how did I come to decide on medicine" tack I'm taking for my "Describe yourself" draft. (I don't think the latter is a bad idea, right? This is such a vague question, after all.)
 
Nintendraw said:
Do you think it's okay to copy/paste/adjust a diversity essay here, then? (Though my present diversity essay touches upon child me a bit--admittedly on a very cultural tack rather than the "how did I come to decide on medicine" tack I'm taking for my "Describe yourself" draft. (I don't think the latter is a bad idea, right? This is such a vague question, after all.)
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I basically threw my diversity essay in the "one thing about myself" essay, and used a story to describe myself, ie leadership and how it reflects your views, etc. I felt like it was a little odd, but honestly, do they really want to hear about how I am exhausted, competitive, and refreshing every app that I've submitted multiple times ever day, because thats basically me described at this point, OR do they want a nice story about leadership and how I am a strong leader and did something great for my community because thats who i am
 
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Thanks for the ideas, y'all! I'll truncate my 500-word diversity essay for the latter and rework a "describe something about you that's not discussed elsewhere" question response for the former.
 
Nintendraw said:
Do you think it's okay to copy/paste/adjust a diversity essay here, then? (Though my present diversity essay touches upon child me a bit--admittedly on a very cultural tack rather than the "how did I come to decide on medicine" tack I'm taking for my "Describe yourself" draft. (I don't think the latter is a bad idea, right? This is such a vague question, after all.)
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I think it's okay to throw a diversity into the "tell us one thing we should consider set if we admit you" essay. I think talking about what makes you interesting is far better than talking about how hard of a worker you are and how good your grades/ECs are. They know how good you are, but there are a plethora of good candidates. Differentiate yourself. That was my thought process at least...
 
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Dr. Stalker said:
A 124 will raise eyebrows, but do not draw attention to negativity if you can avoid it. A 124 isn't something "horrible" so don't bring it up in the secondary.

If your score breakdown is 132-124-132-132 then it will be an inconsistency worth discussing - what is your score breakdown (inbox me if you don't want to post it publicly)
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I feel like my score breakdown is going to raise eyebrows with all said. Mine was: 126 - 123 - 127 - 130. I'm a Non-traditional applicant who got like a 3.3 GPA in undergrad majoring in Cell and Molecular Biology. Then I got an MS in Biology with a first author paper and a 3.8 GPA. I spend the past 18 months scribing and did terrible on the CARS because it was loaded with way more argument questions than any of my prep sections/tests. Any thoughts on whether to mention on secondary?
 
Mr. Teej said:
I feel like my score breakdown is going to raise eyebrows with all said. Mine was: 126 - 123 - 127 - 130. I'm a Non-traditional applicant who got like a 3.3 GPA in undergrad majoring in Cell and Molecular Biology. Then I got an MS in Biology with a first author paper and a 3.8 GPA. I spend the past 18 months scribing and did terrible on the CARS because it was loaded with way more argument questions than any of my prep sections/tests. Any thoughts on whether to mention on secondary?
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That's a tough question. On one hand, you certainly don't want to draw attention to negatives. On the other, as per the MSAR, they're lowest 10th percentile for CARS is 124 so you outta discuss.

To be perfectly honest, I would mention it in the secondary because you're below the 10th%ile. However, you MUST write very carefully: do not make excuses. Do not blame the MCAT. You need to discuss how the 123 is YOUR FAULT, but, you own up to it.
 
Dr. Stalker said:
That's a tough question. On one hand, you certainly don't want to draw attention to negatives. On the other, as per the MSAR, they're lowest 10th percentile for CARS is 124 so you outta discuss.

To be perfectly honest, I would mention it in the secondary because you're below the 10th%ile. However, you MUST write very carefully: do not make excuses. Do not blame the MCAT. You need to discuss how the 123 is YOUR FAULT, but, you own up to it.
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Got it, I'll tread lightly, take responsibility as eloquently as I can in order to demonstrate some maturity. I actually was on the phone with an admissions officer the other day and he said that 123 wasn't necessarily a red flag. He kept saying I won't get sorted out during review because of it, and kept stressing their holistic approach.

Thanks for the honest and helpful feedback!
 
Mr. Teej said:
Got it, I'll tread lightly, take responsibility as eloquently as I can in order to demonstrate some maturity. I actually was on the phone with an admissions officer the other day and he said that 123 wasn't necessarily a red flag. He kept saying I won't get sorted out during review because of it, and kept stressing their holistic approach.

Thanks for the honest and helpful feedback!
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I'm a bit skeptical when schools say "hey _____ isn't a red flag, I strongly encourage you to apply!!!" <-- They just want secondary money lol.

I took my MCAT 3 times and I actually answered that question and discussed my 3 attempts, and why it took me so dam long to get a competitive score lmao. But, I owned up to it; I was immature in college, got a meh score. Then I took the brand new mcat (my first one was on 45 pt scale), got a meh score again. Took it a 3rd time, got a mildly competitive score, and discussed how I persevered, learned from past mistakes, and am proud to have scored so well.
 
Dr. Stalker said:
I'm a bit skeptical when schools say "hey _____ isn't a red flag, I strongly encourage you to apply!!!" <-- They just want secondary money lol.

I took my MCAT 3 times and I actually answered that question and discussed my 3 attempts, and why it took me so dam long to get a competitive score lmao. But, I owned up to it; I was immature in college, got a meh score. Then I took the brand new mcat (my first one was on 45 pt scale), got a meh score again. Took it a 3rd time, got a mildly competitive score, and discussed how I persevered, learned from past mistakes, and am proud to have scored so well.
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If you don't mind me asking, what did u get on the third try? Also a 3x taker.
 
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