2018ers...Where are you applying?

[Juan Solo]

Hey hey

I added more schools to my app, so now I'm applying to 21 and feel much better about that, but my MCAT is in 5 days!! My practice scores are kinda all over the place.

Any tips/suggestions?

Stay calm and keep calm during the test/s. You probably have been training for a while so just keep using the techniques that you have learned.


Also TOP!!!

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[RocDiva4040]

Thanks. Yea I took a rest from testing because I think I was getting worn out. I'm gonna take two more. One tomorrow and the next day. Hopefully those are good.

 

[Juan Solo]

Thanks. Yea I took a rest from testing because I think I was getting worn out. I'm gonna take two more. One tomorrow and the next day. Hopefully those are good.

Good luck!

 

[ChemEngMD]

Hey hey

I added more schools to my app, so now I'm applying to 21 and feel much better about that, but my MCAT is in 5 days!! My practice scores are kinda all over the place.

Any tips/suggestions?

Go in confident! On my final two AAMC practice tests I had a major drop off in PS (went from scoring 11s to two 8s in a row) and was freaking myself out. I decided to step back, calm down and go in confident that I could handle the test. I ended up pulling the 11 on PS and hitting my averages on the other two sections like I had been. Confidence is key!

 

[ChemEngMD]

They are taking soooo long to verify primary apps. I submitted on the 17th I'm not expecting to be verified until like July 17th

 

[kaygeebee]

I submitted on the 11th and silly me, I thought I would be verified by now..

 

[Juan Solo]

I think it typically takes about 4 weeks... lots of down time to kill.

 

[RocDiva4040]

Go in confident! On my final two AAMC practice tests I had a major drop off in PS (went from scoring 11s to two 8s in a row) and was freaking myself out. I decided to step back, calm down and go in confident that I could handle the test. I ended up pulling the 11 on PS and hitting my averages on the other two sections like I had been. Confidence is key!

Thanks. This helps a lot. It's frustrating because whenever I review the answers it like I just made silly mistakes, didn't read carefully/interpret the question right etc. It's rare that I just didn't get the concept. I'm hoping on test day for no stupid mistakes.

Was your test more like the earlier AAMCs or the later ones?

 

[ChemEngMD]

Thanks. This helps a lot. It's frustrating because whenever I review the answers it like I just made silly mistakes, didn't read carefully/interpret the question right etc. It's rare that I just didn't get the concept. I'm hoping on test day for no stupid mistakes.

Was your test more like the earlier AAMCs or the later ones?

Here's another Pro Tip: On the test that I took everyone complained about how hard PS was. Everyone claimed it was killer blah, blah, blah. The key I found was to do passage problems that did not require the passage first (subtle discretes) then only utilize the passage for questions specific to it. From what I noticed all of the PS passages had a bunch of convoluted and extraneous details meant to bog you down (i.e. a paragraph and chart related to a specific topic (electrochemistry, kinetics, harmonic motion, anything) and then there weren't any questions related to that topic in the passage questions). Lots of red herrings. It made a lot of people very slow with this section and messed up their timing, causing them to have to rush thru the final passage or two. I personally spent far more time on the questions and just skimmed the passages when I needed to reference a specific chart or experimental setup.

The real test is definitely more like AAMC 9-11. I personally scored the same thing on my real test as AAMC 9. The BS is definitely more focused on providing scenarios or experiments and then asking you about those. I personally had a BS section that was very focused on one particular topic but I'm sure that was somewhat abnormal. My timing was about normal for this. From what I read from old test dates, the orgo has varied a bit from test to test. I had 2 full orgo passages, others have claimed to only get one. I personally am terrible at it, but I can usually use the passage to get at least ~1/2 of the questions right.

The VR section is more or less standard from test to test I feel. My timing was about average for this section.

Hope this helps!

 

[RocDiva4040]

Here's another Pro Tip: On the test that I took everyone complained about how hard PS was. Everyone claimed it was killer blah, blah, blah. The key I found was to do passage problems that did not require the passage first (subtle discretes) then only utilize the passage for questions specific to it. From what I noticed all of the PS passages had a bunch of convoluted and extraneous details meant to bog you down (i.e. a paragraph and chart related to a specific topic (electrochemistry, kinetics, harmonic motion, anything) and then there weren't any questions related to that topic in the passage questions). Lots of red herrings. It made a lot of people very slow with this section and messed up their timing, causing them to have to rush thru the final passage or two. I personally spent far more time on the questions and just skimmed the passages when I needed to reference a specific chart or experimental setup.

The real test is definitely more like AAMC 9-11. I personally scored the same thing on my real test as AAMC 9. The BS is definitely more focused on providing scenarios or experiments and then asking you about those. I personally had a BS section that was very focused on one particular topic but I'm sure that was somewhat abnormal. My timing was about normal for this. From what I read from old test dates, the orgo has varied a bit from test to test. I had 2 full orgo passages, others have claimed to only get one. I personally am terrible at it, but I can usually use the passage to get at least ~1/2 of the questions right.

The VR section is more or less standard from test to test I feel. My timing was about average for this section.

Hope this helps!

Thanks so much! This actually helps alot, because I was short on time for AAMC 11. I took AAMC 11 today and got a 32, so I felt better. With this verbal I got back to my max score-12. To me the verbal in the earlier practice tests and AAMC 11 were easier and then the ones in the middle I didn't do as well on. But this might be because I was over thinking. This morning when I took the AAMC 11 I made a conscious effort to pick an answer, don't change it, and keep it moving and it turned out much better.

Bio is my worst section unfortunately. On Physics I pretty much get an 11 (If I'm focused), verbal can be from 10-12. Bio is between 9 and 10.

Any tips for Bio? lol.

 

[ChemEngMD]

Thanks so much! This actually helps alot, because I was short on time for AAMC 11. I took AAMC 11 today and got a 32, so I felt better. With this verbal I got back to my max score-12. To me the verbal in the earlier practice tests and AAMC 11 were easier and then the ones in the middle I didn't do as well on. But this might be because I was over thinking. This morning when I took the AAMC 11 I made a conscious effort to pick an answer, don't change it, and keep it moving and it turned out much better.

Bio is my worst section unfortunately. On Physics I pretty much get an 11 (If I'm focused), verbal can be from 10-12. Bio is between 9 and 10.

Any tips for Bio? lol.

Hey sorry! I think your test is today, but in truthfulness I don't have any great bio tips. It was my weakest section (mainly cause of the ochem). I just relied on a lot of the stuff I've learned in my graduate program and fortunately a lot of the subject matter ended up being similar. Good luck this afternoon/morning! Hope you kill it.

 

[RocDiva4040]

^ Thanks.

Welp. I'm glad that's over with. I thought I would be more relieved, but idk I'm just anxious for my scores now. PS was hard for me, which I'm really pissed off about because it's usually one of my strong sections. I feel good about verbal and bio was bleh. I hope I got at least a 10 there lol.

O well, on to secondaries I guess.

 

[ChemEngMD]

^ Thanks.

Welp. I'm glad that's over with. I thought I would be more relieved, but idk I'm just anxious for my scores now. PS was hard for me, which I'm really pissed off about because it's usually one of my strong sections. I feel good about verbal and bio was bleh. I hope I got at least a 10 there lol.

O well, on to secondaries I guess.

At least you're verified and have secondaries! haha

 

[Juan Solo]

^ Thanks.

Welp. I'm glad that's over with. I thought I would be more relieved, but idk I'm just anxious for my scores now. PS was hard for me, which I'm really pissed off about because it's usually one of my strong sections. I feel good about verbal and bio was bleh. I hope I got at least a 10 there lol.

O well, on to secondaries I guess.

You should definitely take a break, you deserve it! And good luck on those secondaries! Go get 'em!

 

[RocDiva4040]

Lol true @ ChemEngMD

And thanks Juan!

Yea I'm not gonna actually start secondaries until tomorrow. Today I rest lol.

 

[Ambitionista]

^ Thanks.

Welp. I'm glad that's over with. I thought I would be more relieved, but idk I'm just anxious for my scores now. PS was hard for me, which I'm really pissed off about because it's usually one of my strong sections. I feel good about verbal and bio was bleh. I hope I got at least a 10 there lol.

O well, on to secondaries I guess.

I bet it feels great to be done though!! I can't wait until I get there. Sigh.

 

[RocDiva4040]

I bet it feels great to be done though!! I can't wait until I get there. Sigh.

I'm just now beginning to feel relief, and it does feel awesome. Now that I'm back home and I look around at all of these stacks of books in my study space and realize that's not my life anymore it's like...WOOOW. lol.

Like I NEVER have to take this again. Yaaaass.

You'll be there soon don't worry.

 

[mnlightmedbound]

Submitted my app 6/14/13, just waiting to get verified
Here's my list:
Johns Hopkins
UPenn
UPitt
Penn State
UC
U Maryland
Virginia Commonwealth
UV
U of Rochestor
Brown
Case Western
OSU
NEOCOM
Toledo
Wright State

 

[Juan Solo]

Submitted my app 6/14/13, just waiting to get verified
Here's my list:
Johns Hopkins
UPenn
UPitt
Penn State
UC
U Maryland
Virginia Commonwealth
UV
U of Rochestor
Brown
Case Western
OSU
NEOCOM
Toledo
Wright State

Looks like you have a pretty well balanced school list (depending on your given application) Looks like you decided to go with 15 schools. Good luck!

 

[martymd]

hey there! here's my official list! Submitted my primary 6/25/13 .. eek

BU
Drexel
GW
Loyola
Oregon
Rush
Quinnipiac
Temple
Tufts
U Arizona - Tucson
UCLA- Prime
UCSD (Prime!)
U Colorado
UIC
U Vermont
U Washington
Virginia Commonwealth

can't wait to start seeing where everyone is getting interviews! good luck to you all

#URMsolidarity

 

[raeofsunshine]

Hi everyone!
I submitted 6/10
Here's my monster of a list:

Albany Medical College
Drexel University
Emory University
Georgetown University
George Washington University (My first interview!!)
Howard University
Northwestern University
Southern Illinois University
Tufts University
University of California, Davis
Rosalind Franklin University
University of California, Los Angeles
University of Missouri, Columbia
University of Wisconsin
Wake Forest University
Harvard University -
Louisiana State University, New Orleans (rejected already )
Albert Einstein of Yeshiva University
Boston University
Loyola University Chicago
New York Medical College
Ohio State University
SUNY Upstate
Tulane University
Rush Medical College
University of Chicago
University of Illinois


Good luck to all of you!!

 

[striker15]

Hi guys I thought I'd join in and wish everyone best of luck for this cycle. Applying to most of the schools mentioned above but haven't been verified yet.

 

[El Nino]

Hey all!

I'm applying this cycle, I submitted my application the first week of July.

I take MCAT next week. I'm praying for a 30+

 

[Juan Solo]

Good luck to all of you. If anyone of you have questions feel free to ask!

 

[ChemEngMD]

Just got verified.

I was hoping that my overall GPA would be 3.30...came out as 3.29...I really hope that the .01 doesn't screen me out of too many schools :/

 

[Juan Solo]

Just got verified.

I was hoping that my overall GPA would be 3.30...came out as 3.29...I really hope that the .01 doesn't screen me out of too many schools :/

I trends in your accumulative grades is also looked at, especially in schools that have screen limits. I wouldn't worry too much.

 

[mnlightmedbound]

I've been verified, and have received secondaries from 6 of my schools. Does anyone know around how much time one should spend on writing secondary app essays? And what time limit should I give myself to submit them once I receive them (2 weeks etc.)

 

[Juan Solo]

I've been verified, and have received secondaries from 6 of my schools. Does anyone know around how much time one should spend on writing secondary app essays? And what time limit should I give myself to submit them once I receive them (2 weeks etc.)

I think it depends on the secondary, your interest level in that particular school and the level of importance that secondary has on getting an interview or accepted.

Longest time spent on a secondary was one month (Pritzker). Shortest time was 1 day ( UC Davis).

 

[mnlightmedbound]

I think it depends on the secondary, your interest level in that particular school and the level of importance that secondary has on getting an interview or accepted.

Longest time spent on a secondary was one month (Pritzker). Shortest time was 1 day ( UC Davis).

Thanks!

 

[MagisandCP]

Who did you have look over your AMCAS app before you submitted it? Or did you just proofread it yourself then submit?

 

[RocDiva4040]

Just got verified.

I was hoping that my overall GPA would be 3.30...came out as 3.29...I really hope that the .01 doesn't screen me out of too many schools :/

Same exact thing happened to me. It's annoying, but oh well.

 

[RocDiva4040]

My updated list:

FSU
Tulane
Miami
Tufts
Georgetown
George Washington
Brown
USC
BU
UCLA
Pitt
Emory
Baylor
Mount Sinai
NYU
Cornell
U Chicago
Columbia
Yale
U Penn
Harvard

Hopefully my MCAT is decent, so this can be my final list. If I get below a 30, I'm adding more safeties.

 

[ChemEngMD]

My updated list:

FSU
Tulane
Miami
Tufts
Georgetown
George Washington
Brown
USC
BU
UCLA
Pitt
Emory
Baylor
Mount Sinai
NYU
Cornell
U Chicago
Columbia
Yale
U Penn
Harvard

Hopefully my MCAT is decent, so this can be my final list. If I get below a 30, I'm adding more safeties.

We've got quite a few (10) similar schools. Have you started your secondaries yet?

 

[RocDiva4040]

We've got quite a few (10) similar schools. Have you started your secondaries yet?

Cool! Yea I've done 15!! I'm so proud of myself lol. They are the most annoying things on this earth though. I'm going to a Beyonce concert on the 25th, so I'm using that as my incentive. I'm trying to finish all of my secondaries before then so it's like a treat lol

I was doing really great for the frist 10 cuz they all asked basically the same questions but now I'm on the secondaries that are just doing the absolute most so I'm slowing down.

How far are you?

 

[clothcut]

3.5/33... low-income and male.... not stressing the process anymore after the beast that was the mcat... just get me into my state school and i will be content... nonetheless, i applied to a whopping 26 schools. gl to everybody.


State University of New York Downstate Medical Cen
Howard University
SUNY Upstate Medical University
SUNY at Buffalo Medical School
Morehouse School of Medicine
Mount Sinai School of Medicine
Boston University School of Medicine
New York Medical College
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Stony Brook University School of Medicine
Tufts University School of Medicine
Georgetown University School of Medicine
Wake Forest School of Medicine of Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center
Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University
Drexel University College of Medicine
Emory University School of Medicine
Duke University School of Medicine
Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth
Hofstra North Shore-LIJ School of Medicine
Columbia University College of P & S
Stanford University School of Medicine
New York University
Weill Medical College of Cornell University
University of Rochester School of Medicine and Den
Temple University School of Medicine
Jefferson Medical Coll. of Thomas Jefferson Univ.

 

[ChemEngMD]

3.5/33... low-income and male.... not stressing the process anymore after the beast that was the mcat... just get me into my state school and i will be content... nonetheless, i applied to a whopping 26 schools. gl to everybody.


State University of New York Downstate Medical Cen
Howard University
SUNY Upstate Medical University
SUNY at Buffalo Medical School
Morehouse School of Medicine
Mount Sinai School of Medicine
Boston University School of Medicine
New York Medical College
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Stony Brook University School of Medicine
Tufts University School of Medicine
Georgetown University School of Medicine
Wake Forest School of Medicine of Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center
Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University
Drexel University College of Medicine
Emory University School of Medicine
Duke University School of Medicine
Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth
Hofstra North Shore-LIJ School of Medicine
Columbia University College of P & S
Stanford University School of Medicine
New York University
Weill Medical College of Cornell University
University of Rochester School of Medicine and Den
Temple University School of Medicine
Jefferson Medical Coll. of Thomas Jefferson Univ.

Nice list, bruh. You were in my MCAT thread before too haha I didn't know you were URM. Welcome.

We've got 7 schools in common...hope you're secondaries are coming along well!

 

[ChemEngMD]

Cool! Yea I've done 15!! I'm so proud of myself lol. They are the most annoying things on this earth though. I'm going to a Beyonce concert on the 25th, so I'm using that as my incentive. I'm trying to finish all of my secondaries before then so it's like a treat lol

I was doing really great for the frist 10 cuz they all asked basically the same questions but now I'm on the secondaries that are just doing the absolute most so I'm slowing down.

How far are you?

I AM ABSOLUTELY MISERABLE AT GETTING THESE DONE haha. I took so long to write my PS and I'm just kind of a perfectionist with my writing....today I am determined to get a few of them done.

 

[Espadaleader]

Hello all. I posted on the first page and I saw ChemEngMD doing work out there on one of the URM threads and he reminded me to come back.

I applied to twenty-one schools

SUNY Buffalo
Einstein
BU

SUNY DownS
SUNY SB
UPitt

UPenn
Harvard
Yale

Cornell
Columbia
Duke

Brown
Dartmouth
Morehouse

Hopkins
Sinai
NYU

U Rochester
Hofstra
GW

I applied with FAP of course! That is a lot.

I was verified by 6/13 and I'm complete with all of the secondaries besides Morehouse (hasn't released)
So far UPitt has shown love via an II.

Good luck everyone!

 

[ChemEngMD]

Hello all. I posted on the first page and I saw ChemEngMD doing work out there on one of the URM threads and he reminded me to come back.

I applied to twenty-one schools

SUNY Buffalo
Einstein
BU

SUNY DownS
SUNY SB
UPitt

UPenn
Harvard
Yale

Cornell
Columbia
Duke

Brown
Dartmouth
Morehouse

Hopkins
Sinai
NYU

U Rochester
Hofstra
GW

I applied with FAP of course! That is a lot.

I was verified by 6/13 and I'm complete with all of the secondaries besides Morehouse (hasn't released)
So far UPitt has shown love via an II.

Good luck everyone!

Congrats on the Pitt interview!!! That's awesome, bruh. I'm working on my secondary for them right now, but I'm sure your stats are way higher than mine. We've got 4 or 5 schools in common. You a NY resident?

 

[Espadaleader]

Thanks. Yes sir.

 

[RocDiva4040]

I AM ABSOLUTELY MISERABLE AT GETTING THESE DONE haha. I took so long to write my PS and I'm just kind of a perfectionist with my writing....today I am determined to get a few of them done.

I feel you. I was SUCH a perfectionist with my PS/primary app, but now for secondaries it's like I'm just trying to get them done asap and get them out of the way. That might be bad actually lol. Idk they're just so annoying, and I see them as unnecessary.

 

[Juan Solo]

Hello all. I posted on the first page and I saw ChemEngMD doing work out there on one of the URM threads and he reminded me to come back.

I applied to twenty-one schools

SUNY Buffalo
Einstein
BU

SUNY DownS
SUNY SB
UPitt

UPenn
Harvard
Yale

Cornell
Columbia
Duke

Brown
Dartmouth
Morehouse

Hopkins
Sinai
NYU

U Rochester
Hofstra
GW

I applied with FAP of course! That is a lot.

I was verified by 6/13 and I'm complete with all of the secondaries besides Morehouse (hasn't released)
So far UPitt has shown love via an II.

Good luck everyone!

Awesome list! And good luck on the UPitt interview, that was one of the schools that I liked the most.

 

[mnlightmedbound]

Hello all. I posted on the first page and I saw ChemEngMD doing work out there on one of the URM threads and he reminded me to come back.

I applied to twenty-one schools

SUNY Buffalo
Einstein
BU

SUNY DownS
SUNY SB
UPitt

UPenn
Harvard
Yale

Cornell
Columbia
Duke

Brown
Dartmouth
Morehouse

Hopkins
Sinai
NYU

U Rochester
Hofstra
GW

I applied with FAP of course! That is a lot.

I was verified by 6/13 and I'm complete with all of the secondaries besides Morehouse (hasn't released)
So far UPitt has shown love via an II.

Good luck everyone!

Did you have all of your LOR in before you got invited for an interview? And Goodluck!!

 

[clothcut]

Nice list, bruh. You were in my MCAT thread before too haha I didn't know you were URM. Welcome.

We've got 7 schools in common...hope you're secondaries are coming along well!

no doubt bro, good to see a fellow 5/23er in here. i actually submitted only a few weeks ago and have yet to be verified so i have just been chilling since... that flood of secondaries will hopefully allow me to kick it into high gear. good luck to everyone again... ideally we can all know where we're going by the end of the year.

 

[Ambitionista]

It's probably nothing but did anyone else receive the "congrats your application has completed processing" email from AMCAS twice on 2 separate days? I was verified on Wed (started receiving secondaries afterwards) then received the email again this morning...Just thought that was weird.

 

[ChemEngMD]

It's probably nothing but did anyone else receive the "congrats your application has completed processing" email from AMCAS twice on 2 separate days? I was verified on Wed (started receiving secondaries afterwards) then received the email again this morning...Just thought that was weird.

I only got mine once, but I did get an email twice from a school saying that they got my verified app. It was weird. Lots of glitches going around.

 

[ChemEngMD]

University of Chicago - Pritzker
University of Vermont
University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health
Harvard Medical School
Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons
George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
University of Virginia
"The Brody School of Medicine
East Carolina University"
Weill Cornell Medical College
Washington University School of Medicine
University of Miami
Georgetown University School of Medicine
Eastern Virginia Medical School
Icahn School of Medicine at Mt. Sinai
University of North Carolina
Virginia Commonwealth University College of Medicine
Tufts University School of Medicine
Wake Forest
UCSD
Howard University
UCSF
UCLA
Drew University


SOOO THIS IS MY FINAL LIST. I'm nervous and I still am thinking about adding more schools, but I'm hoping these 24 will do for now. Have finished 5 secondaries as of now, looking to submit another 2 or 3 tonight and tomorrow.

Turn up 2018!

 

[Juan Solo]

University of Chicago - Pritzker
University of Vermont
University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health
Harvard Medical School
Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons
George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
University of Virginia
"The Brody School of Medicine
East Carolina University"
Weill Cornell Medical College
Washington University School of Medicine
University of Miami
Georgetown University School of Medicine
Eastern Virginia Medical School
Icahn School of Medicine at Mt. Sinai
University of North Carolina
Virginia Commonwealth University College of Medicine
Tufts University School of Medicine
Wake Forest
UCSD
Howard University
UCSF
UCLA
Drew University


SOOO THIS IS MY FINAL LIST. I'm nervous and I still am thinking about adding more schools, but I'm hoping these 24 will do for now. Have finished 5 secondaries as of now, looking to submit another 2 or 3 tonight and tomorrow.

Turn up 2018!

I'll keep my fingers crossed for ya! Good luck!

 

[medmusiccat]

So the definition has changed and there are several debates, but I believe I am an URM being a Dominican female and so here are my stats 3.6/26 with a ton of ECs with leadership positions, scribe, but no research. As a Florida native I may want to leave my state for another urban city but I also love Miami.

DO Schools
Chicago COM
Nova COM
NYIT COM
Philly COM
Rowan SOM
Touro COM

MD Schools
BU
Drexel
FIU
FAU
FSU
GW
Harvard
Howard
Rutgers NJ
Rutgers Robert Wood
Tufts
UIC
USF

Wasn't going to apply to Harvard but they sent me a letter to apply and so I said why not.
I am waiting on verification but on the process of pre-writing all the secondaries.
Good luck guys!

 

[ChemEngMD]

So the definition has changed and there are several debates, but I believe I am an URM being a Dominican female and so here are my stats 3.6/26 with a ton of ECs with leadership positions, scribe, but no research. As a Florida native I may want to leave my state for another urban city but I also love Miami.

DO Schools
Chicago COM
Nova COM
NYIT COM
Philly COM
Rowan SOM
Touro COM

MD Schools
BU
Drexel
FIU
FAU
FSU
GW
Harvard
Howard
Rutgers NJ
Rutgers Robert Wood
Tufts
UIC
USF

Wasn't going to apply to Harvard but they sent me a letter to apply and so I said why not.
I am waiting on verification but on the process of pre-writing all the secondaries.
Good luck guys!

Nice list!!

I'm a PR/DR hybrid myself so welcome I think DRs are considered URM by most schools.