Ask me (almost) anything

[LizzyM]

Hey LizzyM thanks so much for doing this!

The past few summers I have been basically babysitting my grandmother and
another lady, and both have Alzheimer's disease. They live in a home, and I basically just check them out and take care of them for the day . I'm pretty sure this is clinical experience, but does it matter that one of these ladies is related to me!?

You could call this "volunteer, clinical" or "volunteer, non-clinical" or you could call it "other".

Is the babysitting of small children a clinical (pediatric) experience?

This seems like one of those situations that would be debated among the adcom. It would help your case if you have had some training, either informal or formal, by nurses, clinical social workers, clinical psychologists, or physicians on how to handle situations that arise in the supervision of a patient with dementia. If your responsibilities include hands on care with toileting, dressing, bathing, eating, moving about, and administering medication or handling things such as glucose checks, and so forth (activities of daily living) then you have a better case than if you are driving, preparing food, watching TV with them, and so forth. A big part of this is going to revolve around how you describe what it is you've been doing and what you've learned about the care of patients with dementia and if this has sparked an interest in a possible career in geriatric medicine, geriatric psychiatry or family medicine with a component of elder care (neurology would be another possible specialty).

This shouldn't be your only experience with people who have a diagnosis of some kind. Before you apply you should have some experience in a place where acute care is delivered and have some idea of the daily routine of a physician (shadowing several ifferent physicians in different areas of medical service would fit the bill).

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[LizzyM]

I've always wondered about how one would actually answer that. Are there right or wrong questions?

Ideally, you've prepped for the interview by reading material about the school and coming in with some knowledge of the school's mission, curriculum, clinical sites, summer opportunities between M1 and M2 year, whether research is encouraged or manatory (e.g. thesis required for graduation). You've listened to the presentation earlier in the day. You have a genuine question based on what you've seen and heard.

Another approach is to listen carefully for things that are new and/or different at this school compared with others you know of and ask the interviewer, "what is your opinion of the new...."

If you have nothing else, you can always ask "what is one thing you'd like to change about [school name]?" or, if the person is an old timer, "how has [school name] changed in the time you've been here?"

The point is to gather information that is going to help you get a better picture of the school and whether it is a good fit for you. Asking the interviewer about their role at the school, their research, etc, is flattering to the interviewer and chews up interview time but is esentially useless to you in making a decision (unlike an interview for a doctoral program where you are looking for a good fit with a lab where you will do your research).

 

[LizzyM]

Hi LizzyM! My next question is pretty specific so if you don't recall then that's fine. But since you have mentioned a few universities by name, I'd like to know.

Do you consider applicants from USC to be at a decently rigorous university, or is the school still considered to be a party school in the committees eyes despite an increase to the 23rd rank in US News. How would you compare it to UCLA ?

Thanks!! =]

Those two are in the same bin.

 

[sbuxaddict]

Hi LizzyM,
I just graduated college in May, and during my gap year I am working in the ER with doctors. I accompany them to the exam rooms and basically take down the history/why they're here, and then I write up the chart and follow the results of the diagnostic studies. This job allows me to re-study for the MCAT. However, if I do not get in this cycle, should I consider a research position instead?
Thank you in advance.

 

[LizzyM]

Hi LizzyM,
I just graduated college in May, and during my gap year I am working in the ER with doctors. I accompany them to the exam rooms and basically take down the history/why they're here, and then I write up the chart and follow the results of the diagnostic studies. This job allows me to re-study for the MCAT. However, if I do not get in this cycle, should I consider a research position instead?
Thank you in advance.

You are working as a scribe. I'd see no reason to change jobs unless you are specifically told after this cycle that the reason you were not interviewed/admitted was your lack of research experience or if you are considering a career in research rather than something in clinical care if you are not admitted to med school after several tries.

 

[Person0715]

Thank you for doing this, LizzyM. This thread has been so informative.

I know this will vary from school to school, in your experience, how often do you interview applicants who have taken a gap year or two? Are most of the applicants you interview currently in their senior year of college or have they already graduated?

 

[LizzyM]

Thank you for doing this, LizzyM. This thread has been so informative.

I know this will vary from school to school, in your experience, how often do you interview applicants who have taken a gap year or two? Are most of the applicants you interview currently in their senior year of college or have they already graduated?

I pay attention to this when I'm seeing the applicant but I don't think about it on a population level. If I had to guess, I'd say that the majority are college seniors but in a given day, the proportion who are at least a few months out of college could vary from 15 to 50%.

 

[oohhii]

I've been privately tutoring students (for free) for a while now, but I do not do this under an "organization." There are a few reasons why I do things this way, but what would you suggest that I write down under the organization name and contact information on the application when the time comes for me to apply to medical school? Would this experience even be seriously considered in my application?

 

[LizzyM]

I've been privately tutoring students (for free) for a while now, but I do not do this under an "organization." There are a few reasons why I do things this way, but what would you suggest that I write down under the organization name and contact information on the application when the time comes for me to apply to medical school? Would this experience even be seriously considered in my application?

You can list this as "tutoring". I've seen applicants list themselves as a contact, or a recipient of the tutoring (college level) or the parent of a recipient(if you are tutoring at the k-12 level).

You might get some props for altruism and ability to teach.

 

[samsunimomo]

Reading through your previous posts, I know that you said listing volunteer hours cumulated prior to the start of college is frowned upon, even those that are sustained through college, but what about research? I have a publication from senior year of high school, and I have continued on with research with first-author publications coming up in the very near future. May I include the publication/research experience from high school?

 

[utariq]

Hi LizzyM thanks for all your insight!!! I have a follow up question. Since I have been out of school I have been in the pharmacy business and I have been managing one for the last six months. I feel like I have learned a lot and given the increasing emphasis on theraputics for non-MDs like pharmacists and nurses etc, I feel like the pharmacy experience has made me a better applicant. How would you look at my app given my experiences? Would you consider my managerial experience as clinical? Again graduated in 2009 as the salutatorian of my class, 34 on MCAT taken in Aug 2008, currently managing a pharmacy and volunteering at two doctor's offices.

 

[MadMedic704]

You go to the school's website and look around for the average MCAT and gpa for matriculants or you buy access to the AAMC's database called "Medical School Admission Requriements" (MSAR). Or you go to your school's pre-med advisory office or your school library and see if they have a copy of the 2010-2011 MSAR (blue cover) which is far easier to use than the most recent edition.

Someone might be so kind as to direct you to an excel file that was constructed earlier this year using publically available sources.

Applicant Data

More stats than you can shake a stick at. You can also download a copy, enter your stats and it will highlight schools that you may be competitive for.


Also. Thanks LizzyM for taking the time to help us neurotic premeds!

 

[JoRands]

Hi, although I have awhile before I apply, I'm wondering how adcoms respond to things such as volunteering for political campaigns, and also being an active protestor, for instance the occupy wall street protests. These aren't medical related and also may be controversial, but they also show a different side to the applicant. I'm not sure, but would these be appropriate to list on your application, and for an adcom to see?

 

[Kiting]

Lizzy, First and foremost thanks for all the information up to this point. I have a situational question for you...

I have recently been offered a few interviews at mid-tier schools. At the school thats one of my top choices our pre-med counselor made a phone call in support of my app to one of the deans who has visited our school before and done admission presentations. I've sent in two updates since August as well as a letter of interest. My stats are on the low end of the 10-90% range listed in MSAR, I have what I would say are excellent EC's, as well as very extensive clinical and basic science research experience including a few first author pubs and presentations.

Am I interviewing to effectively be put on the waitlist because of my stats or do you think I have a legitimate chance at acceptance?

 

[LizzyM]

Reading through your previous posts, I know that you said listing volunteer hours cumulated prior to the start of college is frowned upon, even those that are sustained through college, but what about research? I have a publication from senior year of high school, and I have continued on with research with first-author publications coming up in the very near future. May I include the publication/research experience from high school?

With regard to volunteer hours, if you worked with the same group in HS and college an you an write, for example "8/2004-present: served weekly meal at homeless shelter, 2 hrs/wk." that's fine. If you worked at a homeless shelter for 3 mos while in HS and picked it up again 4 years later while in college.... that's a case where you might just want to report the recent experience and, if you must, mention in the text that you had done the same type of service while in HS.

There is no rule against listing HS things but some adcom members think it looks like padding. The idea is that you should have enough activities from after HS to fill the slots (although it isn't necessary to fill all 15). That said, if you did something that you feel was very important while still in HS, by all means, include it. A research publication would seem to fit the definition of important.

 

[LizzyM]

Hi LizzyM thanks for all your insight!!! I have a follow up question. Since I have been out of school I have been in the pharmacy business and I have been managing one for the last six months. I feel like I have learned a lot and given the increasing emphasis on theraputics for non-MDs like pharmacists and nurses etc, I feel like the pharmacy experience has made me a better applicant. How would you look at my app given my experiences? Would you consider my managerial experience as clinical? Again graduated in 2009 as the salutatorian of my class, 34 on MCAT taken in Aug 2008, currently managing a pharmacy and volunteering at two doctor's offices.

There are many different angles you can play up with that employment history. Of course, it is best listed as "employment, non-military" but in the description you might want to highlight your leadership of employees, responsibility for deposits & accounting for medications dispensed, and counseling of customers -- if those are part of your job description. I think that depending on how you describe the activities and how well you write the rest of the application to show how you've come to the realization that medicine and not pharmacy is the right career for you, it should be fine. Apply next spring before those MCAT scores expire!

 

[saveourpens]

I'm sure it varies. At my school, the central administration collects the revenue and covers the budget for the admissions office. Each year the admissions office administration has to prepare and justify the budget for the coming academic year. There is no big financial incentive for the admissions office to greatly increase the number of applicants aside from wanting to have the best applicants from which to choose a class.

Some schools might want to inflate the number of applicants in order to appear highly selective.

What is counterintuitive is that one of the schools with a very high seconary fee also gets more applications than (almost?) any other school.

If you are wondering what goes into the budget if the adcom is volunteer, here it is: staff wages and benefits. telephone, computer hardware & software, space (every group within a school "pays" for the office space occupied which also covers cleaning crews, lavatories, utilities, etc), materials and food provided on interview day, items used to promote the school at campus visits and second look visits. The switch from paper applications to electronic has saved us money on office supplies but has greatly increased the cost of electronic interface (web design, and database development).

Thank you Lizzy, I appreciate it! That cleared things up.

 

[Cambino]

You go to the school's website and look around for the average MCAT and gpa for matriculants or you buy access to the AAMC's database called "Medical School Admission Requriements" (MSAR). Or you go to your school's pre-med advisory office or your school library and see if they have a copy of the 2010-2011 MSAR (blue cover) which is far easier to use than the most recent edition.

Someone might be so kind as to direct you to an excel file that was constructed earlier this year using publically available sources.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...Ex2MjlBTDE0bXFXNGFZczZqYTZKb2c&hl=en_US#gid=0

For those interested.

Never mind. Someone beat me to it.

 

[LizzyM]

Hi, although I have awhile before I apply, I'm wondering how adcoms respond to things such as volunteering for political campaigns, and also being an active protestor, for instance the occupy wall street protests. These aren't medical related and also may be controversial, but they also show a different side to the applicant. I'm not sure, but would these be appropriate to list on your application, and for an adcom to see?

As an adcom member, I try to be unbiased in my assessment of applicants who might hold political positions other than my own. I suspect that some applicants don't trust adcoms to be unbiased and there is no guarantee that they are. It is a risk you run and perhaps one of the reasons why this process is sometimes called a crap shoot. You just don't know who will read your application or what preconceived notions they'll bring to their assessment. List them and take the chance that someone won't like it and will hold it against you, or don't list them and come off as less multi-dimensional than you are.

 

[DeterminedDoc]

Oh, My God! Will you please go back to the WAMC forum and review the very good advice you've received from Catalystik and others who have taken the time to mentor you.

Please take care of your health first and then worry about school.

Thats not an answer to my question. I was aware of this before asking you lol.

 

[Josh2389]

Lizzy, thanks for all the helpful information. Prior to my undergrad studies, I served 4 years in the military. When I apply to med schools, should I mention my service, even though none of it was medically related in any way, and it happened before I even attended undergrad? Thanks again.

 

[StoicJosher]

Thats not an answer to my question. I was aware of this before asking you lol.

HINT: She has nothing else to add besides what was already on that thread. She is doing everyone a favor by running this thread - please don't piss her off.

 

[asecondtolife]

Thank you for answering all our questions LizzyM!!

What would you consider hypothesis testing research? Is it when you run experiments that test someone's hypothesis? Or must you be more directly involved in the formation of the hypothesis, writing the abstract, etc.? Sorry if this is a silly question :x I'm very much a greenhorn in research.

 

[LizzyM]

Lizzy, thanks for all the helpful information. Prior to my undergrad studies, I served 4 years in the military. When I apply to med schools, should I mention my service, even though none of it was medically related in any way, and it happened before I even attended undergrad? Thanks again.

Absolutely! This season that has been, by far, the most impressive experience I've seen. Adcoms love it. You bring a maturity and a wealth of experience to med school that folks who went straight through just don't have. Besides, given your age, you otherwise have a huge hole in your timeline and that would raise questions as to what you were doing during those years.

 

[Anesthetic]

Do you think it would be looked down upon to finish my degree in 3.5 years (Next december) take the whole spring semester to study for the MCAT then have the year off to interview, work, continue to learn spanish, and get experience, or do you think it would be better to study for the MCAT now and apply at the end of my junior year and finish my degree in 4 years, possibly not be able to put spanish on my application. I am an Arizona resident and spanish is nearly the primary language here....

Thanks so much!

 

[Kiting]

Lizzy, First and foremost thanks for all the information up to this point. I have a situational question for you...

I have recently been offered a few interviews at mid-tier schools. At the school thats one of my top choices our pre-med counselor made a phone call in support of my app to one of the deans who has visited our school before and done admission presentations. I've sent in two updates since August as well as a letter of interest. My stats are on the low end of the 10-90% range listed in MSAR, I have what I would say are excellent EC's, as well as very extensive clinical and basic science research experience including a few first author pubs and presentations.

Am I interviewing to effectively be put on the waitlist because of my stats or do you think I have a legitimate chance at acceptance?

I think you skipped over my question ...thank you!!!

 

[muhali3]

I think you skipped over my question ...thank you!!!

that is a what are my chances post, so she will not answer.

 

[LizzyM]

Lizzy, First and foremost thanks for all the information up to this point. I have a situational question for you...

I have recently been offered a few interviews at mid-tier schools. At the school thats one of my top choices our pre-med counselor made a phone call in support of my app to one of the deans who has visited our school before and done admission presentations. I've sent in two updates since August as well as a letter of interest. My stats are on the low end of the 10-90% range listed in MSAR, I have what I would say are excellent EC's, as well as very extensive clinical and basic science research experience including a few first author pubs and presentations.

Am I interviewing to effectively be put on the waitlist because of my stats or do you think I have a legitimate chance at acceptance?

My apologies for missing your question earlier today.

I think that you have a legitimate chance at acceptance.

I don't know what other schools do but everyone who is interviewed at my school is interviewing for a seat. We select the top x% for admission, the next y% for waitlist and a z% who are so unsuited that they are told they are being denied admission. Who is at the top is based on MCAT, gpa, experiences, and interviews.

 

[LizzyM]

Thank you for answering all our questions LizzyM!!

What would you consider hypothesis testing research? Is it when you run experiments that test someone's hypothesis? Or must you be more directly involved in the formation of the hypothesis, writing the abstract, etc.? Sorry if this is a silly question :x I'm very much a greenhorn in research.

As you might recall from doing science fair in junior high, in a research project, you read up on a subject and come up with an unanswered question. You write that question in the form of a testable hypothesis. You develop the methods (procedures) that will validly test that hypothesis, gather the materials, do the study, make observations, and determine if the null hypothesis is accepted or rejected.

Ideally, you take responsibility for as many of those tasks as you can. In some cases it may take a year or more in a lab before you know enough (reading up on the subject) before you can come up with an unanswered question, form it into a question and figure out a way to validly test the hypothesis. You might not do all those things but you might but in the grunt work of doing weeks and weeks of observations to collect the data needed to test a hypothesis.

 

[LizzyM]

Do you think it would be looked down upon to finish my degree in 3.5 years (Next december) take the whole spring semester to study for the MCAT then have the year off to interview, work, continue to learn spanish, and get experience, or do you think it would be better to study for the MCAT now and apply at the end of my junior year and finish my degree in 4 years, possibly not be able to put spanish on my application. I am an Arizona resident and spanish is nearly the primary language here....

Thanks so much!

Hmmm... you might go over to the thread dedicate to the Arizona school(s) this year and find out how many successful applicants have Spanish language skills. That could go a long way to answering your question.

Taking time off to study for the MCAT is fine but do something else, too, so that you can say that you were engaged in tutoring, volunteerism or
something ... some adcoms take a dim view of people who make preparing for the MCAT a full time job compared with those who scored just as well while doing a full time academic load.

If you have school loans, consider the impact of taking 18 mos or more off from academics and at what point your loans will come due.

There are also those who say that taking a gap year means losing a year of high income some years from now... of course, that is assuming that you will get in right out of college compared with being force by bad luck in a first admission cycle to be a reapplicant. Avoid being a reapplicant by not applying until you have your duckies in a row.

 

[common man]

this spring i'm taking

neuro 221 development / plasticity / repair (3 cr)
neuro 222 neurobiology of disease (3 cr)
neuro 332 cellular & and molecular neuroscience (3 cr)
chem 102 general chemistry II lab (1 cr)

MCAT study to take test in April
volunteering at hospital
this is 10 credits total without any fluff.

questions...1) does this count as a full load of science classes? 2) can my 200 level neuroscience classes count as upper level? i ask these questions out of curiosity. regardless, i'm only going to take on a workload that gives me time to nail the mcat and get the 4.0 semester.

 

[deleted393595]

LizzyM, thanks a bunch for helping us out here on SDN. Your advice is worth more than its weight in gold.

Just out of curiosity, how did you get into academic medicine?

 

[maybemed2013]

Does doing research (i.e. cleaning the dishes or doing research with a professor) without publication boost an application at all. I am planning to Do Neuroscience Research in Spring, I HATE labs but I will do it if it boost my app.

----I really need all the boost I can get I have 2 IAs....you can check my post to see what I am talking about.

My EC's
Mentor for Palm Beach county Summer 2011---program ended.
Nursing Home since 2009 and want to continue until acceptance if my 2 jobs allow me to.
Shadow about 60 hrs
Planning to become a tutor for 2 yrs and do some more shadowing and randomly go back to the nursing home.
Planning to work in a lab doing anything if you think this EC is needed.

BA Biology ( I live in a county where there are 100's of tutoring/lab jobs so I am not worried about getting the tutoring or lab job with my BA) black female with 3.7 gpa at a fl state uni.
Have not taken MCAT but hope at least a 27 (9-9-9)

 

[LizzyM]

LizzyM, thanks a bunch for helping us out here on SDN. Your advice is worth more than its weight in gold.

Just out of curiosity, how did you get into academic medicine?

Got lucky. Got a research job at a medical school after grad school, got asked to "tutor" a small group of medical students (like PBL but not exactly), published my research, taught, presented at national meetings, attended years of medical grand rounds, got more research funding, rinse, repeat, appointed to the faculty for the WIN! I'd had a clinical job before grad school so I'd smelled patients.

 

[LizzyM]

this spring i'm taking

neuro 221 development / plasticity / repair (3 cr)
neuro 222 neurobiology of disease (3 cr)
neuro 332 cellular & and molecular neuroscience (3 cr)
chem 102 general chemistry II lab (1 cr)

MCAT study to take test in April
volunteering at hospital
this is 10 credits total without any fluff.

questions...1) does this count as a full load of science classes? 2) can my 200 level neuroscience classes count as upper level? i ask these questions out of curiosity. regardless, i'm only going to take on a workload that gives me time to nail the mcat and get the 4.0 semester.

Where I went to school, 10 credits was not full time; 12 was. What you need is some fluff. For me it was Art History of Spain. Your school must have an equivalent course that is enjoyable and minimally demanding. Alternately, a PE course. I took Folk Dancing and Water Safety Instructor training. Take it P/F.

 

[LizzyM]

Does doing research (i.e. cleaning the dishes or doing research with a professor) without publication boost an application at all. I am planning to Do Neuroscience Research in Spring, I HATE labs but I will do it if it boost my app.

----I really need all the boost I can get I have 2 IAs....you can check my post to see what I am talking about.

My EC's
Mentor for Palm Beach county Summer 2011---program ended.
Nursing Home since 2009 and want to continue until acceptance if my 2 jobs allow me to.
Shadow about 60 hrs
Planning to become a tutor for 2 yrs and do some more shadowing and randomly go back to the nursing home.
Planning to work in a lab doing anything if you think this EC is needed.

BA Biology ( I live in a county where there are 100's of tutoring/lab jobs so I am not worried about getting the tutoring or lab job with my BA) black female with 3.7 gpa at a fl state uni.
Have not taken MCAT but hope at least a 27 (9-9-9)

Most but not all successful medical school applicants at most (if not all) medical schools have done some research of some kind (enough to mark "research" in the experience section of the AMCAS). So, it might increase your chances of success or it might be totally unnecessary. Given your circumstances, I'd do something that has the potential to lead to a career you would enjoy and grow in on the off chance that medical school is not in the cards for you. Two things you might consider would be HS teaching (what do you need to be certified in FL) or nursing home administration. Think those over. Don't feel you must do lab research if your heart isn't in it because it will come across poorly when you interview.

 

[drdoom12]

Not sure if this has been asked thus far, but how are people with previous medical experience viewed (ie nurses)? I'll have been a practicing BSN for around a year when I apply. Does this depend on how well you explain your reasoning for the transition from nursing to medicine?

 

[maaza1]

Hi there LizzyM, thanks for taking my question. I've noticed that you put a lot of importance in which school you go to. Unfortunately, I've been going through deportation proceedings for just about five years and for this reason Universities in my state (Missouri) refuse to accept me. To date I've taken 117 credits in the local community college including ALL of my pre-reqs including an Associates in Bio. Will the fact that I have so many CC credits prevent me from being accepted to a school such as yours even if I later (before applying) go on to excel in higher level courses in a University and the MCAT? Thanks

 

[somepremedkid]

I have a couple of questions for you, Ms. LizzyM. Thanks in advance for your much appreciated insight: 1. How are applicants who graduate in five years viewed by admission committees? I am considering taking a fifth year at my university to take upper level science courses and boost my BCPM GPA. Unfortunately, my family and I cannot afford a traditional postbacc program. I also plan to take my extra time in college to pursue a minor. Does this sound like a legitmate reason and plan? I'm a junior if that helps. 2. When a student includes a recommendation from a professor, is it expected that he or she received a good grade (B or above) in the professor's class? I had a particular professor for three semesters in my freshman and sophomore year. Unfortunately, I received a C in one of the classes This course, luckily, was not a science class. I am wondering because this professor and I have a good relationship and still keep in touch. She knows me well and can attest to my leadership and personal qualities which I think would be helpful later on. What are your thoughts? I apologize for the long post. Thank you again and Happy New Year!

 

[LizzyM]

Not sure if this has been asked thus far, but how are people with previous medical experience viewed (ie nurses)? I'll have been a practicing BSN for around a year when I apply. Does this depend on how well you explain your reasoning for the transition from nursing to medicine?

There are a few things going on:

why do you want to switch to medicine if you are already in a helping profession that is based on the sciences. You will need to work a bit harder to convince anyone of your interest in medicine

how did you decide on medicine? How is it different than your decision to do nursing? You aren't going to change your mind again in a few years and get a PhD in physical therapy or something are you?

are your grades inflated because the science classes for nurses are not as rigorous as those taken by pre-meds? On the other hand, is your gpa less than it would be because some wacky nursing philosophy courses messed things up for you?

 

[LizzyM]

Hi there LizzyM, thanks for taking my question. I've noticed that you put a lot of importance in which school you go to. Unfortunately, I've been going through deportation proceedings for just about five years and for this reason Universities in my state (Missouri) refuse to accept me. To date I've taken 117 credits in the local community college including ALL of my pre-reqs including an Associates in Bio. Will the fact that I have so many CC credits prevent me from being accepted to a school such as yours even if I later (before applying) go on to excel in higher level courses in a University and the MCAT? Thanks

I have no idea. Does it matter whether or not you would be admitted if you can't get an F1 visa? How would you finance your medical education?

 

[LizzyM]

I have a couple of questions for you, Ms. LizzyM. Thanks in advance for your much appreciated insight: 1. How are applicants who graduate in five years viewed by admission committees? I am considering taking a fifth year at my university to take upper level science courses and boost my BCPM GPA. Unfortunately, my family and I cannot afford a traditional postbacc program. I also plan to take my extra time in college to pursue a minor. Does this sound like a legitmate reason and plan? I'm a junior if that helps. 2. When a student includes a recommendation from a professor, is it expected that he or she received a good grade (B or above) in the professor's class? I had a particular professor for three semesters in my freshman and sophomore year. Unfortunately, I received a C in one of the classes This course, luckily, was not a science class. I am wondering because this professor and I have a good relationship and still keep in touch. She knows me well and can attest to my leadership and personal qualities which I think would be helpful later on. What are your thoughts? I apologize for the long post. Thank you again and Happy New Year!

Sometimes we wonder why someone took 5 years to finish. More often, we don't even notice.

Generally, people want letters from faculty who are going to write that they were excellent students, did every thing just right and are highly qualified to go to medical school. If a professor gave you a C, it is entirely possible that the reason you earned a C will be right out there in the letter whether it was a difficulty in writing a paper, or a failure to apply yourself to the homework assignements although you did well in the exams, or the other way around. If you want a "warts and all" letter in your file, go for it, but the general consensus is that you should tap the professors from whom you earned A or A- grades.

 

[LizzyM]

Happy New Year, Everyone!

I'll be taking a little break now and looking forward to answering questions in the first few days of 2012!

 

[TheComebacKid]

Thanks for taking the time to answer all our questions.

I was just pondering the following things...

Does getting an interview invite essentially equate to "this candidate looks okay on paper, lets see what's really behind the numbers?" I guess what I'm getting at is, after receiving an interview invite, do candidates get rejected because of a poor GPA/MCAT? Or are they primarily rejected because their interview indicated that they weren't a suitable candidate for medical school X? One of the primary reasons I ask this is because I was fortunate enough to get an opportunity to interview at a school even though my numbers are far lower than their averages.

How much weight do you give to non-medical community service? Given some extenuating circumstances I faced early during my undergraduate career, I have spent the last five years playing catch up and now this year I am half way through an SMP program. I have focused mostly on improving my academic performance. I also ended up spending more time doing clinical and on-campus activities given my schedule/travel limitations. I did roughly 10 hrs of clinical volunteering/week (for two years including a leadership position) in addition to ~25 hours/week of bench research over the course of a year with a publication (whilte taking a full course load and earning a 3.9 GPA that year). I fear that not taking part in some traditional non-medical related community service like working at a food bank, shelter, etc. will not fare well for my application. (I have done some minor work like organizing one-time fundraisers for notable causes, but nothing consistently over the long term).

Given the fact that I have only received one II this cycle, I am planning to apply to both allopathic and osteopathic medical schools next year if things don't work out favorably. For most DO programs, I will need a letter from an osteopathic physician. Can I use the letter from shadowing an osteopathic physician for MD schools, or will it be looked upon unfavorably?

Thanks for reading through my questions. Happy New Year!

 

[TenderRender]

Thanks so much for taking Holiday time to write this stuff up Lizzy, it really helps.

My question is about typos on the AMCAS; I was completely stupid enough to have not one, but two fairly noticeable typos on my application (one in an activity description, and one in the first sentence of my PS). Would this be a death knell for me at a lot of schools?

I don't feel 100% awful about it because I at least have a couple of interviews, but I feel absolutely terrible about making such a mistake, and I'm constantly worried that the schools that are considering me didn't see the typos at first, will find them, then laugh at my carelessness and stamp their big red rubber REJECTION on my file : (

 

[drdoom12]

There are a few things going on:

why do you want to switch to medicine if you are already in a helping profession that is based on the sciences. You will need to work a bit harder to convince anyone of your interest in medicine

how did you decide on medicine? How is it different than your decision to do nursing? You aren't going to change your mind again in a few years and get a PhD in physical therapy or something are you?

are your grades inflated because the science classes for nurses are not as rigorous as those taken by pre-meds? On the other hand, is your gpa less than it would be because some wacky nursing philosophy courses messed things up for you?

Thanks for the prompt reply! Fortunately, my science courses were the same as traditional premed's. While we did have wacky nursing courses with wacky grading scales, I've managed a 3.8 cumulative thus far with one semester to go. That brings me to my next question: Would it be more beneficial to change majors and graduate in 2013 as opposed to 2012 with my BSN? I'd be cutting a year-long leadership position in half, but I could add a year of research with psychology to go along with a year of research I'm currently involved with.

Is it viewed poorly when applicants have changed majors at such a late time in their education? I have no desire to be a nurse or nurse derivative at this point. It would take a year to graduate with a psychology degree, which I'm very interested in, and I have to take a year for organic chemistry and physics regardless.

Again, thank you for all of this amazing information!

 

[johnnytheman]

Hi LizzyM, I was fortunate enough to recently interview at my dream school and the visit greatly strengthened my desrie to study medicine there. Would formally stating by mail that I will be happy with only an acceptance without any merit or need-based scholarship increase my chances of getting accepted there?

 

[RavishingB]

How are summer sci classes (taken at the same school) viewed?

 

[kb09026]

What is the best way to show that an illness that previously affected schoolwork is no longer an issue, without going into specifics about diagnosis, etc? Would 3+ years of solid grades and ECs be a sufficient way to show this?

 

[OldBat]

I have read a number of Medical schools secondary questions. Some of them seem to have little to do with being a doctor. Some seem idiotic. Who comes up with the questions and how can they tell you will make a good doctor. Can they be a make or break for a borderline applicant.