LastSong.net

Now that my long, long application cycle is over, I guess I’m somewhat qualified to talk about the process and about my experience going through it.

Even though the AMCAS application didn’t officially open until sometime in May, and couldn’t be submitted until the beginning of June, I started working on it much earlier. My adviser insisted that we submit drafts of our essays at the beginning of April, and I stayed up all night working to make their deadline. Even though I had a great GPA and MCAT score, I felt like my application was weak in terms of extracurricular involvement. I actually wavered quite a bit between applying right away or waiting a year and trying to strengthen my application a bit more in the interim. Somehow, I fell into applying this year and trying my luck.

The process itself was nerve-wracking like nothing I’ve ever experienced before. Initially, I had more success than I ever dreamed of, receiving interviews from the likes of Johns Hopkins, Yale, and Washington University in St. Louis. On October 15, 2008, I got my first acceptance: University of Michigan. I had interviewed at Michigan extremely early, and I knew that they would be sending out acceptances at midnight on October 15th. So I waited by my computer patiently, hoping for an email with good news. Midnight came, and no email. I checked the forums at SDN, and other Michigan applicants were announcing their acceptances. I resigned myself to a rejection or, at best, a place on the waitlist. At 12:40am, an email popped into my inbox. I was in! It was an amazing feeling.

As the weeks went by, I learned that I had been rejected from most of the big name schools that had gotten my hopes up so much when they invited me to interview. Of course, I was grateful for the acceptances I did receive, but the weeks in April and May were hard as the rejection letters piled up. I also discovered that I had been waitlisted at WashU, my top choice.

As May 15th approached, I was having an incredibly hard time making my decision. On the one hand, I had the University of Chicago’s Pritzker School of Medicine. It was a great school that gave me a lot of scholarship money. The only problem was that, since I attended the UofC for college, I really didn’t want to stick around on the same campus for medical school. Then there was Michigan. I really wanted to go to Michgan, but they gave me almost nothing in the way of financial aid, and I couldn’t justify going there over taking Pritzker’s hefty scholarship money. Also under consideration was the Baylor College of Medicine: an amazing school in a decent location with cheap-ish tuition. I still couldn’t justify spending the extra money. I went, though reluctantly, with Pritzker, but secretly hoped that WashU would come through for me in the end.

On June 1, 2009, WashU did come through for me. I was ecstatic! I had always heard people saying things like: “you’ll end up where you belong” or “things have a funny way of working out in the end” about applying to medical school, but I never really believed it until now. I’m extremely grateful for how my application cycle has turned out, and I couldn’t be happier. So my advice for anyone thinking about medical school: don’t worry too much! Hang in there and don’t lose hope!

If you want a closer look at my application process, check out my MDApplicants.com profile.