Awesome! Congrats on the acceptance!
- redo-it-all Said:
somedayDrA
Also I have read that sometimes you can send a letter to reiterate your interest in the school and follow up (I hope gonnif or gabelerman will pick up on that).
Also I have read that sometimes you can send a letter to reiterate your interest in the school and follow up (I hope gonnif or gabelerman will pick up on that).
I will that one to soon-to-be-doctor gabe who I am sure has copious free time in his last year of medical school, residency interviews, and being the father of 4 girls.
I have one for reconsideration when you get a rejection letter, cause I believe it ain't over 'til its over!
- redo-it-all Said:
Finally, this brings up an interesting question. Does someone here have some stats that would show the likely-hood to be accepted in at least one school as a function of the number of interviews. Now I hear the skeptics saying "well you can be accepted at the only school where you have an interview" or "you can be rejected from every school even if you interview at 20". I know these particular cases are always possible (although the 20 school one is very unlikely), but I would like to see some actual stats on the matter (not sure they exist though). For instance, I'd like to see a nice plot showing on the x axis the number of interviews on the y axis the chances (likely-hood) to be accepted in at least one school. Anyone?
well I am the social statistic guy here and those stats likely are available at a school by school basis, and I am sure some of the schools would give the information upon request. But assuming it was readily available on a gross basis, I would think it would be somewhat misleading unless I had some granular info to slice and dice it. It would
- In reply to:
But assuming it was readily available on a gross basis, I would think it would be somewhat misleading unless I had some granular info to slice and dice it.
Hi Gonnif
well I am not sure why this would be misleading if taken for what it is. The goal is not to establish a predictive method but more to visualize a trend. A very good example is the following: I would tend to think, that as you age, you don't as well on the MCAT. So we could establish a relationship between age and MCAT score. Does this mean that if you are older you won't score well? No. But certainly, being out of school for while, loosing study habits, having responsibilities (life happens) etc... is likely to tranlsate into a trend (or perhaps not).
Back to my original request (number of schools applied to VS number of acceptance), if we could have 3 categories of students (Good numbers, average numbers, low numbers, obviously the boundaries would have to be played with), and for each three additional pieces of information
1- number of schools applied to
2- number of interviews granted
3- number of acceptance letters
I believe this could be a nice summary of the application process as far as success rate as a fonction of the number of schools you apply and depending on your numbers.
I am sure this info can be compiled from various sources but it will probably be a tedious work to do so.
We could also ask the OPM community to pitch in and create a small sample (knowing that age here would perhaps come into play).
Anyway this was just a though and I would have liked to see the curve.
Cheers.
Hm, I would think MCAT scores would go UP as you aged as it purports to test critical thinking. I taught for a number of years in an RN nursing program where we tried to teach critical thinking skills to future RN’s. It was my subjective impresssion that there seemed a youth related disadvantage…that with increasing life experience students were more likely to have acquired critical thinking skills, or be more readily able to learn them. Don’t have any hard figures, just my impression.
Kate
- In reply to:
I would think MCAT scores would go UP as you aged
Kate,
this is a perfectly valid point of view and assumption. That's why numbers help. So who is right?
Note that my original request was about something else. But this one is also very interesting. Is there any age/MCAT score chart anywhere? That would be nice to check out.
For the GREs:
http://www.ets.org/Media/Tests/GRE/pdf/g re_0809_fa…
See pp. 33-34 for age-related breakdown. Summary: Older test-takers tend to perform slightly better on Verbal than younger testees. They score significantly worse than the younger folks on Quantitative, though as the write-up suggests, that may be because the older testees are further removed from Quantitative use in their day-to-day lives (which would suggest that might not apply to motivated non-trads who have prepped well for the MCAT). The older folks also performed slightly worse, though not much, in analytical writing.
In my opinion, this just demonstrates that younger test-takers tend to be better prepared quantitatively to take such tests (from recent coursework) and probably have more recent experience in technical writing. The older test-takers have more life experience to give them the edge in Verbal. These results seem to confirm that recent experience and exposure, rather than age per se, constitute the main factors in performance.
Interesting topic. I appreciate the insights you have provided regarding the age vs mcat situation. Speaking only for myself, I have found that I actually do better on studying and tests now than when I was in college during my late teens and early twenties. During set study times, I am not as distracted now as I was back then. Of course, I have to respect my study time a lot more now, and balance out appropriate times for work and family. In college, I probably spent way too much time goofing off with an over-exuberant social life. Just my experience…fwiw
Another acceptance! This one at University of Louisville. Interviewed on Wednesday, accepted the following Wednesday. Fast turnaround! Now to decide between osteopathic (UMDNJ) and allopathic (UofL)… or maybe I’ll have more choices???
BTW, for everyone out there wishing they had an acceptance, perseverance is the key. I applied 3 years: no interviews the first year, 4 interviews and 4 waitlists the second year, and 2 interviews and 2 acceptances so far this year. It’s been a long, rough rollercoaster ride!
Congrats.
Did you do anything year to year to help strengthen your appication?
Way to go!
Well congrats. It seems that the choice between DO and MD is the king’s choice! Whatever you decide, I am sure you will enjoy the ride. Keep us posted with your final choice.
Like OwenO, I’d like to know what you did between your attempts as it seems that your application kept getting stronger (from the info you provide). So did you apply to different schools each year, of if you did apply to the same, what major changes have occured, either in your life or in your essais (or MCAT scores)???
Thanks
Thanks for the congrats!!!
Several things changed each year. I did retake the MCAT between the first and second year that I applied and I raised my score by 6 points. Looking back, I never should have applied the first time. After applying the second time, I was invited to interview late in the season at all of the schools. Several of them told us that we would almost certainly be waitlisted because it was so late in the season. UMDNJ and UofL really seemed to like me though, so when I applied again this year, they invited me to interview quite early in the cycle… and voila!
I also think the schools may have been questioning my commitment since I was still working full time in engineering. Some schools commented that it was good that I continued to volunteer at the same hospital for 3 years. I always had additional medical-related experience to add to my application each year. I also continued to take classes: biochem, psych, genetics. I think that helped to show my commitment too.
Bottom line, apply early, keep strengthening your application, and make sure they see your commitment to becoming a doc!
Being from NJ, what prompted you to apply to UofL? I live in Louisville and plan to apply there, but was wondering if there was anything that sold you?
My father is from Eastern Kentucky. I have a number of relatives there and I’ve always loved the area. When I first interviewed at Louisville I fell in love with the school (because I thought it offered a good match for my background and interests) and really liked the city too. I think they only consider out of state candidates who have strong ties to Kentucky.
Thanks. I am enjoying UofL taking my prereq’s.
Dave
thanks for taking time to provide more info on the path you have taken.
Have you decided yet?
Enjoy the ride!
whoo!!!
congrats again to those recently accepted
get your seatbelts on…it is one heck of a ride 
another acceptance…Western University! Now, I have to make a difficult decision…DMU or Western?
Congrats! These decisions are tough.
Its a great dilemma to have.
My main issue is that I’m not alone in this - I’ve got two kids and a husband and my decision has to be right for everyone. I’ve made lists of pros and cons and tossed it over in my mind so many times already. I’m just glad I’ve got a couple weeks before I have to make a firm decision.