I'm sitting here, night after night, going back and forth between secondaries and job applications (yes, I have no job anymore, my position was cut due to lack of grant funding). It just occured to me that the two have quite a bit in common. Very very frustrating things in common!
So for those of you that don't know, your primary AMCAS application contains just about everything there is to know about you: all of your experiences, all of your classes, all of your grades etc. Why then, do half the secondary applications I fill out ask me to provide the same information again, over and over and over? For example, list your five most recent leadership experiences, list your five most recent work experiences, list your five most recent medically related experiences, have you taken a year each of biology, physics, o-chem, g-chem, and english? HELLO DUMMIES, ITS RIGHT THERE ON MY PRIMARY THAT YOU'VE HAD ALREADY FOR THREE MONTHS!
Sorry, I had to vent. Really though, why ask me to repeat information that they already have sitting right in front of them? In my opinion, it's just to be mean, just plain mean. They want me to get tired, frustrated, pissed off, and ultimately, to give up. To spare them the piece of paper, ink, and the stamp it takes to reject me six months from now. It really is a lot like these job applications I've been doing lately. They ask you to upload your resume, which would obviously contain your employment history, but then on the next page they ask you to start listing your employment history manually. You know how it is, with all the annoying little boxes to fill out. Ahhhhhh! Why do they do this? And for every application, as with secondaries, you do it over, and over, and over again.
Well guys and girls, I'm frustrated, but they haven't got the best of me yet. I refuse to give up until every last little box on every application has been filled out. I guess that's what seperates the people who eventually succeed and the people who don't. Stick with it, don't give up, and keep your eyes on that tiny little speck of light known as the end of the tunnel............
They're doing it just to spite me, I know it
Secondaries: Trick or Treat?
Earlier this week I had food poisoning, and then I topped that off with a nice lovely flu. So its been quite a ride: I've been sleeping 16 hours a day and when I'm not sleeping I'm wandering around in a dazed stupor looking for my chicken noodle soup. Very exciting. Needless to say I haven't gotten any secondaries done.
Sometimes I stop and wonder why I am putting myself through this hell. Don't you? If I ruled the world, everytime someone said "I want to dedicate my life to the service of others", the whole world would stop in its tracks and throw a party. Unfortunately, I don't rule the world and we are left to jump through hoop after hoop, essay after essay. Truthfully, I think becoming a doctor is a decreasingly lucrative choice of profession. Today there are more risks, obstacles, and sacrifices to be made than there ever were before. For me, if there were any other way out I'd take it! But alas, I know that there is no other profession on this earth that would complete me the way medicine does. Awww......that sounds sappy doesn't it? But it's true.
The complicated web of factors that brought me to medicine is just that: complicated as hell. Being a doctor is the last thing I ever thought I would be. However, the right combination of an interest in science, exposure as a volunteer, and the community of medicine itself, led me to become pre-med at the beginning of my junior year. To simplify the story, let me tell you that I was a psychology major, and on my way to becoming a clinical psychologist when suddenly it wasn't enough. I became fascinated with the use of psychotropic medications to treat mental disorders, and immediately wanted to become a psychiatrist. (Admit it, you're way cooler if you can write prescriptions).
Anyways, the initial desire to become a psychiatrist led to exposure to many different fields of medicine and to may different kinds of people within the medicinal community. To be frank, I fell in love with all of it. Something clicked inside me and I was alive in a way I had never been before. Is this sounding familiar yet? I hope so, because a true love and passion for medicine is the only justifiable excuse for getting into it.
Now, back to secondaries. I know you all want to know my stats, so here goes: I have a 3.82 science GPA and a 3.85 overall. And I got a..........drumroll please........ big fat 27 on my MCAT.
All I can say about that is DONT TAKE THE MCAT AT SDSU UNLESS YOU GO THERE.
The very first practice test I ever took I got a 26, and by the end of my prep class I was scoring between 33 and 35 on my diagnostics. So what happened? Maybe I was having a bad day, but truthfully I believe that it happened because I went outside of my comfort zone to SDSU. I had never been there before in my life, while I had spent a good twelve hours of my day, every day for the last three years, at UCSD. Just a theory. I'm not a bad test taker either, so I know it wasn't that. Next question: Why didn't I decide to retake it in August? Well, after thinking long and hard about it I decided that I am comfortable with myself as an applicant regardless. An MCAT score doesn't define me or anybody else as a person. Besides, I think that five years worth of grades like mine show a lot more stability and predictive reliability than a score from one freakin test.
So far, I have not regretted my decision. Out of thirty-three schools that I applied to, I was only rejected pre-secondary by two. Whats more, I received a secondary from the oh so prestigious UCSF, when they had rejected a good friend of mine who had scored a 33 on her MCAT. The lesson of the day then, is never try to second guess admissions committees. What on earth could possibly make some random school like Wake Forest reject me right off the bat when UCSF deemed me worthy? You just never know, so don't waste your time trying to figure out whats wrong with you. They're all looking for certain things, and definitely different things, that make people a great fit (or not) with their school. So in other words: Don't take it personally.
Well kids, thats all for now. I hope to be up and running again by next week, churning out those secondaries ( I HATE ESSAYS!!!). Oh, and cross your fingers for me that I get invitied to interview at UCSD next week. I should be finding out any day now...........
It starts.......
My first piece of advice?
Never put too much faith in your master plan, cause something can and always will go wrong.
When I decided to become pre-med during my junior year of college, I planned to the last detail how everything would play out. When I decide to do something, I do it all the way, 100%. No half assed anything for me I always said. So I did my research, A LOT of research. What exactly did I need to do to get myself into medical school? I learned about all the important components of a successful med school application: grades, MCAT, research, medical experience, leadership, recommendations, and on and on and on...........
So I made up a plan that would allow me to leave no ground uncovered, no tree unturned, and that is exactly what I have been doing these last three years. You might even say I overdid it. In fact, you could definitely say that. So why am I sitting here in October with no interviews yet?
Truthfully, it's not because I'm not a competitive applicant. I am, for the most part. Its because I've been sitting here all summer, burned out and tired, and I have at last deviated from the master plan. My primary was supposed to be in in June. Well, it went in at the end of July.
Secondaries? Oh, in my plan it was supposed to be a 24 to 48 hour turnaround time. Try two weeks to two months. Ouch!
I was just plain tired. I worked so hard at my master plan, to make everything "perfect and complete", that somewhere along the way I forgot what I was fighting for. I forgot about my dreams and passions because I was so wrapped up in the silly little game we call being pre-med at UCSD. So now I've had the summer to think about it, and I'm starting to get back where I should be, and back on track. But I wish I hadn't let go in the first place.
Anyways, I'll be running this blog at least through next year, so I hope y'all come on down and give it a read every now and then. I welcome any comments and questions, cause after all, I'm the HMP3 GURU!!!!!!!
