Hey everyone!
So I got a last minute interview invitation from Drexel, and that makes six out of eighteen, or a respectable 30% return on my secondary investments. I scheduled it for April 12th, but guess what? I won't be going to it, or to New York Med for that matter, because yours truly has gotten an acceptance to medical school!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I got one of the last ten out-of-state spots at Virginia Commonwealth. I also got waitlisted at U of Rochester, which isn't too disheartning. How exciting is this people? I can officially cross the bridge and call myself a med student. How awesome! Of course I'm still hoping for USC or Dartmouth, but that news won't come for a few weeks I suppose.
I really did like Virginia Commonwealth a lot, much more than I ever expected, and that makes me completely comfortable with the idea of going there if that's what happens. I am so happy, nervous, excited, and scared, all at the same time. I am excited about the prospects of this new adventure, at the same time I am crushed to be leaving San Diego in a few months. I actually have started to get teary-eyed when I drive around seeing all the places that I have loved for the last six years. Yet.......I can't be afraid of change and what it will bring to my life. It's med school for gods sake!
But don't be surprised if you see me around campus the next quarter. I plan on taking a couple of classes after work, via UCSD extension (gotta keep the brain from liquidating you know). You may see me standing wistfully in front of Geisel, where I loved my eighth floor studying nook. Or maybe sitting cross-legged, a tear running down my cheek, in the Muir courtyard, where I did all of my serious thinking. Or even standing in front of Peterson Hall, looking a little traumatized, as I reminisce trudging through that damn O-chem sequence. Who knows? But I'll be out there.
Stay tuned for news of USC and Dartmouth. It won't be long now.........
Why don't I get a spring break?
USC interview and the onslaught of rejections...
So I had what will hopefully be my final interview last friday at USC. I have one more, at New York Med, scheduled late march, but with any luck I will have gotten an acceptance by then and I won't have to go. But USC was pretty cool actually, I liked it way better than I ever thought I would. The Health Sciences campus is about four miles away from the main campus, and it is right across the street from L.A. County Hospital. So, no, it is not technically in the ghetto per se. (Compton, Long beach, Inglewooood.......Dr. Dre anyone?) The medical school is really quite attractive and well laid out. It is also right next to the USC University Hospital, the Women's and Children's Hospital, and the Norris Cancer Center. So right there, within a three block radius, is an extremely broad range of environment, patient base, and specialty for a medical student to gain experience in. And just to mention the obvious, anyone who is interested in emergency medicine and trauma would be in absolute heaven.
But anyways, I showed up about nine (after staying in Chinatown the night before) and had my faculty interview at ten. This was the first instance in which I have not interviewed with an M.D., but rather an R.N./M.S. from the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences. Kinda wierd, huh? But she was really great, and told me that she helps teach 3rd year clerkships in psychiatry. The interview itself went pretty flawlessly. A lot of the same old questions, which at this point my answers to are very smoothed out and clearly articulated. I had a hunch the night before that I was going to get the managed care question (I knew I couldn't escape four interviews without it coming up at least once), and of course it did come up. Luckily, she left it pretty open, and at the very least I was able to show that I'd given the issue some thought and that I'd considered the practical implications and impact it would have on my practice as a physician. Yay! So no big surprises there at least.
The tour and lunch were a nice change from what I had been experiencing at other schools. The tour wasn't too long and my feet weren't killing me at the end. A brief walk-through of LA county medical center proved a little disturbing (metal detectors and all that), but what do you expect? Even more disturbing was the fact that our 2nd year tour guides showed us the gross anatomy lab (I'm pretty sure that's illegal), complete with about forty cadavres covered in white sheets. We all stood in there, amidst these cold metal tables and buckets containing saws, retractors and god knows what else, for about five minutes while our guides blabbed on about something. I actually felt myself getting all warm and my heart speeding up! I was pretty creeped out. I'm glad to know that USC is a school that has a memorial service following completion of you-know-what. Anyways, much nicer to mention is the lunch we had, at the ooh la la "faculty club" complete with nicely dressed servers, menus, and actual silverware. So much better than the hospital cafeteria...... Too bad if I went there I'd probably never see it again.
Finally, I had my med student interview. I can't believe it , but they had me interview with a first year! It was a little awkward at first, given that this guy had no clue how to interview anybody, but we both relaxed and had a pretty smooth conversation for over an hour. I can't believe though, that a first year's opinion would have much impact on my admissions decision. But who knows I guess? It went well, so no worries. After that, I hopped in my car and went through three hours of stop and go traffic (good old interstate five never lets you down as far as that's concerned.......sigh.)
Other than that, I've had a lot of bad news. But it's to be expected at this point. I pretty much knew I wasn't going to get any more interviews this late in the game, so.......
Rejections from Stanford, UPenn, and GW came in. Also UCSD and UCSF both let me off the "hold for interview status". I guess my letters didn't work, damn it. But I know they work sometimes. I know a doctor at Scripps La Jolla who got rejected from UCSD pre-secondary, wrote an appeal, got the secondary, got rejected again post secondary, wrote an appeal, got the interview, got waitlisted, and ultimately accepted off the waitlist. So it happens, just not to me I guess. It really does hurt more to have gotten that close (i.e. hold for interview) only to ultimately get let down. Sigh. So close I could almost taste the in-state tuition. I guess it's looking like private school for me, and a hell of a lot of debt. But in the end, I have nothing to complain about. I still will (barring any disaster) most likey be attending a great medical school come fall. Either Rochester, Dartmouth, USC, or VCU. When I think about the depressing statistics of medical school acceptance, and compare that to my irresponsible behavior during much of the application season, I am so thankful that my prospects are as fruitful as they are.
So nope, nothing to complain about at all.
