June 18, 2014

Becoming a Nontraditional Medical Student - Part Four

So after a year-long hiatus from blogging I guess I have a bit of catching up to do. If you read Part One, Two, or Three, you might have been wondering what happened. Well, I didn't get in, not for the fall of 2013 at least - I ended up waitlisted at every school at which I interviewed. There was a chance I could have been accepted in May or early June, but since the Texas application opens in early May (and AMCAS in early June) I decided to go ahead and reapply. If I got accepted I'd only be set back a few hundred dollars, and if I didn't get accepted at least I'd have my application in early for the next go around.

Writing this a year after the fact, I'm able to gloss over how difficult it was not to get accepted the first go around. Many tears were shed to say the least. This process has shown me how rough waiting can be and how important it is to keep moving forward. Thankfully I'd spent my first application year volunteering and shadowing - things I wasn't really able to put on my 2013 application since I'd worked nonstop up until applying. I was, however, able to bolster my 2014 application and interviews by having those experiences.

I submitted both my TMDSAS and AMCAS applications the first day I was able, and I truly think that helped me this time around. Out of the 20 schools I applied to, I received early (August and September) interviews to three schools, two in Texas and one in Chicago. I was fortunate enough to receive an acceptance to the school in Chicago in October - I was going somewhere to med school! I was even more fortunate to receive an acceptance to my top choice, UTH, in mid-November. I was exiting HEB when I got the email. I most definitely fell against a giant pile of fireplace wood just outside the exit and started crying - I'm that girl. :) I received one more interview after that but was able to decline since I already had the acceptance I wanted in hand.

It has been a long road getting here, and I'm not sure I could be more excited/anxious/over-the-moon about starting school in two months. I have some nontrad application tips coming soon so make sure to stay tuned for that.

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