title. went to a quarter system school and took two quarters of o chem and physics which were NOT required for my major. do i need to take a third o chem and third physics class to fulfill the prereqs? please advise, thanks!

2 questions:

1) Do i need to be regularly logging into all portals I submitted my secondaries to for interview invites? Or will they all notify me via email?

2) How does one get acceptances? what does the email look like? I want to open them with my family but naturally I do not want to spoil myself with their headers/ notifications. Is it like ‘there has been an update to your application’ email or can a mere notification spoil the acceptance?

For context, I'm nowhere near close to posting on the pre-med forum, but I really need some opinions besides the ones from my guidance counselor.

It was my first year in my post-bacc, and it was rough. I had a lot going on emotionally and financially that impacted my first year. I was working full-time as a medical assistant, so I could only take two classes at a time. I also wasn't making enough money, and the job burned me out, so I had to quit for my own mental health.

I ended up with a W in chemistry. Then the second semester is where shit hit the fan, mentally and financially. I basically couldn't afford tuition, and I was trying to balance school, EMT school, and two jobs. I ended up with a C- in biology, and all of this tanked my cumulative GPA from a 3.0 to a 2.78. My undergraduate GPA before starting my post-bacc was a 3.567.

Now I'm in a semi-better place. I'm working two jobs that are a better fit and I'm an EMT now, but I'm dealing with the consequences of that first year. I now have two W's on my transcript, although one of them is an Excused Withdrawal because of my work situation.

I still struggle, and I'll probably continue struggling, to pay for tuition. I'm hoping I'll get more loans this year, but who knows. Because of that, I'm still only taking two classes at a time, which is way less than everyone else in my program. That also means it'll probably take me another one to two years to finish the program.

I'm super lost because I feel like I just ruined my chances of medical school. I didn't want to only ask my counselor because, at the end of the day, the program has an incentive to keep me enrolled.

Should I continue the program? Do I have enough time to save my GPA? Should I take a year off to work and save money?

how was ur prompt

Hey guys, I just spent 20 minutes figuring out how to submit this secondary, and I finally figured out their error!

EVEN if you are submitting a letter packet/committee letter and you check NO on the "are you submitting individual letters" box, the text boxes below where you would specify WHO those individual writers are REMAIN MANDATORY. So you must still go into each of those boxes (yes, the boxes you specified you have no additional letter writers to add into) and type N/A or something in them; otherwise, the submit & pay button will remain grayed out.

Hope this helps someone!

who is the r/premed baby on the sub's picture and how do I get in contact with them, I believe they can help me this cycle

Nontrad applicant here. I’m very confused by what’s on MSAR and their admissions website that states “Applicants must also complete the Chemistry and Biology prerequisite coursework within five years of matriculation. Please note that Rush Medical College does not accept online coursework for any prerequisite coursework.” This means anyone one year out of an undergraduate degree where chem and bio coursework were completed would have to retake these prereqs?

I’ve emailed admissions to ask about my application and what’s in my transcript since my AMCAS primary was processed a few days ago. I have a pretty service-oriented application and don’t live that far from Chicago so I’d be really disappointed if they’re not even going to review my application because of this (new?) requirement. I can’t find any past posts about this so I’m assuming it’s new this cycle.

Wondering if any other nontrads here are applying to Rush this cycle and what you think of this. Even if I do retake these prereqs I’m not sure how they expect us to do courses in person while working full time because they don’t accept online coursework either.

https://www.rushu.rush.edu/rush-medical-college/admissions/applying-doctor-medicine-md-program

In the midst of writing secondaries currently, wanted to ask for some advice.

Background: first time applicant, 512(128/127/130/127) MCAT, 3.77 uGPA at Pitt, just took CASPer and waiting for score, BS in Neuroscience w Honors Degree summa cum laude and 7/8 semesters Deans List. 2500 clinical hours between 2 different stroke units as a CNA(another 2200 projected as ENT medical assistant). 230 leadership hours in my outdoors club as an officer and 2000 hours during my 2 1/2 yrs as an RA and 1 yr promoted to LRA in ResLife. 160 hours researching in neurobiology lab about cortical connectivity patterns and variance in viral vector expression in areas of mice cortex. 230 hours undergrad teaching assistant between 2 neuro and one human phys class.

My worries: only 10 hrs volunteering as a teaching aide w literacy pittsburgh(had car accident sophomore year) and didn’t get to research nor volunteer as much as I wanted. Hence I’m volunteering w same org starting next week(anticipated on primary) as an adult tutor teaching ESL to those studying for their GED exam that haven’t been able to receive the education. I’ve received 26/30 secondaries so far, but I’m looking for better feedback in my secondaries and which to prioritize completing so I don’t take longer than 3 weeks on them and give myself the best chance to get interviews, hopefully at my reach dream school(UCSD). Just looking for good advice for my application essays and if some of my schools are even realistic, w UCSD being my dream for the biomed research and some of my family in Escondido.

If you have any insight, are willing to give me good and honest feedback, or just have advice for someone of my app profile, please reply. Open to all feedback just asking that you be kind but honest. If you want any other info about my app, lmk too. My current issue is I’m working 60 hrs a week (40 full time as MA and 20 part time as I end my CNA part time position to become standby, which is tied into the car accident).

Let me know, and thank you for any help you can give.

I'm grateful to have two meetings with professors to possibly join their lab and conduct research. My issue is that the first meeting is this week and the second meeting is in 3 weeks. I'm nervous because I really would like to do research with the professor in the later meeting, but I'm not sure what to do if the first professor offers me the volunteer position at his lab. Do I just accept it or tell him to give me a couple of weeks to consider, with the chance that the offer might be rescinded and I might not get an offer from the second professor?

Should I quit my job to study full time for the MCAT? Context: I am planning to test in Jan and am just now starting out. I am in my 2nd gap year currently and have about 1.5k clinical hours racked up including my current job. I would still continue doing nonclinical volunteering and PRN self employed job that I do (coaching) alongside studying even if I quit my main clinical job. I am leaning towards quitting and putting all my focus onto the MCAT but wanted some thoughts as I feel that I have forgotten a lot of the material the MCAT tests. Thank you

I am beyond excited to have gotten an interview this early in the cycle!! TCU, I would be an out of state applicant.

Just wanted to share the happiness and wish everyone else in this sub the best of luck. You all have helped me so much.

I’m applying this cycle and essentially my non-thesis advisor has been impossible to get ahold of, including 2 months of silence during which we were supposed to be having meetings weekly. 2 of my schools want LORs from grad professors if you’ve been in a grad program (which I am in and about to graduate from), and despite the difficulties my advisor (who I also took a class with) is the best person to write about my graduation project. I did reach out to another prof as backup, but I haven’t heard back from them either and I’m 1) running out of time and 2) have much more limited options through my grad program than I did as an undergrad, especially because this program is completely virtual. Despite being hard to get ahold of, I did have really productive conversations about my project with my advisor who did offer sound guidance when we were finally able to meet, and they did seem really enthusiastic about my topic

Will my app look totally terrible if I don’t have a LOR from a graduate professor, even if it isn’t required by my other schools? I’m planning to reach out to my advisor one more time this week but just trying to get a feel for how bad this will look lol

For context, I graduated undergrad about 4 years ago and have 1 science letter (undergrad), 1 from a clinical work manager, and another from the PI I currently work for

Applied this cycle, submitted primary on May 28th.

3.64 CGPA, 3.49 SGPA, 511 MCAT, 3.9 GPA last 45 credit hours, so solid upward trend, 8 preview, 2nd quartile casper. I have one W on my transcript.

3 years (745 hours) volunteering as a camp counselor at a camp for children who have been impacted by a parent's cancer, and also had a leadership position through this organization.

800 (and counting, gap year job) hours of cancer research, 1 pub, 3 posters.

500 (and counting, gap year job) clinic hours, both as a patient care tech and as a technician in cardiology services

Personal trainer at my University rec center, and at an organization providing free training to cancer survivors, 50 hours total and counting (gap year job)

50 hours of hospital volunteering

450 hours teaching assistant in a biology lab

another research lab, no pubs, presentations (110 hours)

vice prez of my BJJ club (2.5 years, 250 hours)

125 hours of shadowing, lots of specialties

runner, pushing people with disabilities in races with a racing wheelchair, one race down, training for marathon.

most of my app is about integrating research, advocacy and mentorship in my practice as a physician.

my one state school is pretty biased for in-staters. I am from a rural/underserved area.

How did everyone feel about it? Felt like I had to be a popsicle the entire exam so my proctor wouldn’t start tweaking 💀

title text. I bought myself a new keyboard with pretty keycaps and brown switches so they go click clack (but still retains some of the buttery feel) when I type. Therefore, I am motivated to type more. any others extrinsically motivating themselves? deranged purchases or otherwise

I am a few years out from having to worry about this. I’m just thinking ahead.

I am a non-traditional applicant. I graduated in 2019 with a BS in Computer Networking & Cybersecurity after essentially failing out of engineering school.

I got diagnosed with ADHD shortly before graduating and looking back I can really see how the condition was wrecking my life (and my gpa) when unmanaged.

Since then I have done a lot of work on myself and feel ready to go back and get what I actually want out of life (and school).

TLDR:
Anyway, it has me conflicted about how to bring this up in applications/interviews down the road. If things go to plan, the difference between my old gpa and my pre med gpa should speak for itself. But if I have to speak to my poor performance from 2012-2019 the only honest answer I can give would boil down to “undiagnosed ADHD was wrecking my life” and I really don’t know if I’m comfortable admitting that in a med school application.

So I’m not the greatest fan of research. I don’t LOATHE it, but it’s not something I really look forward to. Next summer I’m considering applying for a research fellowship, because it’s either I do that or work like a dog to get more cash and clinical hours. The fellowship is a 9-5 M-F so it would be like a full time job.

With the way it’s looking, I’ll have at least one pub by the time I apply to med school and a decent amount of hours- around 300 or 400. Should I shoot my shot and see what happens?

Hello!! Happy (hellish) secondary season. Currently working on my DO secondary, and it's prompt is essentially a "why osteopathic medicine" question. I was going to talk about my experiences with preventive medicine, and how osteopathic medicine provides a home for this kind of mindset and practice.

I felt like going at this angle because I do not personally have too many personal stories or anecdotes regarding DOs. The places I worked at all had a healthy mix of MDs and DOs, and everyone operated the exact same.

I know many people suggest to talk about the more generic 4 tenets and whatnot, so is my original plan a bit of a stretch?

Do most schools still use Zoom? Or does any school use anything like google Meet or anything like that?

These people have invested so much time and energy into helping me through this process, so I am gonna keep grinding through these secondaries because these people need to know their investment was well placed. 🥲

bruh I just got an email from NYMC asking me to tell them the name and course number for my science and major LOR writers—I already had all three of them in my packet so I’m worried now that all three of my professors just didn’t mention what class I took with them…. ? has anyone had this happen to them? another thing to stress about I guess

Pretty much just what the title says. I'm not sure what to write when a school asks me to explain why I have any "W"s on my transcript, because I don't have any really profound reasons.

I have two withdrawals, one from freshman year and one from senior year. During freshman year, I was considering getting a minor in computer science but quickly dropped that idea after taking the next CS class in the sequence and realizing that I hated how it was taught at my school. I found the instructor's teaching style hard to learn from and I was struggling even after seeking extra help. I probably would've ended the class with a B or an AB, but it was so stressful and impacting my mental health so much that I just dropped it and chose to fill my time working extra hours instead.

The second withdrawal is from the last semester of my senior year. It was an extremely boring biology elective (history of human population genetics) that I impulsively took to raise my sGPA. I was also studying for the MCAT, taking a full course load, doing an independent research project, and working 20 hours a week. Again, I probably would've finished with an AB or a B, but I just hated the class and didn't want to sacrifice any other areas in order to make the time to save my grade in the class.

What do I write about to explain these? People say to just say what you learned from it, but considering I have one at the beginning and at the end of college, it appears that I actually didn't learn much.

I received an IA for cheating on an exam in my senior year final semester. I graduated with a 3.55cGPA and a 3.47sGPA, i have lots of extracurriculars but no research. I reached out to my advisor and she recommended that I take 30 credits of upper level biology courses to help my GPA and show growth after the IA. I have already taken the MCAT and scored a 520, I missed the deadline to start courses in the fall and would have to wait until spring 2027 to take classes for my diy post bach. I am worried that i shot myself in the foot and the post bach may push me more behind. I was wanting input on what to do and how to go from here. I was also thinking of switching to PA because of how lengthy and expensive things will be. I was wondering if it may be easier for me to do that and if I can skip the post bach and apply next cycle.

I have an unfortunate situation. I submitted TMDSAS and AACOMAS primaries in mid June and got secondaries back soon after. I then submitted secondaries the first week of July, so I’ve been doing good in terms of turnaround time.

However, one issue that persisted throughout all my apps is my letters of rec. I graduated last fall and was taken off the list my pre health committee uses to send out committee letter info and ended up requesting the letter in almost June bc I had no idea I was able to request it yet. I did an interview with them late in June, it went well overall, but I am still yet to get a letter returned.

I’ve got my other letters, but I’m being held up by the committee letter. I received an email from one of my schools I submitted a secondary for telling me my app was incomplete and won’t be reviewed until I fulfill the missing letters.

TLDR: I submitted primary and secondary apps on time and everything looks great, but I still don’t have a committee letter submitted. It is holding up my secondaries from being looked at and I got an email from a school saying they can’t look at mine until I get everything submitted.

How should I go about emailing them back? Is this going to have a negative consequence on my apps?

Any advice is welcome.

how long after submitting secondaries do ppl usually get interview invites?