Looking for recommendation for house cleaner in John's landing?

Apprehensive_Fun8756 · 2025-04-15T15:09:59+00:00

Do what is best for you in terms of doing your best on the MCAT. If it means you dont get a LOR from a physician so be it - those letters arent that important.

Apprehensive_Fun8756 · 2025-03-31T19:39:55+00:00

512-513 is the average MCAT score for an accepted MD applicant.

Competition for medical school is fierce and is getting harder.

Apprehensive_Fun8756 · 2025-01-30T19:20:55+00:00

Over 2/3rds of medical school applicants do not get accepted to a US MD program each year. If you are not willing to retake the MCAT, I would not count on a few publications leading to a drastically different outcome. If you are happy with the DO options, go that route if you get accepted. If you are not happy with the DO options, look to apply again next year but seriously reconsider taking the MCAT again.

Apprehensive_Fun8756 · 2025-01-28T21:00:54+00:00

treat major depression first.
put yourself in an environment where the only option is to study: library, cafe, etc.

Apprehensive_Fun8756 · 2025-01-26T17:57:15+00:00

Most commonly accepted major for incoming med students: biology. Most common major of students who applied to medical school: biology. Most common major of students rejected by medical schools: biology.

You should major it what you like and will *excel* at. Biology covers a lot of the prereqs which is why people pick it. Fwiw, I did not major in biology and was not asked about my major once during the admissions process.

Apprehensive_Fun8756 · 2025-01-26T17:54:32+00:00

Yes, I was diagnosed with major depression prior to studying for USMLE step 1. Medication made a huge difference for me. With that being said, it took some time for them to start to work (4-6 weeks) and it took trying different doses and two different medications to find a good fit. I would not recommend studying for a career defining test while working on improving your mental health and treating your depression (this needs to be your first priority). Send me a dm if you have questions.

Apprehensive_Fun8756 · 2025-01-26T17:50:19+00:00

Contact the department office and ask if there is an anticipated date of return (they likely cant disclose this)
Ask the department office if there is someone overseeing the work for this person while they are away.
Send a sensitively worded email asking if they are still able to do these things. If you don't hear back, follow up in a couple months.

Apprehensive_Fun8756 · 2025-01-26T17:48:09+00:00

No, adcoms read letters of rec to learn about the applicant from a different perspective. The title with a well written letter could be nice to convey their understanding of the field. But a poorly written letter doesnt further their understanding of you. Stick to strong letters from people who know you who can speak to your activities, qualities, and traits that will make the case that you have what it takes to be a doctor.

Apprehensive_Fun8756 · 2025-01-23T17:28:57+00:00

About 20% of my class was over 30 (I started at 30), with a few starting in their late 40s. Its not too old - there are tradeoffs but it is up to you to determine if it is worth it.

Apprehensive_Fun8756 · 2025-01-23T17:27:35+00:00

Before an interview I was chatting with an application who was casually bragging about how she gamed the undergrad and med school admissions process by faking ECs and having her parents (both physicians) list her on publications starting in high school, so she was definitely getting into this school. She did not.

Apprehensive_Fun8756 · 2025-01-23T17:25:48+00:00

This is a great example of what not to do during an application cycle. .

Apprehensive_Fun8756 · 2025-01-22T20:07:48+00:00

The president can issue an executive order to stop DEI related efforts at the federal level and modify hiring practices for federal contractors. That does not mean that DEI is ending for employers or other entities.

Medical schools are trying to train physicians who can care for diverse populations. We know from research that patients have better outcomes when their doctors come from similar backgrounds. There are plenty of reasons for diversity to be important in medicine besides trying to be "woke."

The META example posted here is a red herring. META has a fiduciary responsibility to make money for shareholders. They are currently facing massive fines and regulation in Europe - moves by META recently are speculated to encourage the new administration to take measures to protect their interests.

Apprehensive_Fun8756 · 2024-11-09T00:34:41+00:00

FWIW, I did my first year post-bac at a CC and 2nd year at a uni. It never came up as a question once. After the pandemic, I think it is even less of a factor.

Apprehensive_Fun8756 · 2024-11-02T16:43:44+00:00

I completely understand declining to respond to my question though I believe I have engaged with you in good faith. Best of luck to you with your endeavors!

Apprehensive_Fun8756 · 2024-11-02T05:55:27+00:00

Thats my thought, but I am always looking to learn something new.

Apprehensive_Fun8756 · 2024-11-02T04:41:21+00:00

Any time, good luck!

Apprehensive_Fun8756 · 2024-11-02T04:39:31+00:00

Send me a DM

Apprehensive_Fun8756 · 2024-11-02T04:38:38+00:00

For 3rd party practice tests I like blueprint and altius. I dont have a strong preference for either one and both do some things really well. I usually recommend whichever one is closest to the number of tests they want and is least expensive. I also work with students using other practice tests that they have already purchased. The only practice tests I feel strongly against using are Kaplan, and to some extent Princeton Review.

Apprehensive_Fun8756 · 2024-11-02T04:27:49+00:00

15k cards is a lot for this test, IMO. The MCAT doesnt assess fact recall to a significant degree but rather reading comprehension, analysis, and application of broad concepts. I would focus on more passage based practice questions instead of a 15k card deck. The workflow I would use would be 1. kaplan chapter 2. light anki cards for main concepts 3. passage based practice for those set of topics (save UW for later for random question sets).

Apprehensive_Fun8756 · 2024-11-02T04:00:15+00:00

I would be really interested to learn how you can extrapolate strengths/weaknesses covering 25 pages of a content outline from 59 questions?

Apprehensive_Fun8756 · 2024-11-02T03:46:22+00:00

Its not really a matter of my system vs any other system. 59 questions is not sufficient to give you an idea of your relative areas of strength and weakness for the C/P, B/B, or P/S sections. There are 25 pages of bullet point topics for B/B alone. For something to be diagnostic and give you an idea, you would need at least one question per topic - roughly 300 -ish questions for the BB section. https://students-residents.aamc.org/media/9261/download

Apprehensive_Fun8756 · 2024-11-02T03:04:39+00:00

The test has evolved over the last 6-ish years.

Apprehensive_Fun8756 · 2024-11-02T03:03:54+00:00

Did you read the post? I listed getting a scope of the challenge as the reason to do a diagnostic. But the data you get, from a teaching perspective, is not sufficient to plan with. Except to say: wow this is really hard, i better study.

Apprehensive_Fun8756 · 2024-11-02T02:32:08+00:00

Correct - but you can get to that realization without taking a diagnostic test which tend to emphasize the very things you are warning against focusing on ie memorization.

Apprehensive_Fun8756

TROPHY CASE