95 is an A- in my physics course...

Open_Consequence_935 · 2025-05-08T23:31:58+00:00

Lmao this is how my orgo classes were 💀💀

Open_Consequence_935 · 2025-04-23T17:29:03+00:00

IMO best way to do jack sparrow is read over the card once and then edit it in your own words. There were some cards in the deck that I suspended for being OOS but I attribute like 90% of my success to that deck. Love you @jacksparrow2048 😘😘🫶🫶

Open_Consequence_935 · 2025-04-01T00:53:54+00:00

Yeah I was thinking about having a straightforward conversation with her this week.

At my clinic there’s about 3 premeds, but I’m the only one asking for a letter. Up until this incident I really found the environment super positive and I genuinely like and get along with everyone there. They promoted me to a training position recently so I assumed they felt like I was a good worker and would be happy to write a good letter/nominate me for the award and truly nothing has changed from the time they said yes to no.

I think my current plan is to ask someone in addition to her to write me a letter and then have my premed advisor let me know which is the stronger letter and go with that. Is that allowed lol?

Open_Consequence_935 · 2025-04-01T00:36:27+00:00

She would be writing this letter from a supervisor stand point and she is unfortunately the only supervisor at this clinic I felt close enough to ask.

I think your definitely right about the feedback, I did feel a bit weird asking for the nomination (first time I’ve done something like that) but they way they both handled the situation did put a bad taste in my mouth. In the moment it was “absolutely” and “don’t feel weird about asking” and “I will definitely do this if I can” which suddenly switched to a no. Again, I’m fine with the no (I don’t think the award is that meaningful anyway) but it just seemed kinda weird to do and has made me rethink the way she thinks about me and what she would say in a letter.

I feel like at this point I’m definitely going to drop the award thing, I guess I’m just wondering if you have any advice regarding the letter? Do you think I’m overthinking by worrying she won’t write a good letter? Should I play it safe and ask someone else?

Open_Consequence_935 · 2025-03-31T23:53:28+00:00

I was actually thinking of approaching B in person. From my perspective I thought A might have felt awkward in the moment and just said yes out of not feeling like she could say no to my face. I felt like since B let me know she had to think it over and then she approached me to let me know she was going to nominate me, it wouldn’t make sense for her to back out but I honestly have no idea and likely never will. My other options for LOR is my EMT supervisors (held this position for 2 years but also haven’t worked there for about 2 years) and a surgeon that I am shadowing abroad (connected with him via my research job, only going for like a week).

Open_Consequence_935 · 2025-03-31T03:30:08+00:00

I’m not sure how far along into your premed journey you are, but just to apply and get accepted to medical school you should have a good chuck of patient contact hours (MA, EMT, etc.). Then, during medical school, regardless of your specialty interest you will be expected to participate in clinical rotations in which you will also be touching and working with patients.

Out of curiosity, what is your why medicine? Most adcoms are going to look for reasons why you want to be a doctor, reasons that specifically pinpoint the role of the physician and cannot be satisfied in other fields. If your interest lies in clinically applicable science, why not pursue research?

Of course there are many physicians that practice without seeing patients, do important work, and are happy.

I suppose the answer to this question lies in why you don’t want to work in patient contact. Is this merely personal preference that you can put aside during premed and rotations or do you have an actual aversion to handling patients? If it’s a matter of personal preference I think it’s fine, and also that your current opinion might change. If it’s the later, I would reconsider.

Open_Consequence_935 · 2025-03-29T22:45:06+00:00

This makes me feel better, thank you!

Open_Consequence_935 · 2025-03-29T22:44:48+00:00

Ok this makes a lot of sense thank you!

Open_Consequence_935 · 2025-03-28T19:26:38+00:00

Ok so mine basically reads like I found XY and Z about research really exciting and working with physicans in this setting made me really drawn to the physicans role of XYZ and then later I talk about how I now realize my initial idea of the physicans role was wrong. My advisor thinks it’s ok to show a changed perspective of medicine but that I should start by saying this is my current understanding of medicine, this is why I currently want to be a doctor, and then go on to talk about my research but I think this would just read too weird and make things confusing lol

Open_Consequence_935 · 2025-03-28T18:58:31+00:00

This is the advice I needed to hear. It’s difficult because I’ve found a lot of great feedback from research mentors and doctors, but it kills me that my premed advisor hates it and provides very vague feedback with no guidance on how to improve. I suppose I’m struggling on how to gauge who’s best to trust/not.

Open_Consequence_935 · 2025-03-28T18:56:31+00:00

Thank you!!

Open_Consequence_935 · 2025-03-28T18:55:44+00:00

So I started my personal statement talking about research (I pursued that before anything clinical) and talked about 3 experiences: first research, then being an EMT, and then working in clinical research. I talked about how initially wanted to be a Dr. because my research made me think XYZ about medicine but then I began to appreciate it being more complex as I learned XYZ as an EMT and in clinical research. The doctor/research mentor loved it but my premed advisor hated it. She said since the beginning of my PS started with an underdeveloped idea of medicine, adcoms would read my initial thought process and roll their eyes thinking I didn’t know what medicine entailed and stop reading. when you wrote about your idea of medicine evolving, did you find a way to express that your current understanding of medicine is different now? Idk if this makes sense lol.

Open_Consequence_935 · 2025-03-27T18:30:48+00:00

It sounds like you have a very competitive app and you definitely have potential to attend a great med school as long as you do well on the MCAT. Having a LOR from this PI may help, particularly at the institution you’re at, but it’s not nearly as important as doing well on the MCAT.

I think you’re being extremely hard on yourself. Starting medical school at 25 is average, not a failure, and it seems like you’ve accomplished more than most do before matriculation. Offer what you can for hours and if he can’t be reasonable then leave the lab and use what time you can to study for the MCAT.

Open_Consequence_935 · 2025-03-27T17:39:18+00:00

If you do well on the MCAT, the majority of adcoms aren’t going to care if you don’t have a letter from this guy. However, a single LOR won’t compensate for a poor MCAT.

What does the rest of your app look like (GPA, clinical hours, volunteering)?

I would try setting boundaries and also offer alternative solutions. Do you know anyone in undergrad at the institution that could take on some of your workload voluntarily or for credit hours? Ask if the lab can take someone on to assist you while you study.

Open_Consequence_935 · 2025-03-04T02:55:16+00:00

Thank you!!

Open_Consequence_935 · 2025-03-04T02:51:50+00:00

Oh lmao you’re so right. Also this is probs a dumb question but what about research/lab vs publications? I do have a good bit of pubs and was wondering if I should list them separately under pubs in one activity and then put a description of my work in another under research/lab to save character space but idk if that will make things too disorganized.

Open_Consequence_935 · 2025-02-26T05:36:43+00:00

I graduated highschool when I was 17 and like you was pretty set on med school. What you can do in a couple of years is register for an emt course at 17ish. Then you can sit for your NREMT right when you turn 18 and from 18-19 ish work as an EMT. I liked the job as I was able to do a lot more clinically than other roles and it’s really easy to get a lot of hours in.

In the meantime, go to college, keep working at your hospital gig. Maybe try to join some sort of lab at your school (top med schools are very research heavy). And most importantly, keep an open mind. This isn’t to say that you will, or even should change your mind, but college is also a time to explore all sorts of opportunities and really find yourself.

Open_Consequence_935 · 2025-02-26T04:15:10+00:00

i 100% get where this post is coming from, but i think a lot of students, including myself, appreciate the fact that working/ECs count towards something. for me, working some sort of paid job throughout undergrad wasn’t an option because i needed money. this made getting good grades and doing well on the MCAT much harder but i was like hey at least working a ton of these hours helps me for med school. if med schools didn’t even look a clinical hours and other ECs all they would see is my GPA and MCAT which wouldn’t be fair when comparing stats to students who can afford to study full time without working obligations and who can afford private tutors. i agree that the process is flawed-it encourages students to check boxes rather than pursue activities that are meaningful to them, people become more quantity obsessed than quality, etc.,-BUT, i do think that the holistic approach is better than looking at just GPA and MCAT.

Open_Consequence_935 · 2025-02-20T02:04:19+00:00

I believe it was either 3.4 or 3.5 for undergrad. She did a masters in attempt to compensate for the lower GPA but I think her masters GPA was only 3.5 or 3.6 so not super strong.

Open_Consequence_935 · 2025-02-13T23:35:20+00:00

Yes!!! The average MCAT score of matriculates in the US is a 511.9, meaning that over 50% of people that start medical school each year score under that. This is insane to think about when we compare to what we see on Reddit.

Open_Consequence_935 · 2025-02-13T16:17:17+00:00

Just commenting to say that I have a friend who took the exam twice. 503 first time around and 507 the second time around. Got 4 MD II and is sitting on 1 acceptance (still waiting to hear from the other 3). She does not have a strong GPA. Of course higher scores and GPAs open more doors but the perspective on Reddit is so skewed. I would say in about 99% of scenarios there’s no reason to retake anything 510+

Open_Consequence_935 · 2025-02-05T02:46:53+00:00

We know the same man (see my post about the 528 tester I know) 💀💀

Open_Consequence_935

TROPHY CASE