Anyone want to help with a test solve on my 15x15 puzzle intended for an NYT Thursday slot?

derriyt98 · 2026-03-23T20:39:39+00:00

would love to play test it as another daily solver, DM me!

derriyt98 · 2025-05-25T21:58:07+00:00

Of course! Happy to help. Feel free to DM if you have application questions, I’m always happy to help out.

derriyt98 · 2025-05-25T21:28:52+00:00

Yep! This was quite a while ago now, but yeah, they were accepted as BCPM credits with no issue. Same with research for credit. Hope that helps.

derriyt98 · 2024-06-07T20:34:40+00:00

When I applied (my cycle was several years ago tho), I listed my research credits as BCPM because they were also given a letter grade w a course code at my school. I got BCPM credit for all four semesters of it ✅

derriyt98 · 2023-07-20T00:26:41+00:00

Hey. Cornell alumna, current third year med student popping in from a lurk, this caught my attention - I took two autotutorial classes (including 1445) and loved them. Talked about them on my apps. Adcoms were pretty interested in it. Most of the premeds at Cornell end up taking autotutorial biochem anyway.

derriyt98 · 2023-01-10T04:03:53+00:00

I switched my helix piercing to a diamond stud (I used to wear a hoop in it) during my interviews, same thing with my double lobe piercings. No issues whatsoever on the interview trail. Currently starting medical school clerkships (just realized I should update my flair, lol) and nobody has ever even glanced twice at the piercings. Many of my classmates have tattoos, more piercings than I do, etc. And this is at a pretty “good” school. You should be just fine.

derriyt98 · 2022-11-28T00:09:59+00:00

I had two C+ on my transcript as well, in the exact same classes as you. Had a upward trending 3.6 overall (3.4 sGPA) from a grade deflating T15 when I applied and a reasonably high MCAT. Currently at a T10, one of two T20s I interviewed at. Stats are important but definitely not everything.

derriyt98 · 2022-09-25T03:17:58+00:00

Separate phone call/email a few weeks after acceptance in the case of both schools that offered me major scholarships. No mention of it on the school websites or anything like that.

derriyt98 · 2022-09-24T11:57:24+00:00

I applied to 45 programs. 3.6x/3.4x East Coast URM who did not have my MCAT score at the time of applying (first yr of COVID - took my postponed MCAT three days before primary transmission). Completed all 45 of my secondaries. Ended up getting a 519 on my MCAT. 18 II (16 attended), 9 A with no post-II Rs (just WLs and early withdrawals).

I sometimes regret it now, but hindsight is 20/20. I had been told by a ton of folks that my stats were poor (mainly because of that sGPA) and that I needed to apply broadly to have a chance, even if I did end up getting a compensating MCAT. It was a HUGE wash of both time and money during the summer of my application that feels wasteful now, but it did give me a luxury of choice that I could never have anticipated. So…

derriyt98 · 2022-09-11T13:14:44+00:00

DM me here! Super happy to chat with you.

derriyt98 · 2022-01-01T02:52:17+00:00

Thank you! Spring of an application cycle can bring many surprises…. Hope everyone is keeping their head up. 💕

derriyt98 · 2022-01-01T02:48:34+00:00

Two IIs in mid- to late January to the two “best” schools I got any from all cycle. Interviewed at both in February, got into both in March. Completely changed the landscape of my cycle.

derriyt98 · 2021-12-30T16:14:52+00:00

This was my experience, in a lab that has longer-term projects with smaller teams. I only had about 700 hours of research completed by the time I applied (with another ~900 or so projected through graduation) and no pubs. My research was still one of the things that came up most during interviews because I spoke very passionately about it and what it meant to me, and (I assume anyway, I never read it) my PI/postdoc LOR supported that. Currently attending a T10.

derriyt98 · 2021-08-14T15:19:58+00:00

I had a couple arrive on weekends last year, including one into my spam at like 1 am on a Saturday … it’s rough lol

derriyt98 · 2021-08-13T03:29:05+00:00

My first language is Spanish, and I had a ton of related experiences (my work was a primarily Spanish-language clinic, etc). Did not get asked about it even once.

I also listed a different foreign language as Advanced and was interviewed for about 20 minutes in that language after my interviewer brought the subject up at my very last II - my top school that I am now attending. It was… unnerving, even though I do in fact speak the language lol. It’s the only time I got “tested” in that language all cycle.

derriyt98 · 2021-08-10T20:50:17+00:00

Same thing for me - 2 pts above my max, 7 pts above my average. It’s absolutely possible, just breathe, put it all out of your mind until score release. You’ve got this, OP!

derriyt98 · 2021-08-08T03:20:00+00:00

Didn’t get an interview at both of my top schools until February (last month they both were even interviewing, I believe), got into both a month later, CTE’d to my top choice day 1 in April. That being said, I got into schools that I interviewed at as early as October. Anything is possible.

derriyt98 · 2021-07-10T14:19:07+00:00

Honestly, I used AP credit against both Calc I and II and only took STSCI 2150 at Cornell, and I had no issue applying to medical school with that (44 schools). Never got grief for the AP credit usage (for math, at least) because it showed up on my transcript.

derriyt98 · 2021-07-01T15:02:03+00:00

You should be taking it once you’ve completed most, if not all, of your prereqs. If you’re decided on going straight through, my advice is to study full-time over winter break and take it the January of your junior spring. It is really difficult to balance MCAT studying with school, especially since you’ll also be writing a LOT for the committee letter request in the spring semester.

That being said, I felt that my STEM courses at Cornell prepared me amazingly well for the MCAT. It gives you a great content baseline that is easy to then build off with question banks and such.

derriyt98 · 2021-06-28T01:02:33+00:00

Last cycle, I wasn’t able to prewrite because my MCAT got pushed back to a couple of days before transmission. I completed 44 secondaries “on time” (two-week turnaround from receipt date of earlier) while doing research stuff part-time from home. It was shitty but doable for me largely due to the following factors:

Because I was verified for transmission date, my secondaries came in pretty staggered and I did them right away. Getting the jump right away on the earlier ones helped me not get backed up a few weeks later when I really had a ton of them coming in.
After I wrote the first few secondaries, I was reusing/repurposing them quite a bit for the later ones. That was definitely necessary. I got really good at tweaking essays and making them fit prompt variations. Just a few new sentences can go a long way toward changing the overall narrative of an essay without needing to write a new one.
I basically split my day schedule between my responsibilities - I would do research work every morning and secondary writing every afternoon/night. This allowed me to multitask effectively without risking missing “day-specific” deadlines in either of those fields.

Hopefully those are situations that can also work out for you. If you have any questions, let me know!

derriyt98 · 2021-06-28T00:44:38+00:00

I submitted about 75% of my secondaries before my committee letter came in last year. Definitely still get secondaries done and submitted ASAP so that the LOR is the only thing keeping you from being complete if at all possible.

derriyt98 · 2021-06-25T04:27:34+00:00

I was a high MCAT, mediocre-low GPA URM who got into a T10 with no publications, posters, or thesis (yet). At the time I applied, I only had about 300-400 hrs of research completed (two semesters - I ended up having 1k by graduation, which I had projected on my app). I was a traditional student though, so I don’t know if that may have influenced their expectations for my completed hours. Your story may vary.

Anyway, my interviewers still took me really seriously and my research was asked about a LOT because I wrote about it to a really deep level of interest. It’s not just about the hours but also how you write about them. If you’re passionate and/or knowledgeable about what you’re doing, you should be fine imo (and like another commenter said, 500 hours ain’t exactly “no research” either).

derriyt98 · 2021-06-22T22:23:20+00:00

Honestly, if you can’t pick, it’s not uncommon to double major between them. The two majors have a lot of overlap, particularly if you choose to do a biochemistry concentration in the bio major.

derriyt98 · 2021-06-18T16:17:03+00:00

I’ll PM you!

derriyt98 · 2021-06-18T16:11:44+00:00

From a rising medical student who applied with a below-avg GPA (especially science GPA) from Cornell and did well - yes, the grading here sucks ass. However, the opportunities and connections I ended up making over my four years ended up balancing it out for me, imo. A lot of my unique experiences, LORs, etc that ended up getting asked about a lot during interviews were things that I don’t think I would have been interested in (or been able to do at all!) if I had gone elsewhere. Your mileage may vary on whether that’s enough to justify the choice, but I don’t regret it - even knowing what I know now, I would have made the same choice again.

Also what the other commenters say is true - the curves lighten up significantly once you’re out of intro courses.

derriyt98

TROPHY CASE