Letters of recommendation

Our committee letter packets are due in two weeks and with those I need to have at least two letters of recommendation submitted. I asked my boss from the summer camp I used to work at to write me a letter, focusing mostly on my position of leadership and I'm starting to stress a little bit about it.

I never did the whole "Can you write me a good letter?" bit, but instead just asked him to write me one. He's a very honest and straightforward guy, so I know that he would've declined to write me one if it wasn't going to be any good, but that doesn't prevent the stress. And this email from him makes me think I made a good decision asking him to write me one:

For now what would be most helpful would be for you to tell me what you would like me to focus on in terms of your tenure. Don't be bashful, lay out your most significant achievements and I'll color in from there.

Now, this is awesome. Well, it would be nice if I didn't have to tell him what I did but it's good to hear that he'll be putting me in the best light possible. But still, I'm stuck.

From the camp perspective, I didn't do anything special that summer. Everything I instituted or applied or taught was part of the job description (they really made use of the "other duties as assigned" clause of our contracts), but if you look at it from an outsider's point of view, I did a lot. It's just weird to tell him normal things are my greatest accomplishments since he used to have my job and knows exactly what the position entails.

So I'm racking my brain trying to make myself sound good leadership-wise, and also thinking of ways to suggest what he should write without expressly stating them. Ay ay ay!

Regret

From a thread about being angry with yourself for being a non-trad...this is exactly how I feel about my life:

That great anger you're experiencing is called regret, and it's probably one of the worst things to ever cope with in life. However, when there's a will, there's a way - channel that anger into something that will help you achieve your goal.

Next semester

I'm registered for 9 credits next semester, which is a huge step down from the 19 I took in the fall. But even with only three classes, I just realized I'm going to be super busy with work, MCAT studying, and AMCAS application writing.

So I'm thinking of dropping one of my classes because it won't really change my GPA significantly any more but taking it might prevent me from keeping my sanity. In such a case, I would like to audit Biochem II because I heard the professor is a really hard grader, but given the fact that I got a B last semester in Biochem I, I don't think it would look good on my application. So that leaves me with dropping Biology of the Cancer Cell, which I've heard really good things about and kind of want to take. Hmm. Decisions, decisions.

In bullet-point form, one thing has got to give this semester out of the following:

• Work
• Three classes
• MCAT studying
• AMCAS application writing
• Rugby

And I really don't want it to be rugby. I tried that this semester and I was miserable. I need some sort of social interaction, but it would be the easiest to cut (again). The other option is to go back to racquetball instead, which is still physical exercise on a team with a much shorter commute but also a little less fun.

I think for now I've decided on sticking with my three classes for the first two weeks of the semester to feel them out and see how the course load will be for me, and make the decision then. If I do have to drop a class, then it'll have to be the Cancer Cell because it's the one I don't necessarily NEED, but would like to have to increase my GPA.

Oh, and even though I swear I'm over that B from biochem, I'm still kind of worried about not having straight As, considering my undergrad grades. But LizzyM somewhat allayed my fears with this comment:

Quote:

Originally Posted by p Hey LizzyM, thanks for doing this! If I'm shooting for a top-tier med school, how concerning would a B in biochem 1 look to an adcom when my overall GPA is a 3.80 and sGPA is a 3.75+ and I've earned A's in both genetics and cell biology? Will an A in biochem 2 make up for this?

It makes you look human. No worries.

Granted, I'm not even close to his GPA and I should be perfect from now on, but one B won't kill me. That, and there's nothing I can do about it now, so I need to STOP FRETTING!!!

MCAT studying

The MCAT and I have a love-hate relationship. On the one hand, I REALLY like doing problems about science, but on the other hand I don't like having to know something. So I look forward to doing physics passages in my free time (I'm a freak, I know) but if I have to do them then I procrastinate like whoa. It's a weird dynamic between me and the MCAT...

Also, I haven't taken or done physics since my freshman year of college over 8 years ago and I still remember a good chunk of it (helps to be physics/logical-minded). Although I appreciate remembering a lot of what I need to know about gravity, forces, projectiles, etc, I've found that MCAT prep will have to involve working through the entire physics textbook in the next three months. Ay ay ay! Every 4th day just a got a bit more busy. But really, I don't mind. I kind of liked physics anyway.

Reminder to write to LizzyM, and her response

On SDN (Student Doctor Network) there's a thread going around where LizzyM, an adcom at a top tier private university, is answering anyone and everyone's questions. Unfortunately, she's gone for the holidays just as I was about to ask her a question, so I'm posting it here so I don't forget to email her when she comes back.

In response to this:

Quote:

Originally Posted by h What is your opinion about applicants addressing weaknesses in their apps without being questioned during their interview?

If you address weaknesses in your application, you might not get an interview. You might get an interview and be asked about your weaknesses or you might not be asked about your weaknesses.

Frankly, I think that weaknesses are like zits. Almost everyone has one at one time or another. You can call attention to it or you can do something to take attention away from it. The reader/interviewer can see it and might be curious about it and might mention it or might look to see if it is addressed in your LOR.

I want to write this:

It seems like you stated that weaknesses shouldn't be addressed in the application because they are so common, but shouldn't a very spotty undergrad GPA that was somewhat fixed a few years later by an almost-perfect post-bacc be addressed since it's the elephant in the room? Should I not mention it in the app at all and explain myself in interviews if it comes up? If addressed, should that be in the personal statement or elsewhere? I have no good explanation for my bad grades except I wasn't mature enough to take school seriously and didn't consider my future at the time, choosing to live in the moment instead. No extenuating circumstances or anything. So addressing it would be limited to that comment.

And here is her response:

A small blemish is what I call a zit. Awhile back I got a PM from an applicant who had a college gpa <3.0 and post bac of 4.0 and MCAT >38. Here's what I wrote in response:

Your situation is not a zit, it is a scar that runs from your earlobe to your chin. The adcom will be begging to know what happened and how you survived.

The story is not so much how you got slashed but how you turned things around and came back against overwhelming odds and triumphed. It could be a great story and I hope you'll write it.

Congrats on the great performance on the MCAT and in the post-bac. Some post-bac schools will send great committee letters that will tell your story in a very sympathetic way (based on your interview with your advisor).

I recently got a nice thank you note from the applicant to tell me of great success this cycle.

While I no longer have the 4.0, I do expect to score about this high on the MCAT so I think I should be OK. I'm aiming for a 3.93 for the whole post-bacc experience, which is high enough according to another member of an admissions committee board (anything 3.8 or higher is awesome). Phew!

And the Bs start pouring in

Grades are starting to trickle in and I just broke my 4.0 from post-bacc classes. Sadness. I've been preparing myself for this for the past week so I'm not too upset about it, but I didn't expect a solid B in biochem. I had a pretty decent chance at the A, so I must've really bombed the final to drop myself all the way down to a B, even though I thought I had totally killed it. Oh well, nothing I can do about it now.

Since I'm pretty convinced I got the B in physio (grades aren't up yet so no proof), my post-bacc is going to go down to 3.88, which is dangerously close to not having a 3.8+ post-bacc GPA. And apparently that's the ultimate goal.

With Biochem II grading being harder and more intense than Biochem I, I'm kind of worried I will drop below that threshold. Ay, the stress!

But, what I have learned this semester is to keep up with the work and not leave it to the last minute. Duh, right? But I've managed to get by every other semester, and this time just bit me in the butt. So lesson learned.

Only way to go is up!

Edit: I caved and looked to see the breakdown of finals for all my classes. I managed to squeak by with an A in physiology (!), and did indeed bomb the biochem final (a whopping 68%). I have no idea how I did so poorly in biochem, as I came out of that exam feeling awesome. But since I know I studied my butt off and felt like I couldn't study any more than I already had, I'm ok with the B because I gave it my all. If I had gotten a B in physio or bio, I would've been pissed because the only reason for that grade would've been burnout and complete laziness. So although I'm still mourning the loss of my 4.0, I'm totally okay with it and will probably sleep better tonight knowing all my grades from this semester are finally decided.

Shadowing, Version 2.0

I'd been debating asking my knee surgeon if I could shadow him, because I already have shadowing history with a specialist (my hand guy from this summer), so it'd be kind of redundant with regards to my medical school app. I'm all for jumping through hoops to get into school but I'd like to minimize them because I don't have that much time between school, work, and now, MCAT studying. So if I'm going to shadow somebody out of necessity, it's either going to be a family practitioner or the pulmonologist.

But then I realized that not all of this is about off checking boxes and I'm truly interested in orthopedics, so why not? The hand guy shadowing was limited to his clinic and not the OR, so I figured I'd give the knee surgeon a shot and see what happens with this dude. If I decided I didn't want to do it after inquiring, then I could always not follow up and let it be. But this was my only chance to ask him in person, so I might as well take the opportunity while it presented itself.

So I mentioned to the PA that I wanted to speak to the doctor about shadowing him during my post-op visit, and as she was taking out my stitches she asked, "You mean the OR or the clinic?" I did the Barbara Walters "Wait, what?" face, because I couldn't believe my ears! Heck yeah, I want to shadow him in the OR!!!

Suddenly my meh-I-don't-feel-like-shadowing-an-orthopedist-again feelings went out the window. The PA talked to the office manager, who totally agreed, and the doc seemed very enthusiastic about it when I saw him at the end of my visit so I'm super stoked.

This whole surgery has been one heck of a good decision!

End of my mini vacation

Now that my mom's gone home and I'm not on a whole bunch of mind-altering pain meds, it's time to go back to the real world and get things done.

About a month ago, I had a mini breakdown about my life and how I won't get a rest until my med school app is submitted in June. Now working and studying don't seem like such a big deal. I have a HUGE meeting with my boss on Wednesday about all the work I'm supposed to have finished in November that I haven't even started (I took all of December off due to finals so it's not as bad as it sounds) but somehow I'm not stressing out about it at all. I'm supposed to start studying for the MCAT today and that's not really bothering me at all. I'm actually kind of looking forward to it. Because what else am I supposed to do with all this free time?

Surgery

My leg was fixed this past Wednesday in the best possible way. A tear in the meniscus was discovered, but it wasn't repairable so they just cut it out. So not only did my worry about having unneccessary surgery evaporate (diagnostic procedures are the worst!), I also got the result with the shortest recovery time. Pretty sweet, if you ask me.

For the past couple of days, I've been reliving the whole experience, trying to hang on to the few things I remember between the time my IV was put in to finally being discharged several hours later. This is the closest I've been to an OR since my last surgery in 2005, and not nearly as close as I was in high school when I got to observe a tumor removal from a man's pelvis.

Most of the experience is pretty fuzzy, understandably so, but the parts I do remember are pretty fascinating. It's like being able to shadow a surgeon from a very intimate perspective, and it's probably the most surgery shadowing I will get to see for another couple of years.

It's amazing how quickly the IV drugs kicked in, how nonchalant but efficient all the people in the OR were about getting me prepped for the procedure, and how professional and caring the nurses were when I finally woke up in post-op. It was also very interesting to see how a different hospital runs their outpatient surgery department as compared to the one I volunteer at every week. It's weird being on the receiving end of everything I tell people both as a volunteer and as an EMT on the ambulance company I worked at in college.

All in all, it's nice to be a patient and see what it's like for my future patients, so I can better understand what they will go through.

I sound like one of those pre-meds who gets excited about everything and anything medical they come in contact with, but seriously, this was pretty neat, mostly because I want exactly this to be my life and I just got a very intimate glimpse into what it may be like in the future, albeit from a very different perspective.

And I'm so stoked that it all turned out the way I had hoped it would. That's the best part!

My happy place

Last night's theme: Onesies

We won. Not just at life.