stressing about schoooooool

[galaxie]

alright so here's the deal:

My boyfriend, love him to death, procrastinated like hell and left his med school apps to the last minute, which consequently got him the last interviews, which lead to him being placed on the wait list at Duke and both UMiami campuses. I've been positive throughout the whole thing and always try to keep his spirits up, but now I'm starting to stressss! I've been snooping around on this webforum for the student-doctor network and they have a thread of current wait list movement. The last few days there have been posts from people on the UMiami wait list that have been accepted and he's STILL WAITING. I'm pissed off because a lot of these people have waaaaay lower GPAs and MCAT scores, not to mention that Tim has a freaking MPH now, and a 3.99 GPA! ahhhhh.

Anyhow, I'm driving myself crazy by constantly checking these bloody posts trying to figure out HOW these kids with lesser credentials keep getting accepted and the ONLY thing that sets them apart is they're out-of-state students rather than Florida residents. Anyhow, the part of this that belongs in the punching back is the fact that it's SO UNFAIR that out-of-state students get accepted over state residents just because the university wants to look like they have a broader range of students! I don't understand HOW that is going to do them any good...one would think they'd just accept the BEST candidates and get it over with.

So, friends, CROSS YOUR FINGERS for us. PLEASE!

The other stressful part of this is that I move on July 8th and I have to register for one of the three schools I was accepted to, except I can't because we don't know where HE has been accepted yet! So basically a month and a week I could be on a crazy hunt for a home in one of three cities. Ahhhhhh.

[yoko*]

Don't know you personally but...

Good for you. Seriously. You knew what you wanted, you did the research and found out what steps you had to take to get there and you executed. Despite the stress, you're almost there!

I seriously am sometimes baffled at how ridiculously hard and complicated they make it for populations who live side by side to one another, to work or live in each others' countries. You'd think that "increased globalization" would mean more fluid movement of human capital. It seems like the opposite is true... unless you have a lot of money/credentials/skills.

[galaxie]

Ahhhhh I know. The ironic thing about this whole fucking stupid process is that I was worried I wouldn't get into all the schools I applied to, and that he'd have to take a second-best school because of me. Now I'm the one who's actually accepted and we're waiting for him to find out, but he's kind of passive so he doesn't really know how to go after the admissions committee without coming off too weak or too strong. I, on the other hand, would be flapping my feathers until I got an acceptance call, lol.

Thanks for the supportive words. I just hope he gets a call SOOOON because really, after June 5, wait lists don't really move much, and I have to commit to a school by June 9. Eep.

[wishbone]

just to play devils advocate:

if he had applied sooner, would things be different?

[veN]

hearts and hugs and good vibes to you both. Hoping it all works out, and SOON.

[lildonkey]

Dear Galaxy,

you are fucking awesome.... seriously... best of luck to you and your future husband!

Sincerely,

the donkey

[galaxie]

Originally Posted by wishbone

just to play devils advocate:

if he had applied sooner, would things be different?

Definitely. He missed the interview circuit at Yale, Harvard, Stanford, Dartmouth, UCSD, FSU, and USF because he sent in his secondaries so late. He's a procrastinator, and unfortunately, no matter how much I nag him from 3000+ miles away, I can't MAKE him do anything. But, he knows now that he should have done it earlier - right now we're just trying to focus on what we/he can do to get accepted this year. If he doesn't, his MCAT score will expire, so he'll have to write it again. Which pretty much means that he'll get a WAY higher score (he hadn't even taken a physics course when he took it the first time) and have a much better chance of getting in based on GPA/MCAT scores. But neither of us wants him to have to wait a year to get started. He's already done his Master's in Public Health (just graduated) because at the end of undergrad in 2006 he wasn't 100% he wanted to be a physician. Now he's sure and we both want him to be able to start THIS YEAR.

[mapleleaf4ever]

Best of luck! :)

[SEAN!]

Originally Posted by galaxie

Definitely. He missed the interview circuit at Yale, Harvard, Stanford, Dartmouth, UCSD, FSU, and USF because he sent in his secondaries so late. He's a procrastinator, and unfortunately, no matter how much I nag him from 3000+ miles away, I can't MAKE him do anything. But, he knows now that he should have done it earlier - right now we're just trying to focus on what we/he can do to get accepted this year. If he doesn't, his MCAT score will expire, so he'll have to write it again. Which pretty much means that he'll get a WAY higher score (he hadn't even taken a physics course when he took it the first time) and have a much better chance of getting in based on GPA/MCAT scores. But neither of us wants him to have to wait a year to get started. He's already done his Master's in Public Health (just graduated) because at the end of undergrad in 2006 he wasn't 100% he wanted to be a physician. Now he's sure and we both want him to be able to start THIS YEAR.

he should rewrite his mcat and reapply next year, going to an ivy league school pretty much means that you're set for life.

[Mr Ektion]

i agree with wishbone. if he applies late you two should expect a late reply.

[galaxie]

Originally Posted by Mr Ektion

i agree with wishbone. if he applies late you two should expect a late reply.

Late reply for the regular acceptances, yes. However, once a wait list starts to move it's based on merit rather than application/interview time. Schools don't accept students off the wait list in the order that they applied, they accept students in the order they're ranked in by the admissions committee.

[galaxie]

Originally Posted by SEAN!

he should rewrite his mcat and reapply next year, going to an ivy league school pretty much means that you're set for life.

Duke is ranked in the top 10 and Miami in the top 20 med schools in the US, so going to an ivy league doesn't really differ that much. In fact, the only ivy league that ranks higher than Duke is Harvard.

Also, an interesting little fact, the University of Washington is ranked #1 for primary care. Pretty cool to have a world-class facility like that near us. He applied there, too, but they rarely accept out-of-state students so we weren't surprised that he didn't get an interview.

Edit: PS He scored a 31 on the MCAT which is pretty fucking awesome. He could have done better, but it's waaaaaaay above average.

[wishbone]

Originally Posted by Mr Ektion

i agree with wishbone. if he applies late you two should expect a late reply.

ehh don't get me wrong, i sympathize with the current situation....but I mean hey, I sat on my ass and procrastinated past scholarship application deadlines this semester....I know I only have myself to blame. I don't really consider it unfair. I was raised on the "you snooze, you lose" ideal, early bird gets the worm, etc.

So the waitlist sucked, and doesn't make sense how it's moving/not moving. Your boy's smart enough he shouldn't even be in this situation. I'd like to think I'm smart enough to get a couple scholarships, too, but unfortunately here your bf and I both are....procrastinators that have to live with our mistakes.

[stephen_c]

a procrastinatin doctor? not sure that's a good idea.