Interview Season

It's finally feeling truly like Fall in Chicago and I'm really missing the warm, sunny days I spent at the beach as I hurry into work bundled up in my coat and boots. Normally I would be feeling rather melancholy, faced with the prospect of a long winter indoors but as it is I'm much too busy to spend any time brooding over the death of summer. It's Fall and that means that interview season has begun in earnest! So far I have received interview invitations from Hofstra, Boston University, UVM and, just last week, UIC. On Tuesday, September 31, I flew back to the East Coast (which was a nightmare of cancelled flights and rescheduled interviews) to attend interview day at BU and then Hofstra and it was an amazing, exhausting, wonderful experience. I stayed on in New York City for the weekend following a Friday interview at Hofstra and met up with some college friends for a fun mini-reunion. I ended up flying back to Chicago Monday morning on the red-eye and making it to work, bleary-eyed on roughly 5 hours of sleep (half of which was on the plane so it barely even counts). I then had to go class after work so I didn't actually make it home until almost 10 PM!
It's been a very long and tiring week but I wouldn't trade it for anything and being away made me really appreciate coming home to my cozy apartment and adorable kittens. Oh yes, I have two kittens now. I decided that Rufus (kitten #1) needed a tiny friend to grow up with and keep him company so I adopted Lizzie Bennet, a beautiful gray tabby who keeps Rufus on his toes. She's a feisty little lady and her and Rufus are so adorable together it's incredibly distracting, I'm shocked I ever get anything done when they're around to cuddle with me on the couch.
Another reason I've been incredibly busy lately is that I've started volunteering at Lurie Children's Hospital. I want to save talking about it for another post but suffice it to say that I look forward to my shift all week and have really enjoyed it so far. On top of that I have a new class (physiology!) which has a hefty amount of required reading per week so I'm planning on shutting myself in with some tea and snacks this weekend and studying extra hard to get up to speed.
With everything going on (all exciting things!) it's been difficult to keep up with writing on this blog but I'm always happy when I get a chance to sit down and update you all. If anyone is interested in specific interview day posts for any of the above four schools I'm glad to oblige, just let me know in the comments!

Rufus & Lizzie being friends

Improving My Application Part II: Cracking the MCAT

I was planning to wait until tomorrow to write this post but I am so overcome with happiness that I can't help but to share it. 

Some of you may know that I've struggled a lot with the MCAT. Finding the time to study while working full time/taking classes, battling the stress and anxiety inspired by the exam and wrestling with the physical sciences section were only a few of the factors that made this one standardized test such a nightmare. The first time I took it I knew I wasn't ready. I actually almost canceled my seat a few days before my test date but by then it was too late. I resigned myself to a disappointing score and was actually surprised when I ended up doing pretty decently. I knew I could do better though and quickly signed up to take it again in a month, figuring I'd be able to do better by taking extra time off to study and not having a class to deal with. Unfortunately I also ended up moving a few days before the exam, which turned out to contain almost every single topic I was particularly weak on. When I got that score back my heart plummeted into my stomach. I had done even worse than before. Again, it wasn't such a bad score as to exclude me from getting into (or even getting screened out from) most institutions, but it felt like a huge personal failure because I knew it didn't reflect my intelligence or my ability to learn.

Needless to say, the entire experience was horrible. Unfortunately, after not getting into medical school after this past application cycle, I realized I was going to have to go through it all again. This time I finally broke down and allowed my parents to pay for an MCAT prep course, something I had tried really hard to avoid. Additionally, I made the big decision to take time off of work and just devote myself to studying. This was a very novel concept for me since I'm always doing five things at once and trying my best to be perfect at them all. If there's anything this process has taught me, it's patience and the importance of slowing down and dedicating yourself to a few things at a time that you can do properly instead of a million things you end up doing poorly.

After a lot of research I decided on the Examkrackers company. They offered classes in my area and had a good reputation for teaching the basics. I didn't want anything super fancy, I just wanted some help to reach my potential. I really felt like I could do better and was determined to give it one last shot.

The class itself was grueling - 8 hours a day in a classroom with only a lunch hour and a few short breaks feels interminable when you're studying physics and orgo. Luckily I had an amazing instructor and the class was so small it felt almost like I was getting one-on-one instruction. From the very beginning I abandoned any pretense of shyness. I asked every stupid  question I could think of. If I didn't understand something, I asked the instructor to go over it again (and a third time, if needed). I didn't even care if I sounded dumb, all I thought about was how this was my last chance to prove to everyone (and myself) that I could succeed, that I could do better.

I highly recommend these guys if you're looking for a comprehensive prep course!

I scheduled my third and final MCAT exam for May 31st, one week after the prep course ended. When the day rolled around, for the first time, I felt a quiet confidence. Don't get me wrong, as I walked into that testing room my palms were sweaty and my stomach was roiling, but I also felt like finally, I was ready. I was prepared and I was going to kick butt. 

When I walked out of the climate-controlled testing room after four hours I felt the complete opposite. I was a mess. The exam had been incredibly difficult, I had barely answered all the questions in the physical sciences section and there were several questions from verbal that I couldn't stop dwelling on. As I waited the long weeks for my score I went from one extreme to the next. Sometimes I felt confident that I had done well, after all, my practice exams were all in the 30s at the end, surely I had done somewhere in that forgiving range? Other times I felt despondent and convinced that I had done worse than even my lowest previous score. 

Then, today, my score was released.

I took one look at the page and started crying (and screaming, sort of scream-crying?). I had scored eight points higher than the last time and six points higher than my lowest score. That is so many points. I can't even describe how I felt (feel) because it's so wondrous. I am so proud and so happy that finally the hours (and weeks, and months) of hard work have paid off. I am so excited for schools to see my new score and to know that it's more than competitive, it's damn impressive. 

If you've made it to this point (and I salute those of you that have, this has been a saga), I want you to take one thing out of this - DON'T EVER GIVE UP. Don't take what you read online to heart. You can go as far as you push yourself. If you know that you are better than the numbers on your application then change them. I cannot encourage you enough. Just take a deep breath and take the plunge, you won't regret it.

The Hardest Part...About Applying to Medical School

I'm not sure if I've mentioned before how much of a Coldplay fan I am but I unabashedly love Chris Martin and his beautiful voice and music. Last night "The Hardest Part" was stuck in my head and it led me to ponder "the hardest part" of the application cycle. Having gone through it once already, I feel like the most difficult factor to deal with was the constant waiting. The entire process is marked by this persistent theme. First, you're waiting for your MCAT results, then you're waiting for the AMCAS application to open up, after that you have to wait for your primary to be verified, your application to be sent out, and secondaries to come to you. As you start getting interviews the waiting gets even harder because you're either waiting for invitations (which is terrifying, what if you don't get any? what if you've done all this work for nothing? these are the thoughts that will run through your head), or you'll be waiting for your actual interview. After your interviews you have months and months to wait for an admissions decision. It's enough to drive anyone mad, honestly. The problem with waiting is that there is no way for you to improve upon it. You're stuck in limbo, at the mercy of someone else and all you can do is constantly check your email to see if you've received an update. It's exhausting and unfortunately there is very little I can tell you to make it better except that you will get through it. It's particularly daunting to consider that I will have to go through this a second time (those of you who are reapplying will know exactly how this feels) but it's almost better because now I know that I can get through it. Now I know that I need to stay busy, stay occupied and try my best to remain positive and I recommend that you try that too. I promise, it will help! Oh and maybe have a listen to some Coldplay while you're at it ;)