Medical School - Update #2

I guess that now is a good time to post this update! After scrambling like a madwoman to get letters of recommendation and fill out my applications to both D.O. and M.D. schools (they use different portals: AACOMAS and AMCAS, resp.), I finally got them submitted well in advance. It helps that I was able to submit the applications before the letters of recommendations were received. I was even able to edit some of the recommenders afterwards. The AACOMAS portal allows for a maximum of 6 letters of recommendation, so I asked 6 people for letters and all 6 agreed to write them, but then 1 person stopped answering all of my emails and calls and never submitted the letter. Oh well. It happens, life happens, and I certainly understand that. However, that person happened to be a science faculty member, and that letter was going to be pretty important! Thank God, I was able to edit that recommendation request on AACOMAS and another science faculty member agreed to write a letter for me! So, in the end, it all worked out. 

Well, kind-of. Note to future applicants: read the requirements for ALL of the schools you plan to apply to, especially with regard to those letters of recommendation BEFORE paying the fee for each one! I thought I did that (I keep a very detailed Excel spreadsheet with many sheets of my medical school research) but, somehow, I overlooked a nuance about one particular school's requirements. I won't name this school, but it's an M.D. school and it requires a letter from a "science faculty member" who taught a "core program course" at the college or university where I "earned my undergraduate". This means, for me, since I graduated from FAU with a B.S. in Biological Sciences, that the letter had to come from a professor who taught one of the REQUIRED biology courses. Unfortunately, these required courses were huge, as I'm sure they are at most universities, and, at that point in my life, I wasn't the best at standing out from the crowd. Plus, it's been nearly two years since I graduated from there! I did have a letter from a science faculty member who taught me in a biology course from FAU but, unfortunately, that course was an elective, so it didn't fulfill the "core/required biology course" requirement for that one M.D. school. 

So, I paid the primary application fee AND submitted the secondary application (essay questions and an additional fee) and then this school contacted me just to say, basically, "your letters of recommendation don't qualify". On one hand, yeah, I get it - I should have read the fine print on their website, but also there's the ethical problem of that secondary application. 

This is a problem that comes from many medical schools - most do not screen the applicants prior to sending out the secondary applications. So, even if there's something wrong with my primary application or the medical school knows that they'll deny the person, they won't tell them that until after they've completed the secondary applications and submitted the additional fee. It's basically just a way to rake in more cash before denying applicants. It's more than a little frustrating. 

Anyway... *rant over* 

As for the rest of my update, I got my applications submitted, so I'll give some stats. Given my MCAT score (500) and GPA (3.875), I applied to mostly D.O. schools (22 schools; simply because their average MCAT scores are, overall, lower), although I also applied to two M.D. schools. In total, 24 schools. The cost to apply to the 22 D.O. schools was $1395.00 total and to the two M.D. schools... Honestly, I forgot the exact amount, but it was a little over $200. Then, there are the secondary applications, and those ran me about $1200.00 total, which was close to the cost of the primaries! Then, there were the side fees for transcripts and random stuff, which was probably about $100.00 after all of the back-and-forth (there was so much headache throughout this process - keeping a detailed Excel sheet of literally every. single. thing. helped so much and I would have been lost without it). 

In total, the overall cost of my applications to apply to 24 medical schools was approximately $3k. 

I have to give a shout-out here. While I was perfectly capable of paying for this myself, my parents insisted on covering the vast majority of the costs 😊 (I know - I have great parents)

Let's talk timelines for a minute, because this is INCREDIBLY important. While most D.O. schools have a deadline in March (for matriculation in the fall of that same year), the real deadline you should set for yourself is around June (of the year before). In fact, if you can get your applications in even earlier, that's best. Earlier = better. Here's why. The AMCAS applications open on May 1st of the year prior to matriculation, and it takes some time to fill it out and get those letters of recommendation. I really should have worked on this in May, but I didn't, and then I went away for a summer internship. 

When I returned at the beginning of August, it was time to cram. School was starting up again (I'm getting a masters degree) so I had 11 credits of graduate classes to figure out in addition to the medical school applications that I hadn't even started yet. I had no idea of the realistic timeline, so I was working according to the assumption that, if I got my applications in by the March deadline, then I was fine. Praise God, it's all worked out (spoiler alert!) but, unbeknownst to me, I was actually a little on the later side of a realistic application.  

So, what actually happened? I submitted my primary applications in the first/second week of September and then completed most of my secondary applications within a week of receiving them. For the vast majority of the schools, the secondary applications were sent automatically (or so it seemed) within the next couple days of submitting my primary. 

Those secondary applications... *deep breath* They were a lot of work. While there were only two primary applications (AACOMAS for D.O. schools and AMCAS for M.D. schools), each secondary was its own separate application. Sounds like a "duh?" statement, right? Yeah, well, I didn't really think about that. Reality hit me when the secondary applications rolled into my inbox the next day. My Excel sheet labeled "Secondaries" with a table of links to the websites grew complicated, and my to-do list was insane. I'm the kind of person who completes a module of classwork in a class the same day that it opens, so rolling over my to-do list items (because I'm human and physically incapable of filling out every single secondary app that very same day) was painful. Still, I got the majority of them done within a week, by the end of September. Once those secondaries were submitted, it was time to wait...

By October, I HAD AN INTERVIEW. 

Yes, that needs to be in all caps. I was so excited!! The interview was with Liberty University College of Osteopathic Medicine (LUCOM) and it was on October 10th. The interview experience was amazing and the people were so incredibly kind and welcoming. I prepared for it by compiling a document of all the potential questions I found online and I practiced with mock interviews. My mom, grandma, and my two youngest siblings traveled with me up to Virginia, which was an experience in and of itself due to the hurricanes. We made it a two-day trip (we drove) and stayed in a hotel five minutes from LUCOM. 

I followed the advice that I read online - don't practice for the interview the night before. Afternoon, sure. But that night, I went out to eat with my family and shopped around Lynchburg. Of course, I made sure I was in bed at a decent hour. The interview day was amazing. I may post about this in more detail (adhering to the rules of confidentiality, of course) later. 

When the interview was over, I was told that they would inform me of their decision within 30 days, by November 10th. 

I just want to draw attention to an important detail here: if I had waited until later to submit all my applications, then LUCOM would have already accepted people to their program before I even applied! There would be much more rigid analysis of my application if it had been submitted later, since there would be fewer seats to fill! This is why it is imperative to get those applications in ASAP. 

Also, as another point - choose the EARLIEST interview date! When I was offered an interview, there was only one option in October (and it was in-person so, being from Florida, that was a little crazy to coordinate mid-semester with a hurricane barreling down on me), but the rest of the interview dates were in February! If it's in-person, TRAVEL. You don't want your application subjected to more scrutiny because you're a later applicant/interviewee and you're competing for fewer seats! 

After my LUCOM interview, I was been invited to 7 more interviews but, for the sake of privacy and confidentiality and respect for those schools, I won't share which schools those are. 

I need to pause here. I initially started drafting this post in the middle of that thirty-day waiting period, when I hadn't heard anything from LUCOM, but now that period is over. I need to address the "waiting". God allows us to wait for many reasons and, while I don't claim to know His many reasons (Isaiah 55:8-9), I realized something. While I waited to hear from LUCOM, I went through ups and downs in my relationship with God. There were times when I was fully surrendered, praying "Your will be done" and "I have faith that Your will is best, no matter which path I am meant to take", but then there were also days of crying in the shower and begging God for acceptance to LUCOM. There were days of anger when I couldn't even tell God how upset I was that I hadn't heard back yet, and how ignored and alone I felt. There were days when I rested in peace, grateful for the way that God had led me thus far and confident that He would never abandon me. There were ups and downs. Yet, as I waited, I recognized the need to lean into God. The one constant thing about both the ups and the downs was prayer; I was constantly praying and, through constant prayer, my relationship with God grew stronger. That's something that I am taking with me from this point forward. I first began the practice of "whispered prayers" some time ago, and I actually discovered the idea through writing one of my books (in which one of my characters has a deep relationship with God but a very busy schedule so his prayers are shorter but more frequent). These "whispered prayers" are more like brief whispers in the middle of a busy day when I otherwise don't have time to stop and posture myself and pray classically. This might sound insincere and perhaps even too casual of an approach to prayer, but it has actually deepened my faith. Whispered prayers have caused me to recognize God and turn to God throughout my day, in every moment, instead of simply before meals and bed (my usual prayer times). So, all of this to say - the waiting is for a reason, it strengthens faith, and God is with you in the waiting. 

Look, I want to start this next bit by acknowledging that there was a lot going on in that thirty-day period from October 10 to November 10. We had hurricanes, an election, school was in full-force, and I noticed that seasonal illnesses were starting to affect nearly everyone. So, when day #30 came to a close and I hadn't heard anything back from LUCOM, I didn't fault them. Besides, it was a Sunday (Nov. 10). The next day (even though it was Veteran's Day and, yes, I'm guilty of impatience), I called LUCOM and was informed that, as I suspected, they had been incredibly busy and that I would hear back soon. 

As you can probably imagine, I was assuming that I'd get an email that, though very kind, would tell me that they'd picked other well-qualified candidates. I had those other interviews to look forward to, but LUCOM was my top choice. Being a Christian school, a place where I could grow in both faith and academics simultaneously, LUCOM was my dream school. I'd seen an ad for Liberty University when I was a young teenager, before I began dual-enrolling, and I fell in love with their values of faith and patriotism and, ever since, I've wanted to go to Liberty. 

I drove one of my younger brothers to a basketball practice on the afternoon of Nov. 11th and, while sitting in the car outside and waiting for him, I received an email. I read it and it said something along the lines of "check your inbox tomorrow for good news and next steps". Now, I may have "jumped the gun" and little bit, but what else could that mean? I called my parents and, within ten minutes, the entire family, extended family, family friends, and practically the whole world knew...

I WAS ACCEPTED AT LIBERTY UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF OSTEOPATHIC MEDICINE!!!

The next morning, I received the official letter of acceptance to LUCOM. My family celebrated by going out to eat, and I praise God for this incredible blessing! 

It's been quite a journey, and I am THRILLED to be starting this new chapter of my life! I will matriculate in Fall of 2025, and be part of the Class of 2029. 

~

You make known to me the path of life;

in your presence there is fullness of joy;

at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Psalm 16:11