Plus and Minus of Being Everything but Traditional

On Student Doctor Network, there is a much-celebrated study schedule to help students prep for the MCAT. It lays out a great 3-month plan of attack. Of course, it is 3-months of studying 6-8 hours each day. Yeah, right. Maybe, just maybe, you can stick a part-time job on top of that. Or maybe you could still have time to spend on one class during the semester. Or maybe you might be able to meet the needs of a self-contained child (whatever that is supposed to mean). But, honey, there ain't no way you are doing it all.

This brings me to the question "Is being a non-trad an asset or a liability?" Just earlier today, a friend asked me to read someone's letter of intent to get into PA school. I've never met the would-be physician assistant, so I only "know" her based on her writing. She sounded so young. In fact, I'd say she sounded too young, too lacking in maturity. Youth is not a bad thing by any means (sigh, gray hairs), and age does not necessarily bring with it maturity, but there was something definitely missing. The conviction of someone saying "I really want to do this because I've been a CNA and I liked helping the old people" is a vastly different from someone who has experienced adult life. I understand what it means to enjoy work-life balance. Physicians score lower on this metric than the average adult. This means something completely different to a non-trad working wife and mother than it does to a single 22-year-old. I've got a very different vantage point to view that from. That's not to say that my vantage point is superior; it just makes me a more informed applicant. That's an asset.

So that brings me back to the 3-month wonder schedule. The author is honest in saying that it isn't for people who can't commit to studying full-time. Is that the key to success on the MCAT? Do you really need to devote three months of full-time study in order to get a competitive score? When I first started looking at applying to medical school, I was irked by all non-trad info I was finding. It seemed like common consensus is non-trads need to go DO because they don't perform as well on the MCAT and with GPA. The notion is that DO schools tend to look at the whole person and value the diversity of life experiences non-traditional students have had more than MD schools. This ruffled my feathers a bit. I'm one of those non-trads who didn't blow-off undergraduate school. My GPA (anyway you cut it: bachelors, postbacc, graduate, science, etc) is 3.88 or higher. I thought I would totally kick the MCAT.  I was wrong. For me, the MCAT as a non-trad was definitely a liability. Working full-time, helping kids with their homework, and prepping for my lab class (thank goodness I didn't take the lecture that semester) made finding MCAT study time a real challenge.

The MCAT is a 5+ hour exam. Testing fatigue was a real issue. At some point, I found myself thinking, "I don't care what the answer is, I just want this damn thing to end." In all of my prep efforts, I only did one full-length practice test mimicing the real format. Big mistake. I think, finally, I've worked through the test-fatigue issues. It is still grueling, but not as hard as it initally was.

The biggest challenge of the MCAT is the simple fact that there are dozens and dozens of topics to master, yet there are a mere 52 questions in each of the science sections. I know I have not mastered all of the topics in the study guide, and so chance comes into play. Maybe the topics on that test are my forte and maybe they aren't. In preparing for the exam, I've taken five different tests from e-MCAT. These exams are honest-to-goodness tests from AAMC. I thought that my practice tests should roughly correspond to the score I got on my real test. Nope. I score 1-2 points lower on the physical sciences and 2-3 points lower on biological sciences. (At least my verbal score was 1-2 points higher than my practice scores.) Having graduated with a degree in social sciences 16 years ago and having multiple full-time commitments makes being a non-trad a definite disadvantage for the MCAT.

I'll let you know how this Saturday shapes up.

Such a LONG road

This is one ridiculously long road to go down. (Yeah, yeah, yeah--I know that applies to all of medical education.) If you are thinking about applying next cycle, push your "submit" button as close to June 1 as possible. Maybe, just maybe, that might make the wait a little less painful?

I applied to medical schools through three systems in July: AMCAS, TMDSAS, and AACOMAS. I started AMCAS first (in May) and submitted it last (early July) as I felt so particular about what I wrote for each of my 15 extracurriculars. I hope that extra crafting helped, because it took the full six weeks ("expect 3-6 weeks") to get verified. That was nerve-wracking. The Texas system was the quickest one to verify. I got verified with them in just under three weeks. AACOMAS was three weeks and a couple of days.

As of August 21, my application is complete at 9 schools. (It helps that Houston, San Antonio, and Gavleston do not require a secondary application.) Right now I am insanely excited to finally be verified by AMCAS and feel the urge to push out three or four secondaries by the end of the week. A little reality check, though. School starts tomorrow for my kids. I'm retaking the MCAT in 10 days, and I just started a genetics class at today. Secondaries must wait until after the MCAT is put to rest.

Physician Salaries

One of the secondary applications I received asked me to list the specialities I am interested. I put down five (hmm, maybe that's too many) and gave a sentence or two to explain my choice. Salary wasn't a consideration. Out of curiosity I did a search of physician income. Forbes had a report that used 2008-2009 data. Here are 20 specialities and their pay:

1. Orthopedic  surgery	$ 481,000
2. Cardiology	$ 419,000
3. Urology	$ 401,000
4.Gastroenterology	$ 393,000
5. Radiology	$ 391,000
6. Otolaryngology	$ 370,000
7. Anesthesiology	$ 340,000
8. Oncology	$ 335,000
9. General surgery	$ 321,000
10. Dermatology	$ 297,000
11. Pulmonology	$ 293,000
12. OB/GYN	$ 266,000
13. Neurology	$ 258,000
14. Emergency medicine	$ 240,000
15. Hospitalist	$ 201,000
16. Psychiatry	$ 200,000
17. Internal medicine	$ 186,000
18. Family w/OB	$ 184,000
19. Family practice	$ 173,000
20. Pediatrics	$ 159,000

AMCAS submitted!

As of yesterday, all of my primary applications are in! I read the status update on AMCAS today. It said that as of 7/13, they were currently processing the applications marked "ready for review" on or before 6/17. Really? How much of an advantage is it to submit early if you just get stuck in a log-jam? My application is "ready for review" as all of my transcripts have been marked received. Some transcripts took 3 weeks from date of order to being entered into the system. If you are planning to apply next year, request your transcripts in May and start entering them right away. Your application can be sent to the school without your letters of recommendation.

I took the e-MCAT practice test 9 today. PS:8, VR:11, BS:10. I'm optimistic that I'll do much better on my September 1 test. But study time has been strained with all the application writing I've had to do. Most schools don't bother to screen their applicants for secondaries. That means you've got your personal statement to craft as well as your 15 extracurriculars (and you need to make those "3 most significant" essays count) plus two additional essays or so for each school you apply to. I guess the up-side of all the writing is, once you get into medical school the chances you will ever write another piece of compelling prose in the next 4 years is pretty dang low.

This is getting old

I can't believe the insane amount of time the applications take. My personal statement went through two major revisions followed by six subsequent tweaking "events." I got to be honest, I am truly pleased with it.

As I sat down to fill out my 15 extracurriculars (ECs) on AMCAS, I was frankly over-whelmed. Two schools of thought are out there: 1) ad-coms already read so much so stick with bullets and make it quick, and 2) ad-coms already read so much so tell your story and make it compelling. I tried to blend the two approaches. You are allowed 700 characters to describe your experiences plus 1325 extra characters for the "most meaningful" activities. Some of my entries were short-and-sweet bulleted deals and others were definitely infused with my personality. (Take it or leave it, it is me.)

My AMCAS ECs took me forever to fill out! I really had hoped I'd be ready to submit a month ago, but I new I didn't have those well-crafted until now. In a way, I really think submitting Texas and the DOs schools first really helped me work out the kinks for AMCAS. No, I'm not saying those didn't count. I'm just saying that AMCAS is more competitive. Actually, Texas is pretty dang competitive for out-of-staters like myself. I did not write the optional essays for Texas (TMDSAS), but I now regret that decision. I can really see how every ounce of differentiation through giving your application your personal "voice" can be a benefit.

And now on to the secondaries...

Cost of Applying

Time for numerical disclosures...

On Friday, I submitted by TMDSAS application for the Texas medical programs I am applying to. One huge plus of getting in to a medical school in Texas is their incredible tuition. Their out-of-state cost is better than in-state for quite a few schools. With two of my kids graduating high school by the time I finish medical school, it sure would be nice for them to be able to chose from a lot of affordable places, too. Cost of submitting to 7 schools: $180. (Wish I could say "Cost of being a physician: Priceless" but it does come with a pretty hefty price tag.)

I caught a typo on my application after I submitted it--no going back and changing it! Sigh. I had a nightmare last night that I hit submit on my AMCAS right now. (Still some cleaning up do to. I will submit this week.)

The TMDSAS was tedious! They want you to account for every 3-month period from the time you graduate from high school. When you've been out of high school for 20 years like I have, that's a ton of detail to include. All in all, I'd say that taking that trip down memory lane helped me include more items in my AACOMAS application.

AACOMAS is for the system for the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine. Unlike AMCAS and TMDSAS, there is no letter service. That's because the AACOMAS site is powered by Interfolio. Unfortunately, that means one more system to figure out and an additional cost of $6 per letter I send, or about $18 per school. OK, OK, maybe it seems petty to worry about the price of the application process, but, hey, I'm trying to figure out how to do med school while simultaneously launching my kids off to college. It adds up. Pretty quickly.

I submitted my AACOMAS application to 7 additional schools. Perhaps 7 was over-kill. I'm pretty comfortable that I will get a comfortable number of interviews from these schools. Cost: $367.  Secondaries ranged from $50-$100 each.

I have heard plenty of people tell me not to worry about costs when applying to school. These people are usually 10 years younger than me--still "non-traditional," but no idea of the reality of sending children to college. I ruled out all of the DO programs that had tuition at $50,000 or more. Michigan State has a fantastic philosophy, but they also have a $78,000 annual tuition for out-of-staters. Even if I could get residency after the first year (and I'm not sure I could), the dollar-cost averaging still doesn't make sense.

AMCAS has a financial need program that lowers the cost of the MCAT and waives the application fee for the first 12 schools you apply to. The cut-off is 300% of the Federal poverty level. For a married couple with no kids, this program may not be much help, but with my family size, my husband and I could make over six-figures and I would still qualify. Sweet! Most schools waive the secondary fee for those who qualify.

That takes me to an absurd number of 26 schools I'm applying to. I think I laughed at my friend last fall who sent in that many applications. Now that I've spent some time in her shoes...well, you know.

We are squirrelling away money now to cover the cost of travel for interviews. Wish me luck!

Ouch.

I got my scores on June 19--just as indicated on the official MCAT site. I spent the first 24 hours feeling deeply depressed. The next 24 hours was spent mostly feeling mad at myself. As day 3 rolled around, I was able to step back and say, "Okay. Now what?"

My scores were intensely unbalanced. I got a 12 on verbal reasoning, which put me around the 96th percentile. I've heard people say verbal is the hardest score to bring up. I hope that is true because both of my science scores were 7! Yep. S-e-v-e-n. Both. Scaled? Why that would be 21-41st percentile for physical sciences and <gulp> 20-27th percentile for biological sciences.

Depressed: I just placed an awful lot of schools out of reach. This is so much worse than I anticipated with my practice tests.

Mad: I just placed an awful lot of schools out of reach. My plan to submit early was un-done by realizing I must retake. I knewthat I wasn't getting in the study time I needed, but didn't feel like I could carve it out of my schedule. This is a painful lesson to learn. Not creating the study time may end up costing me an extra year.

Now what? Going to a DO school was always an option for me, but it feels different when I think of it as the only option for me. There are still a couple of MD programs that may work, if they will review my file again after my MCAT retakes. This just bumps the AACOMAS up on my priority list. I had previously ruled out Texas since they only take a max of 10% of studnets from out of state, but two of the schools there are looking more appealing. Filling out the online applications is far more time consuming than I anticipated. AMCAS, AACOMAS, TMDSAS. All are different. All are long.