the cynical pre-med student

Matchmaker Make me a Texas Match!

2012-02-01T06:59:00.000-08:00

Today is the day folks! TMDSAS released the match decisions at 8am this morning. Of course one school *cough* UTMB *cough* jumped the gun a little and released congratulation emails at midnight.

Since I ranked a pre-match #1, there were no surprises for me. But, it looks like a lot of people matched on the sdn boards. The matchmaker, in the film above, made as many people as possible their perfect match. :) I'm really happy to see so many of my future classmates ranked my school #1 and are thrilled to be attending.

If you didn't match or really wanted your #1, be patient. There is still the waitlist. If you are serious about getting off a waitlist, I highly advise you start drafting your update/love letter now.

Declining Acceptances

2012-01-30T16:24:00.000-08:00

Today I formally declined my acceptances to 2 out of state schools. It has been on my list of things to do for awhile, but I kept putting it off. It was emotionally challenging to let them go. I felt an overwhelming sense of paranoia ... I actually found myself reviewing all of my acceptance letters to confirm they were real. Anyways, I hope 2 deserving applicants get the good news that they will be attending medical school soon. My withdrawal email went as follows:

To Whom It May Concern,

I would like to decline my acceptance to XXX School of Medicine class of 2016. Thank you very much for you consideration throughout the application process.

Sincerely,
cynicstudent
AMCAS#

Rainbow Connection Nail Polish!!!

2012-01-29T16:13:00.000-08:00

As well as engaging in Wine Wednesdays, I now paint my nails once a week on Sunday. I haven't painted my fingers in years. It's so refreshing to look down and see something shiny on my fingers all the time. The above picture if of OPI Rainbow Connection over Cult Nails Living Water.

My new nail polish obsession began after I saw the Muppet Movie. I loved the playfulness of the film and afterwards stumbled upon Rainbow Connection which was inspired by the movie. Since then, I have been drawn to polishes free of most chemicals such as Cult Nails. I also like supporting the individual Maria who started the company after blogging about nail polish for a few years. It is really an inspiring story.

Wine Wednesday- Chardonnay

2012-01-28T09:59:00.000-08:00

I do not claim to know anything about wine beyond disliking things from a box. ;)

Myself and two friends are engaging in Wine Wednesday for the rest of the semester. Each person is responsible for purchasing 4 different wine types in the $8-12 range. Types are assigned ahead of time. We kicked off the new tradition with a bang - Cupcake Chardonnay 2010! I am a chardonnay girl and actually found myself really enjoying this. Not too acidic and nice mellow flavors.

After glass #2 we wrote our own personal (complete BS) wine review as follows:

A wonderful airy chardonnay that smells of sunshine. The full-bodied flavor is mellowed out by hints of hay. There are fruity overtones with a citrus bite. Perfect pairing for any type of fish or poultry.

Selling Textbooks on Amazon

2012-01-26T12:34:00.000-08:00

I still remember freshman year wandering into the bookstore and buying books at exorbitant prices and not blinking an eye. Why would my college ever want to take advantage of me? When I was forced to make a purchase of over $1000 in books one semester, I started looking elsewhere.

Since then my love of amazon has grown. I know that there are other slightly less expensive options like halfprice books, but I love the free shipping, reputation, and convenience of amazon. If you are a student, don't hesitate to sign up for a free amazon prime account - FREE 2 Day shipping with no minimum purchase.

Enough of the advertisement - this year I began selling back every textbook I have ever owned. YAY money!!! One of my many stacks is shown above. There is no point in carrying a stack of books I will never touch again across the country. Quickly I discovered that, once again, my college bookstore was ripping of students by buying back their gently used textbooks at pennies on the dollar. Hence, I returned to amazon.

I opened up an amazon seller account (at no cost) and began listing textbooks by their ISBN #. In order to sell textbooks quickly, I always price the book a dollar lower than the current lowest use price. I have also found that the more detailed and specific the description of the book the more likely to sell.

On my very first day I sold 2 books and since then I have sold more than 20. Amazon requires that you ship the book within 2 business days of purchase - so make sure you are not on vacation while listing items! To save money I break down boxes from my research lab and use them to ship my books as shown below. You will need a lot of heavy duty tape. I then take my books to the Post office and ship them media mail. Once the shipment is confirmed I get my money ASAP.

So - what is the catch??? Amazon will take 15% of the cost of your book and will charge .99cent closing fee. They will credit you $3.99 for shipping no matter the weight or size of the book. Regardless you will make more than selling it back to the bookstore.

Happy selling ;)

Newspaper Nail polish!!!

2012-01-22T19:29:00.000-08:00

With all of my free time I have started a new years resolution to paint my nails once a week! So I started the years off with a bang and did newspaper art over Cult Nails My Kind of Cool Aid. This was my first experience with any kind of nail art and I have to say - I love it. You can find the tutorial HERE!

Crazy AMAZING week!

2012-01-20T15:14:00.000-08:00

A ton of great things have happened this week:

1. I got my 4th acceptance! I'm shocked - I interviewed in august and hadn't heard from them since.... I guess my cycle wasn't quite over.
2. Sublet my room for the summer. THANK GOD! I get $1100 back.
3. Sold $500ish in old books on amazon.
4. Convinced parents to pay for me to fly me home for a week. My school is giving me some unusual days off this year.
5. Getting a free dinner at a nice restaurant this weekend. My school does some great free events, but spots are super limited.
6. I just baked some yummy Sweet and Salty Cookies.

Current Stats - Applied: 22, Interviews: 8, Acceptances: 4, Rejections: 2

My Medical Application Cycle is Complete

2012-01-18T08:29:00.000-08:00

Right now i'm not sure what else to add in regard to med school apps. I am very grateful to have chosen which med school I will be attending and can't wait for school to start this summer. Eventually I will post about my MCAT, I will talk about the housing hunt and financial aid, but otherwise I'm about done.

I've been thinking about what else to blog about and it finally dawned on me - I will blog about accomplishing things this semester that I have always wanted to do, but never had time for. Engineering major combined with ECs, and MCAT prep leaves little fun time. Currently I am chilling in the easiest semester of my life rocking 15 credits (I always take 19-20) with 3 of the credits being music - I am bored out of my mind. I just don't know what to do with myself.

I have a HUGE variety of interests so yeah... things I have always wanted to do include: cooking, nail polish, learning to play the piano, wine, anime, volunteering, reading for fun, gym classes, diy fashion, traveling across country and more!

RANK LIST

2012-01-10T14:58:00.000-08:00

Today is the final day - roughly 3 minutes left to make the final adjustments to my list. You have until 5pm CST on January 10th.

I am fortunate enough to have five Texas schools to rank and 2 pre-matches (ie. a guaranteed seat in the fall class).

I have spent a lot of time deliberating between thoughts of cost vs. prestige vs. fit and finally made the decision to rank the pre-match that gave me a scholarship #1. This means I will automatically be attending that Texas school in the fall and I won't be praying for the matchmaker to make me a match. Ultimately cost and fit won out - I will be very happy to go there next fall. Remember everyone has totally different criteria so don't forget to listen to yourself and your family first and foremost.

Match Prefs

2012-01-05T16:58:00.000-08:00

Goodness the TMDSAS system is mighty persistent. I just received my third reminder to rank the med schools where I have interviewed in two days. I have included the email below. Yes, the third email convinced me to enter my prefs. I still have a few days to reflect so they might change before the 10th ;)

Email:

This is a reminder that you have not yet entered your Match Preference Rankings. The deadline to submit your match preference(s) online is Tuesday, January 10^th at 5:00 pm (CST).

To enter your match preferences, you must log in to the application. Once you are logged in, click on the [Click To Go to School Ranking] button.

1. Applicants must rank all schools where they interviewed, regardless of whether or not they are holding a pre-match offer.

2. Applicants holding a pre-match offer who have interviewed at school(s) that did not extend an offer can rank one or more of those schools higher than the pre-match offer school without risk of losing the pre-match offer.

3. An applicant holding a pre-match offer who matches to a higher ranked school will automatically be withdrawn from the pre-match offer school. They will also be withdrawn from all other lower ranked schools. The applicant will remain open to be selected by schools ranked higher than the school matched to.

Dec 31st - End of Texas pre-match

2011-12-31T07:57:00.000-08:00

Today is not only new years eve - it is, officially, the last day a Texas pre-match offer can be made. No longer do applicants need to obsessive compulsively check their email. YAY! Sadly, I know there are a lot of people out there who are disappointed. If you haven't received an offer yet or hope to attend another school, then I hope the matchmaker makes you a match. :)

Wow... I have a lot to be grateful for this year. I can't believe I will be starting medical school in 2012!!!

Airport Fun! Tips and Tricks

2011-12-16T07:09:00.000-08:00

Whoot! I'm back in the airport for the second time this week. Thankfully, i'm officially headed home for the holidays.

Finals this week were awful. It wasn't that they were terrible in comparison to other years, but I lost three days of studying due to my last interview. If possible, I highly recommend avoiding interviews during finals. Unfortunately that is easier said than done. This late in the season, changing the date is very challenging and often detrimental.

I've gotten to know my local airport extremely well this year. My flight home to Texas is considered a "commuter" flight so it leaves every 2-3 hours from the exact same gate every day. I've never had any issues. The best part is the free wifi. You don't appreciate free wifi until you go to an airport that makes you pay *cough* DFW *cough*.

As a CHEAP college student I have developed some tricks to lower my costs and anxiety. Enjoy!
-MOOCH. If you have friends (I hope you do), beg for rides to the airport. Cabs are absurdly expensive.
-Karma exists. One of the absolute nicest things that happened to me after an interview. I was standing on the side of the road, outside of the SOM, with my roller bag. Another interviewee, out of the goodness of his heart, pulled up and asked if I needed a ride to the airport. Since then, I have been going out of my way to give back with good deeds.
-Pack multiple peanut butter sandwiches. You will get hungry going to/from interviews. Airport food is absurdly expensive and has made me ill. On one occasion I packed 3 PB sandwiches for the road. Dinner the night before, lunch the day of and dinner after the interview - YUM! FYI non-texas interviews do NOT give you nearly enough food (often no lunch), so do yourself a favor and be prepared.
-Don't bother bringing homework unless it is a long flight. You will not have nearly as much down time as you expect.
-NEVER check a bag! Shit happens

-Finally - never be afraid to ask for help. If given the opportunity, people will frequently surprise you.

Pre-Match #2 :)

2011-12-11T16:10:00.000-08:00

During (what I hope was) my last interview I got some amazing news. I received another pre-match offer from a Texan school. I'm super excited to see what the official letter says. Maybe another scholarship offer? You never know what might happen.

Regardless, I know I am in a very fortunate position. Several people I talked to this weekend said they had not received a pre-match. No, I did not go around asking "Hi did you pre-match?"- that is SUPER awkward. It just came out naturally during the conversation. Additionally, a significant number of the folks interviewing had applied during September. FYI - DON'T DO THIS, you are really hurting yourself based on the large number of filled interview spots by then. I can only assume something stood out in my application upon re-review. :)

I am completely exhausted... my first final is Monday morning. Ahhhh!!!

Current Stats - Applied: 22, Interviews: 8, Acceptances: 3, Rejections: 2

Is this a dream - scholarship offer?

2011-12-07T15:41:00.000-08:00

I am SHOCKED!!!! My texas pre-match awarded me a significant scholarship. Wow.... I will almost certainly be ranking them first for the match. Total disbelief right now.

Wait, did that really happen?

Deja vu interview?

2011-12-02T19:50:00.000-08:00

I have a feeling this only happens frequently in Texas. If you interview at at least three in-state schools, there is a huge probability you will run into the same students. At my third interview I had that "haven't I met you before?" question pop up not once, not twice, but three times.

Craziness! Honestly, I've really enjoyed the opportunity to sit down and talk to different candidates about their experiences. Technically we may have had the exact same interview day, but that doesn't mean we have the same feelings about each school. One school may have been my favorite based on the curriculum, while another preferred another school due to proximity to family. I appreciate seeing the process through the eyes of a potential future classmate who understand the pressure.

The truth is the only opinion that really matters when picking a school is your own.

Current Stats - Applied: 22, Interviews: 8, Acceptances: 2, Rejections: 2