u/Phrase_Boring

i feel like my nerves got the best of me. and i wasn’t able to articulate my thoughts super well and convincingly. i had so many exciting patient anecdotes and stories from volunteering i wanted to share but I just feel like my interview was not conversational at all and i feel like they didn’t really want to get to know me or even read over my app. Every time I would say something, I would receive very little response from the two ppl interviewing me. it felt like one was a good cop and the other was bad cop and the ONLY positive response from the bad cop was my answer to why i wanted to go there and maybe some brief short commentary here and there. and on one question she asked me if i had any other examples to share. im so scared i love this school so so much and its my IS. i really feel like i dropped the ball especially because i was not able to really explain my motivations for medicine and some of my meaningful experiences in community service with the more situational/ethical questions. i also rambled so much. thank you for coming to my ted talk.

UGH. starting to prep for my interview in 3 weeks and i can’t boil down my anecdotes/reasons for pursuing medicine. like initial spark was a family illness, then i did research, shadowing, hospital volunteering, and now working as an MA. Each of these experiences has confirmed a different aspect about why I want to become a physician but it is virtually impossible to include all of them in my response. There is also a teamwork/leadership motivation I’ve confirmed through athletics and teaching as well through being a TA. If I don’t go in to detail, it will sound generic and if I do go in to too much detail it will be way too long. I actually hate this. I want to do well bc it’s my only interview so far and I really like the school:/

applying to medical school right now but god i can’t stand the OBGYN clinic i work at. there’s a catty group of MAs that’s been there for a while that think this is high school drama all over again. the patients are always late. providers are constantly running behind and overbooked forced to see 30 patients a day in a 15 minute appointment slot. frequently do not get a full 30 min lunch break and work overtime. i miss college and learning and being around people with ambition to do more with their lives so so bad. there is very little room for career growth as an MA and i can’t imagine doing this for another year.

so scared. they are around 6 cm in size and both sessile. they have a benign APPEARANCE according to the report but cannot be removed during surveillance colonoscopy. will be discussing endoscopic vs surgical management with the doc once the other smaller biopsies come back but… that sounds huge. I’ve read online >1 cm is advanced. Is there a chance they are really benign and not cancerous please I am freaking out:(

I literally got a 509 (128/124/126/131) and seeing all the people on admit getting MD interview invites…. I’m like I was so freaking stupid. I should have retaken. If I don’t get in I don’t know what im going to do. The first time I prepped for the MCAT i got a 496 on AAMC FL 1 a month before my exam so i cancelled (August 2024), the second time i got a 508 the week before my exam, so i showed up to the exam and voided (03/2025), and then this time in January 2026 I got a 509! Like UGH what if I don’t get in it’s over

im convinced schools don’t even read primaries other than for MCAT scores. since we even have to enter prerequisite coursework for some secondaries. why can’t you just look at my work and activities to see my exposures to medicine? or my most meaningful experience? or why i want to go to medical school? why are you making me pull so many narratives out of my butt to apply to your school.

do you guys repeat the exact words from the schools mission and values or do you just use synonyms I feel so cringe saying hey I did 3 years of research and learned blah blah blah so therefore I’m aligned with your innovative discovery value and want to continue doing research there🤠

even though i prewrote for some of my schools as I sit back down to write again I’m like wow this is so cringe no way I’m submitting this. Sometimes I feel like I’m making so huge of a stretch about why I want to attend a certain school. And to be entirely honest I’ve found it so hard to flesh out SUPER meaningful patient or volunteering stories that haven’t already appeared in my personal or work and activities. Like I’m literally an MA, I’m not having any “transformative” experiences with 90% of these patients, I’m doing it for the clinical experience and to have money to pay for secondary apps that cost $100 each. And then when I try to not be specific about encounters and just use general insights about what I’ve learned it just sounds so fake and unbelievable. I hate this process with my whole heart.

I've been going back and forth on this secondary for a while and am completely stuck. "Describe a non-academic challenge you have faced and explain how you overcame it." (200 words)

I'm worried some of these aren't "personal" enough or were overcome too quickly. (I'm not considering writing about my ADHD diagnosis btw).

Here are my current ideas:

1. Service: This year when I started volunteering with individuals with disabilities, I struggled to communicate in ways that actually supported their progress. I had to learn entirely new communication techniques and adapt my approach. Pro: Unique experience that could show growth working with diverse populations. Con: Doesn't feel like a challenge that personally affected me, and I briefly touched on it in my AMCAS W&A experience description.

2. Life transition: After my college athletic career ended, I struggled with losing my routine, teammates, and built-in accountability. I intentionally rebuilt structure by scheduling workouts and reaching out to friends. Pro: Personal growth and easy to connect to future transitions w/ med school. Con: I've already written another essay about athletics and don't want to be repetitive.

3. Clinical work: As a new MA, I struggled with a procedure our clinic rarely performed, so I couldn't build confidence through repetition. I created a procedure journal, sought extra guidance from my preceptors, and became much more confident assisting by taking these steps. Pro: Specific challenge with a proactive solution. Con: Worried it's too technical and not personal enough.

4. Family: During my dad's medical emergency, I stayed calm while my mom panicked and was overridden with emotions. I called 911, communicated and answered q's from EMS, and helped move the situation forward despite feeling fucking terrified about what was wrong with him and my heart beating out of my chest (he's ok now dw). Pro: Shows composure under pressure. Con: It was a one-time crisis rather than a prolonged challenge I needed to work through, and I'm worried it could come across as trying to sound heroic.

ANY GUIDANCE IS APPRECIATED TY

so frustrated. everything is complete on my end i submitted my primary the first day without sacrificing quality and just got verified around noon today. i am still waiting only on my science letter writer who confirmed a while ago she would write me a letter. she is notoriously slow but it will get done sometime in june. she has just gone MIA from answering any of my emails in the last two weeks. my school does not upload committee letters until 4-6 weeks AFTER they receive all of our individual letters. ive been slowly pre-writing secondaries but im super stressed about other people’s timelines ruining my chances this cycle, esp as someone with a mid MCAT://// schools don’t even review apps until they receive letters maybe im overthinking it all and just need to chill. agh.