<p>My D is taking the MCAT (admission test for medical school) right this minute. I am an absolute nervous wreck for her. She has been studying all summer for this and so much rides on it.</p>
<p>I feel so upset that there is nothing I can do to help her other than the encouragement (and paying for all the study books) I have given her so far. It is so difficult to try to become a doctor.</p>
<p>Far higher percentages of applicants get into medical school than into quite a few graduate programs, if that’s any consulation.</p>
<p>Mine took the GREs on Friday.</p>
<p>Thanks, mini. Your D has such unusual accomplishments, I am sure she will have an excellent chance at graduate school.</p>
<p>As long as she can get someone to pay for her poverty, I certainly can’t argue. ;)</p>
<p>Good luck. The test is hard for sure, but it’s hard for everyone. She has a good shot. Dropped mine off at st louis med school last week. Watched him receive his white coat, very cool. </p>
<p>I hate to say this, but the test stress is the easy part. Application stress is much harder.</p>
<p>Good Luck to D of Bookiemom.</p>
<p>Opie – seeing your kid get a white coat – wow what an experience for a parent. Congrats to you too.</p>
<p>Thank you.</p>
<p>Good luck AND congratulations. Mini - in what program?</p>
<p>Musicology. But she’s a bubble queen. Perfect on the verbal, near perfect on the math - which is amazing (though not to us - we’re used to it), because she hasn’t taken a math course in 5 years. (a higher score than the average entering student in engineering at MIT, or the average entering grad student in astro/physics). This is not a brag though - it is absolutely and totally useless. If she could figure out how to make a living by taking bubble tests, she’d be a millionaire. But life of poverty it is - and she doesn’t mind in the least, provided someone coughs up the quarter mil for her Ph.D. program. (fingers and toes crossed…) No docs here, though, they both hate the sight of blood. With a little work, she might be able to rent herself out for MCATs or LSATs, though.</p>
<p>For my younger one, however, bubble tests are quite the drama! Haven’t figured out a way to make a composite “family score”.</p>
<p>LOL family score…</p>
<p>Well you never know with odd academic careers. They can always write some book that goes to the top of Amazon. </p>
<p>Or wind up in Appalachia studying the lines of folk songs from Wales to West Virginia. Or Thailand doing the equivalent. But you know that already…</p>
<p>More likely a little hamlet in Italy, and writing a musical guide to prosciutto.</p>
<p>bookiemom
best of luck to your D.
Nephew here finished Med School recently.saw pics of the white coat ceremony,it looks awesome.
Mini,if its any consolation,all the Musicology programs D applied to were funded,some better than others,but within a few thou of each other. The trick is to find the faculty you want to work with in a location you can afford to live in (in other words…the $$ goes alot farther in St Louis than in NY or LA).Most of the grads are able to supplement a bit by working in the music libraries on campus or gigging at weddings,etc. Some teach at community adult education programs,as they get ABD they can teach locally at community colleges.
Theres been a few cool perks along the way as well,that were unknown beforehand. Conference attendance is paid for,and theres been summer stipends each summer so far.D has actually been able to save some $$.</p>
<p>Bookiemom, how did your D feel after the test yesterday?</p>
<p>A young man we know well had his heart set on going to dental sch. for years. He finished undergrad sch. with nearly perfect grades (Biology major), took the test for dental sch. (is it different form MCAT?) and applied to a dozen dental schools got interviews at 3 but was accepted at none.</p>
<p>His parents (our friends) were heartbroken for him but he was still determined so he audited some classes and retook the entrance exam while working for a year in a research lab at a top university. He reapplied to all the schools.</p>
<p>His parents dropped him off a couple of weeks ago to start dental sch. at Marquette University. They are so proud of him for hanging in there and chasing his dream when it didn’t work out as he had planned the first time around. He will make a great dentist.</p>
<p>Good luck to all the aspiring Doctors out there.</p>
<p>“and applied to a dozen dental schools got interviews at 3 but was accepted at none.”</p>
<p>Pretty painful for us too. Applied 7, interviewed two, accepted at one. I guess the average age of a first year med student is 26, so it is hard even with great everything to get in somewhere. Mine ended up where he felt more comfortable, like they got “him”. It’s going to cost a hell of alot more money than the other place, but… screw them, screw them, screw them…(no, I’m not bitter and I hope their football team never wins again, but no, I’m not bitter about them being 30 minutes away, rather than 2,000 miles… no I’m not bitter, stupid interview process, the spainish inquisition was friendiler.)</p>
<p>I remember the MCAT- did well, but since they radically changed the scoring years ago there’s no way of comparing them to anyone’s today. The worst part of the test was taking it in May of Junior year, the day after the last day of classes- I had to go to to bed at a decent hour and missed most of the floor (illegal- but 18 was the legal age for everything by then) wapatooli ( anything and everything- the only time I ever liked tea…) party. Good luck in the medical school process- lots of harder standardized tests in her future! Some things you don’t miss…</p>
<p>My D felt OK after taking the MCAT. She was so glad it was over! It’s four and a half hours now, with some short breaks. The test has recently changed to computer format and it is now given 10 or more times per year instead of two. The test is now more reading comprehension-based than it used to be, so harder to study for and harder to get a sense of how you did. You have to wait a month for the score.</p>
<p>We are all nervous about the application process and realize it may take more than one application cycle. The average number of med schools to apply to now is 12-15!</p>
<p>We are hoping she gets into that same school with the difficult interview process that passed up Opie’s S. Instate tuition and a few miles away would be great, but competition is fierce. I so hope she will be in med school next fall like your S, Opie!</p>
<p>Thanks,</p>
<p>Yea, the big hope is just getting in at 22. I was a big bullet to bite, the cost especially compared to the other place. A cost difference of 4 times. However, after about five minutes at the white coat ceremony the “feel” was right. The Doctors had the same personalities and easy going style of my kid. The fit, albiet expensive, was the right one. The expense will eventually go away, but the experience of learning in a place that won’t change “him” is invaluable. He doesn’t need to lose his personality to become a great MD. </p>
<p>As for the other place, God help those students if the interview process is reflective of the teaching process, but I guess robotics is becoming a trend everywhere.</p>
<p>Yep, my friend’s S (the dental student) really wanted to go to our flagship u. for dental sch. They had rejected him for undergrad admission (even with legacy) and he did so well at another state sch. that he was really hoping they would take him for dental sch. </p>
<p>It was a crushing blow when they turned him down again. So now he has left the sunny south for Milwaukee and will probably never hold a warm place in his heart for our flagship again.</p>