American University of the Caribbean...MERPed!

American University of the Caribbean (AUC) has offered me a conditional acceptance. In other words, I got MERPed! 😆

I would have given this offer some thought if:

1. I was not accepted into Trinity School of Medicine

&

2. I did not go through BTMD with AUA.

Given my situation and experience, I graciously declined this offer. I am not interested at all. 

I am proud of myself though. I was not flat out rejected by AUC. They saw that special shine in me. Unfortunately, they deemed it too risky to give me a direct acceptance. I had to prove myself capable. An olive branch was extended. 

Thank you, AUC, but no thanks. I appreciate the partial consideration.

Trinity School of Medicine: ACCEPTED!!!!

It is official and I could not be any more excited!! Trinity School of Medicine has accepted me!! Woohoooooooooooo!! I am in the clouds! This is a dream come true to get a direct acceptance into medical school. I still cannot believe that it is happening.

The Telephone Call

After I received the email informing me that the school had reached a decision, I was so nervous. They asked for the best time to call me because they wanted to deliver the news to me over the phone. I had a feeling that it would be good news at that point. I still did not want to give myself a false sense of hope though. After all, I had too many disappointments in the past. I told them to call me before 1:30 PM.

My phone rang at almost 1:00 PM on the dot. "Ms. Sammy, we just wanted to deliver the good news to you over the phone that you were accepted into Trinity School of Medicine!" My heart began to beat so fast as I heard each word one by one. I had to take a moment to catch my breath. A moment of silence occurred for nearly 30 seconds. Before I could even say, "Thank you", I burst into tears. Tears of joy!! I received news that I have waited to hear for over a decade! I got into medical school!

I GOT ACCEPTED INTO TRINITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE!

The Next Step

I will be matriculating into the May 2017 incoming class at Trinity. I will receive a financial aid package and list of things that I must get before I come down to St. Vincent & The Grenadines which is where Trinity is located. Classes begin on May 8th but new students must report to the island by May 2nd. I will try to be down there by April 30th in order to settle in. I am so ecstatic about this next step in my journey to MD. I will keep you all posted step by step.

Tears of Joy or Sorrow: Trinity School of Medicine Has Reached a Decision

The moment of truth has arrived. My heart is beating out of my chest and I feel a heat flowing throughout my whole body.

The admissions committee at the Trinity School of Medicine has reached a decision regarding my application. They emailed me to tell me this. However, the email does not have the decision. They want to know what time I am available for them to brief me on the decision over the telephone.

I am already crying. Whether it is good news or bad news, I know I will be in tears. Will they be tears of joy or sorrow? Did the admissions committee give me a big "YES" or "NO"? I will know before the end of the day where my journey to MD now takes me.

To be continued...

A Bump in the Road to American University of the Caribbean

Today I received a call from the office of admissions at American University of the Caribbean. My heart began to race. Are they calling me to tell me that I got accepted? After all, the lady on the other end of the line sounded quite jolly. Womp womp! It was one of the calls that I was dreading.

"Hi, Sammy! We would like to know what happened with the BTMD program. Can you please tell us about your experience in the program. Why didn't you complete it? If you did complete it, then why did you not pass it?"

I tried to stay as cool and calm as possible. I said, "Sure. I will write a letter to explain what happened right now. I will email you soon."

As soon as I hung up the phone I began to cry. I know that this will be a very bad look on my application. I failed BTMD. A program that was once supposed to be a bridge to my dreams of becoming a medical doctor now stands in the way between me and an acceptance. This program that I once thought was a dream come true can now become the ultimate nightmare.

I wrote the explanation letter through a stream of tears. I sacrificed so much to even make it through BTMD. Why does the experience have to play a role into whether or not AUC will accept me? Why? Why? Why? 😭😭😭😭😭

Anyways, it is what it is. The waiting game has just gotten longer for me. I thought that I could get MERPed by AUC but now that they know that I did not pass BTMD, they might not even see me as a candidate anymore. Although I would have declined a MERP offer if it was given to me, it would not hurt as much as a flat out rejection from AUC.

Now that I have gotten these thoughts off of my chest, I send out positive vibes to the universe. If someone out there can truly hear me, please let me get an acceptance into AUC! PLEASE!

#AUC #Accepted #SpeakItIntoExistence

The Waiting Game: Accepted, Waitlisted, or Rejected?

American University of the Caribbean (AUC) OR Trinity School of Medicine (TSOM)

            

 

Only 2 Caribbean medical school applications remain. Only 2 Caribbean Medical Schools that I am giving a serious thought about attending. These 2 schools are American University of the Caribbean and Trinity School of Medicine. What will be my fate with these schools?

I had an interview with Trinity School of Medicine last week. I had an interview with American University of the Caribbean this week. As I anxiously wait on their decision, I am still in a little bit of disbelief that I even got this far. Medical schools have flat out rejected me without even trying to hear my story or get to know me. Besides AUA who interviews ALL of their applicants, no school gave me a second thought after looking at my GPA. This gives me hope that I will be accepted. While I do want to avoid disappointment and be realistic with the outcome, I do remain very optimistic that this time things will go my way. The results will be in my favor.

A Sign

Today at work I sat down all by myself in the reception hall. I could not stop thinking about what the outcome will be for AUC and Trinity. I asked for a sign and I received it. First, a coworker passed through the hall and said, "Hey, Sammy! You are the best!" That was kind of random. But I appreciated it. As I smiled, a cloud moved out of the way in the sky and the sun was all of a sudden beaming at me. When I say beaming, I mean it was beeeeeaming. The light was so bright that it could blind my eyes. I took this as a sign that was simply telling me not to worry. No matter what happens, I will be okay. The sun will continue to shine my way.

Bob Marley "Three Little Birds (Every Little Thing Is Gonna Be Alright)

Saba University's Decision...REJECTED!

Saba University, my #2 choice for a Caribbean medical school, has made their decision. They decided that I am not a good candidate for their school. I am officially rejected.

They reviewed my application despite me being one recommendation letter short. This got the application review process going faster. They said that if I was accepted, then I would have to get it in quick (FYI: the letter was on its way). But that didn't even matter. I wasn't granted an interview and my application was denied. Sigh!

The Saba University chapter in my journey to medicine is officially closed. On to the next!  

Letters of Recommendation: The Importance of Interfolio

Request for Letter of Recommendation

It is one of the most dreaded steps of medical school applications for me. Especially when you are a student like me who is facing rejection after rejection. You decide to give up after one application cycle, but then that little voice inside of you says, "Try one more time somewhere else." So, that is exactly what I do. I try yet again at schools I have not applied to. But then I have to go knocking on those professors, doctors, and employers' doors once more. I have to explain to them once more that after being rejected, I want to try again. Will they help me?

Interfolio

While expressing my frustrations and embarrassment to a friend of mine about asking for letters of recommendation again, she asked me if I had an interfolio account. "Interfolio? Huh? What is that?" I had no clue what it was. After she explained it to me in her own words, I rushed to Google to get an even better understanding of it. Once I caught up on it, I realized that this faculty software could have saved me tons of embarrassment and precious time.

Medical school applicants who are reading this blog, I urge you to open up an interfolio account. You want to sign up for the "Dossier Service" account when you do open one up. "Interfolio’s Dossier service provides you with one centralized account to collect, store, and deliver all your application materials—including confidential letters of recommendation. Use [the] Dossier service to store all the application materials you want, including letters of recommendation, your CV, evaluations, and writing samples.

Dossier works for all types of deliveries: email to an institutional email address, hard copy to a physical address, and web applications to Interfolio’s ByCommittee platform for faculty hiring.
You can send out requests for confidential letters of recommendation through your account, giving your letter writer an easy way to electronically submit their letter directly to [Interfolio] to hold for you. Any letters your recommenders submit are reusable, so Dossier helps you make it easy on them, too." (Source: www.interfolio.com)

I have applied to 4 Caribbean medical schools and the delay right now is the letters of recommendation. Issues that I am coming across:
1. Emails! Many of these recommenders are busy or they receive too many emails. As a result, they never get the chance to even see your email for an LOR request. OR they no longer work at the school or job that they use to work at. This leads to inactive email addresses that they no longer have access to.

2. Denial! You can only request an LOR but so much from someone. Recently, I had one of my strong recommenders tell me that she had a baby, therefore, she was too busy to write/send an LOR for me. That was a tough blow. I honestly believe that she just got annoyed. But hey! It's life!

3. Explanations & Delays! I feel some type of way whenever I am asked, "What happened? Why weren't you accepted?" I then have to go into details about what happened. I dread that. I feel embarrassed. I guess if you're asking or in my case begging for assistance, then you have to relive the pain of what caused you to reach this point. Eventually, they do agree to write the letter but time is of the essence. The delay is precious time wasting that may cost you a seat in the term you want to apply.

Price of Interfolio

Here are the 3 plans that Interfolio have for a dossier account. I urge you to take advantage of this very affordable service. It may end up being a lifesaver. You won't regret it. Better safe than sorry. I know I wish I opened up an account sooner.

Life After BTMD: Where Do I Go From Here?

Good afternoon visitors!

I know I left everyone high and dry. My last post was in October before I "disappeared" from my blog. Well, there are a couple of reasons for that. First, I was overwhelmed by the program. It was hard to find the time to post in between studying. Second, I did not pass. I needed some time away to process my emotions and figure out what I was going to do next.

That's the question you all may have right now. Plain and simple, as illustrated above, I missed the target. In order to pass BTMD, I had to achieve an average of 70% with no less than a 65% in each of the classes. I did not accomplish that. The course that did me in was Neuroanatomy. The professor was a novice who really needs lessons on how to teach a medical school course. While he is very knowledgeable in the subject, it was a challenge to get him to explain the concepts to  you. If you find any BTMD student from the Fall 2016 semester, I can guarantee you that they will ALL say that we taught ourselves the subject. Some taught themselves better than others. Unfortunately, I didn't do that well at teaching myself neuroanatomy. I failed.

In the end, I lost $12,000 of money that I worked very hard to earn. I guess the bright side of it all is that I got a taste of what medical school will be like. I also learned a lot of physiology, biophysics, and biochemistry. Dr. Lotocki and Dr. Smith were both wonderful professors. Their exams were hard but doable. I did the BRS practice questions and rewatched the lectures along with the slides to take good notes. The knowledge I gained from these courses will surely work to my advantage when I begin medical school someday.

The answer to this question is that my journey continues. I have applied to American University of the Caribbean (AUC), Saba University, Medical University of the Americas (MUA), and St. Matthew's University. I am on the borderline about applying to Ross University but I just might do it. I am praying that AUC and/or Saba University accepts me. Those are my top 2 choices. What will it ultimately be though? Doctor from AUC? Saba? MUA? St. Matthew's? Ross? We'll see what happens!