:: The Headache Diaries (Retired) ::

:: The Headache Diaries (Retired) ::

:: 11.29.2011 ::

Molecular Cell Biology

I just ordered some old MCB books from Amazon! I hope that I will understand them... I am hoping to get aquainted with this subject before med school starts.

I haven't heard from AUC yet. They have alot more time to give me an answer. I hope I get a "yes, accepted." If Im not accepted, I will have to consider Ross and Saba. Probably Saba first.

No other news! have to make dinner soon...

:: Jane Dee 3:49:00 PM [+] ::
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New Week!

Now that I have completed my shopping and have Thanksgiving dinner in order, I can FINALLY focus on that GMAT.

The first order of business is creating some kind of schedule. Perhaps I should study about five hours a day and take weekends off? I can get up have coffee, read the news, then get started at about 0600. Take a break with breakfast at 1000. Or maybe start at 0500 and end at 1000 with breakfast. Hm. Hmmm. I guess I can try the 0500 one first. I don't know if it will work because I don't like studying in the dark. Okay so that sounds like a good preliminary plan.

I guess during my five hours, I will just go through each topic on the GMAT syllabus. Kinda like the MCAT. Except this should be a little bit easier. I think. Anyway, there are about 41 subtopics covered on the GMAT within the four broad topics of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, and "word problems." ("Word problems" aren't math, but I guess they have a lot of wordy math problems) I had already started some review, so I guess I will pick up where I left off.

I also want to review my bchem stuff. I'm not sure how I will throw that in, but I would like to do that as well. Maybe I can do a couple of hours after breakfast? Maybe something like that. We'll see. Bchem isn't my top priority, but I want to try to get it in.

I also attended the Ross University seminar in Scottsdale this past Saturday. The snacks were WAY better since they were in a better hotel (last time they were in Phoenix). The main speaker was talking way too much about other things, that I had to cut it short because I had an eye exam. I did get to ask another speaker, who happens to do the interviews, about my 13 year old prerequisites. She said that it depends on the application. I couldn't get a straight answer about being MERPed or not, so I said I would email her. I don't supposed I will get a straight answer because I will have to pay for the application fee, so I am not sure I will email her. I will wait until AUC gets back to me. I wonder how much longer they will take? I think it may be almost two weeks now. Is this a bad sign? Who knows. The rep did say they would probably take a month. Oh well.

So I guess I am off to start my schedule? I also have to go to Walmart (groan) to check med prices. UGH! If there is one thing I hate, it's going to Walmart Pharmacy. Booo! Oh well. See ya.

:: Jane Dee 6:59:00 AM [+] ::
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Workin' On It!

Well, I didn't have enough time to schedule my GMAT stuff. UGH! Everything is taking forever. Well, I DID finish ALL of the Christmas shopping (!!) and I bought everything I need to decorate this year. And I think I even have everything for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner!! So at least that is all done.

The things I have left to do are wrapping the gifts and figuring out the dinners. I think for Thanksgiving we are going to have a Tofurky, fresh mashed potatoes, homemade gravy (vegan), pumpkin pie (made from scratch and vegan of course), rice (for me), bacon (for me), probably fresh apple and pear juice (I have a juicer), and maybe salsa (for me to eat with my rice and bacon, family tradition, ha!), but I'd have to buy some tomatoes.

Today is my next to last day at the hospital. I guess Im excited that this means Im close to getting into med school, but it also means that Im that much closer to going to the Caribbean. It also means I have a lot of studying to do for the GMAT. I should be able to put something together today for my gmat schedule. I don't have much left on my "To-Do" list. Im trying to buy everything I need for next month this month so that we can get the starter on the Acura fixed next month in case it costs a million dollars. Well, I think it's the starter.

So next week is all the Black Friday excitement, most of which I don't participate in because I don't want to get trampled to death for a $400 Emerson TV. Im only going to Michaels's so I can get some beads and stuff. Yeah I know I probably won't have time to do any beading once Im shipped off, but I can always keep the beads for later. Even if its much later.

Well, I guess I have to contemplate gifts later, time to go!

:: Jane Dee 6:05:00 AM [+] ::
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Painfully Clean

Well yesterday I spent literally hours cleaning out this corner of the kitchen. It was covered in dust that smelled like crappy cat litter. Although Im glad that it's clean, my shoulders, arms and fingers hurt from all the scrubbing. And Im still not 100% finished with what I wanted to do! I had no idea it would take me over six hours. I even had TJ help me when he came home from work. Sigh. Well, at least I can use that corner again. This is step one crossed off my "Thing to do before I head to the Caribbean" list.

Next up is painting the bathrooms. I even bought a nice folding ladder yesterday from Ace Hardware. It was on sale too! I guess the bathrooms upstairs will be a beige-ish color and I will trim my bathroom in some kind of red color. I will pick a blueish color for TJ's bathroom later on. I think I will fix everything except the electric sockets upstairs first, then move to the downstairs. Then the outside.

I still have more spending to do this month (ARGH!). I forgot I needed coffee and such. Well, hopefully, it won't be as much as last month.

I want more coffee... I better order some before I drink it all!

:: Jane Dee 5:17:00 AM [+] ::
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New Week, Yeah!

So this week I am going to start on my GMAT studies. I am also contemplating resigning from SHC. I already contacted the graduate medical education contact person and got only very little information about the residency program. I also learned that there is no more pre-match. Not likely that matters much, but it was a nice option. Anyway, I was thinking about leaving SHC so I can study hard for the GMAT and get some housework done before I am shipped off to the Caribbean (because that is my most likely ending).

I am going to take the GMAT in late March most likely, so that gives me about four months to study. That should be long enough. I also want to do things around the house, like paint the bathrooms, living room, and the outside of the house. I also want to install gutters and plant some oleanders in the front and install an irrigation system for them. I also want to plant oleanders in the back and lay down some rocks or mulch. I may also have to travel back to NY to clean out and fix the basement after my sister takes out her old stuff. If I go to the Caribbean, I will stay in the basement during the clinical part of the program. The basement needs insulation and I think I will install drywall instead of that old wood paneling, HA!

So you can see there is a lot to do. I am just not sure the $12 in fuel I spend driving there is worth it anymore. I will think about it some more before I make my final decision.

In any case, I am almost done with my Christmas shopping! Yippee! Today I am going out to see if I can get all but one gift done. If I get lucky, maybe I can get it all done. This year, I will actually have a tree to put up (remember I bought that huge tree at discount??) and I will have to put weights on the bottom so my cat doesnt knock it over when she climbs in it. I know she will.

Currently, I am staying positive about med school. I have no problems with Caribbean school and I think its a great way to get to your goal. I read that someone said that if they knew that their doctor was a Caribbean grad, they wouldn't see them anymore. Good! I wouldn't want to have them as a customer. I don't want to give discounts to an unappreciative person. If they want to pay $260 for a "physical," be my guest. In fact, because of what he said, I think that I will boldly display that "I am a Caribbean grad; take your business elsewhere if this bothers you." on my signage, webpage, door, whatever. I think that should get the message across.

Well, I should stop typing and order my moisturizers, then buy those gifts.

:: Jane Dee 7:18:00 AM [+] ::
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Time To Move On!

Okay I think I'm ready to move on, or actually, back to what I was doing. It's been about a week since my "waitlist" status, and I think I am ready to move on and get back to focusing on AUC, GMAT, and my husband.

I have many chores to do around the house. I have to paint my bathroom, paint the garage door, and probably the house, I have to buy a shipping crate and figure out how I am going to ship my stuff, I have to get accepted to AUC too. I missed a phone call from my regional rep at AUC last night. Well, at least he didn't forget about me. I should be complete by now. I even called City College and KCC to see if they sent the transcripts. The only one I am unsure of is St. John's but they are always fast in sending the transcripts, so Im not too worried about them.

Ive also learned that there is no more "pre-match" for IMGs. Not that I was banking on pre-matching since most if not all of the programs I desired were through ERAS (?) only. I only wanted pre-match to save me lots of money, ha! Now I HAVE to pay to get matched. Well, there are, presumably, going to be a very select few not-so-great hospitals that will probably not participate in the match at all, but you can't look up who that is right now on FREIDA because this hasn't took effect yet. So sometime during my med school stint, I will look up who still pre-matches and keep them in mind. I just have to score as high as possible on all of my steps to get a good choice in residencies. I guess it helps I want to go into family medicine. It seems no one wants to be their own boss anymore...?

In any case, I am going to do some grocery shopping today, then try to clear my head and make some kind of study schedule for the GMAT. I don't have much time left for that. I still have to do well on that test so I can't let all this med school madness thwart my studying for that test!

:: Jane Dee 6:12:00 AM [+] ::
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My Lol Cats Picture



Hmm...



Sigh...



One moar...



Check email again...

:: Jane Dee 8:14:00 PM [+] ::
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Staying Positive

Despite my recent bad news, I must remember that I must stay positive in order to get where I want to be. I do understand that it will be hard to move away, but if it benefits my family, I think its worth it.

Before this whole Meharry surprise, I was beginning to mentally adjust to the idea of Caribbean school. Now, it seems like I have to adjust all over again. Well, I don't have much choice, so I better start adjusting my attitude. I won't be able to do well if I mope around like a whiny crybaby.

Ross U is coming to my town in a couple of weeks, so I signed up for that. I want to ask them some questions, in case I don't get accepted to AUC. I am hoping I get into AUC, but you never know what will happen. I thought that if I didn't get into AUC, I would rather go to Saba than Ross, even if I have to take out private loans.

So here are some things Ive learned from this application process:

1)Applying early only helps if you are average or above. If one of your stats is below average, like I have, you will not be interviewed early if at all (I have yet to see if I get late interviews).

2)The military wants you to have at least a 28 MCAT. They will make you write a statement if you want to proceed with a lower score. They do not say this on their website.

3)The University of Arizona does not know what they are doing right now. If you are a resident and do not have at least a 29, you will not get the automatic invite anymore. You may not even interview. You may also be rejected right away. You are now useless to them since you only pay in-state tuition.

4)It hurts your application to be "old" (probably over 27)

5)It hurts your application to have community college credits.

6)It hurts your application to openly say you want to go into primary care.

That's all I got on that for now.

Today will be a new day for me. I hope to get my mind back on track. I thought I would be planning yesterday, but you know how that goes. So hopefully, I will do that today. I am also thinking about getting a part time job. Something to pass the time and help me save for Caribbean school. We'll see. Today Im going to buy a cheese grater. I was going to buy something at Coach Factory, but I just couldn't bring myself to go. Is there something really wrong with me? I mean I was waiting so long for that store to open, and now I don't even want to go. Oh well. Probably better if I save my money anyways.

Well, the sun is up. Maybe I should go and do something useful.

:: Jane Dee 5:36:00 AM [+] ::
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Waitlisted!

Well, I got the dreaded "thank you, but you're waitlisted" email from Meharry. Sigh. That school was one of my best shots as well. Here is what it said:

Dear Interviewee

I congratulate you for completing the Interview Process for admissions to Meharry Medical College -- especially since we have so many applicants for the entering class. The Admissions Committee for the School of Medicine has recommended that your name be placed on our Wait List for this upcoming year. We are still in the process of reviewing other eligible applicants.

You should be notified on or before June 15th if you are selected for admission. If you are not officially notified that you have been offered a place in the 2012 entering class by this date, it will be necessary for you to reapply for admission in a future entering class.

In the meantime, I wish you every success in your quest for admission into the medical profession. Thank you for your continued interest in Meharry.

Sincerely,
Allen D. Mosley, M.S.
Director Admissions and Recruitment


So basically, I'm not accepted. I'm a "wait to be rejected" like everywhere else.

I guess I knew coming into this whole thing I had almost no chance of getting in anywhere. I didn't even want to go through with this AMCAS stuff; I just wanted to apply to Caribbean school. However, my husband really wanted me to "try." Well, here I am, trying to get a rejection in a timely manner.

Since Meharry was my next best shot, my only shot left is Kansas. And I really don't think I have a shot with them. They take an extremely limited number of out of state people and given my age and MCAT score, I'm not hot on anyone's list.

So on to Plan B. We all know what that is: AUC. Now don't get me wrong, I do not think I am golden for AUC. Given how competitive everything is getting, I fully assume the worst for AUC. I am holding off on applying to Ross only because I would rather go to AUC. In any case, I've already started my application at AUC and I emailed my coordinator earlier today to see what else needs to get sent in. I think he had said my transcripts weren't all in, but they should be by now! I will check to see if my checks have cleared when I ordered my transcripts.

Sometimes, I think "You're jumping the gun! If you get a late acceptance but start AUC in May, you're screwed!" Am I? I'm not sure. I mean, if I have no interviews by January, and my only waitlist is Meharry, I'd say I will have all the facts to start AUC in May. As of now, I am going to assume the only interview invite I may get is from Kansas. Remember, I applied June 1, 2011, right when it opened. I was verified the NEXT DAY. It is NOVEMBER and I only had ONE interview and no other invites. Every school I applied to has rolling admissions. If you think I am going to think for one second that I have some kind of shot as of now, you must think Im crazy! Furthermore, if I get an interview invite after January that is not Kansas, I would assume that I am interviewing for a waitlist spot, if that. Therefore, I am not so sure I would "jump" at a "chance" to interview at a school other than UA-PHX and KU because the rest are very far away and cost too much or are not seriously considering me anyway. Not that I think UA-PHX would be seriously considering me, but they are right here so I won't be spending too much anyway.

Then there is the letter of intent or the "please reconsider me" letter. At first, I thought it would be a good idea to send the "reconsider me dammit" letter to Tucson, but you know, it just doesn't seem worth it. What will they reconsider? I have nothing new to add. I've done all my pre-requisites. I've taken almost every math and science course possible, even electrical engineering! I don't have any research, I can't get any research, I don't even go to a university. And you can't say "well, take graduate courses!" because if I'm taking graduate courses, then I'm training for a job, not trying to get into yet another school. My only recourse is to send a letter of interest/intent to Meharry once it gets closer to them considering the waitlist people. Until then, there is nothing I can do except say Im studying for the GMAT. And since this is medical school, they dont care about that!

It is safe to say I am sad that I (most likley) will have to separate from my husband and live in a foreign country for a while. I'm also sad that I may have to live with my mother again if I do my rotations in NY! I know there will be a fight for me to get the basement apartment and a parking spot in the garage. I would love to live on my own, but it's so expensive there. And living with her is so convenient and could make up for having to spend so much on an apartment in St. Martin.

Of course, I could keep up false hope and "wait and see" if I get in somewhere in the US. The problem is that I am too old for playing games. I need to get this show on the road before I lose my drive. I wish it could have worked out for Tucson, but that is too bad.

I guess a bright side is that NOW I can focus on my GMAT studies and get that test over with in March or so. If that is a bright side. I am also considering getting started in bchem for real. I know most people will say don't pre-study but whatever. I need to be acquainted with bchem topics seeing that may be the hardest class. I did take an intro course this spring, but that was an intro course. It was basically the last few chapters of my ochem book. I have a bchem book that is used at Johns Hopkins, so that should suffice. Anyway, I will consider that once I discuss my options with the husband.

Of course, now I don't know what MBA program I'm going to go into either. I think I have the LORs I need for Quinnipiac. Should I just apply there? I can take one class and then not take one for four years or something. Or should I just wait? I have no idea. All I know is that I need to take the GMAT before it changes and get into a program from then until that GMAT expires.

So as of now, Im not in a good mood. Im hungry too. I guess I will use today to start planning my Caribbean future and my GMAT study schedule. Maybe I should get a part time job? Then I can save some money for the trip to St. Martin!

Ha ha. That was supposed to be funny...

:: Jane Dee 8:24:00 AM [+] ::
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Waitin'

Well, it's been a little over a week and I haven't heard back yet from Meharry. Not that I am expecting to though. It would be nice if I did, but I am not expecting it.

So it's been hard to sit around and wait here. I should be studying for the GMAT, but I just can't! I was so excited to get an interview that I can't even focus. I haven't been to the hospital in two weeks either. I will go back this week, but I was just so exhausted/anxious that I wouldn't have been well going there.

I guess if I am rejected, I will go ahead and finish the application for Caribbean school. I put that on hold in case Meharry took me so I wouldn't have to spend $1600 on a deposit to nowhere. If I don't get into Meharry, we are back to square one and I will not anticipate an acceptance to a US school. That would be too bad because I would also have to wait to buy a new office chair.

I guess I would be pretty sad if I was rejected. I think I would have to plead my case to them. Well, here is hoping for the best.

As of now I am not working on the GMAT. I am just reading books. Like I said, it has been very hard to focus.

:: Jane Dee 5:46:00 AM [+] ::
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