Timelines (Veteran Voices)
Timelines (Veteran Voices)
Transcript
I think the single most important thing for veterans to consider when applying to grad school is that you can not plan to go to grad school as a last-minute thing. It's really hard to do that. It's not going to be-- you're not going to have a competitive application.
I think the single most thing that they should consider is that you need to plan early. It does take time establishing the rapport, building those relationships, but most importantly, doing the research to figure out what you want to do. So plan early. It's never too early to plan for grad school.
Application for grad school was certainly different than undergrad. So with undergrad, at least with Columbia, it was open. It was open for a long time. I worked on that, you know, the personal statement for undergrad admissions for a good while. And then it opened, and you submit, and admissions was rolling.
Compared to now when looking at med school, everything's on a much more strict timeline, a much tighter timeline. So it all starts your junior year for most, if you're not taking a gap year after you graduate. So in May of my junior year, the application opens. And you're allowed to open it and start filling stuff in. And then in June 1, you're allowed to submit.
Now, med schools, most of them, there are some exceptions, but most of them are rolling. So, again, you want to get it in as soon as possible because that gives you your best chance. So ideally, you're submitting June 1.
Now, I was actually, I had to wait for the MCAT. I wanted to wait until I was done with finals. So I kind of made that choice to delay a little bit, not too long.
I took the MCAT in the middle of June after my junior year and submitted just after that. So, yeah, you submit the summer of your junior year. And then interviews start, if you're lucky, in the next fall for most schools, and then continue through the spring of your senior year.
I did apply while deployed. And so my timeline was definitely what I imagine was a bit different than for most. But at the same time, people have their professional pursuits day to day that probably make for an untraditional schedule when you're building materials.
So for me, being deployed and trying to manage the application essentially came down to some quick preparation on the front end. I went to Barnes & Noble, got a couple of GRE prep books, and threw those in my bag, took them with me. And it, you know OPTEMPO changes throughout a deployment. And when there are down days, you just have to put your head down and work is what I ended up doing. And then when there were on days, just put that well out of your mind because you need to focus on other things.
And so it was a hectic schedule, trying to fit in time to study, prep my application. But it's really just capitalizing on those free moments. And I was able to do it.
What it meant for me in terms of the deployment and the actual submission of my application was that I needed to plan on taking the GRE as soon as I got back. So I ended up taking the GRE within two weeks of redeploying. I had my scores two weeks later, submitted my application right after that, and then continued to move through the application process, and eventually got here.
On the back end, it was also nice because I ETSed in around March. And school didn't start till August. So, you know, you put in hard work for a while. And there's also a little bit of time for free time sometimes.
I think the single most thing that they should consider is that you need to plan early. It does take time establishing the rapport, building those relationships, but most importantly, doing the research to figure out what you want to do. So plan early. It's never too early to plan for grad school.
Application for grad school was certainly different than undergrad. So with undergrad, at least with Columbia, it was open. It was open for a long time. I worked on that, you know, the personal statement for undergrad admissions for a good while. And then it opened, and you submit, and admissions was rolling.
Compared to now when looking at med school, everything's on a much more strict timeline, a much tighter timeline. So it all starts your junior year for most, if you're not taking a gap year after you graduate. So in May of my junior year, the application opens. And you're allowed to open it and start filling stuff in. And then in June 1, you're allowed to submit.
Now, med schools, most of them, there are some exceptions, but most of them are rolling. So, again, you want to get it in as soon as possible because that gives you your best chance. So ideally, you're submitting June 1.
Now, I was actually, I had to wait for the MCAT. I wanted to wait until I was done with finals. So I kind of made that choice to delay a little bit, not too long.
I took the MCAT in the middle of June after my junior year and submitted just after that. So, yeah, you submit the summer of your junior year. And then interviews start, if you're lucky, in the next fall for most schools, and then continue through the spring of your senior year.
I did apply while deployed. And so my timeline was definitely what I imagine was a bit different than for most. But at the same time, people have their professional pursuits day to day that probably make for an untraditional schedule when you're building materials.
So for me, being deployed and trying to manage the application essentially came down to some quick preparation on the front end. I went to Barnes & Noble, got a couple of GRE prep books, and threw those in my bag, took them with me. And it, you know OPTEMPO changes throughout a deployment. And when there are down days, you just have to put your head down and work is what I ended up doing. And then when there were on days, just put that well out of your mind because you need to focus on other things.
And so it was a hectic schedule, trying to fit in time to study, prep my application. But it's really just capitalizing on those free moments. And I was able to do it.
What it meant for me in terms of the deployment and the actual submission of my application was that I needed to plan on taking the GRE as soon as I got back. So I ended up taking the GRE within two weeks of redeploying. I had my scores two weeks later, submitted my application right after that, and then continued to move through the application process, and eventually got here.
On the back end, it was also nice because I ETSed in around March. And school didn't start till August. So, you know, you put in hard work for a while. And there's also a little bit of time for free time sometimes.