I really doubt I'll keep up with this blogging thing.. haven't really written much since high school days.
But anywayz.. HI!
Just spent a little bit of time reading some1's blog on the whole med school interviews/application process. Then I realized I've never really spent much time writing down mine.. I think I should.. before my memories give up on me. Something to look back upon right? Something to be proud of .. since I haven't really done jack shit with my life since I graduated. Or should I say.. be jealous ;)?
I counted.. the time between my last final and today.. it could have been a whole summer break in between. I still have the actual summer break to look forward to. So excited.. yet so worried about the work load.. and the stress free life i have to kiss goodbye in the Fall. Nevertheless, this will be my first summer where I won't be working 2-3 internships/research positions.. for once something is not needed for resume padding. So freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.
As you can tell.. my thoughts are everywhere.. and I'm a totally random person. Okie back to the point of the blog. The whole journey in getting into dental schoooool. Where should I start... the day i took my DAT? nah.. let's just go straight to the whole interview process.. cuz that's where I enjoy being a weirdo and embarrass myself in.
1. Maryland - Sept 30, 2009- I remember leaving biochem lectures 20 mins early with 3 bags: 1. Interview clothes + make up, 2. laptop, 3. a huge bag of chocolate chip cookies aka dinnerrr. It was the day before the actual interview. I was still in school.. had to go to 4th street subway station and commute to port authority to catch the 7:30 PM megabus back to DC. Megabus was ballin.. i got the whole $2.50 round trip deal. wifi my whole way back home. I think i ate too much cookies that night tho.. felt kinda sick halfway thru. Listened to Drake's Best I Ever Had the whole ride through. I think i was trying to mentally prep myself. Maryland was my state school.. cheapest option, I knew I can't bomb it and it happens to be my first. Oh well. What can i doooo? Anywayz, didn't get home til around 12AM that night after being picked up by my parents. Couldn't sleep at all that night.. i remember writing in my 7th grade journal praying hard. "PLEASE LET ME DO MY BEST". Next morning by 8:30 I was set to gooo. Stupid GPS brought us to the whole wrong side of town. Good thing we left an hr early just in case shit like that happens.. ok got there in time yay! I remember walking into the waiting room.. it was my first interview.. so i actually shook hand with other interviewees.. they prob thought i was weird. But not my fault they look so damn old.. actually thought they work for the school or something. Looked my personal schedule in WING CHAN folder provided by the school. Great interview is AFTER lunch. Now i can't pig out. :( Sat thru the whole presentation on why the school is so great. I actually really really liked Maryland. Brand new facilities.. the admission directors and students sounded and appeared very professional. Got kinda annoyed by the other interviewees (show offs) asking a bajillion questions. Went downstairs to take tours, etc. The place continued to amaze me. Ok came back to the waiting room yay lunch time. They boxed all the lunches and u can choose whichever one u want. I picked a turkey wrap.. (funny how I dont recall much about what the director said about the school.. but i remember so much about my lunch). The sandwich was kinda dry.. should have gotten mayo..but i really liked the brownie hehe and the noodle salad!! or was that from UPenn.. ok back downstairs to look at the tech and lab part. pretty pretty ya ya. Actually was really distracted by the fact that it's almost my turn to be interviewed.. Ok went back upstairs to meet my interviewers. 10 mins late cuz of my tour guide.. bitches and hoes.. A 3rd year student greeted me by the door.. and we shook hands. "Hi I'm Wing, nice to meet you" "Wing? wait don't u go by Carol?" "uh yesss!" *nervously walk into this huge conference room, dunno where to put my bag, it's sure damn hot in here.. i can't breathe in my suit... im so nervous.. omg stop sweating, shook hands with some professor on the admission committee anddd finally sat down awkwardly*. The interviewers didn't throw any curveballs at me.. I saw every single of their questions on SDN... yet i blanked so hard... even after I wrote a ballin response to every question. FML. Tell me about yourself.. I blanked half way thru. I couldn't even remember who i am lol. Being a dork that i am i apologized for being so nervous.. they laughed and said they understand.. especially since it was their second day interviewing for the incoming class.. but then i continued to fail."why maryland?" FAIL. "why dentistry?" FAIL. Fail after fail. I think the only question i showed any personality in was .."how did you study for your DAT?" The professor dude kept looking out the window like im boring him to death. I wanted to cry right on the spot lol. The 3rd year student was monotone and gave me funny looks throughout the whole 20 mins. I expected them to ask me some ethical questions.. but then they just ended there. Asked me if i had any questions. Great i prepared like 3 good ones. Can barely remember them by then. All in all.. walked out with a horrified face. Skipped the whole optional tour thing cuz i was so bummed out. Wanted to run home and stuff cheeseburger in my face. My parents knew from the sound of my voice when i was asking them to pick me up that i failed hard. They took me to Five Guys for some comfort food. Cheeseburgr and cajun fries.. I laid on the couch being a bum for the rest of the night.. wanting to cry. From that day on .. i told myself to FKING MAN UP... in which i did..
2. UMDNJ - 10/16/2009 - Had to get up at like 6 AM to commute to Newark. SO FARRRRRR. After being traumatized by Maryland.. i knew i had to step it up. The commute wasn't too bad.. thanks to hopstop for guiding me thru the city all 4 years. Subwayed it to port authority, took the LIRR, then transferred to the bus. The place was mad ghetto.. but the people were actually really friendly and willing to help a little Asian girl in suit out. The lady next to me specifically pointed me on which stop to get off. Oo i remember it was raining hard that day.. i was in my rainboots and sweatpants. Once i got inside the school, the guard pointed me to the bathroom and wished me good luck.. how nice :). The whole time i was changing, i was telling myself to not be an idiot again. Then I rolled into the sign-in desk with a tote bag carrying my rainboots. They took my passport and photocopied it. Then I saw this guy I met at my Maryland interview. Hey 2 interviews on the same dates for both of us.. what a coincidence! We chatted it up.. then went into the waiting room together. Poured myself a cup of OJ, looked thru the folder they gave us. Chatted it up a little bit with interviewees around me. Eventually this really fobby Korean girl sat next to me. I think she was one of the last one to come in. Interview was the first thing. AHH *deep breath*! One by one, interviewee was being taken away. Every time an admission committee member walks in, i panicked.. please dont take me.. u look mean :(. Eventually as I was getting more OJ, this Indian Biochem professor walked in and was looking for Wing. Well here I am! took my interview folder with me.. and he led me down thru some strange hallways.. we made small talks as we walked towards the huge meeting/lounge area.. it was kinda strange cuz every1 was being interviewed there u can hear other student's responses. U literally just grab a chair and corner yourself in with the interview holding onto your application file. As we walked, he told me how he's a biochem professor who teaches both the med and dental students.. i felt kinda relieved and weirded out in a way.. wait u're not a dentist? Anywayz, sat down.. he told me i didnt have to sit that straight and needed to relax lol. But i told him i have the best posture.. and sitting up straight allows the blood to flow to the brain.. he laughed.. and asked to be excused to get some coffee. I felt some kind of inner peace at that moment.. and as i was waiting. I smiled and hoped for the best. UMDNJ happened to be my best interviews out of the 6. The professor and I clicked so well. When he asked me why dentistry.. i gave him a really really long response on my past experiences in working in different fields of med and how i discovered the traits and values that are important to who i am.. he thanked me for being so honest and putting so much effort into searching what I want in life/who i want to become. He asked me if i felt safe about being in Newark.. i told him i grew up in the hood haha DC which was true. He asked why UMDNJ, i told him about Peony. Our interview lasted for almost an hr.. one of the last pairs to leave the room.. way after the ones who came in half hr later than us. We just bonded. He was very honest about my chance in getting in. I could tell from the end of my interview I was in. He gave me his business card and asked me to email him if i have any question/doubt. I left the room feeling like i was me again.. not the sorry ass Carol leaving Maryland. He took me back to the room. I stuffed my face with the continental breakfast they had for us which i was too nervous to down earlier. Sat thru the usual.. presentation, financial aid, toured around the school.. then lunch. Lunch was kinda lame. Cold sandwiches on a huge plate.. just grab one.. grab chips/cookies.. and get a no name branded soda. One of the worst lunches I had. 5-6 current third years came in to join us.. they all sounded like tools. Talked about how much they didn't study for the board and passed.. o and back to the tour around the school.. i felt so uncomfortable at one point going inside the student lounge. All the current students just looked at us.. and gave us dirty looks? wtf.. anywayz.. I left around 2 PM i believe. Went back to the bathroom, change back to my sweatpants and rainboots.. peaced out that place by taking the same bus, LIRR, and subway home. Called mom as i waited for the bus. Talked to Ally on the LIRR. So excited to finally not be a fking pussy.
3. NYU - 10/23/2009 - This one was easyyyy. Took the M15 bus right on Allen and Grand. Got there around 8:30? Filled out some form. The waiting area was so small. Went to get OJ and ate a small muffin. NYU has dank food... i couldn't get enough of the muffin. Looked around, heard some girl said it was her 7th interview.. I was like wtf? Anywayz a pediatric dentist was my interviewer this time. VERY VERY NICE AND SWEET. She asked me about my trip getting there. And we joked about taking the same bus every day. How it must had been so easy getting there. She asked very very standard questions. The same exact ones NYU has prepped us with the committee packet. Why NYU? Strength/weakness? Courseload/how much did you study? Why dentistry? my background? We clicked really really well. She straight up told me I was in in the end. She told me NYU needs students like me.. and she hopes I would choose them. <3. She ended up just talking about herself in the end cuz she told me i convinced her enough. The interview was painless and I actually began liking to be interviewed :). Came back out.. ate more muffins.. found a girl who went to NYU .. she was older but we bonded thru the rest of the day. She went to London like I did.. had the same professors like I did.. well except Orgo. Now lives in DC/Maryland. She was married tho.. but i liked her a lot! For the rest of the day, we toured the school. There was renovation done in every corner. NYU's waiting lounges were starting to look more like 4 star hotel lobbies. I was really turned off however by the tour guide. She was very much interested in talking to one particular girl in the group.. cuz they knew each other from before. The other interviewees like me.. felt very excluded. And another thing i didnt like about NYU was how the presentation was set up.. there wasn't one. They just brought us to a room and expected us to throw questions at them.. wtf? no financial aid presentation too.. i guess they knew the school is expensive.. so there's no point of talking about HOW TO AFFORD IT. At the end of the day.. LUNCH. OMG best lunch ever. I had a steak wrap/flat bread thingy + fries + soda + yogurt parfait + soda again to go haha + fruits. I had to pig out.. i mean they said pick anything we want.... i dont feel bad. NYU sucked me dry all these years. Sat, ate lots and chatted with other interviewees. It seems like no1 was genuinely interested in coming here. They all just came for the experience and free lunch. Very nice. Left around 1.. took the E bus at gram green back to campus to study for some midterm..i think it was cog neuro.. talked to my parents while waiting for the bus.. gave them the good news..
4. UPenn - 10/30/2009 - Booked my hotel at the Sheraton on campus through Anna. 76 a night including tax. Not bad. Gma came along with me.. took the megabus together :). I think the bus tickets were around 30 for both of us. I had the whole 2.50 deal but since we decided gma was coming along the last sec i had to pay more. We originally planned for my dad to take me.. but then I realized that was stupid. Waste of gas and he'll be hella tired .. and so will I.. traveling back to MD for my dad to take me.. what the hell? Okie Megabus was easy enough, got there around 2PM on the 29th. Walked for about 20 mins to get to the actual hotel. The staff was very accommodating, got there earlier than schedule check in time.. they let us get in anywayz. The guy at the front desk wished me good luck for my interview.. and even gave me a map/direction on how to get there. Walked around campus area with gma after settling inside the hotel. There was a computer in the room so i spent a lot of time just on meebo and facebook lol. Gma and I decided to walk around the area to get food/water.. and find the building i have to get to the next morning. The area was actually pretty decent. Stopped by a CVS, got drinks and snacks.. walked towards the campus housing area.. found a sandwich place. Got a foot long philly cheese steak and a foot long meatball marinara. I liked the meatball one more.. she liked the philly cheese steak more.. by the time we got home it was already around 8PM. I remember watching Southpark that night with Lady Gaga imitation.. and i think there was a huge baseball game on that night cuz every news channel was talking about it. I believe Yankee vs the philly team. Couldn't really sleep .. but whatev i was tired. The next day, bright and early. All dressed and ready to walk thereee. I believe i was the 3rd person to enter the waiting room. Some Asian admission lady greeted me. The room was beautiful.. ooo another continental breakfast. I learned to eat and not be nervous by then. Eating was my way of intimating other interviewees lol. Seee im not too nervous to eattt. *nomnomnom* I remember taking note on how nerdy one of the guys looked.. he looked very anti social too.. and then i nervous this time our name tags show which undergrad we're from.. Coool. looked thru the folder.. saw my scheduled interview time to be before lunch.. YAY. I had the perfect schedule because the optional tour was in the end. I had to get back to the hotel before 2.. cuz we had to check out and i didn't want my gma waiting by herself in the lobby. Have I told you i love this woman? The front desk worker has allowed us to stay an hr extra knowing that I might be coming back late. He would have let us stay even longer but they were fully booked that night. Nevertheless he was very generous. great customer service fo shooo. So back to the interview day.. nothing really interesting.. just more on how awesome the school is.. future of dentistry.. financial aid. I really wanted the Deans Scholar award but only 20 kids out of a class of 130? gets it.. so that's kinda useless. Toured around the school. the tour guide was about 20 mins late cuz his gma was in the hospital. One of the girls in my group tried to suck up to him.. o what the hell.. really? The tour guide ended up giving us a shortened version of the tour.. didn't see the underground basement which every1 talked about.. suppose to be hell down there.. really run down and hot.. returned to the waiting room.. and waited for my interviewer. As I entered the room i tripped over my pants pocket.. the girl who tried to suck up to the tour guide thought she tripped me and apologized lol. She was from Maryland I remember... and she was one of the 3 people who had their school name printed wrong.. interviewer eventually came in.. i believe she was a specialist.. but im not sure what kind.. endo? prosterio? she was from Iran and had a thick accent. Started off asking me about my trip there, i explained to her about megabus.. she was very excited in hearing how cheap my trip was lol. The questions were really standard, i felt like we clicked really well too. The only awkward moment was when she asked.. "why did i choose health?".. the way she said health.. was "heeeel"? I had to ask her to repeat the question like 3 times.. to finally get it. I felt like i had a solid interview and she was really excited to show me what she was working on and the place she worked at... and how she loveess living in philly. I think the only bad part about my interview was the fact that i couldn't recall exactly how many hrs i worked in my labs and volunteers.. i didn't expect her to make me repeat what was on my app. I fudged the hrs .. so it was hard to estimate. Balls. came back into the room.. every1 was eating already :(. lost my chair to a 3rd year student trying to talk about the school :(. grabbed another chair and joined in. The 2 students looked really stressed out.. but for some reason i felt really connected to the school. I felt like it was a perfect fit. the lunch was really yummy.. i had a chicken salad sandwich, a brownie, and a noodle salad. I think i had water that day. After lunch i left to meet up with the admission director to give her any update. I think i asked her a stupid question .. like do u guys have any mentoring program for incoming students with current students.. she told me i should have asked the current students or something. That caught me off guard.. afterward, i ran out and ran back to the hotel to see my gma. As you can see, i never heard back from UPenn. Out of the 6 schools i interviewed in, i was accepted into every1 except Penn. I didn't get rejected or accepted.. or waitlisted.. im confused .. so im picking out all the bad/strange thing i did that day. Maybe i should just call to give myself a closure. I spent the rest of the day chillin with my gma. Went into the city.. saw the hood.. Philly is DC of 1995. I wasn't scared but i was turned off by the people.. and how rundown everything is. Some dude tried to mug my gma on the trolly. I knew it wasn't the place for me from that point on. I loved the school.. but philly for 4 years wouldn't have worked. Not that they accepted me anywayzzzzzzzzzzz.
5. Columbia - 11/6/2009 - Took the F train on Delancey and transferred over to the A train at 4th street station. This was a usual routine in the summer of 2008. Got off at a familiar stop, 168th street and broadway. Realized hey.. the dental school is down the block from where i did my research at Psychiatric Institute. Cool. Walked in, flirted with the guard, he wished me good luck.. lurked around for a bit and i found my way into the tiny admission office near the top floor. There were already a large group there. I was one of the last ones to arrive. Oops i must have read the invitation wrong.. i thought i would be 30 mins early. Eric Chai is nowhere to be seen.. in fact he was the last one to show up haha. We scheduled our interview date on the same day. I was nice to see a familiar face. Every1 in the interview group that day was either from cali or maryland. It was strange. It was uber quiet for the most part. Another continental breakfast.. stuffed my face with another muffin. NOMNOMNOM.. and OJ :). Interview was the first thing in the morning. Uh oh *nervous* Just cuz i wanted this school. The more i want something.. the more i act like retard. Saw people come and go.. Chai face was taken away by some perky woman. She seemed nice, i wish i had her. Some guy came in.. hmm he seems ok. Left the room with him. Went into Diana Lugo's office. Sat down.. and the first thing he said to me was .. "are u Diana?" I was so confused and tried to keep my cool haha. I wanted to sound normal and not offended at all by the fact that he hadn't read my file. Whatev. First question, tell me about yourself.. FKING BALLS AGAIN.. same first damn question at Maryland? Please dont let me it be Maryland number 2. I freaked out a little bit, rambled on and on about random shit that doesn't matter... family.. when i came to america.. wtf Carol. Then suddenly he brought up the fact that I went to London thru NYU. His daughter also went to NYU.. and also went to London the same semester as I did.. and also a psych major. He kept pushing if i knew his daughter.. of course not lol. He asked me questions like.. if I liked NYU.. why i chose NYU.. where else have I been interviewed.. i told him this was actually my 5th .. and he looked somewhat surprised. He told me i would def get into NYU.. i told him but i wanted Columbia lol. He asked about my family and the whole restaurant business. I think i showed my genuine side through that.. then he asked me what i like to do for fun.. i couldn't think of jack shit.. then he asked me.. what i like to do on my spare time... isn't that the same question.. then another.. why i enjoy doing.. wtf? wow i must have sounded so boring to him. In the end i said something stupid like.. "o normal typical teenage stuff.." then i realized im 21 not a teen fml lol. I think i kept my cool pretty well throughout. He explained what he did.. and i asked him if he enjoyed his experience in Columbia. He told me he would try his best to get me in.. he told me how the process work.. how all of the members in the committee meet after we leave today.. and each interviewer will present his/her candidate.. and try to convince the other members to vote this student in. Sounds pretty damn intense. After the interview.. we went on to financial aid part.. and the presentation. The lunch was well on its way. Had like 2 sandwiches.. brownies.. and soda.. i tried not to drink soda during my interview days.. bad for teeth i know.. but that's like saying to a doctor.. u can't have candy cuz it's bad for your health/makes u fat. Toured around the school.. they kept throwing us into random classrooms with current students and just asked us to go talk to them.. and ask questions. I guess they didn't want to hide anything. The place wasn't anything special.. like normal 80s clinic. The place is a lil outdated but it looks like they are doing a lot of renovations. Saw one of the interns I met over the summer at Cornell Presby. We said hi.. he couldn't recall where he knew me from.. but he wished me good luck and asked who i had for interview. Went on to see the 4th year in clinic.. they all looked so stressed. Saw dirty clinic clothes and white coats lying around. I remember being so not impressed by Columbia haha. But then i saw how serious and profession the group of specialists were together discussing cases and days... this is the place to be if u want to specialize for sure.. i think by then i just wanted to go homeee. By around 2.. they told us it's time to leave and we can throw away our name tag. i kept all my name tag for memories.. so of course i kept it.. yay took the A train back to school.. then planned to study in the library.. walked Eric around campus for a lil bit.. showed him where some kid jumped off into bobst atrium the week before.. and dropped him off with Andy Jiang at Gould Plaza. I think i went home instead. 2 midterms and have to travel to Boston on sunday.. fml.
Boston University - 11/9/2009 - So excited about my last interview.. unless Harvard calls lol.. which didn't happen since I didn't apply til Mid October. Took megabus again and planned to stay with Tiffany Cheng. The bus ride started bright and early i think i got like 3 hrs of sleep.. climbed onto the bus at Pork Authority. The whole trip only took aout 3.5 hrs.. thank to sunday traffic. Boston was beautiful! I loved loved loved the environment. I vowed to move there one day. I hope i get to .. in the future for residency or training. Anywayz, Tiff only lived about 15 mins walking from the station. She came to pick me up and then i saw the pretty apt she lives in. I washed up a lil and she took me to the nicest shopping center eating area.. and i had a burrito there. They dont have chipotle .. they had something else i forgot its name. After lunch, we walked around the city, saw her school and found her 2 roomies. We shopped for a little bit and even took the bus to some mall.. the only nice store inside that mall was forever 21. I ended up getting a nice pink flowery top, a blue v neck shirt..I tried to get my free panty from VS in the mall.. but they didn't have the style and size I wanted lol. Took the bus back.. the roomies made dinner.. that woman can cook even tho the dishes were really simple. I ate a lot.. they ate very little.. they were a lil scared at how much i can eat. I attempted to study on tiff's floor with my sleeping bag out.. but i was too tired. The next day.. i got up around 7 ish.. dressed myself and Tiff gave me the direction on how to get to school and how to get to the bus station after my interview. She's the sweetest.. she even drew me a map. So off i went .. holding onto all my personal belonging and bright pink sleeping bag. Got lost for a sec .. cuz i was confused by east and west haha. asked for direction.. and finally i was there. The school didn't look anything special. Saw a lot of international student at the front of the entrance.. mostly Indians actually. Went upstairs .. found myself in the waiting room with 3 quiet interviewees. Asked the lady if they have a place for me to store my sleeping bag.. nope so i just them into the corner in the waiting room. Threw my passport photo into the envelop on the center of the desk, signed in.. got myself a folder.. ooooo a dental floss keychain! Sat around waited some more.. then a familiar face came in... omg Kate Coyle, a girl in my bio lab group! we chatted and was so excited to finally see some1 i knew. Presentation began.. COULD NOT STOP FALLING ASLEEP. The head of the admission isn't even a dentist.. im confused. MUST STAY AWAKE. Kate accidentally kicked me across the table.. which was nice cuz i finally woke up! I think then we had a tour and lunch. Lunch wasn't anything special once again.. just a platter of sandwiches and cookies. I only ate half of the giant cookie. It wasn't that great. I took 2 fizzy soda water cuz i knew i would be thirsty on my bus ride. I was one of the last girl to be picked up for my interview. The interviewer wasnt a dentist either.. just a public health lady. She seemed really really nice. This has to be my second best interview.. we talked nothing about dentistry. We talked about how I learned English and my role in my own family. I asked her about Boston and the school history. It was just a nice.. let me get to know u. We chatted for so long that i missed the whole financial aid presentation.. not that i need to hear it again... since it's the same thing at the other 5 schools. Left around 3 PM with Kate.. we walked and talked about our interviewing journey.. our top choices. she was there for the whole week cuz she only had Tufts and Harvard lined up.. we hugged and departed and wished each other good luck + keep each other up-to-date. Took the bus at 5. Came back to the city by 10 ish. STUDY STUDY STUDY that night.. and week..
So ya.. that was my interviewing journey. Accepted to 5 of the schools by Dec 1.. which made my narrowing of the choices pretty easy. I knew Maryland and Columbia were the only ones that mattered to me. Tufts contacted me in Feb for an interview.. i declined cuz by then i knew it wouldn't top Maryland or Columbia in my decision. I ended up placing deposits in both school.. and did a lot of soul searching.. what exactly do I want. .and what would make me happy. Jan 15 deadline didn't give me enough time to think. Every other day during my winter break, i would choose the opposite. It was a real struggle... checked the cost, checked the housing, checked the environment. I think I'm pretty happy at my current choice.... but i can't say for sure once school starts. I know it's going to be uber tough.. but im willing to fight thru it all.
