Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all of you out there, and best wishes for a prosperous and successful 2011!

Scholl Class of 2015

I'm officially attending Scholl's Class of 2015 next year! :) I sent in my deposit yesterday. I'm so incredibly excited to attend next year. The school is top notch and I felt very comfortable around all of the students and faculty. I received my letter from Temple today saying I've been wait-listed. It doesn't really matter though, because I pretty much knew the minute I was accepted to Scholl that I would ultimately be picking them. I haven't decided when I'm going to make the move from Ohio to Illinois, but I'm leaning more toward May. That would give me plenty of time to adjust to a new state, city, town, house, etc. I just need to figure out how to finance moving 3 months ahead of time without loans taking care of it. Now I need to find a roommate and prepare myself for the next year! I don't think it's really hit me yet that I've been accepted to a top podiatry school, that all of my hard work in undergrad has paid off, and that I'm going to be leaving everything I know behind and moving to a new city. It's going to be a big adjustment. Western contacted me today offering me an interview, but they were 2 weeks too late! I'm really excited for the new year and my new life! :)

Accepted to Scholl :)

I was officially accepted to Scholl today along with a merit based scholarship! I'm about 90% sure I will ultimately choose Scholl. I'm still waiting to hear from Temple and I'm waiting for my official letter/packet from Barry to see what the scholarship (if any) from them will be. I decided to cancel my NYCPM and CSPM interviews. The cost of living in NYC is so high, and the travel expenses to interview in California are also very high. I'm extremely excited for this Scholl acceptance! :)

Temple Interview

I had my interview at Temple yesterday. The day started with a short talk about Temple from the admissions representative. We then went on a tour. I'm not sure who took us around, but it was not a student. TUSPM is basically 2 separate buildings right next door to each other. It is separate from the main Temple campus. The schools seemed a little outdated, but still nice. Their clinic was very busy. They told us that they see, on average, 50,000 patients every year. After the tour we watched a short video about the main campus. We didn't visit the main campus because it was about a 30 minute drive away. We then met with a financial aid advisor and were give a stapled packed of information. We then met with a third year student for lunch. At the beginning of the day we were given a small sandwich menu for lunch, so we got to pick what we wanted, which was nice. After lunch, we had our interviews. It was a one-on-one open file interview with a faculty member. It wasn't too difficult, pretty conversational. After the interview we had a wrap up session and the day was over. The only think I'm disappointed about was that we didn't get a chance to meet with the Dean. I don't know if he was still out for the Holiday, or if he just wasn't there. They told us we would find out about the status of our application in a little over 2 weeks.
On a side note, I really liked the city of Philadelphia. I like the old city, as well as the new bustling city. If you interview at Temple, take some time to check out Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, and the "Rocky" steps. The only thing I didn't like about the city was the parking. It's almost impossible to park anywhere close to where you want to be... let alone park at all.

First Acceptance! :)

I was accepted today to Barry! :) I'm going to get my official letter in the mail next week, but I got an email today letting me know! Couldn't be more happy! This is quite possibly the best Thanksgiving ever.

Barry Interview

I had my Barry interview yesterday. I got to Miami the night before and stayed at the Wyndham. I picked the Wyndham because in the email I was sent they said Barry has a deal with that hotel. But, the AAA discount was about $25 cheaper than the student deal, so if you have AAA be sure to mention that. There's a shuttle that will pick you up at the Miami airport and take you to the hotel. It was probably a 5 minute ride, if that. The next morning I took a taxi to the school. Taxi's are pretty readily available around the hotel since the hotel is right near the airport. Expect to pay about $30 without tip included each way. Ask the hotel for taxi numbers to call a taxi to pick you up from the school. If you forget I'm sure the school would help you call a taxi. It takes about 15-20 to get to the school from the airport. I wish I knew this, because I gave myself about 50 minutes to get there... so I arrived at the school pretty early. Dr. Armstrong was the first person to get to the campus after me, and we shook hands and laughed about how early I was. (I later found out he was one of the 2 people interviewing me, so I think this worked to my advantage). The very first thing we did were interviews. One by one we went into the interview room. The Dean Jenson of the school along with Dr. Armstrong conducted the interview. They are both VERY nice, and the interview was very comfortable and laid back. I felt that it went extremely well. After all of the interviews were done we watched a powerpoint on financial aid. We then went on a tour of the campus with a second year. He showed us the basics: library, anatomy lab, lecture hall, etc. I liked that they had a shuttle system for rainy days so you don't have to walk across campus in the rain. After the tour we drove to the Hialeah Hospital. We met Dr. Southerland, who was extremely nice. He gave us a tour of the clinic and the hospital and we had lunch with him in the doctor's lounge of the hospital. After the tour we went back to the university and the interview day was over. I really enjoyed Barry and I think it gets a bad rep on SDN. I really urge you to tour the campus and go to the interview to see for yourself at any school and not to just read an anonymous post on a forum. I'm very excited to find out the status of my application/interview soon!

Scholl College

I had my interview with Scholl College yesterday. Overall, I was very impressed. We met Kim Young, and she took us into a waiting room area with coffee, water, magazines, etc. There were 5 interviewees total. The dean of the school came in first and we just all small talked together. He was an older gentleman, and very distinguished. We were told he was retiring before the next school year and that a new female dean was going to be coming in. After the dean left, it was then interview time. I ended up being the last one to be interviewed (I guess that's better than first LOL). It was a panel style interview. The panel was nice and it was very conversational. I have to be honest, I was more comfortable in front of the panel here as apposed to DMU. They gave me their business cards and shook my hand when the interview was finished. I felt pretty good about my interview and I'm hoping for the best! Then I went back to the waiting room where the rest of the interviewees were waiting. We then all got into a 10 passenger van and Ms. Young drove us to the clinic. It's next door to the campus, but it is a little walk and it was very cold outside.
The clinic was very nice, I was very impressed. We met up with a DPM, a couple 2nd years, and a couple 3rd years that were doing their rounds in the clinic. They were all EXTREMELY nice not only answered all of our questions, but also told us about different things about the clinic and being a 2nd/3rd year and tips they use. One of them said "I'm the one that called you the other day." And I remembered, she called me to tell me that the school is very excited to meet me and who I would be touring with as well as the names of my interviewers. Very professional. We left the clinic and drove around the housing around campus to get a better feel of it. We then met up with a couple of tour guides who showed us around the school. We ran into quite a few students onthe tour, all of which had great things to say about the school. The tour guides were very enthusiastic and I could tell that they LOVED their school. Then we had lunch in the middle of the tour, because it was going on 12:30. We had a meal ticket and could get anything we wanted in their cafeteria. They had all sorts of things, burgers, subs, home cooked food. After lunch we finished the tour and went back to the waiting room. We were then given some material on research opportunities and the day was over. I would be honored to get an acceptance to this school. Here's for hoping!

DMU Interview

I had my DMU interview yesterday. Let me start out by saying how impressed I was with this school, faculty and staff, and students. I walked in and there was a student heading to class. He asked if I had an interview and wished me luck as he walked into his class. Then i climbed the stairs to the admissions office and a custodian saw me and said "Interviews are this way, I've worked her long enough to figure out who is interviewing each day!". I was impressed with everyones willingness to help. When I walked into the office I got a very nice purple plastic folding filing folder. Inside was a notepad, a nice pen, and a lot of information about the school. We put our name-tags on and grabbed a water/soda and waited. The DO interviewees and the DPM interviewees then separated for the day.

We then met in a conference room with Dean Yoho. He was incredibly nice and very informative. Then Gina Smith came in to talk with us about housing, financial aid, and Des Moines in general. Also very informative. She then took us to the clinic and we waited with the 3rd year students while we were individually taken into our panel interviews. They only lasted about 20 minutes or so. It was a little stressful, as 3 people were asking you questions instead of 1, but it wasn't as intimidating as I had imagined it out to be. After the interview we went to lunch with 2 student tour guides. After lunch we took a tour of the campus, which took a little over an hour if I remember correctly. The campus is top notch, everything looks nice and new. The wellness center is very nice and it's great that they give you 2 passes so you could bring a family member or friend with you. The simulation labs were very cool as well as the mock OR and clinic rooms.

Overall I got a different vibe from DMU than I did from OCPM. OCPM is one large building and not affiliated with any other school. I liked that DMU is a graduate health sciences school and that DPM students take the exact same classes with the DOs and also take the exact same tests. I honestly felt at home at DMU and would be so honored to get an acceptance from this school.

OCPM Interview

I interviewed at OCPM today. The day started at 9AM. There were 4 of us total that were being interviewed. They gave us a packet full of information about the school, financial aid, and housing. The day began with an hour tour around the campus. We were then presented with a powerpoint about financial aid. Then we went one by one and first interviewed with a recruiter. She just asked a few basic questions. Then we were interviewed by Dean Lott. Dean Lott is very nice. It was almost like talking with an old friend instead of being interviewed. We then went to lunch with both interviewers as well as a professor. Dean Lott then took us back one by one to tell us if we were accepted or not. I was offered a conditional acceptance. She wanted me to have a higher MCAT score. I guess a conditional acceptance is better than a rejection, or worse, no interview at all. I'm just hoping that one of the other 6 schools I applied to will accept me without wanting me to retake that beast of a test.

Interviews Scheduled

So as of right now here is my interview schedule:
November 12 = OCPM
November 15 = DMU
November 18 = Scholl
November 22 = Barry
November 29 = Temple
December 1 = NYCPM
December 8 = CSPM

Time to start practicing for my interviews!

Interviews

I have officially scheduled 4 of my interviews. I will be interviewing at DMU on November 15, BUSPM on November 22, NYCPM on December 1, and CSPM on December 8. I couldn't be more thrilled! I also received a letter in the mail from Barry with just some basic information attached. There wasn't really anything mentioned about the interview day. My letter of recommendation from the podiatrist I shadowed has officially been sent to my advisor, so I should be good to go now for interviews!

Des Moines and California and a Letter from Ohio... Oh my!

I got an email today around noon from Des Moines University's College of Podiatric Medicine and Surgery inviting me to come in for an interview. :) Then about four hours later I received another email, this one from California School of Podiatric Medicine, also wanting me to come in for an interview. Pretty exciting stuff! I also received a letter in the mail from OCPM. It included a formal letter inviting me to interview along with lodging information.



I honestly wasn't expecting to hear back from so many schools. I applied to all 9 schools with the hopes that maybe 2 or 3 wanted to have me come in for an interview. It is so wonderful to have so many options! It feels really good to finally see all of my hard work the past 4 years or so paying off!

The Ball Has Started Rolling

I'm a recent college graduate in the middle of the process of applying to Podiatry school. I initially thought I wanted to be a DO doctor, but upon further thought and after shadowing a podiatrist, I have decided that Podiatry school is the right choice for me. I will still be able to perform surgeries, write prescriptions, and have my own practice. I can do all of this and still have a family life. You get the best of both worlds. I really think it is medicine's best kept secret.

I have received four invitations to interview at different podiatry schools this week. Monday I received two emails. One from Temple University School of Podiatric Medicine and the other from New York College of Podiatric Medicine. Tuesday I received an email from Ohio College of Podiatric Medicine. Today I received a phone call from Barry University School of Podiatric Medicine. I also got a packet in the mail today from Temple University. Inside the packet there was a formal invitation letter, FAQ's about Temple, a student's guide to Philadelphia booklet, and information about lodging in Philadelphia. All in all it was very professionally put together.



I'm VERY excited that this process has officially started. I need to schedule interviews still, but I'm waiting to see if I hear back from any other schools as well so I can set them all up in the same two week time span.