AspiringGC
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Everything posted by AspiringGC
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I'm in the same boat :/
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@GCFaith92 this is my first year applying. But that's exactly how I am. I'm gonna save a lot of money, hopefully have more of a pick from schools, and I'll gain so much more experience (the job I just interviewed for wouls be very relevant experience that I could use, on top of the shadowing im doing with GCs).
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Exactly how I feel except I have zero interviews and only have three schools to hear back from. It's disheartening and discouraging. I think my issue is my lack of experience and my not so great science GPA. But I'm trying not to be so down and hard on myself, it's my first year applying. I just left from a job interview working with children with autism and I think it went well! Plus I came out to two voicemails for interviews for a few other positions, so that's been helping, knowing I'm competitive job wise. If I don't get in this cycle, I use the time to gain more experience and maybe take a class or two to raise up that GPA issue. I'll know for sure once I reach out to program directors to see where I can improve. Just stat positive and if you know this is for you, don't give up!
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No GC news still, but I did end up getting into that phlebotomy class I mentioned and am officially certified as a phlebotomy technician.
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I don't personally have a dog, but my boyfriend does and we've never run into problems with there being any unfriendliness towards dogs. A lot of restaurants around even have dog friendly patios! But if she doesn't need the space the you'll easily find somewhere that has a side yard that gives her plenty of space to do her business, but still give her some room if she desired. Though it is true some places will have breed restrictions (sometimes weight, but normally just breed, which your lab wouldn't fall into a category that's normally restricted); however, if you are planning to buy then it doesn't matter. There are definitely some cute new condos/townhouses going up around town and there are some nice older remodeled homes too for cheap (thanks to the low cost of living). Whatever your budget you can find something that would work for you, I've only ever rented though, so that's about as much advice as I can give though.
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I'm doing my undergrad there now, so if you have any specific questions please let me know! I personally love Tucson and UofA. I have never had a professor that I felt was apathetic or did not want me to succeed, only TAs and a professor at one of the community colleges in town, but never one of my professors. Tucson is kind of laid back, "lazy" city, but in a good way. It doesn't have that huge hustle and bustle of Phoenix, but is still big enough for there to be plenty to do. There are tons of wonderful houses around the campus area that you could purchase for decently cheap. If you are looking for something a little nicer, the Sam Hughes area and east side of town would be ideal. If you're willing to drive (15-20 minutes), out west past the highway (I-10) you can get a gorgeous home with a gorgeous view for cheap. North is also considered a nicer area. I would avoid going too south (not past like 22nd?) as that is where it gets a little more "sketch", but overall the crime in Tucson isn't bad and I have never felt unsafe in the 4 years that I have lived here. Tucson is plenty dog friendly, especially with a lab, you won't have any trouble. Definitely look up some information about dogs and heat, as sometimes in the summer months it is recommended to either have your dogs wear booties or only walk them late at night when the pavement has cooled or otherwise the pads of their feet can gets burnt since the concrete is so hot. Many places will have a small yard, normally just dirt. If you plan on leaving her outside when you aren't home just make sure that she has a shaded area to stay cool in and plenty of water, though it would be advised to keep her inside throughout the day just for peace of mind. If you have any specific questions feel free to ask!
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Still haven't heard back from my remaining four programs.. Really thought this would be the week! Hopefully by the end of the month. I did just receive an interview for a clinical interventionist position working with children with autism if I don't get in this cycle, it's definitely a good backup
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I'd agree on what @kbash said! Not so much restating my personal statement, but still giving them a good, insightful look on what makes me "me" and unique. I only ever mention my family because both of my parents are military, so we moved around a lot when I was growing up and that really shaped who I am as a person today.
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I always give a brief overview of myself: major, where I went to school, a bit about my family, why I am interested in genetic counseling, and (for GC school specific) maybe a briefly go over any genetic counseling experience/relevant experience. Definitely doesn't have to be long, I always think of that question as a time to through down my "elevator speech".
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Yeah personally I was going to go into John Wayne if I got an interview. Taxis and Uber's in the city are SOO expensive especially for anything over a 10 minute drive. But I'm also in Southern Arizona so a flight to LA is as little as $97 sometimes.
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Sort of not related, but my school is offering a weekend class to become certified as a phlebotomy tech, which is really awesome because becoming a phleb tech normally takes 3 months to a year just depending on the program! It's currently full for this weekend, but I am the first one on the waiting list so hopefully I can get in If I don't get into grad school this year, this certification could open up more job opportunities for me and might look good on my future application, so that's cool.
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Just remembered that Monday is Presidents' Day ? Probably means we won't be getting any news about interviews until Tuesday
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I legitimately laughed so hard I cried at this. Poor guy
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@UTGC told me they are sending them out in waves actually (they are a current student there rn)! So don't freak out, cuz I know I was earlier
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In all honestly, I'm sure you could probably decline more interviews. It's pretty obvious that you are qualified and programs want you. You have seven interviews (that you're actually attending) and still waiting to hear from two more schools. I am sure you could be more selective and get the number down to 5 interviews if you didn't want to sacrifice your grades. But at the same time, I totally understand still being nervous and wanting to have the best chance at getting in too. I must have made a good impression because I only asked for a day of shadowing and she was the one that mentioned doing weekly sessions instead. And it's true, I still have four programs to hear from, but I'm trying to make myself be okay with not getting in. So being excited and just trying to be realistic about the whole process. That sounds like a lot of fun, I am glad you also got to shadow one. I am really lucky too, because she is stationed in out of the state-of-the-art cancer center through my university. She mentioned that there's some crazy and very rare cases because of that, so hopefully I'll get to see some of those and really get a good feel for the profession and exactly what she does.
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Haven't gotten often any interviews, but I'm kind of shocked they are giving you a hard time. Most of my classes have an allotted 3 days that you can miss to begin with, but if I had to miss more due to more interviews I'd be surprised if they were upset about it. Most of my professors understand that people will be attending interviews and such for jobs and grad school, especially senior year. I had planned to do my interviews during spring break too, but my spring break is earlier than any of the interview dates I've heard of.
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I met up with a new cancer genetic counselor in my area and just set up to have weekly shadowing sessions of her appointments! I am super thrilled. She's also a much younger GC than my mentor (graduated 2014 from Indiana), so it was really cool to pick her brain a bit more about ways I could improve and stuff. She also started in a psych background, so I'll get to see examples of good psychosocial counseling She's also working on getting an internship up and running for a genetic counseling assistant, so it's really awesome to see that there is more of a push from new GCs to getting that aspect started! She said she spends around 25% of her time doing paperwork, which is a lot and takes away from her spending time prepping and focusing on her patients. I am becoming more at peace with doing a second application cycle, especially with all of these good things lining up this week, after such a crappy start. I'll just be a better applicant the second time around and can afford to be selective about the programs I apply to.
- 1,692 replies
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- genetic counseling
- fall 2017
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Exactly, but even if it doesn't work out these year, I already have a good idea of things I need to improve on. But I'd love to at least get a taste of an interview so we'll see. If I don't get in this cycle, finding a job that can get me relevant experience would be beneficial as well as shadowing as many GCs as possible.
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Y'all I wish I had that problem ? 0/4 and waiting to hear from 4 more. Probably gonna be a second cycle applicant.
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Oh thank god! That makes me feel better.
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Really discouraged to hear about UTHealth having sent interviews out. That's my top choice and I haven't received anything yet :/
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It was kind of crazy, the entire forum was silent! Only news I received yesterday was another rejected from Denver, but like Stanford this was expected as I do not have their prereqs completed. Oh well. I am about to head over to meet and shadow the prenatal genetic counselor I mentioned previously! I am so excited!
- 1,692 replies
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- 1
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- genetic counseling
- fall 2017
- (and 3 more)
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Oh yay! The board is working again!
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Rejected from Utah and Oklahoma. Fun day
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Many places don't send things out until later February. I applied to 8 programs and have only heard from one so far. This is my first cycle, but I mentioned a while back, I attended Stanford's webinar. They said that they don't put a HUGE emphasis on it, but the GRE scores are needed because the final "obstacle" of this program is passing a standardized test. The program director at Stanford said they prefer to see that someone can pass a standardized test because they don't want to put in two years of education for someone to not be able to pass the certification exam. It's a waste of time for both the program and the student. A high GPA can offset this of course, but if for an unfortunate reason you don't get in this cycle, definitely work to get your GRE scores over 50% (preferably 60%+) and I'm sure you'd have no reason to not get in a second time