Genetic Counseling Fall 2017 Applicants

[KeepSwimming2017]

3 hours ago, Gorays39 said:

Hey!  I looked at your profile and it turns out we have the same SLC interview date!  Hope I see you there.

Oh awesome! I have the afternoon one, all the mornings were taken by the time I signed up =/ Luckily my sister only lives 45 minutes away from SLC!

[Gorays39]

2 hours ago, jadeo07 said:

I'm not going to lie, I somewhat regret applying to so many schools (9) because now I'm worried I won't be able to afford to travel to all of my interview places. Is anyone else feeling this way? 

Ugh, same here.  I was really freaking out and applied to 15 schools.  So far I only have one rejection and I'm still waiting to hear back from 4 more places.  I've been turning down a few interviews but I still worry about turning down too many.  Hopefully my undergrad professors won't mind me missing so much class...

[Gorays39]

23 minutes ago, GCInTraining said:

Ditto! I applied to 8 and got interviews at all of them... totally unexpected. I've thought about rejecting some but I don't think I have the guts to do it. I figure I'd rather invest the time and money now to have options later than turn some down and possibly regret it later. It's all just personal preference I think!

This is what I'm thinking.  If Northwestern and Mount Sinai turn up I'll take them in a heartbeat, and that'll be 9 interviews...

 

[AspiringGC]

Y'all I wish I had that problem ? 0/4 and waiting to hear from 4 more. Probably gonna be a second cycle applicant. 

[JPW1992]

50 minutes ago, AspiringGC said:

Y'all I wish I had that problem ? 0/4 and waiting to hear from 4 more. Probably gonna be a second cycle applicant. 

I went 0/5 last year and am 0/2 so far this year, so I feel you for sure. I will take just one interview this year so I at least feel like I have a shot!

[Ellaie]

2 hours ago, GCInTraining said:

Well apparently I'm super late to discovering this website but I'm glad I did! It's crazy to think that a lot of us will be colleagues someday! Anyway, I'm trying to figure out the logistics of all my trips now... Do applicants ever become uber/car rental buddies to split some of the expenses (and then eat raw cookie dough together after the interview)? Some of the programs are quite a haul from the airport ($100+ in uber fare) and don't seem to offer much help from the current students. I'm also considering renting a car and doing a road trip for a couple of them. Anyone else having this problem?

Last year at my UCI interview I rented a car because I decided to stay in Cali for 5 days and make the trip a vacation because the flight cost me $400.  My friend works at a rental company, so I got a good deal on it too.  I was the only one at my interview that had rented a car.  I offered to drive everyone back to their hotels after the interview.  About half of the people took me up on it.  I went out to dinner with one of the girls I met that day and we ended up meeting up the next day to explore the UCI campus together.  The interview takes place at the medical center which was about a half hour from the campus.  I think whether people would be willing to split things just depends on the people that happen to be interviewing with you.

[AspiringGC]

22 minutes ago, JPW1992 said:

I went 0/5 last year and am 0/2 so far this year, so I feel you for sure. I will take just one interview this year so I at least feel like I have a shot!

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. 

[Ellaie]

@GCFaith92 I checked my SOPHAS account and mine also has a 0 next to submit application.  I received an email last week saying that all my stuff had been completed and sent to USF.  I emailed them to double check they had received my application and they said they had!  So, I wouldn't worry too much about the 0.  She also said they will hopefully send out interview invites next week. 

Edited February 16, 2017 by Ellaie

[GCFaith92]

7 hours ago, Ellaie said:

@GCFaith92 I checked my SOPHAS account and mine also has a 0 next to submit application.  I received an email last week saying that all my stuff had been completed and sent to USF.  I emailed them to double check they had received my application and they said they had!  So, I wouldn't worry too much about the 0.  She also said they will hopefully send out interview invites next week. 

That's great to know thank you! On their additional application, did you submit LOR and resume on their as well? I don't think we had too, so I didn't. I only had my letters sent to SOPHAS. Only thing I added to the additional application were my unofficial transcripts.

[Gorays39]

For all those that applied to Minnesota, my application decision just came out.  Hopefully y'all have better luck than I did.

[AnonymousGC]

The silence is deafening for me. I'm not sure if I should be relieved that I haven't at least gotten any rejections or concerned that I haven't heard anything yet especially from institutions like SLC and Ho have forsure sent out interview invites... 

[bubusaur]

15 hours ago, GCInTraining said:

Well apparently I'm super late to discovering this website but I'm glad I did! It's crazy to think that a lot of us will be colleagues someday! Anyway, I'm trying to figure out the logistics of all my trips now... Do applicants ever become uber/car rental buddies to split some of the expenses (and then eat raw cookie dough together after the interview)? Some of the programs are quite a haul from the airport ($100+ in uber fare) and don't seem to offer much help from the current students. I'm also considering renting a car and doing a road trip for a couple of them. Anyone else having this problem?

Hey y'all!

So far I only have an interview from SLC. I thought of your idea before. Is there any chance anyone wanna split a hotel fee or something around SLC campus?

I'm not very familiar with NY and I'm not even sure how I'll make it from the airport to SLC, it'd be nice to have a buddy to spend the night and split the cost of the already expensive trip. (No creeper lol) Anyways my interview is March 9th afternoon and I'll  be arriving March 8 morning and hopefully attend that evening get together. Anyone on the same date?

[caitob]

Has anyone heard anything from Boston or have any idea if they'll be contacting people soon?

[KeepSwimming2017]

Just got my interview call from Rutgers!! And it just so happens that they had an interview date the day before my SLC one so I only need to book one flight, thank goodness. So excited!

[Ellaie]

6 hours ago, GCFaith92 said:

That's great to know thank you! On their additional application, did you submit LOR and resume on their as well? I don't think we had too, so I didn't. I only had my letters sent to SOPHAS. Only thing I added to the additional application were my unofficial transcripts.

I did not. I'm pretty sure it specifically said in the email asking me to fill out the additional application that they did not require additional LOR and resumes.

[allele1]

37 minutes ago, caitob said:

Has anyone heard anything from Boston or have any idea if they'll be contacting people soon?

Nope! They're sure taking their time considering we applied over two months ago! Hoping to hear very soon though

[Ultrapeaches]

40 minutes ago, caitob said:

Has anyone heard anything from Boston or have any idea if they'll be contacting people soon?

No, but I really hope they tell me soon. I'm getting antsy; I'm waiting to on Boston to book my flight to my Brandeis interview, and ticket prices are starting to go up. I guess it's probably too late to get the email today, so hopefully tomorrow? Otherwise I might just have to go ahead and book something.

[Ellaie]

1 hour ago, bubusaur said:

Hey y'all!

So far I only have an interview from SLC. I thought of your idea before. Is there any chance anyone wanna split a hotel fee or something around SLC campus?

I'm not very familiar with NY and I'm not even sure how I'll make it from the airport to SLC, it'd be nice to have a buddy to spend the night and split the cost of the already expensive trip. (No creeper lol) Anyways my interview is March 9th afternoon and I'll  be arriving March 8 morning and hopefully attend that evening get together. Anyone on the same date?

My interview is on the 7th, but I'm not planning on getting a hotel.  I'll just be going to New York early in the morning and leaving late that night.  Unfortunately I won't be able to make it to the meet and greet the night before.  I have been doing some research into traveling from the airport to SLC, and I found a way that's about $30 cheaper than the method they recommend.  I'm traveling from Laguardia to SLC.  The school recommends taking the shuttle to Grand Central and then hopping on the Metro-North and taking that to Bronxville.  Instead you can take the M60-SDS bus from the airport for about $2.50 (the shuttle SLC recommends is $17) and get off at the Harlem-125th st station.  Then, from there you can get on the Metro-North and take it to Bronxville.  It's not a huge difference, but I feel like every little bit helps.  I also think it could be kinda cool to take public transportation and get a better idea of the city.  

[AspiringGC]

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. 

[NHxx]

5 hours ago, AspiringGC said:

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. 

Yay, congrats on setting up such awesome opportunities!! The cycle isn't over yet - but I commend you on getting the right kind of experiences already lined up! I interned with a cancer GC who had just graduated her program in 2015 so I can definitely say that shadowing/observing/talking to younger GC's is extremely helpful bc they JUST went through the process, and since it is changing so much every couple of years their advice is really relevant- and there's definitely a push to get more internship & shadowing opportunities to students interested which is awesome. Hope it goes well!

[_GC19_]

17 hours ago, KeepSwimming2017 said:

Just got my interview call from Rutgers!! And it just so happens that they had an interview date the day before my SLC one so I only need to book one flight, thank goodness. So excited!

Congrats!! Rutgers is one of the last ones I am waiting to hear on... maybe I'll get a call today? What day are you interviewing at SLC?

[Gorays39]

Still waiting on Northwestern and Mount Sinai...has anyone here heard from either of them?

[KeepSwimming2017]

@SJMcGC Hopefully you'll get a call today! My interview at Rutgers is March 27th and SLC is on March 28th - same day as yours! I have the afternoon interview at SLC - but maybe I'll see you at the meet-and-greet the night before! It'll be a hectic two days for me.

[GCFaith92]

5 minutes ago, KeepSwimming2017 said:

@SJMcGC Hopefully you'll get a call today! My interview at Rutgers is March 27th and SLC is on March 28th - same day as yours! I have the afternoon interview at SLC - but maybe I'll see you at the meet-and-greet the night before! It'll be a hectic two days for me.

I will be at Rutgers on the 27th! I am doing the 12:30 interview! Maybe we will cross paths!

[Gadgette]

I was supposed to go camping with my parents and a bunch of their friends this weekend. As much as I keep wanting to discuss applications and interviews here and with my friends, I really was not looking forward to 10 different people asking me the same questions over and over again. Talking on here or with friends is calming. Talking about it with parents and their friends just sounds agonizing.