Genetic Counseling Fall 2017 Applicants

[AspiringGC]

5 minutes ago, GCFaith92 said:

Yeah It seems different for sure, but I was debating applying just as a "safe" school. But I am unsure. Does anyone know anything about U of South Florida? I did their application via SOPHAS (which is a money scam and awful!!) After paying to have my transcripts sent to SOPHAS they make you enter every single course and its code and grade your received anyway! OR you could pay $90 to have them enter it for you (on top of the $135 application fee for SOPHAS) and than I had to do a supplemental application for the specific genetic counseling program which cost an addition $35. 1 of my transcripts was sent on 1/4/17 and STILL not received. I'm getting so frustrated!

@Billowack posted a while back about having information for USF, so maybe they can answer any questions you have!

I also thought about applying cuz I toyed with applying to Public Health programs as a back up, but I decided I did not really want to explore that career path and I'd rather have a "true" genetic counseling degree (even though every accredited degree is the same lol). I like the programs that have classes that are predominantly only GC students

[Gadgette]

Welp, got an email from a different program about the same recommender. 

[Blizzard]

Hi Everyone!

I've also been lurking so I figured it was time to sign up so I can wait it out with you guys!

My background: BS in Biology and BS in Psychology with a minor in anthropology, world's worst undergrad GPA. Finishing up a master's degree in May with a 3.88 GPA that I hope will help pry the door back open that I sealed for myself as an undergrad. GRE scores with a very high verbal/very low quantitative. I took the GRE twice last fall a month apart, and my quant came up after a month of intense study and tutoring, but not enough by the deadline I needed to turn applications in by. I work full time with undergraduate students as an academic advisor. Volunteer crisis responder/victim advocate with a local agency that provides support to survivors of crimes and trauma. I've talked to several GC's and interviewed a couple but have never got to shadow a GC, because there are none in the town I live in (this worries me it will make my apps weaker than other applicants with similar backgrounds).

@slaybackc I was also at career camp day at Utah in May so we've definitely met!

And someone else I think said they were at DNA day at Cincinnati, I don't remember who but i was there. 

Applied to: Cincinnati, Ohio State and Utah.

So far I've heard nothing and I'm getting really nervous and scared.

[_GC19_]

2 hours ago, Gadgette said:

Welp, got an email from a different program about the same recommender. 

Double check that the contact info you provided for the recommender is correct in the application. Just speaking from a personal experience last year - I had not noticed that I had missed a letter in an email address until I got notification that the letter was missing. Let's just say I was extra diligent in checking in with my recommenders this year!

Hope all works out!

[GCFaith92]

On ‎8‎/‎15‎/‎2016 at 0:09 PM, SJMcGC said:

Hello! Thanks for getting this thread started for 2017 applicants. I just learned about GradCafe during the interview season this past spring and really wish I had known about it sooner.

I applied this past year to 8 programs and interviewed at 3 (University of Maryland, University of Alabama - Birmingham, and Emory University). I was waitlisted at Maryland and Birmingham but ultimately did not get in - the process is so, so competitive! I also went through the unmatched applicant process and interviewed by phone with Ohio State; this was also a great learning experience and I would encourage people to participate in this if they do not have success on Match day. I followed up with each of the program directors and they were all extremely helpful with feedback - so to all worrying about contacting them do not be timid, they appreciate people who look for advice and that kind of sticks out to them come time to review applications. I was a Psychology major and Biology minor but each of the programs commented that they would really like to see additional Biology courses. I am taking Embryology through the University of Cincinnati Program online - one of the directors told me about this option and it really works perfect for my schedule since I work full-time with an hour commute and do not have much time to attend a scheduled class in-person. Other feedback I received was to do some additional shadowing so I have set-up some ongoing shadowing days with the GCs in my area to improve in that area as well.

I have been working to narrow down the list of schools I would like to apply to for this season and keeping an eye out for programs that are opening for Fall 2017. I have found some information on 4 programs - University of Central Florida, University of South Florida, Rutgers, and University of Arizona. I have not seen that any besides South Florida have set-up a website yet but if anyone else finds out anything, it would be great to add info to this thread! I had also heard at one of my interviews that the University of Iowa may eventually be opening a program but have not been able to find anything online yet.

Looking forward to hearing from you all as we embark on another application season! Good luck everyone!

What is the "unmatched applicant process" I actually never heard of this until this blog! Could you explain it to me please!

[minja134]

13 minutes ago, GCFaith92 said:

What is the "unmatched applicant process" I actually never heard of this until this blog! Could you explain it to me please!

Here's the info from last year: http://www.nsgc.org/p/cm/ld/fid=289

Some background on the process, genetic counseling has one match day where all the schools will contact their interviewees and let them know about acceptance. This year is April 24th! If you had an interview but did not get accepted anywhere you can contact the schools that are open to post match and see if they are accepting any applicants. Post match an option that several schools will leave open just in case they weren't able to fill their entire class. There tends to be very few slots available for post match, with newer programs being the most likely since they get less applicants their first year. 

Edited January 25, 2017 by minja134
updated match date!

[minja134]

8 minutes ago, Finley764 said:

I received an interview request for Augustana this morning -- I know this is a newer program, but was wondering if anyone has heard anything from previous applicants about the way the interviews are structured? 

Congrats! Hopefully that means I will hear from them soon, I didn't expect anything from them for a while since their deadline isn't until Feb 28th. Last year was the first year and it doesn't look like the previous forum has any info on it other than just mentioning it. Hopefully someone else can chime in!

[CiciGC]

11 hours ago, JN212 said:

I am so nervous this week with all the anticipation of possibly receiving an email or phone call. I was told by the admissions at Indiana State that interviews would be coming out by the middle of Jan. ( the first interview date is Feb 18th), so I have been "patiently" waiting the last 2 weeks. I just noticed someone received an email yesterday from Indiana State's program, so nervous 

I applied to Indiana State, too. Where did you see that someone else got an email? Is there another thread I'm missing that's posting when interviews are being held?

[Ultrapeaches]

Since most of y'all are probably mobile and can't see my signature, I've applied to Stanford, UC Irvine, CU Denver, Northwestern, Cincinnati, Emory, Brandeis, and BU, and so far have only heard anything from Emory.

Every time my email notification sound goes off I jump.

[AspiringGC]

6 hours ago, Blizzard said:

Hi Everyone!

I've also been lurking so I figured it was time to sign up so I can wait it out with you guys!

My background: BS in Biology and BS in Psychology with a minor in anthropology, world's worst undergrad GPA. Finishing up a master's degree in May with a 3.88 GPA that I hope will help pry the door back open that I sealed for myself as an undergrad. GRE scores with a very high verbal/very low quantitative. I took the GRE twice last fall a month apart, and my quant came up after a month of intense study and tutoring, but not enough by the deadline I needed to turn applications in by. I work full time with undergraduate students as an academic advisor. Volunteer crisis responder/victim advocate with a local agency that provides support to survivors of crimes and trauma. I've talked to several GC's and interviewed a couple but have never got to shadow a GC, because there are none in the town I live in (this worries me it will make my apps weaker than other applicants with similar backgrounds).

@slaybackc I was also at career camp day at Utah in May so we've definitely met!

And someone else I think said they were at DNA day at Cincinnati, I don't remember who but i was there. 

Applied to: Cincinnati, Ohio State and Utah.

So far I've heard nothing and I'm getting really nervous and scared.

Oh hi again! We definitely have met then!

4 hours ago, Finley764 said:

I received an interview request for Augustana this morning -- I know this is a newer program, but was wondering if anyone has heard anything from previous applicants about the way the interviews are structured? 

Ugh super jealous, I hope I hear something soon too!

Also: I applied to UTHealth, Utah, Stanford, Augustana, CSUStan, Oklahoma, UCIrvine, and UC Denver for anyone who is on mobile and can't see my signature either!

[allele1]

Does anyone in general know much about interviews? Such as the process, how many people interview us/for how long, the types of questions? Just wondering if anyone has found any resources because I haven't found much from looking around. 

[minja134]

4 hours ago, CiciGC said:

I applied to Indiana State, too. Where did you see that someone else got an email? Is there another thread I'm missing that's posting when interviews are being held?

There is a results page that people can input their info for interviews, acceptance, etc. Along with your GRE and GPA. 

http://thegradcafe.com/survey/index.php?q=Genetic+counseling

[JN212]

We'll I just got an email for Indiana State last night and it was an overwhelming NO, such a great thing to start the day off with : (

[GCFaith92]

2 hours ago, JN212 said:

We'll I just got an email for Indiana State last night and it was an overwhelming NO, such a great thing to start the day off with : (

Don't be hard on yourself, my first reply was a no to my number 1 school. Its crappy but we know how competitive this is. Many people have to apply more than 1 year sadly. But lets see what others schools say before giving up hope!

[_GC19_]

9 hours ago, alalav said:

Does anyone in general know much about interviews? Such as the process, how many people interview us/for how long, the types of questions? Just wondering if anyone has found any resources because I haven't found much from looking around. 

Hi! The structure and length of the interviews varies quite a bit between programs. For one, there were 7 individual one-on-one interviews, a group exercise, and a lunch with the students packed into a day. For another, there were only two one-on-one interviews, a panel interview, and a student presentation. Overall, the interviewers will be asking about things from your application but they may also ask behavioral interview type of questions. I think the most important part is to have your own questions prepared to ask the interviewers! From the interviews I have attended, it seems like they had about 2-3 questions the interviewer has to ask you and then they leave the remainder of the time for you to kind of guide the discussion.

Some sites which I have found helpful (if you have not already found) are:

https://mapsandgenes.wordpress.com/

https://www.reddit.com/r/ClinicalGenetics/

http://emorygeneticcounseling.blogspot.com/

http://www.gccompass.com/

 

[Gadgette]

Currently typing this from Cloud 9 because I got an interview with Virginia Commonwealth!!

[GCFaith92]

19 minutes ago, Gadgette said:

Currently typing this from Cloud 9 because I got an interview with Virginia Commonwealth!!

Congratulations! Did they email you or call? If you don't mind me asking what were your GRE scores?

[_GC19_]

6 minutes ago, Finley764 said:

Hey -- just saw that your location is IA -- did you go to undergrad in IA? Just curious, b/c  I did. No longer live there but grew up there.  Had to give a shout out as there are not very many of us  I also applied to U of M, Augustana, and WI -- hopefully we get to meet at some point, good luck w/ everything! 

Grew up near Iowa City and went to undergrad in Northeast Iowa. *Iowa Proud* over here .

If not at interviews, there's a good chance that our paths will cross at some point in the genetic counseling world! Good luck to you as well!!

[minja134]

I just realized that that signatures weren't automatically enabled. I did this on a computer not mobile, but for anyone interested go to the top and click where your user name is --> account settings --> signature --> "view signatures?" You can also add your own signature and any other profile info here.

[Gadgette]

37 minutes ago, GCFaith92 said:

Congratulations! Did they email you or call? If you don't mind me asking what were your GRE scores?

Thanks! I got an email this morning with three dates, asking for my top two choices. For GREs, my verbal was 159, quantitative 153, and analytical writing was 5.0.  My undergrad GPA was not strong at all, I graduated in 2012 with a 2.98.

[GCFaith92]

2 minutes ago, Gadgette said:

Thanks! I got an email this morning with three dates, asking for my top two choices. For GREs, my verbal was 159, quantitative 153, and analytical writing was 5.0.  My undergrad GPA was not strong at all, I graduated in 2012 with a 2.98.

That's great I'm excited for you!! Did you have a lot of shadowing experience? My GRE scores were poop (144v/147Q/5A) but my GPA was a 3.549. I hope to hear good news back from them but after my first denial I am super bummed and kind of lost all hope because of my scores

[Gadgette]

6 minutes ago, GCFaith92 said:

That's great I'm excited for you!! Did you have a lot of shadowing experience? My GRE scores were poop (144v/147Q/5A) but my GPA was a 3.549. I hope to hear good news back from them but after my first denial I am super bummed and kind of lost all hope because of my scores

Yes and no. I scheduled once back in 2011, and then I got to shadow for a day in May. Right now I work as a services coordinator for people with developmental disabilities. I ended up with a lot of the individuals who have a known genetic component to their disability. I've gotten to attend the NSGC's AEC twice, once through work. I think that experience was invaluable and I walked away feeling like I had a good understanding of the field. And everyone I talked to at the AECs and career camps have been encouraging and supportive, so not only is it a great career but a great community.

[GCFaith92]

5 minutes ago, Gadgette said:

Yes and no. I scheduled once back in 2011, and then I got to shadow for a day in May. Right now I work as a services coordinator for people with developmental disabilities. I ended up with a lot of the individuals who have a known genetic component to their disability. I've gotten to attend the NSGC's AEC twice, once through work. I think that experience was invaluable and I walked away feeling like I had a good understanding of the field. And everyone I talked to at the AECs and career camps have been encouraging and supportive, so not only is it a great career but a great community.

Yeah experience is certainly a huge component of this process I feel like. I also think the personal statement was a huge component. It's so hard to talk about yourself on 2-3 pages haha. Going to the NSGC's AEC is great!!! What a cool opportunity to have!

[Ultrapeaches]

1 hour ago, Gadgette said:

Currently typing this from Cloud 9 because I got an interview with Virginia Commonwealth!!

Congratulations! It's so exciting to these updates, even for schools I did not apply to - it's really happening! Every email could be an interview invitation! 

Do you guys already have an interview outfit put together? What're you wearing?

[Gadgette]

I have my shoes picked out because they're super cute and I literally walked 10 miles in them one day with zero issues.  I'm thinking nice slacks, collard shirt, and a suit jacket? I'd rather be over dressed than under.