Genetic Counseling Fall 2018 Applicants

[GCEZ]

UC Irvine interviews are being sent out!

[GCBrittany]

Anyone else going to sleep early so tomorrow will get here faster? 

 

 *Impatiently hoping for Utah invite tomorrow***

[TAGC]

On 2/9/2018 at 9:10 PM, Joey0817 said:

That's too bad  I really wish they would send out the rejection letters around the same time as the interview invites, so applicants who haven't heard of anything aren't so hopeful. Well, I think I'm out this round then. Does anyone have any recommendations on how to strengthen their application for next round? I already have genetic research experience (over 2 years, with a paper published), have over a year of distressline listening (also did planned pregnancy volunteer work for 10 months)  and I volunteered as a GC assistant for 5 months. I think my weakness is my GPA (3.3/3.4) which isn't something I can change at this point. I am feeling really discouraged because I haven't heard back from any of the schools I applied to (Manitoba, UBC, UofT and McGill). Do any of you guys have any suggestions, maybe something I can do during the year off?  

I agree that I wish they'd send out rejections with the invites so that people don't have to be left wondering if their phones weren't working or if something got lost in the mail.  My biggest piece of advice is to reach out to all of the programs and ask for feedback.  They don't generally give feedback until May (after the match date), but they're usually extremely honest about what you can improve on, and it still gives you enough time to prepare for the next year.

@Nefelibata mentioned that I had previously only been applying to Canadian schools and then started applying to American schools this year, with much better results.  That was part of McGill's feedback for me last year.  There are only 4 Canadian programs with 3-6 positions each, so it's more competitive than 35 programs that have anywhere from 5 to 30 positions.  Plus, they say to be successful a qualified applicant should apply to around 6 schools.  I was pretty hesitant about the thought of moving to the states, but I realized that all of these programs are accredited by the same board, so you're coming out with the same education, and it's only 2 years.

One thing that you can start doing now while waiting for feedback is start planning for taking the GRE.  Then once you have have your feedback you might already have the GRE portion off your plate and can start doing the things that the other programs suggested you do.

[soon2beGC]

For anyone that has interviews, do you know what kind of criteria you are going to use to rank them? Besides tuition and location?

[dragongc10]

14 minutes ago, soon2beGC said:

For anyone that has interviews, do you know what kind of criteria you are going to use to rank them? Besides tuition and location?

I'm planning to base mine off of exposure to different clinical experiences, a well-balanced curriculum (which ones seem to really have a good balance between didactic courses, clinical exposure, and research and lab time). Also the feel of the program... if I can see myself fitting in with instructors and students more at one program compared to another.

I've only been to one interview so far, but I was VERY impressed by the program. It wasn't what I was thinking of ranking #1, but as of now, I would rank it first hands down. Of course, that might change after my other interviews

[KCGC]

28 minutes ago, soon2beGC said:

For anyone that has interviews, do you know what kind of criteria you are going to use to rank them? Besides tuition and location?

Biggest factor should be the feel of the program, if I can see yourself there and get along with he faculty and current students, what the programs values are... I'm also giving some (but not a lot) of thought about the people you're interviewing with as they're looking for similar candidates and the people I'm interviewing with could be my classmates. Honestly based on what I've heard you'll know which schools you like and which you wont, and if it comes down to it and you honestly can't decide between which of two schools to rank higher/lower at that point it wont really matter if you truly like both of them equally.

I'm also going to be looking at clinical experiences, what their focus is cancer/prenatal/pediatrics then if its an R1 school/psychosocial focus. Additionally anything that makes it unique, some schools have courses specific to the program, unique experiences, thesis projects, etc that you won't get at other programs you applied to (or maybe you will and that can be another point of comparison).

Don't try to rank schools well just because you think they liked you and will rank you well. They try to match based on student preferences and you don't want to end up somewhere you aren't completely thrilled with!

 

[Joey0817]

On 2/11/2018 at 11:24 AM, Me.GC said:

My status still says "Submitted" and I have not heard anything from them...

I am in the same boat, my ubc app says submitted still! Also, my manitoba application also says "complete. under review by the department"

[MidwestGC]

Does anyone have any info or feel on whether South Carolina or Boston U will be sending out more interview invites?

[taylorelocin]

Anyone know if Pitt will be sending out more interviews this week?  Starting to wonder when/if I'll hear back soon or if I'll be waiting until April...

[cdntest]

34 minutes ago, Joey0817 said:

I am in the same boat, my ubc app says submitted still! Also, my manitoba application also says "complete. under review by the department"

I'm a long time lurker but as I've finally heard back from a university, decided to join in the discussion! I have yet to hear back from UBC and Manitoba, and see the same statuses on the portals. However, finally got an invite for a U of Toronto interview this morning, any tips? 

[Lauren423]

Should I assume it’s a no from Indiana University? Their site says invites are generally given in Jan and interviews held in February. On this forum I saw some people got invites Jan 24th but I haven’t heard anything at all. It’s probably not likely I’ll get an interview invite at this point right?

[essee]

21 minutes ago, Lauren423 said:

Should I assume it’s a no from Indiana University? Their site says invites are generally given in Jan and interviews held in February. On this forum I saw some people got invites Jan 24th but I haven’t heard anything at all. It’s probably not likely I’ll get an interview invite at this point right?

I also didn't receive anything from them but I emailed Joan and she told me I wasn't selected for an interview. Not sure if they have a waitlist but doesn't hurt to ask them to check your status.

[Lauren423]

23 minutes ago, essee said:

I also didn't receive anything from them but I emailed Joan and she told me I wasn't selected for an interview. Not sure if they have a waitlist but doesn't hurt to ask them to check your status.

Yep, I just emailed her and she said I am not invited for an interview.

[laura moreno]

does anyone knows who should I contact to find out my status with VCU? 

[GC2018]

Still haven't heard from Mt. Sinai... should I contact them? It just seems like everyone has already received interviews. 

[NewAtThis]

@laura moreno I'm pretty sure it's Rachel Gannaway. But I haven't reached out to them to ask about a decision yet. 

[laura moreno]

10 minutes ago, NewAtThis said:

@laura moreno I'm pretty sure it's Rachel Gannaway. But I haven't reached out to them to ask about a decision yet. 

Thank you!

[S-M-GC2018]

Augustana is sending out rejections today...

[NewAtThis]

To the person rejected from Augustana on the results page with the quote: "we gave preference to applicants from areas of the country (USA) which are underserved or have workforce needs" but did not provide their GRE and GPA...

Please don't blame your problems on underserved communities and not take any responsibility for yourself.  Get feedback in May. I'm sure you're grieving and you need someone to blame, and that's totally okay but not in this way. That quote was highly inappropriate.

Edited February 12, 2018 by NewAtThis

[Nefelibata]

15 minutes ago, NewAtThis said:

To the person rejected from Augustana on the results page with the quote: "we gave preference to applicants from areas of the country (USA) which are underserved or have workforce needs" but did not provide their GRE and GPA...

Please don't blame your problems on underserved communities and not take any responsibility for yourself.  Get feedback in May. I'm sure you're grieving and you need someone to blame, and that's totally okay but not in this way. That quote was highly inappropriate.

I didn't post that, but that is a quote from Augustana's rejection letter. I don't think it's unfair or inappropriate to post it at all, it's part of the reasoning augustana is using to justify their rejection.  I don't think they were necessarily trying to blame underserved populations for their rejection. 

 

 

Edited February 12, 2018 by Nefelibata

[NewAtThis]

4 minutes ago, Nefelibata said:

I didn't post that, but that is a quote from Augustana's rejection letter. I don't think it's unfair or inappropriate to post it at all, it's part of the reasoning augustana is using to justify their rejection.  I don't think they were necessarily trying to blame underserved populations for their rejection  

 

 

I hope they weren't. I don't see any other reason for posting it on the results page. That note section is to give more information about the rejection or about the interview to others who are posting. But perhaps I jumped the gun. If they were trying to make an excuse for the rejection, I think that's inappropriate. Otherwise, it always sucks to be rejected and I would hate to have made their day worse by calling out something that was totally unintentional.

[GenMed]

8 minutes ago, NewAtThis said:

That note section is to give more information about the rejection...

I feel like that's what they did?

 

Why might have people been rejected? Because Augustana focused on underserved areas. I don't think they are blaming anyone or anything, just relaying the information that was provided to them. 

[Marie764]

31 minutes ago, NewAtThis said:

To the person rejected from Augustana on the results page with the quote: "we gave preference to applicants from areas of the country (USA) which are underserved or have workforce needs" but did not provide their GRE and GPA...

Please don't blame your problems on underserved communities and not take any responsibility for yourself.  Get feedback in May. I'm sure you're grieving and you need someone to blame, and that's totally okay but not in this way. That quote was highly inappropriate.

This is something that is in their denial letter and it is something they are very open about. Likewise, this was something that was discussed in last year's forum as well. I am a current student (not at Augustana) so I also did not post this, but I think calling someone out like that is uncalled for and rude. It doesn't seem to me like their intention was to single out underserved populations. I know this is a highly-stressful time for EVERYONE, but please, let's all be considerate of one another.

[NewAtThis]

4 minutes ago, GenMed said:

I feel like that's what they did?

 

Why might have people been rejected? Because Augustana focused on underserved areas. I don't think they are blaming anyone or anything, just relaying the information that was provided to them. 

@Marie764 I'm sure Augustana accepted plenty of people who were not from underserved communities because it is incredibly difficult to do this application process if you are from those areas. If this person was rejected, it is not because they were not from the areas that Augustan has decided to give a chance. It's because their scores, GPA, personal statements,  and experience did not match up to others from advantaged communities. The same reason we all get rejected. That's only a small part of someone's rejection, it is not the reason they were rejected. 
But like I said already, if I totally misunderstood, I don't want to make this day worse for someone than it already is. I just think it's worth pointing out, if someone is wallowing thinking they were not accepted because they have money.
 

[AJM19]

Utah invites are rolling out!