Anyone from Ponce or any other PR school out there?

[Dr Who]

Any one from Ponce or any other of the PR med schools out there? I was accepted to UPR, Ponce and UCC. Although tuition ($5,000/ yr) would dictate that i go to UPR, I believe that the "atmosphere" of the school and how students feel in that particular community are just as important. Believe it or not I was also accepted to two other US schools (UMDNJ, Howard), but decided on PR because I believe that it was a more proper choice for me personally.
So if anyone out there can enlighten me I would appreciate

[Miklos]

Originally Posted by Dr Who

Any one from Ponce or any other of the PR med schools out there? I was accepted to UPR, Ponce and UCC. Although tuition ($5,000/ yr) would dictate that i go to UPR, I believe that the "atmosphere" of the school and how students feel in that particular community are just as important. Believe it or not I was also accepted to two other US schools (UMDNJ, Howard), but decided on PR because I believe that it was a more proper choice for me personally.
So if anyone out there can enlighten me I would appreciate

Are you sure this is the right forum for your question?

After all, PR schools are LCME accredited.

(I won't address the question of PR's political status vis-a-vis the U.S.)

[vanelo]

Hey:

Let me tell you something. I got accepted to 3 medical school in mainland US and STILL decided to stay in Ponce. I dont regret it for one second.

The atmosphere in Ponce is very friendly. I imagine you already interviewed here and noticed that the classes are small (75-80 students), which allows for more interaction between attendings and students. The education is excellent. I did two electives in a NY hospital and UM and (excuse my modesty) I answered MOST of the questions the attendings asked as opposed to other US students. (I am not saying those schools were bad, just that med school ends up being as good or bad as you wish.)

Our students match in the most competitive residencies in the US (believe me, we have the match lists)

Hope this answers at least a few of your questions. Any other question about UPR and UCC I can answer just contact me.

[vanelo]

Why is this thread in the wrong forum?

[Dr Who]

I put it up in both forums. For some reason I fail to understand, the moderators tell me that any topic relating to PR belongs in this forum. I guess they are ignorant to the fact that they are US schools, but what the hay, I just post them here then.

[cpb80]

Hey guys-

Thanks for this info! It's surprising to me how few people are applying to schools in PR on SDN(ie UPR, Ponce, UCC). It's a great option for someone who wants to work with Spansh speaking pop's etc- good USMLE's, Spanish fluency, clinical training, LCME accredited, great weather, proximity to the states, good matching.

I was sent an email from Ponce back in Nov asking me to provide them w/ dates when I could interview at Ponce. I was a little latent in responding with dates b/c I teach and it's tough to switch around my schedule. Anyway, I recently called Ms. Gladys Cintron (Admissions sec.) to make sure that Ponce was still considered my app, and she said "yes". Is she just being polite? I noticed that Ponce starts class in this July, and they're class in quite small- are my chances of getting in diminished given these factors, and that I haven't interviewed yet?

Also, any advice regarding the interview day would be much appreciated. Any other advice on how to express that, if accepted, I would attend (ie writing a dean, LOI, etc).

Thanks guys.

[Dr Who]

Originally Posted by cpb80

Also, any advice regarding the interview day would be much appreciated. Any other advice on how to express that, if accepted, I would attend (ie writing a dean, LOI, etc).

Thanks guys.

From what I understand their admissions committee meets once, maybe twice a month. They begin sending out letters of acceptance in december at a rate of about 15 a month. Although their site says their class size is 60, in reality I think its a bit more than that ~75. Since they admit about 15 applicants a month that means that they still have over half the seat unfilled. I say you still have time, although I wouldnt hold back much longer. If I were you I would make an interview appointment as soon as possible and take a couple days off in order to attend the interview. You have the option of doing the interview on a friday, that way you can work thursday, fly over to PR thursday evening, take the interview friday and fly back friday evening or saturday. That way you only miss one day of work.
I had my interview at Ponce a month ago. There use a blind interview format so the person interviewing you knows nothing about you beforehand. Go there prepared for the standard questions: Why you want to become a doc, what inspired you, extracurricular activities, what in medicine interests you etc...

[cpb80]

Originally Posted by Dr Who

From what I understand their admissions committee meets once, maybe twice a month. They begin sending out letters of acceptance in december at a rate of about 15 a month. Although their site says their class size is 60, in reality I think its a bit more than that ~75. Since they admit about 15 applicants a month that means that they still have over half the seat unfilled. I say you still have time, although I wouldnt hold back much longer. If I were you I would make an interview appointment as soon as possible and take a couple days off in order to attend the interview. You have the option of doing the interview on a friday, that way you can work thursday, fly over to PR thursday evening, take the interview friday and fly back friday evening or saturday. That way you only miss one day of work.
I had my interview at Ponce a month ago. There use a blind interview format so the person interviewing you knows nothing about you beforehand. Go there prepared for the standard questions: Why you want to become a doc, what inspired you, extracurricular activities, what in medicine interests you etc...

thanks doc I can always count on you for some good advice

[silenthill]

I've heard that Ponce looks for mainlanders with high MCAT scores to offset the lower MCAT scores of native spanish speakers who take the english-based test. I have a 3.1 and have had college level spanish courses and do enjoy the language. overall I've done well in my science classes with the exception of a few messups in my freshman year that messed up my gpa. I would integrate more spanish classes into my schedule if there was good chance i would be considered by Ponce. So if i do well on the MCAT will this be a particulary good asset?

Ive heard it has a small town atmosphere and the people there are very nice. Coming from a huge college town, this is very appealing. How selective is Ponce and is there a particular time that is best to apply? thanks for any information in advance. is being a white male "gringo" lol (can speak spanish but definetly not of spanish descent) a definite negative?

[Dr Who]

Silenthill i answered your question in another thread, so I'll just copy it here for you:

Well to answer your last question first, being a "gringo" is most definately NOT a negative. When i went for my interview there I was surprised by the number of mainland US students (gringos) there, so go for it. They do part of the interview in spanish though. The idea is to see if you can communicate and understand spanish somewhat, although you do not have to be fluent at all. The reason for this is that you will be doing your clinical rotations in a mostly spanish speaking population. The good thing is that they understand that not all of us might know spanish, but after two years there believe me you will.
Ponce does have a small town/ city atmosphere, I assure you its quite pleasant. I truly belive Ponce is one of the undiscovered jewels in medical education. Many students go for "name" schools and end up going through 4 miserable years of med school. In many a thread I read about the "cliqueshness" found in many med schools and gunner syndrome that seems to pervade many mainland schools. I found Ponce to be the total opposite. I spoke to med student there and they all said that the small class size and supportive faculty make a HUGE difference there. As for quality, believe it or not Ponce has a slightly ABOVE average pass rate in the usmle, that says a lot, dont you think?
In the match you will find Ponce students accepted into the most competitive residencies, dont believe call them and ask them if they can fax you their match lists for the last few years. Fortunately for most of us, Ponce is not as well known in the US as many pre meds overlook it because its in PR, too bad for them. That means less competition for us when we apply. While many US med schools have 9,000+ applicants in any given year, Ponce has less then a thousand (~900).
I believe Ponce to be one of the best kept secrets in med schools. Just ask some SDN'rs from Ponce, there are quite a few here. If you want PM me and I will give you their nicks so you can contact them.
Try and do something about the GPA. Maybe you can repeat one or two of your first year classes. You will have an "R" in your transcript but it makes a huge difference in your GPA. Other than that, prepare well for the MCAT and you should be ok.

[sepaul]

Anyone willing to post these? I would love to see them? Text format would e great (ie. as a post)!

thx,
se

[Lanisita]

Hey there!!! Im a senior at PSM so contact me if you need anymore info...

2005 MATCH so far:

3 out of 3- going into OPHTHALMOLOGY (first choice places for 2 of them, second for the other one)
5 out of 5- to Neurology (all mainland and also first choices)

Previous Year (2004)
2- Orthopedic Surgery (TX,PR)
1- Plastic Surgery (NY,)
4- General Surgery (NY,FL,CA)
2- Anesthesiology (NY, FL)
1- Dermatology (SC)
4- Emergency Medicine (MI, NY,PR)
1- Family (CA)
19-Internal Medicine (AZ,NY,MA,CA,OK,TX,PR)
1- Neurology (AZ)
3- OB/GYN (TX,FL,TX)
5- Pediatrics (PR,FL,NY)
1-Physical Medicine (PA)

[nena]

hey all! well, i applied to ponce and ucc. my cgpa is a 2.9, sgpa is about a 2.5.. last mcat was an 19P.. im in med school in panama and am in 2nd year.. ive done quite well. gpa is about a 3.5.. i plan on retaking the mcat in april.. but i applied to these schools only but for a first year position. not transfer.. ponce said they would review my appl after i take the mcat in april. ucc reviewed my app and said they needed my english and spanish credits.. now im waiting for them to write me back.. (they overlooked them on my transcript). anyhow, im not really optimistic bc it looks like classes are filling and from a prior post by april/may should be full at ponce at least. so i wonder, what are my chances?? should i just kinda forget about it? there are obviously more qualified applicants out there..im just patiently waiting for my rejection..i just wonder why i havent gotten it yet.. my appl was complete in november...this sucks..but its all good..

[Dr Who]

Originally Posted by nena

hey all! well, i applied to ponce and ucc. my cgpa is a 2.9, sgpa is about a 2.5.. last mcat was an 19P.. im in med school in panama and am in 2nd year.. ive done quite well. gpa is about a 3.5.. i plan on retaking the mcat in april.. but i applied to these schools only but for a first year position. not transfer.. ponce said they would review my appl after i take the mcat in april. ucc reviewed my app and said they needed my english and spanish credits.. now im waiting for them to write me back.. (they overlooked them on my transcript). anyhow, im not really optimistic bc it looks like classes are filling and from a prior post by april/may should be full at ponce at least. so i wonder, what are my chances?? should i just kinda forget about it? there are obviously more qualified applicants out there..im just patiently waiting for my rejection..i just wonder why i havent gotten it yet.. my appl was complete in november...this sucks..but its all good..

I wouldnt worry too much. I know a couple of people who are interviewing there this month. From what I hear a bit more than half the seats are taken, so you still have a chance. When i was applying to med school I made sure to keep track of my documents just in case. believe me, it has saved my ***** a couple of times.

[vanelo]

Originally Posted by Dr Who

I wouldnt worry too much. I know a couple of people who are interviewing there this month. From what I hear a bit more than half the seats are taken, so you still have a chance. When i was applying to med school I made sure to keep track of my documents just in case. believe me, it has saved my ***** a couple of times.

PM me if you need any info on housing for PSM