2011-2012 SUNY Downstate Application Thread

[neuroengineer]

Still waiting and trying to not lose hope.

same here.. waiting desperately for an II

this school is in my top 5 and i like the research going on in couple of labs

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[angleslam08]

same here.. waiting desperately for an II

this school is in my top 5 and i like the research going on in couple of labs

yeah, did you see that pdf they had listing all the research labs going on you could join? man i was pleasantly surprised, and esp since i didn't do any research in undergrad im looking forward to it (altho may get owned badly for a while since had no legit research )

 

[neuroengineer]

yeah, did you see that pdf they had listing all the research labs going on you could join? man i was pleasantly surprised, and esp since i didn't do any research in undergrad im looking forward to it (altho may get owned badly for a while since had no legit research )

i havent looked at the pdf (can you tell me where it is)

i have visited these labs some time ago and have been in touch with some of the personnel there

 

[ryuuzaki]

has anyone gotten the criminal background check request yet? i havent, but some other people i know accepted at different med schools have received it already

You will not get this for quite some time I believe.

 

[anbuitachi]

yeah, did you see that pdf they had listing all the research labs going on you could join? man i was pleasantly surprised, and esp since i didn't do any research in undergrad im looking forward to it (altho may get owned badly for a while since had no legit research )

yup downstate has very good research for its size. it ranked #2 in NIH grants this year among the 4 SUNY medicals, only behind stonybrook. But downstate has most grant out of 4 per capita since stonybrook is a MUCH larger institution.

 

[Asyouwereatrio]

has anyone gotten the criminal background check request yet? i havent, but some other people i know accepted at different med schools have received it already

I remember getting mine about a year ago; my first acceptances trickled in during October 2011, so I think it will depend on which school decides to "request" the Certiphi screening first. Just make sure to check your SPAM folders regularly to make sure it doesn't fall in there. It'll come eventually.

 

[ppfizenm]

there a face book group for admitted students?

 

[KLycos]

II an hour ago. CA applicant =] average stats.

 

[linebacker57]

II an hour ago. CA applicant =] average stats.

how long had you been complete for? Did you have to submit fall grades?

 

[Asyouwereatrio]

there a face book group for admitted students?

There will be! The Admissions office will make an official one, and an unofficial one will be made following that group. The "unofficial" one will only have students in it.

If anyone has a tour on February 6th or March 22nd, I'm your tour guide..along with a friend of mine!

Edit: I will make the unofficial one now.

Search for Downstate College of Medicine Class of 2016 on FB and request to join.

 

[futuredoc528]

There will be! The Admissions office will make an official one, and an unofficial one will be made following that group. The "unofficial" one will only have students in it.

If anyone has a tour on February 6th or March 22nd, I'm your tour guide..along with a friend of mine!

Edit: I will make the unofficial one now.

Lol, AT, I love that you still post here, was just cleaning out bookmarks in my browser and decided to click here

Just gotta figure out who anbuitachi, ryuuzaki, and fireitup are now

Edit: I see from FB that one of them must be TA

 

[Asyouwereatrio]

yup downstate has very good research for its size. it ranked #2 in NIH grants this year among the 4 SUNY medicals, only behind stonybrook. But downstate has most grant out of 4 per capita since stonybrook is a MUCH larger institution.

Sounds like someone quoted our Dean...with whom we had a little social hour on Wednesday...put on by the administration..DELICIOUS food..pretty awesome time! Our tuition dollars at work

 

[Asyouwereatrio]

Lol, AT, I love that you still post here, was just cleaning out bookmarks in my browser and decided to click here

Just gotta figure out who anbuitachi, ryuuzaki, and fireitup are now

Edit: I see from FB that one of them must be TA

TA is my tech guy, which is why I added him to the group..

 

[KLycos]

how long had you been complete for? Did you have to submit fall grades?

I've been complete since like august. also I graduated in 2010 so I dunno how submitting grades works for you college kidz

 

[Asyouwereatrio]

I've been complete since like august. also I graduated in 2010 so I dunno how submitting grades works for you college kidz

Haha, good luck on your interview! I'm from Orange County too...Irvine to be exact

 

[iamahippo]

Haha, good luck on your interview! I'm from Orange County too...Irvine to be exact

So, I got back from Vietnam on 1/11 and found my acceptance letter in the mail dated 12/27. My SDN post would be much more "ALL CAPS/ECSTATIC" if I had remembered to rush to this thread a few days ago, but I forgot.. lol. All the ecstatic-ness has been replaced with a more peaceful joy. It's my first acceptance ever, and it's my second year applying (stats in MdApps).

The reason I quoted your post is because I'm also from Orange County (Tustin). I was the only person at my interview who was not from New York or Massachusetts. And AT, I am also AT. lol.

 

[KLycos]

Poor NY has to take all the CA school's overflow.

 

[Asyouwereatrio]

So, I got back from Vietnam on 1/11 and found my acceptance letter in the mail dated 12/27. My SDN post would be much more "ALL CAPS/ECSTATIC" if I had remembered to rush to this thread a few days ago, but I forgot.. lol. All the ecstatic-ness has been replaced with a more peaceful joy. It's my first acceptance ever, and it's my second year applying (stats in MdApps).

The reason I quoted your post is because I'm also from Orange County (Tustin). I was the only person at my interview who was not from New York or Massachusetts. And AT, I am also AT. lol.

Congrats and welcome to the group!

Poor NY has to take all the CA school's overflow.

Haha, while that is true (but it's not limited to just NY lol), I actually chose to go to SUNY Downstate...my other choices were outside of New York. I chose to come here for lots of reasons, which I think I've stated here before.

I always welcome an open discussion about why "Downstate" vs. other schools, so if anyone has questions, feel free to ask. Choosing a school that you feel will fit you best is always a very important discussion that should be given a lot of careful, informed thought.

 

[KLycos]

Congrats and welcome to the group!



Haha, while that is true (but it's not limited to just NY lol), I actually chose to go to SUNY Downstate...my other choices were outside of New York. I chose to come here for lots of reasons, which I think I've stated here before.

I always welcome an open discussion about why "Downstate" vs. other schools, so if anyone has questions, feel free to ask. Choosing a school that you feel will fit you best is always a very important discussion that should be given a lot of careful, informed thought.

Downstate vs Penn state. Also, is it possible to get NY residency some time after the first year? Wherever I go I plan on finding a group of guys and buying a house and then selling it after like 4 years or something.

 

[Asyouwereatrio]

Downstate vs Penn state. Also, is it possible to get NY residency some time after the first year? Wherever I go I plan on finding a group of guys and buying a house and then selling it after like 4 years or something.

As of now, the state residency guideline are outlined on the admissions website, so I would look there to see if you can qualify. I'm going to be following that, and that is one of the features of NY state schools that is great. Just gotta meet their criteria for state residency (including, but not limited to: Apartment Lease, Utility Bill Copies, Bank Statements, Driver License, Voter Registration, etc.). While I have not gotten it yet, we're told to follow the directions on the form, and they'll review it after one year of living here.

I would caution you on buying a home-while it does secure you a legal place to live that you own, it may not be financially wise to do that (no guarantees you'll make a profit in 4 years)...but to each their own.

Penn State is located in a very different area from Downstate. Keep in mind that Downstate is in a very working-class, urban neighborhood. Our clinical cases that we see at KCH and UHB will reflect that--a lot more untreated, chronic illness that has manifested after some time. In my opinion, these types of cases are the unusual, interesting ones that really help you to build your clinical skills. Also given that we are a public entity, we as medical students have a lot more autonomy with our patients than a private hospital would permit (that's what I've heard and observed from other student who have rotated through private hospitals). That's just my opinion--that you'll get a very good clinical education here compared to most other schools that aren't located in a similar area.--your mileage may vary.

 

[wanderer]

Downstate vs Penn state. Also, is it possible to get NY residency some time after the first year? Wherever I go I plan on finding a group of guys and buying a house and then selling it after like 4 years or something.

You can't switch residency in Pennsylvania, so that should be a major factor in your decision.
Besides Hershey and Brooklyn couldn't be any more different. I'm from Brooklyn originally and couldn't see myself living in a small town like Hershey. You do have time to do stuff outside of school, so where you live is very important.

 

[NYCmedschoolapp]

Can a current student discuss the grading system? For both pre-clinical and clinical years. I believe it's H/HP/P/F, but I'm not sure.

Edit: Also, if you like the system and if it promotes competitiveness.

 

[wanderer]

Can a current student discuss the grading system? For both pre-clinical and clinical years. I believe it's H/HP/P/F, but I'm not sure.

Edit: Also, if you like the system and if it promotes competitiveness.

Pre-clinical are H/HP/P/F. The cutoffs are predetermined (generally the same across the board). It's hard to say if it promotes competitiveness. There's no curve so in theory it shouldn't but there is at least an indirect selection in the admissions process (at every school) for students who are competitive. My guess is that any school that has any ranking system the first two years is going to have some degree of competitiveness. Whether there's honors and high pass on top of that probably doesn't make much of a difference.

 

[NYCmedschoolapp]

Pre-clinical are H/HP/P/F. The cutoffs are predetermined (generally the same across the board). It's hard to say if it promotes competitiveness. There's no curve so in theory it shouldn't but there is at least an indirect selection in the admissions process (at every school) for students who are competitive. My guess is that any school that has any ranking system the first two years is going to have some degree of competitiveness. Whether there's honors and high pass on top of that probably doesn't make much of a difference.

Thanks!

 

[Asyouwereatrio]

Can a current student discuss the grading system? For both pre-clinical and clinical years. I believe it's H/HP/P/F, but I'm not sure.

Edit: Also, if you like the system and if it promotes competitiveness.

I will say that I don't think our grading system promotes competitiveness against each other, in that we do not have limits to how many people can achieve Honors, High Pass, etc. As long as you score about 68%, 85%, or 90%, you can Pass, get High Pass, or Honors, respectively. (General cut offs). Like Wanderer said above, some students are inherently competitive, but I would not say it's due to the grading system. Student will help other students, when they are in need of help (at least that's the case for me...my friends will help explain something to me if I don't get it).

 

[ryuuzaki]

Can a current student discuss the grading system? For both pre-clinical and clinical years. I believe it's H/HP/P/F, but I'm not sure.

Edit: Also, if you like the system and if it promotes competitiveness.

H/HP/P/F doesn't promote competition among our classmates. It does motivate our classmates to do the best that they can.

Everyone is receptive with each other. If you need help no one really hesitates to help you. We can always count on each other.

 

[KLycos]

Hopefully they are still giving out acceptances and I'm not going to be interviewing for the wait list.

 

[anbuitachi]

Our class does very well with averages ranging from 80 to 86. 90+ is almost always honors, 85-89.499 is high pass. below that is pass. below 68 is fail.
In my opinion i feel like what you get is going to correlate to how you did before med school ( of course not always). this is of course assuming you somewhat care about grades. Most of the people i know with 36 or higher on the mcat here gets a good portion of honors.

it doesn't really promote competitiveness because killing others doesn't help you get honors...

and also Penn state is fairly similar to downstate in terms of average scores. Their avg step 1 was very similar to ours. somewhere in the mid 220s. we also have similar match lists lol

Oh and btw FEEL FREEEEEEEEE to message me with questions. or email me @ [email protected] haha

 

[Doanqn63]

Same here I got off the hold list in May. And these things are hard to predict because above poster is one of the smartest person in our class this year.

Did you write a letter of intent/interest for them to accept you afterwards? Im not sure how receptive downstate is with letter of intent/interest.

 

[Asyouwereatrio]

Did you write a letter of intent/interest for them to accept you afterwards? Im not sure how receptive downstate is with letter of intent/interest.

Anything to show them that you care can't hurt!

 

[wanderer]

I didn't write an LOI and I got in off the hold list, so it certainly isn't necessary.

 

[anbuitachi]

Did you write a letter of intent/interest for them to accept you afterwards? Im not sure how receptive downstate is with letter of intent/interest.

I wrote them a letter of interest. But I don't think it matters that much. They know that they'll fill their class either way. An update letter would probably be more helpful in my opinion... (if it's something good)

And also, only write a letter of intent if it's truly your intent!

 

[shmelke]

Just want to let those of you who are still waiting for an interview invite that, as they say, it ai't over till it's over...

I'm a first year at Downstate, and I was complete at the end of September. I got an II on MARCH 8, and was accepted in May.

Moral of the story, don't panic, there is plenty of time...

If anyone has any question about downstate, feel free to PM me...

 

[WisdomDoc]

Just want to let those of you who are still waiting for an interview invite that, as they say, it ai't over till it's over...

I'm a first year at Downstate, and I was complete at the end of September. I got an II on MARCH 8, and was accepted in May.

Moral of the story, don't panic, there is plenty of time...

If anyone has any question about downstate, feel free to PM me...

There is hope after all.

 

[rosdapro]

Just want to let those of you who are still waiting for an interview invite that, as they say, it ai't over till it's over...

I'm a first year at Downstate, and I was complete at the end of September. I got an II on MARCH 8, and was accepted in May.

Moral of the story, don't panic, there is plenty of time...

If anyone has any question about downstate, feel free to PM me...

Thank Goodness!

 

[Mkb06]

Accepted in October.

Withdrew acceptance today.

Good luck to everyone!

 

[vcn3333]

Will be hitting the # 2 train to Brooklyn on the 25th. Anyone else heading there on that day? Can't wait!!

 

[powerincarnate]

Downstate Tomorrow, Wish me Luck

 

[Galatians 6 9]

Still havent sent in my secondary...OOS 3.6 cgpa and 28q...should i bother sending it in or should I save my money?

 

[nuance]

Still havent sent in my secondary...OOS 3.6 cgpa and 28q...should i bother sending it in or should I save my money?

Honestly, your chances are so low that you should probably save your money. There is always a chance, I guess, but if money is an issue at all then I would suggest not submitting. I know numbers aren't everything, but FWIW, I am OOS 3.6 & 38 mcat and I submitted in September and haven't received an interview.

I would only consider submitting this late if you were IS with a 3.95 and a 37 or something.

 

[uclabruins2011]

did anyone receive the large envelope yet? they sent me the health forms and stuff like that, but for some reason they sent me the acceptance reply form as well (for the second time). They had already sent it to me when i was accepted back in november. Am we supposed to send the form in a second time?

 

[Asyouwereatrio]

Downstate Tomorrow, Wish me Luck

Good luck today!

did anyone receive the large envelope yet? they sent me the health forms and stuff like that, but for some reason they sent me the acceptance reply form as well (for the second time). They had already sent it to me when i was accepted back in november. Am we supposed to send the form in a second time?

Hmm, I remember getting two forms (in two different mailings--one with acceptance and one with the "shadow a student" + misc. forms that come in a HUGE envelope some time around this year. If you have a green checkmark by your acceptance reply form on your acceptance checklist, don't worry about it.

NB: I will remind everyone at this time who is out of state that there is an opportunity to apply for In-State Tuition during their second-fourth years if they are currently out of state. All they need to do is follow instructions listed on the Admissions website.

With respect to housing leases, you will need to have an off-campus housing arrangement with a lease for 12 months prior to August 2013---so you'll need to start living in NY during July of this summer.

 

[kpcrew]

Man I got an invite in December and it's for next week. It seemed like I had so much time but now I'm super nervous haha

 

[Galatians 6 9]

Honestly, your chances are so low that you should probably save your money. There is always a chance, I guess, but if money is an issue at all then I would suggest not submitting. I know numbers aren't everything, but FWIW, I am OOS 3.6 & 38 mcat and I submitted in September and haven't received an interview.

I would only consider submitting this late if you were IS with a 3.95 and a 37 or something.

nuance thanks for sharing your honesty and stats....blessings on your med school journey!

 

[anbuitachi]

Still havent sent in my secondary...OOS 3.6 cgpa and 28q...should i bother sending it in or should I save my money?

if you dont apply, you won't have a chance. a chance is better than no chance. that 100-200$ in the long run wont be a big deal.

now honestly, your chances are pretty slim unless you are URM or unless you have some serious EC to back yourself up (major publications).

 

[rosdapro]

was complete in december...yes i kno...pretty late...is there any hope for an interview invite at this point?

 

[Asyouwereatrio]

was complete in december...yes i kno...pretty late...is there any hope for an interview invite at this point?

It's really hard to say whether or not you will receive an interview at this point. Downstate does tend to interview people "a bit out of order",meaning it's not unheard of for people to receive invitations several months after they were complete. Good luck!

 

[FIREitUP]

nuance thanks for sharing your honesty and stats....blessings on your med school journey!

I think it's after the deadline anyways. I wouldn't waste your money.

 

[wanderer]

Don't bother unless you're URM or have something extremely amazing in your app.

 

[MajinVegeta]

Do they reject pre-interview? I was complete in oct and heard nothing. Still a chance? Would sending a letter of intent do anything?

OOS, avg stats