2011-2012 University of Minnesota Application Thread

[CorneliaSt]

And I don't think Paul White was teaching faculty really.

Hopefully someone who knows more can chime in.
.

I called the admissions office the other day to figure out if they were planning on having a second look. They told me that Paul White (admissions director) recently left for a position at Johns Hopkins med so things are running a little slower than usual right now. Mr. White had strong ties to Johns Hopkins before he was at Minnesota, so it's not all that surprising that he left. He is also definitely not part of the teaching faculty.

As for the second look, it sounds like it is still in the works and we should receive information about it within the coming weeks.

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[tpoc3]

anyone know when the waitlist ranking comes out?

 

[blkshrtdynasty]

I called the admissions office the other day to figure out if they were planning on having a second look. They told me that Paul White (admissions director) recently left for a position at Johns Hopkins med so things are running a little slower than usual right now. Mr. White had strong ties to Johns Hopkins before he was at Minnesota, so it's not all that surprising that he left. He is also definitely not part of the teaching faculty.

As for the second look, it sounds like it is still in the works and we should receive information about it within the coming weeks.

Good for Paul, and thanks for the info.

 

[misformichigan]

Maybe this explains why some of us are still in the dark almost 3 months post interview. I hope this doesn't mean they are done making phone calls. Anybody have any luck calling the TC office post interview to get an update?

 

[TheGloaming]

Maybe this explains why some of us are still in the dark almost 3 months post interview. I hope this doesn't mean they are done making phone calls. Anybody have any luck calling the TC office post interview to get an update?

Do you mean done giving out acceptances in the form of phone calls or done giving out all non-waitlist acceptances? If you mean the latter, I highly doubt it.

 

[BunnyInTheBox]

Do you mean done giving out acceptances in the form of phone calls or done giving out all non-waitlist acceptances? If you mean the latter, I highly doubt it.

Do they ever give acceptances NOT in the form of phone calls?

 

[misformichigan]

It was a bad joke - obviously phone calls (as in non-waitlisted acceptances) won't stop unless the class is full. It just makes me wonder how much longer it will take to hear back (hopefully still a phone call from someone).

 

[brob0045]

Can anyone chime in on what the internal environment at the U is doing to send all these high level staffers packing. I heard some grumblings about the Med School from an SDNer on the Iowa site saying a high ranking professor had recently left the U for Iowa. Now Dean White has left from what brob0045 states. I'm happy I got in to Carver especially if they are leaking good teaching talent from the U, but anyone know what is going on to cause these most recent high level defections/departures?

Dean White is a JD who was from Johns Hopkins originally. He always wanted to go back, and my guess is that he just got an offer he couldn't refuse. He was not faculty at the U of M and not an MD, so it really doesn't make any difference in terms of teaching. What other departures have there been? My significant other is an MS4 at the U of M, and I have several friends in MS1-MS3. Overall, they seem content with the atmosphere and teaching at the U of M. That said, there has been some course re-structuring over the past few years (example: the first 8 weeks of school used to be anatomy only, but now you have anatomy alongside clinical medicine for the first 18 weeks). I think there were some kinks to work out, but it seems that it has mostly been resolved.

 

[TheGloaming]

Dean White is a JD who was from Johns Hopkins originally. He always wanted to go back, and my guess is that he just got an offer he couldn't refuse. He was not faculty at the U of M and not an MD, so it really doesn't make any difference in terms of teaching. What other departures have there been? My significant other is an MS4 at the U of M, and I have several friends in MS1-MS3. Overall, they seem content with the atmosphere and teaching at the U of M. That said, there has been some course re-structuring over the past few years (example: the first 8 weeks of school used to be anatomy only, but now you have anatomy alongside clinical medicine for the first 18 weeks). I think there were some kinks to work out, but it seems that it has mostly been resolved.

I infer from your status and location you are a current student in the Twin Cities, have you noticed any problems with the curriculum changes?

 

[wholeheartedly]

There has been a bit of faculty and administrative turnover lately. Can't recall names but I've gotten quite a few emails about people leaving and replacements being hired over the past two years. Funding has been an issue that's been brought up a few times and it seems like the U in general has been having to tighten it's belt quite a bit. I believe there was a salary freeze or even cut recently and restructuring in the medical school and allied health program. I don't know what, if any, effect this would have trickling down to the medical school and students.

 

[curiouspredoc]

Does anyone know when in April Duluth tells those on the high priority acceptance list when they are in or on the waitlist?? This is my favorite school and I am just dying to know when I may be accepted or waitlisted. Anyone else on here waiting to hear back?

 

[Metallica1936]

There has been a bit of faculty and administrative turnover lately. Can't recall names but I've gotten quite a few emails about people leaving and replacements being hired over the past two years. Funding has been an issue that's been brought up a few times and it seems like the U in general has been having to tighten it's belt quite a bit. I believe there was a salary freeze or even cut recently and restructuring in the medical school and allied health program. I don't know what, if any, effect this would have trickling down to the medical school and students.

Yikes. Yeah, I've been hearing that things have been slipping at the U recently. Hopefully its reputation and relative level of prestige doesn't take too much of a dent.

 

[blkshrtdynasty]

Yikes. Yeah, I've been hearing that things have been slipping at the U recently. Hopefully its reputation and relative level of prestige doesn't take too much of a dent.

I don't know about "slipping." I was reading last year that things were tightening up financially, so they couldn't afford to be as ambitious with their goals as they had hoped to be ~2006. The Star Trib ran a piece about it, but it wasn't incredibly accurate in what it reported, so Dr. Friedman wrote a rebuttal letter. I think some of that debate is in last year's SDN UMN thread, you should check it out. I think somewhere in the middle lies the truth. The past recession was hard on the entire University, but I wouldn't say they're "slipping" so much as just having to pump the brakes on some of their advancements.

I would guess that the purported staff/faculty movement is a symptom of some necessary fiscal belt-tightening, but that's just my novice conjecture. They'll rebound again.

 

[Metallica1936]

I don't know about "slipping." I was reading last year that things were tightening up financially, so they couldn't afford to be as ambitious with their goals as they had hoped to be ~2006. The Star Trib ran a piece about it, but it wasn't incredibly accurate in what it reported, so Dr. Friedman wrote a rebuttal letter. I think some of that debate is in last year's SDN UMN thread, you should check it out. I think somewhere in the middle lies the truth. The past recession was hard on the entire University, but I wouldn't say they're "slipping" so much as just having to pump the brakes on some of their advancements.

I would guess that the purported staff/faculty movement is a symptom of some necessary fiscal belt-tightening, but that's just my novice conjecture. They'll rebound again.

Excellent points. Was that rebuttal published today? There was something in the Trib's op ed today about medical licensing if memory serves me right. Either way, it doesn't change the fact that UMN will still help you get wherever you want if you work hard enough at it.

 

[snow88]

Excellent points. Was that rebuttal published today? There was something in the Trib's op ed today about medical licensing if memory serves me right. Either way, it doesn't change the fact that UMN will still help you get wherever you want if you work hard enough at it.

Could you point me in the direction of the op ed about this? I tried looking online on the Trib's website today and couldn't find it but was wondering if you could post the link to it here?

 

[blkshrtdynasty]

Could you point me in the direction of the op ed about this? I tried looking online on the Trib's website today and couldn't find it but was wondering if you could post the link to it here?

Here's the link. It's from last May.

http://www.startribune.com/local/121029679.html

And this was the response from Dr. Friedman:

May 6, 2011

Dear colleagues,

As we enter a period of time of celebration at the University with students completing degree programs, and moving towards practice in the health professions, I’d like to pause to share with you my concerns over an inaccurate and unfair depiction of our Medical School that appeared in the Sunday newspaper.

I’ve learned in my five months in the role of Vice President for Health Sciences and Dean of the Medical School that we all carry a wide range of perceptions about what is or is not taking place within our complex organization, but I want to assure you that the Medical School remains on solid footing, and is very well positioned to continue its missions of education, research, and patient care as it has for 154 years.

Words matter and the choice of language used in the newspaper included terms that make implications or judgments that are simply wrong and lead to unfair conclusions.

- It states that there’s no search for a new Chair of Medicine because of money. Not true. We’re not searching because we have a Chair of Medicine, one who serves the Department and Medical School admirably.
- The story states there’s a decline in federal research funding—not in the Medical School or the University overall. Simply not true for the U of M.
- The statement that there was an “internal loan” is inaccurate. I can assure you that CFO Pfutzenreuter transferred no funds to the Medical School. Instead, the Dean’s office assumed responsibility to re-allocate up to $2.3M across the school and its 25 departments to balance accounts school wide over the next seven years.
- A $10 million budget gap was called “withering”, when that’s less than 1.75% of the overall $570 million budget, within the $3.5 billion University. Really?
- The Biomedical Discovery District remains a significant priority, with construction proceeding on the Cancer-Cardio building.
- Finally, the “second guessing” of decisions made in the past is off base and unfair. It is fundamentally unfair to criticize solid and rational decisions from 2006 with post-Recession 2011 eyes.

I think we all know how important the health sciences are to the strength and reputation of the University, and that the Medical School plays a key role there.

The Medical School has in the last two years met the financial challenges we have all faced. It is making the critical decisions necessary to ensure that it has the solid financial foundation to continue its important missions of education, research, and patient care.

I believe it’s critically important that we speak up when statements are made that are unfair or simply wrong, and I also know that our community stands up for what’s right. It’s what we expect of the students we are sending off into the professions this month, and it’s what we should expect of each other.

Sincerely,

Aaron Friedman, M.D.
Vice President for Health Sciences and Dean of the Medical School

 

[BunnyInTheBox]

So... for the past two weeks, nobody seemed to have heard any news from the U of M? Can we assume that they are pretty much done with admitting people?

 

[jmkraemer15]

So... for the past two weeks, nobody seemed to have heard any news from the U of M? Can we assume that they are pretty much done with admitting people?

I wouldn't say that necessarily. I have several friends who interviewed in December that have yet to hear back yet, and I interviewed on 1/5 and haven't heard a peep either. I called last week and Lola told me that my file had just gone to committee and that I should hear something very soon. I would assume that Dean White leaving for another position has slowed their whole process down, and looking at this thread it does not appear that too many have heard news in the past month or so.

 

[MPLSMedical]

I would agree with this statement for sure. They are still interviewing people through the end of March. I just interviewed recently and we had a large group of candidates. It is expensive for a medical school to host candidates for interviews, so there would be no reason for them to continue to do so if the class is already full.

 

[misformichigan]

i think they are having to wait at least two weeks between giving out acceptances to see how many are taken and how many are left over. i know they said that they never over-enroll the class. so they probably aren't done but, based on the fact they have to wait between acceptances, they are likely wrapping up the number of spots they have left before they set the waitlist order for may. i don't think dean white leaving really did much to delay the timing. myself and some others i know personally are beyond waiting 12 weeks to hear anything. they take their sweet time and there's not much you can do about it. best of luck though!

 

[TheGloaming]

I would guess they still have quite a bit of accepting left to do. They started interviewing later than most schools and take quite awhile to send out decisions (12 weeks mentioned above and I've heard many waited 10 weeks to hear back). Also the facebook page currently only has 18 members. Yes, I know this could mean many more have been accepted but I looked at the pages for four other schools I interviewed at and each had at least 50+ members.

 

[jdudemed]

if we are accepted (not from the waitlist) what's the latest date we can expect to hear from them about an acceptance?

 

[TheGloaming]

if we are accepted (not from the waitlist) what's the latest date we can expect to hear from them about an acceptance?

I saw on last year's thread someone interviewed 1/21 and was accepted 4/5. So, we still have at least a month (there may have even been one later but I can't remember). Also, some waited 15+ weeks to hear back, according to last year's thread. Why do they even say 6-8 weeks? It's clearly much longer for many.

 

[kc1919]

So who exactly do we send update letters to for TC now?

 

[BunnyInTheBox]

So who exactly do we send update letters to for TC now?

I remember dean white saying they don't want any update after the interview. But I wonder if the rule of the game has been changed since the new dean

 

[blkshrtdynasty]

I'm assuming that a new/interim dean of admissions would only be in charge of future admission decisions, right?

 

[lockian]

I was accepted in mid-February, but they still haven't cashed my deposit check even though I called and they received it. I'm guessing administrative things are slow right now.

I've been offered a merit scholarship that makes me an honorary in-stater. I have to pay in-state tuition even though I am from Illinois (a non-reciprocity state). So things can't be going that badly for the endowment, can they?

That said, I was only able to celebrate for 2 seconds because the silly "summer session" which costs an additional $10,000 raises my "in-state" at the U tuition to an amount about equal to what my out-of-state tuition at Wisconsin-Madison would be, or to the fixed tuition at private schools.

Let's hope there are more need-based grants on the way, because I really want to go to the U. I was not in the best mood -- nor particularly well-slept -- when I came for my interview, which may not have made me as excited about the school as I wanted to be at the time, but now that's changing.

However, my biggest reason right now for wanting to go to the U is that I'll be able to live comfortably and rent-free with family in the city, and I am so, so, so fed up with paying rent and roommate B.S. This whole living on your own thing is mucho overrated, and for me it's very important to be in a safe, stable, and supportive environment while I'm in school.

 

[lockian]

I'm also now worried that with all this financial trouble the U will give me a bad financial aid package and I'll have to go to Wisconsin because it will actually be a better deal.

I DON'T WANT TO GO TO WISCONSIN. I WANT TO LIVE AT HOME WITH MY LOVELY EXTENDED FAMILY, AND DRIVE MY CAR TO CLASS EVERY DAY AND COME BACK TO A HOME COOKED MEAL.

PLEASE DON'T TAKE MY DREAM AWAY FROM ME. PLEASE DON'T MAKE ME GO TO WISCONSIN.

 

[misformichigan]

I can't imagine they would change anything about admissions policies mid cycle even with a new dean. did they announce a new dean btw? if so, who is it?

 

[ResearchtoMD]

For those who wonder the admission policies for the U of MN in this cycle, there is NO changes in admission policies. The current interim dean is Ms. Theresa Baultrippe.

 

[Dartmouth2005]

Here is the match list for 2012: http://www.meded.umn.edu/residency/match/documents/2012_Match_List.pdf

 

[jdudemed]

any activity as of lately?

 

[Ritchey17]

I interviewed on 01/30 and still no reply....patiently waiting.

 

[misformichigan]

i interviewed in mid December and called the admissions office recently. they told me i would 'hopefully' hear in the next couple of weeks. So 14-15 weeks seems to be the wait time to hear back - although they likely have to have the waitlist finalized and all decisions out by the end of April so people have two weeks to accept before may 15. good luck to all those still waiting.

 

[rivers1015]

Interviewed mid January, know others that interviewed the same week. They haven't heard back either. As many have said they are very slow, and there is simply nothing we can do about it! A friend called them and was told the committee won't be meeting this week so I wouldn't hold my breath. Hopefully everyone will have answers soon!

 

[jmkraemer15]

I interviewed on 01/05 and just found out earlier this week that I was placed on the waitlist, so hopefully there is some good movement this year and I get a decent number. Good luck for the rest of you, hope you hear good news soon!

 

[jdudemed]

I interviewed on 01/05 and just found out earlier this week that I was placed on the waitlist, so hopefully there is some good movement this year and I get a decent number. Good luck for the rest of you, hope you hear good news soon!

how did you find out about the waitlist? also are you OOS or IS? Thanks for the info

 

[jmkraemer15]

Waitlisted via snail mail. And I am IS but I have below average stats so I'm not too surprised about the waitlist although I was hoping for an outright acceptance. I guess I'll just have to continue waiting... haha

 

[hwayzata11]

Interviewed 1/15... IS applicant. Found out today via the mail that I am on the waitlist. I am quite surprised, as I am applying after a year off, have a 3.9 GPA, 39 MCAT, great extra curriculars, and I thought my interview went really well!

UW Madison offered me a large scholarship.... but I am waitlisted at my home state school? Who knows... Here's to hoping for a more favorable response soon!

 

[PlatypusMD]

Got a phone call from Theresa Baultrippe (Assistant Director) at 11am today that I was accepted!! IS applicant, interviewed 2/10.

 

[Ritchey17]

Got a phone call from Theresa Baultrippe (Assistant Director) at 11am today that I was accepted!! IS applicant, interviewed 2/10.

Congrats!!....I got a phone call from Ms.Baultrippe at 10:50 am, I'm also IS, and interviewed on 01/30.

 

[misformichigan]

After four years of applying I finally got accepted to medical school yesterday - and not just any school, but to UMn - my top school. Can't wait to come home this fall. Interviewed mid December. Good luck to those still pursuing their dream career.

 

[CorneliaSt]

After four years of applying I finally got accepted to medical school yesterday - and not just any school, but to UMn - my top school. Can't wait to come home this fall. Interviewed mid December. Good luck to those still pursuing their dream career.

Nice Job!

 

[MDgirl5354]

After four years of applying I finally got accepted to medical school yesterday - and not just any school, but to UMn - my top school. Can't wait to come home this fall. Interviewed mid December. Good luck to those still pursuing their dream career.

Congrats! What awesome news!

 

[googleyness]

After four years of applying I finally got accepted to medical school yesterday - and not just any school, but to UMn - my top school. Can't wait to come home this fall. Interviewed mid December. Good luck to those still pursuing their dream career.

Congratulations!!

 

[MDgirl5354]

Are there any current M1's at Twin Cities out there that would be willing to post a few comments on med school life? What is a typical day like for you? Do you generally enjoy the lectures (style, schedule, difficulty..), student life, curriculum, etc..? Have any of the relatively recent changes in faculty/administration or funding caused a noticeable effect on your experience? I feel like the general information given on the interview day hasn't quite been enough to get a feel of what things are really like, so any feedback would be much appreciated! Thanks!

 

[snow88]

Are there any current M1's at Twin Cities out there that would be willing to post a few comments on med school life? What is a typical day like for you? Do you generally enjoy the lectures (style, schedule, difficulty..), student life, curriculum, etc..? Have any of the relatively recent changes in faculty/administration or funding caused a noticeable effect on your experience? I feel like the general information given on the interview day hasn't quite been enough to get a feel of what things are really like, so any feedback would be much appreciated! Thanks!

I completely agree with MDgirl5354. I also am wondering why there is no second look event at the U of MN this year? Other schools I am considering do have second look events and it would have been nice if the U of MN also did, especially in light of the changes in faculty/administration/funding.

 

[Novus39]

Are there any current M1's at Twin Cities out there that would be willing to post a few comments on med school life? What is a typical day like for you? Do you generally enjoy the lectures (style, schedule, difficulty..), student life, curriculum, etc..? Have any of the relatively recent changes in faculty/administration or funding caused a noticeable effect on your experience? I feel like the general information given on the interview day hasn't quite been enough to get a feel of what things are really like, so any feedback would be much appreciated! Thanks!

Just out of curiosity, are you considering turning down University of Chicago for U of MN?

 

[MDgirl5354]

Just out of curiosity, are you considering turning down University of Chicago for U of MN?

Yea...I actually already withdrew my acceptance there. It just didn't really feel like the right fit for me. It's a little intense, and it seemed pretty research heavy.

And Minnesota is pretty great

 

[blkshrtdynasty]

I completely agree with MDgirl5354. I also am wondering why there is no second look event at the U of MN this year? Other schools I am considering do have second look events and it would have been nice if the U of MN also did, especially in light of the changes in faculty/administration/funding.

Do you know for a fact that there's not gonna be a second look?