2012-2013 Stony Brook Application Thread

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blegrand5 said:
Does anyone know of any good places to look for to live at. I am not sure, I heard a bunch of the students typically live off campus a few minutes drive from the school in houses that they rent. Any idea where those are and their cost per month?
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My student host lives in port Jefferson I believe and it was a really nice place within a few minutes drive of the school. Not much things around though...
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medhoper said:
Guess I was rejected:-( interviewed early December

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I don't think they necessarily go in order. Unless you get a letter you are still in the running! Good luck!
 
Does anyone know if they avg multiple MCAT scores or take your best?
 
My interviewer said they average as well, wonder what they really do...
 
Is SB receptive to letters of interest and updates PRE-interview?
If so, who should it be addressed to? Dead or admissions office?
 
Officially withdrew my acceptance, hope it goes to one of you!
 
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impact2d said:
Me too! Interviewed end of January! I loved a lot about this school, a lot of thinking to do in the coming weeks for me.
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Nice, you must've interviewed well to get an acceptance after only 3 weeks. Mind sharing your stats/complete date?
 
Could a current student clarify something for me? Preclinical years are graded H, P, F on the transcript. The student policies on the website says the internally recorded H, HP, P, LP, F MAY be included on the deans letter, Medical student evaluation. So is it usually included, included only if honors, or are all internal grades usually recorded? Also, are you ranked as a class? Finally, I was told on my interview they will no longer be grading on a curve due to the highly competitive reputation. Is this official yet? Also did all preclinical classes switch to NBMEs. Also are classes generally mandatory or not? What is attendance like, and is there video of lectures? Thanks in advance for your help!

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impact2d said:
Could a current student clarify something for me? Preclinical years are graded H, P, F on the transcript. The student policies on the website says the internally recorded H, HP, P, LP, F MAY be included on the deans letter, Medical student evaluation. So is it usually included, included only if honors, or are all internal grades usually recorded? Also, are you ranked as a class? Finally, I was told on my interview they will no longer be grading on a curve due to the highly competitive reputation. Is this official yet? Also did all preclinical classes switch to NBMEs. Also are classes generally mandatory or not? What is attendance like, and is there video of lectures? Thanks in advance for your help!

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I'm a current fourth-year at Stony Brook. You've asked a lot of questions, so I'll try to address each one individually.

1. Are grades included on the deans letter? - This past fall and years previously, all grades and comments for each class/rotation were included in the deans letter. There are no grades excluded. I don't know why the website says "may." I haven't heard about this policy changing. However, whether or not the grades included in the deans shouldn't be something to worry about. When applying for residency, your transcript is also included, which shows your grades. The deans letter is more to show the comments that you received during your preclinical courses and your clinical rotations. Every comment is included, both the good and the bad. It also includes what quartile you fall in the class, which I'll explain further below.

2. Are you ranked as a class? - What are you asking here? Ranked as a class as a whole or ranked individually within your class. The whole class is not ranked against other classes, although each year, the average class Step 1 score is released, which is a source of pride for a class if they do particularly well compared to other years. You are compared to your classmates based on a quartile system, meaning you'll be told if you fall in 1st, 2nd, 3rd, or 4th quartile. You will not be told your exact rank (ie, 17th out of 124 students). You will be able to tell who the best students are in your class if people grade drop (and if they're telling the truth) or by your third year when Junior AOA names are awarded. These are typically the best students academically in the class.

3. Will the grading curve be changed? - To be honest with you, I have no idea. And I believe this is referring to preclinical grades. The administration drastically changed the preclinical course work and grading system this year, affecting mostly 2nd years. I've talked to a current second year recently and asked him to try and explain to me the new grading system, and I honestly didn't understand what he was saying. When I was a second year, we received individual grades for each system block throughout the year, which ultimately averaged to ONE final Systems course grade, which was included in our transcript. I believe they stopped doing that and are now using the scores after each block (which may include more than one system) for your transcript. I apologize if this is confusing. Honestly, it's still confusing for me.

4. Are all preclinical exams NBMEs? - No. There are courses in your first year that will have an in-house exam in addition to a NBME, such as anatomy and physiology and others. When this occurs, the in-house is generally worth more than the NBME (ie, in-house worth ~50%, NBME worth 10%, other course work worth last 40%). Second year exams are all now NBMEs for final exams, but some courses (like cardio and pulm) have in-house midterms.

5. Are all classes mandatory? - No. Some are, especially if there's a guest speaker or a particularly important topic. Most lectures are not. To be honest, I stopped going to lecture half way through first year because for me personally, lecture is a waste of time and I learn more by going to the library and reading on my own. Attendance varies. Everyone goes to mandatory lectures, maybe a handful of students to non-mandatory lectures.

6. Are lectures videotaped? - Yes, and available online. Very helpful.

I hope this was helpful. Feel free to PM me if you have other questions. Overall, I love Stony Brook and will be sad when I leave (if I don't match here). It's a great school that's getting better each year. Good luck.
 
Wow! Thanks for the help. You answered all of my questions and more. There is just so much info going around and it's hard to figure out what really matters and what doesn't.

Some people on here make a big deal of true P/F schools and say it really makes pre-clinical years better. I appreciate that SB is H/P/F and that only H/P/F is reported on the official transcript, but if they put all of the grades on the deans letter I don't really see what the benefit of H/P/F in the pre-clinical years.

Yeah, I meant are we ranked as students, thanks for answering.

Thanks for trying to clarify the 2nd year grading scheme. The students on my tour made a big deal how there were a lot of complaints about grades being curved, and that causing the environment to be uncooperative, but they said the school is changing that policy because of student feedback, but like you said, when they explained the set up it was a little confusing.

Good to hear that lectures are recorded and not-mandatory. I'm a pretty good independent learner, and this was something that was important to me.

Thank you again for your help, it says a lot about Stony Brook.


LIMed2007 said:
I'm a current fourth-year at Stony Brook. You've asked a lot of questions, so I'll try to address each one individually.

1. Are grades included on the deans letter? - This past fall and years previously, all grades and comments for each class/rotation were included in the deans letter. There are no grades excluded. I don't know why the website says "may." I haven't heard about this policy changing. However, whether or not the grades included in the deans shouldn't be something to worry about. When applying for residency, your transcript is also included, which shows your grades. The deans letter is more to show the comments that you received during your preclinical courses and your clinical rotations. Every comment is included, both the good and the bad. It also includes what quartile you fall in the class, which I'll explain further below.

2. Are you ranked as a class? - What are you asking here? Ranked as a class as a whole or ranked individually within your class. The whole class is not ranked against other classes, although each year, the average class Step 1 score is released, which is a source of pride for a class if they do particularly well compared to other years. You are compared to your classmates based on a quartile system, meaning you'll be told if you fall in 1st, 2nd, 3rd, or 4th quartile. You will not be told your exact rank (ie, 17th out of 124 students). You will be able to tell who the best students are in your class if people grade drop (and if they're telling the truth) or by your third year when Junior AOA names are awarded. These are typically the best students academically in the class.

3. Will the grading curve be changed? - To be honest with you, I have no idea. And I believe this is referring to preclinical grades. The administration drastically changed the preclinical course work and grading system this year, affecting mostly 2nd years. I've talked to a current second year recently and asked him to try and explain to me the new grading system, and I honestly didn't understand what he was saying. When I was a second year, we received individual grades for each system block throughout the year, which ultimately averaged to ONE final Systems course grade, which was included in our transcript. I believe they stopped doing that and are now using the scores after each block (which may include more than one system) for your transcript. I apologize if this is confusing. Honestly, it's still confusing for me.

4. Are all preclinical exams NBMEs? - No. There are courses in your first year that will have an in-house exam in addition to a NBME, such as anatomy and physiology and others. When this occurs, the in-house is generally worth more than the NBME (ie, in-house worth ~50%, NBME worth 10%, other course work worth last 40%). Second year exams are all now NBMEs for final exams, but some courses (like cardio and pulm) have in-house midterms.

5. Are all classes mandatory? - No. Some are, especially if there's a guest speaker or a particularly important topic. Most lectures are not. To be honest, I stopped going to lecture half way through first year because for me personally, lecture is a waste of time and I learn more by going to the library and reading on my own. Attendance varies. Everyone goes to mandatory lectures, maybe a handful of students to non-mandatory lectures.

6. Are lectures videotaped? - Yes, and available online. Very helpful.

I hope this was helpful. Feel free to PM me if you have other questions. Overall, I love Stony Brook and will be sad when I leave (if I don't match here). It's a great school that's getting better each year. Good luck.
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I apologize. I misread your question. Yes, you're right. Only H/P/F grades are included in both the transcript and deans letter for preclinical grades. The H/HP/P/LP/F system used during preclinical years is to help determine your quartile at the beginning of your fourth year. A HP doesn't count toward AOA during your preclinical years, but does in your clinical years.
 
impact2d said:
Wow! Thanks for the help. You answered all of my questions and more. There is just so much info going around and it's hard to figure out what really matters and what doesn't.

Some people on here make a big deal of true P/F schools and say it really makes pre-clinical years better. I appreciate that SB is H/P/F and that only H/P/F is reported on the official transcript, but if they put all of the grades on the deans letter I don't really see what the benefit of H/P/F in the pre-clinical years.

Yeah, I meant are we ranked as students, thanks for answering.

Thanks for trying to clarify the 2nd year grading scheme. The students on my tour made a big deal how there were a lot of complaints about grades being curved, and that causing the environment to be uncooperative, but they said the school is changing that policy because of student feedback, but like you said, when they explained the set up it was a little confusing.

Good to hear that lectures are recorded and not-mandatory. I'm a pretty good independent learner, and this was something that was important to me.

Thank you again for your help, it says a lot about Stony Brook.
Click to expand...


Wait, the students complained about having a curve? If med school curves are anything like college curves, then I'm confused.
 
trompelemonde said:
Wait, the students complained about having a curve? If med school curves are anything like college curves, then I'm confused.
Click to expand...

Different schools curve in different ways. On one hand, if everyone does bad, the teacher can add to everyone's grade and everyone benefits, since grading is based on a percentage scale. On the other hand, you can be curved against your fellow students, where the median grade will be the border of a B/B- (just an example). This makes everything you do extremely competitive. For instance, in one of my labs the median was like a 94 and the SD was extremely small. Therefore, we had people with low 90's that received B- and people with high 80's receiving C's. This is so that only a percentage of people will get particular grades. This completely changes everything about a school's atmosphere.
 
trompelemonde said:
Wait, the students complained about having a curve? If med school curves are anything like college curves, then I'm confused.
Click to expand...

Exactly, from what I understand, a true bell curve only let's few people get A's and a few more B's with the highest percentage getting Cs. I think what most students like is scaling (where the professor adds the same points to every students grade). I think that's how it works.

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impact2d said:
Exactly, from what I understand, a true bell curve only let's few people get A's and a few more B's with the highest percentage getting Cs. I think what most students like is scaling (where the professor adds the same points to every students grade). I think that's how it works.

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Yea this is a pet peeve of mine, most people think of curves as to mean free points. But a true curve can be devastating.
 
impact2d said:
Could a current student clarify something for me? Preclinical years are graded H, P, F on the transcript. The student policies on the website says the internally recorded H, HP, P, LP, F MAY be included on the deans letter, Medical student evaluation. So is it usually included, included only if honors, or are all internal grades usually recorded? Also, are you ranked as a class? Finally, I was told on my interview they will no longer be grading on a curve due to the highly competitive reputation. Is this official yet? Also did all preclinical classes switch to NBMEs. Also are classes generally mandatory or not? What is attendance like, and is there video of lectures? Thanks in advance for your help!

Sent from my SCH-I535 using SDN Mobile
Click to expand...

Hey, I'm a second year at SB. I just want to clarify a few things.

-There is no longer a curve in the first or second year. Grading is H/P/F in both years.

-2nd year grading system: We have 5 pathophysiology courses, which are systems based. The systems are lumped together as following:
Pathophysiology 1: Micro/blood
Pathophysiology 2: Neuro/Psychiatry
Pathophysiology 3: Pulm/Cardio/Renal
Pathophysiology 4: Endocrine/Reproductive
Pathophysiology 5: GI/Connective tissue
At the end of each course, we have an NBME that encompasses all of the material taught during that block. For example, at the end of Micro/blood, we had an NBME that tested material from both microbiology and blood (i.e. hematology/oncology). This is actually nice because you do not have to take a final exam every 3 weeks. You receive a single grade for each of the 5 pathophys courses that is either honor/pass/fail.

-Changes are being made to the curriculum. The school is moving away from lectures and more towards small group learning.

Anyway, I hope that clears a few things up. The thing to know is that the school works hard to make things work for the students and what we want. Many of these changes occurred as a result of student suggestions.
 
Sophocles said:
Different schools curve in different ways. On one hand, if everyone does bad, the teacher can add to everyone's grade and everyone benefits, since grading is based on a percentage scale. On the other hand, you can be curved against your fellow students, where the median grade will be the border of a B/B- (just an example). This makes everything you do extremely competitive. For instance, in one of my labs the median was like a 94 and the SD was extremely small. Therefore, we had people with low 90's that received B- and people with high 80's receiving C's. This is so that only a percentage of people will get particular grades. This completely changes everything about a school's atmosphere.
Click to expand...

impact2d said:
Exactly, from what I understand, a true bell curve only let's few people get A's and a few more B's with the highest percentage getting Cs. I think what most students like is scaling (where the professor adds the same points to every students grade). I think that's how it works.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using SDN Mobile
Click to expand...


Aha, I get it now. This is exactly how my organic chemistry course was curved and it was a nightmare. Glad it's over at Stony then.
 
I just got accepted here on Friday!!!!

I interviewed back on November 19th
 
Do they reject post interview?

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Waitlisted as well. Does anyone know if the waitlist is ranked?
 
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Traveller01 said:
Waitlisted as well. Does anyone know if the waitlist is ranked?
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Me four :(
n43cQwB.jpg
 
Traveller01 said:
Waitlisted as well. Does anyone know if the waitlist is ranked?
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I believe the waitlist is ranked, but the admissions office will not tell you where on the list you're ranked. Keep in mind, though, that the waitlist moves significantly beginning in the spring and summer when people who have multiple acceptances start giving them up. There are plenty of people each year who matriculate who are pulled off the waitlist, so all is not lost.
 
If all of us got wait listed , is it possible we were interviewing for the waiting list?
 
i'm buggin. interviewed way back in nov and still havent heard jack ish. WHAT DOES IT ALL MEANNN :scared:
 
Doesn't seem like they reject post interview. .. only waiting list

Sent from my phone
 
ascg said:
Doesn't seem like they reject post interview. .. only waiting list

Sent from my phone
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They definitely do, I know someone who received one recently
 
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Withdrew my seat in next years class. Hope one of you guys get the spot. Good Luck!
 
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