2013-2014 SUNY Upstate Application Thread

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Hey, I am also matriculating to Upstate... can I ask you what email this was and what your question was? They told me there was a problem sending me some emails so I'm trying to find out what I missed.

Hey! It was an email saying "Congratulations on your decision to attend SUNY Upstate Medical University!" and giving us our Student ID to access MyUpstate.

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Does anyone know if Upstate uses board style questions on their exams or do the professors make their own questions? I know Downstate uses Step 1 style but wasn't sure about Upstate.
 
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I'm sorry if this has already been mentioned but did anyone receive an email that said you are on hold for consideration later in the spring post-interview b/c a decision hasn't been made? I'm wondering if this is at all common...

Edit: read the email too quickly and just realized this status update came from suny downstate not upstate. As of right now, upstate hasn't sent a decision yet. ::crosses fingers::
 
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Dis you receive that email before or after your interview?
 
I am currently a student at upstate and I would like to say DO NOT live in geneva towers next year. The windows don't open so it can get very stuffy in the rooms. You have a thermostat but it doesn't really control your room. It is a green building so the heating is averaged by floor so if everyone on your floor likes it really hot and you don't you're SOL cuz it's gonna be hot. The walls are paper thin so you can hear everything that is going on in the apartments around yours. You can also hear people from other apartments through the vents. It is not THAT close to campus, definitely not worth paying for the location. It costs about DOUBLE as any other apartment you can find in the city. Lastly, there are RA's that patrol the building. So if you enjoyed living in dorms and being told what to do even though you are an adult then feel free to live in Geneva. Avoid unless you have no other option
can you recommend a good apartment building(s) as alternatives? why are there R.A.'s at all?
 


pretty funny video, you guys should take a look...
 
Dis you receive that email before or after your interview?
Haha turns out this status update came from downstate after my interview and not upstate. Sorry for the confusion! I still don't know upstate's decision after I interviewed :-/
 
I am currently a student at upstate and I would like to say DO NOT live in geneva towers next year. The windows don't open so it can get very stuffy in the rooms. You have a thermostat but it doesn't really control your room. It is a green building so the heating is averaged by floor so if everyone on your floor likes it really hot and you don't you're SOL cuz it's gonna be hot. The walls are paper thin so you can hear everything that is going on in the apartments around yours. You can also hear people from other apartments through the vents. It is not THAT close to campus, definitely not worth paying for the location. It costs about DOUBLE as any other apartment you can find in the city. Lastly, there are RA's that patrol the building. So if you enjoyed living in dorms and being told what to do even though you are an adult then feel free to live in Geneva. Avoid unless you have no other option

can any other upstate student weigh on this issue? when I went for my interview many of the students had positive things to say about living in Geneva tower. They specifically mentioned it being helpful for getting to know/bonding with classmates.
 
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can any other upstate student weigh on this issue? when I went for my interview many of the students had positive things to say about living in Geneva tower. They specifically mentioned it being helpful for getting to know/bonding with classmates.
I have never been inside the geneva tower, it does look nice from the outside, but the price is simply ridiculous. Most students at upstate live in Madison and Jefferson towers, which is the across the street from Geneva. As far as bonding and such goes, just as many of med students live in madison and jefferson. so i doubt it would be a problem.
 
Has anyone heard anything today?

My status went from "congrats ... interview" to blank.
 
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Has anyone heard anything today?

My status went from "congrats ... interview" to blank.

My status has also been blank since last Thursday, but I haven't heard anything yet. Hopefully this means decisions are coming out soon.
 
I called and they said Adcom made a decision about my application today. Furthermore, they said I should get an email soon.

Hope this helps.
 
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Got the acceptance email today. It said 7 am, but I got it later in the day.
 
Has anyone heard about living in Kasson Place?

I'm hoping to live off-campus and looking for a roommate to rent a two bedroom apartment or a few roommates to rent a house. I have two cats. 28 year old female.

Please PM me if you're interested.
 
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Does anyone know whether or not upstate will accept an online BLS course?
 
so to the questions about Geneva. I would recommend against it as well. The price is just too much and honestly its not that great in Geneva despite being new. It looks nice but its freezing cold cuz you can't control your own thermostat. Noisiness was another problem. And as another student has said the windows not opening can kinda drive you mad... Jefferson and Madison towers are much better priced and surprisingly less noisy.

We do not use board style questions. The profs kinda ask w/e they wanna ask. Sometimes they're good sometimes and other times not so much.
 
Hello future 1st years. I am a current 1st year and if anyone needs housing just send me a message. I am renting 1 unit of a 3 unit house (it has a 2 bedroom, 3 bedroom, and 4 bedroom units) and the landlord wants more medical students to live in the other 2 units. The place is very nice and you'd have the perks of having 2nd years in the same house who have gone through what you're about it and can offer advice. The rent is only $550 a month as compared to Geneva which is almost twice that. Also, I would definitely suggest not living in Geneva. It is not at all worth the money and the negatives are many.
 
Withdrew today. Good luck to those on the waitlist!
 
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Withdrew today. Hopefully it goes to one of you soon! Good luck everyone.
 
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Hey anybody that is def going to Upstate and looking for a roommate, I'm currently open to options. I imagine there is housing conversation going on in the Facebook group but I don't have one. 25 y.o. male. Send me a message for more info or we can figure somethin out. I went to SU for undergrad so pretty familiar with Cuse. -Bobby
 
Anyone know when can we call to find out our general standing on the HPA list? I know that we can't find out our exact ranking, but I remember them mentioning that we could find out what our chances are based on our ranking compared to the movement of the list in previous years.
 
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Hello future 1st years. I am a current 1st year and if anyone needs housing just send me a message. I am renting 1 unit of a 3 unit house (it has a 2 bedroom, 3 bedroom, and 4 bedroom units) and the landlord wants more medical students to live in the other 2 units. The place is very nice and you'd have the perks of having 2nd years in the same house who have gone through what you're about it and can offer advice. The rent is only $550 a month as compared to Geneva which is almost twice that. Also, I would definitely suggest not living in Geneva. It is not at all worth the money and the negatives are many.

Walking distance?
 
Anyone know when can we call to find out our general standing on the HPA list? I know that we can't find out our exact ranking, but I remember them mentioning that we could find out what our chances are based on our ranking compared to the movement of the list in previous years.
According to the email we can call mid-May… I plan to call a couple of days before May 15th :)
 
According to the email we can call mid-May… I plan to call a couple of days before May 15th :)
what email are you referring to? The one you received informing you that you are placed on HPA
 
Just withdrew my acceptance w/6k scholarship. It's not much, but every bit helps, and I hope both of 'em goes to one of you guys and gals. Good luck to you all!
 
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Has anybody called the admissions office to find out their position on the HPA list yet? I called today and they told me to email Isabelle.
 
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BTW, can any current first year students share the course syllabi for each of the first year courses? Wants to gauge exactly how rigorous of a first year I am getting into, especially with the deadline for making a decision drawing up so soon.
Also. if it'd be possible, does anyone have a list for first year textbooks... given my personal bad experiences between cringing at the bookstore prices and waiting for online orders to arrive ;p
 
BTW, can any current first year students share the course syllabi for each of the first year courses? Wants to gauge exactly how rigorous of a first year I am getting into, especially with the deadline for making a decision drawing up so soon.
Also. if it'd be possible, does anyone have a list for first year textbooks... given my personal bad experiences between cringing at the bookstore prices and waiting for online orders to arrive ;p

I am a current first year and the other day they showed us the curriculum (not yet approved) for next years students. It is unbelievably better than the curriculum that my class had. There are shorter units which means less to memorize per test. Anatomy is all year long instead of the 2 months our class took it in. There is great systems based units which is why anatomy is all year so for example you'll do histology/physiology/biochem and anatomy all of the GI in one unit and then do another system. Other courses that we had in one unit, so if you failed you couldn't do better in another unit to make up for it, have been split into 2 units. I believe the curriculum for the incoming class is great and if my class got through our year, next years first years will have nothing to complain about. Also don't buy any textbooks. I haven't used a single text book all year. The teachers notes are sufficient and any supplemental stuff is available in the library
 
I am a current first year and the other day they showed us the curriculum (not yet approved) for next years students. It is unbelievably better than the curriculum that my class had. There are shorter units which means less to memorize per test. Anatomy is all year long instead of the 2 months our class took it in. There is great systems based units which is why anatomy is all year so for example you'll do histology/physiology/biochem and anatomy all of the GI in one unit and then do another system. Other courses that we had in one unit, so if you failed you couldn't do better in another unit to make up for it, have been split into 2 units. I believe the curriculum for the incoming class is great and if my class got through our year, next years first years will have nothing to complain about. Also don't buy any textbooks. I haven't used a single text book all year. The teachers notes are sufficient and any supplemental stuff is available in the library

Thanks, on a side note, with the changes, how accurate is the Course Selection Book for 2014-2015? And what exactly is this "Radiology & Anatomy" part on the block sheet?
Tho personally speaking, would like an actual course syllabi to help better compare the options, even an outdated one ;p especially given the subjective nature of difficulty XD
 
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Thanks, on a side note, with the changes, how accurate is the Course Selection Book for 2014-2015? And what exactly is this "Radiology & Anatomy" part on the block sheet?
Tho personally speaking, would like an actual course syllabi to help better compare the options, even an outdated one ;p especially given the subjective nature of difficulty XD

I have no clue what the course selection book is. Radiology/Anatomy is going to be anatomy all year long that corresponds the system and then, probably once a week because that's what we had, you'll have a radiology class where you'll look at MRIs, CTs, X-rays, and angiograms. It's a pretty cool course and the teacher is awesome. If you're trying to compare difficulties of medical schools I would say that they are probably all equivalently hard. The curriculum is homogenized between medical schools by the LCME so there isn't a lot of wiggle room the schools have to work with. Wherever you go you're gonna have to work
 
I have no clue what the course selection book is. Radiology/Anatomy is going to be anatomy all year long that corresponds the system and then, probably once a week because that's what we had, you'll have a radiology class where you'll look at MRIs, CTs, X-rays, and angiograms. It's a pretty cool course and the teacher is awesome. If you're trying to compare difficulties of medical schools I would say that they are probably all equivalently hard. The curriculum is homogenized between medical schools by the LCME so there isn't a lot of wiggle room the schools have to work with. Wherever you go you're gonna have to work

I guess I am more attempting to try and compare the difficulty of the first year part rather than in the entirety of the program, unless that is also homogenized as well ;p. Since I don't mind any difficulty in the second year once all the social adjustment concerns are settled, but for the first year - well, its always nice to have wiggle room to allow for any unforeseeable circumstances arising.
 
It's the first 2 years that have to be the same but you can teach things in any order so something that we have first year another school might teach in second. The first 2 units of next years curriculum seem fairly easy and should allow the students to get into the swing of things before they pick up
 
have people been pulled off of the HPA yet?
No luck over here just yet. I'm going to pick the best school I have for now and hope that if given a chance off the HPA, it's early in the summer and not close to the beginning of classes... Wouldn't want te hassle of trying to move again and rushing to get transcripts and health forms in...
 
Update: Just called and was told that final decisions were going to be made today for HPA. I'm guessing that that means that the main bulk of acceptances off of HPA will go out once those decisions are made, and then the rest will happen sparingly as people withdraw for other schools that they get accepted to off of other waitlists? I realized after getting off the phone that I didn't ask about the general time frame for notification (if they'd be calling today, tomorrow, next week, etc.) so if anyone knows, I'd love to find out.
 
Update: Just called and was told that final decisions were going to be made today for HPA. I'm guessing that that means that the main bulk of acceptances off of HPA will go out once those decisions are made, and then the rest will happen sparingly as people withdraw for other schools that they get accepted to off of other waitlists? I realized after getting off the phone that I didn't ask about the general time frame for notification (if they'd be calling today, tomorrow, next week, etc.) so if anyone knows, I'd love to find out.
Any HPA received acceptance in the last few days?
 
Hang in there everyone. I was accepted off the HPA list yesterday. I'm confident there will be more.
(not comfortable giving stats--please don't ask)
 
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