2013-2014 University of Florida Application Thread

Applying to Med School? Get In Or Your Money Back
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gettheleadout

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Space reserved for prompt.

Please PM the essays or lack thereof to me when the secondary is available and I will update this.

Good luck to everyone applying! :luck:
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Very much looking forward to applying here! Good luck everybody!!
 
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Not as much as the other FL schools. I think Miami has the highest OOS%.
 
I will check this thread on occasion and would be happy to answer any questions that applicants have about the school, clinical rotations, Gainesville, etc. If you want to know about the curriculum changes, I won't be much help there since I went through the "traditional" track. Best of luck to those applying this year!
 
miami is a private school and all the other florida md schools are public so it has less in-state bias.....florida's two DO schools are also private.
 
cweave16 said:
I will check this thread on occasion and would be happy to answer any questions that applicants have about the school, clinical rotations, Gainesville, etc. If you want to know about the curriculum changes, I won't be much help there since I went through the "traditional" track. Best of luck to those applying this year!
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Can you describe your rotation experiences? Also why did you choose UFCOM?
 
Is UFCOM more geared towards research, specialties, primary care or just a mix?
 
Was sad I ran out of money and couldn't complete the secondary last year for this school. Re applying and this time with better money.
 
ewelling said:
Is UFCOM more geared towards research, specialties, primary care or just a mix?
Click to expand...

From interviewing here last cycle, I would say it's still a decent mix, although they're trying to beef up their research side in their recent incoming classes by making it somewhat of a requirement. The rationale is to improve competitiveness for residency applications.
 
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I'm a MS2 and will try to answer questions as they come up. Don't hesitate to message me directly if you have a question.
 
ZeroViBritannia said:
UF is research heavy.
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I'm not 100% sure what this means. You can research as much or as little as you want. I think with the incoming class, the discovery pathway is required, but what that means for summer is unclear. Regardless, I know some classmates who are doing interesting research, winning awards, and all that jazz. Others, like myself, as merely dabbling in it. There are some that aren't interested at all. Take your pick.

As far as the primary care vs speciality debate, I think UF has a good mix. Your small group leader will be a primary care person. However, you can shadow in just about any specialty; further, your 2nd and 3rd preceptorships can be with specialists.
 
Neurodelic said:
Can you describe your rotation experiences? Also why did you choose UFCOM?
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Great rotations, passionate faculty who really enjoy teaching (you have to show motivation and it will be returned to you in turn). Large mix of socioeconomic groups, with more interaction with lower socioeconomic status patients than other hospitals because it's a teaching hospital. Of course, there were a few bad apples but that's to be expected at any institution. I chose it because it gave me the best vibe on interview day.

All the fancy equipment, "dynamic" lectures, and "new" hospitals that schools tend to tout on interviews don't mean anything. It simply boils down to you and the lecture slides/Netter's/books during the first 2 years and you and the patient (and reading about them) during the second 2 years. You will learn from fantastic teachers here and the pathology mix is great.

Hope this helps.
 
All I can say is that after leaving Florida to go to Minnesota for undergrad, med school back home where I can avoid frostbite is looking better and better every day!
 
CarlATHF said:
Great rotations, passionate faculty who really enjoy teaching (you have to show motivation and it will be returned to you in turn). Large mix of socioeconomic groups, with more interaction with lower socioeconomic status patients than other hospitals because it's a teaching hospital. Of course, there were a few bad apples but that's to be expected at any institution. I chose it because it gave me the best vibe on interview day.

All the fancy equipment, "dynamic" lectures, and "new" hospitals that schools tend to tout on interviews don't mean anything. It simply boils down to you and the lecture slides/Netter's/books during the first 2 years and you and the patient (and reading about them) during the second 2 years. You will learn from fantastic teachers here and the pathology mix is great.

Hope this helps.
Click to expand...

Thanks, that was very helpful. I'm an undergrad at UF, so this school is my 1st choice (after the one ivy league school I applied to). The hardest thing is trying to gauge the experience that each school will give me before making a decision.
 
Applying here as well! I would be thrilled at the prospect of living in Gainesville again! Good luck everyone!!
 
Does anyone know how those "2 character letters" work? They say they need them in addition to a committee letter, but that only of them can be from a peer. Shouldn't every letter of recommendation speak to your character, so isn't this just asking for another random LOR? I will call them later about this, but if anyone has any advice, I'd appreciate it, cuz everyone I have a professional relationship with who could speak to my character is already included in my committee letter. I imagine that is the case with many other people as well.
 
Moxess said:
Does anyone know how those "2 character letters" work? They say they need them in addition to a committee letter, but that only of them can be from a peer. Shouldn't every letter of recommendation speak to your character, so isn't this just asking for another random LOR? I will call them later about this, but if anyone has any advice, I'd appreciate it, cuz everyone I have a professional relationship with who could speak to my character is already included in my committee letter. I imagine that is the case with many other people as well.
Click to expand...

As an undergrad at UF I am familiar with this. The premed advisors say character letters are from doctors, volunteer coordinators, research PI, church leader whoever can describe your character (ie. work ethic, curiosity, punctuality, etc etc). But they are not professors who taught you in class.
 
dkpremed said:
As an undergrad at UF I am familiar with this. The premed advisors say character letters are from doctors, volunteer coordinators, research PI, church leader whoever can describe your character (ie. work ethic, curiosity, punctuality, etc etc). But they are not professors who taught you in class.
Click to expand...

What if those people are already included in the Committee Letter?

EDIT: I called and they said one (or two if applicable) letter from a committee packet can count as a character letter. They did say "as long as you have 5" though, which I guess means you need 3 faculty letters and 2 character letters, no matter what is in your committee letter. Thanks dkpremed!
 
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Anyone know for the professional school app if we need to add a community college class we took online over the summer?
 
anyone noticed that in the essay 3 prompt, the descriptions of the two essays don't match the actual ones in the PDF file?
 
premedlol said:
anyone noticed that in the essay 3 prompt, the descriptions of the two essays don't match the actual ones in the PDF file?
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Hmmm, it matches for me. A pediatric one and a noncompliant patient one?
 
So we pay $30 for the professional school application and we also pay $30 for secondary submission?
 
ewelling said:
Yea, that's a pediatric one and noncompliant patient one :)
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Thanks! I just realized that url links to different pages from different browers!!

When I used Chrome, it opened up the same essays as last year's. Only after I opened it using IE did I find the right essays for this year...
 
Same problem here. My "secondary" secondary was only available through IE. Google Chrome would not recognize the url. Good luck to everyone!
 
usapremed said:
Same problem here. My "secondary" secondary was only available through IE. Google Chrome would not recognize the url. Good luck to everyone!
Click to expand...

I had the same problem in chrome at first and my computer seems to be allergic to IE, so I found a solution that worked for me. Instead of the link, I went to apply.med.ufl.edu/applicant and that got me where I needed to get without having to change browsers. Hope that helps.
 
Secondary submitted! Hoping for some alma mater gator love :)
 
Did anybody do the optional essay? I don't think I have anything else pertinent to add… I was just given a teaching assistant position for Spring 2013. Is that worth mentioning here?

As far as the other essays go…….I'm having the hardest time with this secondary. WHY CAN'T I ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS?!
 
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Did anyone get a weird email after submitting this secondary? It says:

UF College of Medicine Admissions App : : Email Template Errors

There is no 'application submit email template' in database.

Not sure what that means.
 
ewelling said:
Did anyone get a weird email after submitting this secondary? It says:

UF College of Medicine Admissions App : : Email Template Errors

There is no 'application submit email template' in database.

Not sure what that means.
Click to expand...

Yep! From submitting other secondaries, I've gathered that schools send out a template email thanking us for applying. Looks like UF didn't enter the body of the email into the template so we got an empty template. No big deal!

Does anybody have their letters marked as "received" yet?
 
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can someone post the essay prompts for this year?
 
wiley224 said:
can someone post the essay prompts for this year?
Click to expand...

Essay 1: Please limit your response to 250-500 words

If you are not a full-time student during this application cycle, in particular at any time between September 2013 and May 2014, please detail your current and planned activities below.

Essay 2: Please limit your response to 250-500 words

At the core of our profession are attributes sometimes called the three C’s; Competence (clinical excellence), Caring (a genuine desire to help others or “other centeredness”) and Character (personal integrity and honesty). In order to grow in these areas, the best practitioners are able to reflect upon who they are as individuals (self-assessment) and allow these insights to shape how they develop as physicians. The relationships we develop with patients and colleagues are among the most rewarding aspects of being a physician and provide the theatre in which the three C’s are both learned and practiced. We therefore have two short essay questions designed to help you explore these important topics. The first deals with self-assessment, and the second deals with the experiences of two UF medical students facing the loss of a patient and its impact on them as young doctors.

Read the following description of introversion and extraversion from the Myers-Briggs foundation website. Most people, while seeing themselves to one degree or another in each description, are inclined towards either being introverted or extroverted. Both groups make wonderful physicians, but each personality type has some inherent strengths and weaknesses which need to be appreciated as individuals develop into practicing physicians. Do you see yourself as more of an extravert or an introvert and how will this impact how you learn to communicate with patients and colleagues?

Essay 3: Please limit your response to 250-500 words
In the practice of medicine, we have the amazing privilege to not only help our patients, but also to learn from them in very unexpected ways. Read the following 2 essays, written recently by students at the University Of Florida College Of Medicine. In the first, a student had a major impact on a young patient on the pediatric surgery service. In the second, the student describes her care for a noncompliant patient. Both made a difference in their patients and both changed and grew through the experience. Pick one, and describe the skills of the author that you notice and think are helpful, then describe these stories relate to the kind of physician that you want to be.

Essay #4: Consider three areas of integrity: personal, professional, and intellectual. Using an example, describe how these areas may be interrelated. In your response include why the connection between these areas is significant. (500 words):

Essay #5: Additional Info Essay (500 words):

Edit: sorry I don't have the 2 attached essays for #3, someone else want to post it?
 
ewelling said:
Essay 1: Please limit your response to 250-500 words

If you are not a full-time student during this application cycle, in particular at any time between September 2013 and May 2014, please detail your current and planned activities below.

Essay 2: Please limit your response to 250-500 words

At the core of our profession are attributes sometimes called the three C’s; Competence (clinical excellence), Caring (a genuine desire to help others or “other centeredness”) and Character (personal integrity and honesty). In order to grow in these areas, the best practitioners are able to reflect upon who they are as individuals (self-assessment) and allow these insights to shape how they develop as physicians. The relationships we develop with patients and colleagues are among the most rewarding aspects of being a physician and provide the theatre in which the three C’s are both learned and practiced. We therefore have two short essay questions designed to help you explore these important topics. The first deals with self-assessment, and the second deals with the experiences of two UF medical students facing the loss of a patient and its impact on them as young doctors.

Read the following description of introversion and extraversion from the Myers-Briggs foundation website. Most people, while seeing themselves to one degree or another in each description, are inclined towards either being introverted or extroverted. Both groups make wonderful physicians, but each personality type has some inherent strengths and weaknesses which need to be appreciated as individuals develop into practicing physicians. Do you see yourself as more of an extravert or an introvert and how will this impact how you learn to communicate with patients and colleagues?

Essay 3: Please limit your response to 250-500 words
In the practice of medicine, we have the amazing privilege to not only help our patients, but also to learn from them in very unexpected ways. Read the following 2 essays, written recently by students at the University Of Florida College Of Medicine. In the first, a student had a major impact on a young patient on the pediatric surgery service. In the second, the student describes her care for a noncompliant patient. Both made a difference in their patients and both changed and grew through the experience. Pick one, and describe the skills of the author that you notice and think are helpful, then describe these stories relate to the kind of physician that you want to be.

Essay #4: Consider three areas of integrity: personal, professional, and intellectual. Using an example, describe how these areas may be interrelated. In your response include why the connection between these areas is significant. (500 words):

Essay #5: Additional Info Essay (500 words):

Edit: sorry I don't have the 2 attached essays for #3, someone else want to post it?
Click to expand...


Somebody posted the essays earlier! Just scroll up a bit :thumbup:
 
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