A.T. Still University Arizona (ATSU-SOMA) Discussion Thread 2014 - 2015

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Wait wait.. You didn't waive your access rights for your letters?

Sometimes letter writers give you a hard copy or let you read it
and you can still waive the confidentiality.

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Personally I havent read mine but I know tons of people who have.
 
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The whole point of waiving the letters is to show the readers and admissions committees that you don't know what is in them. Therefore a negative letter will be taken more lightly if you waived your access to it. On that same note, a good letter that is waived will receive extra weight. By signing the waiver, you are giving up your right to view the letters with the benefit that they will be used to your best advantage. As future physicians (and as civilized human beings), we need to be honest. I would hope that the supposed "tons of people who have" read their waived letters would take personal responsibility to let the admissions committee know that they basically broke that contact. It would possibly even benefit your application by their seeing your integrity and desire to right wrongs.

Wait wait.. You didn't waive your access rights to your letters?
 
I agree. I mean don't get me wrong- I wish I knew what my research coordinators said about me in my LORs but I think I know 10+ people this cycle just in my school classes that had access to all the letters. There will always be "bending the truth," even in medicine I'm afraid.
 
The whole point of waiving the letters is to show the readers and admissions committees that you don't know what is in them. Therefore a negative letter will be taken more lightly if you waived your access to it. On that same note, a good letter that is waived will receive extra weight. By signing the waiver, you are giving up your right to view the letters with the benefit that they will be used to your best advantage. As future physicians (and as civilized human beings), we need to be honest. I would hope that the supposed "tons of people who have" read their waived letters would take personal responsibility to let the admissions committee know that they basically broke that contact. It would possibly even benefit your application by their seeing your integrity and desire to right wrongs.
Yo, Genbro. Why did you quote me???.....?
 
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When would it be time to call up admissions if I didn't receive an ii? I consider myself to be a respectable candidate stats-wise and submitted everything quite early. Personal statement, etc. were vetted by multiple individuals. Unless it's due to negative LORs, which I'm hoping isn't the case, I'm at a loss for why I didn't receive an ii.
 
So I got an interview invite this morning but it says:

Your application for admission to A.T. Still University School of Osteopathic Medicine in Arizona for the class beginning Summer 2015 has been reviewed and we are pleased to invite you to our campus for an interview. At this time all of our seats have been filled and we are interviewing pending an open seat in the class. If accepted after the interview and a seat does not open in 2015, you will be offered a seat by automatic deferment for 2016.


I logged in as the email said to schedule an interview and scheduled the interview date in September this year. So is this invite for this cycle or next?

So confused.
 
Yo, Genbro. Why did you quote me???.....?
Just because you brought up the topic of waiving letters. I wasn't directing my comment at anyone in particular, just a general call to integrity where it may have been lacking. I guess I could have quoted moonwake instead...
 
So I got an interview invite this morning but it says:

Your application for admission to A.T. Still University School of Osteopathic Medicine in Arizona for the class beginning Summer 2015 has been reviewed and we are pleased to invite you to our campus for an interview. At this time all of our seats have been filled and we are interviewing pending an open seat in the class. If accepted after the interview and a seat does not open in 2015, you will be offered a seat by automatic deferment for 2016.


I logged in as the email said to schedule an interview and scheduled the interview date in September this year. So is this invite for this cycle or next?

So confused.

I got an II yesterday and this email showed up this morning.
" Dear Applicant,

I apologize for sending out the wrong email to you when inviting you to interview. Please disregard the statement that we are interviewing pending an open seat. We have plenty of seats open for you at this time and we are interviewing for the Class of 2019. All other information contained in the email is accurate and useful information and you should feel free to schedule your interview if you haven't already done so."
 
So I got an interview invite this morning but it says:

Your application for admission to A.T. Still University School of Osteopathic Medicine in Arizona for the class beginning Summer 2015 has been reviewed and we are pleased to invite you to our campus for an interview. At this time all of our seats have been filled and we are interviewing pending an open seat in the class. If accepted after the interview and a seat does not open in 2015, you will be offered a seat by automatic deferment for 2016.


I logged in as the email said to schedule an interview and scheduled the interview date in September this year. So is this invite for this cycle or next?

So confused.
Page 3 of this thread is your answer, good sir/ma'am.

EDIT: Or, the post above mine. lol.
 
Just because you brought up the topic of waiving letters. I wasn't directing my comment at anyone in particular, just a general call to integrity where it may have been lacking. I guess I could have quoted moonwake instead...
Fair enough.
 
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When would it be time to call up admissions if I didn't receive an ii? I consider myself to be a respectable candidate stats-wise and submitted everything quite early. Personal statement, etc. were vetted by multiple individuals. Unless it's due to negative LORs, which I'm hoping isn't the case, I'm at a loss for why I didn't receive an ii.

PM sent
 
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Got it last night via e-mail. Got a clarification e-mail today in the morning apologizing for the error saying the pool was already filled. They have lots of spots left.
 
Looking like they send them out on Mondays (I guess we'll see if that's the only day during the week when they send them out)
 
Congrats on interviews everyone! Make sure to post your stats in the "Official Interview Invite Thread 2014-2015 Cycle" in the Pre-Medical Osteopathic forum so we can keep track of the schools giving out invites!
 
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Went outside to get the mail from the mailbox and saw I had a letter from ATSU. Thought, welp it was nice of them to spend the cents to tell me thanks but no thanks. I got put on hold. I'd love to get an ii but a hold is better than an outright rejection.
 
Went outside to get the mail from the mailbox and saw I had a letter from ATSU. Thought, welp it was nice of them to spend the cents to tell me thanks but no thanks. I got put on hold. I'd love to get an ii but a hold is better than an outright rejection.

Do you mind sharing your stats?
 
Do you mind sharing your stats?

I'll be honest, I'm kind of all over the place stat wise and because of the highs and lows I bet that's why I didn't get a direct rejection at this time. Gpa and sGpa is about a 3.45, junior college gpa is a 3.2 but when I transferred to get my bach, I had a 3.78 with all A's in my upper sciences except for a B in a lab. MCAT is sub 25 for 3 times with numbers all over the place. ECs = a lot, but I'll type them out if someone wants to know.
 
ECs please. ;)

Sure

I'm a nontrad that has held the same part time job since the start of junior college. At the start of high school back in 2004, I began to raise a show heifer with my family for the county fair and we've had show cattle ever since. We're at 23 head now. When I'm not showing the heifers/cows - calf pairs/steers/bulls, I teach younger students how to train and show their animal. Think of a dog show where all the dogs are fluffy and have to walk and stand a certain way, that's the exact same thing with cows. If someone wants more info about this section, I'll answer in PMs - I don't want to derail the thread.

Then for four years, I co-hosted a film screening at a movie theater. A company would send the other host and I disks, we would then show it on the screen. Before or after the showing we would sometimes have meet and greets with any of the directors or voice actors that were involved and we'd do raffles for prizes. When that ended I started up Taekwondo and am currently a blackbelt. I'm probably going to stop with tkd soon because the school changed teachers and this guy is awful. For the only one everyone cares about, for two years, once a week I volunteer at the local ER. Then I did the normal shadowing that everyone does: Orthopedic Surgeon, Interventional Radiologist, Cardiologist, ER physician, Plastic surgeon DO, and family medicine DO.

I think I made it vague enough not to get Doxed.

Edit, as a thank you for reading my post, I want to introduce everyone to Patches. She sits and also ate some of that tarp.
patchessitting.png
 
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Hello everyone :)
I am working on my secondary application and I just realized how long is 500 words!!!!!!!! I am trying to keep my responses at 450 words which ends up taking one whole page on MS word. Is this normal? -_-

how long are your responses?:wideyed:
 
Hello everyone :)
I am working on my secondary application and I just realized how long is 500 words!!!!!!!! I am trying to keep my responses at 450 words which ends up taking one whole page on MS word. Is this normal? -_-

how long are your responses?:wideyed:

I received an interview invite with essays ranging from 186-241 words. If you can answer the questions with a short essay, I say go for it.
 
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I received an interview invite with essays ranging from 186-241 words. If you can answer the questions with a short essay, I say go for it.

congrats!! thank you, this is exactly what I needed to hear. I found my self repeating several things and including not so important things to reach 500 words. I am going to make it short and sweet now :)
 
I think mine were around 300 last year... I know I didn't get even close to 500.
 
Hi everyone. First post here. I just got back my mcat scores. First time around, my score was a 23 (VR/BS/PS 10/7/6). This time around, I choked on verbal but got a 26 (7/10/9). I don't know if I should retake or not :/ I know ATSU-SOMA is a very mission driven school and I feel that I would fit in very well in the school. The biggest things that I have going for me to show my work in underserved areas is that I've volunteered at a homeless shelter and the thrift shop by the same charity and accumulated 110+ hours. I'm also a member of Community HealthCorps and will be expected to complete 1700+ hours in 9-11 months.
As for other EC's, I don't have much. I'll have about 25 hours shadowing a DO pediatrician, served as an ER volunteer last year, went to the Philippines for a humanitarian/leadership mission for 2 1/2 weeks (the only "clinical" thing I did there was take people's blood pressures. I held several leadership workshops and I was responsible for the public speaking component). I was in a cultural club for 4 years and I was a language partner for one semester. I've already sent my primary on 7/17 to ATSU and LECOM, so I'm just waiting for a secondary.
My GPA is 3.408 and my sGPA is ~3.2.

So retake or no? (basically what are my chances in getting an II)
 
Hello

I am a current student at one of the community campuses which you will attend from second year to fourth year. If any of you have any questions about the school or anything else let me know and I would be glad to help.

Hey everyone, 3rd year (soon to be 4th year) SOMA student here; I've been fairly active in past year's threads so I thought I'd make myself available to anyone who has questions they'd like to ask.

Think of it as "Ask Me Anything" SOMA style.

Can either/both of you explain the curriculum/distance learning for each year? Thanks!
 
Hi everyone. First post here. I just got back my mcat scores. First time around, my score was a 23 (VR/BS/PS 10/7/6). This time around, I choked on verbal but got a 26 (7/10/9). I don't know if I should retake or not :/ I know ATSU-SOMA is a very mission driven school and I feel that I would fit in very well in the school. The biggest things that I have going for me to show my work in underserved areas is that I've volunteered at a homeless shelter and the thrift shop by the same charity and accumulated 110+ hours. I'm also a member of Community HealthCorps and will be expected to complete 1700+ hours in 9-11 months.
As for other EC's, I don't have much. I'll have about 25 hours shadowing a DO pediatrician, served as an ER volunteer last year, went to the Philippines for a humanitarian/leadership mission for 2 1/2 weeks (the only "clinical" thing I did there was take people's blood pressures. I held several leadership workshops and I was responsible for the public speaking component). I was in a cultural club for 4 years and I was a language partner for one semester. I've already sent my primary on 7/17 to ATSU and LECOM, so I'm just waiting for a secondary.
My GPA is 3.408 and my sGPA is ~3.2.

So retake or no? (basically what are my chances in getting an II)

I received an interview invite with a 26. PS: 9, VR: 7, BS: 10. However, I have a strong GPA and ECs.
 
Hi everyone. First post here. I just got back my mcat scores. First time around, my score was a 23 (VR/BS/PS 10/7/6). This time around, I choked on verbal but got a 26 (7/10/9). I don't know if I should retake or not :/ I know ATSU-SOMA is a very mission driven school and I feel that I would fit in very well in the school. The biggest things that I have going for me to show my work in underserved areas is that I've volunteered at a homeless shelter and the thrift shop by the same charity and accumulated 110+ hours. I'm also a member of Community HealthCorps and will be expected to complete 1700+ hours in 9-11 months.
As for other EC's, I don't have much. I'll have about 25 hours shadowing a DO pediatrician, served as an ER volunteer last year, went to the Philippines for a humanitarian/leadership mission for 2 1/2 weeks (the only "clinical" thing I did there was take people's blood pressures. I held several leadership workshops and I was responsible for the public speaking component). I was in a cultural club for 4 years and I was a language partner for one semester. I've already sent my primary on 7/17 to ATSU and LECOM, so I'm just waiting for a secondary.
My GPA is 3.408 and my sGPA is ~3.2.

So retake or no? (basically what are my chances in getting an II)
I got accepted with a 26.
 
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Rejected today. The letter I received was dated July 30th. Great quality paper. Gotta give them that. Lol
 
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Can either/both of you explain the curriculum/distance learning for each year? Thanks!

The first year is systems approach in blocks at the main campus in Mesa, Arizona. So there will be 5 weeks of renal where everything about the kidneys are discussed (pharm, micro, physiology, molecular biology, immunology, disease processes, etc). For my first year class usually started at 8 and could continue until 5, with lectures lasting typically 60-90 min. There would be anywhere from 10-20 lectures per week. There would be 4 hours of OMM, 4 hours of physical exam skills, 4 hours of case studies, 4-8 hours of anatomy each week as well. The blocks lasted from 4-8 weeks with a test every other week or so. All lectures are video recorded and could be watched at home if wanted, but the OMM/PE skills/case studies have required attendance.

The second year curriculum is the same for all campuses, however each campus will put a spin on it. The curriculum during my second year was composed of 8-20 video lectures per week which varied in length from 15 min to an hour. The school continued the system based blocks and there would be about 2 tests each block. Then each week there would be case presentations that we would do together as a CHC. In addition at my site there were a couple of other meetings per week practicing physical exam skills or workshops like suturing. There was also 4 hours a week of OMM where an instructor would come in and teach.

Third/fourth year is entirely rotations with a test at the end of each core rotation blocks followed by "grand rounds", which varies by CHC. My CHC would include a guest lecture and case presentations by the students. Core rotations are "required" to be in the region of your CHC. So if you are in the Ohio CHC, you can't necessarily do your core pediatric rotation in Chicago as an example.
 
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Kirksville sent more II's out today. What about you SOMA? :p
 
The second year curriculum is the same for all campuses, however each campus will put a spin on it. The curriculum during my second year was composed of 8-20 video lectures per week which varied in length from 15 min to an hour.

Thanks for the information! How did you like 2nd year with the whole year spent learning through video recordings instead of class time?
 
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I received an interview invite with a 26. PS: 9, VR: 7, BS: 10. However, I have a strong GPA and ECs.

I got accepted with a 26.

^^Did you also have a good GPA/ECs?

Thanks for the replies. It's at least comforting to know you both got at least interview invites (and hopefully an acceptance) :)
So if I were to go for a retake, would I have to let AACOMAS know that I am retaking even though I've already sent in the primary app? And would the schools hold off on looking at my application? I don't want my application to be looked at too late :/
 
Thanks for the information! How did you like 2nd year with the whole year spent learning through video recordings instead of class time?

I traditionally prefer classroom learning to at home computer learning. I find that being at home I am surrounded by too many distractions compared to a traditional lecture setting. With that said, you can be far more efficient with the time it takes to lecture. Most people watched the lectures at a faster speed (I watched most of them at 2x). The people who spent more time first year watching lectures at home had an initial advantage during second year.

Second year as a whole is a test of your ability to time manage. There are still scheduled tests and classroom appearances, but you also have 8 hours worth of clinic time which the days and times could vary, at least at my CHC. Then you have to put in potentially 20 hours worth of videos and any extra time you want to spend studying.

To do well at this school you either need to be a very motivated self starter, or find people pretty early on to motivate/guide you. This school will let you choose your own path for studying and learning which can be positive, but at the same time will offer you very little about what needs to be done. I have been in situations where I didn't know about some rule/regulation until it was far too late to do anything about it. So the question is, do you need a lot of guidance as a student or are you self motivated enough to figure everything out?
 
I traditionally prefer classroom learning to at home computer learning. I find that being at home I am surrounded by too many distractions compared to a traditional lecture setting. With that said, you can be far more efficient with the time it takes to lecture. Most people watched the lectures at a faster speed (I watched most of them at 2x). The people who spent more time first year watching lectures at home had an initial advantage during second year.

Second year as a whole is a test of your ability to time manage. There are still scheduled tests and classroom appearances, but you also have 8 hours worth of clinic time which the days and times could vary, at least at my CHC. Then you have to put in potentially 20 hours worth of videos and any extra time you want to spend studying.

To do well at this school you either need to be a very motivated self starter, or find people pretty early on to motivate/guide you. This school will let you choose your own path for studying and learning which can be positive, but at the same time will offer you very little about what needs to be done. I have been in situations where I didn't know about some rule/regulation until it was far too late to do anything about it. So the question is, do you need a lot of guidance as a student or are you self motivated enough to figure everything out?

This is very helpful. Thanks!
 
^^Did you also have a good GPA/ECs?

Thanks for the replies. It's at least comforting to know you both got at least interview invites (and hopefully an acceptance) :)
So if I were to go for a retake, would I have to let AACOMAS know that I am retaking even though I've already sent in the primary app? And would the schools hold off on looking at my application? I don't want my application to be looked at too late :/
I didn't get just an II, I got accepted after applying last February. my GPA was okay (3.4), my ECs were more about quality versus quantity, and I also worked full time while in school.
 
Can either/both of you explain the curriculum/distance learning for each year? Thanks!

The curriculum (when I went through M1 and M2) is based upon clinical presentation. What's unique is that the curriculum isn't divided by basic vs. clinical science like most schools are; in fact, it's not even divided by subject.

You will learn a little from every discipline in each course, and you will be tested on all of it together. The only "siloing" of information you'll get is that the courses are taught by organ system.

A basic blueprint:

A course focuses on the organ system of interest. Say it's Pulmonary.
Then within that course you'll be taught by clinical presentation. Perhaps the presentation for the week is "dyspnea"
You'll get lectures from anatomy, physiology, biochem, microbiology, genetics, etc etc etc. All relating to causes of "dyspnea"
Then the next week you'll move on to another pulmonary clinical presentation, and do it all over again.

The midterm and final will contain all the material you've learned up to that point; anything is fair game.

By the end of M2 you will have covered all the organ systems. And as a result, you will have received the full complement of teaching in all of the subjects as well.

The distance education thing just means that in M2 when you are at your community campus, instead of sitting in lecture hall, you'll get your lectures delivered to you as video recordings. You'll have a few professors at your campus to guide and assist you as needed, and the faculty in AZ are also available to help via email, phone, skype etc.

2nd year you'll also get some clinical exposure to help prep you for M3 and M4.

M3 and M4 are identical to any other school out there. You'll do all the required core rotations, along with electives and selectives just like anywhere else.
 
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does ATSU-SOMA have a minimum MCAT score? I just got my score back and I did bad :(
 
Oh my goodness, I got an II! I'm so excited!
 
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