Anybody familiar with Med schools in the South?

[Humps]

I am from Tennessee but in San Francisco right now. I was wondering whether anyone got accepted to the following schools?
-University of TN, Memphis
-Medical University of Georgia
-Medical College of SC
-NC, Chapel Hill
-Virginia, Charlottesville
-Baylor
-Vandy
-East Tennessee State
-Emory

Any info on admissions, personal experiences, opinions, etc. is welcome.
Thanks!

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[Humps]

Also I was wondering whether anyone else is applying to any of these school and knows anyhthing about them. Thanks.

 

[GreatPumpkin]

You forgot my school...sniff...sniff

VCU/MCV
Great clinical exp., good teachers, lacking first year classroom, large class, very diversified class, take a good amount of out-of-state applicants, med. size city.

UVA
High prestige, small town.

ETSU
Very primary care oriented, small classes, small city.

That's about all I can tell you. Unless you want to know more about MCV.

 

[kd]

I will be attending ETSU this fall. As Pumpkin points out, the school is very primary-care oriented and the admissions process reflects this orientation- they will tell you at the interview that they're primarily interested in recruiting primary care physicians for the Southern Appalachian region. ETSU is ranked in the US News Top 25 for primary care, so if that's your career interest, it's a great choice- and especially so for rural medicine. However, it's definitely not the place if you're interested in heavy-duty research or sub-specialties. As for the setting, Johnson City is a small town in a very rural setting-if you're used to a big city, you will be in for a huge shock. OTOH if you love the outdoors, it's a great place- right in the mountains. Cost of living is dirt cheap and the people are very friendly.
I didn't apply to UT Memphis myself, but I've heard good things about the school (except for the fact that it's located near a really rough neighborhood- which seems to be the case for a lot of urban med schools.) Memphis has great clinical facilities (St. Jude's, etc.) though apparently one of their big hospitals recently closed due to financial problems. They have a rather large class size (160). If you're a TN resident, it isn't too tough to get in there- for most in-state people, a 3.5 GPA and 28-30 MCAT is enough to get in. Don't know much about Vandy- I did apply there, but didn't get a secondary. It's a top-notch nationally ranked school, but admissions are very tough and they don't seem to give any preference to in-state applicants (unlike most private schools, e.g., Duke, Case Western, etc.).
Feel free to ask if you have any more questions about ETSU.

 

[Pegasus]

I am a now MSII at Chapel Hill (YEAH!)

I love it here! Although primary care is always a plus here, we have so many different types of students, many who still dont know what they want to get into yet.

Im not sure what information you want to know about Chapel Hill, but for me some of the things I really like:

The med school is attached to main campus. This means that we are walking distance from the gym, library, and most importantly, Frankin St (food, coffee shops, beer, beer, and more beer after exams!!

Grading system is awesome. First we are on H/P/F, which tries to eliminate the competion between students. We are not ranked at all (except inside the system but not for residency). So, if you score in that huge passing range, you get the same letter to residency programs.

My classmates are awesome too. I dont feel the cut-throat competion that I would have at Wake Forest. Most everyone really tries to help eachother out. Any helpful hints are sent to the lab/class, and it helps to know that we are all in this together and we root for eachother.

Well, i could go on forever, and I would mention the Basketball team, but since Forte is leaving for the draft, im not so sure how we will do next year, but it is fun going to the games. The students are so high energy when it comes to sports!

If you do have any specific questions, feel free to email me, and good luck

 

[kahlil78]

You didn't include UT Southwestern in your list. Why?"

 

[lilycat]

Well, I interviewed at Baylor, and am currently waitlisted there, and they insist on stringing me along mercilessly (giving me just enough info. to keep me going). I loved the school, although it might have been colored by the fact that it was my first interview, so I was just excited in general, and the fact that my SO is there. The biggest pluses in my opinion is the year and a half for basic sciences, which essentially gives you 10 "free" months throughout the rest of med school, so you can take time off to study for the boards, start clinicals earlier than most of your peers elsewhere, etc. Second, the clinical training just seemed like it would be superb. Apparently med students and residents basically run the county hospital, Ben Taub, so you have the opportunity for a ton of very hands-on experience.

The biggest negative is probably the location for a lot of people -- Houston is a city people love to hate. However, I've been there a bunch of times and it didn't seem that bad to me. Crime is definitely a concern, but I'm not sure if it would be any more of a concern than if you were at Columbia, Hopkins, USC, etc. Like I mentioned in the TX school thread, they can only accpet max. 30% out of state, so admission is competitive, but I definitely think it's a school worth applying to.

By the way, why wasn't Tulane wasn't on your list?

 

[Humps]

Thanks everybody, I really appreciate the feedback, and continue to let it all ou if there is more. Tulane is on my list, in fact, and MCV might be there too, after the reply. I am currently studying for the daddy of all tests and going through this hellacious application. These AMCAS people are killing me! Anyway, good luck to everyone, and keep up the info. Thanks

 

[Hercules]

Originally posted by lilycat:
•Well, I interviewed at Baylor, and am currently waitlisted there, and they insist on stringing me along mercilessly (giving me just enough info. to keep me going). •

Sorry to hear you're still playing the waiting game .

Just thought I'd plug my school: UAB (Univ of Alabama in Birmingham). It's a good school nationally (usually right around the bottom edge of the top 25) and it's a really good school regionally. It's also an incredibly cheap school. It's only around 10k/yr and out of staters can claim an Alabama residency after their first year of med school.