FlexMed 2016

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TotalMHCmismatch

TotalMHCmismatch

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So I see a thread for this year's application cycle to Mt. Sinai's FlexMed program has yet to be started. Considering applications just opened up yesterday (August 1st), I thought it would be a good time to start one.

Anyone that has any info, questions, concerns, or just wants to talk about FlexMed is welcome to post.

Here are the threads from the last few years:
2015: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/flexmed-2015.1076862/
2014: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/flexmed-2014.993341/
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Interested to see how this goes. I plan on applying as of now. Good luck to everyone. I look forward to the discussion.
 
I am applying as well. So anxious to be waiting until February
 
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callmedoc14 said:
I am applying as well. So anxious to be waiting until February
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I don't really see any benefit in applying early (can anyone from past years comment on this?), it would be more beneficial to wait til Jan or Feb and have more EC's and potentially better letters of rec.

For me I know that I'm definitely waiting due to the fact that I am working on submitting a publication that I am first author on. I would prefer to apply when that has been accepted rather than having to say "1st author publication submitted for initial review."
 
Carmiche said:
For me I know that I'm definitely waiting due to the fact that I am working on submitting a publication that I am first author on. I would prefer to apply when that has been accepted rather than having to say "1st author publication submitted for initial review."
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Assuming it gets accepted.

My pubs usually took about a year w/ possible re-submissions to different journals to publish. It's pretty difficult to nail the first try, unless you're aiming low/conservative.
 
LOL i don't have anything published but I still am working as a research assistant... and helping co-author (but very minimal time commitment)
 
md-2020 said:
Assuming it gets accepted.

My pubs usually took about a year w/ possible re-submissions to different journals to publish. It's pretty difficult to nail the first try, unless you're aiming low/conservative.
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Of course. Thankfully the journals we are submitting to usually have a pretty quick turnaround. We'll see how it goes. I'm excited for it to get published
 
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callmedoc14 said:
LOL i don't have anything published but I still am working as a research assistant... and helping co-author (but very minimal time commitment)
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I wouldn't worry. Not many people do. Plus, in a program like FlexMed, they value EC's outside of medicine & science higher than the typical premed EC's.
 
Anyone know what the program means by "Describe how FlexMed will change your educational plan and enhance your future career in medicine. Please concentrate on how you will use the flexibility afforded by FlexMed, and not on the FlexMed requirements."

Specifically the last part "Please concentrate on how you will use the flexibility afforded by FlexMed, and not on the FlexMed requirements."


What did people generally write about in previous years?
 
spuding102 said:
Anyone know what the program means by "Describe how FlexMed will change your educational plan and enhance your future career in medicine. Please concentrate on how you will use the flexibility afforded by FlexMed, and not on the FlexMed requirements."

Specifically the last part "Please concentrate on how you will use the flexibility afforded by FlexMed, and not on the FlexMed requirements."


What did people generally write about in previous years?
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This would be things like study/volunteer abroad, focus on a startup, etc. The whole point of this program is to create your own unique "flex plan" per se that will contribute to your diversity as a potential student at Icahn School of Medicine. The last part is specified because as a part of the program, participants are required to complete an honors thesis, one semester of ethics & healthcare policy, and an in-depth experience gaining exposure to human illness. Using these things as what you will do with the flexibility granted to you due to not having to take ochem, biochem, mcat, etc do not really add anything to that essay - they are expected of those who are accepted.
 
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Might be a stupid question, but in the extracurricular section, what do they mean by supervisor title? Do they want their job title, or Mr./Mrs./Ms./Dr. title?
 
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When do you guys plan on asking for LORs? I'm interested in asking a former high school teacher- Not sure if I should email him this week, or wait till November after he is done writing his Letters for all the high school seniors applying for college.
 
Is this program supposed to be as selective as the BS/MD programs?
 
cantankerous said:
Is this program supposed to be as selective as the BS/MD programs?
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Don't know how competitive that program is, but in a previous the numbers of applied:interviewed:accepted were 750:150:50. Maybe that answers your question?

MetsFan96 said:
When do you guys plan on asking for LORs? I'm interested in asking a former high school teacher- Not sure if I should email him this week, or wait till November after he is done writing his Letters for all the high school seniors applying for college.
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I plan on asking in October for one (a doctor I did research with) who I presume will be extremely busy, and November for the others.
 
Carmiche said:
Don't know how competitive that program is, but in a previous the numbers of applied:interviewed:accepted were 750:150:50. Maybe that answers your question?
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lol I just remember for BS/MDs, BA/MDs, etc. they were looking for Ivy League level candidates for interview. (these are for high school students)
 
cantankerous said:
lol I just remember for BS/MDs, BA/MDs, etc. they were looking for Ivy League level candidates for interview. (these are for high school students)
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In previous years many of those interviewed and accepted were from ivies. This could be due to the fact that this program has some self-selection in those who apply. They do interview and accept people from places other than ivies.
 
Just curious to know if any of the acceptees have come from community colleges? I'm in an honors program at the 2-year school that focuses on the humanities and liberal arts. In the end we do a research project, write a fictional biography, and an anthropological development proposal.
I'm in no way trying to brag but I'm really worried that I won't be competitive because of where I go and the fact that I'm transferring as well. Help!
 
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Hello everyone! I'm planning to apply to FlexMed but I'm pretty hesitant about it as looking at the numbers it seems like I won't get in... My school is in the top 60′s (U.S. News) but not one that is well known which seems like a negative factor and I’m clearly not as qualified as some others as I've gathered reading previous threads.

My situation rn is:
  • 3.6/7 HSGPA
  • 3.5 College GPA
  • 2280 SAT
  • Wrote/published a children's book jr. year
  • National Merit Finalist
  • AP Scholar
  • Currently an Honors student
  • Recipient of an academic scholarship from my college
  • Shadowed multiple doctors
  • Member of a community service focused Honors society
  • Member of a club that runs monthly free clinics
  • Member of a public health focused club educating the public
  • Ongoing volunteer working with international students
So no leadership and just above average numbers. I aim to raise my GPA this quarter to at least a 3.7 (hopefully) and pursue some other EC's, and hopefully finalize writing a secondary-research paper. Any suggestions?
 
@CloudyNight I wouldn't bother spending the time + money to apply if I were you. No offense intended. If you're applying this year, there's not much you can add that'll make a serious difference.
 
@CloudyNight Everything you have is very good, and if you stay with it I have no doubt you'll get into medical school as long as you don't decrease your GPA and you do some clinical volunteering. However, the FlexMed program is very unlikely. They tend to pick applicants from the Ivies, and those that aren't from an Ivy have very high, near-perfect GPA's.

But there isn't any harm in applying... I mean who knows! Regardless, I think it's a good experience to apply and get an idea on what applying to medical school is like, and it may make you a better applicant when you apply later on.
 
Realistically speaking if my SAT Math and Critical Reading is 1150 and my college gpa is 3.8 is there a chance of getting accepted?
I have enough extracurricular activities done in high school and college. I have done both biochemical research and doing clinical research currently. I go to a CUNY School but I am in scholars program. I was thinking that I might have a chance if I explain the reasons behind my low SAT score in my essay but I'm still doubting.
 
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accel said:
Realistically speaking if my SAT Math and Critical Reading is 1150 and my college gpa is 3.8 is there a chance of getting accepted?
I have enough extracurricular activities done in high school and college. I have done both biochemical research and doing clinical research currently. I go to a CUNY School but I am in scholars program. I was thinking that I might have a chance if I explain the reasons behind my low SAT score in my essay but I'm still doubting.
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No, sorry bud.
 
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Hi everyone! I was admitted into the program back in 2012-3 (then called HuMed). A few details have changed, but if anyone has any questions I'd be happy to help. Back when I applied there wasn't a lot of info online. It felt a little alienating!

I didn't know that much about the school as I was applying, but from spending time there and learning from the doctors, I've come to realize that Sinai is an amazing school. I am very very happy with the institution and its vision of medical education. Location is also fantastic -- both safe and near a diverse patient population (you'll see everyone from Sudanese children to Chasidic Jews to couture-wearing Upper East Siders). Also, I was impressed with the school for its willingness to take risks for the benefit of its students -- it takes a lot of guts to start this program -- notice that US News and World medical rankings take MCAT scores into account, and Sinai Flexmed doesn't require it!

I would encourage everyone who is serious and passionate about medicine to apply. Other than the application fee, you don't have much to lose :)
 
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Really wish I could tried a little harder in high school, but my 3.5 just isn't going to cut it!

Goodluck to all of you as you go through the cycle.
 
Hello all.

How long are your essays? The application specifies that your response should be between 250 and 1000 words. Does this requirement apply to each of the three questions (max 3000 words) or to the personal statement as a whole (max 1000 words)? I tried typing over 1000 words in one of the response fields in the application, but nothing happened. How do you interpret the directions?
 
Accepted in 2015 here. PM me if you guys have any questions. On break and bored and wanna help you guys! To everyone who has applied or is in the process, good luck!
 
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Hey, I am thinking about applying. Let me know if I should spend $110 on this or not!
  • 3.17 unweighted High School GPA, 3.53 Weighted High School GPA (dropped the ball senior year and talk about it)
  • 3.98 College GPA, 60 Hours Completed, Majoring in Applied Math and Scientific Computation
  • 30 ACT (superscore is 32, provided multiple scores)
  • Go to mid-tier state-school in Alabama, established medical school (top 50)...you can probably guess the school with this much info
  • Some leadership, volunteering, shadowing, and jobs (mostly unrelated to medicine)
  • Not much medical related publications and stuff...being a doctor is the long term plan but focused on a few different subjects and field right now
I've really stepped my game up in college, unfortunately made a B in Orgo Lab, but really interested in providing medicine in rural areas. Kinda interested in creating a business and thats where FlexMed kicks in. My chances are low but I feel like I have a chance. Let me know!
 
premedmarathoner said:
Anyone know if I have a decent chance at getting an interview?

Biochem/French double major, minors in International Studies, Leadership, Biology
4.5 HS GPA
33 ACT
3.7 College GPA on full academic scholarship
700+ hours of community service from HS until now (at 2 hospitals, leadership camp, food bank, etc.)
Shadow 2 doctors
Paid research intern at a #2 ranked hospital nationally in that specialty
Involved in tons of on campus activities (global health club exec board, ambassador program, sorority)
Planning on studying abroad next year for a semester to do public health research

There is probably more stuff that I haven't mentioned, but I really just want to see if I even have a shot at this seeing as I go to a *good* school but it is not an ivy and I'm a public school kid from middle America. Thanks!
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I think you have really good stats and lots of extracurrriculars related to medicine. That is not what they are looking for per say but nonetheless you are an excellent applicant in terms of the diversity of what you have on file. Stats look like they are key to get in to this program and 33 ACT, as you probably know, is like a ~2200 on the SAT and that is where their accepted average lies. My philosophy is unless you have less than a 3.5 college GPA and less than a 30 ACT no harm, no foul in applying. Good luck!
 
studentofknowledge said:
Hey, I am thinking about applying. Let me know if I should spend $110 on this or not!
  • 3.17 unweighted High School GPA, 3.53 Weighted High School GPA (dropped the ball senior year and talk about it)
  • 3.98 College GPA, 60 Hours Completed, Majoring in Applied Math and Scientific Computation
  • 30 ACT (superscore is 32, provided multiple scores)
  • Go to mid-tier state-school in Alabama, established medical school (top 50)...you can probably guess the school with this much info
  • Some leadership, volunteering, shadowing, and jobs (mostly unrelated to medicine)
  • Not much medical related publications and stuff...being a doctor is the long term plan but focused on a few different subjects and field right now
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Not worth it IMHO. Your high school GPA, ACT, and lack of notable extracurricular achievement will all sink you unfortunately.

Keep in mind I never actually applied to this program myself, so take that with a grain of salt.
 
So who else is submitting their applications last minute?
 
shout-out to my last minute emergency surgery for delaying my application......
 
Submitted. Usually how many people apply& interviewed& accepted?
 
@alex9542 Previous threads indicate that typically 750:150:50 for applied, interviews, and accepted respectively. I expect that there should be more applicants this year, however, since the program is probably becoming more popular. Also, Mt. Sinai mentioned that they are going to gradually expand the number of accepted students until it reaches half of the total class, which means they will eventually accept around 70-75 students.
 
Some outside info here (keep in mind I have zero connection to Mt. Sinai or Flexmed, so pour out lots of salt):

My M2 friend volunteering in the admissions office has told me that this cycle, >1100 applications were submitted. They're looking to accept 65-70, with no "hard cap" on # of interviewees (though using common sense/regular admissions stats they probably wouldn't interview more than 3x the number of eventual acceptees, so somewhere <200 in all likelihood). Apparently a fair number of people started an application (~1500 total) but some didn't go through with it in the end.

Again, for what it's worth I could be talking out of my a** here, but I felt it'd be best to let you guys know. I'm also very interested in stats analysis and nerdy **** like this, haha. Good luck to all!
 
Hi, I am a freshman now and am applying for the 2017 season...can anyone tell me my chances:
SAT: (pretty low) 2170 superscored, 790 on SAT bio
Highschool GPA weighted: 4.8
expected college GPA by sophomore year: 3.9 ish, it's a 3.83 right now bc I took orgo as a first semester freshman (major: neurophysiology premed/may start violin performance double major)
extracurriculars:
violinist - advanced certificate from peabody prep, other violin stuff
inventor on johns hopkins hospital patent application
published 5 times via neurosurgical lab at johns hopkins
shadowed neuro-oncologist
....maybe others by the time I apply, those are the main ones
If anyone could kind of gauge my chances/whether I should apply, I'd appreciate it :)
 
tulap said:
Hi, I am a freshman now and am applying for the 2017 season...can anyone tell me my chances:
SAT: (pretty low) 2170 superscored, 790 on SAT bio
Highschool GPA weighted: 4.8
expected college GPA by sophomore year: 3.9 ish, it's a 3.83 right now bc I took orgo as a first semester freshman (major: neurophysiology premed/may start violin performance double major)
extracurriculars:
violinist - advanced certificate from peabody prep, other violin stuff
inventor on johns hopkins hospital patent application
published 5 times via neurosurgical lab at johns hopkins
shadowed neuro-oncologist
....maybe others by the time I apply, those are the main ones
If anyone could kind of gauge my chances/whether I should apply, I'd appreciate it :)
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What is your reading and math SAT score, they care about that more than the writing section. They also don't care about subject tests. In regards to your HS gpa, we need to see it unweighted because weighted does not matter. Your college GPA looks good AFAIK. Your extracurriculars are pretty good for this program IMO, it definitely won't hurt to apply. They really want people with passions outside of medicine and as long as you still do violin stuff you should be good. I'd recommend do the violin performance major to further emphasize that passion for violin. So you should try and you seem to have a pretty good shot to get in. Try to get some volunteer and leadership stuff in too if you can.
 
SovietDoctor said:
What is your reading and math SAT score, they care about that more than the writing section. They also don't care about subject tests. In regards to your HS gpa, we need to see it unweighted because weighted does not matter. Your college GPA looks good AFAIK. Your extracurriculars are pretty good for this program IMO, it definitely won't hurt to apply. They really want people with passions outside of medicine and as long as you still do violin stuff you should be good. I'd recommend do the violin performance major to further emphasize that passion for violin. So you should try and you seem to have a pretty good shot to get in. Try to get some volunteer and leadership stuff in too if you can.
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So, my CR+ M superscored are really not very good. Combined its 1390. I know it's not the best strategy but I was hoping my patent and publications would kind of excuse that, but I'm trying to work out the best plan going forward into sophomore year.
 
tulap said:
So, my CR+ M superscored are really not very good. Combined its 1390. I know it's not the best strategy but I was hoping my patent and publications would kind of excuse that, but I'm trying to work out the best plan going forward into sophomore year.
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Also my unweighted high school GPA is like a 4.3. I got all As and A+s
 
tulap said:
So, my CR+ M superscored are really not very good. Combined its 1390. I know it's not the best strategy but I was hoping my patent and publications would kind of excuse that, but I'm trying to work out the best plan going forward into sophomore year.
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Your score is fine, they recommend to have at least a 1350 if you plan on applying.

tulap said:
Also my unweighted high school GPA is like a 4.3. I got all As and A+s
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You can't have an unweighted GPA of higher than 4.0. An A and A+ should both be a 4.0. So if you got all As and A+s then you would have a 4.0, which is obviously great.

And to talk about your scores, I would say don't worry about them. Worry about how you can be a unique applicant who really shows a passion for something outside of medicine because those are the students they really want to get into this program. Show them how you love the violin and that it is a huge part of your life. The publications and stuff are also very good, but this program demands you to have a strong passion for something.
 
SovietDoctor said:
Your score is fine, they recommend to have at least a 1350 if you plan on applying.


You can't have an unweighted GPA of higher than 4.0. An A and A+ should both be a 4.0. So if you got all As and A+s then you would have a 4.0, which is obviously great.

And to talk about your scores, I would say don't worry about them. Worry about how you can be a unique applicant who really shows a passion for something outside of medicine because those are the students they really want to get into this program. Show them how you love the violin and that it is a huge part of your life. The publications and stuff are also very good, but this program demands you to have a strong passion for something.
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Thanks for the advice :)
 
For those that applied, does in your portal it says Spring 2016 Transcript Incomplete?
 
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