- Joined
- Jul 21, 2012
- Messages
- 193
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- 30
Ah Lucky you guys! I don't finish up until tomorrow. We have a mix of scheduled and self-scheduled finals this spring. Bio and Organic chem were scheduled, and physics was self-scheduled. If you were in gen chem, that was self-scheduled as well. In the spring all our exams are self-scheduled. It's a pretty nice system, I'm not complaining. Gives you the ability to study the way you want. And the linkage discussion is a biiiggg grey area. It's considered rude to ask someone you're not super close with about their linkage plans, but it still comes up all the time in conversation. People are naturally very curious about it. How is it at Goucher?
Really interesting how your post-bacc experience influenced your med school choice! That's a little bit less salient here, given how big our program is, but that's still something to think about.
And I certainly wouldn't ever tell someone to factor in the prestige of the undergad institution into their calculations, if only because (at least at Goucher and BM), the programs are almost completely separate from their hosting institutions. Within the med school world, I certainly think the program reputation carries a big weight, one that's basically independent of the laymen's understanding of things.
That being said, everyone should choose Bryn Mawr. (I kid, both programs are amazing).
Wow, this is turning into a serious BM-Goucher postbac backslapping contest!
The more flexible exam system is definitely a plus for Bryn Mawr. At Goucher, we have fixed exams. That's the standard format, but I know some med schools also have a flexible examining format similar to BM's, and that can be a great advantage to certain people. Accommodations at Goucher are relatively easy to come by, but they are still accommodations versus standard practice. The traditional system works for 98% of people, but it might be a game changer for the other 2%.
I think linkage discussions at Goucher are more open. Since there's only 30 of us, it's pretty easy to either ask or ascertain who's interested in where. Of course, there are definitely some people who are more reticent about discussing linkage goals - I come from a small-team environment where everything professional is shared and a "may the best person win" kind of sportsmanship prevails, and I'm having to (generally) adjust to the fact that most people don't live that way. But the majority are happy to share, and most of the rest are bashful but not defensive.
In terms of describing the process to people who haven't started their postbac yet, there can definitely be some sudden anxiety for up to ten people when linkage decisions draw near, because every year you get 1-3 schools that look almost certain to have more applicants than places (some schools also have no limit on how many people they'll take). This is the one time you'll ever see your peers as competitors, even though I believe most of the factors that distinguish us are immutable at this point, so there's no point comparing. On the other hand, you get people who suddenly find themselves in the position where there's essentially zero competition, which is an extraordinarily calming position to be in for med school applications. You're certainly not guaranteed to get in, but that admission letter becomes yours based on more or less your performance alone.
One piece of advice for future postbacs would be to start thinking about the linkage process and schools early on. Again, I'm from the "more talk is better" school, but that's more towards the extreme end of the spectrum. It did help me build a clear picture early on, though, and that became more refined as I went on linkage visits and chatted to classmates about linkage schools. I'm a big proponent of going on as many visits as possible. I started the program fairly certain about one school based on some past experiences. Now I'm applying to a school I hadn't considered at all two months ago. That's the power of linkage visits and the avoidance of having to rush through the thought process in the final part of the fall semester.
A perhaps interesting observation is how much the linkage process liberates people from rankings. You get a lot of people with 4.0s applying to places like Maryland and people with 3.7s applying to "top ten" schools. Nor does ranking really correlate with number of applicants. I think that says something about how these postbac programs allow people to relax and choose schools based on fit, rather than the traditional stat fest that .
One final note is that some schools have linkage places allocated to postbacs in general, and some for specific schools. That does mean that BM, Columbia, Goucher, Hopkins people can be competing against each other, and that sometimes one program snags more places than the other. At this stage in their admissions cycle, most schools are looking to fill specific gaps in their incoming class, so they choose certain personalities/backgrounds, not who comes from a better postbac. Things might swing in the other school or schools' direction the next year.
Alright, bed time. I'm in Europe, it's 8 am, and I haven't slept more than 3 hours per night in the past few weeks. Hence the motormouth.
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