2008-2009 Florida International University (FIU) Secondary Application Thread

Getting into Med School is Hard? Not with BeMo.
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shemarty

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You must answer all 4 essays. (Limit each essay to 1200 characters including spaces.)

  • Of the experiences listed on your AMCAS application, which one activity made the greatest impact on your desire to be a physician and why?
  • Why are you specifically interested in the FIU College of Medicine? In what way(s) do you fit the mission of this medical school?
  • The admissions committee seeks to identify those applicants who will contribute heterogeneity to the medical school class. How will you contribute to the diversity of the student body of the FIU College of Medicine?
  • Identify any traits, experiences, challenges, interests, etc. that a professor or advisor would not normally know about you and that you have not already written about in your AMCAS personal statement. Is there anything else that you would like the admissions committee to know about you?
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The Letters of Recommendation
The FIU College of Medicine requires a minimum of three letters of recommendation, two from basic science faculty (biology, chemistry, physics, math) and one from any other faculty member who has taught the applicant. If your school has a Health Professions Advisory Committee, it is expected that the applicant will have the Committee letter. Additionally, it is preferred that full faculty letters be attached to this Committee letter. If the student has been enrolled in a graduate program, we expect to have letters from faculty in that program. In all cases, letters should be from individuals who know the student well. Details regarding the letters of recommendation are outlined on the secondary application.
Therefore, it is expected that you will have sent:
(a) Health Professions Advisory Committee letter with three or more letters attached, or
(b) Individual letters from science faculties (no more than two), and
(c) Individual letter from non-science faculty (no more than one)
(d) and up to two additional letters as desired by the applicant (physicians, research mentors, etc.)
AMCAS now accepts Letters of Recommendation/Evaluation (LORs) for a select number of schools. The FIU College of Medicine is among these schools. This service enables the selected medical schools to receive all letters electronically via AMCAS, and enables the authors to send all letters to be considered to AMCAS rather than to each school.
​
Two forms must be included with the LORs:

  • AMCAS Letter Request (applicant can download from AMCAS application)
  • FIU Recommendation Waiver Form (applicant can download from the FIU Secondary Application)
Committee letters and individual letters must be written on official letterhead stationery and may be submitted in one of the following ways:

 
Does this school take a preference to state/out of state? It appears that way from their mission statement:

2) Provide South Florida students greater access to medical education.

That is from their mission statement, any thoughts since we don't have data from last year?
 
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All florida schools have a strong instate bias, it ranges from fsu accepting 0 OOS to miami accepting some OOS but still favoring IS. I don't know what FIU plans to do, but like you said based on their mission it looks like another strong IS bias.
 
FIU plans to take primarily instate and there is a bit of a bias for south florida residents as well.

Also,you better emphasize your interest in "primary medicine" as well, since that is going to be the focus of the school and its reason for being..
 
BrainBuff said:
FIU plans to take primarily instate and there is a bit of a bias for south florida residents as well.

Also,you better emphasize your interest in "primary medicine" as well, since that is going to be the focus of the school and its reason for being..
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I got an interview OOS -- but I would love to stay in s. florida if accepted
 
Oh, I am sure they will interview a lot of out of state students. Miami, UF, USF and FSU are the most attractive schools for in state students. FIU knows that, and they are trying to get a good pool of students.

I know they are very pleased with the number of applications that they received.
 
BrainBuff said:
Oh, I am sure they will interview a lot of out of state students. Miami, UF, USF and FSU are the most attractive schools for in state students. FIU knows that, and they are trying to get a good pool of students.

I know they are very pleased with the number of applications that they received.
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Any idea on how many they'll interview and what the average chances are if invited to interview? This school is a bit of a mystery at the moment
 
I think they are inviting something around 300 students to the 40 seats in the first class.
 
Vido said:
I think they are inviting something around 300 students to the 40 seats in the first class.
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Those were the numbers for UCF, I think. I haven't heard that about FIU.
 
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no problem redrumi
im going to be in miami in early september...im waiting to hear back for a confirmation of my interview date.
I have a big itinerary of things I wanna do while im in miami. if anyone is down for some beach volleyball at FIU lemme know =]

i have lots of other things planned so itd be nice to include as many potential future classmates/doctors as possible. Itd make for a tight-knit first year class!
 
Last edited:
Just wanted to give you guys an update. I just got off the phone with Elizabeth (Interview director) and it seems like only 200 students are going to be interviewed for the 40 spots. Also, she told me that interview would start late september/ early october
 
Fp02c said:
Just wanted to give you guys an update. I just got off the phone with Elizabeth (Interview director) and it seems like only 200 students are going to be interviewed for the 40 spots. Also, she told me that interview would start late september/ early october
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Dude, nice odds. That's a 20% outright acceptance rate already, nevermind the fact that the other 160 people will probably go on a waitlist and good chunk might get off of it.

I wonder how many apps they're going to get for this cycle...? (rhetorical question, clearly we don't know the answer yet!)
 
beachblonde said:
Dude, nice odds. That's a 20% outright acceptance rate already, nevermind the fact that the other 160 people will probably go on a waitlist and good chunk might get off of it.

I wonder how many apps they're going to get for this cycle...? (rhetorical question, clearly we don't know the answer yet!)
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the last thing i heard, they had somewhere around 1700+ apps. I think the numbers r still raising, i am really surprise, didnt think so many ppl would apply to FIU.
 
chemolupusMD said:
the last thing i heard, they had somewhere around 1700+ apps. I think the numbers r still raising, i am really surprise, didnt think so many ppl would apply to FIU.
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Hmm, well the chance to attend a new medical school doesn't come along very often. It's kind of an exciting prospect...plus, it's Florida, the winters are great! Way better than Boston or NYC or wherever. (insert sunbathing smiley here)
 
Did anyone with an interview invite receive a follow up email with dates yet? I got the initial email over a month ago and haven't heard anything since.:confused:
 
redrumi said:
Did anyone with an interview invite receive a follow up email with dates yet? I got the initial email over a month ago and haven't heard anything since.:confused:
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I inquired about this, and Elizabeth said you will receive an email soon regarding your possible interview dates..I am glad to hear that only 200 interviews will be given!
 
well i wouldnt expect to hear anything today.
FIU has been closed since 2pm yesterday and will remain closed throughout today as well due to the tropical storm Fay.
 
redrumi said:
Did anyone with an interview invite receive a follow up email with dates yet? I got the initial email over a month ago and haven't heard anything since.:confused:
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7/24: email containing interview invite
8/6: email with 4 different interview date options
8/11: phone call confirming my interview date
8/25: INTERVIEW!

ahhh craziness. i'm super excited for the interview and can't believe it's soo soon! not sure why you haven't received any updates -- they've pretty much been on top of everything from my side. i would DEFINITELY call their office (well, after fay has left her mark) and see what the deal is! good luck with everything :)
 
Ya I received the interview invite a while ago as well and haven't heard anything further, I guess I'll call, like you said....
 
mrblair020 said:
Ya I received the interview invite a while ago as well and haven't heard anything further, I guess I'll call, like you said....
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Yeah, I'm still waiting...think maybe 2 weeks is long enough before calling? I don't want to pester them.

And prepb18, you need to report back after your interview! I'm really curious how all this is going to work.
 
i just got invited to an interview! anyone know when we hear about dates, etc.?
 
same here, just got an interview invite
 
Anybody know how many IS versus OOS students they're looking to have in their class? Just glancing at the people who have mdapps it looks like they have invited a lot of their own (both IS and FIU students) for interviews. The website says "in-state preference" but does that mean 25-15 or 39-1?

And now that I type out the numbers it strikes me as to just how small 40 people is. How does Mayo do that every year? :scared:
 
I sorta get the impression that they are going to interview way more than 200 people. With respect to IS and OOS ... your best bet is to call.
 
ok, i spoke with the assistant dean of admissions (this conversation "never" happened ;)) she told me they were planing in interviewing 300-400 students. They have sent A LOT of invites, which surprises me, cuz i though they were going to be a little bit more picky with the process.
 
chemolupusMD said:
ok, i spoke with the assistant dean of admissions (this conversation "never" happened ;)) she told me they were planing in interviewing 300-400 students. They have sent A LOT of invites, which surprises me, cuz i though they were going to be a little bit more picky with the process.
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Way to say some of us aren't up to par. :laugh:

But maybe if their website had a bit more info it would help....all I know is that they have classes in the $37 million Health Life Sciences Complex at University Park....yes, the $37 million building......oh wait, have we told you about the $37 million building we have for our students?
 
beachblonde said:
Way to say some of us aren't up to par. :laugh:

But maybe if their website had a bit more info it would help....all I know is that they have classes in the $37 million Health Life Sciences Complex at University Park....yes, the $37 million building......oh wait, have we told you about the $37 million building we have for our students?
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sorry if i offended anyone, that came out wrong. is just that when they advertise the school, they were like, "we really gonna look who is applying and we r choosing the best of the best" so i though i was not gonna make it to an interview or anything.

About the building, unfortunately, the building is all they go for now. :(. they have not start construction on the medical building
 
for those of you who didnt recieve interview dates yet but were notified bout a month ago...u wont get dates until end of sept and beginning of oct
 
CANEhummer said:
for those of you who didnt recieve interview dates yet but were notified bout a month ago...u wont get dates until end of sept and beginning of oct
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Wait , how do you know?

I got my interview invite like 2 weeks ago, 1 week after being complete
 
chemolupusMD said:
ok, i spoke with the assistant dean of admissions (this conversation "never" happened ;)) she told me they were planing in interviewing 300-400 students. They have sent A LOT of invites, which surprises me, cuz i though they were going to be a little bit more picky with the process.
Click to expand...


hmm.. I am a little frustrated. Why would they go through the trouble of telling us that they plan on only interviewing 200 students when in fact they will interview 300-400.

I am starting to worry that at some point they will call me and say they accidentally sent out too many interview invites and that mine has been canceled.
 
Fp02c said:
hmm.. I am a little frustrated. Why would they go through the trouble of telling us that they plan on only interviewing 200 students when in fact they will interview 300-400.

I am starting to worry that at some point they will call me and say they accidentally sent out too many interview invites and that mine has been canceled.
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That's a horrifying thought! I have slightly unusual name so I would hope they didn't get me mixed up with somebody else. :scared:

I had a friend who last year got "accepted" to med school, only to have the school rescind the acceptance a month later, saying it was an accident. Talk about my worst nightmare.
 
beachblonde said:
That's a horrifying thought! I have slightly unusual name so I would hope they didn't get me mixed up with somebody else. :scared:

I had a friend who last year got "accepted" to med school, only to have the school rescind the acceptance a month later, saying it was an accident. Talk about my worst nightmare.
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Holy crap that insane. Was she accepted anywhere else?

BTW.. i also have a pretty unusual name. My last name has 10 letters and 4 of them are r's
 
The whole amcas loe thing is starting to piss me off. First FIU didn't have me complete because my letters weren't loaded on amcas. I submitted secondary like 7/8/08. then the letters go to amcas and they take forever to send them. Then FIU says they only have one letter of the six i sent. Then, someone in FIU admissions tells me everything is there and my app is ready. I get an email today asking where those other 5 letters are that another person told me were in my file. I don't understand how I go from complete to incomplete like 2 weeks later. and No one bothered to email me about missing letters... I had emailed them about something else and they just happened to mention it. :thumbdown:
 
Ok i call and now they say they have all 6. Weird. There must be two separate entities working on stuff at FIU b/c I asked why I got an email 10 min earlier saying I didn't have the letters and she replies "that's probably b/c im downloading them here, let me let them know." who is "them"

meh
 
umean2tellme said:
Ok i call and now they say they have all 6. Weird. There must be two separate entities working on stuff at FIU b/c I asked why I got an email 10 min earlier saying I didn't have the letters and she replies "that's probably b/c im downloading them here, let me let them know." who is "them"

meh
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not to scare u or anything but welcome to Miami, unfortunately thats the way things roll down here. UM told me they havent received my letters when my committee loaded them since 7/31. :mad:
 
Fp02c said:
Holy crap that insane. Was she accepted anywhere else?

BTW.. i also have a pretty unusual name. My last name has 10 letters and 4 of them are r's
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Fortunately for my friend, he got into another school a few months afterwards and has now matriculated there.

But without that other acceptance, talk about being up a creek.
 
by the way, for the ppl interviewing here. it is gonna be a double blind interview.
 
Do you have any idea how many they are going to accept? I do know matriculation is 40...
 
chemolupusMD said:
by the way, for the ppl interviewing here. it is gonna be a double blind interview.
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What is a "double blind" interview? Do you mean we don't know who our interviewers are ahead of time, and they are closed filed interviews?
 
double blind means two interviewers with closed files. I dont think we get to know who they r until the interview
 
chessodoc said:
Wait , how do you know?

I got my interview invite like 2 weeks ago, 1 week after being complete
Click to expand...

I was wondering about this as well...I received an interview invite on 7/24 stating I would receive another e-mail in the "next few weeks" with available interview dates and once I chose my date I would receive a phone call to confirm and whatnot. I'm still waiting and it's been almost a month, but I'm neurotic so I'm hoping they are just running a little behind.
 
yea dude I was pissed when I found out...but oh well...guess its a waiting game :( Good luck man!
 
Can anyone please tell me what to hope for/expect from my interview invite, FIU doesn't have my LORs yet and i had a very low score MCAT which i took again after receiving my interview. I kind of don't know where i stand within these double blind kind of interviews. hope someone helps me with their input.
 
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