2008-2009 University of Connecticut Secondary Application Thread

schismal said:

I'm not verified yet, so it doesn't look like UCONN screens primaries (at least for CT residents).

Four questions, all required. Maximum of two typed pages to answer them all. (presumably single-spaced, but there's no mention)

1. Describe your motivation to become a physician.

2. What do you see as the most significant issue the medical profession will face in the future?

3. Based upon your experiences in the health care field, what insights have you gained about potential problems you will face as a
physician? (Provide details of your health care experiences without providing actual patient names).

4. Describe the activity (curricular or extracurricular) from which you gained the greatest personal benefit and insight.

This part of the email intrigued me:
"Any candidate completing a secondary application will receive an initial personal credential review conducted by phone or through email."
Does anyone know what that entails?

Enjoy!

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also it says
Recommendations: the usual VE/interfolio, composite letter, etc...and "If you have worked in research, a letter from your faculty research sponsor is required"



Is this a standard request from schools?

I just started my research in June and my advisor is gone all of July . . . I was not planning on asking and am not even sure he would agree to write a recommendation since we'll only have literally 8 days of interaction

schismal said:

This part of the email intrigued me:
"Any candidate completing a secondary application will receive an initial personal credential review conducted by phone or through email."
Does anyone know what that entails?
Enjoy!

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Here's a thread about that from last year...

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=428716&highlight=personal+credential+review

Apparently it means very little.

Sorry for this newbie question but I feel like the first secondary question (1. motivation for med) has already been extensively answered in all our PS. I don't like the idea of repeating information, but I feel like our motivations are solidified.

Are you guys repeating the same information? Do any of you know if this is frowned upon?

*sorry if the answer to this is somewhere else*

how do you explain motivations for med when u already expplained it in ur personal statement?

is it wise to just talk about a unique childhood story and maybe include a paragraph about reasons going into med and then saving the other reasons for secondary apps? like i could say in addition to blah blah blah in my ps, i also want to pursue med because of blah blah blah in secondaries?

korndoctor said:

how do you explain motivations for med when u already expplained it in ur personal statement?

is it wise to just talk about a unique childhood story and maybe include a paragraph about reasons going into med and then saving the other reasons for secondary apps? like i could say in addition to blah blah blah in my ps, i also want to pursue med because of blah blah blah in secondaries?

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I would focus on a couple of specific experiences that really made a lasting impressions for you to go into medicine. Remember, the limit is 2 pages, so 1/2 page per question is not a lot of space.

eagle34 said:

I would focus on a couple of specific experiences that really made a lasting impressions for you to go into medicine. Remember, the limit is 2 pages, so 1/2 page per question is not a lot of space.

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okay so for those 3 specific experiences that made me decide to go into medicine, what if i already mentioned all of them in my personal statement, then what do i do for uconn's secondary?
should i talk more about my childhood and how my parents hard work in restaurant business inspired me to pursue medicine and then include 1 med experience? this way i can talk about the other two experiences in uconn's secondary.

i take it that its frowned upon if we talk about those 3 important experiences in our personal statement and then reiterate the same stuff again in secondaries. anyone agree with my aproach?

anyone>

Thanks eagle34. Your response makes a lot of sense.
Korn, I would listen to his/her advice

Oh- also. How serious are they when they say: 4 weeks to send in the references? That would mean that they are expecting all of them by August? I only have 2/5 of mine ready (don't have a premed committee)

aw42 said:

Thanks eagle34. Your response makes a lot of sense.
Korn, I would listen to his/her advice

Oh- also. How serious are they when they say: 4 weeks to send in the references? That would mean that they are expecting all of them by August? I only have 2/5 of mine ready (don't have a premed committee)

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"Take the time you need to submit the letters that will best
support your candidacy. Regards, Keat s"

don't worry about it. i'd probably meet the 3 week deadline to submit the paper secondary / fee though.

Kaydubz said:

don't worry about it. i'd probably meet the 3 week deadline to submit the paper secondary / fee though.

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WOW I am so glad you posted that here!!

I had only glanced at the application and noticed the bolded '4 week' deadline...I just assumed that applied to the whole app and was planning on submitting next week. I just UPSed it this morning...

is anybody else as confused about #3 as i am? What do they mean by "potential problems YOU will face as a physician"? First I thought it meant like, things that you personally would have trouble with, e.g. balancing family and career, but that doesn't really make sense with "cite particular experiences." but if they mean general problems in healthcare, isn't that what question 2 is basically asking? anybody have any ideas?

"If you have worked in research, a letter from your faculty research sponsor is required."

for this statement, is it okay if both of my research sponsor provided a letter and got incorporated into a premed committee letter? if i just send that one committee letter, would i be okay and satisfy that requirement stated in secondary?

Anyone hear anything (besides interview offers) ?

yes, file is on hold for (re)review...

Hey all,

I realize that the phone number listed online and in the email are all for Dr. Sanford. However, do we check with him for the status of our apps? I tried calling but no luck. Anyway, email (to Dr. Sanford) would be the way to go right?

fuzzywuz said:

Hey all,

I realize that the phone number listed online and in the email are all for Dr. Sanford. However, do we check with him for the status of our apps? I tried calling but no luck. Anyway, email (to Dr. Sanford) would be the way to go right?

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He's always responded promptly and helpfully to my emails. Go for it?

schismal said:

I informed Dr. Sanford that MCAT prep got in my way and I won't be able to meet the 3-week secondary deadline nor the 4-week LOR deadline. He said that it's not a problem at all.

So I think I at least know what I'll be writing for all these. I'm just not sure how I'm going to reduce my PS to half a page for #1...

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I read the secondary again.

It says: The fee and supplemental statement are due within four weeks from the date that you received this acknowledgement letter.

Then it says: Please submit the appropriate recommendations within eight weeks.

Where did you find the "3-week deadline"?

They changed the deadline to be more lenient in late July. Here's the email:

It has come to my attention that some applicants received our request for secondary application and letters of reference with some ealier return dates. As these early dates may be problematic for some applicants and faculty writing your letters of reference, please be assured that we will await receipt of your secondary application and letters of reference. I am attaching a copy of our updated secondary application in the event you recieved one that specified earlier return dates. We look forward to reviewing your full credentials. If you anticipate the need for additional time to submit your materials, just forward me an email.

As soon as all materials (AMCAS file, secondary, and letters) have been received, checked in, and initially reviewed, candidates recieve a communication from me.

For those who have already submitted your materials, we appreciate your prompt reply and ask for your patience as we process and review your materials.

hey,
i come from a canadian school and we don't have a premed advisory committee - i have 2 faculty members but then another reference is a high school teacher, does that count under the 'instructors who can critically evaluate academic performance? or do they need to be 3 faculty members at my university?

Congrats to anybody who has an interview invite from this or any other school so far!

Remember to post them on the interview invite threads It's helpful for other SDN members, not only this year but also in the future!

Thanks!

xover said:

hey,
i come from a canadian school and we don't have a premed advisory committee - i have 2 faculty members but then another reference is a high school teacher, does that count under the 'instructors who can critically evaluate academic performance? or do they need to be 3 faculty members at my university?

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High school teachers are generally a no-no. Unless this teacher somehow supervised one of your college activities, I would not include him/her as a reference for any school, and they would most certainly never be appropriate as an academic reference.

I've been scheduled to interview in Jan, which is pretty late I think in the interview process. Does that mean I'm mostly interviewing for a waitlist position?

zetandu said:

I've been scheduled to interview in Jan, which is pretty late I think in the interview process. Does that mean I'm mostly interviewing for a waitlist position?

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No... at least I hope not. My interview is also in January, because I am OOS. They interview the IS people first, and I believe they only do Saturday interviews, so they do not have that many dates available each month to interview all 400 people they interview.

I hope this made sense.

Sounds good. I also seen some people interview in February... I'm Canadian as well, so the commute is going to be killer.

Just got an email telling me I'm on hold.

Files on hold won't be looked at until January/February.... ARGHHH

EDIT: Just noticed on the bottom of the email, they want me to update them on my activities in December.

oos on hold, they asked for my grades in december. anyone know if everyone gets put on hold??

No, there have been OOS invites, if you scroll up

sorry i meant do they outright reject people or do they put everyone they dont interview on hold until the end of the interview season?

I emailed Dr. Sanford with the same question after I received the Hold email, and he kindly responded that some are rejected at this point, some extended interviews, and some placed on hold, but many of those originally on hold are invited for interviews later. At least it is more encouraging than a rejection ... that's how I'm choosing to see it!

I'll second that, I didnt even want to apply because I thought with my stats and being oos I was such a long shot there.

Skorgirl said:

I emailed Dr. Sanford with the same question after I received the Hold email, and he kindly responded that some are rejected at this point, some extended interviews, and some placed on hold, but many of those originally on hold are invited for interviews later. At least it is more encouraging than a rejection ... that's how I'm choosing to see it!

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Thanks for the heads up! That's good to know!

fuzzywuz said:

Thanks for the heads up! That's good to know!

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Agreed. Good work on that email.

I just got the invite to interview in December--I'm OOS. I can't find where it says that they do interviews on Saturdays. I'm still teaching so Saturdays would be fantastic.
Can someone please direct me?
Thanks.

fuzzywuz said:

Thanks for the heads up! That's good to know!

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No problem. I had the same reaction as you when I first got the Hold email. So far, I've gotten some form of a Hold from 5 schools, and they all seem to treat the status a bit different. Some imply that they want to interview but may not have the capacity, while others simply say you are on hold and will be looked at again later when more apps come in. I realize all schools have their own way of operating, and some seem more disorganized than others, but I hope that in general, schools would notify you of rejection right after the decision has been made instead of putting you into a rejection pile to be dealt with at the end of the process. It's really unprofessional to keep applicants hanging when they may have already decided to reject you, and in my opinion, its common courtesy. I hope all of us Holders get interviews!

Wow its been a exact month since the last post. I'm a Canadian applicant who received notification for interview sometime last month. I checked MSAR and it looks pretty good for international students... with an matriculation percentage of 20% which can only mean that the acceptance rate is higher... can anyone comment a bit more about the school?

EnglishMD said:

I just got the invite to interview in December--I'm OOS. I can't find where it says that they do interviews on Saturdays. I'm still teaching so Saturdays would be fantastic.
Can someone please direct me?
Thanks.

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UCONN interviews M W F only, based on previous years.

I just saw one person post acceptance on Acceptances thread. I interviewed on 10/03 and haven't heard back. Just curious whether anyone else found out their result

interview 10/10 and dying from the anticipation

Has anyone tried to contact Dr. Sanford or anyone else in the admissions office recently? I haven't had much luck. Thanks!

How was the interview? Any suggestions? What's the format?

Anyone, please?

schismal said:

Dr. Sanford was always extremely responsive to my emails. What address are you using?


The interview is very relaxed. Read the interview feedback for more details. It's basically a quickie group exercise followed by 2.5 interviews. (Dr. Sanford's 15-minute interview only counts as a partial one in my book... the others are an hour long). The area is beautiful and student body seems extremely friendly.

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Dr. Sanford is great. He responds really promptly to all my e-mails.

I interviewed at UConn on 10/03 and have not heard back from them. I emailed Dr. Sanford after learning that people who interviewed on same day and even later in the month got accepted. He said there is no decision on my file yet and we will be contacted in the next couple of weeks.