Who's applying to Florida schools?

laneyj34 said:

I submitted my AMCAS today. My transcript was received about a two weeks ago, so now I guess I am waiting on them to read over my application and transcript, or whatever it is that they do before sending the applications out to the selected schools. Anyways, I am pretty excited, at least until next Sunday when I get my MCAT scores back (hopefully I did well).

I am a Sr. at FSU with a 3.4, will be about a 3.5 by the end of the spring semester. I believe I will get between a 30 and 35 on the MCAT (based on practice scores). My question is, since I am applying so late, what are my chances with the Florida schools?

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Your GPA is good but Florida MD schools have higher averages so, it all depands on your MCAT score. I think If you do get within the higher end of the range that you are guessing, you have a fairly good chance, but if I were you I would also apply to DO programs in Florida, where you will have much better chance. Are you considering out of state schools as well, there are some that are not as stringent on GPA, you can research them in MSAR.

I am applying to some out of state schools, actually more than some, about 8 out of staters. I do not want to go to DO school-- I really want to go to an allopathic school. I was thinking that at either FSU or USF I would have a more than competitive chance with an MCAT that good because their MCAT avgs are lower than what I am thinking I will get, and their GPA's are higher, though not a lot higher.

Hopefully I will get in somewhere

laneyj34 said:

I am applying to some out of state schools, actually more than some, about 8 out of staters. I do not want to go to DO school-- I really want to go to an allopathic school. I was thinking that at either FSU or USF I would have a more than competitive chance with an MCAT that good because their MCAT avgs are lower than what I am thinking I will get, and their GPA's are higher, though not a lot higher.

Hopefully I will get in somewhere

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I am not ruling out FSU or USF, just trying to be cautious in making a suggestion. You are right that your MCAT scores could be above Florida MD averages but there is an unknown, which is we can guess but can not really be sure what it will be, and when you do find out you may not have time to react. Good luck, by the way an you share your out of state choices?

Well, that is true, we do not know what I will get on the MCAT. I really hope it is above 30 though. My out of state schools are: Michigan State (I have visited and liked it), The Medical College of Ga, University of Md, UNC, Univ of South Alabama, Univ of S Carolina, UVA, and Wake Forrest. What do you think about any or all of these?

I have a good bit of volunteering and I have a good bit of physician shadowing: several different doctors and a lot of times shadowing. I also have some pretty good LOR's (I got to know some of my teachers really well and they liked me). The reason for my low GPA is a sophomore slump in the fall semester of my sophomore year (I failed orgo, but came back and made A's in orgo 1,2,lab, and a grad level orgo) and then last year I got mono about 3 weeks into the semester, and so my grades slipped a bit.

laneyj34 said:

Well, that is true, we do not know what I will get on the MCAT. I really hope it is above 30 though. My out of state schools are: Michigan State (I have visited and liked it), The Medical College of Ga, University of Md, UNC, Univ of South Alabama, Univ of S Carolina, UVA, and Wake Forrest. What do you think about any or all of these?

I have a good bit of volunteering and I have a good bit of physician shadowing: several different doctors and a lot of times shadowing. I also have some pretty good LOR's (I got to know some of my teachers really well and they liked me). The reason for my low GPA is a sophomore slump in the fall semester of my sophomore year (I failed orgo, but came back and made A's in orgo 1,2,lab, and a grad level orgo) and then last year I got mono about 3 weeks into the semester, and so my grades slipped a bit.

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They are all great choices. However I would consider UVA and Wake Forest as reach schools.

I would as well. However, WFU and UF are my "dream schools"-- I would love to get into either one of those. At this point though, I would just love to get into medical school.

laneyj34 said:

Well, that is true, we do not know what I will get on the MCAT. I really hope it is above 30 though. My out of state schools are: Michigan State (I have visited and liked it), The Medical College of Ga, University of Md, UNC, Univ of South Alabama, Univ of S Carolina, UVA, and Wake Forrest. What do you think about any or all of these?

I have a good bit of volunteering and I have a good bit of physician shadowing: several different doctors and a lot of times shadowing. I also have some pretty good LOR's (I got to know some of my teachers really well and they liked me). The reason for my low GPA is a sophomore slump in the fall semester of my sophomore year (I failed orgo, but came back and made A's in orgo 1,2,lab, and a grad level orgo) and then last year I got mono about 3 weeks into the semester, and so my grades slipped a bit.

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Just a political advertisement: The coming Saturday, Oct 14, is the annual FSU Med School Forum where all Florida programs will probably be represented by admissions staff and probably med students. A good time to get a question or two answered and get a feel for what each is looking for -- maybe even a side discussion in the afternoon small groups. Since it's at FSU they will certainly have students, I know that USF will also have some students there.....

laneyj34 said:

The reason for my low GPA is a sophomore slump in the fall semester of my sophomore year (I failed orgo, but came back and made A's in orgo 1,2,lab, and a grad level orgo) and then last year I got mono about 3 weeks into the semester, and so my grades slipped a bit.

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It is always good to have better grades in latter semesters, which appears to be the case. A in Orgo courses in indeed very impressive, I wish you best of luck and I have a feeling that you will make it in one of the Florida schools. Hopefully, you should have an edge at FSU since you from there and your LOR are from FSU professors.

Florida MD, I really appreciate your help.

REL-- I am going to try and make the med school forum at FSU. Is there anything that I need to do to sign up? Is this also known as Dean's Day at the med school?

Laneyj34

I wish you the best of luck in your application process. I think that if your MCAT score is 30+ you will have a decent shot at the FL schools. I noticed that many of the schools you chose out of FL are state schools. Typically, these schools only accept a minimal amount of out of state students (usually with very high GPAs and MCAT scores).

OOS Applicant stats from the 2005-2006 MSAR:

Medical College GA – 3 accepted out of 623 applicants
University MD – 38 accepted out of 2536 applicants
UNC – 17 accepted out of 2280 applicants (plus this is a competitive school)
South Alabama – 5 Accepted out of 395 applicants
South Carolina – 6 Accepted out of 1079 applicants
UVA – 48 accepted out of 2,886 applicants (plus this is a competitive school)
Wake Forrest – private, so this is ok

I know there are always exceptions but I typically tell people not to apply to state schools unless they are a resident, or unless they are a VERY competitive student. If your MCAT score is 33+ that would be great. However, your GPA is somewhat average and your application is late (considering Aug MCAT). I don’t mean to scare you but statistically your chances are very low at most of the aforementioned schools – just based on your residency status. I realize it is late – but you may want to add some other private school (if that is even allowed in October – I don’t know). I wish you the best of luck – and good luck with your pending MCAT score.

gujuDoc said:

yeah true that. Tampa is somewhere between small town and large city but definitely not the same as saying Chicago, Miami, Boston, L.A., NYC, D.C., Atlanta, etc.

However, I tend to like the feel of tampa as a place to live. Its not too crowded yet not too small either. I like knowing I feel safe around town.

Chicago suburbs are also a good place to live. I felt relatively safe there. Places like NYC however are not places I'm sure I could live in.

How do you guys think Orlando compares as a city??? It definitely seems a lot bigger then Tampa but still doesn't seem to be anything like the aforementioned in my opinion.

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Hello, I agree with gujuDoc on a lot of things. Tampa is way too spread out to be considered a 'big' city. The drive from USF to Tampa General is not toooo bad, but in traffic, a 30 minute drive can take over an hour, and with the construction (that has been going on since I moved here in 2002 and will never end), you honestly never know when there's going to be traffic.
I think Tampa is a great place for people with kids. I would raise kids here. There are at least 10 stay-at-home mom groups where I live. Ohhhhh suburbia!
Miami seems very nice...very busy. Since I'm a FL resident, it's already a given that I am applying to all the FL schools, and by the time I'm ready to apply, UCF will be open (should be, anyway).
Orlando is also very big, but I like it. You need a car, which I want to get out of. The hospitals in the area are awesome. I volunteered in high school at FL Hospital. My parents both work at FL Hospital (not doctors). They're huge and when family members have gotten sick, they've gone to hospitals in Orlando. I lived there before I came to Tampa for USF and I love it. I lived about 20 minutes away from the Disney/Universal area, which is a little more city-like (on the spectrum of city-ness) than Tampa, but ithere are more things open later, there are more non-big stores (i.e. In the 20ish minute drive to USF from my area, there are 2 Wendy's, 4 Publix(es?), 2 Walmarts, 3 McDonald's, 3 Blockbusters...and most of them are on the same road). There are Indian restaurants, Mexican restaurants (not big chain stores, but little familiy owned places), Italian places...I never get tired of Universal/Islands of Adventure, Disney, Pleasure Island, Ripley's, The upside down place that I don't know the name of, Bahama Breeze....
Anywho, I am very biased. I love Orlando and the surrounding areas. I like Tampa less. If I have to, I will gladly stay in Orlando, but if I get the opportunity, I will go to another big, eastern city.
Sorry if this makes no sense, it's late!

rajad10 said:

received the EDP acceptance call this morning: game over for me, guys. USF here i come. wish you all the same luck

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Hey Rajad, I'm definately late in the game in saying it, but congratulations! I just started reading this thread??post?? (I'm new to sdn), and I was so excited when you (and all the others) got their interview invites and it's after 3 am and I'm still reading-I started from the beginning of the FL thread so as to try and get to know everyone...anyway, I was so excited when I saw this post, I went "Yessss!" really loudly and didn't realize I said it outloud until I scared the crap out of myself...it's 3am, it's dark and it's quiet, since everyone's asleep...I'm ok now.

Congrats, again!

floridakppr said:

Nice Job. Well done. Have fun counting the days until it begins in August of '07. I don't know what I would do to entertain myself for that long a period of time. The stress of the application process has become my number one hobby. Without it, I'd be lost.

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I completely agree. Some of my friends and family members have refused to start conversations with me for fear of it being an information session on medical schools, their reqs, their stats, my stats, the cities they are in, etc.......and I don't even plan on applying until June 2008. I'm going to take a postbac- get a second bachelors in biology. SDN and medschool webpages are my hobby too!
Sidenote: I've been so busy trying to get out of Florida (not because I don't like it-I love it) I just want to experience something else and then, possibly, come back "home."

LilyMD said:

Bump

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Still catching up...can someone please tell me why random people keep writing "bump"? Is this to make this thread/post be at the top of the home page??

mprover said:

man, Im two hundreths of a GPA point below Miami's cutoff for a secondary. I got my rejection today. Ive got a good MCAT, great ECs, what I feel is amazing research. Im kinda bummed. I hope this isnt forshadowing of a deluge of rejection letters.

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So sorry, MProver...hope it gets better. My new fav saying is "F them!" You can borrow it if you want.

Hi again! (To myself)..so I am really happy to say that I have finished reading this thread...all 19 pages and I feel like I know some of you....you crazy, stressed out, anxious, people. You are all amazing and I wish you the very best in this challenge we have chosen. Good luck!

Also, this Rel person seems to be a medschool deity, because I heard of his genius/kindness wayyyy before I got sdn...you're a superstar, Rel!

It's almost 430 and I'm a little out of it...goodnight!

laneyj34 said:

Florida MD, I really appreciate your help.

REL-- I am going to try and make the med school forum at FSU. Is there anything that I need to do to sign up? Is this also known as Dean's Day at the med school?

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Yes, AKA Dean's Day. You probably need to register, either premed AMSA or AED is most likely the sponsor. I would check with Rob Borger's premed advising Office or look for flyers on bulletin boards.

So guys, only one week left until acceptances can go out and less then 5 days for Aug scores!! Good luck to everyone interviewing this week and those waiting!!

Thanks REL. I know Borger fairly well. I will ask him about it to find out what I need to do.

You just need to show up day of and pay $5 (which includes lunch). It's sponsored by AED, for more info see their website

DocBellaise said:

Still catching up...can someone please tell me why random people keep writing "bump"? Is this to make this thread/post be at the top of the home page??

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BUMP stands for "bring up my post." Bumping a thread will bring it back to the front page of SDN.

deuist said:

BUMP stands for "bring up my post." Bumping a thread will bring it back to the front page of SDN.

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Thanks.

TPROrgoTutor said:

Just a quick thanks to REL for making the interview day as non-stressful as possible. Food was great and it was an all around enjoyable, although long, day. I love USF and really hope to stay there for medical education so here is to hearing positive news from them next wednesday.

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TPROrgo Tutor:

Good to know you you enjoyed your trip to Tampa and that you were treated very well. Will you be kind enough to write interview feedback for this and other interviews you have had the pleasure of enjoying. I see very few people are providing feedback for Florida schools.

TPROrgoTutor said:

Ive left feedback for the others. Am going to for USF tonight. Btw, I live in tampa, so the trip wasnt bad, ha.

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Thanks, Can you tell me what time does USF interview end and how far is the airport from the school and since you are from there you can give an idea how long will the drive take from there to the Airport.

Under rush hour conditions, it has taken me nearly an hour to get from Fletcher exit on 275 to 45A where TGH is. The airport is more like exit 39 or something like that, so that's an addition 6 miles away.

I sort avoided being on the interstate the whole time by going from Busch Blvd's entrance ramp onto 275 and that cut down the time I was sitting in traffic.

If your interview ends at like 5:00 or 5:30 that will be around rush hour time, so I'd be careful about assuming you'll make it in 20 minutes.

As TPR stated, factor in 30+ minutes.

If it is during a non rush hour time it should only take 20 minutes.

I'm pretty sure REL told us that he would shoot us an email on 10/15, even though it was a Sunday. Anyone else remember this bit of information, or was I jsut dreaming?

laneyj34 said:

I submitted my AMCAS today. My transcript was received about a two weeks ago, so now I guess I am waiting on them to read over my application and transcript, or whatever it is that they do before sending the applications out to the selected schools. Anyways, I am pretty excited, at least until next Sunday when I get my MCAT scores back (hopefully I did well).

I am a Sr. at FSU with a 3.4, will be about a 3.5 by the end of the spring semester. I believe I will get between a 30 and 35 on the MCAT (based on practice scores). My question is, since I am applying so late, what are my chances with the Florida schools?

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Good luck, laney. I'm sorry I didn't get back to you about your PS in time, but I think the new version is much better FWIW.

Edit: I agree with what the other poster said about applying to OOS public schools with residency requirements. You want to focus your OOS efforts on private schools (or at least public schools that take a lot of OOS residents). Have you thought about Tulane? And if your MCAT is over 30, you might look at Emory too.

SeminoleFan3 said:

I'm pretty sure REL told us that he would shoot us an email on 10/15, even though it was a Sunday. Anyone else remember this bit of information, or was I jsut dreaming?

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Not sure if it was the 15th or 16th, but he did tell us he is going to send an email.

jbl16 said:

Not sure if it was the 15th or 16th, but he did tell us he is going to send an email.

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In greater schemes of things, it does not matter it is 15th or 16th, atleast in this case we pretty much can narrow it down to two days. I am sure you remember MCAT results where we had to guess foe weeks.

pirata said:

You just need to show up day of and pay $5 (which includes lunch). It's sponsored by AED, for more info see their website

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woohoo to AED chapters. I used to be an officer in our chapter but it was always AMSA that put on our med school forums.

I went to the FSU deans day a few years back when my friends were applying (Now MS 2's in their case). The new building had just opened at that time and was looking real nice. We took an unofficial tour of their med school.

For those of you with the pre-interview hold e-mail from UF, my friend just got an interview offer from them after receiving that email last week. So keep your heads up because they are certainly still looking at those applicants.

DoctorDan24 said:

For those of you with the pre-interview hold e-mail from UF, my friend just got an interview offer from them after receiving that email last week. So keep your heads up because they are certainly still looking at those applicants.

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Are you from UM? Maybe your talking about the same person I'm thinking about. I mentioned him casually in my UF interview, since hes one of my close friends, and my intervieweer got interested in his case and wrote down his name. He got invited yesterday so I suspect she looked into it.

GUESS WHAT Y'ALL! I GOT ACCEPTED TO FSU COM!!!!! apparanlty they dont follow the october 16 rule so much lol! I'm so happy, i can barely type! lol

rabiya said:

GUESS WHAT Y'ALL! I GOT ACCEPTED TO FSU COM!!!!! apparanlty they dont follow the october 16 rule so much lol! I'm so happy, i can barely type! lol

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Congratulations , I wish one of my schools would break the trafficking rules oh well 6 days to go

rabiya said:

GUESS WHAT Y'ALL! I GOT ACCEPTED TO FSU COM!!!!! apparanlty they dont follow the october 16 rule so much lol! I'm so happy, i can barely type! lol

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Congratulations! Rabiya. That is a great news,calls for celebration. Do not forget your SDN friends.

TPROrgoTutor said:

Wow, congrats. Did you call or did they call you?

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well it was sort both ways. I called Ms. Callaway and left her a message because she had said at the interview they would notify us within a week, so she called me back and said Congrats!and that she'd be e-mailing the application packets, etc.

Thanks y'all! Hope y'all get in to med schools too!

rabiya said:

GUESS WHAT Y'ALL! I GOT ACCEPTED TO FSU COM!!!!! apparanlty they dont follow the october 16 rule so much lol! I'm so happy, i can barely type! lol

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Congrats, Rabiya!

LilyMD said:

Congrats, Rabiya!

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Thanks lily. I think October 10 will be like another b-day for me now. i wonder if med school student do somehting special on the date of their first accpetance?

rabiya said:

Thanks lily. I think October 10 will be like another b-day for me now. i wonder if med school student do somehting special on the date of their first accpetance?

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Nah their next big date is when they get a date with their board scores and then with their residency acceptances. After you start med school, I'm sure you'll forget the euphoria of getting accepted and be moving on to the next step.

awesome rab, cheers all around

rabiya said:

well it was sort both ways. I called Ms. Callaway and left her a message because she had said at the interview they would notify us within a week, so she called me back and said Congrats!and that she'd be e-mailing the application packets, etc.

Thanks y'all! Hope y'all get in to med schools too!

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Wow...yippeeeeee!!! Congrats rabiya!!!!

rabiya said:

Thanks lily. I think October 10 will be like another b-day for me now. i wonder if med school student do somehting special on the date of their first accpetance?

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Congrats! And no, I don't think so. We're too busy studying, at least we are if we want to remain medical students.

SeminoleFan3 said:

I'm pretty sure REL told us that he would shoot us an email on 10/15, even though it was a Sunday. Anyone else remember this bit of information, or was I jsut dreaming?

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He said that!

There is an agreement between AMCAS, medical schools and applicant; which pretty much dictates how the process will take place. While the schools hold applicants to highest ethical standards, and frankly applicants can have no choice but to go along. There is an ethical dilemma, some schools disregard the rules for whatever reasons, although that may be to the advantage of the applicants but is is still violation of a "gentleman's agreement" with AMCAS. You might have guessed I am talking about school accepting applicants prior to the October 15th agreed upon date. It appears atleast three schools have revealed acceptance to applicants. Do you thing they have to live by different set of rules, just because they can?

I am a second year student at USF and there were a number of OOS accepted during the 2004-2005 cycle. If you want to go to a school, apply. You have nothing to lose but $$$.

USF really looks for the whole package. REL, Dr. Specter and the staff at Student Affairs are all amazing.

kenmc3 said:

Laneyj34

I wish you the best of luck in your application process. I think that if your MCAT score is 30+ you will have a decent shot at the FL schools. I noticed that many of the schools you chose out of FL are state schools. Typically, these schools only accept a minimal amount of out of state students (usually with very high GPAs and MCAT scores).

OOS Applicant stats from the 2005-2006 MSAR:

Medical College GA – 3 accepted out of 623 applicants
University MD – 38 accepted out of 2536 applicants
UNC – 17 accepted out of 2280 applicants (plus this is a competitive school)
South Alabama – 5 Accepted out of 395 applicants
South Carolina – 6 Accepted out of 1079 applicants
UVA – 48 accepted out of 2,886 applicants (plus this is a competitive school)
Wake Forrest – private, so this is ok

I know there are always exceptions but I typically tell people not to apply to state schools unless they are a resident, or unless they are a VERY competitive student. If your MCAT score is 33+ that would be great. However, your GPA is somewhat average and your application is late (considering Aug MCAT). I don’t mean to scare you but statistically your chances are very low at most of the aforementioned schools – just based on your residency status. I realize it is late – but you may want to add some other private school (if that is even allowed in October – I don’t know). I wish you the best of luck – and good luck with your pending MCAT score.

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