2010-2011 SUNY Downstate Application Thread

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When I select downstate on my amcas application, it asks me to pick my LOR. Does this mean downstate is going to take my LOR's before a secondary? I ask because not all my letter's are in yet (still waiting to be received by AMCAS).
 
1.
If there were periods longer than 3 months, from the time you graduated high school to now, when you were not employed full time or in college full time, please describe your activities.

2.
If you have a specific reason why you wish to attend medical school in New York City, please explain.

3.
If you have a specific reason why you have chosen to apply to SUNY Downstate’s College of Medicine, please explain.
 
thanks, so it sounds like the same as last years.
 
i forgot schools put them up early online..awesome!! (although not awesome because i was kind of looking for a couple of weeks off lol)
 
I interviewed here during the 2009-2010 cycle but was alternate-listed (still am actually) but it is absolutely my top choice! That being said, I'm applying to their MD/MPH this year. Anyone else looking into the program?
 
I interviewed here during the 2009-2010 cycle but was alternate-listed (still am actually) but it is absolutely my top choice! That being said, I'm applying to their MD/MPH this year. Anyone else looking into the program?

I'm applying to this program as well...I like the fact that you can choose to either do it in 4 or 5 years. Which route are you thinking about taking? And if you don't mind me asking, do you know why you were alternate listed?
 
I'm applying to this program as well...I like the fact that you can choose to either do it in 4 or 5 years. Which route are you thinking about taking? And if you don't mind me asking, do you know why you were alternate listed?
I'm not sure in how many years I want to take to do the program right now. I'm leaning towards five years so I can take my time and not stress myself out too much, but I'll make that decision later on.
As for being alternate listed...I think that this happened because I was offered a late interview (February 16th). By the time I interviewed the class was already full. According to SDN posts, the class had actually already been full since January. Anyway, I was put directly onto the alternate list but many others were put on hold. I still have some tiny sliver of hope for this year but I'm also confident that my luck will be better during the 2010-2011 cycle. It may or may not be relevant but I'm also OOS
 
i forgot schools put them up early online..awesome!! (although not awesome because i was kind of looking for a couple of weeks off lol)

same here! totally thought I'd have a little break before secondaries lol
 
I feel like this question has prolly been asked/answered somewhere on SDN, so forgive...

Is #12 on the Supp ((Optional) If you have a specific reason why you have chosen to apply to SUNY Downstate's College of Medicine, please explain) actually why do you think Downstate is so great?
 
I assume that we should only use the space provided to answer the questions in the secondary application (mini-essay prompts)...unless we have a super-long reason about why we want to go to school there, what we've done to prepare ourselves to live there etc.

Also, for the Pre-Req section, do we just list the courses that satisfy their pre-reqs: Intro bio, gen. chem, org. chem, physics, etc...none of the bio classes beyond that if we're bio majors..?
 
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does anyone know if we have to wait for the email invite?
 
does anyone know if we have to wait for the email invite?

I doubt it...I checked the login though and you cannot pay online til 7 July...so pretty much, I'm going to wait to pay then and mail it off then. Who has already mailed off their application?
 
Does anyone know what we put for the Distance Learning box?
 
So on my initial review they have two of my letters marked with a green check. On my post-initial review I have a red "X" next to the LOR from a committee or 2 individual letters thingy. Why would they have gotten some of my LORs if they were sent together through AMCAS letter service? Anyone having similar issues?
 
What's an initial review? I mailed mine off a week ago and I've heard nothing =/

Edit: I figured it out when I went to their website, but it seems really glitchy...says it hasn't received my app and they randomly listed 2 LORs there (I sent 4 to them via AMCAS).
 
If you go to the initial email there are instructions for going to your "applicant checklist," and you can see what you still need to turn in. There is a link in that email and your aamc id is both username and password.
 
If you go to the initial email there are instructions for going to your "applicant checklist," and you can see what you still need to turn in. There is a link in that email and your aamc id is both username and password.

any1 know anything about this school? im just applying here bc my gf moved to manhattan!
 
I just received a letter via snail mail that I am complete. Kind of strange, but at least I know. Good luck everyone!
 
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I received the secondary invite via e-mail on 7/2.
 
It's obviously a mistake. Downstate is a state school and as such is required to accept a certain percentage of state residents.

It could be a mistake but I thought it meant that they might have accepted a lot of nys residents but no one decided to matriculate that year.
 
i just got a letter from them asking for information about my extracurricular activities while in college.
Did anyone else get this too?

I'm not sure whether this is a good thing or not.
Was i reviewed early? (isn't this the time that they review early-decision applicants?), or do they review all applications this quickly? (and they aren't sure whether to give me an interview).

This is probably one of my two top choices (its local and tuition is a lot less), so I'm quite curious.
Anyone know?
 
well my initial review has been completed, and this is what they are asking of me for post-initial review:

Provide more detail about your community service and/or extracurricular activities. (non-medical)

last time I applied (2 years ago) I got an interview without asking for any additional details... so this is not looking good.
 
seriously, does any1 know anything about this school??
 
seriously, does any1 know anything about this school??

not really all my secondaries for NYC schools are essentially the same thing. diverse city, great clinicals etc, chance to do international elective blah blah hopefully they don't really place too much primacy on these secondaries.
 
It's a lot easier to write those secondaries when you are familiar with the area, especially if you live there. I found writing "Why this school?" for the local schools easy, whereas the same question for distant schools was much harder. In all cases I tried to find at least one thing specific to that school that I thought I might do well with, and wrote about that and then threw in the basics/generic stuff.
 
Did anyone else send in the paper application, but still have a red X for that field? Was wondering if this is typical or if I should give them a call.
 
Did anyone else send in the paper application, but still have a red X for that field? Was wondering if this is typical or if I should give them a call.

I think the website says it takes at least two days post-receipt to update your status. Therefore, assume they got it on a certain date, and add two days to that before you call them...
 
Did anyone else send in the paper application, but still have a red X for that field? Was wondering if this is typical or if I should give them a call.

I'm on the same boat. I sent in mine last week, but I'm guessing it takes a while for them to acknowledge it's receipt. It also says that your status won't be updated on the website until at least 2 days of being received. So, just hang in there! 🙂
 
I'm on hold 🙁 until I send a list of non-medical community service activities which I do not have
 
What is the area around Downstate like in terms of safety?


Not the best neighborhood= great clinical experience. Some students live in Park Slope or other safer neighborhoods just a couple of minutes from the school.
 
Does anyone know if Downstate is receptive to "in the area" emails? Being from OOS, plane flights are $$$, and I'll be in NYC in Sept. Think they'll care?
 
so i cannot figure out where to pay the secondary app fee...i see a section on the checklist, but no link to click on or anything. hmmm
 
so i cannot figure out where to pay the secondary app fee...i see a section on the checklist, but no link to click on or anything. hmmm

If I remember correctly, in your applicant checklist, there is asection to look at what you're missing. Under the application fee section, there is a place to click to pay online.
 
so i cannot figure out where to pay the secondary app fee...i see a section on the checklist, but no link to click on or anything. hmmm

OH that happened to me too! I had to upgrade my browser, I think I had to get firefox 3.6 or something and then the button to pay showed up.
 
The link may only be valid during daytime hours but I'm not sure.
 
OH that happened to me too! I had to upgrade my browser, I think I had to get firefox 3.6 or something and then the button to pay showed up.

yeah thanks...that worked. i had to do it in internet explorer instead of firefox 🙂
 
I'm so frustrated with this snail mail application thing. USPS apparently lost my secondary. It's been sitting 30 miles from my house since July 9th. They aren't really responding to my inquiries at all. I sent it priority with delivery confirmation, what was my extra 5 bucks for?

I sent another one three days ago, but now it's a lot later than I wanted...
 
I was about to call about DS about my secondary (which should have arrived at the end of last week), and I saw that I have all green checks, so it may take more than 2 days to update the checklist.

Did anyone else send in the paper application, but still have a red X for that field? Was wondering if this is typical or if I should give them a call.
 
I'm so frustrated with this snail mail application thing. USPS apparently lost my secondary. It's been sitting 30 miles from my house since July 9th. They aren't really responding to my inquiries at all. I sent it priority with delivery confirmation, what was my extra 5 bucks for?

I sent another one three days ago, but now it's a lot later than I wanted...

USPS sent my application to the wrong place too! It ended up in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, which is one zip code number off from Brooklyn. I certified mailed it, so I was able to tell them it was in the wrong place and have them send it to Brooklyn, but it was definitely later than I intended for it to get there. Geesh. 😡
 
Checked my status today, all boxes are green check marks and in red it says "In Review". I assume that means I'm complete?

For those wondering, Downstate is located Flatbush, one of Brooklyn's communities. I work in EMS so bring patients there relatively often, even more often to Kings County Hospital and Kingsbrook Jewish Hospital. All three hospitals are literally across the street from one another. Kings County is biggest, most infamous (in a bad way) and is the only Level 1 trauma out of all 3. Downstate has a relatively smallish ER. The location, Flatbush, is not the best area of Brooklyn, but certainly not the worst. That said, Prospect Park and Park Slope are both close by, and nice areas, especially Park Slope. By train, it would take ~20 minutes to get into Manhattan if the city is your thing. Like someone else said, clinical experience will probably be good here, as you get a lot of sick patients due to the nature of the area. Most people will be on Medicare/Medicaid or not insured at all.
 
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