2008-2009 Stony Brook Secondary Application Thread

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It was a short interview day - just two interviews, lunch, and a brief tour. My day started at 11:00 and was over by 2:00.
 
For those who have interviewed already, how are the classes structured? Are they mostly lectures or small group seminars?
 
So I called yesterday to check on what happened to my application, seeing as I interviewed on 9/25 and plenty of people who interviewed later than that already have answers (to say nothing of the fact that they told us 9/15!)... and they haven't even started reviewing my file. Come on people!
 
Whoohoo! Interview #4! Complete 9/19 and received the email invite today. Good luck to everyone else still waiting!
 
aznb0y129 said:
Whoohoo! Interview #4! Complete 9/19 and received the email invite today. Good luck to everyone else still waiting!
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Congrats! I was complete a little bit before you and still waiting on any news.. hopefully I hear soon.
 
im super annoyed at stonybrook...i interviewed like the second week of interviews and its one of top choices, and i still havent heard anything. i called last week and they said my app was just sent to the committee for review, but as of yet, i have no idea whats going on. i want to cry 🙁
 
mkitty09 said:
im super annoyed at stonybrook...i interviewed like the second week of interviews and its one of top choices, and i still havent heard anything. i called last week and they said my app was just sent to the committee for review, but as of yet, i have no idea whats going on. i want to cry 🙁
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I'm tired of waiting too, I haven't bothered calling because it seems like everyone is told that there file hasn't been reviewed yet. We HAVE to hear soon right? How long could the turn around time be?
 
did anyone stay with a student when you went for your interview? I have never utilized this option, does anyone have any experience with this that would like to comment?
 
I just finished my interview today! I loved it, and I'd feel privileged to attend!

School/Facilities/Atmosphere: The school was very nice and the area is beautiful. The facilities seemed to be pretty impressive and I love how the school is organized. Its structured vertically and there are escalators all over the place, so you can get around fast! It's integrated w/ the hospital, too, so that's great (although I don't know how common that is). The students were all very nice and helpful. They all said wonderful things about the school, the faculty and the overall atmosphere. There were plenty of students having a great time playing video games and ping-pong... really cool. The faculty was the same; very nice, very helpful, and I really enjoyed everyone.

Long Island: Suburban is an exaggeration in my opinion. Ha, ha. It is sub-suburban in many places IMHO. The whole island seems to turn off at 10:00 PM! And, when you're on the road there are very few signs of life off the roads. The trees are super thick and they line every single road on the island and you have to concentrate to see development behind the vegetation. However, its absolutely beautiful on Long Island. I've never seen such incredible colors as I have in the deciduous vegetation all over the island this fall.

My Interviewers

#1 I interviewed with an admissions committee member who is a retired professor of Biochemistry. He was an incredibly nice person, very enjoyable, and it was a pleasure conversing with him (so, it was conversational). He had my application and knew it very well. He seemed to know what he was going to ask me before hand. IMHO it went very well and he told me "[I'm] exactly the kind of student [they] want at SUNY Stony Brook, and he'd be delighted to recommend me." Hopefully he has lots of pull in the committee 🙂

#2 I interviewed with a Pediatrician / Professor. She was also very nice, but I just didn't connect with her like I did my first. She was a recent replacement for my original interviewer, so she wasn't familiar with my application. As a result of her not knowing my app and me being very tired by that point in the day (~9hrs of sleep over the past 3 days) I had some awkward moments and I wasn't on my toes enough to overcome them and direct the conversation in such a way as to highlight positive things about me, my application, etc. IMHO it was too much "light conversation" (my fault?) and there wasn't much substance to it. I wish it had gone better, but I don't think it was "bad".

So, interviews seem to be generally conversational and they're open application. Everyone is nice there, so I really can't imagine that you'll be grilled. However, the result is that everyone feels their interviews went pretty well. There were 9 students interviewing and pretty much every one of them felt their interviews went very well. But, it seems unlikely IMHO. Be on your toes, be prepared to politely direct the conversation every once in a while so as to make sure to let your interviewers know you're confident in your decision in medicine, that you know what you're getting yourself into, and that you are capable of completing medical school.

JM.02

GL to all! :luck:
 
thesopranoswire said:
For those who have interviewed already, how are the classes structured? Are they mostly lectures or small group seminars?
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Hey everyone, I am a MS1 at Stony Brook so feel free to ask me questions about the school.

For classes (at least as far as 1st year is concerned), anatomy and biochem are lecture-based entirely. Foundations (which is like a "how to be a doctor" course + bioethics) is a combination of lectures and small groups. Classes are essentially 9-4 every day. I'm not sure about the 2nd semester of 1st year (which is neuroscience, physiology, and pathology) because I haven't gone through it yet, but I think it's mostly lecture with a few small group activities thrown in.

Let me know if you have any more questions!
 
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How much (and in what capacity) clinical experience do you get during the first semester of MS1 (and second semester)?

Also, do you know anything about the new free clinic being set up?
 
ParvatiP said:
Hey everyone, I am a MS1 at Stony Brook so feel free to ask me questions about the school.

For classes (at least as far as 1st year is concerned), anatomy and biochem are lecture-based entirely. Foundations (which is like a "how to be a doctor" course + bioethics) is a combination of lectures and small groups. Classes are essentially 9-4 every day. I'm not sure about the 2nd semester of 1st year (which is neuroscience, physiology, and pathology) because I haven't gone through it yet, but I think it's mostly lecture with a few small group activities thrown in.

Let me know if you have any more questions!
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Thank you! Do you know when the first year starts and ends? Do most people who come to SB do research during the summer or are there programs in which you can do global health overseas? I guess I am trying to figure out what the majority of people do during the summer bw 1 and 2nd yr. Thanks for all your insights!!
 
Anyone has Stony Brook's 2008 residency match list? thanks!!
 
thesopranoswire:
This year orientation started Aug 18 and the first day of classes was Aug 27. Our last day of exams next semester is June 10.

Since I am just an MS1 I don't really know how many people do research vs. other things in the summer but I get the sense that most people do not do research. Stony Brook has a variety of international experiences (some involve research and some are just clinical) which I think are fairly popular. Also I think there are some clinical things you can do at Stony Brook (if you're interested in anesthesiology there is a program at Stony Brook where you basically shadow residents every day in the OR for 6 weeks and learn all sorts of procedures, plus you get paid for it). So it varies a lot and it just depends what you personally want to do.


Gonnabeadoc2222:
I think we get a fair amount of clinical experience first year. We started learning about how to interview patients and practice on the standardized patients (actors) at the clinical skills center the 2nd week of school. Just this past week I did my first real patient interview. Next month we will be practicing physical exams on real patients. This will continue into second semester. I think Stony Brook really tries to emphasize early clinical experience.

I don't really know anything about the free clinic. I remember hearing about it during my interview day and they said it should be ready to open around this time, but I don't have any updates on when it will open.
 
I'm still under review. It cant take much longer can it?:scared: Does anyone know somebody who got waitlisted or rejected post interview yet?
 
7 weeks and still nuthin😕😕😕 c'mon already stony
 
jdandturk said:
7 weeks and still nuthin😕😕😕 c'mon already stony
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I know, I called yesterday and they said I'm still under review! Maybe we had the same interviewers and they haven't been able to make the adcom meetings for whatever reason. 😕
 
redrumi said:
I know, I called yesterday and they said I'm still under review! Maybe we had the same interviewers and they haven't been able to make the adcom meetings for whatever reason. 😕
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who interviewed you. Was it dr. Shechter?
 
its bcs of dr. pourmand. i interviewed sept 12 with him, and so did my friend. and we both havent heard back from him. i also just called and they told me my file was still under review. its my top choice and i was so psyched to interview early and get to hear back early and now this happens. im really annoyed.
 
I interviewed with Dr. Shechter and a freind of mine had Dr. Fuhrer and we are still waiting to hear from stony. Also, why do you think Dr. pormound would contact you?
 
I interviewed with Schecter on 10/30 and received my decision today (11/14)
 
bka6827 said:
I interviewed with Schecter on 10/30 and received my decision today (11/14)
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2wk decision? Does that mean you got a DHL package and a congratulations is in order? 😀
 
TRN1983 said:
2wk decision? Does that mean you got a DHL package and a congratulations is in order? 😀
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wow, that's quick!!

So I interviewed last week and absolutely loved the school. What really impressed me was their research opportunities, especially international research. The student that I interviewed with said you can research just about anywhere in the world as long as you find a researcher in that area that's willing to take you under their wings. They have a list of all the researchers/doctors looking for students. You can also do research in the humanities area. For me, I'm really interested in music and I can do research in music therapy if I wanted to.

About my interview, which I'm sure you're all interested about, my first was with a student. She was really nice, talked mostly about my application and the essay I wrote about the healthcare system. She asked why she should recommend me since there are so many other applicants that are just as outstanding.

My second interview was with a professor in biochemistry. Again, very nice guy and made the conversation very relaxed. However, he asked me one ethical questions after another. 1) if a child's about to die and family refuse treatment, what do you say to them. I said I'd respect the family's decision and he argued the opposite end for almost half an hour. I'm not sure if that means he wanted me to change my mind, but I didn't and I hope that's not a bad thing. 2) There's an article resently about the developing ability to grow an entire organ using extracellular matrix. DO you see anything wrong with it or why do you think people would object. etc. There was at least 5 ethical questions that I can remember on top of others. Our 1/2 hour interview turned into 1.25 hours. He asked about my healthcare essay as well and what was wrong with my proposed plan (I wasn't really prepared to argue against my own argument, lol).
Over all, he knew my application really well and asked questions based on my experience and research. He covered all aspects my application, even those I didn't think was significant (ex, my 1 month experience in repairing violins). Some questions was unexpect but he was still very friendly and enjoyable. I really liked talking to him and wished the interview was longer.

good luck to everyone else interviewing!
 
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What day did you interview?
 
Ahhh...well, looks like I just missed you by a day then.
 
TRN1983 said:
Ahhh...well, looks like I just missed you by a day then.
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aww..there were I think only one from CA on my day, thought it might have been you. Well...we'll probably hear back around the same time. Do you think they do notices in groups? Or is it random?
 
poohbear00 said:
aww..there were I think only one from CA on my day, thought it might have been you. Well...we'll probably hear back around the same time. Do you think they do notices in groups? Or is it random?
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I think its kind of random. Some people hear right away, some people don't. Maybe it comes down to your interviewers finding the time to present his/her experience to the admissions committee?
 
Hey there. Just got a waitlist email. interviewed 10/10. good luck everyone
 
dunno, guess I just figured this was the only school I could count on to let me in for sure 🙂 oh well.
 
Waitlist also. does anyone know if you can find out your position on the waitlist ? oneandonlylo, how the hell did you get waitlisted, your app is amazing.
 
Sorry about the waitlists... hopefully you're high on the waitlist though. They accept almost 1/2 of all people they interview (~600 interviewed & ~300 accepted for 120 seats), so I'd imagine a heck of a lot of people on the waitlist make it in!

There is still hope 👍
 
jdandturk said:
Waitlist also. does anyone know if you can find out your position on the waitlist ?
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I called to ask about this, but the woman that I spoke with said that this information is confidential and will not be disclosed.
 
interviewed 10/24, waitlisted 11/17

this is my top choice. disappointed but not giving up
 
How did you guys hear about the waitlist decisions? Phone, email, or snail mail?

Any rejections yet?

Interviewed on 10/15 and still havent heard anything back
 
Nishtar said:
How did you guys hear about the waitlist decisions? Phone, email, or snail mail?

Any rejections yet?

Interviewed on 10/15 and still havent heard anything back
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I just interviewed so no news yet, but they told us waitlists are by email and rejections are by snail mail (those thin one-pagers). Acceptance is of course the large DHL packages.
 
TRN1983 said:
Sorry about the waitlists... hopefully you're high on the waitlist though. They accept almost 1/2 of all people they interview (~600 interviewed & ~300 accepted for 120 seats), so I'd imagine a heck of a lot of people on the waitlist make it in!

There is still hope 👍
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Um...if they accept 1/2 of the ppl they interview, that means 2/3 of the ppl they accept need to withdraw before there's any waitlist movement. Considering the number of people that have expressed how much they loved the school, I don't know how many will drop.

Still, don't give up!!!
 
poohbear00 said:
Um...if they accept 1/2 of the ppl they interview, that means 2/3 of the ppl they accept need to withdraw before there's any waitlist movement. Considering the number of people that have expressed how much they loved the school, I don't know how many will drop.

Still, don't give up!!!
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actually, if i remember correctly, that's how the admissions person explained it on interview day. i think it's a little less than half, but close enough. i just got waitlisted too. i hate that waitlists don't really have movement till april/may. that's too far away!!
 
poohbear00 said:
Um...if they accept 1/2 of the ppl they interview, that means 2/3 of the ppl they accept need to withdraw before there's any waitlist movement. Considering the number of people that have expressed how much they loved the school, I don't know how many will drop.

Still, don't give up!!!
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they said 1/2 of those interviewed are accepted, but that number include those accepted from the waitlist. so it's hard to tell how many they accept originally or how many they pull from the wait list. don't give up hope!
 
supergirl87 said:
actually, if i remember correctly, that's how the admissions person explained it on interview day. i think it's a little less than half, but close enough. i just got waitlisted too. i hate that waitlists don't really have movement till april/may. that's too far away!!
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Ahh...this is making me nervous because I'm sure everyone had great interviews but still got waitlisted. This is my best chance at getting into a med school. I don't know what I'd do if I got rejected...
 
poohbear00 said:
Um...if they accept 1/2 of the ppl they interview, that means 2/3 of the ppl they accept need to withdraw before there's any waitlist movement. Considering the number of people that have expressed how much they loved the school, I don't know how many will drop.

Still, don't give up!!!
Click to expand...
The people who are accepted (that 300 people number) come from the waitlist pool as well. I doubt they accept 300 and hope that number turns into a reasonable class size 🙂 So, that means a significant proportion of the matriculating people come from the waitlist.
 
poohbear00 said:
Ahh...this is making me nervous because I'm sure everyone had great interviews but still got waitlisted. This is my best chance at getting into a med school. I don't know what I'd do if I got rejected...
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lol, yeah, my interview at stony brook went really well so i was surprised. my interview with the faculty was one whole hour instead of the usual 30 minutes it said on the schedule. i was under the impression that if interviews went over the alloted time, it's a good indication =). i don't think it's the interview itself that got me waitlisted... i think they just saw some other candidates (better stats, ecs, whatever) that they were interested in more. if you are really set on getting into SB, send a letter of interest!!:luck:

EDIT: sorry for not clarifying before. but as the others said, the 300 INCLUDES the people accepted from the waitlist in addition to people accepted originally.
 
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supergirl87 said:
lol, yeah, my interview at stony brook went really well so i was surprised. my interview with the faculty was one whole hour instead of the usual 30 minutes it said on the schedule. i was under the impression that if interviews went over the alloted time, it's a good indication =). i don't think it's the interview itself that got me waitlisted... i think they just saw some other candidates (better stats, ecs, whatever) that they were interested in more. if you are really set on getting into SB, send a letter of interest!!:luck:

EDIT: sorry for not clarifying before. but as the others said, the 300 INCLUDES the people accepted from the waitlist in addition to people accepted originally.
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They schedule 1 full hour 😛 Both of my interviews were one full hour and they were indicated as being such on my paperwork.
 
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