I sent my offical transcript with my spring grades but I graduated May 1, and my degree was already on it. Maybe you should send your unofficial and then send your offical once your undergrad school puts your degree on it.
2009-2010 Florida State University Application Thread
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I sent my offical transcript with my spring grades but I graduated May 1, and my degree was already on it. Maybe you should send your unofficial and then send your offical once your undergrad school puts your degree on it.
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For future reference, the FSUCOM mission statement technically doesn't say anything about primary care.
"The Florida State University College of Medicine will educate and develop exemplary physicians who practice patient-centered health care, discover and advance knowledge and who are responsive to community needs especially through service to elder, rural, minority, and underserved populations."
What does that mean? We have a geriatrics rotation, have to offer a rural track for those interested, and have a rural health rotation. Other than that, it is pretty standard stuff.
While the above person made the decision that was right for them, it is a common misnomer that it means "primary care" and only rural areas. There are areas of New York, Atlanta, Miami, LA, Chicago, Seattle and wherever else you can think of that meet those other qualifications.
As one of the head guys at the school said, "I'd rather have a 10 surgeons, radiologists, dermatologists, and ER docs practice in a rural or underserved area from our school than 10 family docs practice in the suburbs." He has repeated it several different ways, so some of you might have heard something similar from him.
While it is nice to look at matchlists to get an idea of what people like, I realllllly wouldn't use it to choose. Nearly every school I looked at had a pretty wide array of specialities and locales when you sample multiple graduating classes. We've had people in nyc, chicago, jacksonville, gainesville, miami, tampa, san francisco, dallas, denver, washington d.c., atlanta, etc.
This isn't a direct bitter response by any means. Just something that needs to get cleared up. 😉
"The Florida State University College of Medicine will educate and develop exemplary physicians who practice patient-centered health care, discover and advance knowledge and who are responsive to community needs especially through service to elder, rural, minority, and underserved populations."
What does that mean? We have a geriatrics rotation, have to offer a rural track for those interested, and have a rural health rotation. Other than that, it is pretty standard stuff.
While the above person made the decision that was right for them, it is a common misnomer that it means "primary care" and only rural areas. There are areas of New York, Atlanta, Miami, LA, Chicago, Seattle and wherever else you can think of that meet those other qualifications.
As one of the head guys at the school said, "I'd rather have a 10 surgeons, radiologists, dermatologists, and ER docs practice in a rural or underserved area from our school than 10 family docs practice in the suburbs." He has repeated it several different ways, so some of you might have heard something similar from him.
While it is nice to look at matchlists to get an idea of what people like, I realllllly wouldn't use it to choose. Nearly every school I looked at had a pretty wide array of specialities and locales when you sample multiple graduating classes. We've had people in nyc, chicago, jacksonville, gainesville, miami, tampa, san francisco, dallas, denver, washington d.c., atlanta, etc.
This isn't a direct bitter response by any means. Just something that needs to get cleared up. 😉
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The lists will technically will be 4 years old or even older by the time when 2014 comes around.
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Hey, this is a question for those already at FSU COM 🙂 How much did u actually spend for your first year, summer included, at FSU? A breakdown of the semesters would be great 🙂 Did the stafford loans and PLUS loans work well to cover the costs? Also, how much did u pay for housing and how much were school supplies (equipment, books)? I already checked online at FSU COM for the estimates, but wanted more input 🙂 Thanks!! 🙂
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How do you not get an interview to USF and UCF with those stats?!
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After reading up on the advice given in the last few posts, I've been trying to not think much about the waitlist... but I am starting to think that no one is dropping their seat. Haven't heard anything.
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I'm getting that feeling, too... :-( Which is really strange, because when I went to the open house, I spoke with both Margie and Dana (as well as a few other people whose names I don't recall) and they all said that in years past, everyone on the "high hold" list has been accepted. I'm trying not to lose hope.
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I keep going up and down too! I think as FSU gets older, applicants are more confident in the school and perhaps FSU is getting better at making interview day nice so less people want to drop them. Also, could be other FL schools are moving more slowly through the process... may I
ask what some of you plan to do if you don't get in... clinical? SMP? MCAT retake?!?!
ask what some of you plan to do if you don't get in... clinical? SMP? MCAT retake?!?!
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My volunteer experience is pretty sparse, and I although my clinical experience is extensive, I was paid for it. I feel like some adcoms think that my being paid meant I didn't really want to work in the clinic and that I did it just to pay the bills. Oh, if only they could have seen my paychecks.
At least that's what I tell myself. Who knows, really? This whole process is a crapshoot.
And it's cool, Mosspoh. I know you're a cool guy and just correcting my poor phrasing. 👍
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Well, I'm a reapplicant... I took the MCAT more than once and my score went up. I went on to get a Master's degree. I'm trying to not think of an alternative scenario right now 🙁
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Really? When I asked Dana about my status, she wrote that they offer acceptances to many in the high hold, but not too all.
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I got pretty much the exact same message from Dana.
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Maybe I'm remembering it wrongly. I dunno. This whole wait is so stressful. :-(
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I am a bit of a special case. I didn't take out loans during the summer and only took subsidized out in fall and spring as more of a personal investment in my education than anything else.
M1 Summer:
Anatomy/Embryology/Radiology (all one course really)
Doctoring 101
M1 Fall:
Microanatomy (essentially histology but not really)
Neuroscience/anatomy
Doctoring 102
M1 Spring:
Physiology
Biochemistry
Doctoring 103
The first year schedule is more of an adjustment to the kind of loans. When you look at it like that it seems like you're doing nothing but they do tend to integrate a lot of stuff and courses like doctoring take up a lot of time. People forget that doctoring is actually worth more credit hours than classes like microanatomy.
As far as money goes. The summer they are very lenient and the loans come out like 2 or 3 weeks into school I think. Many people are really struggling till then and usually have the help of parents or savings for the rent part of the equation. They will go through and breakdown financial stuff during orientation, which after the first day is one of the most painful experiences of your life.
The money given more than covers the cost. You can also avoid buying that stupid doctoring kit which seems awesome until you realize you dropped 1000 dollars on something that you use twice, excluding the stethoscope. Money is allocated for books, but not everyone gets them. I'm actually going to write a long email to the class of 2014 during orientation about books and my recommendations when the time comes.
Make sure you look good that first day. They take the photo that will be posted for all then. My tie is crooked in mine and it drives me nuts.
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My volunteer experience is pretty sparse, and I although my clinical experience is extensive, I was paid for it. I feel like some adcoms think that my being paid meant I didn't really want to work in the clinic and that I did it just to pay the bills. Oh, if only they could have seen my paychecks.
At least that's what I tell myself. Who knows, really? This whole process is a crapshoot.
And it's cool, Mosspoh. I know you're a cool guy and just correcting my poor phrasing. 👍
Just one of those things that I keep hearing and am trying to get premeds from instantly thinking family practice with FSU. It is great if one wants to do that, but there are more than a couple of us that don't....the class president isn't even interested in primary care. 😛
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Do you know approx how much summer tuition costs? I would like to avoid taking out loans for summer session as well, but didn't know if you could tell me about how much it was?
axel did you get in off the list?
Ha! I wish!! But everyone needs to keep a chin up!! There is movement ALL the way up until even orientation week sometimes. All the those already M1/M2 students have said the same thing. The game isn't over yet... so I am not giving up hope! You shouldn't either!! In the next 2 weeks there will be alot of people who currently plan to go to FSU that are called off waitlists at other medical schools, I guarantee you!!! Some of them will choose to leave... It will happen 🙂 Anway, I have saved up alot of money in the past year, so I was also hoping to pay for summer session right out (if I am accepted) instead of using loans.
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Yeah, I went there, but just wanted to get an insider's view of the cost 🙂 sometimes those estimates are really off 🙂 thanks tho!
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They make it so tuition is equally divided by number of semesters. I'm not exactly sure, but it would most likely be around 7 to 8 grand.They also raised tuition this year. I honestly don't look too much into it. I know it is cheaper than where I would've been and cheaper than my undergrad. I just kind of look at the bill and pay whatever they tell me.
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I'll give the best answer I can about the costs you can expect the first year or so, with the disclaimer that I actually think about how much money I owe as little as possible so that it doesn't drive me nuts. I basically just try to be as reasonable as possible with my expenses b/c I don't really have a choice but to take out loans...
I believe that during my first year, my tuition, divided evenly between three semesters, was a little over six grand per semester. Grand total, round up to about twenty...also, tuition does go up a little bit (I think 3% or so), each year.
I payed about $500 for books for spring and about $500 more for fall during first year. I don't remember what I payed for summer, but it was much less than $500...probably $150ish. Looking back, I could have saved some money on books. The syllabi will tell you that certain books are required. They are not. You will only use half of them. My advice would be to make sure you talk to two or three people from the class ahead of you to find out what they used for each class. I can tell you that I used my Netter, my dissector, and BRS Anatomy for summer, and that was pretty much it. (Which means that I bought an anatomy text that I looked at twice. Some people liked it...it was unnecessary for me though, and I could have saved 60 bucks.) The same thing can be said for pretty much every semester...there will be required books you actually need, and others you don't. I didn't need a textbook at all for microanatomy, physiology, biochem, or pharmacology. On the other hand, I really liked my Robbins pathology textbook, while other people in my class never opened it and don't even know what it looks like. But the basic idea is, most of what you need to learn, you will pick up from lectures, for most classes. Don't go crazy buying hundreds of dollars in books you will never use. Talk to people first.
Another area where I could have saved a ton of money is rent. If you can, find a roommate in your class. 2 BR apartments are much much cheaper than ones.
All in all, the student budget actually is a pretty good estimate of expenses, I would say. I took out max loans for first year, and I was able to have a few thousand in the bank when first year was over, in addition to the savings I went in with. I like to have a bubble for unexpected expenses. But that should give you the idea that if your reasonable with your spending, you can beat the student budget by a comfortable margin. If you're really cheap, you may do even better.
I have to hit the sack. Alarm is set to start more Step 1 study by 7 in the morning.
For those of you who get a call over the course of the next few days letting you know you got in off the waitlist, (and I believe some of you will), I can give you more detailed info on what to buy/not to buy later, if you like. Keep your heads up...still in the game.
I believe that during my first year, my tuition, divided evenly between three semesters, was a little over six grand per semester. Grand total, round up to about twenty...also, tuition does go up a little bit (I think 3% or so), each year.
I payed about $500 for books for spring and about $500 more for fall during first year. I don't remember what I payed for summer, but it was much less than $500...probably $150ish. Looking back, I could have saved some money on books. The syllabi will tell you that certain books are required. They are not. You will only use half of them. My advice would be to make sure you talk to two or three people from the class ahead of you to find out what they used for each class. I can tell you that I used my Netter, my dissector, and BRS Anatomy for summer, and that was pretty much it. (Which means that I bought an anatomy text that I looked at twice. Some people liked it...it was unnecessary for me though, and I could have saved 60 bucks.) The same thing can be said for pretty much every semester...there will be required books you actually need, and others you don't. I didn't need a textbook at all for microanatomy, physiology, biochem, or pharmacology. On the other hand, I really liked my Robbins pathology textbook, while other people in my class never opened it and don't even know what it looks like. But the basic idea is, most of what you need to learn, you will pick up from lectures, for most classes. Don't go crazy buying hundreds of dollars in books you will never use. Talk to people first.
Another area where I could have saved a ton of money is rent. If you can, find a roommate in your class. 2 BR apartments are much much cheaper than ones.
All in all, the student budget actually is a pretty good estimate of expenses, I would say. I took out max loans for first year, and I was able to have a few thousand in the bank when first year was over, in addition to the savings I went in with. I like to have a bubble for unexpected expenses. But that should give you the idea that if your reasonable with your spending, you can beat the student budget by a comfortable margin. If you're really cheap, you may do even better.
I have to hit the sack. Alarm is set to start more Step 1 study by 7 in the morning.
For those of you who get a call over the course of the next few days letting you know you got in off the waitlist, (and I believe some of you will), I can give you more detailed info on what to buy/not to buy later, if you like. Keep your heads up...still in the game.
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To contrast what was said above, I did need a textbook for microanatomy and physiology. I used one for biochem as well. I can't study from powerpoints though.
I NEVER used the dissector. I was one of the few that didn't use the dissector. I used the greasy copy in the lab if need be or a friend's to see the checklist on there. Netters is gold and I really liked Rohen's Atlas as well. Netters is good to illustrate concepts and Rohen's was great because it had pictures of cadavers. BRS anatomy is gold too. BRS anatomy and physiology are the most worthwhile BRS books to get first year. I've heard BRS path is great for second year if you don't like the format of Goljan's text. Most other BRS books are garbage or just mediocre.
The rest is pretty spot on.
I NEVER used the dissector. I was one of the few that didn't use the dissector. I used the greasy copy in the lab if need be or a friend's to see the checklist on there. Netters is gold and I really liked Rohen's Atlas as well. Netters is good to illustrate concepts and Rohen's was great because it had pictures of cadavers. BRS anatomy is gold too. BRS anatomy and physiology are the most worthwhile BRS books to get first year. I've heard BRS path is great for second year if you don't like the format of Goljan's text. Most other BRS books are garbage or just mediocre.
The rest is pretty spot on.
Hey MossPoh and mdgator, what books did you get for Doctoring? There is a huge list for that class including the required and suggested. I was thinking on just getting Mosby's Physical Examination for right now.
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I mentioned this earlier. I'm going to write a very long and detailed email about books for first year along with other tidbits.
Hold off for now, but yes, the big Mosby's is really the only one you need. They are completely changing the course and there is a new director for you guys, so I'm not sure how that will unfold. There is a little handbook that I actually like, but its usefulness is limited first year.
While you didn't need to read Mosby's to get an A, nearly everyone I know who did read Mosby's got an A. I think that has more to do with their personality and work ethic in the course than anything else.
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I agree, you'll need Mosby. (Although Bates, which is not a required or suggested reading, is the same concept as Mosby, but to me, it is much more readable. Try to take a look at one of each if you can before you buy; but understand that many quiz questions are taken straight out of Mosby.)
As for other books, I can't really say since there is a new course director. Mosby was really all I used for doctoring I, though.
Another piece of advice I would give you, (and MosPoh, too, if you haven't already done so), is to buy a new copy of First Aid for USMLE Step 1 right now, before you start. Don't take a buch of notes into it, because they will annoy you later when it is time to study for boards out of it. But when you are going through your first and second year courses, take a half hour or so every now and then to browse through it. When you study biochem, have it close by and look up the hexose monophosphate shunt when you come to it, for example. Every now and then First Aid will really simplify a concept that will help you do better on your test...but that is not really the point. The point is to familiarize yourself with the content of the book, starting as early as possible, so that when it comes time to study for boards, you've already seen pretty much everything in the book at least once. You'll thank yourself later, if you do.
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I'd buy a copy of Netter, a BRS Anatomy, a Mosby or Bates, and a First Aid: Step 1 for now.
I found the radiology text to be useful, but I hear they're changing the way they teach radiology, and you can borrow the radiology book from a friend who has it and save yourself some money, most likely. You may want to hold off on that one for now.
I didn't use the Anatomy assigned textbook for class, but I've since found it to be useful for boards study; it probably would have been useful for the class, too, if I'd found the time to use it. I'd say wait until you're a week or two in and look at somebody else's copy to decide if you want it.
I didn't buy an embryology source. I found one laying around that someone had left behind from a previous year, actually...but I've honestly never used it much.
Also, I bought the dissector and used it pretty extensively. I used it to preview before each of the dissections, and I also thought it had some pretty good diagrams that were simplified compared to netter.
That's about all I remember from summer semester of first year. If you have specific questions, let me know.
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Anybody know of any movement in the last few days?!
My friend just got accepted this morning. He had gotten that high waitlist e-mail a while back.
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The unsolicited "fully anticipate to accept" email? Or just the one where he inquired as to his status and was told he was on the "high hold" list?
I still haven't heard anything... :-(
Is he planning to attend FSU??
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How soon after the beginning of the semester was financial aid disbursed? I know someone said 2-3 weeks after, but wondered if anyone had anything different as the FSU COM site says it's normally done within the week of orientation... 🙂 thanks!
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It is really variable. For the sake of security, I'd try to have a few hundred dollars in your account and to live frugally for the next bit. Either way, one SHOULD get it before any real rent is due after the initial deposit at a place.
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I just got the acceptance email this morning around 8am. I'm super excited to be able to join the Class of 2014 at FSU this summer. I interviewed first week of March and got waitlisted...I emailed about status and I was told I was on the high hold list. Good luck to everyone out there who's still waiting to hear back. I know it's rough, but hang in there. 🙂 Best of luck and I hope to see yall at orientation!
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Congrats Hargitan!! Are you soapall's friend, or were there 2 of you accepted today??
Yeah Hartigan101 is my friend who got in.
For the people on the waitlist, I totally sympathize with you because I was in the same situation last year:glued to SDN for ANY news. But it's not like the school completely forgets about you the next cycle. I tweaked my application, got another interview, and was accepted within the same week I interviewed (because of winter break). And yes, they do notice improvements. So don't lose hope!
Good Luck
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you guys who are accepted, live it up this next week. The ones that aren't yet, just keep pluggin along. I gave up hope by this time last year.
If anyone is coming into town soon, I will gladly go out and get beers or whatever with you.
If anyone is coming into town soon, I will gladly go out and get beers or whatever with you.
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Like MossPoh said, financial aid is variable. It could definitely be three weeks after classes start before money is dispersed.
Congrats to the new FSUCOMers!
Enjoy your time between now and orientation as much as possible, because depending on your anatomy background and your current study habits, that first summer semester can be quite an adjustment. I knew some people who had to put in 12-15 hour days for much of that summer to get through anatomy; and they were some pretty smart people. And I knew other people who thought that they could get by with 8-10 hour days, only to bomb the first test. Don't want to scare anyone, and it may be a much easier adjustment for you. But my advice is to work extra extra hard for the first few weeks of the summer, and if you ace the first test, you may be able to scale back some, accordingly. But don't let the pace of med school catch you off guard. Show up for the first week of orientatation, meet some of your classmates, go to the scheduled social events, and then when classes start, be prepared to work twice as hard as you've ever worked before.
At the same time, one of the most important things you can do is to try to maintain some balance in your life. Sit down and make a list of some things that are important to you that you want to make a priority. For example, you may want to make trips home to visit your parents at least one weekend per month; you may want to take every Friday night after 5 off; take at least half of every Saturday off; go to church every Sunday morning; workout at the gym at least 4 days/week; watch every Gator football game; catch your favorite tv program on Tuesday; date night; cooking real food X nights per week...whatever your list looks like, put a big star beside the ones that are absolutely the most important to you, and make up your mind that those things are a priority and that you are going to make time in your schedule for them. And when you do, try not to compromise those things. If you are a typical med student, you will definitely have to make some serious sacrifices over the course of the next few years in order to succeed. Make up your mind now where you draw the line so that you will not lose touch with the things that are important to you.
Good luck!
Congrats to the new FSUCOMers!
Enjoy your time between now and orientation as much as possible, because depending on your anatomy background and your current study habits, that first summer semester can be quite an adjustment. I knew some people who had to put in 12-15 hour days for much of that summer to get through anatomy; and they were some pretty smart people. And I knew other people who thought that they could get by with 8-10 hour days, only to bomb the first test. Don't want to scare anyone, and it may be a much easier adjustment for you. But my advice is to work extra extra hard for the first few weeks of the summer, and if you ace the first test, you may be able to scale back some, accordingly. But don't let the pace of med school catch you off guard. Show up for the first week of orientatation, meet some of your classmates, go to the scheduled social events, and then when classes start, be prepared to work twice as hard as you've ever worked before.
At the same time, one of the most important things you can do is to try to maintain some balance in your life. Sit down and make a list of some things that are important to you that you want to make a priority. For example, you may want to make trips home to visit your parents at least one weekend per month; you may want to take every Friday night after 5 off; take at least half of every Saturday off; go to church every Sunday morning; workout at the gym at least 4 days/week; watch every Gator football game; catch your favorite tv program on Tuesday; date night; cooking real food X nights per week...whatever your list looks like, put a big star beside the ones that are absolutely the most important to you, and make up your mind that those things are a priority and that you are going to make time in your schedule for them. And when you do, try not to compromise those things. If you are a typical med student, you will definitely have to make some serious sacrifices over the course of the next few years in order to succeed. Make up your mind now where you draw the line so that you will not lose touch with the things that are important to you.
Good luck!
Sorry! Do we need to buy them before we get to school June 1?
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Naw. The major thing I might want to order before class is Netters and BRS anatomy. The rest can wait. I'm sure many of my classmates will be trying to unload their dissectors and what not.
I second the living up the last few days.
To add on to the studying thing mentioned above. Constantly re-analyze the effectiveness of your studying. If it isn't working then shift some things up until it does. The benefit of the classes in summer is that you aren't SO overloaded that you can't afford to try new things.
I was in the 12+ hour a day while still doing poorly on tests camp. I don't know about how smart I am, but a lot of it had to do with poor studying, poor test taking skills (I never took many tests) and an ADD diagnosis. The ADD was never a problem in undergrad since I could still learn stuff, but the amount of detail grew exponentially and punished me greatly that summer.
I'm so sorry knights7! 🙁 Now I'm thinking mine will shortly follow, and this is also my second time applying so I feel your pain. If you don't mind me asking, were you sent the expect to accept letter?
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