2009-2010 Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) Application Thread

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Congrats everybody!

FWIW, my online status just shows that everything was received, but no date in the comment even though I know I have an interview. Just in case people are reading and wondering why they don't have an interview date listed there 🙂
 
Congrats to all my possible future classmates. Shout outs to those who interviewed with me on this past Friday, especially Dr.Zing and SirSpicious! :highfive:
 
Congrats to everyone!

Hopefully in 12 months I'll be posting in a similar thread.

Before you all sail off into oblivion for the the next 6 months 2 quick questions.

1) What was the aspect of your application that you were most scared would sink you but it ended up being all right? (MCAT, GPA, volunteering, shadowing, etc.)

2) What aspect of your application do you feel like MUSC loved? (MCAT, GPA, volunteering, shadowing, etc.)
 
surftheiop said:
Congrats to everyone!

Hopefully in 12 months I'll be posting in a similar thread.

Before you all sail off into oblivion for the the next 6 months 2 quick questions.

1) What was the aspect of your application that you were most scared would sink you but it ended up being all right? (MCAT, GPA, volunteering, shadowing, etc.)

2) What aspect of your application do you feel like MUSC loved? (MCAT, GPA, volunteering, shadowing, etc.)
Click to expand...

MUSC accepts applicants based solely on numbers in 4 areas:

1. MCAT - standard and you receive a certain amount of points for you standardized percentile the year that you took the MCAT.

2. GPA - which is adjusted based on the competitiveness of your school, schools are classified into four categories: non-competeitive (GPA is as is), competitive (GPA +.25), very competitive (GPA +.5), and most competitive (GPA +>.5 based on school).

3. Interviews - your interviewers all fill out a standardized recommendation form with scales similar to the Likert and a score is calculated from these forms (if 2 of your 3 interviews are good and one is bad it is thrown out and you are asked to reinterview a third time again).

4. Letters of recommendation/applicant well-roundedness - scored as well through a mysterious formula (subjective).

They plug all of these numbers in to a formula that they have devised and applicants above a certain pre-determined number (usually the score of the top 40% of last years class I'd assume) are automatically offered admission, the rest either get offered or wait-listed based on aforementioned factors.

Hope this helps🙂.
 
fadingin said:
MUSC accepts applicants based solely on numbers in 4 areas:

1. MCAT - standard and you receive a certain amount of points for you standardized percentile the year that you took the MCAT.

2. GPA - which is adjusted based on the competitiveness of your school, schools are classified into four categories: non-competeitive (GPA is as is), competitive (GPA +.25), very competitive (GPA +.5), and most competitive (GPA +>.5 based on school).

3. Interviews - your interviewers all fill out a standardized recommendation form with scales similar to the Likert and a score is calculated from these forms (if 2 of your 3 interviews are good and one is bad it is thrown out and you are asked to reinterview a third time again).

4. Letters of recommendation/applicant well-roundedness - scored as well through a mysterious formula (subjective).

They plug all of these numbers in to a formula that they have devised and applicants above a certain pre-determined number (usually the score of the top 40% of last years class I'd assume) are automatically offered admission, the rest either get offered or wait-listed based on aforementioned factors.

Hope this helps🙂.
Click to expand...

They factor in added value for things as well. If you are a career changer (2+ years in that career), grad degree, post grad research exp, and maybe more...
 
fadingin said:
MUSC accepts applicants based solely on numbers in 4 areas:

1. MCAT - standard and you receive a certain amount of points for you standardized percentile the year that you took the MCAT.

2. GPA - which is adjusted based on the competitiveness of your school, schools are classified into four categories: non-competeitive (GPA is as is), competitive (GPA +.25), very competitive (GPA +.5), and most competitive (GPA +>.5 based on school).

3. Interviews - your interviewers all fill out a standardized recommendation form with scales similar to the Likert and a score is calculated from these forms (if 2 of your 3 interviews are good and one is bad it is thrown out and you are asked to reinterview a third time again).

4. Letters of recommendation/applicant well-roundedness - scored as well through a mysterious formula (subjective).

They plug all of these numbers in to a formula that they have devised and applicants above a certain pre-determined number (usually the score of the top 40% of last years class I'd assume) are automatically offered admission, the rest either get offered or wait-listed based on aforementioned factors.

Hope this helps🙂.
Click to expand...

That is probably the single most helpful post I have ever seen on SDN! Thanks so much.

Im really glad to hear about :

"GPA - which is adjusted based on the competitiveness of your school, schools are classified into four categories: non-competeitive (GPA is as is), competitive (GPA +.25), very competitive (GPA +.5), and most competitive (GPA +>.5 based on school)."


Is there a certain company's rankings they use to rank the schools or did they make up their own in-house competitiveness ranking scale?
 
They will also adjust your GPA (+5? not sure how much exactly) if you are a member of an Honors College at your university. Make sure you send in a letter of confirmation that you are in Honors, otherwise they won't adjust your GPA score. I know that some people didn't get the verification email about whether they were in Honors or not.
 
good luck to everyone applying this cycle, make sure to wave to the first years (me) when you stop by the gross lab and see us hard at work knee deep in fascia.
 
fadingin said:
MUSC accepts applicants based solely on numbers in 4 areas:

1. MCAT - standard and you receive a certain amount of points for you standardized percentile the year that you took the MCAT.

2. GPA - which is adjusted based on the competitiveness of your school, schools are classified into four categories: non-competeitive (GPA is as is), competitive (GPA +.25), very competitive (GPA +.5), and most competitive (GPA +>.5 based on school).

3. Interviews - your interviewers all fill out a standardized recommendation form with scales similar to the Likert and a score is calculated from these forms (if 2 of your 3 interviews are good and one is bad it is thrown out and you are asked to reinterview a third time again).

4. Letters of recommendation/applicant well-roundedness - scored as well through a mysterious formula (subjective).

They plug all of these numbers in to a formula that they have devised and applicants above a certain pre-determined number (usually the score of the top 40% of last years class I'd assume) are automatically offered admission, the rest either get offered or wait-listed based on aforementioned factors.

Hope this helps🙂.
Click to expand...


Assuming my interviews and letters are similar to other applicants -

If I have a 3.5 at would I would assume falls in the "Most Competitive" category then what sort of MCAT am I going to need to be competitive, 33+ ?

(I dont have any stunning extracurriculars, had a summer lab research job in industry, been a class representative in engineering society, have about 70 hours shadowing and will have about 50 hours volunteering in MUSC childrens hospital playroom)
 
tigress said:
Well here are their stats from last year
http://academicdepartments.musc.edu/com1/admissions/statistics.htm

You can see the average MCAT is not very high. With, say, a 32+ MCAT you're pretty competitive, I'd think.
Click to expand...

Makes sense, I've seen the data, but now that I know about the GPA scheme, Im kind of at a loss of where Im going to be in the GPA category compared to someone who has say 3.8 at Clemson/USC/CofC, so I wasnt sure how much ground I was going to have to make up on the MCAT.

Like would the competive rankings go something like this?

Non-Competitive: Charleston Southern, Lander, USC-Aiken, Coastal
Competitive: USC, Clemson, CofC
Very Competitive: Furman, UNC, UVA
Most Competitive: Stanford, Ivies, Northwestern, etc.
 
I have no clue what they base it on. And I don't understand how they could even do such a thing, since it's sort of common knowledge (openly discussed in writing) that the Ivys have more grade inflation than a lot of state schools, right?

I went to a top 50 national university, but I definitely wouldn't say our grading was competitive. It seems like a somewhat ridiculous concept.
 
tigress said:
I have no clue what they base it on. And I don't understand how they could even do such a thing, since it's sort of common knowledge (openly discussed in writing) that the Ivys have more grade inflation than a lot of state schools, right?

I went to a top 50 national university, but I definitely wouldn't say our grading was competitive. It seems like a somewhat ridiculous concept.
Click to expand...


Yeah its all very confusing, b/c like you say some ivy's have alot of grade inflation, but then at the same time it must be considered there is such a high barrier of entry to tops schools that most people at one would easily make 3.8+ at a state school. But then again there are plenty of people going to state schools who could easily go to a top school but liked the state school better, etc.

For example I took freshman Bio 1 and 2 at CofC and they were so much easier than any class I have ever taken at my university, I feel so bad for all my friends who stuggled to make a B+ here while I got to make over a 97 in both Bio classes with minimal work.
 
surftheiop said:
Yeah its all very confusing, b/c like you say some ivy's have alot of grade inflation, but then at the same time it must be considered there is such a high barrier of entry to tops schools that most people at one would easily make 3.8+ at a state school. But then again there are plenty of people going to state schools who could easily go to a top school but liked the state school better, etc.

For example I took freshman Bio 1 and 2 at CofC and they were so much easier than any class I have ever taken at my university, I feel so bad for all my friends who stuggled to make a B+ here while I got to make over a 97 in both Bio classes with minimal work.
Click to expand...

I took Calc II at CofC and it wasn't at all easier than classes at my college. I took Oceanography at Penn, an Ivy, and it was a lot easier than anything I took at my college (not that I did well in it, since I didn't bother to study 🙄). So yeah, it could be individual courses, but who knows. It seems like a somewhat arbitrary system, to try to adjust GPAs based on the rank of the school or whatever they do.

That said, I was previously accepted to MUSC so I'm not complaining :laugh:
 
tigress said:
I took Calc II at CofC and it wasn't at all easier than classes at my college. I took Oceanography at Penn, an Ivy, and it was a lot easier than anything I took at my college (not that I did well in it, since I didn't bother to study 🙄). So yeah, it could be individual courses, but who knows. It seems like a somewhat arbitrary system, to try to adjust GPAs based on the rank of the school or whatever they do.

That said, I was previously accepted to MUSC so I'm not complaining :laugh:
Click to expand...

Oceanography isnt a real class 😉 (No offense to Oceanographers just referring to the intro/non-majors class)

Yeah I guess I really shouldnt worry about it, the people doing admissions are professionals at this so they are probably quite good at what they do!
 
surftheiop said:
Like would the competive rankings go something like this?

Non-Competitive: Charleston Southern, Lander, USC-Aiken, Coastal
Competitive: USC, Clemson, CofC
Very Competitive: Furman, UNC, UVA
Most Competitive: Stanford, Ivies, Northwestern, etc.
Click to expand...
They use the Barron's analysis of colleges for their GPA adjustment. If you're in the Honors College at USC, you get the highest GPA adjustment (same as someone from Harvard). I suspect this is more of a case with the local proximity and familiarity with USC's honors program than it is with honors programs in general.
 
Steeler7588 said:
They use the Barron's analysis of colleges for their GPA adjustment. If you're in the Honors College at USC, you get the highest GPA adjustment (same as someone from Harvard). I suspect this is more of a case with the local proximity and familiarity with USC's honors program than it is with honors programs in general.
Click to expand...

I should have gone to Clemson's honor college 🙁

Then again if i went to Clemson I probably wouldn't have discovered I wanted to be a doctor so I guess it all evens out 🙂

The honor's college thing is probably fair, I know several people in USC honor's college and they probably could have gone to Harvard if they wanted to.
 
hmmm, I wonder where my college is in the Barron's book, just out of curiosity...can't get that info online I guess

so how many of y'all who have been accepted know you want to go to MUSC? 🙂
 
MUSC is the one for me! Initially I was torn between USC and MUSC but after the interview, I fell in love with MUSC. I love the new curriculum, facilities, resources, and falculty/staff.

I have one more interview that I'm going on next week...after that, that'll be it for me. MUSC 2014 BABY! 😀
 
never mind, I got the info from a former student 🙂
 
Last edited:
Interviewed 10/16 accepted 10/28 🙂 🙂
 
Declined my acceptance today, hope one of you gets the spot. Good luck!
 
I really appreciate people like you who notify schools of your decision within a timely manner. That's very considerate of you!
 
**bump**

who all else is definetly going to MUSC?

I think I'll start a facebook group: "MUSC College of Medicine--Class of 2014"
 
drzing said:
**bump**

who all else is definetly going to MUSC?

I think I'll start a facebook group: "MUSC College of Medicine--Class of 2014"
Click to expand...

Yeah I was thinking about doing it and then I was like, naaaaahh...So thanks Dr.Zing for taking the initiative. :laugh:

Yay, we're gonna be classmates. 😀
 
Oh and Dr.Zing, what is up with your profile pic? Who is that? I hope that's not a ******ed question and it's somone popular figure I should know. 😛
 
HealingbyFaith said:
Oh and Dr.Zing, what is up with your profile pic? Who is that? I hope that's not a ******ed question and it's somone popular figure I should know. 😛
Click to expand...

lol its Jennifer Garner..hottest woman ever..shes kinda awesome..lol

fbook group is made! come join!!
 
redsquareblack said:
Any action yet on straight-up OOS applications?
Click to expand...

at my interview day they said something about increasing OOS acceptances from 10 to 35/year...so quite a few of yall will get in even though its kinda expensive
 
drzing said:
at my interview day they said something about increasing OOS acceptances from 10 to 35/year...so quite a few of yall will get in even though its kinda expensive
Click to expand...

man they must really be hurting for cash.

Are they decreasing the number of instate acceptances or increasing the class size?
 
its going to be 155 so im assuming its decrease the number of instate.

i dont think there will be that many people from OOS that will want to come though...MUSC is one of the most expensive schools for OOS students
 
drzing said:
its going to be 155 so im assuming its decrease the number of instate.

i dont think there will be that many people from OOS that will want to come though...MUSC is one of the most expensive schools for OOS students
Click to expand...

Well, despite being rejected for close ties, I'd like to go to MUSC; it'd be much easier to start a family living near my Mother-in-law.
 
drzing said:
its going to be 155 so im assuming its decrease the number of instate.

i dont think there will be that many people from OOS that will want to come though...MUSC is one of the most expensive schools for OOS students
Click to expand...

Losing 25 slots out of the normal 145 is a pretty significant drop for instate people, has me worried for next year, especially if the money woes continue and they decide to have an even larger percentage out of state.
 
ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Just excited about going to med school here. :soexcited:


Just thought I'd let yal know. 😀

Whew, that $440 deposit was something serious...geeze
 
drzing said:
its going to be 155 so im assuming its decrease the number of instate.

i dont think there will be that many people from OOS that will want to come though...MUSC is one of the most expensive schools for OOS students
Click to expand...

I am instate... but if it was pay a lot or sit out a year, then where do I sign on the loan app?

I am sure a lot of those OOS feel the same way I do. I have applied out of state and to both instate schools. If it was OOS or nothing, then time to find the money (the money seem easier to find that a spot).
 
oh yea definetly if it was the only place i got in....but no matter how much i loved the school, if im from OOS and i got into one that was significantly cheaper id end up going there
 
Quick question to those accepted or interviewed at MUSC -

About how many hours of clinical volunteering and shadowing are typical for a sucessful MUSC applicant? The main SDN forums make it sound like you need a minimum of 200 hours volunteering and 100 shadowing to get into any med school which seems like an unneccesarily huge amount. Any thoughts for MUSC / USC specifically?
 
surftheiop said:
Quick question to those accepted or interviewed at MUSC -

About how many hours of clinical volunteering and shadowing are typical for a sucessful MUSC applicant? The main SDN forums make it sound like you need a minimum of 200 hours volunteering and 100 shadowing to get into any med school which seems like an unneccesarily huge amount. Any thoughts for MUSC / USC specifically?
Click to expand...

Interviewed 10/30, accepted 11/24 😀

As for the volunteering/shadowing. I have probably around 150-175 hours of volunteering. I'm not quite sure. Shadowing, I have over 200 hours. And I'm still currently volunteering and shadowing. MUSC said my hours are great, but USC told me that I need to increase them even more. So it really depends on the med school. If you feel that you are lacking somewhere in your application, you'll need something else to make it stronger. A high MCAT score will always help. It took me 3 years to get in, so don't get discouraged. 🙂
 
Last edited:
applicant3000 said:
Interviewed 10/30, accepted 11/24 😀

As for the volunteering/shadowing. I have probably around 150-175 hours of volunteering. I'm not quite sure. Shadowing, I have over 200 hours. And I'm still currently volunteering and shadowing. MUSC said my hours are great, but USC told me that I need to increase them even more. So it really depends on the med school. If you feel that you are lacking somewhere in your application, you'll need something else to make it stronger. A high MCAT score will always help. It took me 3 years to get in, so don't get discouraged. 🙂
Click to expand...


Congrats on finally getting in! Thats really exciting after such a long road.

I guess I will probably be hurting in the volunteering category b/c I go to school out of state and its not feasible for me to do clinical volunteering here due to transportation and the fact that local hospital is already saturated with volunteers.

Right now I've only volunteered like 30 hours and shadowed 75 so I'll just do as much as posible over summer break/christmas and hope for the best. (I volunteer at MUSC so I'm hoping that will help some).

Congrats again though, and its relieving to see that even if things don't go right the first (or second) time its not neccesarily out of reach
 
I was accepted 4 years ago, and granted it's been 4 years but I doubt *that* much has changed. I have very little shadowing--like less than 25 hours? When I applied 4 years ago I only had one day's worth of shadowing. And I do have volunteer work, but I never quantified the hours and I really don't know how much it would be. Definitely not close to 100, much less 200. I do have a year's worth of full-time clinical experience, a good GPA, fairly high MCAT, and an interesting application. (I'm reapplying this year because I had kids instead of going 4 years ago.)

Basically, I wouldn't worry about it unless there is some major flaw with your application otherwise. You really and truly don't need 100 hours of shadowing and 200 hours of volunteering to get accepted.
 
so according to last years thread we should be seeing our next big batch of acceptances rolll out today..GOOD LUCK!!
 
Well I just got the official Email from Wanda Taylor! 😀
Good luck to the rest of you. I hope I see you at MUSC during orientation next year.
 
surftheiop said:
Quick question to those accepted or interviewed at MUSC -

About how many hours of clinical volunteering and shadowing are typical for a sucessful MUSC applicant? The main SDN forums make it sound like you need a minimum of 200 hours volunteering and 100 shadowing to get into any med school which seems like an unneccesarily huge amount. Any thoughts for MUSC / USC specifically?
Click to expand...

I shadowed for 40 hours total and didn't have any medical volunteering. I did have 700+ hours of other volunteering over four years of college. I also worked as an EMT for 3 years (3000+ hours) during college and currently. MUSC and USC-SOM both said my amount of shadowing was fine, but that was in conjuncture with my job. Schools want to know that you know what you are getting yourself into. Those number do not seem very high to me at all assuming you do not have a healthcare related job.

I knew a guy that got waitlist, eventually got in (July), with a 34 MCAT and 3.9 GPA from a state honor's college due to his lack of medical exposure.

You can get by with less, but thats if you are very convincing that you know what you are getting into and you have other things on your application.

Accepted today via e-mail 11:26 AM. I'm OOS with close ties.
 
cah87 said:
I shadowed for 40 hours total and didn't have any medical volunteering. I did have 700+ hours of other volunteering over four years of college. I also worked as an EMT for 3 years (3000+ hours) during college and currently. MUSC and USC-SOM both said my amount of shadowing was fine, but that was in conjuncture with my job. Schools want to know that you know what you are getting yourself into. Those number do not seem very high to me at all assuming you do not have a healthcare related job.

I knew a guy that got waitlist, eventually got in (July), with a 34 MCAT and 3.9 GPA from a state honor's college due to his lack of medical exposure.

You can get by with less, but thats if you are very convincing that you know what you are getting into and you have other things on your application.

Accepted today via e-mail 11:26 AM. I'm OOS with close ties.
Click to expand...

Congrats on getting in! Also thanks for the advice
 
**bump**

whats peoples statuses? who alls in?
 
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