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I'm getting the same impression. I'm not seeing a place like MSU as a safety school in any way. It's too competitive and they do seem to be quite selective about people fitting their criteria.
2009-2010 Michigan State Application Thread
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I'm getting the same impression. I'm not seeing a place like MSU as a safety school in any way. It's too competitive and they do seem to be quite selective about people fitting their criteria.
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DRIN
Very true. Last year MSU didn't even accept 2x as many applicants as they had available seats. This shows that their wait list doesn't move a whole lot, they do a pretty good job picking people they know want to be there, and they care about picking those matching their mission.
Is anyone else applying for the LMUR program having a hard time answering both questions without repeating themselves?
Why are you interested in the Leadership in Medicine for the Underserved and Vulnerable Program? Be specific. (1/1900 characters)
How have your experiences prepared you for the challenges of a medical practice in an underserved area? (1/1900 characters)
My interest and experiences are interconnected and I don't want to be repetitive. Any thoughts?
Why are you interested in the Leadership in Medicine for the Underserved and Vulnerable Program? Be specific. (1/1900 characters)
How have your experiences prepared you for the challenges of a medical practice in an underserved area? (1/1900 characters)
My interest and experiences are interconnected and I don't want to be repetitive. Any thoughts?
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it's really hard not to be repititive when answering these additional essays. That is why I didn't even bother answering them since it doesn't give us any advantage at all if we do.
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DRIN
A lot of my PS was about my experiences growing up in a rural, under-served community and how it has shaped my interest in medicine...I'm just hoping that they don't think I'm being inconsistent by not applying to one of the two special programs. I would hope they'll give me a chance to explain that I would really like to rotate through the Kalamazoo community campus and applying to either of those programs would not allow me to do that.
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what is the kalamazoo community campus?
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ok just to double check, we have 2 weeks from the day we pay to finish this one right?! i have yet to pay here 😛
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DRIN
Correct. To answer your question about the Kalamazoo community campus...you know that MSU-CHM's years 3 and 4 are done at one of 6 community campuses correct? One of the sites is Kalamazoo, MI. Having lived in Kalamazoo and being familiar with the hospitals, I have come to really like them and that's where I'd like to do my rotations.
Edit: You also have two weeks to pay from the date you receive it. So if you got it on July 24, that means you have until August 7 to pay.
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thanks =) so the rural programs are affiliated with other communities that are specific to them?!
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DRIN
Yeah, the Rural Physician Program is at the Marquette campus and the LMUV program is at the Saginaw campus.
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My application's status has been updated...
"Your application is complete and has been forwarded to the review committee for a preliminary review. Thank you for your patience as we carefully consider your application."
"Your application is complete and has been forwarded to the review committee for a preliminary review. Thank you for your patience as we carefully consider your application."
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I have a question regarding letters of evaluation. I paid my supplementary application fee on July 27th and plan on submitting the completed application either tonight or tomorrow. I designated 5 letters to be sent to MSU, of which 3 of them are still in route to AMCAS - including my Pre-med committee letter. I know that these letters have been mailed in within the past week - just haven't been entered into my application yet. My question is will MSU put my application on hold until all 5 letters have been received, or will they review it once the minimum of 3 letters have been received? I know some schools do this and won't consider any additional letters once they receive the minimum requirement, thus deeming the application complete. I just want to make sure that they will consider all of the letters regardless of whether they are received after I submit my secondary. I did call the admissions office (couldn't talk to a live person), but the recording said that all letters must be received within 30 days of completing the secondary. Also, how will I know that all 5 letters have been received by them? Will they update my status on the secondary login page?
Thanks in advance!
Thanks in advance!
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DRIN
I think they'll consider all 5 letters provided you have designated 5 of them on AMCAS and that they are received within the time allowed. As a result, they'll likely hold your application until all materials are received.
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ahh this secondary is gonna kill me! i havent done anything similar and it keeps saying dont repeat anything you have already said. for the second one if i had a rewarding experience while volunteering (which is in my experiences) can i write that since the "rewarding experience" is technically not listed but the overall experience is!! ahh i dont like this!!!
on the other hand i cant believe its already been like 2 weeks crap i gotta pay but i have a bad feeling about finishing this in 2 weeks with everything else i have left
on the other hand i cant believe its already been like 2 weeks crap i gotta pay but i have a bad feeling about finishing this in 2 weeks with everything else i have left
D
DRIN
ahh this secondary is gonna kill me! i havent done anything similar and it keeps saying dont repeat anything you have already said. for the second one if i had a rewarding experience while volunteering (which is in my experiences) can i write that since the "rewarding experience" is technically not listed but the overall experience is!! ahh i dont like this!!!
on the other hand i cant believe its already been like 2 weeks crap i gotta pay but i have a bad feeling about finishing this in 2 weeks with everything else i have left
The secondary does say to not discuss anything that's been detailed in your AMCAS, but I wouldn't chance it if it were me. I wrote about something completely unrelated to my application.
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This is what someone advised me as well, but I am going ahead using an activity from my AMCAS. My take on it is they don't want you to go into details you already covered in your AMCAS, i.e. talked about in detail on your personal statement or something. On the primary I just listed the name of the organization I worked for and some responsibilities, but I did not talk about how rewarding the experience was or go into very much detail about it.
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Yes, I even followed their advice for using notepad to copy/paste my responses before inputting into the application. You may have to re-read each response after entering into a respective text-box on the supplemental and make changes accordingly--that is what I did.
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Thanks!
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DRIN
I just typed my responses directly into each box and didn't have any problems with any characters not being saved.
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does anyone know if they take aamca fee waiver?? i tried calling them a few time but literally NO ONE picked up and i get this weird voice mail.
please let me know!!!!!!!!!!
please let me know!!!!!!!!!!
Yes they waive the secondary fee for those who have qualified for FAP.
So after staring at the 3rd essay question for an hour, I was finally able to churn out an essay. It's very short. Let me know what you think.
If I were to present myself to the MSU Committee on Admissions, I would make sure they knew that I dont think this is a good question. This question seems very redundant. When I fill out an application, what I am doing is presenting myself to the committee. I was under the impression that my grades, fifteen experiences and activities, a personal statement, and two secondary essays were what the committee wanted to know about me. If this is still not enough to form an opinion of me, then please invite me for an interview to get to know me better.
If I were to present myself to the MSU Committee on Admissions, I would make sure they knew that I dont think this is a good question. This question seems very redundant. When I fill out an application, what I am doing is presenting myself to the committee. I was under the impression that my grades, fifteen experiences and activities, a personal statement, and two secondary essays were what the committee wanted to know about me. If this is still not enough to form an opinion of me, then please invite me for an interview to get to know me better.
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Maybe you should really write what you haven't said on your primary? Are you adventurous, curious, and support it with a short sentence. Haev you traveled somewhere, climbed to the top of Mt. Everest? Something along those lines... But that is just my take. I just think what you have so far sounds sort of condescending..... Whatever you decide though, Good luck!
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do you know where I would be able to indicate FEE WAIVER? Because when I logged into my account, it would ask me to enter my credit card information.... Thank you so much =)
I'm unsure where you would indicate it because when I received my email notification inviting me to complete the secondary it specifically said that they had received notification of my FAP status from AMCAS and were granting me a fee waiver. I would suggest calling again and leaving a message if available. In addition, I would look at possibly emailing them.
On a side note, you might want to click the option that says credit card info because when you click that option for some schools it automatically takes care of the payment if you have qualified for the waiver. In other words, it takes care of the payment without any of your info being entered.
Good luck!
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I got this same message on 8/4 as well.
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I did have this problem. I pasted all the text from Word, but then went through and made the corrections to the quotes and commas, etc., directly in the box on the secondary application to make sure there were no errors. Then I printed the PDF version before submitting it so I could proofread it one last time. Good luck.
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Pity. I kept putting off this application (15 days now, yikes!) because the essays were driving me insane. Every two days I would sit down and write something, only to see how stupid it was the next day and start over.
I finally, FINALLY, finished my essays and submitted, and wow, they are dam near flawless. Best secondary essays I ever wrote. I just wish I could have had them done and sent 2 weeks ago, I'm so totally behind a good 70% of the applicants now :'(
I finally, FINALLY, finished my essays and submitted, and wow, they are dam near flawless. Best secondary essays I ever wrote. I just wish I could have had them done and sent 2 weeks ago, I'm so totally behind a good 70% of the applicants now :'(
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DRIN
Did you not read the part of the secondary where it said the timing of the application doesn't matter at MSU? Don't feel bad 🙂.
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Fail.
I think you guys are freaking out just a wee bit much about the essays which ask you to tell MSU about something which is not detailed in your primary. The key here is DETAILED. They don't want another list of your accomplishments. Lets say that you did something generic like volunteered as a counselor at a summer camp. You put this on your application, told them how many children you were responsible for, when it happened, what your responsibilities were... etcetera. You could use this experience for your second essay. Tell them something more. Maybe a particular anecdote from that one summer about a child whose life you made a difference in, or a semi-disaster that you took charge of and worked through.
I had these same essay prompts last year and did as I said above. I was accepted, with one of my interviewers saying they liked my essays. Stop reading into this so much, guys!
I had these same essay prompts last year and did as I said above. I was accepted, with one of my interviewers saying they liked my essays. Stop reading into this so much, guys!
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Thanks for the input, I was going to do something similar and wasn't sure if it would be okay!
congrats on your acceptance 🙂
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so they have a max of 5 letters, are they big on research? i am debating whether to remove my research letter or non-sci letter! i have known both for about a year..
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DRIN
Use whichever letter you think is stronger. I don't think they care one way or another who it comes from, just as long as it is from someone who was familiar with your work.
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My status has not changed on the MSU CHM AIM Web site. It still says that my application is complete and has been forward to the committee for review (paraphrased). Has anyone else received updated status? Good luck to all.
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I don't think they're that big on research.
seriously? I'm sitting here looking at the most recent issue of MSU Today (a quarterly newsletter sent to MSU alumni...I am one). the entire issue is about research that is happening on the MSU campus. several of the articles discuss research being done by professors at the CHM. examples:
-George Abela, cardiology chief at CHM led a team that has shown that cholesterol crystals can disrupt plaque in a patient's cardiovascular system, causing heart attack or stroke
-Janet Osuch, professor of surgery and epidemiology at CHM, is a lead author of a study showing that prenatal exposure to DDE may have a role in female obesity
There's more, but I don't feel like typing it all up. MSU is a HUGE research institution. it's the only university in the States that has three medical schools (CHM, COM and the vet school). there is heaps of research going on in other departments, and surely there is cross-collaboration between CHM and other programs.
Incidentally, this newsletter also mentions that the CHM program in rural medicine has been ranked #7 in the latest USNWR rankings.
to say that any part of MSU, let alone the CHM, isn't big on research shows a lack of research into the school on the part of the person making such a statement
oh, and for anyone flipping out about the "two week" time limit between fee payment and submission of secondary, the website says that submission within two weeks of payment is "encouraged" not required. certainly, earlier is better but if you're coming up on the two weeks and aren't yet finished (like me...I want my essays to be perfect! so it's taking forever...), try not to worry too much about it. good luck, all!
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Thank you so much for this post! For the past day or so, I have been trying to figure out what I can write (that wasn't on my AMCAS), but this post makes me feel better, thanks!
Yes MSU is a research institute. It is a Big 10 school (so also part of the academic Big 10 conference which is kind of a big deal) and is considered a public ivy so obviously it is. But the poster was talking about CHM. You can get out of it and go into academic medicine if you wish, but it is not the focus of the school and as such her statement that CHM is not that big on research is accurate. I was told straight up by the admissions counselor at MCW that it is not big on research either, but it dosn't meant profs there arn't doing it.
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You misunderstand. MSU CHM seems primarily focused on primary care and clinical care, and that seems to be its number one priority. Research is obviously a part of their focus, but not the main part. You should look through their website to see my point.
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Admissions counselors must tell different people different things, because I was told the exact opposite by one of them.
Follow the NIH/NSF funding trends to get a very general idea of a school's focus on research. It happens everywhere and experience in research is definitely a positive on your application regardless of the school.
I don't think it's a misunderstanding so much as a difference of opinions about what "big on research" means. I'm quite familiar with the mission of the med school and that of the university as a whole
I have two degrees from Big 10 schools, I definitely think the Big 10 is a big deal! but I have to disagree with your statement that MSU is considered a public ivy. it is not. Michigan is.
MCW? did you mean MSU?
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Copied this straight from wikipedia (according to someone's study)....it includes MSU
Eastern
- College of William & Mary (Williamsburg, Virginia)
- The Pennsylvania State University (University Park)
- Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey (New Brunswick, New Jersey)
- State University of New York at Binghamton
- University of Connecticut (Storrs)
- University of Delaware (Newark)
- University of Maryland (College Park)
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- University of Virginia (Charlottesville)
- University of Arizona (Tucson)
- University of California (6 of 10 campuses):
- Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, San Diego, and Santa Barbara
- University of Colorado at Boulder
- University of Washington (Seattle)
- Indiana University (Bloomington)
- Miami University (Oxford, Ohio)
- Ohio State University (Columbus)
- University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign)
- University of Iowa (Iowa City)
- University of Michigan (Ann Arbor)
- Michigan State University (East Lansing)
- University of Minnesota (Minneapolis-St. Paul)
- University of Wisconsin (Madison)
EDIT: Although I see what you mean, the original eight are listed below....
The original eight Public Ivies list by Moll (1985):[2]
- College of William & Mary (Williamsburg, Virginia)
- Miami University (Oxford, Ohio)
- University of California (all campuses)[6]
- University of Michigan (Ann Arbor)
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- University of Texas at Austin
- University of Vermont (Burlington)
- University of Virginia (Charlottesville)
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