2009-2010 University of Arizona Application Thread

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mathlink said:
So I finally got rejected by Creighton. Is it weird that it felt good to hear ANYTHING from a med school, even if it was a rejection? Odd how a negative change is sometimes better than the status quo...
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Hey, I got rejected from them last week. Oh well, didn't want to go to Omaha anyway. 🙂

mathlink said:
My brother had that issue when applying to dental school. He got accepted early on to Pacific and paid the 1000 dollar deposit to hold his spot. Later, he got into his top choice via a waitlist and lost his deposit
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I have a friend going to UOP! Did your brother get into UCSF or something? My friend has similar situation where he got into UNLV first and lost a 500 or 1000 deposit (I cant remember which).
 
My brother went to OHSU in Portland. He graduated in 2006 and now I have to go see him on Friday because of a bad filling I mentioned earlier.

I believe he was actually 2nd on their alternate list. Hopefully I will turn that into a family tradition later this week.
 
Thanks - that's what I needed to know. I guess I'm ignorant about some of the technicalities.
 
As was mentioned earlier, I'll bet Tucson's biggest hang-up is determining whether ehandber or mathlink should be #1 on the WL. They probably settle their conflicts by forsaking their professional attire for wrestling gear, and heading to a secret arena wear the doctors/professors/staff at odds bout it out tag team style. The victor obviously gets first choice . . .

That being said, I guess your adcoms team will lose, mathlink, and you'll end up #2 unfortunately . . . 😎
 
MadeInReydn said:
As was mentioned earlier, I'll bet Tucson's biggest hang-up is determining whether ehandber or mathlink should be #1 on the WL. They probably settle their conflicts by forsaking their professional attire for wrestling gear, and heading to a secret arena wear the doctors/professors/staff at odds bout it out tag team style. The victor obviously gets first choice . . .

That being said, I guess your adcoms team will lose, mathlink, and you'll end up #2 unfortunately . . . 😎
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That's only because there are "rules" in wrestling matches. If it were no disqualification, my research director would be able to use his defibrillators to knock people out on my behalf, and the pharmacologist who interviewed me would be able to drug her opponents, thus easily gaining the pinfall.
 
👍 I'm all for this.

To ease up on the stress a little, consider exploring the internet.

On second thought, don't explore the internet. Just keep refreshing your email and this site, and re-reading the AMCAS website/stats. That's what I'm gonna do!
 
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ehandber said:
On second thought, don't explore the internet. Just keep refreshing your email and this site, and re-reading the AMCAS website/stats. That's what I'm gonna do!
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That's what I'm doing in between reading posts on Reddit or Digg. lol
 
lrkoehle said:
😱 Do people really do that? Would that actually be beneficial? 😕
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I like audio books. Right now I'm listening to Examkrackers Audio Osmosis and Gold Standard Mcat Videos during each day at work, so that I can be prepared to take the mcat if needed. I find that I can retain most of the material (of course, I've been listening to these things every day since about 2/10, and I've heard them way to much already)
 
lrkoehle said:
😱 Do people really do that? Would that actually be beneficial? 😕
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I prefer NPR podcasts.

Nice break from medschool 24/7. It reminds me that there is, indeed, life beyond medicine.
 
BearDownAZ said:
I like audio books. Right now I'm listening to Examkrackers Audio Osmosis and Gold Standard Mcat Videos during each day at work, so that I can be prepared to take the mcat if needed. I find that I can retain most of the material (of course, I've been listening to these things every day since about 2/10, and I've heard them way to much already)
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I LOVED both of those, especially Audio Osmosis!

I know a lot of the MSII's are listening to Goljan regularly to prepare for Step 1, but I don't think many MSI's do. I have them, but honestly haven't used them much yet. I think I would, though, if I had a commute. 🙂
 
MadEvans said:
I prefer NPR podcasts.

Nice break from medschool 24/7. It reminds me that there is, indeed, life beyond medicine.
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I think this is what I would do, except not NPR. I would only listen to NPR if I was having a hard time falling asleep, because any time I start listening its so damn boring I fall right asleep. I prefer listening to real talk radio like KTAR, because even if I don't always agree with what they say I won't fall asleep listening to it and crash my car...

Brrooother said:
I know a lot of the MSII's are listening to Goljan regularly to prepare for Step 1, but I don't think many MSI's do. I have them, but honestly haven't used them much yet. I think I would, though, if I had a commute. 🙂
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Where would one get the Goljan audios? Not that I'm going to start listening to them as an MS-0 (that would be extreme gunner to the max), but when I get to the point where I need them I don't want to be lost.
 
I was reading some posts from last year, and apparently at least one person was able to call PHX and find out what 'tier' they were in. It sounds like they have 3 tiers, and they start pulling people off the first, then move to the 2nd, etc. Anyone know if the admissions staff is willing to give that much info this year? Good luck to everyone! I'm sure we'll all have good news Friday morning 😀
 
I can't even focus in class anymore. Something else from last year: At PHX, there were about 20 students and each tier and they made it through at least the first one - movement was fairly slow compared to Tucson. At Tucson, they pulled about 20 off in the first week. Things went slowly until it got closer to May 15 it jumped passed 40, then slowed down till the end of July, and apparently made it to #55. Sorry if that's old news to many of you.

Who knows what will happen this year, especially with OOS students - hopefully we fly through the WL!
 
mathlink said:
That's only because there are "rules" in wrestling matches. If it were no disqualification, my research director would be able to use his defibrillators to knock people out on my behalf, and the pharmacologist who interviewed me would be able to drug her opponents, thus easily gaining the pinfall.
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I've put a lot of thought into it, and I think mathlink would have all the Emergency med docs on his adcoms team - I'm not sure, but I'm guessing they have some pretty damaging devices at their disposal. It will definitely come down to a technicality that disqualifies them.
 
I wish everyone that has not heard from Phoenix good luck on Friday. Hopefully we all get good news. Anyone off the Phoenix waitlist been given the gift of a medical school acceptance yet? Reading and posting here has made all the difference during this process. I hope that one day we will all be classmates at the University of Arizona. All the best.
 
I have some information regarding the "teirs". My friend has TONS of connections (her bf is the student president or something like that) at pheonix and apparently Dr. Rawls told her that the waitlists that were sent out this past week were the first tier ones. I am referring to the Thursday ones, not sure about Friday becuase of the whole OOS/IS thing. So maybe they will give out the 2nd tier waitlist spots after the first tier is finalized Thursday? Anyway, I figure its good news, from what she said it seemed like there are still more waitlist spots to be handed out. I hope she's right for the sake of everyone here!!!

Oh and as far as this anti-anonymity movement: I'm Kirsten and I go to ASU! I am a senior in Biochem! My screenname comes from the time I spent in Ecuador - the Quichua people thought I looked like I could work in the field.(A female field worker = chagramama) I look strong I guess?? haha.
 
MadeInReydn said:
I can't even focus in class anymore. Something else from last year: At PHX, there were about 20 students and each tier and they made it through at least the first one - movement was fairly slow compared to Tucson. At Tucson, they pulled about 20 off in the first week. Things went slowly until it got closer to May 15 it jumped passed 40, then slowed down till the end of July, and apparently made it to #55. Sorry if that's old news to many of you.

Who knows what will happen this year, especially with OOS students - hopefully we fly through the WL!
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20 students IN each tier, or 20 students AND each tier? Total of 60 on the WL. Just wanted clarification. Thx, MadeInReydn.
 
Hi Kirsten, thanks for joining us here in "Embrace your Identity"-land!

I will admit that I stayed up late last night reading the schedules for MS1's at both campuses. I know it is embarrassing, but it made me feel better to think about how happy I will be if I end up getting to go to those classes! We've all worked so hard to get there, it kills me thinking that some of us probably won't make the cut (this time). And, I will just assume that you all are doing things like that too because I know we are all lusting after an acceptance pretty badly at this point.

If I want to be a doctor badly enough, I will get to be one. It might take a few years, I might have to take a path I'm not expecting- but I'll get there! We all will! 😀

Here's a question to spur some discussion-

Right now I am thinking that I would prefer to go to Phoenix's campus. Here's my reasons why-

1. It is close to my family and friends. I am already an ASU student so I have a lot of connections on this campus.
2. I like the small class size. I like the idea that I will reasonably be able to know everyone in my class by name. And, that the teachers might actually know who *I* am, beyond just my name.
3. I like that the school is new enough to where the curriculum is not stagnant, and we might be able to offer some input in to how to design the education process to improve it.
4. This one might be stupid, but... I like that the campus is physically new. I like that all the buildings are new, and I like that everything is clean and bright. I am aware I am gonna spend some of the most difficult years of my life (up to this point) in those buildings, and being in a new/clean/shiny environment would make me feel better. For the same reason that I love walking into my apartment right after I clean it, it just feels better to be inside when things are nice!

But, I want to know why (specifically) I should switch my preference to Tucson. What does Tucson have to offer me that Phoenix does not?

(And for those of you who are nervous about ADCOMs watching... this is about ME ONLY and you are just offering some good words without expressing your OWN desire to go to one campus or another!)

Now, I just have to hope that this is a problem that I will ever have to consider. 😎
 
chagramama said:
I have some information regarding the "teirs". My friend has TONS of connections (her bf is the student president or something like that) at pheonix and apparently Dr. Rawls told her that the waitlists that were sent out this past week were the first tier ones. I am referring to the Thursday ones, not sure about Friday becuase of the whole OOS/IS thing. So maybe they will give out the 2nd tier waitlist spots after the first tier is finalized Thursday? Anyway, I figure its good news, from what she said it seemed like there are still more waitlist spots to be handed out. I hope she's right for the sake of everyone here!!!
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I hope you're right chagrama! Thanks for the info.
 
ehandber said:
Hi Kirsten, thanks for joining us here in "Embrace your Identity"-land!

I will admit that I stayed up late last night reading the schedules for MS1's at both campuses. I know it is embarrassing, but it made me feel better to think about how happy I will be if I end up getting to go to those classes! We've all worked so hard to get there, it kills me thinking that some of us probably won't make the cut (this time). And, I will just assume that you all are doing things like that too because I know we are all lusting after an acceptance pretty badly at this point.

If I want to be a doctor badly enough, I will get to be one. It might take a few years, I might have to take a path I'm not expecting- but I'll get there! We all will! 😀

Here's a question to spur some discussion-

Right now I am thinking that I would prefer to go to Phoenix's campus. Here's my reasons why-

1. It is close to my family and friends. I am already an ASU student so I have a lot of connections on this campus.
2. I like the small class size. I like the idea that I will reasonably be able to know everyone in my class by name. And, that the teachers might actually know who *I* am, beyond just my name.
3. I like that the school is new enough to where the curriculum is not stagnant, and we might be able to offer some input in to how to design the education process to improve it.
4. This one might be stupid, but... I like that the campus is physically new. I like that all the buildings are new, and I like that everything is clean and bright. I am aware I am gonna spend some of the most difficult years of my life (up to this point) in those buildings, and being in a new/clean/shiny environment would make me feel better. For the same reason that I love walking into my apartment right after I clean it, it just feels better to be inside when things are nice!

But, I want to know why (specifically) I should switch my preference to Tucson. What does Tucson have to offer me that Phoenix does not?

(And for those of you who are nervous about ADCOMs watching... this is about ME ONLY and you are just offering some good words without expressing your OWN desire to go to one campus or another!)

Now, I just have to hope that this is a problem that I will ever have to consider. 😎
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Tucson has me, enough said. 😛
 
To ehandber, I think it all depends. I like/dislike aspects of both. One thing that is tilting me slightly to Tucson is the mentoring group you begin as first years. You get paired with a group of MS1's and a physician for 2? 4? years and learn how to 'be a doctor'. At PHX you take a doctoring class. There are a few other things, but I've got to get back to studying 🙁 It really all just depends. If I was in your shoes, with everything you said, I may lean to PHX as well.
 
MadeInReydn said:
To ehandber, I think it all depends. I like/dislike aspects of both. One thing that is tilting me slightly to Tucson is the mentoring group you begin as first years. You get paired with a group of MS1's and a physician for 2? 4? years and learn how to 'be a doctor'. At PHX you take a doctoring class. There are a few other things, but I've got to get back to studying 🙁 It really all just depends. If I was in your shoes, with everything you said, I may lean to PHX as well.
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Actually, I find the way Phoenix pairs you with a doctor in the community for the first two years to be very attractive. You get one-on-one experience.
 
And, I have worked with the doctoring class at U of A - Phoenix as an SP and I find it to be very valuable. This is true for both campuses, however.
 
I agree with LTM. I think that the doctoring stuff at Phoenix is very attractive. I really like that program as well. But, I do think Tucson's sounds good too.

Come on guys! I know there are a lot of you out there that are die-hard Tucson-ers. I want to try to see this from all the angles that I can!
 
ehandber said:
I agree with LTM. I think that the doctoring stuff at Phoenix is very attractive. I really like that program as well. But, I do think Tucson's sounds good too.

Come on guys! I know there are a lot of you out there that are die-hard Tucson-ers. I want to try to see this from all the angles that I can!
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Follow your heart and intuition 😉

Trust me, I had to make this decision with an acceptance to both campuses.
 
I wasn't aware of that - sounds interesting. There is also the hospital thing - a nice university hospital right there vs. several great hospitals in the Phoenix area. Tough choices. Another issue for me is Tucson itself. Though overall it can seem kind of ghetto compared to Tempe/Gilbert/Glendale/Phoenix, I like it. I can't say for sure why, but it's a nice distance from all my family (want to keep it at 2-4 hours away) and I like having the mountains right there, etc. Those might be lame reasons, compared to school curriculum, professors, rotation sites, etc. What are the differences in rotation sites? Are they pretty similar in selection?
 
chagramama said:
So maybe they will give out the 2nd tier waitlist spots after the first tier is finalized Thursday? Anyway, I figure its good news, from what she said it seemed like there are still more waitlist spots to be handed out. I hope she's right for the sake of everyone here!!!
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I hope you saw that mathlink - you're probably right at the front of the 2nd tier!
 
Quick questions (I'm obviously having a hard time focusing on HW): What are some differences in the rotations for each campus?

Does Tucson have the elective period like PHX for the 3rd year?

Where are rotation sites for each?

What other hospitals are affiliated with the school in each city?
 
I just checked the website, it looks like Tucson does have 3rd year electives period. I don't know the answer to any of those other things though... Anyone?
 
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MadeInReydn said:
Quick questions (I'm obviously having a hard time focusing on HW): What are some differences in the rotations for each campus?

Does Tucson have the elective period like PHX for the 3rd year?

Where are rotation sites for each?

What other hospitals are affiliated with the school in each city?
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I made a series of posts on this topic on the accepted thread, but I will do my best to recall everything I found when I was looking at these things (it was a few weeks ago).

I don't think there are many differences in the actual rotations at either campus. The difference is that in Tucson you have UMC where you can to most of them, where as in Phoenix without a connected hospital you have to go to different places around the valley. MadEvans or Bro can give you more specifics, but this includes county, Banner Good Sam, Mayo in Scottsdale. In Tucson, I know there is UMC and I think the VA hospital down there too for rotations. The cool thing is that regardless of which campus you attend, I believe you can do your rotations at any of these affiliated hospitals in AZ. Thus you can do pre-clinical in Tucson and come up to Phoenix for some or all of your rotations.

As for elective time built into MS-III both campuses have that time. In Tucson I know it is four weeks, which is a typical elective rotation. This is obviously a great opportunity in MS-III to figure out what you want to do your residency in if you may want something other than the standard rotation fields.

As for other electives, they have a bunch of opportunities at each campus, but down in Tucson it seems as though they are already established. I will try to find the link to the electives offered at each campus and post it here (yes, I literally have nothing better to do today than search the UA-COM website).
 
MadeInReydn said:
To ehandber, I think it all depends. I like/dislike aspects of both. One thing that is tilting me slightly to Tucson is the mentoring group you begin as first years. You get paired with a group of MS1's and a physician for 2? 4? years and learn how to 'be a doctor'. At PHX you take a doctoring class. There are a few other things, but I've got to get back to studying 🙁 It really all just depends. If I was in your shoes, with everything you said, I may lean to PHX as well.
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Yeah, I think you are referring to "Societies" in Tucson, which basically parallels Phoenix's LCE, the difference being, as it has been said, that Societies are groups of six or so students with a physician and LCE is one-on-one with the physician (no other students). Pros and cons to both - two years with the same person or group for each which is nice. I think the one-one-one aspect maybe puts you on the spot a little more with your physician, which I feel is a good learning experience, though it would be nice to have the camaraderie and development of close friendships with those other students.

As lrk said, MadEvans and I can answer any Phoenix questions (you can always PM one of us if you don't want to ask on the thread), but unfortunately we can answer very little about Tucson!
 
MadeInReydn said:
I can't even focus in class anymore. Something else from last year: At PHX, there were about 20 students and each tier and they made it through at least the first one - movement was fairly slow compared to Tucson. At Tucson, they pulled about 20 off in the first week. Things went slowly until it got closer to May 15 it jumped passed 40, then slowed down till the end of July, and apparently made it to #55. Sorry if that's old news to many of you.

Who knows what will happen this year, especially with OOS students - hopefully we fly through the WL!
Click to expand...

With as much activity as this thread has been getting, its good for us to repeat this info for anyone who doesn't check this thread for 2 hours, checks the thread, sees 20 new posts in that time, and doesn't feel like reading all of them. I will repeat myself in saying that I think OOSers will make the WL move more this year.

ehandber said:
But, I want to know why (specifically) I should switch my preference to Tucson. What does Tucson have to offer me that Phoenix does not?
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To me, the biggest selling point about Tucson is how well established it is already. I want to do ortho research, and guess where it is? Tucson. I want to be able to shadow physicians in different fields and then walk to class 5 minutes before it starts, and I can do this in Tucson with the UMC literally attached to the medical school. Those were a couple of the big things to me for Tucson that Phoenix could not offer.

Now, I do want to say that I really liked Phoenix as well, but realized it wasn't the right fit for me. For instance, I liked the small class size, but I realized that it wasn't THAT important to me. Tucson is still pretty small (115) too, so I tossed that aside. Phoenix has a week after each block to go out into the community and spend time with docs, and this is something I really did like about Phoenix that I will miss. That's all I can think of off the top of my head, but each campus is more similar than different so you can't go wrong either way. To tell you all the truth, I was unsure about UA before I interviewed here and at other schools around the country. After my interviews, UA is my second favorite school in the country, pure and simple.

LiveTheMoment said:
Actually, I find the way Phoenix pairs you with a doctor in the community for the first two years to be very attractive. You get one-on-one experience.
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I think that would be awesome, but I will say I have heard mixed reviews from Phoenix students. One MS-I told me that he would actually rather have had more time studying the material and learning it really really well than going out in the community for a week. Granted that's only one student's perspective, but it is something to consider. Oh, and I should point out that it didn't seem to me that he hated it either, but just that he would have liked more time studying (its med school though, so everyone probably wants more time studying...).
 
I like the Thesis requirement of Phx. I feel that will help you add some filler to your resume for when you apply to Residencies (maybe get a conference or publication out of it)
 
Heard from a different source today (that also has connections to the PHX campus, and Dr Rawls) that they did the waitlist on a Tier system. Again, hearsay, but I'll take any good news at this point!

So, my assumption is the first ones they sent out were first tier. Did anyone get anything before last Thursday?
 
BearDownAZ said:
I like the Thesis requirement of Phx. I feel that will help you add some filler to your resume for when you apply to Residencies (maybe get a conference or publication out of it)
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They have a research distinction track down in Tucson, so you can do that for your residency resume too. Plus, this way you're not forced to do it if you later decide its not for you. In Phoenix, you're locked into it.
 
lrkoehle said:
To me, the biggest selling point about Tucson is how well established it is already. I want to do ortho research, and guess where it is? Tucson. I want to be able to shadow physicians in different fields and then walk to class 5 minutes before it starts, and I can do this in Tucson with the UMC literally attached to the medical school. Those were a couple of the big things to me for Tucson that Phoenix could not offer.

I think that would be awesome, but I will say I have heard mixed reviews from Phoenix students. One MS-I told me that he would actually rather have had more time studying the material and learning it really really well than going out in the community for a week. Granted that's only one student's perspective, but it is something to consider. Oh, and I should point out that it didn't seem to me that he hated it either, but just that he would have liked more time studying (its med school though, so everyone probably wants more time studying...).
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Sorry, lrk, you know I love ya, but I have to defend myself and Phx a little. 😛 First of all, I want to do ortho research as well, and trust me, there are many outlets in Phoenix. Plus, with fewer students, it is easy to make it happen - our wonderful dean sent out emails for me, which yielded several different research possibilities. I'm also doing a research internship in San Diego this summer, in which I plan to hopefully complete my Scholarly Project so that I can do research in Phoenix as much or as little as I want to.

Also, the majority of students think LCE is, by far, the best part of the curriculum. I have no clue who you talked to, but they are definitely part of the minority! LCE is the best - my preceptor knows I'm interested in surgery, so I get to do most of the procedures he does in his office myself, with his assistance, of course. 🙂 It is fantastic.
 
Brrooother said:
Sorry, lrk, you know I love ya, but I have to defend myself and Phx a little. 😛 First of all, I want to do ortho research as well, and trust me, there are many outlets in Phoenix. Plus, with fewer students, it is easy to make it happen - our wonderful dean sent out emails for me, which yielded several different research possibilities. I'm also doing a research internship in San Diego this summer, in which I plan to hopefully complete my Scholarly Project so that I can do research in Phoenix as much or as little as I want to.
Click to expand...

Sorry bro. I thought about that after I made my post, and I meant to go back and edit it. To reiterate what you said, there ARE opportunities in Phoenix for ANYTHING you want to do, BUT, and this is the point I meant to make originally, you will probably have to search for them a more than you might in Tucson. The main thing I was getting at was that things are in place on the medical campus down in Tucson instead of more spread around Phoenix. The same thing is also true of the electives. They have well established MS-II through MS-IV ortho electives down in Tucson, but that doesn't mean you can't get something similar setup in Phoenix. I just didn't feel like having to do that (although from the sound of it, its probably not too hard). The other thing is that the UA residency is down in Tucson too, so I may have a better chance at working/interacting with the director down there. I don't know if my reasoning makes sense, but there it is...

Brrooother said:
Also, the majority of students think LCE is, by far, the best part of the curriculum. I have no clue who you talked to, but they are definitely part of the minority! LCE is the best - my preceptor knows I'm interested in surgery, so I get to do most of the procedures he does in his office myself, with his assistance, of course. 🙂 It is fantastic.
Click to expand...

What he told me wasn't that he disliked it necessarily, but more that he would like that extra week added on to each block to study more. I think I was talking to him after an exam though, so that may have led to the statement.
 
For those who got WLed at PHX, did you get any sort of confirmation email that your email requesting to retain your spot was received?
 
I responded to them 2x to let them know that I wanted to keep my spot, and still no response. So I guess we just have to trust that the email went through?
 
I think today is gonna be my day. Come on medschool! lemme in lemme in lemme in!
 
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