2009-2010 University of Arizona Application Thread

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Well, I really like the other schools I interviewed at, so it will be a tough decision if I am left with many options by the end of the season...but so far it is looking like I will be packing up and moving down to Tucson.

Yeah, I really liked all of the schools I interviewed at too, but they are all way more expensive (OOS and private tuition is serious business). Do you not care about the added tuition cost? I am still not 100% decided, so I would love to see your thoughts about how tuition will affect your decision. I just don't think I will get so much better of an education elsewhere that it would be worth the extra money.
 
Yeah, I really liked all of the schools I interviewed at too, but they are all way more expensive (OOS and private tuition is serious business). Do you not care about the added tuition cost? I am still not 100% decided, so I would love to see your thoughts about how tuition will affect your decision. I just don't think I will get so much better of an education elsewhere that it would be worth the extra money.

The cost of tuition plays a HUGE factor in my decision 🙂 That is why it feels good to be picked for my state school. That being said I really really like the education/experience the others offer and they are on the far east coast... life changing decisions in the making!
 
The cost of tuition plays a HUGE factor in my decision 🙂 That is why it feels good to be picked for my state school. That being said I really really like the education/experience the others offer and they are on the far east coast... life changing decisions in the making!

Glad to see I am not alone being concerned about the cost of tuition. Excluding Mayo, all the other OOS and private schools I interviewed at would end up costing me about $80,000-$90,000 more money over 4 years of medical school. I don't think even Bill Gates would argue that $80,000 is not a lot of money. Plus, I am thinking about doing the MD-MPH, which would add another year of tuition.
 
I just thought I would drop in my opinion (full-disclosure, I applied only IS because of money and many other reasons, but...)

<amateur analysis>

The money thing is something to consider, and denying that is nothing more than ignoring a serious issue in my opinion. Despite it being an issue, I think it is not as important as most people think. Given that the difference from the cheapest (paid) graduate-debt and the most expensive (paid) graduate-debt is around $100,000, that is the amount of difference that you need to consider. Since this amount is reasonably paid off, regardless of standard post-grad position chosen, it is unreasonable to use it as a main choice. I argue that you should pick your school based on the one that you feel the most comfortable at, the one that you can see yourself attending, and the one you see yourself feeling the happiest attending. If you're interested in my reasoning, it follows:

The average debt leaving UA (assuming in-state, according to nefarious [student doctor] sources) is around $100,000. The average leaving the most expensive school (assuming my admittedly nefarious sources are correct) is around $200,000. If you assume that you take a relatively low paying position in medicine (~$95,000) you could still pay off your additional debt reasonably unnoticed during your career. (PM for silly napkin math)

If you attend a school that is comfortable, in a city that you want to live in, with/near people that you want to be near- I argue that you will be happier. A school that offers you those things at the cost of an additional 5% of your yearly income is absolutely the better choice. But... if you can get both from an in-state school, all the better!

Now, obviously, if your goal is to create the absolute largest bank-account you possibly can then the additional debt is no good. But, then it is reasonable to argue that name-sake might be worth fighting to gain. And, there are much easier ways to make large numbers than 10+ years of graduate work.

</amateur analysis>
 
I certainly agree that even at the most expensive medical school in the country, you will come out of any residency able to pay off that debt over the course of your medical career. I think that the educational experience is going to be about equal wherever you go to school, so paying that much more money is not really worth it from an educational standpoint. Now if it is about location, family, etc., then spending the extra money may very well be worth it for some people. Also, I don't think the med school you attend will be a major determinant for what residencies are available to you. It seems like about the same percentage of grads from all med schools go into each specialty, which leads me to believe it is about individual choice and not limitations.

Wow, I feel like I was starting to ramble (I'm kind of tired), but those are all things I have been thinking about the past couple of weeks. I should probably stop while I am ahead.
 
Ehandber, I would love to know where you are getting your interest-free loans. 😛

In any case, I agree that if one has their heart set on one school, then I am all for spending more. But, if one would be perfectly happy and succesful at a less expensive school it makes more sense to not spend the extra money.

We all certainly have a lot of factors to consider.

Best Wishes to you all 🙂
 
Lookin' like I didn't make the cut 🙁 guess I gotta wait until at least January. Congrats to those who made it this time though!! 😀
 
Accepted to Phoenix!!!! My top choice! SQUEEEEEE! 😍

OOS
Interviewed early October
Email came just before 9:30am
 
I don't know if they are still sending any more today, but if I had to guess I would say today's picks already got emails. S&L said she got her email around 9:30. Can't imagine it'd take much longer than an hour to send the emails, right?
 
Ehandber, I would love to know where you are getting your interest-free loans. 😛

In any case, I agree that if one has their heart set on one school, then I am all for spending more. But, if one would be perfectly happy and succesful at a less expensive school it makes more sense to not spend the extra money.

We all certainly have a lot of factors to consider.

Best Wishes to you all 🙂

Interest-free loans would be awesome! I think that is where a significant difference can really add up, because not only are you paying more for tuition but that is a greater principle balance upon which interest will accrue through residency and early in your career.

Accepted to Phoenix!!!! My top choice! SQUEEEEEE! 😍

OOS
Interviewed early October
Email came just before 9:30am

Congrats!!! Unfortunately, I won't be seeing you there (I was forced to decline my offer of admissions during the two week period). Did you interview at the Tucson campus?

Are they still sending out emails today?

I'm going to guess they probably sent out all of the emails at once, but there may be a slight possibility that they did not.
 
To clarify the money thing I said because that seems to have raised a lot of eyebrows-

I was specifically not talking about tuition and loans. The reason for this is simply that some schools with much higher tuition offer many more grants and whatnot. So, the best way to judge seems to be the average debt on graduation. Given that, the difference from top to bottom priced is about 100k.

Here's the napkin math.

If you take that 100k difference, and assume you let enough interest accrue such that the balance DOUBLES to 200k, you would still be able to pay that off over the course of a career (which is how long it would take to DOUBLE your loan cost) with relative ease, even at a low paying specialty. 12monthsx20years = 240 months. If you are taking home even 100k (which is a low estimate) you could afford 1k per month in loan repayment. Over the course of a 20 year career you can easily repay that, even if you NEVER get paid more and decide not to work for longer than 20 years (which most people do).

So, again, I feel like the difference between a school you really FIT at is going to matter more than the difference in cost. But, here's to hoping you FIT at a cheap school, right?! 😀 I don't intend for this to be advice, just kinda giving you my take on how I looked at the whole tuition situation back when I was first deciding where to apply.
 
That's a nice present for the holidays, huh? 😀

Yes, it really is 🙂

I interviewed at Tucson but I haven't heard anything from them. I prefer Phoenix though. Smaller class size was a really important factor for me - I had a huge high school graduating class (700+), went to a large undergrad, and wanted something more intimate for once. Also, I just really clicked with everyone I met in Phoenix.
 
Accepted to phoenix this morning around 9:30. OOS interviewed November 1, complete two weeks later. Loved the school
 
To clarify the money thing I said because that seems to have raised a lot of eyebrows-

I was specifically not talking about tuition and loans. The reason for this is simply that some schools with much higher tuition offer many more grants and whatnot. So, the best way to judge seems to be the average debt on graduation. Given that, the difference from top to bottom priced is about 100k.

Here's the napkin math.

If you take that 100k difference, and assume you let enough interest accrue such that the balance DOUBLES to 200k, you would still be able to pay that off over the course of a career (which is how long it would take to DOUBLE your loan cost) with relative ease, even at a low paying specialty. 12monthsx20years = 240 months. If you are taking home even 100k (which is a low estimate) you could afford 1k per month in loan repayment. Over the course of a 20 year career you can easily repay that, even if you NEVER get paid more and decide not to work for longer than 20 years (which most people do).

So, again, I feel like the difference between a school you really FIT at is going to matter more than the difference in cost. But, here's to hoping you FIT at a cheap school, right?! 😀 I don't intend for this to be advice, just kinda giving you my take on how I looked at the whole tuition situation back when I was first deciding where to apply
.

I totally agree with the last part. Fit is by far the most important thing. I felt that most schools were fairly equal for me, so then the only determinant left is cost (assuming "fit" includes location, curriculum, grading, hospital affiliation, etc.).

Oh, and I did a google search for a compound interest calculator (http://www.moneychimp.com/calculator/compound_interest_calculator.htm). If you do a 5 year residency (I chose 5 years, because the specialty I am interested in has a 5 year residency), then the interest on $200,000 of debt would be about $77,000 assuming 6.8% interest rate and no payments being made with interest compounding once annually. I made the assumption no payments would be made during residency since many will have families to support with their small resident's salary. That means now that extra $100,000 at graduation is an extra $138,500 at the end of residency.
 
Anyone hear of a friend (of a friend of a friend) who got an email from Tucson this morning?
Maybe they haven't sent them yet, haha :xf:
 
accepted to phx this morning! OOS interviewed in nov sometime. sweet.

ugh, this means I have to choose between tucson and phx?? in 2 weeks??!?!
 
Anyone hear of a friend (of a friend of a friend) who got an email from Tucson this morning?
Maybe they haven't sent them yet, haha :xf:

It doesn't seem as though Tucson has sent them yet. I hope they do so soon, because I want to know who some more of my future classmates might be!

accepted to phx this morning! OOS interviewed in nov sometime. sweet.

ugh, this means I have to choose between tucson and phx?? in 2 weeks??!?!

First things first, Congrats!!!

You do not have to choose between Tucson and Phoenix yet. You have two weeks from the time you are accepted at BOTH campuses. Since you have only heard from Phoenix, you don't have to decide yet. Now if you get an email from Tucson later this afternoon, then you will have two weeks to decide. If you don't hear from Tucson until mid January, then you have two weeks from that date.
 
I am really starting to get curious about whether or not Tucson has sent out any acceptances today. Every acceptance day I have been through, both campuses sent out their emails around 9 AM. However, I have never been through an acceptance day without at least one person on SDN getting in to each campus. I am almost curious enough to call to see if Tucson accepted anyone today, but it's to early in the cycle to get worried.
 
Oh how cruel! I had already accepted defeat and now you guys got me thinking maybe Tucson hasn't sent 'em out yet. Although, that seems VERY strange. It's 4:30pm. I have a strong feeling that the people who got their acceptances are either at their graduations (going on right now) or simply not part of SDN.
 
Oh how cruel! I had already accepted defeat and now you guys got me thinking maybe Tucson hasn't sent 'em out yet. Although, that seems VERY strange. It's 4:30pm. I have a strong feeling that the people who got their acceptances are either at their graduations (going on right now) or simply not part of SDN.

Not too add more stress (maybe hope instead), but I think Tucson did not give out acceptances today. There is almost no way that no one on SDN was accepted (or was accepted and did not post about it yet). Plus, it would be even weirder that no one on here was accepted to Tucson, but people on here were accepted to Phoenix since Phoenix is significantly smaller than Tucson. It is probably more likely that with more acceptance decisions to be made at Tucson, that they fell behind. I don't know if that is true, but maybe that will give people some more hope to hear something early next week. Good luck all! :luck:
 
I called the admissions office earlier today becuase I was thinking the same as you guys...no way no one on sdn got into tucson. The lady said they sent out acceptances this morning. Although, to be fair, she didn't specify that it was by email so...? IF anyone gets a snail mail acceptance let us know lol. But that seems unlikely to me, I guess we were just unlucky this time.
 
tucson did accept today! i got texts this morning saying "i got into tucson!"..it was around 9:55am also...i just interviewed earlier this week, and the admissions office told me there were 17 accepted on the 4th..and 16 more coming up this friday (which was today)
 
Awww! What a rollercoaster of a day! Well, I'm glad I have some closure on this round at least!

It seems SDN is not the all-inclusive group we thought! 😛

Congrats to those who got in! I hope I'll get to join you!
 
Awww! What a rollercoaster of a day! Well, I'm glad I have some closure on this round at least!

It seems SDN is not the all-inclusive group we thought! 😛

Congrats to those who got in! I hope I'll get to join you!

Apparently we aren't as inclusive as I thought. That makes me 🙁
 
tucson did accept today! i got texts this morning saying "i got into tucson!"..it was around 9:55am also...i just interviewed earlier this week, and the admissions office told me there were 17 accepted on the 4th..and 16 more coming up this friday (which was today)

That kind of makes me feel better. I was under the impression that they gave away like 30 seats each round. I have no idea where I got that number lol but at least there is still plenty of room. So hopefully we all get some good news in January, right guys? :xf:
 
Yes, it really is 🙂

I interviewed at Tucson but I haven't heard anything from them. I prefer Phoenix though. Smaller class size was a really important factor for me - I had a huge high school graduating class (700+), went to a large undergrad, and wanted something more intimate for once. Also, I just really clicked with everyone I met in Phoenix.

Congrats! Your reasons for choosing UA-Phx were some of my same reasons as well. Where are you from, again? Again, congratulations... enjoy it, and hope to see you in July/August.

So hopefully we all get some good news in January, right guys? :xf:

Yeah, you guys have no reason at all to worry yet. Hang in there. 👍
 
Withdrawing. From both Phoenix and Tucson. Anyone want my seats?

PS...I had a medical student actually tell me on my interview day, "Do not come to UofA. You'll absolutely hate it here." Makes me not want to matriculate. Ciao.
 
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Withdrawing. From both Phoenix and Tucson. Anyone want my seats?

PS...I had a medical student actually tell me on my interview day, "Do not come to UofA. You'll absolutely hate it here." Makes me not want to matriculate. Ciao.

What led to the student telling you that?
 
Withdrawing. From both Phoenix and Tucson. Anyone want my seats?

PS...I had a medical student actually tell me on my interview day, "Do not come to UofA. You'll absolutely hate it here." Makes me not want to matriculate. Ciao.

Thanks for opening up a spot for the rest of us.
 
Could any current Phoenix students give me an idea of what your schedule is like in a typical week?
 
He goes there. We went to high school together so he knows me fairly well.

If you don't mind my asking, what were the specific complaints?

Could any current Phoenix students give me an idea of what your schedule is like in a typical week?

I would love to see the same thing from a Tucson student, if there are any out there.
 
edit: I guess its from 2007 so some Phoenix students might want to check it out to see if it has changed or not.

Hey, that's pretty cool seeing your guys' schedule and comparing it to ours. I'm glad not everyone is all the psyched about histo/spec lab since we don't really have anything like that in Phx.

For Salt and Lime (and everyone else), here are a couple pics of how our typical schedule is in the first year. It's pretty much the same for 2nd year I believe, except with different blocks (of course) and different times for Case Based Instruction.

neuro+with+anatomy.jpg


Above is a typical week for us during anatomy, which we have from late aug-early dec. Red is case-based instruction (which we usually have 3-6 hours per week of), green is lecture, yellow is clinical anatomy lab, light green is a practice quiz to see if we are prepared for the exam (not required), and blue is a doctoring session in the clinical practice suites. Purple is time reserved for an exam, and you see one on fri, sat, and sun because they allow us to take it on any of those days. I'm usually a Sunday taker because I'm a procrastinator, but I'd say most students get it done on Friday.

neuro+without+anatomy.jpg


And here's a typical week without anatomy. Grey is LCE (longitudinal clinical experience) where we work in a family care doc's office one afternoon per week. It's listed there three times because every student's day is different, not because we work there three times in a given week. Ignore the bone box return little grey box; it was just a reminder to give our skulls and skeletons back since anatomy had ended.

And these weeks are as packed with exams as they look. I liked it, because it kind of forced you to stay on top of your stuff rather than procrastinate and get behind. But, we did have a ton of people complaining about how many tests we had. In a six week stretch, one time, I think we had 4 or 5 tests. Oh one more thing... we usually have lecture from 9-3 on friday on non-test weeks, 9-12 on friday on test weeks. If you have any questions as to what the colors mean, or what we do during these days exactly, just ask.
 
This was a fairly typical week in neuro. Some weeks we had fewer labs and more lectures-the overall time spent at school was about the same every week. Almost every lecture is podcasted and the review sessions are completely optional, consisting of Q&A time with the professors. I'm not sure what the Aging for Specialists thing was that Monday, but there is never anything relevant to the curriculum, or mandatory for that matter, that is scheduled from 12-1. Lab is always optional as well. If its in the gross specimens lab or the histo lab about half the class usually skips. Most people come to gross anatomy lab though.

Just to comment on the comment that thamsenman's friend made to him, if there is anyone who is unhappy at UA it could only be like 1 or 2 people. The overwhelming majority of students here love it.

Thanks! That schedule seems pretty reasonable. Did I read it correctly that some days you only had one hour of lecture? That would be awesome since I am not a huge fan of lectures (I tend to fall asleep in them) and I prefer smaller group things.

If the labs are optional, why does anyone go? Do they just reinforce what you learn in lecture, or are they specifically tested? Also, what is "TL"? I think that's what the schedule map said. It was only on Thursday.

Looking at that schedule, it seemed like a couple of afternoons a week were pretty open. Do students use that time to do research or shadow doctors, or does everyone just study with every free minute they have? The reason I ask is that I am very interested in getting involved with research and exploring different medical fields during the first two years, so is there any time built in for that?

I think one my last question (for now), where do most of the Tucson campus students live? I know at most schools it varies, so that is probably also true at Tucson. My wife and I are looking at renting a house.

Glad to see you are really happy at UA along with most of the other students. Most schools probably have a couple of students who just aren't happy with the med school they chose to attend. This seems like it would be especially true if those students only got into one medical school, and so instead of "choosing" to go there they "had to" go there. From the outside looking in as a prospective student, it seems to me that UA is a somewhat underrated school with great opportunities, students, curriculum, grading, COA, etc., etc.

Thanks again for all your help MerryJoulton!
 
Thanks! That schedule seems pretty reasonable. Did I read it correctly that some days you only had one hour of lecture? That would be awesome since I am not a huge fan of lectures (I tend to fall asleep in them) and I prefer smaller group things.
Yeah some weeks are really light on lectures, but some weeks they pack quite a few in.
If the labs are optional, why does anyone go? Do they just reinforce what you learn in lecture, or are they specifically tested? Also, what is "TL"? I think that's what the schedule map said. It was only on Thursday.
Labs are mostly for reinforcement and to expose us to as many real life examples as possible I think. There were rare cases when a slide from histo lab showed up on the exam, but if you understood the lecture material you still could figure out what it was. I believe that during musculoskeletal we have gross anatomy practicals where we identify structures on cadavers for the exam, but first years don't get to that until January.

TL=Team Learning. Everyone is assigned a group of 6-7 people and take three quizzes that are related to the topics being covered in class. First is the IRAT which is done individually, then the GRAT which is identical to the IRAT and everyone works through it together, and then the GAP which is more subjective questions the group works through together that don't count towards your grade. If it sounds confusing don't worry we were all confused for the first few sessions it seemed like.
Looking at that schedule, it seemed like a couple of afternoons a week were pretty open. Do students use that time to do research or shadow doctors, or does everyone just study with every free minute they have? The reason I ask is that I am very interested in getting involved with research and exploring different medical fields during the first two years, so is there any time built in for that?
Most people use free time to study, exercise, sleep, or socialize. If you manage your time well then you can do anything you want. There is a continuum of opinions in our class as to whether or not we have enough time outside of class. Some people don't think they have enough, some feel like it's plenty of time. Again, it just depends on how well you manage your time and how effectively you study. In my opinion, if you have a desire to do something like research and shadowing during the semester then you can find a way to work it in.
I think one my last question (for now), where do most of the Tucson campus students live? I know at most schools it varies, so that is probably also true at Tucson. My wife and I are looking at renting a house.
It does vary. Apartments and houses generally get more affordable the further away they are from the University.
 
Yeah some weeks are really light on lectures, but some weeks they pack quite a few in.

Labs are mostly for reinforcement and to expose us to as many real life examples as possible I think. There were rare cases when a slide from histo lab showed up on the exam, but if you understood the lecture material you still could figure out what it was. I believe that during musculoskeletal we have gross anatomy practicals where we identify structures on cadavers for the exam, but first years don't get to that until January.

TL=Team Learning. Everyone is assigned a group of 6-7 people and take three quizzes that are related to the topics being covered in class. First is the IRAT which is done individually, then the GRAT which is identical to the IRAT and everyone works through it together, and then the GAP which is more subjective questions the group works through together that don't count towards your grade. If it sounds confusing don't worry we were all confused for the first few sessions it seemed like.

Most people use free time to study, exercise, sleep, or socialize. If you manage your time well then you can do anything you want. There is a continuum of opinions in our class as to whether or not we have enough time outside of class. Some people don't think they have enough, some feel like it's plenty of time. Again, it just depends on how well you manage your time and how effectively you study. In my opinion, if you have a desire to do something like research and shadowing during the semester then you can find a way to work it in.

It does vary. Apartments and houses generally get more affordable the further away they are from the University.

Thank you so much for that lengthy response! Everything sounds great. I thought about PMing you those questions, but I thought others might have similar questions.

Do you happen to know any MD/MPH students in your class? If so, how have they been liking it (assuming they started the MPH classes)?
 
I interviewed the last week of November and 1st week of December and I still haven't gotten my complete email. I'm worried I won't be eligible for the next round. 🙁 Is anyone who interviewed around my time or earlier not yet complete??

Anyone know the next release date?

When I interviewed, they said after the Dec 18th release, they will take a break for the holidays, and come back on the first week of January. However, I can't recall if it will be the 8th or the 15th. I think it's Jan 8th.
 
wowza.. just found out I got into UCSF 🙂
i was NOT expecting this by a longshot, but it's my top choice so I guess this means I'm withdrawing from AZ. I got into both campuses, so I'm hoping it will open up spots for two people. gl to all!
 
wowza.. just found out I got into UCSF 🙂
i was NOT expecting this by a longshot, but it's my top choice so I guess this means I'm withdrawing from AZ. I got into both campuses, so I'm hoping it will open up spots for two people. gl to all!

congratulations! 👍 and thanks for opening up spots! 🙂
 
anyone interviewed mid october and not heard anything?
 
I am almost 100% sold on Phoenix. I will be in Phoenix Jan 14-17 to look for housing, and I was wondering if there's any way I could follow a med student for a day or a few hours that Friday. I intend to contact the admissions office but I didn't want to harass them until next week. Does anyone know if this would be possible?

It would just be nice to see the school again one more time before I make the commitment of buying a house in Phoenix! (And withdraw from my other options.) I know I have until May, but I want to finalize the decision and move long before school starts. It would suck to still be trying to sell my house in Colorado while I'm in med school!
 
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