2009-2010 University of Arizona Application Thread

[Billiken09]

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i only spoke with the Tucson campus. but i meant to write "end"....sorry.....i quote Ann "those that will be waitlisted should expect to receive an email after about two weeks from now"......so figure two weeks from today.

Thanks for investigating!

 

[EmeanFD]

I know my spot. It will be #52, which probably means acceptance eventually, but it's far enough down that I won't get my acceptance until sometime in the end of June/beginning of July. So I'll get in, it'll just be like kicking myself in the balls every day for 4 months until I do.


Med School Admissions Gods -> <- Me

Just wondering how you know your spot already??

 

[jturkel]

Just wondering how you know your spot already??

hahaha....he is guessing.....with confidence. rankings (let alone the waitlist) have not been fully compiled yet.

 

[mathlink]

Just wondering how you know your spot already??

Just a gut feeling that I'll get in, but only in the most painful way possible. That means a WL spot between 50-55.

 

[2013 Hopeful]

And we shall wait.

 

[MedHopeful777]

I'm a first time applicant and even though I feel I have done everything "right", I am just not feeling like this will be my year to get in. I'm considering it a practice run haha!
I am also applying to some masters programs as my back up/time filler. Does anyone know some statistics on the increase of the likelihood of acceptance into med school if you also have a masters degree?
Thanks everyone! I am hoping these two week go by fast and that everyone gets a low rank number on the Tucson wait list.

 

[2013 Hopeful]

http://www.aamc.org/data/facts/applicantmatriculant/table25-mcatgpa-grid-3yrs-app-accpt-raceeth.htm

 

[mathlink]

Not to get overly political, but wasn't that the case that got rid of racial quotas? Are you hinting that they should be brought back because adcoms have gone so far in the other direction? Or are you saying it didn't do enough as it reaffirmed the constitutionality of non-quota affirmative action programs? Just a little confused by what you mean...and it's a bit of a stretch to say there's a conservative majority in the Supreme Court. If there was a conservative majority, abortion would be illegal and handgun/assault weapon bans would have been ruled unconstitutional. And it'd be a cold day in hell when the ACLU took up a conservative cause.

 

[2013 Hopeful]

Not to get overly political, but wasn't that the case that got rid of racial quotas? Are you hinting that they should be brought back because adcoms have gone so far in the other direction? Or are you saying it didn't do enough as it reaffirmed the constitutionality of non-quota affirmative action programs? Just a little confused by what you mean...and it's a bit of a stretch to say there's a conservative majority in the Supreme Court. If there was a conservative majority, abortion would be illegal and handgun/assault weapon bans would have been ruled unconstitutional. And it'd be a cold day in hell when the ACLU took up a conservative cause.

The part about non-quota affirmative action programs. They got rid of the quotas, but allow race to be considered as a "plus" factor

 

[ehandber]

"Reverse racism" has always been a silly term to me. That implies that it is the opposite way of the way it is SUPPOSED to be.

Racism is racism, end of story.

But, those decisions were not meant to give under-qualified applicants (to jobs or otherwise) an edge. They were meant to balance the playing field in a game that has shown itself to be biased. The idea being that everyone, regardless of background, should be able to achieve this type of thing. Assuming that background is not a factor, we should see a reasonable representation of the races/sexes in advanced degrees and positions, but we don't. So, those rules are there to choose the under-represented when it comes down to a decision between over- and under-represented peoples, in a game where (as statistics will show) the over-represented are picked more frequently. (That's why they're over-represented!)

Now, if you feel that background SHOULD be a factor- that's a different argument. But one of the issues is that if you only choose people who are in a good position to begin with, it is unlikely that many of them would go to the places that need it most. When people who are not in such a good position are given better opportunities, it has been seen that they are much more likely to go to places that need it.

Just think- if Harvard offered you a full-ride scholarship for four years, and you got into a great residency, would you choose to go do family practice on a Native American reservation? How about in the inner city? Seems unlikely. In fact, how about if you had to pay for your school?

Now how about if someone from that area got freerolled? The odds are a little different.

---- Believe me, I want to get into medical school. But, I do not consider myself at a disadvantage whatsoever for not being part of an URM. If it was an advantage, they wouldn't be under-represented.

 

[2013 Hopeful]

I can understand how it can help out communities where an URM might be more likely to give back to their area. But this is the problem, the "disadvantage" thing; at what point is someone truly disadvantaged vs experiencing the crap that everyone experiences with life.

 

[lrkoehle]

I can understand how it can help out communities where an URM might be more likely to give back to their area. What I don't agree with is putting people who are unqualified into medical school. If they don't have the GPA or MCAT score, thats tough luck. I don't think ANYONE has a picture perfect life, so everyone has disadvantages. You can have a white person from a terrible neighborhood get passed over by a URM from a rich neighborhood based solely on the color of their skin (yes, the white guy could claim disadvantaged on their app). But this is the problem, the "disadvantage" thing; at what point is someone truly disadvantaged vs experiencing the crap that everyone experiences with life.

Furthermore, while it's nice that some people can get credits to apply for medical school for free/cheap, it becomes unfair to someone like me, who is lower middle class, and saving's was wiped out by applying to the expensive as hell medical school process. If they really want to level the playing field, don't selectively give credits to those who meet their artificial standards, make it cheaper for everyone.

I guess what makes it just frustrating for myself is that this process is such a mystery... there is really no magic formula to become a doctor... No matter how hard you work, you might get passed over, or you might get accepted. Roll the dice and see how they land.

I agree with what you're saying. They should pull people in from under represented communitees, not just groups. You may have an applicant from a group typically considered under represented, who was in no way disadvantaged. Anyways, there is nothing we can do about it, so I would suggest we all not waste our time or energy fretting about it.

 

[mathlink]

We can probably mostly agree that race/gender/background/etc should not be a factor in med school admissions. However, there will always be adcom members who lean one way or another on those matters, and there is no real way that it can be legislated or regulated in any way, because you are trying to force the judgement and opinions of a person or small group of people. There are no set requirements to meet and gain guaranteed acceptance to medical school, so this is what we must deal with. To interject a bit of ridiculous into what has become a heavy, sensitive subject, I will use the following absurd example:

It's like trying to make it illegal for breast size to be a factor in whether or not a guy is attracted to a girl.

Okay, that's over. Sorry if I offended anyone. But it kind of is like that. You just can't legislate fair. If I don't get in, I'm not going to blame it on the fact that I am a white male whose annual household income is greater than $50,000 a year (hooray for sugar mommas !) or who grew up the son of an attorney. I am blaming it on the fact that I only studied two weeks for the MCAT, slept my way through 5 credits of C in Biochem 460 & 461 (only C's I've ever gotten), and didn't listen to people who told me EC's were really important until after I had already been rejected once. As you can see, I have paid the price for that dearly the last two years and may do so again this year.

Odds are overwhelming that if you have good grades, a high MCAT, good EC's, and apply to several schools, you will get in. One or two will always not like you for some reason. I know a doctor who applied to 11 schools and got into 10. Why did he not get into the one? Because he was a Mormon, as told to him by an adcom member who was on his side when they were debating about him. He nearly sued, and may have won, but then he decided "bloody hell, I got into ten other schools."

Okay, I'm boring myself now, I'm going to shut up.

 

[nonlocality]

Sorry to jump in, I have been following this thread and I could not let such overtly ignorant and racist remarks by 2013 Hopeful go by without comment - particularly since the Adcoms can not respond.

"I can say that your chances of acceptance increase SIGNIFICANTLY if you are black or hispanic." 2013 Hopeful

I do agree that the minority matriculant numbers are messed up.

But if 2013 Hopeful took time to really look at the numbers he would find the truth (based on the 2008 census update numbers) http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/04000.html plus Arizona's med school matriculant statistics for 2006 http://www.aamc.org/data/facts/2006/state-re-mat2006.htm and applicant numbers http://www.aamc.org/data/facts/2006/state-re-app2006.htm

He would find that population percentages to Med school matriculant/applicant numbers look like this

Percentages: Az Population, Az Matriculants, Az Applicants
White: 58.4%, 61.8%, 66.5%
Hispanic: 30.1%, 17%,11.7%
Black: 4.2%, 3.6%, 3.3%
​

So based, just, on these matriculant numbers things don't match up, it seems like there might be a bias against minorities. But I do not think we can judge the Adcoms just upon this, in fact it seems to me that they are trying very hard to match up the population percentage numbers in the face of the applicant percentages.

So I salute the Adcoms.


"What I don't agree with is putting people who are unqualified into medical school. If they don't have the GPA or MCAT score, thats tough luck." 2013 Hopeful

Of course what makes up a qualified med school applicant is subject to debate. But it is simple minded to believe that MCAT/GPA numbers cover the complete waterfront in determining that.

Secondly, since we do not know what these MCAT/GPA numbers were for the particular URMs who were matriculated at Az med schools, how can you say they were less than the average numbers of those for non-URMs. What you are doing is making an inference derived from the average MCAT/GPA numbers for those populations and not the particulars of those who were accepted. So frankly you have no clue how heavily other factors (not MCAT/GPA) were used during the acceptance deliberations.

Frankly if I was 2013 Hopeful I would change my forum name and hope that the Az Adcoms do not find out who I am. If it were my med school I would not want him anywhere near it.

nonlocality

 

[MadEvans]

Frankly if I was 2013 Hopeful I would change my forum name and hope that the Az Adcoms do not find out who I am. If it were my med school I would not want him anywhere near it.

nonlocality

Oh snap. Nonlocality is back. I seriously hope you're doing an MPH degree or something with those statistical skills you continue to demonstrate.

I wouldn't stress 2013. I don't think anything you said was overtly racist. But just so you know, there aren't any students attending (at least in phx) that seem like 'underqualified applicants'. Most of the minority students here are much smarter than I am.

 

[mathlink]

He would find that population percentages to Med school matriculant/applicant numbers look like this

Percentages: Az Population, Az Matriculants, Az Applicants
White: 58.4%, 61.8%, 66.5%
Hispanic: 30.1%, 17%,11.7%
Black: 4.2%, 3.6%, 3.3%
​

So based, just, on these matriculant numbers things don't match up, it seems like there might be a bias against minorities. But I do not think we can judge the Adcoms just upon this, in fact it seems to me that they are trying very hard to match up the population percentage numbers in the face of the applicant percentages.

So I salute the Adcoms

Thanks for the numbers. It looks to me like applicants vs matriculants actually matches up within a handful of percentage points, which is what you should expect to happen, right? At least that's what one should expect with an adcom that judges applicant worthiness independent of race. It seems like UofA actually does a pretty good job of that.

Ideally, all three columns would match up, but there is an imbalance with population vs applicants, which in turn means an imbalance in population vs matriculants. I think the schools have offices of mulitcultural outreach and affairs to try to encourage URM's to apply, and therefore match the population/applicant percentages, which, I don't think anyone would argue, is a good thing. But until population and applicant percentages match up, I don't think the adcom should go out of its way to make population and matriculant percentages match up. That may be where we differ, or that may be what you were trying to say. (Reading comprehension is not at it's best when you have a 5 month old squawking in your ear.) Of course, it very well could be that that's just how it works with the 110/48 most competitive applicants. If it is, so be it; they just shouldn't try to force it that way, because then they are using race as a factor in deciding who to accept, which should never occur.

 

[lrkoehle]

But just so you know, there aren't any students attending (at least in phx) that seem like 'underqualified applicants'. Most of the minority students here are much smarter than I am.

How hard is that to do???? 😛😎😱 Just kidding MadE. You just left it so wide open for me go there. 😀

 

[nonlocality]

If we are striving for or value an egalitarian society then the face of the med school should reflect the face of the population. That appears not to be the case here.

You can assume that the UofA COM considers that goal to be important (http://www.diversity.medicine.arizona.edu/)

But if 2013 Hopeful believes that he would have had a SIGNIFICANTLY better chance at getting into med school if he where Black or Hispanic then these numbers belie that. The numbers show that being White offers the best chance. They are over represented (relative to the AZ population) in the AZ application pool and over represented in the AZ matriculation pool.

What the numbers also show is that Blacks/Hispanics are mildly/greatly underrepresented in this application pool (relative to population). It also shows that they are mildly/greatly underrepresented in the matriculation pool (relative to population).

And since we all self-select to apply to med school we can assume that as applicants, in general, Black/Hispanics felt their qualifications/chances were not good as their perceived competitors. (See 2008 incoming UofA Freshman statistics to see that their application percentages are less than their class representation: http://oirps.arizona.edu/files/Student_Demo/New_Freshmen_by_Ethnicity.pdf)

I believe that to claim things that are not facts reflects your underlying bias.

Whether or not 2013 Hopeful is or is not a racist I cannot say but I will assume not.

What I will say is obvious. I do not recommend that any poster on this/other forum verbalize a position on race/gender/ethnicity/social-class bias in a med school's selection.

Particularly when they do not know the exact biographies of those selected, and thus by implication might be impugning the judgment of the school's Adcoms.


From what madevans told us last year, the Adcoms are watching/judging what you say. And in his case, those judgments last year were appropriately positive.

My advice to 2013 Hopeful still stands, change your forum identity and hope the Adcoms don't find you out.

nonlocality

 

[mathlink]

From what madevans told us last year, the Adcoms are watching/judging what you say. And in his case, those judgments last year were appropriately positive

Sometimes I forget this. Maybe I should stop referring to kicking myself in the balls or comparing any part of the admissions process to breast size. I probably shouldn't admit that I slept through Biochem 460 either, but Dr. Cusanovich was pretty boring.

Then again, maybe they are looking to fill the class clown spot through the waitlist. In which case, my ridiculous comments will continue. I'll just avoid the topic of race.

 

[ehandber]

I think we should go back to talking about how badly all of us want in. Today, I would rate my med-school wishing at about a "Mind Tsunami."
😀😎

Come on, send me an admission!

 

[lrkoehle]

If we are striving for or value an egalitarian society then the face of the med school should reflect the face of the population. That appears not to be the case here.

You can assume that the UofA COM considers that goal to be important (http://www.diversity.medicine.arizona.edu/)

But if 2013 Hopeful believes that he would have had a SIGNIFICANTLY better chance at getting into med school if he where Black or Hispanic then these numbers belie that. The numbers show that being White offers the best chance. They are over represented (relative to the AZ population) in the AZ application pool and over represented in the AZ matriculation pool.

What the numbers also show is that Blacks/Hispanics are mildly/greatly underrepresented in this application pool (relative to population). It also shows that they are mildly/greatly underrepresented in the matriculation pool (relative to population).

And since we all self-select to apply to med school we can assume that as applicants, in general, Black/Hispanics felt their qualifications/chances were not good as their perceived competitors. (See 2008 incoming UofA Freshman statistics to see that their application percentages are less than their class representation: http://oirps.arizona.edu/files/Student_Demo/New_Freshmen_by_Ethnicity.pdf)

I believe that to claim things that are not facts reflects your underlying bias.

Whether or not 2013 Hopeful is or is not a racist I cannot say but I will assume not.

What I will say is obvious. I do not recommend that any poster on this/other forum verbalize a position on race/gender/ethnicity/social-class bias in a med school's selection.

Particularly when they do not know the exact biographies of those selected, and thus by implication might be impugning the judgment of the school's Adcoms.


From what madevans told us last year, the Adcoms are watching/judging what you say. And in his case, those judgments last year were appropriately positive.

My advice to 2013 Hopeful still stands, change your forum identity and hope the Adcoms don't find you out.

nonlocality

I think the best way to avoid this debate all together is to simply apply the principles of free love. Everybody gets a little freaky-freaky with every one, then BAM! a couple generations down the line every one is like seven-sixteenths this and five-fourteenths that and no racial bias can exist! Who's with me? A little bow-chika-bow-wow...wait, my wife wouldn't like that. nvm.

 

[MedHopeful777]

I just wanted to apologize to everyone for even sparking this whole racist debate with my question about how graduate degrees can affect your chances of acceptance. I in no way intended or anticipated to get a response like that or for the conversation to go in that direction. Additionally, if anyone still has any opinions about the actual question I posed, I would be happy to hear those responses.

Unfortunately my screen name (MedHopeful777) bears resemblance to 2013Hopeful. Just an interesting comment though...why is everyone assuming 2013Hopeful is male? Everyone keeps referring to 2013Hopeful as he.

 

[mathlink]

Yes, grad degrees help immensely. My RD once told me, "If you really want to get in, go get an MPH."

 

[lrkoehle]

Unfortunately my screen name (MedHopeful777) bears resemblance to 2013Hopeful. Just an interesting comment though...why is everyone assuming 2013Hopeful is male? Everyone keeps referring to 2013Hopeful as he.

because men become doctors, women become nurses. Therefore, since 2013 is applying to medical school and not nursing school, we know he is a male. Geez...

***obviously I am just kidding. If that wasn't obvious to you, then you need lighten up and stop being so PC 😎***

 

[Salt and Lime]

He would find that population percentages to Med school matriculant/applicant numbers look like this

Percentages: Az Population, Az Matriculants, Az Applicants
White: 58.4%, 61.8%, 66.5%
Hispanic: 30.1%, 17%,11.7%
Black: 4.2%, 3.6%, 3.3%
​

So based, just, on these matriculant numbers things don’t match up, it seems like there might be a bias against minorities.
nonlocality

I don't really care to jump into the URM debate, but I do have a statistics question. Hopeful 2013 presumed that it is easier to get in if one is a minority. Wouldn't you need to look at percentages of applicants who received acceptances to get an idea of that? The percentages quoted just tell whether or not URMs are indeed underrepresented in the applicant pool and then in med school classes, not if it's easier to gain an acceptance AS a URM.

 

[aztri]

I feel like every med student and their mother gets an MPH. If so many people end up getting it, how can there be any value in it?

To address your question medhopeful, graduate degrees may give you an extra little push if you are on the bubble of acceptance, but otherwise they are not viewed as exceptional by the adcoms. In fact, having a PhD can actually work against you because they wonder why you went through such a rigorous research-oriented program only to change your mind along the way. It bodes the question of whether an MD program and subsequently a career in medicine would hold your interest for any greater a time span. Master's degrees generally do more good for you as a backup plan than they do for your application. If you're enrolled in a Master's program, you have the luxury of maintaining student status with such perks as staying on your parents insurance, having less to explain on the standard "what did you do in the time since your graduation?" secondary app question, taking more classes that could pull up your cum. gpa, and having a more advanced degree in case you don't get in and have to consider an alternate career plan. Some programs are really efficient and allow you to graduate as a 4+1, where you can reserve graduate credits as an undergrad and then finish the Master's in one year. However, graduate students are also required to maintain a higher gpa so choose a program that you like and can excel in. Another downside is that Master's students are typically not funded and graduate school is more expensive than undergrad. Adding to this, there are very few scholarships for Master's students so you may wind up in some debt if you choose this route. So overall there are benefits to graduate degrees, but they do not compensate for deficiencies that are otherwise in your application.

With that said, I feel strongly that pursuing a graduate degree rather than compiling multiple bachelor degrees is more meaningful and productive. Take for example a student I know who is currently pursuing four (possibly five) majors simultaneously instead of simply doing a graduate degree program. His hope is to "get into the best medical school for free." Personally, I wouldn't hire a person that had that decided to double dip classes to get a quadruple bachelor degree in lieu of taking responsibility for a more rigorous graduate degree program where the slate is clean and you have to start fresh. He was also caught cheating, but due to his impeccable record and status as a Goldwater scholar he was only given one letter drop.

Anyways, hope that sheds some light on the true value of graduate degrees for pre-meds.

 

[lrkoehle]

I don't really care to jump into the URM debate, but I do have a statistics question. Hopeful 2013 presumed that it is easier to get in if one is a minority. Wouldn't you need to look at percentages of applicants who received acceptances to get an idea of that? The percentages quoted just tell whether or not URMs are indeed underrepresented in the applicant pool and then in med school classes, not if it's easier to gain an acceptance AS a URM.

Just to understand S&L, are you saying that we should be comparing % of applicants to % of matriculants, instead of % of population to % of matriculants? If I understand you correctly, are you saying that since for instance 66.5% of applicants were white yet only 61.8% of matriculants were white, that therefore one might conclude from that, that white applicants are less likely to be accepted?

 

[Salt and Lime]

Just to understand S&L, are you saying that we should be comparing % of applicants to % of matriculants, instead of % of population to % of matriculants? If I understand you correctly, are you saying that since for instance 66.5% of applicants were white yet only 61.8% of matriculants were white, that therefore one might conclude from that, that white applicants are less likely to be accepted?

No, I'm saying that those aren't the right numbers to look at. I think that the numbers relevant to Hopeful's claim would be # of caucasians accepted / # of caucasians applied, # of hispanics accepted / # of hispanics applied,etc... The % of matriculants just tells you the % of a school's class that are of a certain race, it does not tell you the % of applicants of that race who got in.

For example, if 25 green students apply to a class of 50 and 5 are accepted and all acceptees matriculate, the % of green matriculants is 10%, but the % of green students who were accepted (out of those who applied) is 20%.

Of course, that doesn't tell you WHY it may be easier or harder for an applicant of one group to get in. For example, green students might only be likely to apply to med school if they have outstanding stats, whereas there may be more blue applicants overall but also more with subpar stats.

 

[lrkoehle]

No, I'm saying that those aren't the right numbers to look at. I think that the numbers relevant to Hopeful's claim would be # of caucasians accepted / # of caucasians applied, # of hispanics accepted / # of hispanics applied,etc... The % of matriculants just tells you the % of a school's class that are of a certain race, it does not tell you the % of applicants of that race who got in.

For example, if 25 green students apply to a class of 50 and 5 are accepted and all acceptees matriculate, the % of green matriculants is 10%, but the % of green students who were accepted (out of those who applied) is 20%.

Of course, that doesn't tell you WHY it may be easier or harder for an applicant of one group to get in. For example, green students might only be likely to apply to med school if they have outstanding stats, whereas there may be more blue applicants overall but also more with subpar stats.

Got it.

I think I'm gunna go on record as saying I think the whole race thing is a waste of time for us to worry about. I had people try to tell me I was at a disadvantage for being a white male, and my response was basically who cares if I am? Its just a waste of a bunch of energy and time to worry about it.

 

[mathlink]

I think the best way to avoid this debate all together is to simply apply the principles of free love. Everybody gets a little freaky-freaky with every one, then BAM! a couple generations down the line every one is like seven-sixteenths this and five-fourteenths that and no racial bias can exist! Who's with me? A little bow-chika-bow-wow...wait, my wife wouldn't like that. nvm.

I think this is an excellent idea. Not only would all issues regarding race be nonexistent, but demand for physicians would be incredible due to the prevalence of VDs.

 

[mathlink]

Getting back to more relevent subjects, I have seen at least one or two people say they heard that the waitlist would come out March 1st. I have not heard this myself, except for on this forum. While it seems unlikely, is there anybody out there that has heard that, and if so, could you explain where you got that info from?

 

[ehandber]

Mathlink,

I think I am probably one of the people that said March 1st. I guess I should clarify that kind of thing- that is not a "real" date. What happened was that we were told (at some point) that the list would be coming out "in the beginning of March" or "in early March" and so we ASSUME it is March 1st, because to us hopefuls early=earliest possible moment. To the ADCOMs it seems like "early"= sometime before "late", so anytime prior to the 16th of March would be "early."

So, based on the fact we were told "early to mid March" relatively recently, I'm gonna use my ESP to predict that we will hear on either March 12th, or March 19th.

I hope that we do hear on/around the 1st, but I don't think that's gonna happen.

 

[BearDownAZ]

What has been the waitlist release date in the previous years?

 

[mathlink]

It has come out around 7-10 days after the final round of acceptances, but that was when the campuses always did everything on the same day. The best info we have now is that Tucson will send theirs out on the 12th, but Phoenix, as far as I know, remains a complete mystery.

 

[jturkel]

.

 

[ehandber]

Jturkel makes a good point. But maybe a different viewpoint would help.


;

 

[jturkel]

Jturkel makes a good point. But maybe a different viewpoint would help.


;

haha...interesting perspective. lol.

i typed something, and then realized that i didnt read the entire post above me...so then i deleted my post...but it wouldnt let me completely delete it without going into the advance options to delete it....so i just put a . there haha....

 

[MadEvans]

How hard is that to do???? 😛😎😱 Just kidding MadE. You just left it so wide open for me go there. 😀

Ouch!

And, nonlocality... I doubt UA adcoms check SDN for info on their students. Pretty ridiculous, actually. If they don't even have time to add letters of interest and journal submission updates to your file, then I doubt they have time to analyze every statement made on SDN to judge each applicant's moral character.

...unless something terrible was said, like a heinous crime you committed or something... so don't get any ideas lrk.

 

[MedMan25]

Ouch!

And, nonlocality... I doubt UA adcoms check SDN for info on their students. Pretty ridiculous, actually. If they don't even have time to add letters of interest and journal submission updates to your file, then I doubt they have time to analyze every statement made on SDN to judge each applicant's moral character.

...unless something terrible was said, like a heinous crime you committed or something... so don't get any ideas lrk.

You're wrong. I know of people on the UA admissions who stalk SDN. Trust me, they are watching these threads.

 

[lrkoehle]

Ouch!

And, nonlocality... I doubt UA adcoms check SDN for info on their students. Pretty ridiculous, actually. If they don't even have time to add letters of interest and journal submission updates to your file, then I doubt they have time to analyze every statement made on SDN to judge each applicant's moral character.

...unless something terrible was said, like a heinous crime you committed or something... so don't get any ideas lrk.

Got it. Keep any mention of the crimes I have committed against humanity to a bear minimum...I mean, what crimes? That nun was givin' me the evil eye, that's why I had to punch her. Its called self-defense. And those little kids...don't even get me started on why I stole their lunch money (in my defense I used the stolen lunch money to pay for secondaries).

 

[ehandber]

We need to come up with some kind of game, betting on the waitlist, or something to help us/(me) pass the time!

How about we pick the date and 1 SDNer that will get waitlisted (no picking yourself), and which campus they will be WL'd at.

Any other ideas?

 

[shepardsun]

Okay I've edited this to reflect the new rules: Ehandber at Tucson on the 12th of March rank 15, mathlink at Phoenix on the 16th with an amazing waitlist rank of 5 reflecting the EM paper/conference he let them know about.

 

[MadEvans]

You're wrong. I know of people on the UA admissions who stalk SDN. Trust me, they are watching these threads.

I don't doubt they watch these threads. I'm just saying the most they'd want to get out of them is: is this student interested in our school? does the student have other acceptances (mdapps - since they can't officially tell until March sometime I think)? and what type of biases do students have so we can address them on interview day? Questions like these. Not... what is this student's political ideology?

 

[ehandber]

Shepard,

Thanks for the vote of confidence. I'm down for bets, but I think we should have the bet be that if you get it right, then the person who you picked has to buy you lunch. That way everyone wins.

I'm gonna have to call Mathlink @ Tucson on the 12th, and I'm gonna say rank #21 (any higher than that, I'll buy a drink too!)

 

[mathlink]

I don't doubt they watch these threads

Didn't Tara call you out at some orientation meeting by saying something to the effect of "We've really enjoyed following your discussions on SDN this year; we're even pleased to have the most frequent poster, MadEvans, here in our class", then calling you out by name and having you take a bow or something? Don't ask me why I remember that.

I'd also like to thank shepardsun and ehandber for their votes of confidence. I'm betting ehandber gets a suprise straight-up acceptance email from Tucson on March 12th (getting one of the spots that has already been vacated since the last acceptance day).

If I were to bet on myself, I'd still say waitlist #52 in Tucson, getting the acceptance call on July 14th.

If neither ehandber or myself get in, I say we become professional wrestlers so we can put "WWE Unified Tag Team Champion - 6 Times" on our resumes when we reapply in a few years. We could even wear the belts to our interviews. Nobody else in their applicant pool could claim that.

In case any of you were wondering because of that last paragraph, yes, the stress of medical school applications has sunk me to the low of watching professional wrestling again.

 

[MadEvans]

then calling you out by name and having you take a bow or something?

Hahaha, yeah, pretty much. Although to me it felt more like "point and laugh" rather than "take a bow".

But looks like some of you guys are edging up on my SDN infamy. Lrk is approaching 1,500 posts. If his name was as un-annonymous as mine, he'd be taking a bow down in Tucson this coming August.

MathLink or Ehandber, you better get into Phx so I can pass on the torch. Or, Shep, maybe you can take my spot. 🙂 hahaha. I've found that the more I post on SDN, the better my grades are. Probably because it keeps me here... in front of my laptop all day long.

But as an unfortunate catch... the more I post on SDN, the more terrible my out-of-shapeness becomes. I've got an intramural soccer game tonight, and it feels like the most physical thing I've done in the past three weeks is walk up the stairs of my house.

 

[ehandber]

Haha, if I get that surprise acceptance then that counts as a jackpot for you. I'll buy you dinner and drinks for calling it! I will be SOOO stoked.

 

[MedMan25]

I don't doubt they watch these threads. I'm just saying the most they'd want to get out of them is: is this student interested in our school? does the student have other acceptances (mdapps - since they can't officially tell until March sometime I think)? and what type of biases do students have so we can address them on interview day? Questions like these. Not... what is this student's political ideology?

True, they aren't interested in finding out what your political stance is but there is a reason admissions personnel from UA and other med schools check out these forums (as well as facebook/myspace accounts). There is a lot you can glean about someone's character by observing how they act when they think nobody important is watching.

 

[SunDevilDoc]

How are they supposed to know who we are?

 

[MedMan25]

How are they supposed to know who we are?

Using part of your real name as your SDN handle and/or creating an MDapps profile that is nearly identical to your med school application makes it pretty easy for someone to identify you. If you keep a low profile, you don't have much to worry about.