2009-2010 University of Arizona Application Thread

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shepardsun said:
I hope that we will see a little bit more waitlist movement due to financial reasons than in the past. The state of the local economy is just disastrous and the recent increases in tuition as well as the relatively paltry aid estimates I've been hearing may cause students, especially OOS, to head off for greener pastures once aid from schools starts to roll in. It's kind of sad when the relative economics between U of A and a school like Wash U are going to be pretty darn close.
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IIRC.....wash u tuition is less than U of A OOS, which you are (iirc), correct?
 
I am happy about the movement. Do you guys think we'll hit 46 this week? I'm optimistic!
 
shepardsun said:
I hope that we will see a little bit more waitlist movement due to financial reasons than in the past. The state of the local economy is just disastrous and the recent increases in tuition as well as the relatively paltry aid estimates I've been hearing may cause students, especially OOS, to head off for greener pastures once aid from schools starts to roll in. It's kind of sad when the relative economics between U of A and a school like Wash U are going to be pretty darn close.
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I agree with this, but I must say WashU makes me want to :barf: jk (kind of).

jturkel said:
IIRC.....wash u tuition is less than U of A OOS, which you are (iirc), correct?
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Shep is IS, his farm is just north of Phoenix. That's where he has his prize cattle:

steroid_20bull.jpg
 
lrkoehle said:
I agree with this, but I must say WashU makes me want to :barf: jk (kind of).
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The program's not really a good fit for me but I can say I see why it's a top 10 school.

lrkoehle said:
Shep is IS, his farm is just north of Phoenix. That's where he has his prize cattle:
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Yeah Turkelton, where do you think restaurants get their 72oz steaks?
 
shepardsun said:
The program's not really a good fit for me but I can say I see why it's a top 10 school.



Yeah Turkelton, where do you think restaurants get their 72oz steaks?
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to address wash u.....i really liked the school. a lot. it was one of the only schools that just blew me away. completely. the entire medical schoo center was unreal...the medical buildings, the proximity to the train (the L or whatever, i dont remember), having a gym in Olin on the 2nd floor AND a full basketball court in the basement AND that awesome penthouse level for pool/ping pong/partying/with that massive tv setup.......i love how you could walk from olin to class to the library to barnes-jewish or st louis childrens without even walking outside! barnes-jewish is amazing and the facilities there are ridiculous. i'm not a big fan of st louis though to be honest. i'm also not sure how much i would like having that second yr be graded, though i know it is uncurved and i hear most everyone gets A's (well go figure....they all got into wash u lol). the other thing i dont like is the amount of lecture time the have....i hear it is a LOT

regarding 72 oz steaks, i honestly havent been reading most of that conversation. however, IIRC, i saw a tv show that went to all these eateries in TX and one of them had this huge steak (could have been 72 oz) that they offered people to eat in some sort of competition. if this is the case, i would imagine, they get it from some massive massive cows....home grown/raised in the state of TX....since everything is bigger there (or so they say) :laugh:
 
jturkel said:
to address wash u.....i really liked the school. a lot. it was one of the only schools that just blew me away. completely. the entire medical schoo center was unreal...the medical buildings, the proximity to the train (the L or whatever, i dont remember), having a gym in Olin on the 2nd floor AND a full basketball court in the basement AND that awesome penthouse level for pool/ping pong/partying/with that massive tv setup.......i love how you could walk from olin to class to the library to barnes-jewish or st louis childrens without even walking outside! barnes-jewish is amazing and the facilities there are ridiculous. i'm not a big fan of st louis though to be honest. i'm also not sure how much i would like having that second yr be graded, though i know it is uncurved and i hear most everyone gets A's (well go figure....they all got into wash u lol). the other thing i dont like is the amount of lecture time the have....i hear it is a LOT
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Yeah, I agree with the comments on the facilities. Very impressive. I think we're on the same page about St. Louis, I'm also not a huge fan of grades, though I understand they're one way you distinguish yourself amidst your class, and the lecture time is probably the main reason that I don't think it's the best fit for me. Tons of lecture time and a much smaller emphasis on clinical stuff than Phoenix. But still, amazing school. If I withdraw, and there's a pretty good chance I do, I'll have them send my spot to you. 🙂
 
ehandber said:
I am happy about the movement. Do you guys think we'll hit 46 this week? I'm optimistic!
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Yeah, I'm optimistic! I think we'll blow past 50 next week - easy! 😀

Seriously though, I am optimistic that we can still hit my prediction of a total of 6 spots in the last 3 weeks of April (3 more to go in 9 days 😎 ). It took me about a month to get all my anxieties out, and I've realized I need to take a more observational approach. Overall, I'd still say we'll end up between 55-65 - but again, who knows? 🙄

How 'bout them Suns?! 👍 Why didn't they play like that on Sunday?!
 
MadeInReydn said:
Yeah, I'm optimistic! I think we'll blow past 50 next week - easy! 😀

Seriously though, I am optimistic that we can still hit my prediction of a total of 6 spots in the last 3 weeks of April (3 more to go in 9 days 😎 ). It took me about a month to get all my anxieties out, and I've realized I need to take a more observational approach. Overall, I'd still say we'll end up between 55-65 - but again, who knows? 🙄

How 'bout them Suns?! 👍 Why didn't they play like that on Sunday?!
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SO LUCKY! I wish I could say I have all my anxieties out haha
 
MadeInReydn said:
How 'bout them Suns?! 👍 Why didn't they play like that on Sunday?!
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they probably didn't feel the need to play their best, thinking about the lack of depth and of brandon roy on portland. but once the lost, the experienced veterans the suns are raised their level of play way above that of game one and showed portland who is going to win the series.
 
Just got my acceptance to UA - TUCSON!!!!!! Heck yesssssssssssssss!

So excited 😀
 
Ilovewater said:
Congrats! Will you be going there for sure?
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Oh most definitely - UA was the choice I was waiting on, so I'll be keeping my spot. 👍

So glad that there has been waitlist movement this week though! Good Luck to everyone else on the WL! It's gonna happen, so don't stop believing!
 
SurfdudeJD said:
Oh most definitely - UA was the choice I was waiting on, so I'll be keeping my spot. 👍

So glad that there has been waitlist movement this week though! Good Luck to everyone else on the WL! It's gonna happen, so don't stop believing!
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congrats! you going to second look this weekend!?
 
Tucson:

Waitlist Position-
14) SmokeyGray - IS; ACCEPTED 03/22/10. 1 other acceptance, 2 other waitlists, waiting on 3 more
16) Ilovewater - IS; ACCEPTED 03/30/10. 3 other acceptances, waiting on 5
17) tmm808 - IS; ACCEPTED 04/13/10. 3 other acceptances
20) SurfdudeJD - IS; ACCEPTED 04/21/10 waiting on 3 others
34) Indiana06 - OOS; Accepted @ Phx
39) Nasappah - OOS; 2 other acceptances, couple waitlists
42) ACE28 - IS
46) ehandber - IS; 0 other acceptances/applications.
49) MedHopeful777 - IS, 0 other waitlists, 0 other acceptances, small pooled at Rosalind Franklin
61) MadeInReydn - IS; 1 other acceptance (Set on UA, not sure which campus)
62) paiger - IS; 0 other acceptances (2 other waitlists)
81) Happyglucky - IS; 2 other acceptances, waiting on 1
85) sweetlife - IS ; 0 other acceptances
89) aztri - IS; 0 other acceptances
93) countryboydoc - IS; Accepted @ Phx, 2 other acceptances, 3 waitlists, waiting on 3 more
121) sunny1 - IS
123) BearDownAZ - IS; 0 other acceptances (1 waitlist, 1 in TBD)

Phoenix:

Waitlist date-
IS:
03/04
happyglucky - IS--ACCEPTED 03/24/10
Who Dat Nation - IS ACCEPTED 04/06/10
2 LEGIT 2 QUIT - IS
7franks - IS
bminz - IS (Set on Phoenix)
chagramama- IS
Ehandber - IS (WL'd #46 @ Tucson)
MadeInReydn - IS (WL'd #61 @ Tucson)
Opt79- IS
shep's friend (33 MCAT) - IS?

03/12
aztri- IS (WL'd #89 @Tucson)
paiger- IS (WL'd #62 @ Tucson)

OOS:
03/05
nyyfan65 - OOS; ACCEPTED 04/16/10
DancinSarah - OOS
JMJ777 - OOS; 1 other waitlist, 1 interview to go
Meducated - OOS
MIR's Friend - OOS; 1 acceptance, a few other WL's, Phx not his top choice
Nasappah - OOS
Phosphorus Ylide - OOS; 1 other acceptance (90% RFU)
ShameFame - OOS

__________________________________________________ _______


Entering Fall 2007:

Around 4/28: 10
Around 5/15: 38
By matriculation day: 53-54

Entering Fall 2008:

3/24 (12 days): 3
3/25 (13 days): 5
4/04 (3 ½ weeks): 12
4/07 (4 weeks): 13
4/10 Tucson and PHX 2nd Look
4/22 (6 weeks): 18
4/28 (6 ½ weeks): 20
5/01 (7 weeks): 25
5/08 (8 weeks): 32
5/12 (8 ½ weeks): 33
5/15 (9 weeks): 39
5/19 (9 ½ weeks): 42
5/23 (10 ½ weeks): 48
5/27 (11 weeks): 49
6/03 (12 weeks): 52
6/05 (12 weeks): 57
6/11 (13 weeks): 59
7/28 (19 ½ weeks): 63
Matriculation day: 65

Entering Fall 2009:

3/18 (7 days): 6
3/25 (2 weeks): 10
3/30 (2 ½ weeks): 11
4/01 (3 weeks): 13
4/08 (4 weeks): 15
4/09-11: Tucson and PHX 2nd Look
4/15 (5 weeks): 17
4/27 (6 ½ weeks): 19
5/04 (7 ½ weeks): 23
5/11 (8 ½ weeks): 25
5/15 (9 weeks): 32
5/18 (9 ½ weeks): 37
5/21 (10 weeks): 40
5/29 (11 weeks): 44
6/05 (12 ½ weeks): 47
7/08 (17 weeks): 49
7/28 (19 ½ weeks): 51
Matriculation day: 55

Entering Fall 2010:

3/15 (3 days): 13
3/22 (10 days): 14
3/30 (2 ½ weeks): 16
4/08-10: PHX 2nd Look
4/13 (4 weeks): 17
4/20 (5 ½ weeks): 19
4/21 (5 1/2 weeks): 20
 
We have a really large gap now of no SDNers on the Tucson WL until #34. I guess this means keeping up the calls to see how far we have moved!
 
Just withdrew from Phoenix. Good luck to everyone--hopefully one of you gets my spot! 🙂
 
happyglucky said:
Just withdrew from Phoenix. Good luck to everyone--hopefully one of you gets my spot! 🙂
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Congrats on making your decision. I'm sure that the school you chose feels lucky to have you. Hopefully, one of us here on SDN gets your spot. Let's go Phoenix!
 
SurfdudeJD said:
Just got my acceptance to UA - TUCSON!!!!!! Heck yesssssssssssssss!

So excited 😀
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WOOOOO!!!! Congrats!!! You da DUDE!!!

Yeah, I'm optimistic . . . 👍👍👍👍😀😀😀

2 more in 8 days to hit my prediction 😎 4 more to hit my hopes . . .

happyglucky said:
Just withdrew from Phoenix. Good luck to everyone--hopefully one of you gets my spot! 🙂
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Hey man, I know I don't speak for myself when I say all us on the PHX WL REALLY appreciate it!!!
 
jturkel said:
they probably didn't feel the need to play their best, thinking about the lack of depth and of brandon roy on portland. but once the lost, the experienced veterans the suns are raised their level of play way above that of game one and showed portland who is going to win the series.
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Yeah, they really flexed their scoring muscle yesterday 😀 I think they DID have to adjust a bit, but whatever they did (matchups, mindset as you said, etc.), it sure worked! Now if they can just do it again at least once in Portland. 👍

ehandber said:
I hope I hope I hope! 😀
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Despite the lull until recently, we should be glad to see we're still setting records here for numbers pulled by this time. Just think Erik and MedHopeful, we're nearly half way to you guys! I'm guessing you will wake most or all mornings of June with a large 'I'm accepted!' smile plastered on your faces; like so -> 😀
 
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MadeInReydn said:
Yeah, they really flexed their scoring muscle yesterday 😀 I think they DID have to adjust a bit, but whatever they did (matchups, mindset as you said, etc.), it sure worked! Now if they can just do it again at least once in Portland. 👍



Despite the lull until recently, we should be glad to see we're still setting records here for numbers pulled by this time. Just think Erik and MedHopeful, we're nearly half way to you guys! I'm guessing you will wake most or all mornings of June with a large 'I'm accepted!' smile plastered on your faces; like so -> 😀
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I certainly hope you are right! Thanks for the support Madein!
 
Me now: 😕
Me a week from now: 😕
On the day I get accepted: :soexcited:
Everyday after that: 😏


Why? Because this process has taught me to never let my guard down for too long.... :ninja:
 
ehandber said:
Me now: 😕
Me a week from now: 😕
On the day I get accepted: :soexcited:
Everyday after that: 😏


Why? Because this process has taught me to never let my guard down for too long.... :ninja:
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I know how you feel...you're getting ever closer to Tucson and who knows with Phoenix...
 
jturkel said:
to address wash u.....i really liked the school. a lot. it was one of the only schools that just blew me away. completely. the entire medical schoo center was unreal...the medical buildings, the proximity to the train (the L or whatever, i dont remember), having a gym in Olin on the 2nd floor AND a full basketball court in the basement AND that awesome penthouse level for pool/ping pong/partying/with that massive tv setup.......i love how you could walk from olin to class to the library to barnes-jewish or st louis childrens without even walking outside! barnes-jewish is amazing and the facilities there are ridiculous. i'm not a big fan of st louis though to be honest. i'm also not sure how much i would like having that second yr be graded, though i know it is uncurved and i hear most everyone gets A's (well go figure....they all got into wash u lol). the other thing i dont like is the amount of lecture time the have....i hear it is a LOT

regarding 72 oz steaks, i honestly havent been reading most of that conversation. however, IIRC, i saw a tv show that went to all these eateries in TX and one of them had this huge steak (could have been 72 oz) that they offered people to eat in some sort of competition. if this is the case, i would imagine, they get it from some massive massive cows....home grown/raised in the state of TX....since everything is bigger there (or so they say) :laugh:
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This is funny to me, because the city of St. Louis was the only reason I applied to WashU. The facilities seem great from what I have gathered, but I really don't think it would have been the right fit for me at all.

As for the 72 oz. steak, I brought that up after watching Man vs. Food. Honestly, my biggest goal in life up to now was getting into medical school. Now that I've done that, I think this steak is the next real goal for me in life. Screw the goal of getting a good residency, if I can eat a massive steak, I'll die happy.

shepardsun said:
I'm also not a huge fan of grades, though I understand they're one way you distinguish yourself amidst your class
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Sound like a recipe for competition anyone? Even though you aren't being directly compared to your classmates (ie top 10% get honors), but still everyone knows that more people getting A's is not as good for their own standing. Frankly, the concept of distinguishing yourself amongst classmates is bullsh*t. Is that what we're supposed to do in the hospital is compete against our fellow doctors? I think we can all agree that would not be good for patient care, which is the ultimate goal. I think this is one of the reasons many of us are drawn to UA, and a huge part of the reason most schools around the country are making the move to strictly pass/fail unranked pre-clinical years.

SurfdudeJD said:
Just got my acceptance to UA - TUCSON!!!!!! Heck yesssssssssssssss!

So excited 😀
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Awesome!!! Can't wait to meet you next year!

jturkel said:
congrats! you going to second look this weekend!?
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I'm pretty sure you had to RSVP for second look by Monday, so its probably too late for him to come. Maybe admin will give him an exception...
 
lrkoehle said:
Sound like a recipe for competition anyone? Even though you aren't being directly compared to your classmates (ie top 10% get honors), but still everyone knows that more people getting A's is not as good for their own standing. Frankly, the concept of distinguishing yourself amongst classmates is bullsh*t. Is that what we're supposed to do in the hospital is compete against our fellow doctors? I think we can all agree that would not be good for patient care, which is the ultimate goal. I think this is one of the reasons many of us are drawn to UA, and a huge part of the reason most schools around the country are making the move to strictly pass/fail unranked pre-clinical years.
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I'm playing devil's advocate here and it won't be long because I need to get to bed but as much as I agree with you that competition is dumb and I don't expect it anywhere near the degree undergrad has been in med school, the point is that if you want to be able to give the best patient care which is, I agree, the primary goal, then you want to aim for the best possible training program. The only person you should be "competing" with in med school is yourself, but residency, like medical school, needs some way of analytically assessing the available candidates so they can pick students who are both right for their program and have the highest possibility of succeeding in it. Grades are just one of those ways of gathering information and forming a picture about someone. In a perfect world, should arbitrary grades exist, and by extension, be an indication of the "quality" of a person? No, of course not. Do we live in a perfect world? Far from it. Unfortunately, as much as one hates the game, one is still often forced to play it. That's the entire pre-med path, in a nutshell, actually. I think that you'll find if you pursue ortho you'll be grouped in with a bunch of people who have no scruples playing the game, and playing it hard. To take an ideological objection to the game and refuse to play is great, but maybe not necessarily in your best interests.

Edit: Reading back over this I want to make sure that nobody confuses this sentiment with "gunner"-ness. I think that sabotaging people so that you can look better is beyond evil. I think that grades on a curve, where only the top 10% can get an A even if 15% have above a 90% in the class, is beyond evil. When I say "play the game" I mean that in the sense where as med students we operate in a certain environment with parameters that measure our success, whether they are step scores, clerkship grades, evaluations, etc. Competition for me is not about going out of my way to not share materials with you or make sure that you miss key points of information. It's putting my head down, challenging myself, and trying my best to achieve personal success within those parameters. Just my two cents.
 
Your response was pretty long, but I think I followed it and think I agree. (Few G&T's and still I check this board! I must think you guys are pretty cool...)

Basically, until everyone knows everything entirely there will always be some room for improvement. We need a way to grade that, and to reward those who know more.

I think competition breeds improvement, until "winning" becomes the goal, rather than the original goal of doing well. The difference between trying to learn to score more points and trying to get the other team to score less points. I like when everyone works together to try to all hit 100% through competition, so the test has to become harder.

That's the idea, right?
 
just wanted to post a little bit of interesting info i was curious about. i had heard from an MS1 about something interesting about the grading system, and wasn't sure if i had heard incorrectly. i know some schools are true pass/fail, and don't record percents, and some are pass/fail with percents recorded internally which are used for internal class ranking, etc....here is what i found out about U of A from a current MS1 in tucson in case anyone else is interested. friend added on a little bit about AOA as well. (paraphrased so sorry for the bad organization/typing. too lazy to fix lol) :

"the transcript is only pass/fail. the dean's letter that goes out to the residencies contains a graph that shows how you did in comparison to the class average in each block. also top five people (or apparently 1/6th of the top 25%) or so in the class get AOA. these top five people are determined by percent scores in each block and tests. but anything over 70 is pass
and thats what goes in your transcripts. as far as residencies care its either AOA or pass, but it doesn't hurt to do around class average which is what i try to go for. that said no one gives a **** about your first two years. if you pass third year its a bit different. you have your honors high pass pass low pass etc. then it counts"
 
shepardsun said:
I'm playing devil's advocate here and it won't be long because I need to get to bed but as much as I agree with you that competition is dumb and I don't expect it anywhere near the degree undergrad has been in med school, the point is that if you want to be able to give the best patient care which is, I agree, the primary goal, then you want to aim for the best possible training program. The only person you should be "competing" with in med school is yourself, but residency, like medical school, needs some way of analytically assessing the available candidates so they can pick students who are both right for their program and have the highest possibility of succeeding in it. Grades are just one of those ways of gathering information and forming a picture about someone. In a perfect world, should arbitrary grades exist, and by extension, be an indication of the "quality" of a person? No, of course not. Do we live in a perfect world? Far from it. Unfortunately, as much as one hates the game, one is still often forced to play it. That's the entire pre-med path, in a nutshell, actually. I think that you'll find if you pursue ortho you'll be grouped in with a bunch of people who have no scruples playing the game, and playing it hard. To take an ideological objection to the game and refuse to play is great, but maybe not necessarily in your best interests.

Edit: Reading back over this I want to make sure that nobody confuses this sentiment with "gunner"-ness. I think that sabotaging people so that you can look better is beyond evil. I think that grades on a curve, where only the top 10% can get an A even if 15% have above a 90% in the class, is beyond evil. When I say "play the game" I mean that in the sense where as med students we operate in a certain environment with parameters that measure our success, whether they are step scores, clerkship grades, evaluations, etc. Competition for me is not about going out of my way to not share materials with you or make sure that you miss key points of information. It's putting my head down, challenging myself, and trying my best to achieve personal success within those parameters. Just my two cents.
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i agree with all of this. i have nothing wrong with wash u's system. it is uncurved, which is fine.....everyone can still get an A and ace the test. and i remember i was told this. fosters that "collaborative, non-competitive environment conducive to learning...." (man i must have said that a ton in interviews about different curriculums lol).....i still just dont like that long lecture time. i mean... it is apparently ultra traditional in the amount of time. like....almost all day, almost every day
 
jturkel said:
just wanted to post a little bit of interesting info i was curious about. i had heard from an MS1 about something interesting about the grading system, and wasn't sure if i had heard incorrectly. i know some schools are true pass/fail, and don't record percents, and some are pass/fail with percents recorded internally which are used for internal class ranking, etc....here is what i found out about U of A from a current MS1 in tucson in case anyone else is interested. friend added on a little bit about AOA as well. (paraphrased so sorry for the bad organization/typing. too lazy to fix lol) :

"the transcript is only pass/fail. the dean's letter that goes out to the residencies contains a graph that shows how you did in comparison to the class average in each block. also top five people (or apparently 1/6th of the top 25%) or so in the class get AOA. these top five people are determined by percent scores in each block and tests. but anything over 70 is pass
and thats what goes in your transcripts. as far as residencies care its either AOA or pass, but it doesn't hurt to do around class average which is what i try to go for. that said no one gives a **** about your first two years. if you pass third year its a bit different. you have your honors high pass pass low pass etc. then it counts"
Click to expand...

Yes, I heard this from several MS1 as well. Even though it's P/F, you still get a percentage score for every test. However, no one will know how anyone else performed. So basically, you are ranked in your class, and that rank is reported in the dean's letter.
 
jturkel said:
just wanted to post a little bit of interesting info i was curious about. i had heard from an MS1 about something interesting about the grading system, and wasn't sure if i had heard incorrectly. i know some schools are true pass/fail, and don't record percents, and some are pass/fail with percents recorded internally which are used for internal class ranking, etc....here is what i found out about U of A from a current MS1 in tucson in case anyone else is interested. friend added on a little bit about AOA as well. (paraphrased so sorry for the bad organization/typing. too lazy to fix lol) :

"the transcript is only pass/fail. the dean's letter that goes out to the residencies contains a graph that shows how you did in comparison to the class average in each block. also top five people (or apparently 1/6th of the top 25%) or so in the class get AOA. these top five people are determined by percent scores in each block and tests. but anything over 70 is pass
and thats what goes in your transcripts. as far as residencies care its either AOA or pass, but it doesn't hurt to do around class average which is what i try to go for. that said no one gives a **** about your first two years. if you pass third year its a bit different. you have your honors high pass pass low pass etc. then it counts"
Click to expand...

Just to make sure there's no confusion, I just wanted to point out that Phoenix is not this way. While you do personally get your percentage back for a test, that information is not used to rank the class in any way nor is it reported. You find out the average for the class on that particular test, but get no information besides this, and neither do the dean, professors, etc. We talked about adding AOA but voted it down in order to keep our true P/F system. Just wanted to make it clear that this is another area where these two schools differ in a big way!
 
shepardsun said:
I'm playing devil's advocate here and it won't be long because I need to get to bed but as much as I agree with you that competition is dumb and I don't expect it anywhere near the degree undergrad has been in med school, the point is that if you want to be able to give the best patient care which is, I agree, the primary goal, then you want to aim for the best possible training program. The only person you should be "competing" with in med school is yourself, but residency, like medical school, needs some way of analytically assessing the available candidates so they can pick students who are both right for their program and have the highest possibility of succeeding in it. Grades are just one of those ways of gathering information and forming a picture about someone. In a perfect world, should arbitrary grades exist, and by extension, be an indication of the "quality" of a person? No, of course not. Do we live in a perfect world? Far from it. Unfortunately, as much as one hates the game, one is still often forced to play it. That's the entire pre-med path, in a nutshell, actually. I think that you'll find if you pursue ortho you'll be grouped in with a bunch of people who have no scruples playing the game, and playing it hard. To take an ideological objection to the game and refuse to play is great, but maybe not necessarily in your best interests.

Edit: Reading back over this I want to make sure that nobody confuses this sentiment with "gunner"-ness. I think that sabotaging people so that you can look better is beyond evil. I think that grades on a curve, where only the top 10% can get an A even if 15% have above a 90% in the class, is beyond evil. When I say "play the game" I mean that in the sense where as med students we operate in a certain environment with parameters that measure our success, whether they are step scores, clerkship grades, evaluations, etc. Competition for me is not about going out of my way to not share materials with you or make sure that you miss key points of information. It's putting my head down, challenging myself, and trying my best to achieve personal success within those parameters. Just my two cents.
Click to expand...

GUUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNNNNEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!! jk 😛

I don't know about medical school being less competitive than undergrad. Think about it, you take and get rid of all the people who didn't fight hard enough to get into medical school and who are you left with? Only those who willing to make the sacrifices to get there. More importantly, med school while an intermediary goal is not the end goal for any of us. The end goal is being doctor in some particular field, so many of us will step our games up to ensure we achieve the residency of our dreams. I know its not quite as bad as I'm making it out to be, but I'm just saying there are a lot of things that can contribute to competition in medical school, especially if you're at a school where most people are gunning for a competitive residency.

As for preclinical grades, they have been consistently shown as far as I am aware of to be very low on the list of things that residency directors look at, while things like Step-I score, 3rd year clinical grades, and whether or not you have done an away rotation at their institution are more highly considered. This makes sense too, why would they look at pre-clinical grades when the step is a standardized test of all of these topics? If these grades aren't going to be considered by residency directors, then why should we be stressing to make sure we get a certain grade? That's added stress that we do not need. Plus, getting a high grade in a class may require you to study ad nauseum topics that may not even be tested on the step, but since your professor has their PhD in that topic you have to know it for the test. This is where pass/fail is great, because you can study the overall important material well enough to pass while focusing on the step-I stuff. Does this logic make sense, or am I totally crazy?

When it really comes down to it, I know we all have to play the game, because that's the reality of our situation. I guess I'm just focused on playing the game in a slightly different way. That way is to say f*ck preclinical crap grades (they don't matter anyways), destroy step-I. After all, step-I is going to be the most important test in our lives. It will determine what away rotations we may be able to get and where we end up for residency.

Edit: As for pre-clinical grades being "necessary" for residencies to distinguish between candidates, I don't really buy this. Look at a school like Mayo, would any one say those students struggle to find a good residency because they couldn't distinguish themselves? I wouldn't.
 
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Brrooother said:
Just to make sure there's no confusion, I just wanted to point out that Phoenix is not this way. While you do personally get your percentage back for a test, that information is not used to rank the class in any way nor is it reported. You find out the average for the class on that particular test, but get no information besides this, and neither do the dean, professors, etc. We talked about adding AOA but voted it down in order to keep our true P/F system. Just wanted to make it clear that this is another area where these two schools differ in a big way!
Click to expand...

I was under the impression that this is how Tucson was setup too. I guess we'll find out tomorrow at second look...
 
Brrooother said:
Just to make sure there's no confusion, I just wanted to point out that Phoenix is not this way. While you do personally get your percentage back for a test, that information is not used to rank the class in any way nor is it reported. You find out the average for the class on that particular test, but get no information besides this, and neither do the dean, professors, etc. We talked about adding AOA but voted it down in order to keep our true P/F system. Just wanted to make it clear that this is another area where these two schools differ in a big way!
Click to expand...

ah. didn't know that. thanks for clearing that up. that's just the information that one of my current Tucson MS1 friends told me after I heard it from another current MS1 down there but wasn't sure I heard correctly.
 
Did anyone by chance call today to see what number we are at? If not, I can give one last call tomorrow to finish off the week. Have fun everyone at second look day!
 
Looks like whoever received happyglucky's Phx spot isn't an SDNer.
 
lrkoehle said:
This is where pass/fail is great, because you can study the overall important material well enough to pass while focusing on the step-I stuff. Does this logic make sense, or am I totally crazy?
Click to expand...

YES. You are so crazy right. 😎
 
LET ME INTO THE PHOENIX CAMPUS RIGHT NOW! DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT! I want to be able to give phoenix some attention. I was so convinced about phoenix until I realized I have no idea if I stand a chance there. LET ME IN OR I WILL SEND IN SHEP! Do you REALLY want this guy after you!?

Gal_Feb07LG.jpg
 
Tucson:

Waitlist Position-
14) SmokeyGray - IS; ACCEPTED 03/22/10. 1 other acceptance, 2 other waitlists, waiting on 3 more
16) Ilovewater - IS; ACCEPTED 03/30/10. 3 other acceptances, waiting on 5
17) tmm808 - IS; ACCEPTED 04/13/10. 3 other acceptances
20) SurfdudeJD - IS; ACCEPTED 04/21/10 waiting on 3 others
34) Indiana06 - OOS; Accepted @ Phx
39) Nasappah - OOS; 2 other acceptances, couple waitlists
42) ACE28 - IS
46) ehandber - IS; 0 other acceptances/applications.
49) MedHopeful777 - IS, 0 other waitlists, 0 other acceptances, small pooled at Rosalind Franklin
61) MadeInReydn - IS; 1 other acceptance (Set on UA, not sure which campus)
62) paiger - IS; 0 other acceptances (2 other waitlists)
81) Happyglucky - IS; 2 other acceptances, waiting on 1
85) sweetlife - IS ; 0 other acceptances
89) aztri - IS; 0 other acceptances
93) countryboydoc - IS; Accepted @ Phx, 2 other acceptances, 3 waitlists, waiting on 3 more
121) sunny1 - IS
123) BearDownAZ - IS; 0 other acceptances (1 waitlist, 1 in TBD)

Phoenix:

Waitlist date-
IS:
03/04
happyglucky - IS--ACCEPTED 03/24/10
Who Dat Nation - IS ACCEPTED 04/06/10
2 LEGIT 2 QUIT - IS
7franks - IS
bminz - IS (Set on Phoenix)
chagramama- IS
Ehandber - IS (WL'd #46 @ Tucson)
MadeInReydn - IS (WL'd #61 @ Tucson)
Opt79- IS
shep's friend (33 MCAT) - IS?

03/12
aztri- IS (WL'd #89 @Tucson)
paiger- IS (WL'd #62 @ Tucson)

OOS:
03/05
nyyfan65 - OOS; ACCEPTED 04/16/10
DancinSarah - OOS
JMJ777 - OOS; 1 other waitlist, 1 interview to go
Meducated - OOS
MIR's Friend - OOS; 1 acceptance, a few other WL's, Phx not his top choice
Nasappah - OOS
Phosphorus Ylide - OOS; 1 other acceptance (Will decline and accept Phoenix, if taken off the WL)
ShameFame - OOS

__________________________________________________ _______
TUCSON

Entering Fall 2007:

Around 4/28: 10
Around 5/15: 38
By matriculation day: 53-54

Entering Fall 2008:

3/24 (12 days): 3
3/25 (13 days): 5
4/04 (3 ½ weeks): 12
4/07 (4 weeks): 13
4/10 Tucson and PHX 2nd Look
4/22 (6 weeks): 18
4/28 (6 ½ weeks): 20
5/01 (7 weeks): 25
5/08 (8 weeks): 32
5/12 (8 ½ weeks): 33
5/15 (9 weeks): 39
5/19 (9 ½ weeks): 42
5/23 (10 ½ weeks): 48
5/27 (11 weeks): 49
6/03 (12 weeks): 52
6/05 (12 weeks): 57
6/11 (13 weeks): 59
7/28 (19 ½ weeks): 63
Matriculation day: 65

Entering Fall 2009:

3/18 (7 days): 6
3/25 (2 weeks): 10
3/30 (2 ½ weeks): 11
4/01 (3 weeks): 13
4/08 (4 weeks): 15
4/09-11: Tucson and PHX 2nd Look
4/15 (5 weeks): 17
4/27 (6 ½ weeks): 19
5/04 (7 ½ weeks): 23
5/11 (8 ½ weeks): 25
5/15 (9 weeks): 32
5/18 (9 ½ weeks): 37
5/21 (10 weeks): 40
5/29 (11 weeks): 44
6/05 (12 ½ weeks): 47
7/08 (17 weeks): 49
7/28 (19 ½ weeks): 51
Matriculation day: 55

Entering Fall 2010:

3/15 (3 days): 13
3/22 (10 days): 14
3/30 (2 ½ weeks): 16
4/08-10: PHX 2nd Look
4/13 (4 weeks): 17
4/20 (5 ½ weeks): 19
4/21 (5 1/2 weeks): 20
 
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ehandber said:
LET ME INTO THE PHOENIX CAMPUS RIGHT NOW! DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT! I want to be able to give phoenix some attention. I was so convinced about phoenix until I realized I have no idea if I stand a chance there. LET ME IN OR I WILL SEND IN SHEP! Do you REALLY want this guy after you!?
Click to expand...

I'm not afraid to start breaking kneecaps until Erik is let in.
 
Phosphorus Ylide said:
I think the Phx campus is ignoring me. They haven't responded to my last two emails. 🙁
Click to expand...

Maybe because it's capstone week. Are faculty and staff getting capstoned too!?!?! 😱

And, for the record... I support accepting the SDN crowd. Phosph, Erik, MadeinR, and the whole crew. I assure that they will be just as amazing and successful as I have been while at UACOM-Phoenix. I'm pulling for you guys.

Here's to May 15. :luck:
 
MadEvans said:
Maybe because it's capstone week. Are faculty and staff getting capstoned too!?!?! 😱

And, for the record... I support accepting the SDN crowd. Phosph, Erik, MadeinR, and the whole crew. I assure that they will be just as amazing and successful as I have been while at UACOM-Phoenix. I'm pulling for you guys.

Here's to May 15. :luck:
Click to expand...

Thanks buddy. It'll be great when we're all at Phoenix or Tucson next year. Come on Phoenix, I already promised MadEvans a drink as classmates next year for his support on SDN.
 
So I've got some bad news . . . it looks very likely that Tucson is going to prove my prediction wrong. I just called Ann and we're at #22!!! 😀😀😀

I'm not sure when we moved from 20 to 22, but it sounded like it was recent (she had to check the #). Anyway, it's too bad no SDNers have gotten pulled at Phoenix. I guess that means we may have a run of us getting pulled later - as was mentioned!

I'll update the plot later tonight. I hope this movement wont steal thunder from the May movement, but that May is comparable to previous years.

Officially graduated today! I'll take the movement as a graduation gift I guess 😀

Go SUNS!
 
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