I totally am, if only they would accept me!
2009-2010 University of Iowa (Carver) Application Thread
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I totally am, if only they would accept me!
Wow... that is almost word for word from one of my other acceptance letters!!
Congrats!!! I hope to see you there if the alternate list moves!!
Yeah. I agree. I wish I heard some good news in this thread.
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Hey all, so I'm low teens on the IS list. Really, really, REALLY, REALLY hoping for some fast movement. My body can't handle much more waiting.
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Hawkdochopeful, when do you think we'd start hearing back if we're on the waitlist? I wasn't quite sure how it worked at Iowa...
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You should hear pretty soon I would think. I'm preparing my self for sometime after May 15th.. Maybe early in April...
Don't you mean WHEN the alternate list moves?
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I'm OOS, just got back from work, and haven't gotten any e-mails and no mail today... I'm a little bummed/worried. I was hoping to know something by now, but it seems like emails were scarcely sent?? ...maybe they only sent them to ISer's or something?? 🙁
ahhh that would be wishful thinking, wouldn't it.
I'm IS and haven't heard anything yet today either. Who knows...
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Well, try to stay on the positive side. I know I was beating myself up pretty hard when I didn't get an e-mail. Three hours later I opened up my letter and was pretty relieved. There's still a good shot at the waitlist so try to keep your chin up (I know how hard it is though....)
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I got my rejection letter earlier today. Wasn't too broken up about it as I had already accepted out of state (I grew up in Iowa City and was hoping to get the hell out of Dodge for medical school). Still, I set up an appointment to talk to Kathi Huebner about my application because I was a little miffed that I could get accepted or waitlisted at a number of out-of-state schools, but with a 39R on my MCATs, good hospital/research experiences and an interview that went well by any standards (Huebner was one of my interviewers, an old MD was the second) I wouldn't even get waitlisted in-state. I also think Iowa has a pretty bad policy when it comes to letting the people in the "final pool" know when their decisions are made. Oh well, I guess it could be worse - they could not even let you know your position on the wait list like some places. 🙂
To everyone who hasn't heard back yet, don't give up. In my experience (let me just say that this is not my first year applying), interviews, waitlists and acceptances are an enormous crapshoot. And if you don't get in this time around, if this is what you really want to do, keep it up. If you take it seriously, it WILL pay off in the end.
To everyone who hasn't heard back yet, don't give up. In my experience (let me just say that this is not my first year applying), interviews, waitlists and acceptances are an enormous crapshoot. And if you don't get in this time around, if this is what you really want to do, keep it up. If you take it seriously, it WILL pay off in the end.
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So no one has gotten anything yet today? I thought there were even some instate people who were waiting... Snail mail surely doesn't take more than three days to get anywhere in Iowa does it?
My mail won't come until a little later this afternoon. It will be interesting to see if I get anything.
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I guess after looking at last years thread the movement on the OOS waitlist is going to depend a lot on whether or not the over-accepted. Apparently last year they over accepted OOS by like 60 people!! So that many had to decline/withdraw before they even started taking off the waitlist... which looks like they only took a few. BUT, the year before, they didn't over-accept and they took like 76 people off the OOS waitlist. I think i'm going to call monday and see if they over-accepted this year or not??
good idea, post what they say
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👍
I'm so far down that if they over accepted I'm just completely screwed. Probably screwed either way, but slightly less so if they didn't over accept.
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OOS rejection letter.... 3.8 35 MCAT
I was thinking about this in the shower today.
They told me during the interview that 25% of their slots are filled during the final pool, say 40 seats. I am understanding that no one was rejected during the rolling phase, that is, all the granted interviews were sitting in the final pool less the number of accepted student (say, 100). That means there were ~700 or so (for some reason I see 800 as the number they interview, no idea why?) people in the final pool. They filled 40 seats and put, say, 50-75 on the waitlist, then they mailed out ~600 rejections to 40 accepted and 50 waitlist letters. Not good odds.
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OOS rejection received via snail mail today. I'm actually relieved. Off to my top choice 🙂
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I am from the west coast and from the sound of things here it seems that I should probably be expecting a rejection in the mail next week.
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I wish they screened and were more selective for their interview invitations esp. for OOS. Accept too little and invite too much= waste of our money and time.
The students are, but the staff should be around. Give it a shot.
Agreed! Other schools interview 20 or so percent and accept most of them, it seems like Iowa interviews nearly everyone (well, not everyone but way too many).
Not to mention the rush you get when you get an interview invite from your top choice, only to find out it doesn't mean the same as most schools.
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Got my rejection letter in today's mail (I'm OOS in Ohio), for those tracking the progress of letters from Iowa.
Down to only 2 other schools ...
Down to only 2 other schools ...
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OOS Alternate list in California with my lovely place on the list over 100 🙂 same as rejection
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I'm so sorry Red. I withdrew but followed this thread just to see you get in. Really sorry.
What kind of credentials do you have in terms of MCAT score, GPA, etc...just wondering what it might take to get in...
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I really need to get back to SF and check my mail.
This interview was abysmal, I just want to see the rejection letter.
I need closure.
This interview was abysmal, I just want to see the rejection letter.
I need closure.
30 MCAT, 3.8 GPA (science same as total), good amount of patient contact, shadowing, lots of research
I really blew it on the phys sci section of the MCAT and thought it would keep me from getting in anywhere for sure. But the other 2 sections, bio science and verbal reasoning, must have made up for it. I also think I had a couple of really good letters and would not be surprised if that had a lot to do with my acceptance. I would say my interview went alright. It wasn't my best one, but it wasn't a disaster. Also, I had a 4.0GPA for my last 4 semesters of science courses. Maybe the improvement over time was also important.
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I thought I would post my ideas on Iowa's acceptance policies.
Iowa does not seem to accept based on the "traditional" qualities of a candidate that would usually make one competitive at another school (ie high gpa, MCAT, etc). This is because one of their biggest alterior motives is to accept students who plan to remain in the state and practice medicine. Iowa has a notorious problem with keeping people in the state after med school and residency. This is not surprising to me (see previous rants).
Thus, it seems that they try to identify students who meet a certain standard, but more importantly, perhaps, are likely to remain in iowa for a long time. People who are "shoe-ins" for a traditional medical school should not get their hopes up because at iowa it truly is a crapshoot as far as how the adcom classifies your application based on their alterior motives. I suspect that in many cases "over-qualified" students are flat out rejected because Iowa knows that these types of students will have a vast number of other (better) choices when it comes time for residency.
So for those of you with rejections from this institution. You really should not take it as meaning anything with regards to your credentials (in some cases you should be flattered). You likely have many other acceptances from just as good or better schools.
Iowa does not seem to accept based on the "traditional" qualities of a candidate that would usually make one competitive at another school (ie high gpa, MCAT, etc). This is because one of their biggest alterior motives is to accept students who plan to remain in the state and practice medicine. Iowa has a notorious problem with keeping people in the state after med school and residency. This is not surprising to me (see previous rants).
Thus, it seems that they try to identify students who meet a certain standard, but more importantly, perhaps, are likely to remain in iowa for a long time. People who are "shoe-ins" for a traditional medical school should not get their hopes up because at iowa it truly is a crapshoot as far as how the adcom classifies your application based on their alterior motives. I suspect that in many cases "over-qualified" students are flat out rejected because Iowa knows that these types of students will have a vast number of other (better) choices when it comes time for residency.
So for those of you with rejections from this institution. You really should not take it as meaning anything with regards to your credentials (in some cases you should be flattered). You likely have many other acceptances from just as good or better schools.
hey guys, in-stater here but im fairly well versed in this process. Just wanted to say to everyone to keep their heads up especially OSS'rs out of state and in state are looked at separately and OSS stats for Iowa are extremely competitive i.e. successful applicants are going to have MCATS above a 35 at least (for the most part, remember I am generalizing). but remember after they sift through your stats they only have so many spots and it comes down to a little bit of luck, just like at any school, and also there are about 2500 OSS applications for about 50 spots. pretty tough odds. Hang in their guys 👍
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I disagree with the above logic. I am instate and strongly attempted to show that I wished to remain in Iowa for my education, residency, and life thereafter in my essays and interview. I was recently rejected; not waitlisted. I have somewhat competitive stats for the school, and no red flags. Furthermore, students are comprised of nearly 1/3 OOS'ers, which is relatively high compared to other state universities I've researched.
I'm not clear on the application factors they stress; if I was, maybe I'd be accepted and not rejected. Anyway, I was very excited about the prospect of attending Iowa, and I'm happy for those who were accepted. For those of us that weren't, we can't read the Adcom's minds. It comes down to a having a lot more applicants than spots. I've accepted this, and I'm now looking forward to becoming a doctor in general.
Many SD'ners on this forum were impressed and hoping to get into Iowa, and negative rants don't necessarily help them move on.
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I admit that the admissions process for Iowa or any other med school is often mysterious or downright random. However, I don't think recruiting students who remain to practice medicine in Iowa is the admin committee's #1 goal. I'm from Cali, have lived in large cities pretty much my entire life, and would love to come back to Cali for residency/practice. Yet, I was still accepted last Oct w/o amazing stats. For better or worse, sometimes it's just having a certain combo of things (interview, recs, #s, what you offer compared to other candidates, etc.) that click with the committee that year.
Congrats to everyone who got in or are high on the alternate list.🙂
I disagree with a lot of what you posted here and I really don't wish to engage you in an ego fight on this discussion thread, but I have to leave a few thoughts. In my opinion, and clearly in the opinion of thousands of very highly qualified OSS and IS students, Iowa has a very competitive medical school and high-quality hospital. I really don't believe they would be accepting 30% + of their entering classes from out of state if their primary concern was to recruit students to remain in-state after training. If the adcom's ulterior motives include seeking applicants who are qualified in more ways than just being able to rock a standardized test, good for them. It gives me more confirmation I am choosing the right school. Unfortunately, they also have to turn away thousands of deserving and well-qualified applicants from in and out of state. I do not know whether or not you were accepted here. If not, and if I had to speculate on the reason, I might dare say the adcom and interviewers sensed your disdain for the school and for the state of Iowa in general. If so, it seems this decision has worked out for the best for all those concerned. Good luck wherever you choose to attend medical school.
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