2009-2010 University of South Alabama College of Medicine Application Thread

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honestly, that is one of the more uneducated things i've read on this site...just bc those ppl have multiple acceptances doesn't mean that were not out partying, lazy, etc. anyone that is logically thinking knows this process is extremely unpredictable to say the least. therefore, there are ppl out there with 3.9 gpa's and 33 mcat scores who don't have multiple acceptances...the admissions committee may simply not like them or maybe they were a bit nervous for their interview...it doesn't mean they were too lazy and partied too much in college. some ppl without multiple acceptances busted their ass harder than those with multiple acceptances...some ppl with multiple acceptances are more intelligent or worked harder to get that reward...but to say that all of them are more intelligent and worked harder is an absolute joke. i understand the shallow point you were trying to make, but it's an OPINION that i completely disagree with due to how this process is.

also, to the people talking about extenuating circumstances like scholarships, significant others, financial aid, etc. first of all, good points and i understand somewhat. however, notice i said that i dont mind them taking until about the beginning of June to decide. i just think that after that, MOST ppl are milking it. ppl that get scholarships to med school are in the vast minority...their scores pretty much have to be stellar. ppl with significant others in this exact position are in the minority as well. as far as financial aid is concerned, that's a good pt...i still think MOST ppl are going to get the loan they need regardless of which school they choose.

all in all, sure there are exceptions that need more time...but ppl waiting on scholarships and ppl with significant others are few and far between. i agree that this is a huge decision and i don't think ppl should rush into it whatsoever...but realize that we have had months and months to research these schools...and we've visited them on our interviews trips...so MOST ppl should know by now which schools we would prefer to go to in my honest opinion. i'm not trying to be a dick, just stating a point from a different angle.

Wasn't trying to be a jerk either, but a recent comment made by an individual on this board to a student who got in last year really, REALLY irritated me. We could go on all day about whether or not the process is fair; bottom line is applicants are all in competition with each other--some win and some lose.

Regarding people with multiple acceptances (whether undeserved or not), I would think that most are rational and would not intentionally lose their deposits in order to inconvenience or inflict pain and suffering on others. So while there may be several smart and rich bastards out there who have multiple acceptances and purposely holding onto them to inflict harm, I wouldn't expect it to be a very large percentage of the acceptance pool.
 
Wasn't trying to be a jerk either, but a recent comment made by an individual on this board to a student who got in last year really, REALLY irritated me. We could go on all day about whether or not the process is fair; bottom line is applicants are all in competition with each other--some win and some lose.

Regarding people with multiple acceptances (whether undeserved or not), I would think that most are rational and would not intentionally lose their deposits in order to inconvenience or inflict pain and suffering on others. So while there may be several smart and rich bastards out there who have multiple acceptances and purposely holding onto them to inflict harm, I wouldn't expect it to be a very large percentage of the acceptance pool.

oh okay. well you're right, we could go on forever talking about whether the process is fair or not...given that, i thought your comment saying the ppl getting multiple acceptances worked harder and deserve more time was pretty off base.

ultimately, the only point i was making is that there are a number of people that are milking it in my opinion...and i'm not saying it's bc they are bad ppl trying to "inflict harm"...i'm just saying that they are at least being lazy and fairly inconsiderate...that is, if they aren't dealing with these "extenuating circumstances" and still don't know where they want to go by end of May/beginning of June. Either way, it's not worth arguing about bc it's not gonna change anything. i was simply bringing up this angle bc some other poster acted like everyone should take as long as they want and that they would take a long time too, etc.
 
In a thread debating the morality of holding onto acceptances for various amounts of time, here's an absolutely beautiful analogy posted by a member named mdeast. (http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=724753)

Originally Posted by Mailinator
Say you have five cows...you are given a deadline to pick one cow to eat. There are people around you who have no cows and are starving. What do you accomplish by keeping all cows, looking at them, and saying to yourself, "wow, look how nice all these cows look. I raised them and they are mine to keep"?

I'm not saying anything is wrong. I am merely proposing the considerate action. If people don't do it, fine, it's in the rules. Everyone knows the May 15 deadline and should be aware that most people hold spots until the last second (for a number of practical and selfish reasons).



mdeast Answers:

"Your analogy isn't paralleled by reality. In a real analogy it would look like this, from my perspective.

I own 5 beautiful cows, but the government says I can only keep one. There are other people that may already own a cow (but it's sort of an undesirable cow, may not produce enough good milk), so they want a better one. There are other people that are without any cows, but certainly are surviving. Maybe these people weren't ready for a cow, or they'll find that they prefer chickens or lambs. Or, maybe they just were unlucky and are in the unfortunate position of having to wait in line for the leftover cows.

The government says that I have until May 15th to give up all but one cow. If I give them up earlier, it's very unlikely that the government will re-distribute the cows until after May 15th. So, by giving up the cows earlier, I do not increase the speed at which my fellow man will get a new cow...rather, just to let the bureaucratic government have more time to organize it's cow releasing program. Assuming I'm wiffle-waffling between which is the best cow to keep, what's the incentive to give a cow up early if I know it won't significantly expedite the delivery of that cow to a new owner, but rather just have it sit in storage for an extra week or two. Might as well take my time and debate which cow I'm going to choose as long as possible. I'd rather it be on my farm in my control, than sitting useless in a warehouse owned by big government until May 15th rolls around. To be honest, these are my cows that I earned through hard work. I should be given as much time as I want to choose which one is my #1.

Believe me, people withdrawing now or May 14th is going to have little to no effect on you. It may delay your waitlist offer by at most a few days. But realistically, you probably weren't going to find out before then anyway."
 
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In a thread debating the morality of holding onto acceptances for various amounts of time, here's an absolutely beautiful analogy posted by a member named mdeast. (http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=724753)

Originally Posted by Mailinator
Say you have five cows...you are given a deadline to pick one cow to eat. There are people around you who have no cows and are starving. What do you accomplish by keeping all cows, looking at them, and saying to yourself, "wow, look how nice all these cows look. I raised them and they are mine to keep"?

I'm not saying anything is wrong. I am merely proposing the considerate action. If people don't do it, fine, it's in the rules. Everyone knows the May 15 deadline and should be aware that most people hold spots until the last second (for a number of practical and selfish reasons).



mdeast Answers:

"Your analogy isn't paralleled by reality. In a real analogy it would look like this, from my perspective.

I own 5 beautiful cows, but the government says I can only keep one. There are other people that may already own a cow (but it's sort of an undesirable cow, may not produce enough good milk), so they want a better one. There are other people that are without any cows, but certainly are surviving. Maybe these people weren't ready for a cow, or they'll find that they prefer chickens or lambs. Or, maybe they just were unlucky and are in the unfortunate position of having to wait in line for the leftover cows.

The government says that I have until May 15th to give up all but one cow. If I give them up earlier, it's very unlikely that the government will re-distribute the cows until after May 15th. So, by giving up the cows earlier, I do not increase the speed at which my fellow man will get a new cow...rather, just to let the bureaucratic government have more time to organize it's cow releasing program. Assuming I'm wiffle-waffling between which is the best cow to keep, what's the incentive to give a cow up early if I know it won't significantly expedite the delivery of that cow to a new owner, but rather just have it sit in storage for an extra week or two. Might as well take my time and debate which cow I'm going to choose as long as possible. I'd rather it be on my farm in my control, than sitting useless in a warehouse owned by big government until May 15th rolls around. To be honest, these are my cows that I earned through hard work. I should be given as much time as I want to choose which one is my #1.

Believe me, people withdrawing now or May 14th is going to have little to no effect on you. It may delay your waitlist offer by at most a few days. But realistically, you probably weren't going to find out before then anyway."

Man , If I wasn't graduating tomorrow I'd think I was in preschool, heh.

I get the point, but jeez this thing has escalated. Quickly.
 
Believe me, people withdrawing now or May 14th is going to have little to no effect on you. It may delay your waitlist offer by at most a few days. But realistically, you probably weren't going to find out before then anyway."[/QUOTE]

Well since I fanned the flames on this topic and got everyone worked up over it - it is only fitting that I have one last comment on the issue and that is - isn't it amazing the sense of "entitlement" that some of the accepted medical students have??? i.e. I earned the acceptances and I have every right to take as long as I want to enjoy them - maybe this is why some docs have such a reputation of being arrogant! Having said that - on to the next topic:

How long do you think it will be before they start pulling from the wait list?
 
Do you really think it will be the first week in June? Do you know when they started to pull from it last year?


It will probably be later than the first week of june... if you go back a couple pages I posted:

"I was reading through last year's thread, and it looks like there wasn't hardly any movement at all on the waitlist until mid June, going all the way until mid July"

Reading through the Alabama school's thread last year is really helpful to sort of get a timeline of how things normally go.
 
It will probably be later than the first week of june... if you go back a couple pages I posted:

"I was reading through last year's thread, and it looks like there wasn't hardly any movement at all on the waitlist until mid June, going all the way until mid July"

Reading through the Alabama school's thread last year is really helpful to sort of get a timeline of how things normally go.

I couldn't find that thread. What's the link?
 
Come on!!! Somebody has to want to give up their spot. It's easy just call and say thanks, but no thanks. I'll buy you lunch if you do it before friday!!!
 
Come on!!! Somebody has to want to give up their spot. It's easy just call and say thanks, but no thanks. I'll buy you lunch if you do it before friday!!!

Hehe, several have on here, and probably many more nonSDNers. As others have said, it is as much on the school as it is on the people withdrawing. Not likely to hear much until after the May 15 date. It's unlikely they are adding the same day someone withdraws at this point.

Also there is the overfilling issue to deal with at first...the first X many people to withdraw may be part of those above the class size (74 I think?)

Probably won't be until end of May to mid June before the list starts moving much, sorry 🙁
 
Hehe, several have on here, and probably many more nonSDNers. As others have said, it is as much on the school as it is on the people withdrawing. Not likely to hear much until after the May 15 date. It's unlikely they are adding the same day someone withdraws at this point.

Also there is the overfilling issue to deal with at first...the first X many people to withdraw may be part of those above the class size (74 I think?)

Probably won't be until end of May to mid June before the list starts moving much, sorry 🙁

For what it is worth and I am sure most if not all IS will agree and I am also sure you OOS will disagree but... South is a state school and should not be giving IS tuition to OOS students (even those on the panhandle, the FL panhandle is not Alabama - sorry you have your own state schools) Florida does not give IS tuition to ANY AL residents. Also I think the state schools, i.e. south and UAB should not be admitting any OOS students - Miss does not admit OOS and LSU does not admit OOS (or very few) and GA state schools do not admit hardly any (maybe 5 or less OOS students). These schools are funded by tax dollars and... no it is not going to lower the quality of students graduating - there are plenty of smart highly qualified IS students - in fact I have seen on the SDN several posters who are OOS who have lower GPA and certainly lower MCAT scores than the IS students.
 
For what it is worth and I am sure most if not all IS will agree and I am also sure you OOS will disagree but... South is a state school and should not be giving IS tuition to OOS students (even those on the panhandle, the FL panhandle is not Alabama - sorry you have your own state schools) Florida does not give IS tuition to ANY AL residents. Also I think the state schools, i.e. south and UAB should not be admitting any OOS students - Miss does not admit OOS and LSU does not admit OOS (or very few) and GA state schools do not admit hardly any (maybe 5 or less OOS students). These schools are funded by tax dollars and... no it is not going to lower the quality of students graduating - there are plenty of smart highly qualified IS students - in fact I have seen on the SDN several posters who are OOS who have lower GPA and certainly lower MCAT scores than the IS students.

Just to clarify a bit. I realize you are getting VERY anxious about getting an acceptance. I am one of those awful FL residents who was accepted and classified as IS at USA. USA and UWF (in Pensacola) have an agreement that residents of the border counties (Escambia FL and AL, Baldwin, etc) get IS tuition at the both schools. What it does is promote those of us from this area to stay in the area. I would argue, that I am far more likely to practice in Baldwin County, AL than someone from Tuscaloosa or Huntsville since I am from the area. UWF does not have a medical school, but would fall under the same plan if they did. Also FSU Med does not typically accept OOS students, but they have accepted one from GA who is from just over the border. Again looking to keep physicians in the area.

OBTW, I wish you luck. Maybe you'll get my acceptance, which I relinquished in April.
 
For what it is worth and I am sure most if not all IS will agree and I am also sure you OOS will disagree but... South is a state school and should not be giving IS tuition to OOS students (even those on the panhandle, the FL panhandle is not Alabama - sorry you have your own state schools) Florida does not give IS tuition to ANY AL residents. Also I think the state schools, i.e. south and UAB should not be admitting any OOS students - Miss does not admit OOS and LSU does not admit OOS (or very few) and GA state schools do not admit hardly any (maybe 5 or less OOS students). These schools are funded by tax dollars and... no it is not going to lower the quality of students graduating - there are plenty of smart highly qualified IS students - in fact I have seen on the SDN several posters who are OOS who have lower GPA and certainly lower MCAT scores than the IS students.

I think it's safe to say the whole system is conspiring against you. I mean, it's not like they are giving panhandle students in-state tuition because they are likely to remain in the panhandle / Mobile area to practice medicine.

Like or not, UAB is a highly ranked, nationally recognized state school that is going to admit OOS students--although comapred to other schools similarly ranked, I think you will find it is VERY generous to instate students. South, like Miss. /GA/LSU, admits almost all in-state.

I really don't see what the problem is!
 
ERS, I see what you are saying, but most of us are in our early 20s, and the amount of state tax we've paid is quite small. . . what matters more than where we come from is where we end up after we graduate. I am an IS student who grew up about an hour from USA and loves the area--I'll stay here after I graduate if possible, and the taxes I pay will help to fund the training of more doctors. But I've also heard plenty of people say they "can't wait to get the heck out of this hick state". Should they be denied admission? If so, how do you identify them? No one would write that on an application or a personal statement. What about OOS students who are interested in working in Alabama after they graduate? They'll contribute just as much to funding the school as IS students who stay here, but again, many people would say that they are interested in living and working in Alabama on an application or in an interview just to get accepted.

As an in-state student, I think they should offer acceptances solely on merit. If someone is truly interested in coming here, give them an equal chance, regardless of where they happened to be born and raised.
 
just a little fyi.. Ms Peggy said that there will be movement starting next week last time I talked to her. More specifically since everyone will ask, ppl with acceptances have to notify the schools they are not attending by May 15th (aka the letter must be POSTMARKED by May 15th). This means South will probably not hear until Monday (because of the weekend). And movement will probably begin to happen on Tuesday (May 18th). Again, this is what South admissions office said.

So everyone stop fighting about stuff, do that somewhere else, please.
 
just a little fyi.. Ms Peggy said that there will be movement starting next week last time I talked to her. More specifically since everyone will ask, ppl with acceptances have to notify the schools they are not attending by May 15th (aka the letter must be POSTMARKED by May 15th). This means South will probably not hear until Monday (because of the weekend). And movement will probably begin to happen on Tuesday (May 18th). Again, this is what South admissions office said.

So everyone stop fighting about stuff, do that somewhere else, please.

Thanks for calling 👍

So everyone stop fighting about stuff, do that somewhere else, please.

Welcome to the internet :laugh:
 
Sorry to be negative Nancy, but every time that I have talked to Ms. Peggy and Mr. Scott they have said don't expect much of any movement until at least June 1st. Now, I hope something starts moving when you say it will but I am not counting on anything till at least June, hell mid june.
 
just a little fyi.. Ms Peggy said that there will be movement starting next week last time I talked to her. More specifically since everyone will ask, ppl with acceptances have to notify the schools they are not attending by May 15th (aka the letter must be POSTMARKED by May 15th). This means South will probably not hear until Monday (because of the weekend). And movement will probably begin to happen on Tuesday (May 18th). Again, this is what South admissions office said.

Thank you for checking

So everyone stop fighting about stuff, do that somewhere else, please.

I don't consider it "fighting" I consider it a discussion -which is what the thread is all about - discussing - I still feel that given the shortage of physicians in our state - it is more likely that a larger percentage of IS students will remain in AL then OOS students - I would feel the same way if I was already admitted. Also, you are correct we have paid little in state income taxes, however, our families have paid a lot as have other AL residents -

What would you like to discuss on the thread - since you have your on view of what should be put on here?
 
Hi everyone! I talked to Mrs. Bull (financial aid) today and she was saying that about 40 folks in our class have not completed their financial aid info for the fall. Be sure to check your school email account (jaguar1.usouthal.edu) and PAWS for your award letter if you have already filled out your FAFSA info. If you have not filled out FAFSA for South for the fall, please contact Mrs. Bull at 251-460-7918 to set up an advising time. If you have any questions, post them under this comment. Hope all is well everyone!
 
BK611 said:
Sorry to be negative Nancy, but every time that I have talked to Ms. Peggy and Mr. Scott they have said don't expect much of any movement until at least June 1st. Now, I hope something starts moving when you say it will but I am not counting on anything till at least June, hell mid june.


I'm not expecting to see much movement until June. Read last years thread around this time!!
 
Hi everyone! I talked to Mrs. Bull (financial aid) today and she was saying that about 40 folks in our class have not completed their financial aid info for the fall. Be sure to check your school email account (jaguar1.usouthal.edu) and PAWS for your award letter if you have already filled out your FAFSA info. If you have not filled out FAFSA for South for the fall, please contact Mrs. Bull at 251-460-7918 to set up an advising time. If you have any questions, post them under this comment. Hope all is well everyone!

So maybe 40 people aren't serious about South?
 
Hi everyone! I talked to Mrs. Bull (financial aid) today and she was saying that about 40 folks in our class have not completed their financial aid info for the fall. Be sure to check your school email account (jaguar1.usouthal.edu) and PAWS for your award letter if you have already filled out your FAFSA info. If you have not filled out FAFSA for South for the fall, please contact Mrs. Bull at 251-460-7918 to set up an advising time. If you have any questions, post them under this comment. Hope all is well everyone!

You just mean 40 people haven't filled out their FAFSA or 40 people haven't done stuff like... e-signed for their loans?
 
So I just called and the person (not Ms. Peggy) that answered just said they are getting close to accepting some off the waitlist. I also tried to ask how many there were on the waitlist this year but he said that they weren't allowed to give that info out. I really hope they start accepting soon.
 
So I just called and the person (not Ms. Peggy) that answered just said they are getting close to accepting some off the waitlist. I also tried to ask how many there were on the waitlist this year but he said that they weren't allowed to give that info out. I really hope they start accepting soon.

Great News! Thanks for calling! 😀
 
Got the background check email today... Did we decide that's a sign of good things to come or no...?
 
Got the background check email today... Did we decide that's a sign of good things to come or no...?

Good things. I was a little worried about an MIP but they assured me that if people were denied admission for small stuff like that then they would have trouble filling a class.
 
Good things. I was a little worried about an MIP but they assured me that if people were denied admission for small stuff like that then they would have trouble filling a class.

Yeah, I remember that. That was a funny conversation. Lol.

I just seemed to remember people getting the background check email who were not subsequently accepted, so I didn't know if I should be getting excited or not...
 
I'm thinking its both. I can't believe 25,000 people applied with below a 24 MCAT. Thats like 22%!

It has to be both allo and osteo. I can't believe that 28 people were accepted with a 5-14 MCAT!
 
It has to be both allo and osteo. I can't believe that 28 people were accepted with a 5-14 MCAT!

That kinda makes me angry. I can't believe that's possible. How could they ever pass board exams??
 
That kinda makes me angry. I can't believe that's possible. How could they ever pass board exams??

Perhaps it includes retakes? So maybe they got some horrible score posted then retook it and had a much higher one? Dunno seems crazy. Altho I shadowed a doc who got a 17 on the MCAT, and he is without question the best doctor I've ever known, ended up chief resident, won all kinds of awards, etc.

I would be interested in seeing studies showing correlations between MCAT and board/step scores. Wonder how good of a predictor it really is? I know when I took the GRE, it was a HORRIBLE predictor, to the point of being pointless really.
 
Perhaps it includes retakes? So maybe they got some horrible score posted then retook it and had a much higher one? Dunno seems crazy. Altho I shadowed a doc who got a 17 on the MCAT, and he is without question the best doctor I've ever known, ended up chief resident, won all kinds of awards, etc.

I would be interested in seeing studies showing correlations between MCAT and board/step scores. Wonder how good of a predictor it really is? I know when I took the GRE, it was a HORRIBLE predictor, to the point of being pointless really.

Did you list your GRE on the AMCAS? I was wondering if I should list my SAT and SAT II's from a few years ago. Is that too much?
 
Did you list your GRE on the AMCAS? I was wondering if I should list my SAT and SAT II's from a few years ago. Is that too much?

I don't think I did on the primary, but several of the secondaries asked for scores (including SAT/ACT). I probably should have tho since I did really well. I don't know if I would put SAT unless you did high percentile, but then again probably can't hurt.
 
Anyone else studying to retake the MCAT for next cycle?
 
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Truthfully I really need to be. I am on three waitlists too, but I am just really going to keep my :xf: and hope for the best. I get sick to my stomach when I look at my Examkracker books. I do not advise this strategy for anyone though.
 
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Well, I am using the fact that I won't have to go to grad school (or take grad classes) next year if I make a certain score. That is the ONLY thing motivating me.

:ninja:
 
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Yeah I think if those were my two options I would definitely choose rocking out on the MCAT over a year of grad school.
 
Oh, sorry, I'm currently on the waitlist.

Excellent, keep us up to date on any news! Has anyone else gotten an email like that? In perusing old threads, I never ran across any pre-acceptance background checks (though I may be mistaken). Does this typically result in an acceptance? Seems that they wouldn't waste the funds on someone they weren't going to admit.
 
Excellent, keep us up to date on any news! Has anyone else gotten an email like that? In perusing old threads, I never ran across any pre-acceptance background checks (though I may be mistaken). Does this typically result in an acceptance? Seems that they wouldn't waste the funds on someone they weren't going to admit.

I'm pretty sure that this is the first year that they are using the online Certiphi background checks through AMCAS. Not sure if that makes a difference.
 
I don't know if this has any significant relevance but the USA Facebook page only has like 30 members. Possibly the people with more than one acceptance are struggling with a decision and have yet to join because of this. Of the 74 - 76 that make up the class this could mean open spots to ~ 44-46 waitlisters. Or maybe the people holding their acceptance don't have facebook and made a myspace page or something. But come one.... Who actually uses myspace?
 
I don't know if this has any significant relevance but the USA Facebook page only has like 30 members. Possibly the people with more than one acceptance are struggling with a decision and have yet to join because of this. Of the 74 - 76 that make up the class this could mean open spots to ~ 44-46 waitlisters. Or maybe the people holding their acceptance don't have facebook and made a myspace page or something. But come one.... Who actually uses myspace?


Yeah, the 30 people is promising, because I would think at least around 80% of people accepted and for sure going would join; then there has to be some people who were accepted and joined but may end up going somewhere else. Let's just say if it were 60 people I would be much more worried.

edit: I just searched for it now on FB and there seems to be some 2nd and 3rd years on there too...so more good news for us I 'spose
 
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