2009-2010 University of South Florida Application Thread

BU Medical Sciences
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I'm not real clear about the scholarly concentration program thing. Is it simply an area of interest, or does it have to relate to a certain specialty? If I were to say i want to be a primary-care physician, and I like the public health track because i am interested in the well being of the community, will that make me sound stupid?

:[ bah at this sec. Good job to all the ones who're completed!
 
maybee said:
I'm not real clear about the scholarly concentration program thing. Is it simply an area of interest, or does it have to relate to a certain specialty? If I were to say i want to be a primary-care physician, and I like the public health track because i am interested in the well being of the community, will that make me sound stupid?

:[ bah at this sec. Good job to all the ones who're completed!
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I think it's perfectly fine. Like someone mentioned, it's like a minor, so it doesn't have to exactly correlate with your choice of specialty. Does anybody know if this is an entirely new program or did they always have it but just didn't require an essay for it?
 
dingyibvs said:
I think it's perfectly fine. Like someone mentioned, it's like a minor, so it doesn't have to exactly correlate with your choice of specialty. Does anybody know if this is an entirely new program or did they always have it but just didn't require an essay for it?
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the program started about 4-5 years ago, its fairly new and they're trying to work the kinks in it. The program is awesome though, it gives you a chance to get an education in other fields while attending medical school. Check out scholarlyconcentrations.com for more info
 
dingyibvs said:
This secondary is incredibly irritating, especially because the answer to the last 3 prompts is essentially the same for me. My best area of accomplishment just happens to be my overcoming of the greatest and most unique challenge that I have faced and is also the reason why I would be well-suited to serve a diverse population.

Lame.
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Yeah im having trouple with the question about how "unique, personally important, and/or challenging factors in our background" influenced goals/prepared me for a career in medicine because i already talk about how im prepared to serve a diverse population by discussing life work experience...I dont really think my race, ethnicity or economic status influenced my decision...
 
I was working on the essays, and was wondering for the one question that says:
-As you review your application portfolio, please identify and describe one area of your accomplishments that you feel best reflects your potential as a future physician. (2000)

Does everyone talk about accomplishments that's related to the medical field? If I were to talk about how I got really good at art, and use that to talk about my qualifications, will it be off topic?

so lost.. lol.
 
maybee said:
I was working on the essays, and was wondering for the one question that says:
-As you review your application portfolio, please identify and describe one area of your accomplishments that you feel best reflects your potential as a future physician. (2000)

Does everyone talk about accomplishments that's related to the medical field? If I were to talk about how I got really good at art, and use that to talk about my qualifications, will it be off topic?

so lost.. lol.
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hey i think writing about art could show a unique side to you that could really impress the adcom (reading something like that would certainly stick out in my mind...they probably get thousands of essays about volunteering in a hospital or about research). you can definitely make it work, as long as you draw the parallels for the admissions committee. for example, if you point out that art has made you a creative thinker, you would probably want to say that ingenuity and original thinking is often necessary in making a diagnosis or in biomedical research.

lol its also interesting to see that they changed the character limit for this essay. when i submitted mine (admittedly, like 3 days after the secondary was released), there was no character limit and the instructions said to submit an essay 1-1.5 pages. oh usf, you could have saved me so many characters and pain!

in other news, someone on my mdapps trackboard says they got an interview invite from usf. wuh oh!
 
They're reviewing/interviewing EDP applicants first. When I called a couple days ago, they gave me the impression that they aren't gonna start reviewing regular applicants for another week or so.
 
Turns out the girl who listed a USF interview invite actually intended to put UCF... 🙂 so, back to waiting!
 
lol not nice. it's not my fault that mdapps so easily facilitates stalking every move made by schools i'm applying to.
 
anyone know anything about the new dean
 
stayclassy said:
anyone know anything about the new dean
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I had the opportunity to meet the new dean, Jonathan Perez, when I visited USF a few weeks ago. From what I understand, he's coming from Stanford University School of Medicine and is making a lot of changes to the admissions process. We only got to speak briefly, but he and others in the admissions office spoke of viewing candidates in a more holistic fashion. This included reviewing every aspect of every application (i.e. not immediately screening out candidates by GPA and MCAT score). It seems like a pretty exciting time for the university. Hopefully the new changes bode well for us!
 
paper said:
I had the opportunity to meet the new dean, Jonathan Perez, when I visited USF a few weeks ago. From what I understand, he's coming from Stanford University School of Medicine and is making a lot of changes to the admissions process. We only got to speak briefly, but he and others in the admissions office spoke of viewing candidates in a more holistic fashion. This included reviewing every aspect of every application (i.e. not immediately screening out candidates by GPA and MCAT score). It seems like a pretty exciting time for the university. Hopefully the new changes bode well for us!
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Jonathan Perez is not a new dean - he is the new director of admissions.

The new vice dean of educational affairs is Frazier Stevenson, from UCSD I believe.

And they are changing admissions policies. Thus why the interviews are later this year.

And I wouldn't count on them not screening based on MCAT and GPA.
 
CanHasNaps said:
Jonathan Perez is not a new dean - he is the new director of admissions.

The new vice dean of educational affairs is Frazier Stevenson, from UCSD I believe.

And they are changing admissions policies. Thus why the interviews are later this year.

And I wouldn't count on them not screening based on MCAT and GPA.
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Ah my apologies, I misread the question (and mistyped as well). I had no idea that Dr. Klasko was leaving.

Clearly they're going to put stock in the MCAT and GPA, however, it was my understanding that the entire application would be looked at before making a decision.
 
paper said:
I had the opportunity to meet the new dean, Jonathan Perez, when I visited USF a few weeks ago. From what I understand, he's coming from Stanford University School of Medicine and is making a lot of changes to the admissions process. We only got to speak briefly, but he and others in the admissions office spoke of viewing candidates in a more holistic fashion. This included reviewing every aspect of every application (i.e. not immediately screening out candidates by GPA and MCAT score). It seems like a pretty exciting time for the university. Hopefully the new changes bode well for us!
Click to expand...

If USF becomes anything like Stanford, prepare for them to show Hispanics a LOT of love.
 
USF better keep it real. If they want to suck the hispanic population from the rest of the schools, so be it.
 
paper said:
Ah my apologies, I misread the question (and mistyped as well). I had no idea that Dr. Klasko was leaving.

Clearly they're going to put stock in the MCAT and GPA, however, it was my understanding that the entire application would be looked at before making a decision.
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Dr. Klasko isn't leaving. He is still the dean of the school. Dr. Stevenson and Mr. Perez both work under Dean Monroe in Educational Affairs.

Naturally, they say that. But give the volume of applications they receive every year it's naive to think that they aren't going to set some sort of GPA/MCAT minimum for screening purposes.
 
What's worse...waterboarding or waiting?? Granted I've never experienced torture Guantanamo-style, but I've gotta go with waiting...
 
TcuTcuca said:
What's worse...waterboarding or waiting?? Granted I've never experienced torture Guantanamo-style, but I've gotta go with waiting...
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Unless water boarding lasts a perpetual year...
 
Hey guys, just submitted my secondary today, hope im not too late..

Is the new vice dean of educational affairs taking the place of the dean with the bike problem?? God that was funny when I heard about it lol
 
LoveMyRam said:
Hey guys, just submitted my secondary today, hope im not too late..

Is the new vice dean of educational affairs taking the place of the dean with the bike problem?? God that was funny when I heard about it lol
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No, that guy was a vice dean of research for USF Health. COM is part of Health, but he didn't actually have anything to do with the medical school.
 
Hey everyone. I'm a first year here at USF and we're in the middle of our fifth week (first two weeks were orientation so really 2.5 weeks of real class). Our class gets along great and we're all getting ready for our first exam Monday. In case anyone is interested in our curriculum (1st year) with our classes, you can find it here: http://hsc.usf.edu/medicine/educationalaffairs/educational_program_calendar.htm

Click the "MS I and Doctor of Physical Therapy Program I" xls file.

Just a heads up to out-of-state students, the State of Florida made a decision this past June that out-of-state students will be billed as such for all four years. In the past, you were only billed that amount your first year and the next three years you were billed as an in-state student. This affected several people in our class that now will have to pay $53k/yr for all four years. The school is working on getting grants to help reduce the hit they're taking.

Also, tuition increased a bit since last year (almost 20%). I was told it will go up by about 10% a year. This year it's $26,800 (up from about $22k) so figure $29.5k next year. Just another variable to throw in your decision making process when you get your multiple offers. 😉

Hopefully I have time to check this thread. Wish us luck on our first med school exam! 😀
 
49ers said:
Hey everyone. I'm a first year here at USF and we're in the middle of our fifth week (first two weeks were orientation so really 2.5 weeks of real class). Our class gets along great and we're all getting ready for our first exam Monday. In case anyone is interested in our curriculum (1st year) with our classes, you can find it here: http://hsc.usf.edu/medicine/educationalaffairs/educational_program_calendar.htm

Click the "MS I and Doctor of Physical Therapy Program I" xls file.

Just a heads up to out-of-state students, the State of Florida made a decision this past June that out-of-state students will be billed as such for all four years. In the past, you were only billed that amount your first year and the next three years you were billed as an in-state student. This affected several people in our class that now will have to pay $53k/yr for all four years. The school is working on getting grants to help reduce the hit they're taking.

Also, tuition increased a bit since last year (almost 20%). I was told it will go up by about 10% a year. This year it's $26,800 (up from about $22k) so figure $29.5k next year. Just another variable to throw in your decision making process when you get your multiple offers. 😉

Hopefully I have time to check this thread. Wish us luck on our first med school exam! 😀
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Hm....would USF be happy with you sharing this information?
 
Food said:
Hm....would USF be happy with you sharing this information?
Click to expand...

They would probably be indifferent. Dr. Stevenson (from UC Davis) told us during orientation that the State of California needed to raise revenue and did so by raising tuition on med students by $1k a year for 14 years. They're aware of the cost increases, current students are, and so should prospective students. You should know what you're getting into. Both with classes (the XLS link I posted) and educational costs. Take care! 🙂
 
49ers said:
They would probably be indifferent. Dr. Stevenson (from UC Davis) told us during orientation that the State of California needed to raise revenue and did so by raising tuition on med students by $1k a year for 14 years. They're aware of the cost increases, current students are, and so should prospective students. You should know what you're getting into. Both with classes (the XLS link I posted) and educational costs. Take care! 🙂
Click to expand...

Thanks for the information and good luck on the exam! Can't wait to hear some news from USF...😍
 
Food said:
Hm....would USF be happy with you sharing this information?
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If something is passed by a legislature, it is a matter of public record. I hope that they would be happy with this person sharing this information. Concealing it would be borderline unethical.

It's just terrible that they did not grandfather in existing students. That got to be a huge financial hit when you aren't expecting it.
 
PDtoMD said:
If something is passed by a legislature, it is a matter of public record. I hope that they would be happy with this person sharing this information. Concealing it would be borderline unethical.

It's just terrible that they did not grandfather in existing students. That got to be a huge financial hit when you aren't expecting it.
Click to expand...

Absolutely...and it's not over yet. Our residency classification this summer was "preliminary." The school doesn't make the official decision. The FL Dept of Education does in November. Our tuition assessment included the disclaimer that in November when the decision is made, our Spring bill will reflect the appropriate amount. For instance, if you were classified in Fall as in-state, but in November reclassified as out-of-state, your Spring bill will be $40k to reflect the amount from Fall you owe + spring OOS tuition.

I remember Miami told this to us last year. They said that year a few students were reclassified in November as out-of-state due to situations like marrying a FL resident or family moves to FL while the child is staying out of state for undergrad (something about not establishing enough roots). Florida is doing pretty bad financially, which is why the subsidies for education have been falling (13 years ago, USF MD tuition was $9,500 a year, now it's 3x). We may have some classmates that are reclassified as OOS. Hopefully none are.

Also, today was our first team-based-learning (TBL) exercise in the auditorium. We only have three this year I think whereas some other schools really have a lot of the curriculum that way (FAU was or is when I interviewed there). We were put in our groups (6-8) in each row of the auditorium and took a 7 question quiz (individually) on sickle cell and then as a group with remote controls and the professor (who is pretty good and entertaining when he teaches imo) elaborated on each response.

It was pretty fun so that could be something you guys mention during your interviews. How much the school plans to put in TBL and how elaborate it may get. The professors warned us that next year they may have to reduce lecture hours by 1/2 (!) 😱 due to some rule all MD programs have to comply with or something.

Back to studying! 🙂
 
USF has more lecture hours than most schools in the country. Lecture hours are supposed to go decrease, but they usually don't make firm curriculum decisions until February or later for the next year.

TBL is for Molecular Medicine only, unless they are adding it to the anatomy block. We don't have any true PBL, although there are some case-based learning sessions, but they are almost always after didatic lectures on the material.
 
49ers said:
Absolutely...and it's not over yet. Our residency classification this summer was "preliminary." The school doesn't make the official decision. The FL Dept of Education does in November. Our tuition assessment included the disclaimer that in November when the decision is made, our Spring bill will reflect the appropriate amount. For instance, if you were classified in Fall as in-state, but in November reclassified as out-of-state, your Spring bill will be $40k to reflect the amount from Fall you owe + spring OOS tuition.

I remember Miami told this to us last year. They said that year a few students were reclassified in November as out-of-state due to situations like marrying a FL resident or family moves to FL while the child is staying out of state for undergrad (something about not establishing enough roots). Florida is doing pretty bad financially, which is why the subsidies for education have been falling (13 years ago, USF MD tuition was $9,500 a year, now it's 3x). We may have some classmates that are reclassified as OOS. Hopefully none are.

Also, today was our first team-based-learning (TBL) exercise in the auditorium. We only have three this year I think whereas some other schools really have a lot of the curriculum that way (FAU was or is when I interviewed there). We were put in our groups (6-8) in each row of the auditorium and took a 7 question quiz (individually) on sickle cell and then as a group with remote controls and the professor (who is pretty good and entertaining when he teaches imo) elaborated on each response.

It was pretty fun so that could be something you guys mention during your interviews. How much the school plans to put in TBL and how elaborate it may get. The professors warned us that next year they may have to reduce lecture hours by 1/2 (!) 😱 due to some rule all MD programs have to comply with or something.

Back to studying! 🙂
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How did you learn all this? are you an in-stater? Or did USF tell you this in orientation?
 
Hey guys, on average how long does it take to be comlete from submitting the secondary?
 
stayclassy said:
How did you learn all this? are you an in-stater? Or did USF tell you this in orientation?
Click to expand...

USF sent us an e-mail stating our tuition assessment and that it wasn't 100% final until the "board of directors" made the decision in November. I inquired further and they said it was up to the DoE of FL to make the final word. They also stated the tuition in Spring would be billed at a higher amount to make up for the part in Fall you needed to pay for.

To the other poster, it took me 3 weeks to the day from when I submitted my secondary to when I was labeled as complete. Keep in mind I had a delay with the LOR from a peer (not sure if they require that this year). It had to go through electronic means and not hardcopy from what I recall.

They just sent us an e-mail asking for student hosts. I want to, but I've only been in school 5 weeks, lol. Plus, my couch is really uncomfortable and my three roommates are always in the living room til late at night...not something an interviewee should have to deal with...

Our exam went well. The one thing I didn't like was the "group exam" afterwards. We are put in pre-determined groups and retake the exam as a group so we can talk about questions we were unsure of. If you were "lucky," you got grouped with an IMS student from the previous year (they did a one year masters, which is taking the first year of med school). All the material was easy for them so they pretty much had no problems with the exam. I was tired after the 3 hours of testing so to retake it wasn't that fun.
 
Still not a peep yet from USF. Does anyone know when they started handing out invites in previous years?
 
paper said:
Still not a peep yet from USF. Does anyone know when they started handing out invites in previous years?
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They are interviewing EDPs on 9/29 and regular applicants beginning 10/6
 
Thanks, CanHasNaps! You are our inside eyes and ears.
 
CanHasNaps said:
I'm a second year at USF, so if you have any questions, feel free to post/PM me. Good luck!
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in the secondary it asks how the Scholarly Concentration program will help my personal career goals. is this an optional or required program? from the literature it looks optional, and if in fact it is, it looks like a program i would not wish to be a part of. so im not sure how to tackle that question.
 
it's 2 separate essays. u can tell b/c they are differently colored boxes. every other question is in the same color block.
 
dukegrad17 said:
in the secondary it asks how the Scholarly Concentration program will help my personal career goals. is this an optional or required program? from the literature it looks optional, and if in fact it is, it looks like a program i would not wish to be a part of. so im not sure how to tackle that question.
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Yes, optional program, but I don't think the essay is optional. Even if you hate it, you still have to essay about how much it'll help you and how much you love it 😳
 
dukegrad17 said:
in the secondary it asks how the Scholarly Concentration program will help my personal career goals. is this an optional or required program? from the literature it looks optional, and if in fact it is, it looks like a program i would not wish to be a part of. so im not sure how to tackle that question.
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Optional for my class and the year below mine. I don't know if they are/could make it a requirement.
 
Did you get an email saying you were complete?
 
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