2010-2011 Southern Illinois University Application Thread

Discover Your Odds of Getting into Medical School
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HappyGirl23 said:
I had a 30R/3.7 and extracurriculars out the wazooo but everything I am involved in was out of genuine interest. They are really looking for students that are going to be personable doctors rather than people that can spit out facts. It is all about making a connection with someone and making them feel comfortable.
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A little bit of a cheesy/obvious sentiment.

Because of all this waiting, SIU has turned into my last choice... Only the tuition cost makes it appealing for me.
 
I am in complete agreement with you. There is no need for people to be mean spirited on here and I appreciate your comment.
 
HappyGirl23 said:
I am in complete agreement with you. There is no need for people to be mean spirited on here and I appreciate your comment.
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I'm not sure who was mean spirited, but your comment came off as insensitive to the fact that no one else on here had an acceptance, and then you told us what "med school was all about" like you had an authority on what the SIU adcom bases their selection.
 
startswithb said:
I'm not sure who was mean spirited, but your comment came off as insensitive to the fact that no one else on here had an acceptance, and then you told us what "med school was all about" like you had an authority on what the SIU adcom bases their selection.
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I believe it was fishsticks' comment that came off as catty and bitter.

She had a great experience and just because you're still in the waiting process at this particular school doesn't mean you get to rain on her parade or call someone insensitive for being excited to get in. When you get into a school you love whether it's this one or another, you'll want people to be excited for you too not have someone tell you to mute your excitement because there are others out there who are still waiting. Don't be a debbie downer mmmk?

And if you wanna know what the adcoms are looking for all you gotta do is ask or read SIU's website. HappyGirl was spot on.


PS. happygirl, I'm pretty sure you and I met while you were visiting. hahah not to be uber creepy. :meanie:
 
red10 said:
I believe it was fishsticks' comment that came off as catty and bitter.

She had a great experience and just because you're still in the waiting process at this particular school doesn't mean you get to rain on her parade or call someone insensitive for being excited to get in. When you get into a school you love whether it's this one or another, you'll want people to be excited for you too not have someone tell you to mute your excitement because there are others out there who are still waiting. Don't be a debbie downer mmmk?

And if you wanna know what the adcoms are looking for all you gotta do is ask or read SIU's website. HappyGirl was spot on.
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Yeah, didn't mean to rain, the comment was just sort of like
orly.jpg
:smack:
 
Interviewed Dec. 7th and after a long wait I received the decision letter from SIU today. AWPA!
 
Congrats to the new AWPAs and Accepted. If you have questions about the school or Carbondale, or anything, feel free to send me a PM.

Those of you still waiting, patience is a virtue. We all had to wait, some longer than others, but such is life.
 
fishsticks2629 said:
A little bit of a cheesy/obvious sentiment.

Because of all this waiting, SIU has turned into my last choice... Only the tuition cost makes it appealing for me.
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not to be mean or anything, but if tuition is the only reason you'd come here, you probably wouldn't be that happy here. Genuine advice. This school and curriculum are not like the majority of Med schools. Spend the extra to be happy.
 
I didn't receive my AWPA today, they send out all statuses, right? Like AWPA, Ranked Alt, etc? I guess that means it's definitely coming tomorrow...
 
HappyGirl23 said:
Hey All!
This is officially my first post on SDN. I was accepted in the first batch of students and LOVE SIU. I also had the opportunity to sit through a PBL session and it was really incredible. I had been kind of weary about learning in such a different way but after you sit through a session it makes total sense. I honestly think the only reason other places do not do it is because they don't have enough faculty to staff the large amount of students. I hope to hear some more excited premeds that are accepted here! Not gonna lie, it took me a while to find the SIU hopefuls so I was feeling kind of lost. Best wishes and PM me if you have any specific questions about interview day! Good luck! Can you believe we are really going to get to be doctors!?!?!?!
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Hey there, and congrats! I was also accepted in the first batch and am pretty excited because I really liked this school. I am still not certain whether or not I'll be going to SIU next year because there are a few places I am deciding between, but I just thought that I'd chime in since it seems that the other accepted candidates are hiding somewhere right now 😛

To everyone else: Good luck! I know that this waiting game gets old quickly, but hang in there guys. There is light at the end of the tunnel. I'm hoping to see more accepted candidates here soon! 🙂
 
Neurwiz said:
Hey there, and congrats! I was also accepted in the first batch and am pretty excited because I really liked this school. I am still not certain whether or not I'll be going to SIU next year because there are a few places I am deciding between, but I just thought that I'd chime in since it seems that the other accepted candidates are hiding somewhere right now 😛

To everyone else: Good luck! I know that this waiting game gets old quickly, but hang in there guys. There is light at the end of the tunnel. I'm hoping to see more accepted candidates here soon! 🙂
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No offense but if this isn't your number 1 make up your mind quick and either withdraw your application or keep it knowing you'll go here. The only reason I say this is because SIU's acceptance system is frustrating enough as it is without people holding seats they might not take until May. One extra person will wait 2 more months because you "have a few places to decide between." You've obviously interviewed and read about all the schools you were accepted to. Make a decision.
 
John Lennon said:
No offense but if this isn't your number 1 make up your mind quick and either withdraw your application or keep it knowing you'll go here. The only reason I say this is because SIU's acceptance system is frustrating enough as it is without people holding seats they might not take until May. One extra person will wait 2 more months because you "have a few places to decide between." You've obviously interviewed and read about all the schools you were accepted to. Make a decision.
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sorry but until the deadline, it's their right to hold on to as many acceptances as they want.

You dont know whether they're waiting to find out where their significant other is going, or whether they're not sure they can afford to go to one school vs the other, etc. It's not like they said "I'm holding on to all these acceptances just to screw you losers over."

Picking a school is not always a clear cut decision for everyone.

inhale, exhale repeat
 
John Lennon said:
No offense but if this isn't your number 1 make up your mind quick and either withdraw your application or keep it knowing you'll go here. The only reason I say this is because SIU's acceptance system is frustrating enough as it is without people holding seats they might not take until May. One extra person will wait 2 more months because you "have a few places to decide between." You've obviously interviewed and read about all the schools you were accepted to. Make a decision.
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The amount of hostility in this thread towards accepted candidates has, quite honestly, been surprising. I'm well aware of the frustrating admissions processes at the majority of schools (not just SIU!), and this is part of the reason I am currently undecided and probably will be for a while longer.

It's not as if I'm holding acceptances at 20 different schools for the sole purpose of spiting the people who want to go to them. Without going into too much detail, atm, there are still many things that are uncertain, and because of that, holding multiple acceptances is the best course for me. Until those uncertainties are cleared, I am going to continue holding multiple acceptances and be undecided as to where I am going next year. Trust me, my current situation is causing me far more stress than it is causing you, so have a little understanding, yeah? We're all in this together, and I'm definitely not in it to hurt you or your chances of acceptance. But at the end of the day, I do want to make the right decision for me, and that's not as easy as you seem to think it is.
 
Neurwiz said:
The amount of hostility in this thread towards accepted candidates has, quite honestly, been surprising. I'm well aware of the frustrating admissions processes at the majority of schools (not just SIU!), and this is part of the reason I am currently undecided and probably will be for a while longer.

It's not as if I'm holding acceptances at 20 different schools for the sole purpose of spiting the people who want to go to them. Without going into too much detail, atm, there are still many things that are uncertain, and because of that, holding multiple acceptances is the best course for me. Until those uncertainties are cleared, I am going to continue holding multiple acceptances and be undecided as to where I am going next year. Trust me, my current situation is causing me far more stress than it is causing you, so have a little understanding, yeah? We're all in this together, and I'm definitely not in it to hurt you or your chances of acceptance. But at the end of the day, I do want to make the right decision for me, and that's not as easy as you seem to think it is.
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when you make your decision I seriously hope that the 2 or 3 negative people on this thread dont shape your opinion of your potential future classmates at SIU. I myself am trying not to worry about the quality of next years' class thanks to them...
Our current class is amazingly supportive and loving toward each other (like ridiculously so, it's strange sometimes haha). The premed 'me! me! me!' attitude not only doesn't exist, it's not tolerated at SIU. hopefully these kids get it outta their system now.
 
red10 said:
when you make your decision I seriously hope that the 2 or 3 negative people on this thread dont shape your opinion of your potential future classmates at SIU. I myself am trying not to worry about the quality of next years' class thanks to them...
Our current class is amazingly supportive and loving toward each other (like ridiculously so, it's strange sometimes haha). The premed 'me! me! me!' attitude not only doesn't exist, it's not tolerated at SIU. hopefully these kids get it outta their system now.
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The last part of this is very true. On any given weekend 40+ of the class can be out together in one of the local bars. The staff down here will literally do anything shy of murder for you (e.g. offering to call someones landlord to try to convince them to let a student have their puppy here with them). There are about 2 people posting in here regularly from our class and we aren't at all representative of our class as a whole. Most of your class is READING this right now and not posting. Seriously like 15 people without accounts called me out as that "caesar" guy from the forums, and then talked about how cut throat the forums are. Med school students (here at least) are generally laid back and supportive. Applicants are cut-throat.
 
Don't be gloomy about the process either. You can't change it so adapt. Red and I are here to try to be supportive and helpful but that particular complaint is just old news. We get it you don't like it, we don't either, but there is nothing to be done about that. We are very open to second looks (someone posted above that they came here for one recently). If you are considering multiple schools and want to see what first year is like, PM me or talk to EW and he will get you in touch with the people you need to be in touch with.
 
red10 said:
I believe it was fishsticks' comment that came off as catty and bitter.

And if you wanna know what the adcoms are looking for all you gotta do is ask or read SIU's website. HappyGirl was spot on.
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Didnt mean to rain on her parade and I congratulate her for the acceptance.
But her comments were a little insensitive because to me it felt that she was saying the reason why others haven't gotten their acceptances were bc we didnt connect with the staff, have genuine ECs, etc. If she wasnt inferring this, then my previous statement was out of line. However, when I got my acceptances you dont see me telling others what their interviews should have been like.. Its just not courteous.

Also what school doesnt want "personable" doctors? Are there any schools that want their student to just "spit out facts"? What SIU wants from canidates is what every other school wants, so her advice was redundant.
 
fishsticks2629 said:
Didnt mean to rain on her parade and I congratulate her for the acceptance.
But her comments were a little insensitive because to me it felt that she was saying the reason why others haven't gotten their acceptances were bc we didnt connect with the staff, have genuine ECs, etc. If she wasnt inferring this, then my previous statement was out of line. However, when I got my acceptances you dont see me telling others what their interviews should have been like.. Its just not courteous.

Also what school doesnt want "personable" doctors? Are there any schools that want their student to just "spit out facts"? What SIU wants from canidates is what every other school wants, so her advice was redundant.
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like I said: everyone school SAYS they want personable doctors but then all they do is teach to the boards, have minimal doctoring or doctor/patient relationship curriculum and just generally churn out doctors who are douche bags who are better suited for bench research than interacting with human beings.
SIU was one of the rare schools (without naming names) that I really felt like they meant what they said, and saw them doing things to produce the right kind of doctors.
 
PS. shout out to jkkj for totally creeping on this thread but not posting lol😍
 
red10 said:
like I said: everyone school SAYS they want personable doctors but then all they do is teach to the boards, have minimal doctoring or doctor/patient relationship curriculum and just generally churn out doctors who are douche bags who are better suited for bench research than interacting with human beings.
SIU was one of the rare schools (without naming names) that I really felt like they meant what they said, and saw them doing things to produce the right kind of doctors.
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In my opinion, you can't totally train someone to be a "personable" doc. If your a douche going into school, no matter how much patient contact you get in your first two years, you will still most likely be a douche. Increase in patient interaction doesnt neccasarily = Increase in becoming a personable doc. Do you really think the few extra hundred hours of patient contact is going to magically make you a more compassionate doctor. You will have thousands of hours in yr 3, 4 and in residency to develop your bedside manners.

BTW is seems like alot of the schools nowadays have early patient contact in the first year.
 
fishsticks2629 said:
In my opinion, you can't totally train someone to be a "personable" doc. If your a douche going into school, no matter how much patient contact you get in your first two years, you will still most likely be a douche. Increase in patient interaction doesnt neccasarily = Increase in becoming a personable doc. Do you really think the few extra hundred hours of patient contact is going to magically make you a more compassionate doctor. You will have thousands of hours in yr 3, 4 and in residency to develop your bedside manners.

BTW is seems like alot of the schools nowadays have early patient contact in the first year.
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valid point but I also think we have a lot less douche baggy people who are admitted because the school wants to turn out good docs. So maybe the kid with social skills and a love of community service is ranked higher on the AWPA list than the dbaggy kid who has 20 publications in 'lab rat monthly' and a 45T
 
Pretty sure the next batch of acceptances comes out tomorrow. Unless, of course, they came out today. Has anyone heard?
 
Received an email from EW around 2pm today. Officially accepted!!!!! woo hoo 😀
 
Interview invite! Does SIU have a student host program, or must you go the hotel route?
 
Donnie1310 said:
Interview invite! Does SIU have a student host program, or must you go the hotel route?
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Hotel. I stayed at The President Abraham Lincoln which is close to the school and relatively inexpensive. It was nice as well.
 
I also received an acceptance e-mail today at a little before 2:00pm. My AWPA letter stated that the next batch of acceptances would not be going out until February... but oh well. Good luck to everyone else.
 
I'm a re-applicant. MCAT-31Q GPA-3.72 Major-Chemistry. I added quite a few things to my application this cycle. Hope this helps!
 
Did anyone get in this batch who did not get in the first batch? Last year's thread seemed to have people waiting on each batch, missing it, and then finally getting in late April or May. I'm thinking that's gonna be me. Thank God I actually got another interview invite. +pity+
 
IllinIWin88 said:
I'm a re-applicant. MCAT-31Q GPA-3.72 Major-Chemistry. I added quite a few things to my application this cycle. Hope this helps!
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That's awesome. I'm a reapplicant, too. I raised my MCAT from ghastly to good, but my GPA isn't going to budge. 😡 I'm beginning to think I was overconfident at the beginning of this cycle and should've put my application on hold until my fall grade came out and I started my new volunteer gig. Maybe I'll be a prospective re-re-applicant. 👎
 
Reapplicant here. No love for me yesterday either🙄. Keep your heads up, the AWPA list will move all summer. GL all:xf:
 
Boy am I late to the party! Congrats to all those that got in and good luck to all those still waiting. I just graduated in this 2010 group and am more than willing to answer any questions that you all may have. I would love to answer questions about admissions and the such however since I'm not at the school this year, Caesar is your best bet for hearing about whats up to date. (speaking of which how you doing buddy!?) I can though give you a big picture view of the school and let you know how the later years work.
 
startswithb said:
That's awesome. I'm a reapplicant, too. I raised my MCAT from ghastly to good, but my GPA isn't going to budge. 😡 I'm beginning to think I was overconfident at the beginning of this cycle and should've put my application on hold until my fall grade came out and I started my new volunteer gig. Maybe I'll be a prospective re-re-applicant. 👎
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Have faith startswithb, I hope you hear good news from UofIll🙂 !
 
I'm a reapplicant who is on the AWPA list at SIU. Semi-freaking out that I haven't received a letter from the last two batches. I really don't know what I should be doing at this point....or what my backup plan is in terms of re-re-application. Trying to figure out if what I'm doing currently (working in the hospital full time as ER tech) will significantly strengthen my application for the next cycle so I won't HAVE to retake the mcat? I really really wish EW could just tell me where I am on the list so I can figure out a plan and prepare for whatever. Congratulations to all of you who have been accepted 🙂 I hope I'll be able to join you all!
 
Does any one know the exact date when the last batch of acceptances will come out?
 
The very last interview date of the season is Friday, March 11, if that helps with final acceptance batch guesses.
 
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