2010-2011 University of Alabama Thread

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Thanks Peachy. Anyone else received secondary? Are there major differences from last year?

Goodluck everyone!
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not sure about last year's, but here are all the "essay" prompts:

Do you consider yourself a rural applicant? Select Value Yes No If "yes", describe life experiences that illustrate this (no limit)

If you are a reapplicant, describe how you have improved your overall credentials for the current application year, specifically addressing any concerns raised in feedback you received from the Admissions Committee. (no limit)

Non-Alabama residents: Describe any experiences you have had related to the state of Alabama or UAB Medical Center: (no limit)

Briefly describe your research experiences, including how long you were involved in the project and give an approximation of the number of hours per week you spent with each activity.

List any formal public presentations, publications, or awards:

where do you see yourself in your medical career ten to fifteen years from now? (1500)

Please share any information you want us to know about you that is not included in your AMCAS application or in this secondary application: (1500)

In addition to this, there are many blanks for rehashing your community service, shadowing, and other activities stuff.

Edit: I looked at the 2009-2010 secondary, and it seems like there are fewer essays on this one..
 
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Thank you Gnocchi. It seems more straight-forward than last year's.
 
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Just received the secondary! \(^o^)/

Do you think it's a bad idea to copy word for word my primary app with regards to the shadowing and volunteering sections?
 
Ditto1114 said:
Do you think it's a bad idea to copy word for word my primary app with regards to the shadowing and volunteering sections?
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Yes, I do. Their secondary information page specifically says that they hope it is not too much trouble for you to go over some of the information from your primary app again, but that they want to see continuity and such.
 
Ditto1114 said:
Just received the secondary! \(^o^)/

Do you think it's a bad idea to copy word for word my primary app with regards to the shadowing and volunteering sections?
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I think that I would try to change it up a little. I find when I try to take the easy way out it always backfires!
 
How lengthy are you guys making your descriptions? I want to show that I am working hard on this, but I don't want to get too wordy either. Also, for shadowing and volunteering experiences are you guys talking about what you learned in each experience, or just what was involved in the experience?
 
D8O8C8T8O8R said:
How lengthy are you guys making your descriptions? I want to show that I am working hard on this, but I don't want to get too wordy either. Also, for shadowing and volunteering experiences are you guys talking about what you learned in each experience, or just what was involved in the experience?
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I've been making mine 3-4 sentences. Last year I wrote about what I learned from each experience, but when I re-read them this year they sound a bit cheesy. So, I'm probably going to do a mix this year, and only add a sentence about what I learned from experiences that affected me more then others.
 
On the question about being a "rural applicant", does anyone know exactly what that means? I'm from a rural area of the state, but I live in a small town. I don't want them to think I'm being inconsistent if I say that I don't consider myself a rural applicant, but actually I'm not really sure what the qualifications for being a rural applicant are. What is everyone else doing?
 
D8O8C8T8O8R said:
How lengthy are you guys making your descriptions? I want to show that I am working hard on this, but I don't want to get too wordy either. Also, for shadowing and volunteering experiences are you guys talking about what you learned in each experience, or just what was involved in the experience?
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It's not possible to be too wordy, they decided to put a character limit of 1500 on all of the description text boxes
 
Bama589 said:
On the question about being a "rural applicant", does anyone know exactly what that means? I'm from a rural area of the state, but I live in a small town. I don't want them to think I'm being inconsistent if I say that I don't consider myself a rural applicant, but actually I'm not really sure what the qualifications for being a rural applicant are. What is everyone else doing?
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I'm describing my hometown (including some demographic data) and also some experiences that illustrate my understanding of what it's like to be rural.
 
Suncrusher said:
It's not possible to be too wordy, they decided to put a character limit of 1500 on all of the description text boxes
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Is that with spaces or without? Because I can write well over 1500 characters in the medically related experience section (~2000 characters currently)
 
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D8O8C8T8O8R said:
Is that with spaces or without? Because I can write well over 1500 characters in the medically related experience section (~2000 characters currently)
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I think it is 1500 characters not counting spaces.


Thanks for answering my question Pet of the Week.


**New question: If you don't have any research/publication experience, are you leaving that question completely blank?
 
Bama589 said:
**New question: If you don't have any research/publication experience, are you leaving that question completely blank?
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Are you planning to do research before being accepted (I know we all will be :D)? If so, I would briefly describe with who and what type of research and why you think it is relevant in terms of medicine.

If not, I would still add something, but try not to pad. Maybe why you think research is an integral part of medicine, and that you look forward to doing it (?). Just my thoughts.

UAB is so funny in that all you get from their public image is that they loooove research/academic medicine, but I'm convinced that Dr. Smith and his crew don't give two flying honks about it.


Also, what are you guys putting down for no. of occasions for the shadowing? So should I describe a 120 hr. internship and list 1 as the no. of occasions, or tally up the number of events that I spent with the Dr. in x amount of time?
 
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Gnocchi Monster said:
Are you planning to do research before being accepted (I know we all will be :D)? If so, I would briefly describe with who and what type of research and why you think it is relevant in terms of medicine.

If not, I would still add something, but try not to pad. Maybe why you think research is an integral part of medicine, and that you look forward to doing it (?). Just my thoughts.

UAB is so funny in that all you get from their public image is that they loooove research/academic medicine, but I'm convinced that Dr. Smith and his crew don't give two flying honks about it.


Also, what are you guys putting down for no. of occasions for the shadowing? So should I describe a 120 hr. internship and list 1 as the no. of occasions, or tally up the number of events that I spent with the Dr. in x amount of time?
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I put down each separate time I shadowed the physician as a separate occasion, and then specified the number of total hours if it was significant. Because they don't have an area for ongoing experiences like the volunteering, this seemed like the only logical way to do it but I could be way in left field.
 
What's everyone's opinion about the essay: additional information not present on AMCAS/supplemental? Should I leave it blank if I pretty much have my life story integrated into the personal statement/primary -- and otherwise have lived a pretty straight-shot life?
 
I got the secondary today. Pretty excited because I'm OOS
 
Gnocchi - re:additional info. I don't plan on putting anything in there unless something happens to change or I can think of something that is relevant that they should know. Like I've had some personal changes that have happened over the summer since I did my AMCAS that I am considering sharing because they've altered my outlook on things.
 
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Should I only answer this if I am a reapplicant to UAB or do they want to answer if we are a reapplicant anywhere?
 
Hey guys,

If anybody has any questions about UASOM I can try my best to answer them, I am a MS1 here.
 
Regarding the reapplicant question, I think it applies only if you applied to UAB before because its asking how you improved based on the committee's advise from last year.
I am going to submit mine tonight, goodluck guys!
 
lollybo said:
Interview invite today! OOS
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Congratulations! when were you complete?
I just submitted my secondary and they have my fees and letters of recommendation so I am hoping I hear something soon
 
I submitted my payment on 8/21, so I assume I was complete a little after that. Best of luck to you!
 
Did you all remember your ACT & SAT scores?

I took them in 1998 (or would it have been 1997...) and I'm going nuts trying to figure out if I still have my score report hiding in my parents' house. Any suggestions on how to get them without calling the testing authorities and spending more money would be greatly appreciated.
 
TropicalKitty said:
Did you all remember your ACT & SAT scores?

I took them in 1998 (or would it have been 1997...) and I'm going nuts trying to figure out if I still have my score report hiding in my parents' house. Any suggestions on how to get them without calling the testing authorities and spending more money would be greatly appreciated.
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my undergraduate institution kept my HS test scores on file and I was able to access them over the internet thru the transcript/degree audit/academic record system. I dont know if that is a possibility at your undergrad institution or not
 
TropicalKitty said:
Did you all remember your ACT & SAT scores?

I took them in 1998 (or would it have been 1997...) and I'm going nuts trying to figure out if I still have my score report hiding in my parents' house. Any suggestions on how to get them without calling the testing authorities and spending more money would be greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...

I remembered my scores so that was easy. Try accessing this website http://sat.collegeboard.com/scores they might have your scores on there but I doubt it since it have been so long since you took it.
 
Thanks for the suggestions! My school doesn't have those scores online...looks like I'll have to spend the cash to get the report. Yeehaw!
 
buckmaster 11 said:
What were some of their suggestions?
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They told me that the most significant improvement would be to bring up my MCAT score to 30+. Which is good because when I retook it I got a 31 =)

Other then that they said I have a very meaningful well-balanced lifestyle, but that I should work on not being so shy in the interviews and should use more eye contact. Oh, and also get a little more shadowing experience with a primary care physician to better understand the physician/patient relationship.

It was more positive then I thought it was going to be.
 
Ditto1114 said:
They told me that the most significant improvement would be to bring up my MCAT score to 30+. Which is good because when I retook it I got a 31 =)

Other then that they said I have a very meaningful well-balanced lifestyle, but that I should work on not being so shy in the interviews and should use more eye contact. Oh, and also get a little more shadowing experience with a primary care physician to better understand the physician/patient relationship.

It was more positive then I thought it was going to be.
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Awesome, thanks for sharing! I talked to a few reapplicants that are now in UASOM and from anecdotal evidence it seems like most get in on their second try.

Anyone else having a slow senior year? Can't wait for interviews..
 
TropicalKitty said:
Did you all remember your ACT & SAT scores?

I took them in 1998 (or would it have been 1997...) and I'm going nuts trying to figure out if I still have my score report hiding in my parents' house. Any suggestions on how to get them without calling the testing authorities and spending more money would be greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...

They actually request to see our ACT/SAT scores? Seriously? How is that even relevant?
 
Deutsch Artzt - I don't know. I'm really curious because I know things have changed since the time I took the exams. Now I'm wondering if I should have put my 2003 GRE score on my AMCAS as well. The only thing I can think of is they want to see if there is any trending with you. For example, were you so-so younger and got better, or have you always rocked.

PS - I'm curious where in Nashvegas you are...I'm there too! hehe
 
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Deutsch Arzt said:
They actually request to see our ACT/SAT scores? Seriously? How is that even relevant?
Click to expand...

TropicalKitty said:
Deutsch Artzt - I don't know. I'm really curious because I know things have changed since the time I took the exams. Now I'm wondering if I should have put my 2003 GRE score on my AMCAS as well. The only thing I can think of is they want to see if there is any trending with you. For example, were you so-so younger and got better, or have you always rocked.

PS - I'm curious where in Nashvegas you are...I'm there too! hehe
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Last year I was told that the SAT/ACT is a good predictor of how well you'll do on the MCAT so it allows them to see the trending like TropicalKitty said.
 
Ditto1114 said:
They told me that the most significant improvement would be to bring up my MCAT score to 30+. Which is good because when I retook it I got a 31 =)

Other then that they said I have a very meaningful well-balanced lifestyle, but that I should work on not being so shy in the interviews and should use more eye contact. Oh, and also get a little more shadowing experience with a primary care physician to better understand the physician/patient relationship.

It was more positive then I thought it was going to be.
Click to expand...

Thanks for sharing. Those sound like good suggestions!
 
IS interview invite. Submitted secondary around 8/30.
​
 
IS interview as well, complete 9/07. Looking forward to seeing you guys on 9/30!
 
I wish it would cool down here in Alabama... I'm tired of the upper 90's :(
 
Submitted my secondary around Aug 21, interview invite on Sept 9, and my interview is Sept 23! They interviewed early admission people last Thursday, so I think this is the first round of interviews for regular admission.
 
Bama589 said:
Submitted my secondary around Aug 21, interview invite on Sept 9, and my interview is Sept 23! They interviewed early admission people last Thursday, so I think this is the first round of interviews for regular admission.
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Congrats! Good Luck!!

It looks like invites are going out on Thursdays. :)
 
my friend who goes to birmingham southern college with a 3.5 gpa and 30 mcat just got an IS interview; I am in state too but I goes to Vanderbilt with a 3.17 and 34 MCAT, what are the chance of me getting interview when I apply early next year? my parents both worked at uab, I shadowed the chief of thoraic surgery for 2 weeks at uab, shadowed at VA next to uab for entire summer, annnnd did a summer of research at uab lol. decent shot as long as I continue my upward gpa trend?
 
gatorade848 said:
my friend who goes to birmingham southern college with a 3.5 gpa and 30 mcat just got an IS interview; I am in state too but I goes to Vanderbilt with a 3.17 and 34 MCAT, what are the chance of me getting interview when I apply early next year? my parents both worked at uab, I shadowed the chief of thoraic surgery for 2 weeks at uab, shadowed at VA next to uab for entire summer, annnnd did a summer of research at uab lol. decent shot as long as I continue my upward gpa trend?
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Hi I'm a MS1 at UAB med, What is your science GPA? 3.17 is definitely on the low end but the good MCAT might offset it a bit.
 
gatorade848 said:
my friend who goes to birmingham southern college with a 3.5 gpa and 30 mcat just got an IS interview; I am in state too but I goes to Vanderbilt with a 3.17 and 34 MCAT, what are the chance of me getting interview when I apply early next year? my parents both worked at uab, I shadowed the chief of thoraic surgery for 2 weeks at uab, shadowed at VA next to uab for entire summer, annnnd did a summer of research at uab lol. decent shot as long as I continue my upward gpa trend?
Click to expand...

This is just my opinion from what they told me in my application review last year. My undergrad cGPA is 3.4 and sGPA is 3.3 and they told me that was below average. So, I would try to bring your GPA up a bit. Also, keep shadowing especially family practice. Do you volunteer at all? If not, I'd start ASAP. Your MCAT is awesome, though. Way to go! =)
 
i would say around 3.1 too; its the usual "i slacked off first two years kinda of thing". ex i got C+ in intro bio but A+ in orgo II and B+ cell bio; doing well in higher level class so far I can see my gpa go up to 3.2 or even 3.3 if the trend continues. yea I do volunteer at stuff the only thing I am worried about is the gpa

btw my house is literally 10 minutes from uab, bonus points? haha
 
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