2010-2011 University of Arizona Application Thread

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I am thinking the phoenix campus appeals to a VERY specific type/mentality of student. So those that are excited about the program and get an acceptance are really nestling in!
 
mcm628 said:
I am thinking the phoenix campus appeals to a VERY specific type/mentality of student. So those that are excited about the program and get an acceptance are really nestling in!
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I agree. I was expecting to be blown away by Phoenix and be kind of "meh" about Tucson. But it was the other way around- I loved Tucson and while I liked everything Phoenix had to offer, I was kind of underwhelmed. I liked it, but it just didn't seem as nice of a fit as Tucson. Or maybe I just hyped it up in my mind too much for it to ever live up to my own preset expectations.

Either way, I do think it appeals to a specific demographic and those people were very excited about their acceptance and very passionate about the program.
 
I was one of the few to choose another school over Phoenix at the deadline. I will make it very clear that I was accepted by both campuses, so not sure what "type" of student Phoenix attracts given I was chosen by both committees. I quickly declined my seat in Tucson and held on to Phoenix for as long as possible. Ultimately, I chose out of state because of my wife's family. Phoenix catches students' attention and interest because of the true feeling that they care and want you in the program. The only underwhelming component of that campus is purely related to facilities (library, etc). This is all solved with the education building that opens in July 2012. Otherwise, this program is solid. Match results were amazing. Students seem pleased and happy. The dean, faculty and staff are engaged and actively involved.

Good luck to those headed there and elsewhere this year. It's all personal preference. Phoenix is great program and I think serious students who are more concerned about becoming a great doc and less about the "party" outside of class are attracted to Phoenix. The students I met during visits and second look seemed to have a lot of fun on and out of campus though.
 
I was actually really impressed with Phoenix when I was there. Everything was so smooth and I thought that they did a great job of selling themselves -- much more so than Tucson. I was honestly a bit skeptical going in, but I left thinking it was a really cool program, whereas I was bit underwhelmed as I left Tucson. However, someone that I met during my PHX visit said the opposite, that they weren't nearly as impressed as they were with Tucson.

Obviously it's very subjective and depends on what the applicant is looking for, as well as their own unique experience with the school. I think that UA-PHX has a lot to offer, has a much different vibe than UA-Tucson, and also has kind of a shiny new "up-and-comer" feel to it which is appealing. Like others have said, those who are into it are probably really into it so I'm not surprised no one who accepted their offer is backing out. Combined with a very small class size, it's no wonder the WL isn't budging.
 
Just to be clear for everyone, I hope that no one on this thread thought I was trying to take a dig at Phx. I was just making a comment from my experience interviewing and meeting with the current students. The students there have a very realistic outlook on what is key for a good academic experience. As an applicant, it is easy to get blinded by the notion that pre-clinical facilities are the end-all-be-all of an institution's goodness, but I think most graduates would disagree. Congrats to everyone going there!

Seeing as I was rejected however, and feel the need to be petty, everyone there was really short. BURN! 🙂
 
Oh, I also wasn't saying that Phoenix isn't an amazing program. I think my preference really had more to do with having time to connect with my interviewer in Tucson and not having that time in Phoenix because of the interview structure.

I definitely agree that Phoenix seems like a program that deeply cares about it's students and about serving their community. Please don't think I am disparaging the Phoenix campus!
 
Did anyone get any sort or scholarship to UofA Tucson? When did you find out/did you have to fill out anything special? Can a current student comment on the ability to get scholarships after first year?

I spoke with the FA office and it looks like it's all coming from loans (minus the automatic 1500$)... Nothing for merit or needs based, which is a little disappointing considering other schools consider me as financially disadvantaged. I'm sure the programs worth full price but you can't blame me for trying 🙂
 
BaronVonZ said:
Did anyone get any sort or scholarship to UofA Tucson? When did you find out/did you have to fill out anything special? Can a current student comment on the ability to get scholarships after first year?

I spoke with the FA office and it looks like it's all coming from loans (minus the automatic 1500$)... Nothing for merit or needs based, which is a little disappointing considering other schools consider me as financially disadvantaged. I'm sure the programs worth full price but you can't blame me for trying 🙂
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http://financial-aid.medicine.arizona.edu/
This link has the financial aid information. There is university based scholarship and application that is based on need, however given funding and current economics I would not hold my breath. Funding in recent years has been abysmal.

Financial aid has been at a standstill lately due to much uncertainty of new government changes amongst other things.
 
Thanks for the scholarship info... I dug around there a bit and filled out all the necessary paperwork, though as far as what kind of help the student body was really getting information was a bit slim. I guess the economy really is taking its toll on the assistance the school can offer.

At the moment I'm trying to decide between two schools at the moment and would love some additional feedback from current students 🙂 (I'm sorry if some of these questions come off as kind of negative – I love U of A, I just feel a bit more familiar with the strengths of the program than I do the weaknesses). For the Tucson campus:

1) I was told by one of my tour guides that step one scores has historically been a bit low but that some kind of tutoring/prep company was brought in to help students... does anyone have a bit more info on this?
2) How easy is it to do away rotations out of state during third and fourth years?
3) What clinical departments were strongest in your experience? Did any fall below expectations? Why?
4) What sort of scholarship opportunities exist after your first year? Anything big/covering many people?
5) What sort of Med student clubs are there at U of A? What do you do for fun? How happy are you with the school and outside of school? What would you change if you could?

Thank you so much to those that help… I'm excited to learn a bit more about the program and come to a final decision!
 
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BaronVonZ said:

For the Tucson campus:

1) I was told by one of my tour guides that step one scores has historically been a bit low but that some kind of tutoring/prep company was brought in to help students... does anyone have a bit more info on this?
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For step-I scores, I only know about recent history (i.e. since the new curriculum was rolled out), which I'm sure is all you care about. From what I recall, things dropped a little for the first students going through the new curriculum (to be expected), but is right back up at national average now. Having looked over numerous step-I books, I'd say the curriculum does a good job of providing a broad-based presentation of what you will need for step-I. This is in contrast to many schools (including "highly ranked" ones), which make you focus on excessive minutiae for exams that you won't need for step-I. Still, this is really irrelevant to you as an individual, because you should really only care about how you personally do (which depends on how hard you work). As for the real reason any of us care about step-I (matching into the specialty of our choice), we just had the best residency match in the history of the school, so you'll be good.

I'm not sure about a tutor/prep company coming in to help students. I know a lot of second years are doing DIT (doctors in training), so maybe that's what they were referring to? I don't know, sorry.

BaronVonZ said:

2) How easy is it to do away rotations out of state during third and fourth years?
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Rotations out of state fourth year are a definite go. As far as I know you won't be really limited by how many away rotations you can do. I unfortunately don't know as much about third year rotations out of state. I haven't heard much about it, so I'm just going to guess that it's much less common.

BaronVonZ said:
3) What clinical departments were strongest in your experience? Did any fall below expectations? Why?
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This would be best answered by a third or fourth year, but they're too busy to bother with SDN so you're stuck with me. From what I've gathered, UA-Tucson is a very clinically oriented school that is very focused on graduating excellent clinicians, and as such has focused on providing the students with a great clinical learning environment. Students here consistently get excellent reviews during away rotations though. Nothing about the COM here has fallen below my expectations, and I have no reason to think that will change anytime soon. Not sure if that helps, but hopefully it does a little...

BaronVonZ said:
4) What sort of scholarship opportunities exist after your first year? Anything big/covering many people?
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No major scholarships here unfortunately; you have to go to Mayo for that. As a state school in a broke ass state, we're lucky if they don't jack up our tuition, so major scholarships aren't even really an option. Still, it beats paying private school or out of state tuition (for now) by quite a bit (save 15k/yr for 4 years = 60k saved). Plus, cost of living in Tucson isn't terrible either, so that helps somewhat.

BaronVonZ said:
5) What sort of Med student clubs are there at U of A? What do you do for fun? How happy are you with the school and outside of school? What would you change if you could?
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We have a **** load of clubs. The big one is CUP (commitment to underserved people), which is really a collection of a bunch of clubs within it. Basically, CUP encompasses all the community outreach clubs with everything from women's clinics to teen pregnancy to sun screen education (derm anyone?) to almost everything. It really provides a lot opportunities for us to stay clinically active in the "pre-clinical" years so we don't forget why we came here in the first place. Then we have specialty interest group clubs that host lunch talks throughout the year (usually with free food!) that will provide exposure to basically any specialty you might be interested in, such as wilderness medicine, surgery, ER, etc., etc. We also have a wide variety of ethnic clubs too. Let's see, if that's not enough to keep you busy there are also a variety of positions available in COM that help the college (e.g. a couple students on the admissions committee, 1-2 as alumni outreach people, curriculum review stuff, and I can't remember the rest). Anyways, if med school isn't enough to keep you busy this is the right place for you, because there is so much extracurricular stuff going on you won't have enough time to do it all.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot about student government too; we gots one of dem here. They're too boring for me though, except that they give away monies for clubs and people doing research presentations.

As far as what we do for fun, there is no shortage. Tucson is not quite as happening as Phoenix, but there are plenty of things to keep you busy from going out to the bars on the weekend (not my thing) to hiking mount Lemmon area to whatever. School keeps us busy most of the time, but I think everyone in my class is happy with the opportunities Tucson provides for relaxation. The biggest downside I see is that there is only one Harkins theater in Tucson, but it's totally worth the drive if you want to see a movie here.

How happy am I with the school? I'd say I have been incredibly pleased. I really don't think I would be as happy at any of the other schools I interviewed at. UA-Tucson provides an excellent education in an environment that is very supportive of the students. Honestly, if the interview day was as great as attending the school is, this would be the hardest school in the country to get into (maybe a slight exaggeration, but still 😎).

As for what I would change, there are only a couple nit-picky things like running some of the histo labs a little quicker. Otherwise, nothing really.

I hope that helps answer your questions. Feel free to post more if you have any.
 
lrkoehle said:
I am awesome hear me roar
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Thank you SO MUCH for your in depth answers. I would still be interested in hearing opinions from other students as well (particularly 3rd and 4th years), but your response has helped me tremendously. I'm leaning strongly towards U of A at the moment, so I guess we'll see towards the end of the week!
 
I haven't gotten an acceptance yet. So, I guess it's still stuck at #58. Here's to crossing my fingers that it will move tomorrow! 😀
 
Eichhornchen said:
I haven't gotten an acceptance yet. So, I guess it's still stuck at #58. Here's to crossing my fingers that it will move tomorrow! 😀
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thanks for the update 🙂 i was hoping maybe you and the next bunch on the list were too busy celebrating thats why nothing was posted
 
Hey, everyone. Just wanted to say that we COM-P students are still around. It's capstone week for us MS1s, so we are quite busy with our year 1 OSCE, prospectus deadline, and shadowing activities (I shadowed an orthopedic surgeon today). Feel free to send me any PMs if you have any q's about our campus. I should be around to answer them except from June 5th-11th (during which I will be doing AIDS/LifeCycle, woo hoo!). I'm sure Shep or someone else will be around then to answer them then.
 
I had to talk to tucson admissions yesterday about some insurance questions and when i was on the phone I asked what the waitlist was at. She told me that it was still at 58 because the lady that sends out the acceptances is out of town right now and there won't be any more movement until she gets back. I'm sure when she gets back there will be another large spike in the WL movement.
 
BooRadley85 said:
I had to talk to tucson admissions yesterday about some insurance questions and when i was on the phone I asked what the waitlist was at. She told me that it was still at 58 because the lady that sends out the acceptances is out of town right now and there won't be any more movement until she gets back. I'm sure when she gets back there will be another large spike in the WL movement.
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Did they give you any clue when she'll be back?
 
So, I called the Admissions office this morning...

the lady I talked to said that the person who sends out accpt. emails is out of town until after memorial day weekend...so according to her those still waiting will not hear anything until next week...
 
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zonaaa said:
So, I called the Admissions office this morning...

the lady I talked to said that the person who sends out accpt. emails is out of town until after memorial day weekend...so according to her those still waiting will not hear anything until next week...
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I also called and was told that they'll be back on Tuesday, specifically. The person I spoke with also said that she just checked and no one new has withdrawn, so the waitlist would still be at 58 even if she were here.
 
Phosphorus Ylide said:
I should be around to answer them except from June 5th-11th (during which I will be doing AIDS/LifeCycle, woo hoo!). I'm sure Shep or someone else will be around then to answer them then.
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Yeah, I'll be around all summer to answer Phoenix specific campus questions and general starting med school what do I do over the summer to get ready questions (spoiler alert: nothing. If you prepare for med school academically in any way, shape or form instead of enjoying your true last free summer, I will break your kneecaps. Over the internet.).
 
shepardsun said:
Yeah, I'll be around all summer to answer Phoenix specific campus questions and general starting med school what do I do over the summer to get ready questions (spoiler alert: nothing. If you prepare for med school academically in any way, shape or form instead of enjoying your true last free summer, I will break your kneecaps. Over the internet.).
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This sounds like a message from the future...to me atleast.
 
BaronVonZ said:
1) I was told by one of my tour guides that step one scores has historically been a bit low but that some kind of tutoring/prep company was brought in to help students... does anyone have a bit more info on this?
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Like someone said before, the year that UA went from a traditional curriculum to systems-based the step 1 scores took a hit. Our class (2012) did well on step 1.

BaronVonZ said:
2) How easy is it to do away rotations out of state during third and fourth years?
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All your core clerkships during 3rd year have to be done under UA supervision so you can't do away rotations for those. You get 1 elective credit during 3rd year which can be done as an away rotation but it is strongly encouraged that you do your 3rd year elective at home.

4th year you are required to do a minimum of 12 units of elective credit under UA supervision. The rest can be done as away rotations. Most schools have a similar policy regarding 4th year away rotations.

BaronVonZ said:
3) What clinical departments were strongest in your experience? Did any fall below expectations? Why?
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I think every department has it's own strengths/weaknesses. What you get out of clinicals depends more on what you put into it in my opinion.

BaronVonZ said:
4) What sort of scholarship opportunities exist after your first year? Anything big/covering many people?
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UA has several scholarship funds available to students who meet certain criteria. I've been awarded at least 1 scholarship every year I've been at UA. Some are needs based, some merit based. What you're eligible for depends on a lot of factors so it's hard to say what you personally might have access to.

Is UA the school to attend if you're counting on a full ride? Prolly not. Big money scholarships are few and far between at any med school though.

BaronVonZ said:
5) What sort of Med student clubs are there at U of A? What do you do for fun? How happy are you with the school and outside of school? What would you change if you could?
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Plenty of clubs at UA. I'm happy with life outside of school. I think how much time you have for socializing totally depends on you. If you're gunning for derm, want to be AOA, etc. then you'll probably have less time to socialize. If you care more about balance then you'll make time for the things you enjoy regardless of the pressures that med school brings about.

In all honesty, I think most allopathic med schools in the US are pretty comparable. Everyone has to learn the same curriculum during years 1 and 2, everyone takes the same core clerkships, etc. Unless you're vying for something extremely competitive, I don't think going to a public school at $26K/year vs a top tier program at $55K is going to make that much of a difference in the grand scheme of things.
 
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MedMan25 said:
Unless you're vying for something extremely competitive, I don't think going to a public school at $26K/year vs a top tier program at $55K is going to make that much of a difference in the grand scheme of things.
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Yeah this is the concise answer to every single "public school vs. private school which should I go to?" thread on this board.
 
I am in!! Excited to head down to Tucson and meet you all in July!

Good Luck to Everyone waiting! I hope to see you all there!
 
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idmdaz said:
Oh, forgot to say I am #61
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We're matching last year exactly. They hit #61 on 6/1. Kind of weird....

Also, congratulations! I can't wait to meet you in Tucson. I hope you are celebrating today.
 
idmdaz said:
I am in!! Excited to head down to Tucson and meet you all in July!

Good Luck to Everyone waiting! I hope to see you all there!
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Ahhh!! Congratulations!! Who's the next person on SDN to be pulled off the waitlist?
 
Latest and greatest below.

4/6: at WL position #7
4/12: at WL position #12
4/14: at WL position #16
4/15: Tucson 2nd Look
4/18: at WL position #17
4/21: at WL position #18
4/25: at WL position #22
5/3: at WL position #28
5/4: at WL position #30
5/9: at WL position #32
5/13: at WL position #36
5/16: at WL position #49
5/18: at WL position #50
5/19: at WL position #56
5/20: at WL position #57
5/20: at WL position #58
Admissions waitlist coordinator on vacation
5/31: at WL position #59
6/1: at WL position #61

10) Shewbee's student - accepted 4/7
16) htbruin - accepted 4/14
17) so2011- accepted 4/18
22) jdog40- accepted 4/25
23) Psuedodonkey-accepted 4/26
28) AlmostThere2011 - accepted 5/3
32) Medhopeful777's friend/roommate - accepted 5/9
33) Champaigne-WD
47) truggin- Accepted 5/16
50) medgolfer- accepted 5/18
56) psychdo- accepted 5/19
57) baronvonz- accepted 5/20
58) moot- accepted 5/20
59) Eichhornchen 5/31
61) idmdaz 6/1
65) zonaaa
73) meow3
78) dorthymantooth
79) falafel
 
Congrats!!!!!!
I just stopped by admissions. They told me the list has moved to #61. Looks like you are the only one to get in today.
 
idmdaz said:
I am in!! Excited to head down to Tucson and meet you all in July!

Good Luck to Everyone waiting! I hope to see you all there!
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congratulations 🙂 that is so funny #61 on 6/1 - can we get another large graph whenever you have a moment? just to compare slopes
 
Just withdrew. In state tuition ftw.

It looks like it's going to be a fun class! I hope one of you gets my spot! :luck:
 
artemis680 said:
Just withdrew. In state tuition ftw.

It looks like it's going to be a fun class! I hope one of you gets my spot! :luck:
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Congrats on getting into your state school!!
Paying out-of-state in AZ seems CRAZY.
Good call- for you and for us waitlisters 🙂
 
I just called admissions and they said that the waitlist is at #63!!
 
I go pretty often to the admissions, and it was at #63 yesterday which means there wasn't movement from yesterday, but I'm guessing it will be updated to #64 atleast since artemis just withdrew?
 
DocPoP said:
I go pretty often to the admissions, and it was at #63 yesterday which means there wasn't movement from yesterday, but I'm guessing it will be updated to #64 atleast since artemis just withdrew?
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I would guess #63 was Artemis' former spot. It's my understanding that they offer the spot to the next person on the waitlist as soon as it opens up, and it sounds like Meow called after (s)he withdrew.
 
Yeah I don't know, because it was at 63 yesterday and if he just withdrew today then it would only make sense that it would have to move since he gave up his spot? I guess we will have to see once Monday rolls around
 
I sent the email around 2pm today. No response from them 🙂
 
Niceeee...I assume it's because its Friday and they probably didn't want to have to deal with the waitlist haha
 
artemis680 said:
I sent the email around 2pm today. No response from them 🙂
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Ditto. I withdrew via email this afternoon. If the OOS tuition wasn't so high my decision very well may have been different! I'll be matriculating at a private school with lower tuition!

Best of luck to the remaining waitlisters!
 
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