2010-2011 University of Massachusetts Application Thread

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Hi,

I was wondering if you are suppose to apply for financial aid prior to being accepted or do you apply after being accepted by UMMS. The website says you have until 4 weeks after but are you suppose to do it before? In general is med school aid just different loan types? thanks for any help.
 
The priority filing date is April 20, you should call/e-mail the financial aid office for their advice. It took me a couple weeks to put together all the forms I needed (mine and my parent's tax returns signed, w2's, 1099's and the verfication forms).
 
a friend of mine also got waitlisted today
 
not looking good for me
I was freaking out last week so I checked some previous year's threads and there has usually been more than one day they give out wait lists. last year it looked like one at the beginning and one at the end of april, so don't worry! :xf:
 
I was freaking out last week so I checked some previous year's threads and there has usually been more than one day they give out wait lists. last year it looked like one at the beginning and one at the end of april, so don't worry! :xf:

yeah i interviewed on the first day of interviews though
 
They seem to have no pattern whatsoever. All I know is one of the people who interviewed on the same day as me was accepted exactly a week later. And here I am waiting my life away week after week.

But at this point, all the interviews must be complete. I don't understand what's taking them so long to notify us. It is just not fair to put peoples' lives on a hold like this. So frustrating.
 
Hi

I have received email and mail rejections and acceptances. I was if anyone else has received an acceptance or rejection through the mail without be first notified via email from any school or Umass medical school thanks.
 
They seem to have no pattern whatsoever. All I know is one of the people who interviewed on the same day as me was accepted exactly a week later. And here I am waiting my life away week after week.

But at this point, all the interviews must be complete. I don't understand what's taking them so long to notify us. It is just not fair to put peoples' lives on a hold like this. So frustrating.

Well, regardless of their pattern, we should all hear back between now and May 15th. Not much more of a wait if that's any consolation :]
 
Been stalking this thread for awhile. I was really hoping for something today - feels like a good chunk of my optimism has been dashed =/ Interviewed 12/21.
 
Been stalking this thread for awhile. I was really hoping for something today - feels like a good chunk of my optimism has been dashed =/ Interviewed 12/21.

Same here. 🙁

This is gonna be a pretty depressing weekend. Sigh.

I: 1/26
 
Been waiting since late January as well. I can't login to my profile/status on UMass's site either, so that really doesn't bode well...🙁
 
Are you alive?
Do you live in a third world country in abject poverty, without hope of progress?
Are you sexaully abused by relatives with frequency?
Are you illiterate?
Are you serving a life sentence?
Has your entire family been killed by rebels?
Are there suicide attacks in your town every day?
Are you in constant danger of being mamed or raped?
Do you meke the federal minimum and never completed high school?

If the answer is not to all, then do not talk to me about depression! You are pretty lucky!
 
Are you alive?
Do you live in a third world country in abject poverty, without hope of progress?
Are you sexaully abused by relatives with frequency?
Are you illiterate?
Are you serving a life sentence?
Has your entire family been killed by rebels?
Are there suicide attacks in your town every day?
Are you in constant danger of being mamed or raped?
Do you meke the federal minimum and never completed high school?

If the answer is not to all, then do not talk to me about depression! You are pretty lucky!

We a pursuing a difficult goal, and if we have approached this goal seriously then we have invested years in preparing for this pursuit. Then we get offered an interview, and after years of sacrifice, we are so close we can taste it. To get this close, and be turned away is heartbreaking. Depressing, yes! I believe we all deserve the permission to be human, and if we feel sad and depressed, then we should be. But then its important to pick up oneself, decided what to do next and not wallow in our own self-pity.
 
Are you alive?
Do you live in a third world country in abject poverty, without hope of progress?
Are you sexaully abused by relatives with frequency?
Are you illiterate?
Are you serving a life sentence?
Has your entire family been killed by rebels?
Are there suicide attacks in your town every day?
Are you in constant danger of being mamed or raped?
Do you meke the federal minimum and never completed high school?

If the answer is not to all, then do not talk to me about depression! You are pretty lucky!

Worst pep talk ever. Obviously there are more than 8 reasons to feel depressed or let down....
 
Smells like a troll . . . . Don't give him the energy.
 
My message is: keep things in perspective, we are in the competition for a positon and things could still go our way. And there are much worse things in life than not making it into the medical school of your choice. We can always try next year with more experience or just go to a less desirable one. Don't let this awful process get to you. Get a little upset, complain if you want to, but leave "depression" for major hopeless life problems...!

A troll? I don't think so, my friends...
 
We a pursuing a difficult goal, and if we have approached this goal seriously then we have invested years in preparing for this pursuit. Then we get offered an interview, and after years of sacrifice, we are so close we can taste it. To get this close, and be turned away is heartbreaking. Depressing, yes! I believe we all deserve the permission to be human, and if we feel sad and depressed, then we should be. But then its important to pick up oneself, decided what to do next and not wallow in our own self-pity.

I'm with you on this one. premedfather certainly isn't a troll, but it's important to recognize that feelings don't necessarily follow logical guidelines and are sometimes beyond our control. Those feelings should be acknowledged and not shot down.
 
Worst pep talk ever. Obviously there are more than 8 reasons to feel depressed or let down....

Completely agree.

I find the original post somewhat offensive--especially since it seems to suggest that only certain type of people are allowed to feel depressed--to those who are ACTUALLY diagnosed with depression, who may not be suffering from a specific environmental affliction, but rather something internal and/or unexplainable. I also cannot believe that I should consider myself or anyone else "lucky" to be not raped or to not be serving a life sentence... we should not be living in a society where these transgressions are considered the "norm." And, when I used the word "depressing," I was not referring to clinical depression, but rather using the word in an exaggerated manner, not literally. Like when people say "I'm freezing/frozen" to refer to being cold, but not necessarily frozen literally.

One more thing--yes, keep things in perspective, but it's unrealistic to always compare yourself to the hungry homeless child in Africa, in which case everyone who has food and shelter should automatically be happy and satisfied. And in which case people should have no ambition in life to better themselves and their situation because they are already better than those in the worst condition?

Could go on forever, but anyway, onto better things.
 
If we are waitlisted, or have not heard back from UMass yet, do we get to go to second look weekend? I want to go, but I haven't heard any sort of decision from UMass yet, and TWO of my other schools have revisits the same weekend...
 
I interviewed early march and I'm still waiting to hear (anything) back too.

I believe the vast majority of applicants who got interviewed are very smart people, and med schools even tell you that deciding who to admit is like splitting hairs. So if I get rejected, I'm fairly confident that I'll succeed at something else. I'm sure I'll be upset if I don't get in, but i'll be able to move on with my life. It's the waiting.. The feeling that you're in limbo, somewhere between a life changing career and a whole lot of uncertainty.

I honestly hope i either get outright accepted or rejected, my worst fear is the waitlist...
 
Yeah so I go waitlisted last week or so which I thought was pretty cool and stuff but Im just wondering like what peoples back up plans for the next year would be, ie finding new careers or reapplying. I guess it's important to keep our heads up right and savy.

But in any case I think the way you approach this waiting really defines who you are, I mean, if you get in it doesnt mean the work is over right, like you tell grandma and your mean highschool chem teacher and stuff but like life is only gonnna get much harder for you once your working as a doctor. Guess what Im saying is take it easy out there while you can.

Also, I know plenty of illeriterate people who aren't depressed so that guy makes a good point to say how good some of us may have it but really he doesn't know much about how to deal with people problems, probably wouldt make a good physician anyways. I mean imagine them saying that to a patient.

Good Luck errvryone, Much Karma Bruthas and Sistas.

I interviewed early march and I'm still waiting to hear (anything) back too.

I believe the vast majority of applicants who got interviewed are very smart people, and med schools even tell you that deciding who to admit is like splitting hairs. So if I get rejected, I'm fairly confident that I'll succeed at something else. I'm sure I'll be upset if I don't get in, but i'll be able to move on with my life. It's the waiting.. The feeling that you're in limbo, somewhere between a life changing career and a whole lot of uncertainty.

I honestly hope i either get outright accepted or rejected, my worst fear is the waitlist...
 
Can't agree more. It can be really difficult to maintain perspective, especially toward the end of a very long and grueling process that is weaved with hopes and expectations. But you're right - this is part of much bigger journey. Ultimately it'll be what we do with our education and who we are able to help over many years that will be a more appropriate measure of our career. How we respond to adversity speaks volumes louder than circumstances themselves.



Yeah so I go waitlisted last week or so which I thought was pretty cool and stuff but Im just wondering like what peoples back up plans for the next year would be, ie finding new careers or reapplying. I guess it's important to keep our heads up right and savy.

But in any case I think the way you approach this waiting really defines who you are, I mean, if you get in it doesnt mean the work is over right, like you tell grandma and your mean highschool chem teacher and stuff but like life is only gonnna get much harder for you once your working as a doctor. Guess what Im saying is take it easy out there while you can.

Also, I know plenty of illeriterate people who aren't depressed so that guy makes a good point to say how good some of us may have it but really he doesn't know much about how to deal with people problems, probably wouldt make a good physician anyways. I mean imagine them saying that to a patient.

Good Luck errvryone, Much Karma Bruthas and Sistas.
 
Yeah so I go waitlisted last week or so which I thought was pretty cool and stuff but Im just wondering like what peoples back up plans for the next year would be, ie finding new careers or reapplying. I guess it's important to keep our heads up right and savy.

But in any case I think the way you approach this waiting really defines who you are, I mean, if you get in it doesnt mean the work is over right, like you tell grandma and your mean highschool chem teacher and stuff but like life is only gonnna get much harder for you once your working as a doctor. Guess what Im saying is take it easy out there while you can.

Also, I know plenty of illeriterate people who aren't depressed so that guy makes a good point to say how good some of us may have it but really he doesn't know much about how to deal with people problems, probably wouldt make a good physician anyways. I mean imagine them saying that to a patient.

Good Luck errvryone, Much Karma Bruthas and Sistas.

After reading what you said, I believe you when you say that you know plenty of illiterate people. I also believe that you're probably surrounded by them on a daily basis. Before you tell someone you've never met that they won't be a good physician, think about your terrible spelling and grammar, and how that reflects on your ability to be an effective physician. also... illeriterate? errvryone? I know this isn't your PS or anything, but come on.
 
After reading what you said, I believe you when you say that you know plenty of illiterate people. I also believe that you're probably surrounded by them on a daily basis. Before you tell someone you've never met that they won't be a good physician, think about your terrible spelling and grammar, and how that reflects on your ability to be an effective physician. also... illeriterate? errvryone? I know this isn't your PS or anything, but come on.

Hmm... it's possible he's a troll. Note the post count... a whopping 1!
 
Completely agree.

I find the original post somewhat offensive--especially since it seems to suggest that only certain type of people are allowed to feel depressed--to those who are ACTUALLY diagnosed with depression, who may not be suffering from a specific environmental affliction, but rather something internal and/or unexplainable. I also cannot believe that I should consider myself or anyone else "lucky" to be not raped or to not be serving a life sentence... we should not be living in a society where these transgressions are considered the "norm." And, when I used the word "depressing," I was not referring to clinical depression, but rather using the word in an exaggerated manner, not literally. Like when people say "I'm freezing/frozen" to refer to being cold, but not necessarily frozen literally.

One more thing--yes, keep things in perspective, but it's unrealistic to always compare yourself to the hungry homeless child in Africa, in which case everyone who has food and shelter should automatically be happy and satisfied. And in which case people should have no ambition in life to better themselves and their situation because they are already better than those in the worst condition?

Could go on forever, but anyway, onto better things.

No offense meant, but do compare yourself with the less fortunate when you are down, it helps...

enough of this, this is not what people come here for. i will not say a word about this again...
 
After reading what you said, I believe you when you say that you know plenty of illiterate people. I also believe that you're probably surrounded by them on a daily basis. Before you tell someone you've never met that they won't be a good physician, think about your terrible spelling and grammar, and how that reflects on your ability to be an effective physician. also... illeriterate? errvryone? I know this isn't your PS or anything, but come on.


Haha, you certainly take this too seriously my friend. No this is not my personal statement. Its a forum. Go back to work, haha.
 
ok...moving on from whatever that was all about. does anyone know if letters of intent mean anything at umass or if admissions is receptive to them?
 
ok...moving on from whatever that was all about. does anyone know if letters of intent mean anything at umass or if admissions is receptive to them?


Didn't you get waitlisted just last week? If I were you, I wouldn't be worried about LOI right now. You might get in.
 
Didn't you get waitlisted just last week? If I were you, I wouldn't be worried about LOI right now. You might get in.
You're absolutely right, I might get in. I'd rather do everything I can to get into my #1. If I don't get in at least I can rest easy, knowing that I tried. I was just wondering if they are receptive to letters of intent. I have heard that some schools find them annoying. Any idea with Umass?
 
First year here- I felt the same way when I was waitlisted! I was waitlisted mid-April last year, and I sent in a LOI at the beginning of May, and was accepted a few weeks later! So I don't think it can hurt.

This is what Brenda told me last year:

You may address your letter to either Dr. John A. Paraskos, Dean for Admissions OR to the Admissions Committee. It may be sent electronically to me OR the admissions email ([email protected]), faxed (508-856-3629) or to the following address:



UMass Medical School

Office of School Admissions

Room S1-112

55 Lake Avenue North

Worcester, MA 01655


You're absolutely right, I might get in. I'd rather do everything I can to get into my #1. If I don't get in at least I can rest easy, knowing that I tried. I was just wondering if they are receptive to letters of intent. I have heard that some schools find them annoying. Any idea with Umass?
 
You're absolutely right, I might get in. I'd rather do everything I can to get into my #1. If I don't get in at least I can rest easy, knowing that I tried. I was just wondering if they are receptive to letters of intent. I have heard that some schools find them annoying. Any idea with Umass?

I would send one. This is such a subjective process, who knows what gets you that second look.
 
First year here- I felt the same way when I was waitlisted! I was waitlisted mid-April last year, and I sent in a LOI at the beginning of May, and was accepted a few weeks later! So I don't think it can hurt.

This is what Brenda told me last year:

You may address your letter to either Dr. John A. Paraskos, Dean for Admissions OR to the Admissions Committee. It may be sent electronically to me OR the admissions email ([email protected]), faxed (508-856-3629) or to the following address:



UMass Medical School

Office of School Admissions

Room S1-112

55 Lake Avenue North

Worcester, MA 01655
Thanks!
 
waitlist today at 1225pm. I interviewed in late february.

Do we know how many folks are waitlisted? I know about half the class comes off the waitlist (so like 60 folks) but how many is that out of?
 
waitlisted today as well. I interviewed in March.
 
as someone who interviewed in early February and has not heard anything yet... is there still a chance to be waitlisted or accepted... thoughts?
 
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