2011-2012 Mount Sinai Application Thread

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Revisit weekend is April 20th-21st! Anyone going? Is there a facebook group yet?
 
Definitely going, I don't think there is a fb page yet
 
So wrong. Looks like Sinai just *mistakenly* sent a Revisit weekend invitation email to waitlisted applicants. I called to verify. Really, just so wrong.
 
Yes, I got it too and called. I can't believe they just sent a mass "Congrats on your acceptance!" email to the wrong list of people. They are going to have many frantic phone calls in their office today.
 
Yes, I got it too and called. I can't believe they just sent a mass "Congrats on your acceptance!" email to the wrong list of people. They are going to have many frantic phone calls in their office today.

Yeah, I forgot to mention that as the worst part.
 
I'm on the waitlist and didn't get this email. What do you think that means?
 
My heart jumped at the first e-mail. Then it sank at the second. Real smooth, Sinai. Real smooth.
 
I got an email today that was inviting me to a revisit day for people that have been waitlisted NOT for accepted students and I was wondering if anyone knows what the day is all about and if it is worth going to in that it really helps in getting off the waitlist?
 
If I remember correctly, URM waitlistees are invited to part (or all) of the revisit weekend.
 
i didnt get any of these emails and i am on the waitlist as well.
 
me too!, I didn't get any emails, i guess that's GG!! muhaha GG!!! Big Sad Face =(
 
Anybody have an idea about when we should here back about financial aid awards? Thanks!
 
Anybody have an idea about when we should here back about financial aid awards? Thanks!

+1

I'm really running low on traveling funds and I need to know what kind of package I'm getting to decide if I'm going to second look or not...
 
+1

I'm really running low on traveling funds and I need to know what kind of package I'm getting to decide if I'm going to second look or not...

If you have all of your documents in and your file is complete, you can just give them a call at the office and ask Dave to give you a "estimate". He got mine to me within a few hours.
 
I got an email today that was inviting me to a revisit day for people that have been waitlisted NOT for accepted students and I was wondering if anyone knows what the day is all about and if it is worth going to in that it really helps in getting off the waitlist?

Hey guys, I'm also wondering if going to the revisit helps one get off the waitlist. I got the invite for the URM revisit.
 
What's it like living in a dorm as a med student? What's the bathroom/kitchen situation? Does it get tiring after a while, especially in a crowded city? Do many live in apartments? Thanks
 
If you have all of your documents in and your file is complete, you can just give them a call at the office and ask Dave to give you a "estimate". He got mine to me within a few hours.

I turned in all my forms, but how do we know if our files are "complete"?
 
Does anyone know whether or not Sinai gives merit aid? I know they gave some scholarships a few years ago, but haven't heard anything recently...

Also, is anyone else deciding between Mount Sinai, NYU, Cornell, and Columbia? How are you deciding and which school are you leaning towards?
 
So wrong. Looks like Sinai just *mistakenly* sent a Revisit weekend invitation email to waitlisted applicants. I called to verify. Really, just so wrong.
Wow, good to see their admissions office is still really disorganized.
 
If you have all of your documents in and your file is complete, you can just give them a call at the office and ask Dave to give you a "estimate". He got mine to me within a few hours.

I called them today and they said that their financial aid committee doesn't meet until mid-April, so they don't know anything until then :/
 
Did anyone receive a confirmation email after RSVP-ing for the revisit weekend?
 
Just received the snail mail letter today and it says the acceptance acknowledgement form was supposed to be returned by yesterday. Anyone else run into this problem? 😕
 
Anyone know the difference between the Alternate List and the Wait list?
For fellow wait listers, did your letters/emails say alternate list or wait list?
 
i am on the alternate list (i think they are the same thing though). did they specifically say you are on the "wait list" as opposed to an "alternate list?"
 
Nah. Every letter/email has said alternate list.

I think they are the same thing to. Probably will call and ask tmw.
 
Just received the snail mail letter today and it says the acceptance acknowledgement form was supposed to be returned by yesterday. Anyone else run into this problem? 😕

I have the same problem. I have not seen the letter yet, as my parents received it and they sent it to me on Saturday. Hopefully I'll receive it today. Did you call them to ask, by any chance?
 
I have the same problem. I have not seen the letter yet, as my parents received it and they sent it to me on Saturday. Hopefully I'll receive it today. Did you call them to ask, by any chance?

I called them and it's fine!

Also, slightly off-topic but what are you guys planning to wear during revisit? Most other second look events seem to be casual, but Mount Sinai's is apparently business casual...?
 
I don't know how to quote multiple posts and I saw a few questions that look like they're in need of a current student:

HOUSING
Housing at Sinai is apartment style. You're in either a 4BR/2BA or 6BR/3BA apartment with kitchen and living room in a doorman building with a gym a block and a half from school. The vast majority of students live in Aron Hall. Unless you can't stand the thought of living with a 3 or 5 roommates, live in Aron. The ****tiest walk ups in the neighborhood can cost up to twice as much, and anything remotely comparable to Aron will be at least 3x as much. I personally like it, it creates a nice little community in the neighborhood since you'll have so many friends living around you.

ANATOMY:
Like all classes is pass/fail. If I recall the exact grading, there's a midterm and a final each with 25% of your grade, there is an individual lab grading based on preparation/knowledge, dissection, and professionalism/communication (5% each, so 15% total) based on the profs and TAs walking around, a group CT project (5%) where your table discusses some abnormality you find on the CT scans you get of your cadaver, and finally there are table conferences (30%) which replaced practical exams. These are the group oral quizzes you get as a table on your cadaver and anatomy in general. You either get a 6, 8, or 10/10 depending on how well you as a group do. There are 4, you drop your lowest. You need a 70% average to pass the course provided you did not fail (score less than 70%) BOTH the midterm and the final - i.e. you can fail one test and if your average across all things is still above 70 you'll still pass.
 
just got my official WL reply letter!
only one more month (plus a few days) til some of us waitlisted people might hear good news!
fingers crossed!!
 
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Anyone know if there is an accepted students facebook group? I feel so lonely without it 🙂
 
Has anyone submitted their housing application?
It asks for the move-in date, but I'm not sure how accurate that needs to be at this point.
The due date is July 1st, but does applying well in advance give you any advantages in terms of placing in the Aron Hall?
 
Anyone coming to stay at Sinai Thursday evening before the revisit? I will be there
 
did anyone get a letter confirming that they received our waitlist letter?
 
for anyone who called recently:
are people withdrawing acceptances here/ is there any room on the waitlist as of now?
 
can anyone who attended revisit share their experiences there?

Yes, I would be interested in hearing them as well.


Also MSSM Students: Do you guys get fridays off? I know you can take your test from Thurs-Sunday, but I wasn't sure about Friday.

Also, what is a daily schedule like?

Thanks!
 
can anyone who attended revisit share their experiences there?

I can share my thoughts on the revisit weekend. It was a great experience.

Two informational parts of the weekend were panels, one faculty panel and later one med student panel. The format was the panelists speaking a bit, and then the prospective students asking questions. The med students in the student panel were amazing- knowledgable, eloquent, and seemed to genuinely love the school. Later, in a presentation by a surgeon, he said that he thought the most important value for a physician to have is humility (*while still being confident). We met many med students during lunch. Every MSSM student I met was very nice, modest, gave helpful answers and also was very impressive: they seemed like very smart, very busy people. Something I heard a lot was, "When deciding on schools, go where the students are happy. Students are happy here." That seemed true to me! Another thing I heard a few times was that Sinai students "work hard and play hard."

Sinai emphasized how supportive they are of students- it seems like there is a lot of student-administration communication, and that it is easy to obtain an MD mentor in a field relevant to your interests. Sinai (they say) doesn't pressure students into particular fields (like surgical sub-specialties or anything). They emphasized the importance of teamwork, dealing with the emotional side of care, communicating effectively with patients. Of course they emphasized the science-y aspects too. For example, they are constructing a new, huge research building. It's the second largest construction project in Manhattan right now (second to the reconstruction of the World Trade Center). I think they said it should be done within the year.

I can't think of any downsides I observed at revisit weekend. I guess one might be that some of the Sinai buildings aren't very pretty.

Overall, I (and many other people that I talked to) got the feeling that Sinai is a rising, progressive school that cares about its students.

Whoa, I wrote a lot, sorry. Hope this was helpful!
 
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Yes, I would be interested in hearing them as well.


Also MSSM Students: Do you guys get fridays off? I know you can take your test from Thurs-Sunday, but I wasn't sure about Friday.

Also, what is a daily schedule like?

Thanks!

The testing window really depends. Sometimes it's Thurs -> Sun, sometimes it's Fri -> Mon, sometimes it's another combination, but it usually closes on Sunday or Monday and does open on Thurs and Fri.

The class schedule is different every week, but very generally, class rarely begins before 10 and always ends before 4. Mondays and Fridays are kind of like the more relaxed days at Sinai - Monday is generally all non-mandatory lecture most weeks this year (changed a bit second semester and MS-2s have a small group most Mondays), and we almost got every single Friday afternoon off (again, changed a bit second semester). I would say that as a whole, the ratio between lecture and small group (mandatory activities) is probably 3:1. I rarely go to lecture now (prefer to watch them online), and I would say that I generally go to on average 4 mandatory classes/week. Last semester it was more like 2-3/week, lol. There are more mandatory activities in the MS-2 schedule, I think. But anyway, it's been pretty nice as I have been able to leave for the weekend a lot on Thursday afternoon and I often will get back on Tuesday morning for class.

RE: Research Building
Sinai is really proud of that new building, as it's supposed to significantly increase research space (we're #3 right now in terms of research funding per investigator). For people that care about rankings, we're supposed to have another surge after the research building opens this fall 😉
 
The testing window really depends. Sometimes it's Thurs -> Sun, sometimes it's Fri -> Mon, sometimes it's another combination, but it usually closes on Sunday or Monday and does open on Thurs and Fri.

The class schedule is different every week, but very generally, class rarely begins before 10 and always ends before 4. Mondays and Fridays are kind of like the more relaxed days at Sinai - Monday is generally all non-mandatory lecture most weeks this year (changed a bit second semester and MS-2s have a small group most Mondays), and we almost got every single Friday afternoon off (again, changed a bit second semester). I would say that as a whole, the ratio between lecture and small group (mandatory activities) is probably 3:1. I rarely go to lecture now (prefer to watch them online), and I would say that I generally go to on average 4 mandatory classes/week. Last semester it was more like 2-3/week, lol. There are more mandatory activities in the MS-2 schedule, I think. But anyway, it's been pretty nice as I have been able to leave for the weekend a lot on Thursday afternoon and I often will get back on Tuesday morning for class.

RE: Research Building
Sinai is really proud of that new building, as it's supposed to significantly increase research space (we're #3 right now in terms of research funding per investigator). For people that care about rankings, we're supposed to have another surge after the research building opens this fall 😉

Thank you. I don't really learn well in class (more an independent learner), like it seems you are. You say you only go for the mandatory things, can you tell me how long a day that is? For example, what would you consider an average day of your to be like?

The reason I ask is I am deciding between a different school with much less classtime and more freedom. As a research junkie, I would like to do as much research as possible from MS1, so I wanted to know about how much time I would be working with.

Thanks
 
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