2011-2012 SUNY Downstate Application Thread

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Does anyone go to the research day? To those who are going, where do you guys stay?
I am curious if school covers your travel cost.
 
hey sailormoon. as for staying, you can just ask someone to let you sleep over. we can get a cot into one of the rooms so its not bad.

as for travel costs, i doubt school will fund but i dont know.
 
Interviewed Feb 8 - still no response as well.
 
I don't get it, I think it's totally ridiculous to keep people on hold way into June (i emailed them yesterday and that was the reply they gave me). At that point, you should either be on waitlists or sitting on acceptances, there should be no other option! I don't see why they can't just waitlist us hold people, or at least rereview our freaking applications NOW and tell us. It basically means that people on hold are in a worse position than people who are on the waitlist, and I think that's pretty annoying. I've been on hold since November, WTF?! 😡
 
alisat1 said:
I don't get it, I think it's totally ridiculous to keep people on hold way into June (i emailed them yesterday and that was the reply they gave me). At that point, you should either be on waitlists or sitting on acceptances, there should be no other option! I don't see why they can't just waitlist us hold people, or at least rereview our freaking applications NOW and tell us. It basically means that people on hold are in a worse position than people who are on the waitlist, and I think that's pretty annoying. I've been on hold since November, WTF?! 😡
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Couldn't agree more. They probably get turned down by so many people that they accept and their waitlist isn't enough to fill the class seats. Obviously the logical thing would be to just place people that are on hold on the WL too and then rank the WL if they don't like the "hold" candidates as much as WL candidates. Honestly it is a bit ridiculous and they really need to step up their admissions game.
 
Spoke to the office today and was told that a decision was made on my file yesterday. My guess is that those of you who interviewed about the same time as me (first week of February) are in the same boat. We should be hearing in the near future what those results are!

alisat1 said:
I don't get it, I think it's totally ridiculous to keep people on hold way into June (i emailed them yesterday and that was the reply they gave me). At that point, you should either be on waitlists or sitting on acceptances, there should be no other option! I don't see why they can't just waitlist us hold people, or at least rereview our freaking applications NOW and tell us. It basically means that people on hold are in a worse position than people who are on the waitlist, and I think that's pretty annoying. I've been on hold since November, WTF?! 😡
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The question is what kind of hold are you on? Hold for grades? If you are on hold for spring consideration, would you rather have gotten a rejection? At least here there is a glimmer of hope.
 
mac316 said:
Spoke to the office today and was told that a decision was made on my file yesterday. My guess is that those of you who interviewed about the same time as me (first week of February) are in the same boat. We should be hearing in the very near future what those results are!



The question is what kind of hold are you on? Hold for grades? If you are on hold for spring consideration, would you rather have gotten a rejection? At least here there is a glimmer of hope.
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I guess it depends on whether you're a glass half empty or glass half full type of person haha
 
bump
 
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So for those of us who have received the loans portion of our finaid (aka all of it), will institutional aid not be released until summer? The thread last year said the finaid office told people not to except much/any money (and if they got anything it would be 2-7K per year).

Is that the case?
 
capn jazz said:
So for those of us who have received the loans portion of our finaid (aka all of it), will institutional aid not be released until summer? The thread last year said the finaid office told people not to except much/any money (and if they got anything it would be 2-7K per year).

Is that the case?
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As far as I know, the major "institutional aid" last year did not go out til summer, like around July. Honestly, it's like a 10K interest free loan...from what I heard. Just assume you don't have much to work from in doing your calculations...
 
Asyouwereatrio said:
As far as I know, the major "institutional aid" last year did not go out til summer, like around July. Honestly, it's like a 10K interest free loan...from what I heard. Just assume you don't have much to work from in doing your calculations...
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Really? I'll call the office to check, but if that's the case... I might have to say goodbye to DS 🙁
 
Asyouwereatrio said:
As far as I know, the major "institutional aid" last year did not go out til summer, like around July. Honestly, it's like a 10K interest free loan...from what I heard. Just assume you don't have much to work from in doing your calculations...
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It's not a "loan" - it's more of a grant - you don't have to pay it back. The level varies - I got accepted to the school later I'm assuming when they had less money to give out so I only received 4K for the year whereas I know people who got 10K for the year.
 
Asyouwereatrio said:
As far as I know, the major "institutional aid" last year did not go out til summer, like around July. Honestly, it's like a 10K interest free loan...from what I heard. Just assume you don't have much to work from in doing your calculations...
Click to expand...


Are you kidding?!? 10K interest-free loan sounds awesome to me! I would be happy to receive any additional aid with more favorable terms than the Grad Plus loan, since I am still about 30K short for this year, according to my "Needs Budget."

Hope you are right and there is a chance of receiving this much additional aid! :xf:
 
How receptive is the adcom to letters of intent? I'm on hold for spring and this is my definite top choice. Has anybody gotten positive news after submitting one or do they just not place much significance on it?
 
CartoonDiva said:
Are you kidding?!? 10K interest-free loan sounds awesome to me! I would be happy to receive any additional aid with more favorable terms than the Grad Plus loan, since I am still about 30K short for this year, according to my "Needs Budget."

Hope you are right and there is a chance of receiving this much additional aid! :xf:
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You're not reallly short..despite what that form syas, you can loan up to the fulll cost of attendance.

Fingers crossed that we get some extra aid this year, but it's not likely.
 
SS01 said:
It's not a "loan" - it's more of a grant - you don't have to pay it back. The level varies - I got accepted to the school later I'm assuming when they had less money to give out so I only received 4K for the year whereas I know people who got 10K for the year.
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Mine is a loan that you have to pay back...just with no interest. Repayment starts during residency I think.
 
Asyouwereatrio said:
You're not reallly short..despite what that form syas, you can loan up to the fulll cost of attendance.

Fingers crossed that we get some extra aid this year, but it's not likely.
Click to expand...


Okay, that's good news. Do you happen to know how to request that increase to cover the full cost of attendance, or should I just contact the Fin Aid office directly? Also, I think the initial form said something about them forwarding the loan acceptance form on to the bursar's office or some other office after we submit it, to be considered for additional/need-based aid... maybe it's part of that?
 
called, no more interview invites.
 
just called and they said a decision was made on my application 3/30. interviewed 2nd week of feb. nervoussssss
 
Snikkers said:
just called and they said a decision was made on my application 3/30. interviewed 2nd week of feb. nervoussssss
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i also interviewed 2nd week of feb, decision was made 3/29 and will be received in the mail "in about a week"
 
Yikes, this is pretty nerve-racking. Also interviewed early February... haven't called though.
 
interviewed on 2/22...still waiting....:scared:
 
CartoonDiva said:
Okay, that's good news. Do you happen to know how to request that increase to cover the full cost of attendance, or should I just contact the Fin Aid office directly? Also, I think the initial form said something about them forwarding the loan acceptance form on to the bursar's office or some other office after we submit it, to be considered for additional/need-based aid... maybe it's part of that?
Click to expand...

Did you submit an Downstate Institutional Application for Financial Aid? Should have come with your financial aid package of information.....or maybe it came with your Loan Award Letter (not sure). It's like this one page, two sided form asking you to write down your and your parents' savings/cash/assets/etc. That form is REQUIRED for them to give you any aid aside from loans. THat goes to the fin aid office.

On your loan request form, just write down the loan amount for the Grad Plus Loan that you'll need, up to the cost of attendance (assuming all other amounts are maxed out first).

send in the loan request form with perkin's form to the office. Then do all your other loan stuff on the directloans.gov website.
 
I called the finaid office and was told the following

--you can increase one loan (perkins maybe?) up to the COA if your package falls short
--additional aid (up to a 10K grant) will only come out after NYState decides on their budget, which could be anytime from now until the summer

I asked them how we would be expected to choose a school without knowing our full aid package and was told that we should never choose a school based on need-based aid because it can change at any time and is in no way guaranteed year-to-year.

this depends on the school though, and probably only applies to state-funded schools.

so, i wouldn't expect much.
 
Yea don't expect much. NYS is broke. Our tuition goes up 5-10% every year.

Capn Jazz, I remember chatting with you back when we took the MCAT (July 2009 I believe). Congrats on a great app cycle!
 
wanderer said:
Yea don't expect much. NYS is broke. Our tuition goes up 5-10% every year.

Capn Jazz, I remember chatting with you back when we took the MCAT (July 2009 I believe). Congrats on a great app cycle!
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hey! did we take the same mcat? 7/17/09 😀
are you at downstate now?
 
Asyouwereatrio said:
Did you submit an Downstate Institutional Application for Financial Aid? Should have come with your financial aid package of information.....or maybe it came with your Loan Award Letter (not sure). It's like this one page, two sided form asking you to write down your and your parents' savings/cash/assets/etc. That form is REQUIRED for them to give you any aid aside from loans. THat goes to the fin aid office.

On your loan request form, just write down the loan amount for the Grad Plus Loan that you'll need, up to the cost of attendance (assuming all other amounts are maxed out first).

send in the loan request form with perkin's form to the office. Then do all your other loan stuff on the directloans.gov website.
Click to expand...

once they send us the loan offer forms, when are we supposed to send them back? can i just wait til july when I know exactly where Im going to med school?
 
capn jazz said:
hey! did we take the same mcat? 7/17/09 😀
are you at downstate now?
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Yea 7/17/09. I remember my verbal had passages about ghosts and aliens. I can't believe it's almost 3 years since then!

I'm a Downstate MS1. Feel free to ask me whatever.
 
wanderer said:
Yea 7/17/09. I remember my verbal had passages about ghosts and aliens. I can't believe it's almost 3 years since then!

I'm a Downstate MS1. Feel free to ask me whatever.
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i don't think i'm going to end up at Downstate!
it costs too much 🙁
 
Asyouwereatrio said:
Did you submit an Downstate Institutional Application for Financial Aid? Should have come with your financial aid package of information.....or maybe it came with your Loan Award Letter (not sure). It's like this one page, two sided form asking you to write down your and your parents' savings/cash/assets/etc. That form is REQUIRED for them to give you any aid aside from loans. THat goes to the fin aid office.

On your loan request form, just write down the loan amount for the Grad Plus Loan that you'll need, up to the cost of attendance (assuming all other amounts are maxed out first).

send in the loan request form with perkin's form to the office. Then do all your other loan stuff on the directloans.gov website.
Click to expand...

Ah, okay. Do you know if it's only the Grad Plus that can be increased? I actually turned that one down because the amount of money was so small and the interest rate is higher than the Direct Med Unsubsidized (which made up the bulk of my aid offer). I was wondering if we can increase our Direct Med Unsubsidized instead, or if the amount they gave us is final. I'm hoping to pay the interest on all my loans while I'm in school because if I allow it to capitalize, I will end up owing like more than twice as much money haha. I don't think it will be possible to do so all four years, but that's my plan for year one until I drain my bank accounts!

And thanks for your detailed responses! But yes, I did submit the institutional aid app in February and I mailed in the loan acceptance form and perkins form... but thanks for the reminder because I still need to follow the online instructions that were on the yellow paper!
 
capn jazz said:
i don't think i'm going to end up at Downstate!
it costs too much 🙁
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Yea I hear that. You can become IS after the first year, but honestly I can't imagine too many people turning down Northwestern for Downstate unless Downstate was much cheaper or if they had to stay in NYC for some reason.

So congrats on Northwestern and best of luck with Sinai!
 
wanderer said:
Yea I hear that. You can become IS after the first year, but honestly I can't imagine too many people turning down Northwestern for Downstate unless Downstate was much cheaper or if they had to stay in NYC for some reason.

So congrats on Northwestern and best of luck with Sinai!
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thank you!! i would have chosen downstate if it were cheaper, honestly.
 
Asyouwereatrio said:
Did you submit an Downstate Institutional Application for Financial Aid? Should have come with your financial aid package of information.....or maybe it came with your Loan Award Letter (not sure). It's like this one page, two sided form asking you to write down your and your parents' savings/cash/assets/etc. That form is REQUIRED for them to give you any aid aside from loans. THat goes to the fin aid office.

On your loan request form, just write down the loan amount for the Grad Plus Loan that you'll need, up to the cost of attendance (assuming all other amounts are maxed out first).

send in the loan request form with perkin's form to the office. Then do all your other loan stuff on the directloans.gov website.
Click to expand...

wait we have to submit another form to get non Loans? i thought we just put parents info in FAFSA to be considered?
 
anbuitachi said:
wait we have to submit another form to get non Loans? i thought we just put parents info in FAFSA to be considered?
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I followed the instructions on here:
http://sls.downstate.edu/financial_aid/forms.html

It says in the instructions that you have to fill out the Downstate Institutional Application to receive institutional aid in the form of university grants or scholarships. You are allowed to submit it by scanning and emailing it (I called and asked), so you can have it turned in today if you haven't done it already...
 
Just called about my status. Interviewed 2/13, placed on hold. Haven't received a letter yet.
 
mac316 said:
They told you that you were placed on hold over the phone?
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Yeah, I only asked to see if a decision had been on my application. He said he could tell me if my file was sent for review or not, but not a decision. He then looked into my file and told me I was placed on hold and a letter had been sent. Strange, I know.
 
once they send us the loan offer forms, when are we supposed to send them back? can i just wait til july when I know exactly where Im going to med school?
 
Clichebomb said:
Yeah, I only asked to see if a decision had been on my application. He said he could tell me if my file was sent for review or not, but not a decision. He then looked into my file and told me I was placed on hold and a letter had been sent. Strange, I know.
Click to expand...

Whoa, weird. so being on hold isn't a 'decision'? 😕
 
Got placed on the "alternate list."

Interviewed on 2/8
 
haven't seen any accepts in a while... i'm kind of expecting a wait list ?
 
got placed on the alternate list, interviewed 03/08
 
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