2011-2012 The Commonwealth Medical College Application Thread

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Could anyone comment on the research interests of the school? Although they are obviously very community and patient centered, they still seem to be interested in research (with the new facility and the many researchers based at TCMC. Would this be something to show interest in at the interview? Thanks.
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I just interviewed yesterday here, it was amazing. Everyone was really nice, the school facilities are brand new, and overall I felt good here. I stayed at the Radisson. If you call and ask about the medschool discount it comes to about 89.99 a night. They offer a free shuttle to and from the airport and you can walk to the school in 14 minutes. Interviews are somewhat laid back although they do ask you questions that make you think. Admissions are on non-rolling basis, the first they will let you know is December 16th in which they will tell you accept or reject. If you haven't heard anything by this point that is a good thing because you are at least wait-listed instead of rejected. After your interview they do have a small exit interview which is really laid back. They basically want to ask you any questions they may have about your application that perhaps need clarification. If anyone has any specific questions pm me. Peace.
 
Does anyone know the easiest way to get to TCMC from out of state? I really want to come interview at TCMC because it has a curriculum and mission that really appeals to me, but the price for a plane ticket to Scranton is at least $500 :eek: and I already have another acceptance.
 
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robertch8 said:
Does anyone know the easiest way to get to TCMC from out of state? I really want to come interview at TCMC because it has a curriculum and mission that really appeals to me, but the price for a plane ticket to Scranton is at least $500 :eek: and I already have another acceptance.
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scranton is a very small city/town, so there aren't many direct flights from the west coast (where i'm from). I paid ~450 for my round-trip and searched for flights for a few days.

Easiest way? I'm assuming that you are either from the south or west coast, so you'll probably have to fly :)
 
bookingbuddy.com worked well for me. If you fly in on a Wednesday and then leave on a friday you might be able to get a good deal. I paid 430 for my ticket which took me from SLC-->AVP and back. If you find a friend to stay with that might get you under 500 total.
 
Someone wake me up when it's December 16th!
:sleep:

The wait is driving me crazy!
 
akatigerj said:
scranton is a very small city/town, so there aren't many direct flights from the west coast (where i'm from). I paid ~450 for my round-trip and searched for flights for a few days.

Easiest way? I'm assuming that you are either from the south or west coast, so you'll probably have to fly :)
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Well I currently live in the Midwest so I was hoping for plane tickets to be a little more manageable price wise, but heh I'm just gonna have to take the hit and absorb it; it's definitely worth the investment at the end of the day. I'll look into the bookingbuddy.com website though.
 
Interview invite on Monday, scheduled for 1/20. OOS, California.
 
Two more weeks until the first notification date. This wait is driving me insane!
 
It's like waiting for MCAT scores X1000, since that only took about a month!
 
Is there somewhere to park near the medical school? I don't mind paying some money...just want something relatively close.
 
thestrokes14 said:
Is there somewhere to park near the medical school? I don't mind paying some money...just want something relatively close.
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not really. there are many parking spots with meters except the max is 2 hours which makes it useless. i actually drove to the school early and got lucky by finding a place where it didnt charge anything. i suggest you either drive there like 30min to an hour early or just taking a taxi or something.
 
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thestrokes14 said:
Is there somewhere to park near the medical school? I don't mind paying some money...just want something relatively close.
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I parked in the hospital deck about a block away. It's dirt cheap so don't mess with the metered parking or risk a ticket to park on the street.
 
Are you talking about the National Parking Garage on Jefferson Ave? That looks pretty safe to me.
 
Yeah, that's the one I was referring to. Thanks a lot!


DrMcHindi said:
For the one I speak of, the entrance is on Jefferson Ave between E. Gibson Street and Pine.

You can definitely spot on google earth. http://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=Jefferson+Ave&daddr=Pine+St&hl=en&sll=41.412932,-75.654251&sspn=0.001418,0.00284&geocode=FQzpdwIdgpx9-w%3BFfvodwIdp5Z9-w&vpsrc=0&mra=dme&mrsp=1&sz=19&t=h&z=19

Then you just have to walk Jefferson toward Pine, hang a right on Pine and the school is on the right.
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anyone's status page change? says my status has been reviewed..
 
Very excited about the upcoming interview on Monday.
I wonder if we will be included in the batch being released Dec. 16, cuz waiting until Feb 24 will be torture :cool:
 
ppappui said:
Very excited about the upcoming interview on Monday.
I wonder if we will be included in the batch being released Dec. 16, cuz waiting until Feb 24 will be torture :cool:
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You will not be included. The last interview date included in the Dec. 16 release will be Nov 21st, or perhaps one interview day further. Heard this from the admissions director during my interview day.
 
To anyone who interviewed here:

For the "exit-interview" what sorts of things do you discuss? I feel like there is potential for tough questions (like explaining grades/kinks in your application).
 
thestrokes14 said:
To anyone who interviewed here:

For the "exit-interview" what sorts of things do you discuss? I feel like there is potential for tough questions (like explaining grades/kinks in your application).
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No "tough" questions. The interviewer will probably ask you to explain any kinks in your app, but that's only so they have an explanation to offer to the committee should it come up when your file's presented. The exit interview is mostly for you to give feedback about your experience on interview day. Mine was only 3-4 mins.
 
drziggy said:
No "tough" questions. The interviewer will probably ask you to explain any kinks in your app, but that's only so they have an explanation to offer to the committee should it come up when your file's presented. The exit interview is mostly for you to give feedback about your experience on interview day. Mine was only 3-4 mins.
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This. :thumbup: No pressure situation. They are genuinely interested in feedback and seem to place an emphasis on understanding your opinions. This was echoed through out the day by the students who were very fond of the administration's responsiveness to their thoughts on changes in anything from curriculum to coffee.
 
My status says "Decision Pending" dated 21 November 2011. Does anyone that interviewed here have anything different?
 
does anyone know if there are differences between the clinical campuses? I don't have audio so I can't watch the videos they have online...but is it just specialties that differ between them? different patient populations?

thanks!
 
Thinking about sending in my primary now? Too late you think, is it even worth it?
 
Just received the secondary...fill it out tonight and send it too late? I hope not!
 
Just had my interview. The exit interview has no influence on your admission they said. For me, it seemed like she was trying to convince me to go to this school. So does anyone know the percentage accepted from interviews? I liked the school and the people, so it would be pretty awesome if it had a super high acceptance rate :laugh:
 
Emilyyyy said:
Just had my interview. The exit interview has no influence on your admission they said. For me, it seemed like she was trying to convince me to go to this school. So does anyone know the percentage accepted from interviews? I liked the school and the people, so it would be pretty awesome if it had a super high acceptance rate :laugh:
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I think we interviewed on the same day (dec. 9th).
 
Does anyone know exactly how this is going down on Friday? Idon’t know how I am going to make to the end of this week!
:xf:
 
This wait has been the longest 3 months of my life... c'mon Friday! :xf:
 
I can't believe that tomorrow is finally the 16th! I am so used to counting in numbers of weeks not days or hours. Hopefully they do a midnight notification. Good luck everyone!:luck:
 
I would caution prospective students from this school. The faculty, the facilities, the education, etc.. are top notch...

However, this is geared to be a primary care school.

Sure, a lot of med schools give the impression that they want their students to pursue primary care (through the professor language)

But this school has actively stated they wanted over 50% of students to go into Family Medicine.

Although it is too early for data, Townsend said the school intends for 50-60 percent of all graduates to enter primary care.
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https://www.aamc.org/newsroom/reporter/march10/45548/primary_care_in_medical_education.html

Moreover, the physicians around here all have labeled TCMC as the "primary care school."

Not that primary care is a bad thing... and not that this means you are locked into primary care. Most of my classmates throughout all the current classes have specified no interest in primary care. (A few locals have)

Compounding this issue is the fact that this school has no relationships with other residency programs. They do not know what the students here are capable of. Although I scored immensely high on my Step 1, I feel that I will have difficulty pursuing some of the specialty surgeries. This is according to many outside observers and advisors. I plan to go into General Surgery (at a very good institution). However, this all underscores the fact that TCMC is still a work in progress.

Unless you are from around here or unless this is the only school you got into or if you have a geographic predisposition for this area, then you will be best served going elsewhere.
 
^ Yowza. Is this just how you feel or would you say this is how the majority of students at TCMC feel? And what's your opinion on the state of the school (i.e. probation) and its future?
 
Just made an account to offer a another perspective. I'm a current out-of-state student. I'm not sure what specialty I'm interested in, but there are definitely a lot of opportunities in primary care. In regards to the primary care drive, TCMC has a strong drive to encourage primary care by providing early exposure, and showing the positive sides of primary care. Keep in mind that primary care can also include general surgery, Internal medicine (internists and hospitalists), ER, and ob/gyn, and is not just family medicine.

Although I mostly agree with what was said, there are already established relationships between local residency programs in PA area, and administration/faculty are actively working to build relationships with other programs. The facilities, and faculty are top-notch, and the curriculum is great and is unique.

To answer your question, the main difficulty is for those that plan to apply to residencies elsewhere. Obviously since the school is new applying to residency programs in other parts of the country will be more difficult. Keep in mind that there are many selection factors used by residency programs, and your undergraduate medical education institution's reputation is just one of those components. Students that are interested in competitive specialities will probably have to compensate more in other areas such as with research, step scores, etc. From what I know, the administration and faculty are working hard to make this process easier through building relationships/affiliations with more programs, and providing guidance for current students that may be interested in competitive specialties.

There was a recent WVIA interview with the current Dean and students that might be online already (or soon) that might better answer the probation issue. Also, the AMA had a recent article regarding the probation "trend".
http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/ama...dical_student.shtml?P=S&C=M&G=&M=&I=&W=&Y=&S=

I hope that helps.
 
My perspective, as a prospective student, agrees with what both of you have said: that it has amazing facilities and curriculum but the main issue with TCMC is the "limited" residency opportunities coming out of such a new school. However, in my mind, I feel like in 4 years (when my class is ready to match) that the connections and relationships TCMC develops with competitive residency programs within the state of Pennsylvania will be even stronger. If I'm looking to go into a competitive specialty and also want to stay in Pennsylvania, do you think with strong enough Step scores and letters of evaluation that I will reasonably be able to accomplish this or am I at a huge disadvantage compared to students who attend schools with better reputations in PA?

I really, really want to go here so hearing this stuff is somewhat discouraging. The only thing that's gonna stop me from attending this school -- even if I get into other med schools, which it appears I will -- is if there is a very significantly decreased chance of me landing a competitive residency in PA. I appreciate both of you being so helpful and offering such honest advice to us applicants.
 
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Has anyone heard anything yet? (we're supposed to hear about this via email, right...?)
 
does anyone know what time decisions are supposed to be emailed? 5PM EST? or earlier? tooooo anxious and i have a final tomorrow :(
 
I just called TCMC. The woman that answered said she had no idea about the 12/16 release date and said that some rejections went out last week in letter form. She also said that everything is going by snail mail. Not sure if she just didn't know what she was talking about or if the 12/16 release is a myth that has been perpetuated by SDN. It will be interesting to see if anyone hears today and how they hear.
 
dysFUNKxional said:
I just called TCMC. The woman that answered said she had no idea about the 12/16 release date and said that some rejections went out last week in letter form. She also said that everything is going by snail mail. Not sure if she just didn't know what she was talking about or if the 12/16 release is a myth that has been perpetuated by SDN. It will be interesting to see if anyone hears today and how they hear.
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http://www.thecommonwealthmedical.com/oth/Page.asp?PageID=OTH000162

"Does TCMC have rolling admissions?
No. TCMC offers admission four times per year. Early decision candidates will be notified by October 1, 2011. Regular admission candidates will be notified by December 16, 2011, February 24, 2012, and April 20, 2012. Once the class is filled, TCMC maintains a waitlist to draw additional accepted candidates as spaces become available."

Something isn't right here. I specifically remember being told at the interview that we would hear on this day and if we didn't, it meant that we were waitlisted and wouldn't hear again until Feb. 24th.
 
If you look at TCMC's website (http://www.thecommonwealthmedical.com/oth/Page.asp?PageID=OTH000158) it reads:

December 2011
15 - AMCAS deadline to submit an application to TCMC.

16 - Notification date for regular admission candidates.


I also remember from my interview day that admissions said they would notify by email this year because in previous years they would call students and tell them they were accepted.
 
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I heard the same thing at my interview day. Today by email we're supposed to hear about being accepted or rejected but if we don't hear anything we're waitlisted and our application is carried over to the next date of acceptance/rejection decisions. They won't tell us though if we are waitlisted.

Has anyone gotten anything in the mail?

RollTide22 said:
http://www.thecommonwealthmedical.com/oth/Page.asp?PageID=OTH000162

"Does TCMC have rolling admissions?
No. TCMC offers admission four times per year. Early decision candidates will be notified by October 1, 2011. Regular admission candidates will be notified by December 16, 2011, February 24, 2012, and April 20, 2012. Once the class is filled, TCMC maintains a waitlist to draw additional accepted candidates as spaces become available."

Something isn't right here. I specifically remember being told at the interview that we would hear on this day and if we didn't, it meant that we were waitlisted and wouldn't hear again until Feb. 24th.
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