- Joined
- Jun 7, 2011
- Messages
- 15
- Reaction score
- 0
This has probably been beaten to death, but by "completed" do you mean the date you submitted all of your secondary materials?
2011-2012 Tulane Application Thread
- Thread starter Sammich117
- Start date
- Status
This has probably been beaten to death, but by "completed" do you mean the date you submitted all of your secondary materials?
- Joined
- Mar 9, 2011
- Messages
- 478
- Reaction score
- 0
No, they will send you a confirmation email saying that everything is ready and you're ready for review. But honestly guys, complete email doesn't matter. You can get the complete email and rejection email very soon after. It's the interview invite email that matter, so don't put too much into complete emails. You can get that 1 month prior to your decision letter or 1 day prior to it.
- Joined
- Jun 7, 2011
- Messages
- 15
- Reaction score
- 0
Wonderful. It's been six weeks since my secondary was submitted- no complete email yet.
Not yet, but I'm hoping for the same thing.
No.
- Joined
- Jul 13, 2008
- Messages
- 3
- Reaction score
- 0
ACCEPTED!!!!!!!!! Thank you god!!! The best news of my life this morning! To all the haters who said I couldn't make it. Good luck everyone!!! 🙂
Accepted as of Tuesday!! EDP applicant. Looking forward to meeting everyone next summer!! New Orleans here I come!! Best of luck to everyone else still waiting to hear back!! 😀
😀
- Joined
- Oct 7, 2011
- Messages
- 1,052
- Reaction score
- 45
Is anyone out there applying to the TRuMEd program at Tulane? I submitted my secondary at the beginning of October, along with my TRuMEd application. Did I submit too late? I had to get an additional 3 letters from members of my community, and it took longer than expected.
I have a graduate GPA of 3.85 and low MCAT of 21M... not exactly considered competitive. But I have clinical experience and professional certification from ASCP, as well as years of volunteer experience. Since I am a first generation high school graduate, and my family/friends are clueless, things have been a bit harder than I'd like... but I'm not the only person to have obstacles!
Any advice?
I have a graduate GPA of 3.85 and low MCAT of 21M... not exactly considered competitive. But I have clinical experience and professional certification from ASCP, as well as years of volunteer experience. Since I am a first generation high school graduate, and my family/friends are clueless, things have been a bit harder than I'd like... but I'm not the only person to have obstacles!
Any advice?
- Joined
- Aug 2, 2011
- Messages
- 658
- Reaction score
- 134
I asked about the TRuMEd program in my interview, and my interviewer didn't seem to know that there is an application for it that we submit along with the secondary. This person is on the adcom. The deadline isn't until Jan 15th. Since "selective admission" will be given to 8 per year, so I don't think getting your app in in october is going to hurt any, but it also says credentials of successful TRuMEd applicants will be similar to those of successful applicants for general admission. If you have more questions about it you might try contacting the coordinator of the program, that's what my interviewer suggested. I decided not to apply to TRuMEd 'cause I didn't want to commit to a rural residency and rotations and everything, but I'm hoping if I get accepted that I might be able to do some even if I'm not in TRuMEd. I'm shadowing a rural family medicine practitioner next summer, so that should help me decide. Sorry, that's kind of irrelevant, but anyway, just letting you know what I learned about it.
This raises a very important question -- I am a recent graduate of Tulane School of Medicine and I am currently a cardiology fellow. This may be a bold statement, but if I could go back in time I would have attended LSU school of medicine, which is a fraction of the cost of Tulane. (There is no medical school in Baton Rouge. The other Louisiana medical schools are LSU New Orleans and LSU Shreveport). Back to what I was saying -- Tulane is not worth the cost or the time. I have Tulane SOM student loans that are the value of 5 family mansion that I will be paying off for the rest of my life because I attended Tulane. Despite the fact that I am going into a subspecialty because of the way healthcare is going with major reimbursement cuts --TULANE IS NOT WORTH THE COST.
Reasons to not apply to or attend Tulane SOM if accepted (from a Graduate):
1. Cost of attending is higher than any medical school in the country. It's over $70,000 a year.
2. Quality of education is sub-optimal. There are no well renowned professors here that are teaching you. There are minimal research opportunities. I obtained my medical knowledge during medical school by staying at home and reading out of a First Aid for Step One Book and scoring well on Step 1.
3. Tulane is not even in the top 100 USNWR. (Why am I $300+K indebted?)
4. Tulane Hospital (primary teaching hospital) is nearing bankruptcy and is negotiating with a larger hospital system in New Orleans to buy them.
5. The other teaching hospital is Charity which has been closed since Katrina and there is still no agreement on definitive plans of reopening or rebuilding it and it's been 6 years since it closed.
6. The medical school administration are not good educators. They sell this school as a school that is geared toward training primary care doctors who will "rebuild New Orleans." New Orleans is rebuilt! The "rebuild New Orleans" catch phrase is ludicrous. There's actually a saturation of doctors here including primary care. There are a number of other hospital not affiliated with Tulane that are doing phenomenally well. Furthermore with this gear toward Primary Care that Tulane pushes -- With the amount of debt you incur as a student at Tulane SOM, going into primary care is pretty much not an option.
7. Tulane does not give scholarships. Be prepared to pay a heavy price. If you are not concerned about the money, be concerned about your parents money -- read below...
8. There are 10 of my former classmates/graduates who are good friends of mine who are still trying to find employment in a categorical residency program. Tulane has not helped them find employment in any way.
9. On the topic of employment -- Tulane does not match well in the match. Roughly 25 (not exaggerating) do not match each year, and roughly 10-15 of these students don't even get a scramble position.
10. Tulane is a money making scheme -- They have a number of "Masters" programs that they'll accept you into to make you think you'll get into medical school. Examples are the Tulane Masters of Pharmacology program, Masters of Biomedical Sciences program, Anatomy Certification Masters, Masters in Public Health...the list go on. They'll accept you into one of these programs as a scheme to get an additional year of tuition out of you. There's even a Masters in Clinical Research program that they created because so many of their graduates are not matching. The "theme" of this program is that you're going to be more marketable when you reapply for the match but the reality is that you are paying Tulane an additional $30,000 and you are no better off as an applicant.
11. Tulane is willing to take 3 years of tuition out of you before kicking you out to the street. This has happened to a number of recent students. Medical schools generally have a retention rate of 98%. This means that once you are a student at the school, you are going to graduate and you are going to be a doctor. The school will do what it takes for that to happen. Tulane is not like this. It's retention rate is somewhere in the 60s-70%.
New Orleans I agree is an awesome city, but you can do your residency here or work here after you are done training if you want. But bottom line is TULANE IS NOT A GOOD MEDICAL SCHOOL CHOICE. Choose LSU if you are from Louisiana. Choose your state school if you are from out of state.
- Joined
- Jan 10, 2011
- Messages
- 476
- Reaction score
- 3
60-70% retention rate? You serious?
- Joined
- Jan 10, 2011
- Messages
- 476
- Reaction score
- 3
Since it's your first post I'm kind of skeptical. You're making Tulane seem like a Caribbean school 😱
- Joined
- Aug 14, 2011
- Messages
- 23
- Reaction score
- 0
I cannot tell if you are an angry Tulane alum, an LSU student/alumnus who has an axe to grind, or just a troll. Youre post is highly inaccurate; shame on you. If you were a Tulane student, you would have graduated anywhere between 2006 and 2008, and Im assuming part of you bad experience was a result of Katrina and its aftermath. Im a T3, and in 2011, there are no lingering Katrina problems (nor were there any when I enrolled in 2009).
Tufts is actually more expensive. Most Tulane students are from states like Connecticut, California, Illinois, Washington State, Washington D.C., Oregon, etc, i.e. states that only have a few medical spots relative to their relatively large populations. Conversely, LSU (up until this year) only accepted Louisiana residents, and they have over 300 spots for a state with only a population of only 4.5 million! Most of my classmates were accepted at other private universities or at expensive state schools, and for one reason or another, we chose Tulane.
In my case, Im a California native by way of Illinois, with my small Tulane scholarship and with New Orleans lower cost of living, Tulane is costing 15k more over four years than if I had attended University of Illinois as an in-state resident. I ultimately chose Tulane over Rush, Albert Einstein, and St Louis University, and if I had to do it all over again, I would still choose Tulane.
This is BS. The education is not poor (students due well on the Steps and on shelf exams), and there are decent research opportunities: according to NIH report, Tulane had more NIH research dollars than LSU-NO and LSU-S. With the new dean in 2006, Tulanes research funding in 2011 is higher than it had ever been before the storm. Furthermore, under the new dean, Tulanes admissions standards are increasing every year: the class of 2014 had a mean MCAT of 32, and the class of 2015 had a mean MCAT just below 33.
Tulane is not in the top-100 because it does not participate in USNWR (nor do the LSUs). Based on research dollars alone in NIH report, Tulane would easily be in the top-100.
Yeah, compared to an LSU grad, yes, you have a lot of debt. Compared to students at other private med school, you're numbers aren't that unreasonable
Tulane hospital lost money in the years directly after the storm. Like everything else in the city, the hospital has taken time to adjust to the post-Katrina NOLA. A merger or operation of the hospital by Ochsner would not change educational opportunities, especially when you consider that Tulane med students already do some rotations at Ochsner and several residencies programs are shared between Ochsner and Tulane. Regardless, Tulane still owns a stake in the hospital, and as long as it does, it will continue to be Tulane University hospital, and it will continue to train Tulane students, residents, and fellows.
Besides, Tulane med students also rotate at University, the VA, and Ochsner; there is also the new Baton Rouge track at Baton Rouge general
Yeah, you dont read the news. Construction on the new VA began last winter, and the new Charity had its grown breaking two months ago. As part of the new University, Tulane was recently awarded 28 more residency spots: 10 will be at TUMC and 18 will be to expand Tulanes other residencies at Baton Rouge General
University Hospital treats all the patients that Charity used to receive. The ability to come to Tulane (or LSU-NO) to see crazy stuff still exists; the only difference is the building (i.e. youre at University instead of Charity).
This is the paragraph that makes me think that you never attended Tulane. Tulane does NOT push primary care. In fact, administrators routinely make jokes about how Tulane students avoid primary care like the plague. Hell, we dont even have a family practice residency! Even if you graduate from Tulane with a lot of loans, we still have students who have chosen to go into primary care (last year was the first year in a long time that more than a handful of students wanted to go into family practice). Regardless if you go to Tulane, BU, USC, Creighton, Tufts, Loyola, etc, when you go to a private med school, you know you will most likely have a lot of debt, and if thats a scenario you are not comfortable with, there is always the military/NHSC, or just dont go to med school.
Tulane gives scholarships. How do I know? I received one
This is 110% BS. This does not happen because if a student does not match, they meet with the deans to scramble. Besides, you had to have graduated in 2008 or 2006, (i.e. 4 to 6 years ago), thus you are implying you have classmates who have not been able to match for 4 to 6 years.
Again, this is 110% B.S. Last year there were a few students who had to scramble, but everyone matched. In 2008 or 2006 when you graduated, there were fewer applicants and almost the same number of residency spots: i.e. no US allopathic students would fail to gain a residency spot. BTW, for those of you reading this, here is last years match list (http://tulane.edu/som/StudentAffairs/upload/MATCH-RESULTS-2011.pdf)
More BS: the pharm and anatomy masters are SMP masters: no medical students enters those programs. Any student who wants to earn a research degree is given the opportunity to enter the MD, PhD program. Many students do combined MPH degrees, and the School of Public Helath is ranked 13th by US News (i.e. its not a bad program) The University also provides scholarships to most students who enter the MD/MPH program.
Retention rate in the 60s to 70s? This is BS X 1,000,000. Tulane has an excellent retention rate, and when Tulane says they will make sure you graduate, they really mean it. I have never heard of any student failing out of Tulane. Seriously, you would have to punch the dean in the face and run naked through the hospital to get expelled from here, and even then, I have my doubts.
I agree with you on the LSU point: LSU is not a bad school, and if you are an LA resident, the difference in cost is huge. That being said, several of my classmates did chose Tulane over LSU, however it was for social reasons and not academic reasons: i.e. they did not want to spend the next four years with a bunch of uber-Christian Republicans who have never set foot outside the state of Louisiana.
Tulane may not be Vanderbilt of Duke, but its also not Dr. Nicks Upstairs Osteopathic Hollywood Medical College. The medical school is expensive, but in the end, you get an excellent education. In the 1920s through 1960s, Tulane was one of the best medical schools in the country, but since then, Tulane has fallen to a rather mediocre status. However, Hurricane Katrina was one of the best things that ever happened to Tulane (and New Orleans). With a new dean, new faculty, and new ideas, since 2006, the med school is expanding its research facilities and funding, it is increasing the quality of its students, and it is increasing the number and quality of its residencies.
If you actually even attended Tulane, there is no doubt that your tenure was greatly affected by Katrina, but the reality is that most of what you stated is not--nor was ever--true, and in 2011, Tulanes school of medicine is vastly different than what it was when you were a student.
- Joined
- May 15, 2011
- Messages
- 335
- Reaction score
- 0
- Joined
- Oct 7, 2011
- Messages
- 1,052
- Reaction score
- 45
Wow, these message boards get a bit heated!
Regardless of the previous rant... Tulane is ONE of my top choices! 😍
- Joined
- May 15, 2011
- Messages
- 335
- Reaction score
- 0
OMG, your quote, lol. I went to the Crystal Cathedral (waaaay before it went backrupt). Small world.
- Joined
- Sep 17, 2009
- Messages
- 18
- Reaction score
- 0
Thanks HandBanana1, you said what needed to be said. I just laughed at the "60-70% retention rate" considering no U.S. medical school would remain accredited if it was that bad.
Haters gotta hate.
http://tulane.edu/som/upload/LCME-Reaccreditation-Announcement.pdf
Haters gotta hate.
http://tulane.edu/som/upload/LCME-Reaccreditation-Announcement.pdf
- Joined
- Oct 7, 2011
- Messages
- 1,052
- Reaction score
- 45
Lol. Yes, small world... Although, I am from Mississippi, and I got this quote from a fortune cookie several years ago. I didn't know what Crystal Cathedral was, until I googled it!
- Joined
- Sep 25, 2011
- Messages
- 27
- Reaction score
- 0
jinxed it.
Last edited:
- Joined
- Sep 21, 2011
- Messages
- 16
- Reaction score
- 0
Even if all the bad things you had to say about Tulane were true, why did you have to say them? You needed to hate so bad that you would come in here and mess up the good vibes? Everyone in here who has posted has been extremely encouraging and excited about Tulane. So why you gotta try to mess it up for us? On top of that, it's not about one school as much as it's about dreams, for each of us. We got real chances to be doctors. I have been waiting for this opportunity for years and don't need your negativity!
- Joined
- Mar 9, 2011
- Messages
- 478
- Reaction score
- 0
If he/she was telling the truth, I don't mind the negativity, cuz it's real advice. However, all the things he/she said seemed to be not true, so yes, it was unnecessary. That person really crossed the lines
- Joined
- Aug 14, 2011
- Messages
- 23
- Reaction score
- 0
Many of the things the poster stated are false. However, that being said, he/she did address the issue of cost which I think is important not only for Tulane, but for med school in general. It's really as a pre-med to say "I want to be a physician no matter the cost. It's OK if I take out a lot of loans because one day I'll be making that sweet physician money." I have current classmates who chose Tulane over less-expensive schools because for them, happiness was more important that cost. I also have college friends who chose less expensive med schools they are miserable at over more expensive institutions they liked better. The point is that some people would rather pay more and be happy, while others prefer to graduate with a lower debt burden; when you are deciding where to go next year, you need to consider what's most important to you. Before you chose a school, you need to crunch numbers and understand how much debt you are comfortable with, what your combined debt will be, and how your debt will affect you life (i.e. how soon can you afford to have kids, how long will it take you to pay-off your loans, will your spouse be able to stay at home with your kids, will you be able to settle in an area with a high cost of living, etc).
- Joined
- Sep 21, 2011
- Messages
- 16
- Reaction score
- 0
Stop makin excuses for these haters in here. I don't tolerate that bull**** at all. Take it somewhere else. Everybody here knows med school isn't cheap, especially Tulane. So if it's that big an issue, DO NOT APPLY!!! See how easy that was? And I saved you around 150$. Go to another forum and say some positive things about a school you really wanna be at. Don't come in here ****ting on my dreams. If you don't got nothin good to say, shut up. Cause I promise this is not the first, or the last, time we will hear all of these things. Matter fact, this is why student doctors credibility has been called into question. Because haters come in the forums and start spewing negativity. Hatin on URMs, hatin on DOs, hatin on schools in the south, hatin on Indians who come over here on a whole different type of grind and pull their entire families out the third world, hatin on CURRICULA!! How you hate the order you learn stuff?? So if you see a hater in here, tell em to bounce. Only positive vibes. I think we can all agree that homie went wayy past pros and cons. Or am I just crazy? I guess I'm the only one tired of haters messing up this site. It would be way more amazing if folks just stop hatin.
I think everyone on these forums just wants a realistic picture of what individual med schools are like. Every school has upsides and downsides, and it would be silly to leave out discussion of things that schools could improve upon. However, lying is never ok, which was the problem with the original post.
- Joined
- Mar 9, 2011
- Messages
- 478
- Reaction score
- 0
Chill man, you're the one showing too much hate
- Joined
- Jul 2, 2011
- Messages
- 104
- Reaction score
- 0
I know his post was mostly disproved, but I'd love to hear about the negative aspects of a school when I'm still making decisions. Why wouldn't you?
Cool story bro.
- Joined
- Mar 9, 2011
- Messages
- 478
- Reaction score
- 0
Don't know but you should be excited that you didn't receive a rejection even though most of your date's ppl probably have. About when the II's come, I think they invite the more desired applicants first. Otherwise, the ppl who completed on same dates should be invited for interviews around the same time, but this hasn't been the case. Some receive invites early, and others late even though other ppl from their complete dates have been invited already.
- Joined
- May 3, 2010
- Messages
- 112
- Reaction score
- 0
Yeah I was going to change the subject to this too. From what I remember on this thread it seems there is a 30 day "rule" sort of in effect. For example
Secondary Submitted: 8/9
Complete Email: 9/9
and it seemed about 30 days after the complete e-mail people were either receiving rejection emails or nothing (where the nothing eventually turns into an interview invitation, but they e-mail you 30 days before your interview date that they assign).
My question was going to be do you think that the admissions committee is still keeping this schedule of 30 days or do you think it's a bit longer since this is peak application season?
Please feel free to correct me if anything I said about what I gathered about the admissions process here seems to be wrong or if anyone can comment about receiving information after the complete email.
Thanks!
I was considered "complete" by Tulane on August 9th, got the invite this morning!
I'm kinda bummed though because I don't think I'll have the funds to make this interview happen...Tulane offered me an interview for October 31st, and while I understand that some medical schools just assign you a date, I was kinda annoyed that they assigned me an interview for less than a month away. Who can afford to just up and buy last minute tickets to NOLA?
I'm kinda bummed though because I don't think I'll have the funds to make this interview happen...Tulane offered me an interview for October 31st, and while I understand that some medical schools just assign you a date, I was kinda annoyed that they assigned me an interview for less than a month away. Who can afford to just up and buy last minute tickets to NOLA?
- Joined
- Oct 18, 2009
- Messages
- 5,219
- Reaction score
- 45
Call and ask to change it!!! It can't hurt. 🙂 Just explain your financial situation and find out if there are later interviews available. And congrats!
If you look around on the thread, or read your invitation email, you will see that they are willing to reschedule you. Just call and ask, they are very nice people. 🙂
- Joined
- May 1, 2010
- Messages
- 280
- Reaction score
- 2
That sucks, but congrats on the interview. Just do what I do, rack up some credit card debt 😀 . I'm hoping that since you've received an interview rejections were handed out already for < Aug 8th
- Joined
- Jun 6, 2011
- Messages
- 144
- Reaction score
- 36
Interview invite! I'm so excited to check out Tulane and New Orleans!
I'm sorry, rejections are terrible. Good luck!
If you don't mind me asking, when were you complete?
I don't know where Tulane ranks on your list of schools but if it's one of your top choices do whatever it takes to work. If you've had lots of other interviews and see yourself going elsewhere then maybe I'd drop it but I wouldn't want to not go to an interview and regret it down the road. I know it sucks having to pay all this money for primaries, secondaries, and interviews but this is a big life decision so I wouldn't pass it up unless I got into a school already and knew I'd be going there over Tulane. Definitely use the credit card.
I'd say that's been fairly accurate. I was complete 8/2 and called a couple weeks ago to check on my status. I ended up being told that I was getting an invite for late October. I ended up rescheduling for early November but I still haven't gotten the official interview invite e-mail so it might be less than 30 days now. But it's good to know that today's invite e-mails were for 10/31 so they haven't gotten to my rescheduled date yet.
Congrats!!
- Joined
- Aug 14, 2011
- Messages
- 23
- Reaction score
- 0
If you do interview on the 31st, be sure to bring a costume: Halloween is a really, really big deal in New Orleans
- Joined
- May 1, 2010
- Messages
- 280
- Reaction score
- 2
When were you complete?
- Joined
- Jul 26, 2010
- Messages
- 255
- Reaction score
- 3
So according to this thread, if I received my complete email 9/9 and haven't heard anything yet (past 30days), that's a good sign? Should I call and ask my status? Would really love to interview here.
- Joined
- May 3, 2010
- Messages
- 112
- Reaction score
- 0
Just got the reject email...oh well. Complete 9/9
- Joined
- Aug 3, 2010
- Messages
- 729
- Reaction score
- 3
- Status
