2011-2012 University of Arkansas Application Thread

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jro1421 said:
How many acceptances do they typically send out in December? January?
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Not many. I'm actually not sure exactly how many get accepted early, but I'd guess it's less than 20% - probably more like 10%.

BuffNerd said:
Do OOS interview invites come in the mail? I think U of A has my school address, and I'll be away from there for Christmas break, so I didn't know if I contact the admissions office or anything. Thanks!
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My invite was by email. Despite how backward the rest of the process is, they got that part straight, at least. 😛

Congrats to all of you receiving invites. I doubt I'll be here to see you, but I'm around in the mean time if you happen through town. I'm also always available on SDN.
 
jro1421 said:
How many acceptances do they typically send out in December? January?
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Yeah, I want to say it's around 15-20 each time in December and January but I don't think there is an absolute set number or percentage. I don't even know where I remember that from, but it sounds right.

P.S. Getting one of those unexpectedly is like an extra Christmas 😀
 
jro1421 said:
How many acceptances do they typically send out in December? January?
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Very few. I believe less than 10% of the total class spots are offered (maybe up to 10% each month, maybe combined, I can't remember) but it's been a while since I've talked to anyone about that so don't take that as gospel. The bottom line is that the vast, vast majority get their decision letters in February so don't stress about it until then. The silver lining is if you're IS you won't be rejected before then either, which was a plus in my mind back when I was going through all that.

BuffNerd said:
Do OOS interview invites come in the mail? I think U of A has my school address, and I'll be away from there for Christmas break, so I didn't know if I contact the admissions office or anything. Thanks!
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Yes. I don't know if they send emails as well or not, they haven't sent out decision notifications via email in the past as far as I am aware, which is why they encourage you to use a home/permanent address. I'm sure it would be no problem to call the admissions office and ask for your status though. Just mention you're not at/not going to be at your address during the holiday break and I'm sure they'll be happy to email you the information or discuss it with you over the phone.

flodhi1 said:
+1 I'll see you 01/07/2012
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Congrats you guys! I'll see you at whatever reception the night before interviews and of course on interview day. All of you should feel free to ask lodging/travel/entertainment/etc. advice to those of us on here leading up to the interview if you have questions.

-Matt
 
Thank you very much! is there any student hosting?
 
I don't think there's any formal hosting, but you can stay at my place if you need to. I'm 2 miles directly west of campus. Again, though, there's a good chance I won't be here to take you where you need to be, so unless you're driving or willing to shell out for repeated cabs, that might not be the best option.
 
flodhi1 said:
Thank you very much! is there any student hosting?
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Yes, there are two on campus residence halls (one with dorm style and studio apartments and one with one bedroom apartments). I don't know about the dorm/studio building, but there used to be a fairly long waiting list for the one bedroom apartments. My wife and I lived in the one bedroom for a year and a half and recently moved out, so you can pm me if you have any more questions about them.

Edit - I should really read things, I thought you said housing 🙂
 
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flodhi1 said:
Thank you very much! is there any student hosting?
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Officially- I don't believe so. (They don't want to give us a chance to tell you how awful our lives are and scare you off 😀.) However, there are numerous students like Alex and myself who would be happy to host if that would be helpful for you. My house is a 6-8 minute walk to campus (it's in direct sight of UAMS) and since I'd be at the events you guys need to go to anyway, I'd be happy to host 1 person if they need a place.
 
deano5709 said:
Yes, there are two on campus residence halls (one with dorm style and studio apartments and one with one bedroom apartments). I don't know about the dorm/studio building, but there used to be a fairly long waiting list for the one bedroom apartments. My wife and I lived in the one bedroom for a year and a half and recently moved out, so you can pm me if you have any more questions about them.

Edit - I should really read things, I thought you said housing 🙂
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MJM09 said:
Officially- I don't believe so. (They don't want to give us a chance to tell you how awful our lives are and scare you off 😀.) However, there are numerous students like Alex and myself who would be happy to host if that would be helpful for you. My house is a 6-8 minute walk to campus (it's in direct sight of UAMS) and since I'd be at the events you guys need to go to anyway, I'd be happy to host 1 person if they need a place.
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Thank you both very much!
 
I was talking to an OOS interviewee about car rentals today and thought this might be helpful for some others on here as well if they're planning their Little Rock travel right now. I know you're all bright, capable people that could figure this out on your own, but this might help save you a little time if you're trying to decide what to do.

Here's my take on renting a car if you're flying into LIT:

Renting a car really depends on how mobile you want to be while here. It's not strictly necessary, there are cabs and buses to get around town if you need them, but it may actually be cheaper to rent. I pulled up Yellow Cab's rates to see how much it would run to get from LIT to UAMS (if you're staying at a downtown hotel it will be a shorter trip, if you're staying in West Little Rock, much farther) and it'd be at least $23 for a one-way fare. You would also have to plan travel to and from campus on the interview day, ($14 from downtown to UAMS). There's also the issue of being able to explore on your own schedule. If that's a priority, I'd consider a car since taxis are pricey and the bus system here is passable (I guess), but not the easiest to navigate. You can reserve a car at the airport for about $20 a day on the weekend if you're 25 or older, and if you're younger there are ways to get the under 25 penalty waived. I know Hertz waives it for young AAA members if you use the promo code PC #144314 when making your reservation (this has saved me a lot of money in the past few years), and I'm sure some other companies also have promos to keep from paying that extra charge. If you rent you will have to pay for parking some places (most downtown hotels and UAMS), which would be approximately $5-7 a day. LIT isn't a large airport and it's starting up a big remodel and expansion project right now that has everything messed up, so you can expect some delay at the airport, but one good thing about it is that the rental car places are pretty reasonable compared to some airports.

Hope that helps,
-Matt
 
I agree with all of the above but thought I'd add a couple things. 3 years ago, a cab from the airport to campus was about $28 (plus tip, obviously). Count on it being more than that now. In other words, renting a cheap car is probably your best option if you can't get a ride. The airport is currently fine, renovations notwithstanding. I've been flying in and out of it quite a lot over the past month and haven't had a delay yet. That may change over the next couple weeks, but you shouldn't have too many problems.
 
Good news, I got my interview invitationlast Friday, so ill see yall on the 7th. Although i had to apply as an out of stater, I live less than 2 miles from the school, and can assist with rides and possible lodging if needed. See you then!
 
Does anyone know if early acceptances have already gone out?
 
arkpremed said:
Does anyone know if early acceptances have already gone out?
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The admissions catalog said the first round of acceptances was supposed to be mailed out on December 15th, but I don't know if that happened or not. I'm wondering too...
 
They were mailed out thursday, one my friends from little rock received his acceptance on friday.
 
got shot down today. im an oos so i knew i didnt really have a shot but still stings some lol
 
Anyone have any last-minute questions before I mercilessly grill you on Saturday morning? :meanie:





Seriously, if you want to get some dinner the night before or need a place to stay or something, get in touch.
 
Well I'll be seeing you 101 out of state (and 2 in-state) interviewees quite a bit this weekend. I hope you will all come to the reception Friday night- it was at the Clinton Library last year but they've moved it to the Peabody Hotel this year (possibly because no one really seemed to have time to walk around the library and see the exhibits anyway) and it should be a good time, plus it's a great way to meet your potential future classmates and get your last minute questions answered in a pretty relaxed setting before interviews Saturday morning. Plus I think a lot of you are probably staying at the Peabody anyway, so it's not like it'll be hard to make it. If I don't see you there I'll see you at registration and tours on Saturday.

I think they probably told you all this, but they're providing lunch after your interview/tour too and it's another opportunity to ask med students about any questions or concerns you may have and relax a little before heading back to the airport. Take advantage of it and don't be afraid to ask questions, I promise we're not secretly recording you or going back upstairs and telling the admissions staff "You won't believe what this guy just asked me..." 😀

Good luck to all of you and travel safe.
-Matt
 
Anyone know of any job openings at UAMS? I live in the little rock area and need a job while I am waiting to hear back. If I get rejected I plan on applying to the masters program, so I feel like win or lose...a job there would be nice 🙂
 
I know there are almost always jobs at entry-level positions (transporter, administrative assistants, etc.), but if you're looking for something specific and not quite as mundane, that might be a bit tougher to find.
 
MilkmanAl said:
I know there are almost always jobs at entry-level positions (transporter, administrative assistants, etc.), but if you're looking for something specific and not quite as mundane, that might be a bit tougher to find.
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Milkman would they hire summer work? I've been accepted and I have to finish my undergrad this next semester out of state, but I'd like to work there at UAMS in the summer before I start in the fall...

Also, anyone else on here been accepted yet? And for any current med. students... do y'all know of any good place to live that's close to campus but not in the **** part of town south of UAMS? Heights? Hillcrest? I've heard that sometimes incoming freshmen will rent out apartments/houses that graduating seniors will be leaving behind. I'd like to move in early summer.
 
I really know nothing about the positions or UAMS's hiring policies. Sorry. 🙁

do y'all know of any good place to live that's close to campus but not in the **** part of town south of UAMS? Heights? Hillcrest? I've heard that sometimes incoming freshmen will rent out apartments/houses that graduating seniors will be leaving behind. I'd like to move in early summer.
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Heights and hillcrest are both great. Broadmoor, where I live, is just a little farther away (like 1.5-3 miles, depending) and is also nice. As long as you're not south of 630 and toward the east side of town, you're in good shape. A lot of people will tell you it's dangerous around the hospital, but those are usually the opinions of people unused to living in a city. That is, they do things like leave their purses or Garmins or iPods sitting around in their cars and wonder why their windows got smashed in and their stuff got jacked. If you use a little common sense, you won't have any problems.
 
Alright thanks, and if you know of anyone getting ready to leave their place, let them know I'm interested! Yeah that sort of thing about the area around the hospital makes sense; it's just the reality of living in a metropolitan area rather than it being a dangerous part of town. Gotta have some street smarts.
 
To those of you I interviewed, you all did very well, and I'm reasonably certain that at least one of you reads this forum. If you have any more questions, please ask. Best of luck to you.

The same goes for everyone else: ask questions like crazy. I'll be back in a bit to publicly answer some of the questions I fielded today during interviews. Right now, I'm determining fates while it's still fresh. :meanie:
 
I just interviewed today and just wanted to say that this school is absolutely amazing. I didn't know much about Arkansas but this visit really showed me a lot about the school and this is my top choice now. Hopefully I will make it, I wish the best of luck to everyone else applying. The facility is gorgeous, staff truly is the best and the students are very personable.
 
I enjoyed visiting with some of you at the reception Friday night and I think I saw pretty much everyone at some point this morning, and I wanted to let you know that you all were a great group. I hope you enjoyed your visit to Little Rock and UAMS and that I'll get to see some of you here next year.

I know many of you picked up those "Fast Facts" sheets today with stats about the UAMS hospital and colleges, but I had a discussion with one of the interviewees about the VA as well since you all will spend a significant amount of time there your third year when you're out on the wards, and Arkansas Children's Hospital where you'll spend time during Pediatrics and wanted to pass those stats along for anyone that is interested. I know it can be a bit difficult to compare UAMS, which teaches out of three hospitals (the two on campus, UAMS & VA, and then Children's which is just down the interstate a bit) to places with one big hospital, so here are the overall numbers for anyone bored or interested enough to read them:

UAMS Medical Center Statistics for 2011
Hospital capacity: 436 beds (60 additional beds under construction)
Inpatient Discharges: 22,996
Surgical cases: 13,148
Emergency Department Visits: 54,186
Outpatient Clinic Visits: 387,660

Arkansas Children's Hospital Statistics for 2011:
Hospital capacity: 316 beds, currently under construction to expand to 370 in 2012
Inpatient Discharges: 13,953
Surgical cases: 13,333
Emergency Department Visits: 52,128
Outpatient Clinic Visits: 310,336

John L. McClellan Memorial Veterans Hospital Statistics for 2011:
Hospital capacity: 538 adult beds
Inpatient Discharges: 12,233
Surgical cases: 2,309
Emergency Department Visits: 28,063
Outpatient Clinic Visits: 628,911

I hope everyone enjoyed their visit and had safe travels.
-Matt
 
All right, here go the questions I was asked (that i can recall). A lot of this is in my responses to previous years' UAMS threads, but it bears repeating for easy access (and possibly a bit of change in my perspective).

1. How do the faculty and students interact?
The faculty during the first 2 years are extremely supportive. If you need someone to help or talk with you, they're around. They are also fairly open to suggestions. While the solutions they come up with for implementing suggestions aren't always ideal or even sensible, they're at least listening.

2. How do the students get along?
UAMS has historically been pretty freaking awesome at picking classes. Yeah, you're going to have a few people who just plain suck in your class, but you'll likely have no problem finding a group of cool people to fit in with...unless, you know, you're one of the people who sucks. 😛 There are tons of class, inter-class, and inter-school events you can take part in. It's generally a very supportive and fun environment. people will make study guides of all kinds and distribute them over the listserv. Some of the current M1s are in the process of organizing student-run tutoring sessions. There are lots of intramural sports, student-run clinics, religious groups of various kinds, and a whole lot more activities available. While you may not get to know too many people outside of your class, you'll make plenty of good friends very quickly when you show up here.

3. What sort of support is available?
As noted, the faculty are available for private help and/or more formal tutoring, and your classmates will have your back if you need anything. If friends and family are insufficient, the Department of Student Health offers free (and obviously confidential) counseling and may even help you out with medications, if that's something you need. There are lots and lots of ways to get whatever assistance you may need.

4. How do you feel about the changes in the curriculum?
For those of you who missed it, UAMS is hurriedly trying to switch over from a mostly-lecture style of curriculum to one with a lot more team-based learning. To say the least, I am very skeptical of how it's going to work out. I think TBL is a poor way to learn in the first place, and the way they're just sort of force-fitting it into the existing framework does not at all seem appealing. I'm not sure I'd go as far as calling it chaos, but it's going to take a whole hell of a lot of work to cobble together a functional program for next year. I doubt the turmoil will compromise your education, but be prepared for significant growing pains.

5. What are the facilities like?
They're awesome. Most everything that matters is brand new within the last 6-ish years. You will have great difficulty finding hospitals of this quality. Rush's brand new billion-dollar monstrosity is really the only one I can think of that'd compete with UAMS as a whole. You will have plenty of access to cutting-edge technology and excellent facilities. Remember that even though this is Arkansas, they don't really have anything else to spend government money on.
 
Does anyone know if many in-state applicants who are wait-listed/rejected apply for a graduate program at UAMS??

I was planning on applying just as a back-up plan. How hard is it to get in?? I'm thinking about the Biochemistry Molecular Biology program.
 
Is UAMS receptive to post-interview update letters? Where would I sent it?
 
I'm currently looking for a house near UAMS. If anyone knows of any houses for sale, please let me know!

Thanks!
 
mrmatt said:
Is UAMS receptive to post-interview update letters? Where would I sent it?
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Yes, very. Send them to Ms. DuPuy.

Marbleman said:
I'm currently looking for a house near UAMS. If anyone knows of any houses for sale, please let me know!

Thanks!
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Most houses that we get notified of don't open up until we M4s start moving out. That is it'll probably be April-ish before anything big happens. I'll pass the word along if anything interesting comes by, though.

On another note, I just finished my interview assessments. See you guys next year. 😉
 
Marbleman,
I was in the real estate business for 10 years before getting into med school. Shoot me an email and I can get you in touch with someone to help you with houses. [email protected]
 
arkpremed said:
Thanks! Best of luck to everyone else!!! Compared to other schools, it seems late to hear in January and even worse to wait until February. 🙁
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Yeah, I agree. It's strange to me that UAMS is so slow about giving out decisions.
 
mrmatt said:
Yeah, I agree. It's strange to me that UAMS is so slow about giving out decisions.
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It's a result of the way the interview process works. Keep in mind that UAMS doesn't do regular rolling admissions, they do batch interviews and that can make things seem slow notification wise. Aside from a small group of students they want to notify early, they send all the in-state and out of state interviewee decisions together and that can't happen until after the OOS interviews in January (and the few IS students that for some reason didn't interview until then.. happens every year), so it does make it seem "slow" for the IS students that interviewed in October or November. Another thing that probably slows it down is the state legislature rules that they have to offer interviews to all IS applicants. Not to sound harsh, but it does mean there are students that may not be competitive that they still have to offer interviews to and go through the committee process with and I'm sure that takes some extra time.

Since the number of IS offers could go up or down a bit based off how many OOS offers they make following the January interviews, the only decisions they would be able to send out before February (aside from those specific December and January early invites) would probably be rejections anyway, so not getting earlier letters from them may be a good thing 😀.
-Matt
 
How difficult is it to get accepted into the rural practice program if I am wait-listed?
What do they look for in their candidates?
 
Basically, if you apply, you get it. UAMS will send you a gift basket, a new car, and a faculty member of your choice to fellate you if they can get you to commit on paper to a few years of rural practice. As for what they're looking for, they want in-staters with a pulse who are desperate enough to commit contractually to rural primary care to get into med school, regardless of the high probability that their decision may prove to be stupid down the road. Not that there's anything wrong with making sure you get into med school, of course. It's just sort of a bum deal to force yourself into something you don't even know if you like yet when you could've easily gotten the same perks and more down the line if you decided that you really did like rural primary care.
 
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