2011-2012 University of Iowa (Carver) Application Thread

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MCATBUSTER said:
The first question: does it refer to Meds like drugs or medical services in general? are they looking for an economical model or just to see if we are aware of the problem and if we can formulate logical arguments?
Congrats on being accepted man!
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Thanks. Why medicine (med.) as in "why do you want to be a doctor?" Just make sure your answer is coherent and that some thought went into it. Be confident!
 
Midwestern Blot said:
Thanks. Why medicine (med.) as in "why do you want to be a doctor?" Just make sure your answer is coherent and that some thought went into it. Be confident!
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No sorry I meant "solution for rising med costs?" question... can you elaborate more?
 
MCATBUSTER said:
No sorry I meant "solution for rising med costs?" question... can you elaborate more?
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Ok. I believe that question is just meant to assess if you know what is going on in the current medical environment. If you bring up some of the major factors that are driving medical care costs up and provide some basic ways to combat them, I think you would be fine.

Really, just look at the interview feedback on this site (link at the top of the page). A lot of these comments are pretty insightful and give a pretty good overview of anything at all that you would be asked. This is a very low stress interview, you just need to be prepared for the awkwardness of the structured questions. From there on out, it is very conversational.
 
Just called admission. Here are what I learned:
1. There is no adcom meeting today (10/18). 🙁 They won't meet every week in Oct but will be later on
2. All acceptance so far were IS, but generally, adcom review a mix of IS and OOS
3. Applicants will be notified by email if sent to final pool. So either way we are going to hear something back. The fact there has been no notification of any sort for me could be a sign that my file hasn't been voted on by the full committees yet. Final pool decision is made in Jan, as Midwestern Blot clarified. So it's difficult to know your status from now until Jan

Hope this helps
 
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idonotcare said:
Just called admission. Here are what I learned:
1. There is no adcom meeting today (10/18). 🙁 They won't meet every week in Oct but will be later on
2. All acceptance so far were IS, but generally, adcom review a mix of IS and OOS
3. Applicants will be notified by email if sent to final pool. So either way we are going to hear something back. The fact there has been no notification of any sort for me is a sign that my file hasn't been voted on by the full committees yet.

Hope this helps
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You won't get an email about being placed in the final pool until the end of January so it's hard to judge when your file has been reviewed. At least, that is what happened last year, and I interviewed early in September last year.
 
Yup, you are correct. They don't decide on final pool until Jan. At least they don't reject post-interview early on 😛 Keeping my hopes somewhat alive...

Midwestern Blot said:
You won't get an email about being placed in the final pool until the end of January so it's hard to judge when your file has been reviewed. At least, that is what happened last year, and I interviewed early in September last year.
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So I'm heading out to tomorrow for a Friday interview and had a couple of questions for anyone who's been already. I assume the admissions office has a place to store your bag if you bring it with you, right? And (weather permitting) is the trip from the Iowa House hotel to the admissions office pretty walkable? Thanks for any advice!

(And anyone know a good place to grab dinner late tomorrow night? What's Iowa famous for, food-wise? Please don't say corn.)
 
Northwesterly said:
So I'm heading out to tomorrow for a Friday interview and had a couple of questions for anyone who's been already. I assume the admissions office has a place to store your bag if you bring it with you, right? And (weather permitting) is the trip from the Iowa House hotel to the admissions office pretty walkable? Thanks for any advice!

(And anyone know a good place to grab dinner late tomorrow night? What's Iowa famous for, food-wise? Please don't say corn.)
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I'm not sure if the admissions office would let you store your bag anywhere other than the conference room where the orientation session, lunch, and CBL take place.

The walk from the Iowa House Hotel is completely doable, I think it's ~0.5 mile, and there are sidewalks the whole way. If you choose not to walk, just hop on a "Pentacrest Route" Cambus and it will take you to MERF.

I would advise you to check out the area around the pedestrian mall in downtown Iowa City. There is quite a bit of variety there so I would be surpised if you didn't find something that sounds good. It is located adjacent to the Old Capitol Building off Clinton Street. I don't think I've had a poor meal at any of the places I've eaten downtown. Airliner, Donnelly's, and Short's Burgers are some of my favorites that are cheaper. There are also some upscale places like Formosa, Josephs Steakhouse, Giovanni's, etc that are also really good. There's also pancheros, chipotle, mesa pizza, etc. There really isn't a shortage of good places to eat downtown.

Also, be aware that this Friday there will be a homecoming parade at 5:30 pm and a lot of people are going to be around the Iowa City area. It might be tough to find a place to eat without a bit of a wait.
 
I just got in, I'm staying with AKK. Pretty good setup I think, nothing fancy but it's nice to meet some students before the interview day.
 
Awesome. Thanks for the advice!

Midwestern Blot said:
I'm not sure if the admissions office would let you store your bag anywhere other than the conference room where the orientation session, lunch, and CBL take place.

The walk from the Iowa House Hotel is completely doable, I think it's ~0.5 mile, and there are sidewalks the whole way. If you choose not to walk, just hop on a "Pentacrest Route" Cambus and it will take you to MERF.

I would advise you to check out the area around the pedestrian mall in downtown Iowa City. There is quite a bit of variety there so I would be surpised if you didn't find something that sounds good. It is located adjacent to the Old Capitol Building off Clinton Street. I don't think I've had a poor meal at any of the places I've eaten downtown. Airliner, Donnelly's, and Short's Burgers are some of my favorites that are cheaper. There are also some upscale places like Formosa, Josephs Steakhouse, Giovanni's, etc that are also really good. There's also pancheros, chipotle, mesa pizza, etc. There really isn't a shortage of good places to eat downtown.

Also, be aware that this Friday there will be a homecoming parade at 5:30 pm and a lot of people are going to be around the Iowa City area. It might be tough to find a place to eat without a bit of a wait.
Click to expand...
 
Northwesterly said:
So I'm heading out to tomorrow for a Friday interview and had a couple of questions for anyone who's been already. I assume the admissions office has a place to store your bag if you bring it with you, right? And (weather permitting) is the trip from the Iowa House hotel to the admissions office pretty walkable? Thanks for any advice!

(And anyone know a good place to grab dinner late tomorrow night? What's Iowa famous for, food-wise? Please don't say corn.)
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There were a few students in my group who left their bags with the main office when you check in.
 
I just randomly checked my secondary and there is an Interview tab. I didn't get any email though. 😕

Anyway, interview scheduled, so happy! I hope this isn't some kind of soul-shattering bug...
 
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So has anyone come out of the interview feeling they've done poorly, but still miraculously got accepted?
 
Did anyone else get just the interview tab on their application, but no emailed invite or anything? I saw someone earlier in the thread mentioned it, but never said if they eventually did get an email.
 
Schizotypy said:
Did anyone else get just the interview tab on their application, but no emailed invite or anything? I saw someone earlier in the thread mentioned it, but never said if they eventually did get an email.
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Last year I got the interview tab a few days before I got the e-mail. I would go ahead and schedule a date but don't buy any plane tickets or anything until you call their office to confirm (or until you get the e-mail)
 
masterwolfie said:
Last year I got the interview tab a few days before I got the e-mail. I would go ahead and schedule a date but don't buy any plane tickets or anything until you call their office to confirm (or until you get the e-mail)
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Thanks. I scheduled a date and reserved a room at the hotel, but I'll be driving there anyway, so no plane tickets needed. 🙂
 
Schizotypy said:
Thanks. I scheduled a date and reserved a room at the hotel, but I'll be driving there anyway, so no plane tickets needed. 🙂
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Congrats on the invite btw! Yeah I just noticed your location - it must be nice, driving to interviews. I actually don't think I've been able to do that yet...
 
masterwolfie said:
Congrats on the invite btw! Yeah I just noticed your location - it must be nice, driving to interviews. I actually don't think I've been able to do that yet...
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Of all the schools I applied to, I've only gotten interviews thus far from the ones that are the farthest away. This is the first one that was remotely close... So I definitely hear you there! :laugh:
 
Treesop said:
So has anyone come out of the interview feeling they've done poorly, but still miraculously got accepted?
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Treesop. I walked out of the interview feeling terrible. I was accepted on Monday. As you know, we had been repeatedly told that the first half of the interview was going to be one-sided, and that the interviewers would be pretty stone-faced throughout that first portion. For me, aside from a few small smiles here and there, that part went as expected. (Although I must admit that one of my interviewers made a face of shock/horror when I discussed research regarding de novo in vitro synthesis of organs to help deal with the organ shortage (which really was an asinine facet of my answer, in hindsight))

In the second half of the interview, though, it was supposed to be conversational. Honestly, I don't think my interviewers said more than 50 words during the latter half. After conferring with other applicants, apparently theirs were far more conversational. Naturally (given my neurotic nature), I began worrying that I had COMPLETELY screwed up. I thought to myself "was I too talkative?", "too obnoxious?", "a know-it-all?", "condescending?". It all ran through my head; compounded by the fact that all the other applicants looked a little worried on my behalf that my interview didn't really transition to conversation like theirs had.

Anyway, as an admitted applicant, clearly my fears were unnecessary. I'm sure you were fine. I don't really think there's a hard-and-fast metric to assess whether or not the interview was a success.

GOOD LUCK! :luck:
 
Northwesterly said:
So I'm heading out to tomorrow for a Friday interview and had a couple of questions for anyone who's been already. I assume the admissions office has a place to store your bag if you bring it with you, right? And (weather permitting) is the trip from the Iowa House hotel to the admissions office pretty walkable? Thanks for any advice!

(And anyone know a good place to grab dinner late tomorrow night? What's Iowa famous for, food-wise? Please don't say corn.)
Click to expand...

Good luck Northwesterly. 🙂

I stayed at Iowa House, the walk was totally manageable. Keep in mind that the hotel itself only has (horrible) dorm food and an expensive convenience store, so you may need to go out for any kind of real food. Hot water is a recognized issue there - get your shower in early.

As others have mentioned, for most of the day you'll be sitting in a conference room getting presentations from a variety of facility. Having a bag there shouldn't be much of a problem - it may be a little inconvenient during the tour or interview. You get a small cloth packet to hold papers in, if you're looking to transport documents.
 
I'm flying in to Cedar Rapid on Nov 1 at 3:52pm, and then have another flight leaving on Nov 3 at 5:30am (yeah...no luck getting a flight out after 5pm on Nov 2...so I might as well enjoy another night in Iowa City!). If you wanna share a ride or are driving and would be so kind as to take a donation for gas money, please let me know.
 
ResIpsaLoquitur said:
I'm flying in to Cedar Rapid on Nov 1 at 3:52pm, and then have another flight leaving on Nov 3 at 5:30am (yeah...no luck getting a flight out after 5pm on Nov 2...so I might as well enjoy another night in Iowa City!). If you wanna share a ride or are driving and would be so kind as to take a donation for gas money, please let me know.
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Good god...I almost hesitate to offer, what with that 5:30am depart time. 🙂

But seriously, I'll be renting a car and driving from another airport because I found it was cheaper to do that (probably helps that I'm 25 so I don't pay the premium for renting a car), so if you want to chip in a little for gas money, I'd be glad to pick you up from the airport and drop you off again on the 3rd.

I'll pm you my email address. Send me an email and we can work out the details.
 
centrigeugle said:
Wow - that's probably going to annoy some people. ^^ What're your stats?
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My 3.5 31Q might annoy those people some more haha sorry.
I am URM though, I think Iowa really wants to increase diversity at their school.
 
climadoc2016 said:
Treesop. I walked out of the interview feeling terrible. I was accepted on Monday. As you know, we had been repeatedly told that the first half of the interview was going to be one-sided, and that the interviewers would be pretty stone-faced throughout that first portion. For me, aside from a few small smiles here and there, that part went as expected. (Although I must admit that one of my interviewers made a face of shock/horror when I discussed research regarding de novo in vitro synthesis of organs to help deal with the organ shortage (which really was an asinine facet of my answer, in hindsight))

In the second half of the interview, though, it was supposed to be conversational. Honestly, I don't think my interviewers said more than 50 words during the latter half. After conferring with other applicants, apparently theirs were far more conversational. Naturally (given my neurotic nature), I began worrying that I had COMPLETELY screwed up. I thought to myself "was I too talkative?", "too obnoxious?", "a know-it-all?", "condescending?". It all ran through my head; compounded by the fact that all the other applicants looked a little worried on my behalf that my interview didn't really transition to conversation like theirs had.

Anyway, as an admitted applicant, clearly my fears were unnecessary. I'm sure you were fine. I don't really think there's a hard-and-fast metric to assess whether or not the interview was a success.

GOOD LUCK! :luck:
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Congratulations on the admittance! 👍👍👍

Thanks for the feedback - will definitely keep it in mind for my upcoming visit! I'm really looking forward to it. :xf:
 
climadoc2016 said:
Treesop. I walked out of the interview feeling terrible. I was accepted on Monday. As you know, we had been repeatedly told that the first half of the interview was going to be one-sided, and that the interviewers would be pretty stone-faced throughout that first portion. For me, aside from a few small smiles here and there, that part went as expected. (Although I must admit that one of my interviewers made a face of shock/horror when I discussed research regarding de novo in vitro synthesis of organs to help deal with the organ shortage (which really was an asinine facet of my answer, in hindsight))

In the second half of the interview, though, it was supposed to be conversational. Honestly, I don't think my interviewers said more than 50 words during the latter half. After conferring with other applicants, apparently theirs were far more conversational. Naturally (given my neurotic nature), I began worrying that I had COMPLETELY screwed up. I thought to myself "was I too talkative?", "too obnoxious?", "a know-it-all?", "condescending?". It all ran through my head; compounded by the fact that all the other applicants looked a little worried on my behalf that my interview didn't really transition to conversation like theirs had.

Anyway, as an admitted applicant, clearly my fears were unnecessary. I'm sure you were fine. I don't really think there's a hard-and-fast metric to assess whether or not the interview was a success.

GOOD LUCK! :luck:
Click to expand...

Thanks climadoc. You story is definitely very inspiring. Congratulations on your acceptance to such an excellent school!!

For me, I messed up on the structured part, but the unstructured went smoothly (with all of us losing track of time and surprised by the repeated knocks at the door). However, I'm also OOS, so I'm afraid my chances for miraculous comebacks decreases a lot more than an in-state applicant (assuming you are one?). I think US News rated it as 1/4 acceptance percentage for OOS interviewed applicants. I guess at this point, I'm just hoping that interview feedback isn't weighted as much during adcom reviews...

Either way, this school is most definitely my top choice. Prestige or whatnot aside, I have completely fallen in love with Iowa City during the short period I was there!

:xf:
 
Does anyone have any advice re: the three hotels? I've put my name down for the host program, but just in case they don't have someone for me, I'd like a backup plan.

I usually would go with the one that's closest/cheapest, but they're all the same price. Plus, I have a Macbook Air 🙄 so i need wireless internet. Although I wish I had one of those ethernet adapter things.

Anyways, it looks like between the three, Iowa House Hotel is closest, then the Heartland Inn, then the Clarion. Heartland Inn is the only one that explicitly says they have free wireless internet. Anyone have experience with the other two?

Thanks!
 
idf27 said:
Does anyone have any advice re: the three hotels? I've put my name down for the host program, but just in case they don't have someone for me, I'd like a backup plan.

I usually would go with the one that's closest/cheapest, but they're all the same price. Plus, I have a Macbook Air 🙄 so i need wireless internet. Although I wish I had one of those ethernet adapter things.

Anyways, it looks like between the three, Iowa House Hotel is closest, then the Heartland Inn, then the Clarion. Heartland Inn is the only one that explicitly says they have free wireless internet. Anyone have experience with the other two?

Thanks!
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I'm an MSAP member here and I will assure you - we do have someone for you to stay with. I'm sorry no one has gotten back to you; I can pass along to the hosting organizer that someone hasn't signed up yet, and it should get taken care of. 🙂 If you have any concerns, feel free to PM me.

As far as the hotels go...the Clarion website says that they do have free high speed wireless access. The Iowa House Hotel website also says that they have high speed wireless internet. The IHH is in a nice area and is a cool older building; the Clarion is more functional and Heartland Inn is your standard roadside hotel, nothing too fancy.
 
nwilkes said:
I'm an MSAP member here and I will assure you - we do have someone for you to stay with. I'm sorry no one has gotten back to you; I can pass along to the hosting organizer that someone hasn't signed up yet, and it should get taken care of. 🙂 If you have any concerns, feel free to PM me.

As far as the hotels go...the Clarion website says that they do have free high speed wireless access. The Iowa House Hotel website also says that they have high speed wireless internet. The IHH is in a nice area and is a cool older building; the Clarion is more functional and Heartland Inn is your standard roadside hotel, nothing too fancy.
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Oh that's great! I'm just a cautious person so I wanted to get feelers for a backup, but it sounds like it won't be a problem. I may PM you as we get closer to the date. 🙂 Thank you!
 
Withdrew my app yesterday. Good luck guys in the rest of your app season 🙂
 
Hoping to hear something today!!!!!!!!!!!!! :luck:
 
Has anyone stayed with that medical fraternity? If so, would you recommend it?
 
I had a good experience with AKK. Everyone was nice and talkative although you probably won't see too many of them since they're studying. Your money gets you a single room with a dorm-style bathrooms, so it would be better to shower at night. The house is about a 10-15 minute walk to school and there are free shuttles that take you around the campus. All-in-all, a pretty good deal for 20 bucks a night. There are also free student hosts, but I have no experience with them.
 
Gaucho1 said:
My 3.5 31Q might annoy those people some more haha sorry.
I am URM though, I think Iowa really wants to increase diversity at their school.
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Haha, that definitely annoys me! No response yet: 4.0 32R been complete since July 12... 🙁

Oh well. Best of luck!!
 
Is there a status webpage or is it simply darkness until II/rejection?
 
Your secondary app page will develop an interview tab a few days before they email you the invite. But that's about it.
 
wololololololo said:
I had a good experience with AKK. Everyone was nice and talkative although you probably won't see too many of them since they're studying. Your money gets you a single room with a dorm-style bathrooms, so it would be better to shower at night. The house is about a 10-15 minute walk to school and there are free shuttles that take you around the campus. All-in-all, a pretty good deal for 20 bucks a night. There are also free student hosts, but I have no experience with them.
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I thought they are suppose to drive you to the interview? How was the bed? I would hate to be tossing and turning the night before my interview.

Also, anyone have experience with the student hosts?
 
Gaucho1 said:
My 3.5 31Q might annoy those people some more haha sorry.
I am URM though, I think Iowa really wants to increase diversity at their school.
Click to expand...


I had a pretty similar experience. I completed my secondary application yesterday after getting invited to send a primary since I registered with the minority registry. I received a secondary last week, completed it and submitted it yesterday and then while I was getting ready to leave to the airport to fly to Des Moines for my DMU interview, I got an email saying I was invited to interview. Luckily enough I found that this Friday had an opening! So, I extended my stay by delaying my flight 1 day and now I'll be interviewing this Friday at Iowa! So excited!!

OOS URM
 
Is the best way to get to Carver for the interview by flying into cedar rapids and then taking transportation down Iowa City? Anyone know if there is a shuttle service or anything to avoid renting a car?
 
Gaucho1 said:
I thought they are suppose to drive you to the interview? How was the bed? I would hate to be tossing and turning the night before my interview.

Also, anyone have experience with the student hosts?
Click to expand...

No host experience at Carver here, but the bed at the Iowa House Hotel was pretty great. (It was one of the recently renovated rooms, FWIW. There was even a snazzy clock radio with nature sounds and an iPod dock so I slept pretty darn well.) The shower on the other hand... 🙄
 
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