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2012-2013 Albany Medical College Application Thread
Started by gettheleadout
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MMIs are gearing up now - they're recruiting student interviewers from MS2-MS4s.
First interview dates are in mid-November. We normally interview 600 students, but this year we're aiming to interview 900-1100 students. If previous years are still applicable, we're accepting around 110 people through regular admissions.
Just FYI, since a lot of applicants are worried about the lack of info so far. Don't worry, we're coming for ya. 😉
First interview dates are in mid-November. We normally interview 600 students, but this year we're aiming to interview 900-1100 students. If previous years are still applicable, we're accepting around 110 people through regular admissions.
Just FYI, since a lot of applicants are worried about the lack of info so far. Don't worry, we're coming for ya. 😉
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For 110 spots they will probably accept 200 or more though right? Even 200/900 is rough odds.
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Interview invite thank God!!!
Congrats! When were you complete??
Interview invite by email! Not sure when I was complete. I submitted the secondary in early August.
Email II! Submitted secondary on 7/31.
Edit: Would a current student be willing to talk a bit about what a "day in the life" looks like? Ex. curriculum structure, time spent in class, PBL?, are exams written or computerized, are exams random or taken in "blocks," grading structure, etc. Thanks!
Edit: Would a current student be willing to talk a bit about what a "day in the life" looks like? Ex. curriculum structure, time spent in class, PBL?, are exams written or computerized, are exams random or taken in "blocks," grading structure, etc. Thanks!
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Does Albany offer student host program?
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is anyone else having problems uploading their photo? mine either refuses to upload, or when it does nothing happens when i hit the save photo button. solutions?
When were you complete?
I'm not sure I ever got a complete email. I submitted the secondary 7/30.
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Yeah, their whole portal system is messed up right now.
also got an interview today
We're a systems-based curriculum - mainly lecture based, but we have clinical case presentations with PBL style learning. Often times, these clinical cases are also punctuated with actual patients who we can ask questions to and hear about how they lived with their condition (e.g. one time we had to practice diagnosing a patient who had Addison's disease, and we could ask her anything we wanted as she sat in front of the auditorium).
M1 is mostly normal physiology, interspersed with computerized physiology lab sessions, histology, and anatomy. Anatomy is year round - we start off with Musculoskeletal, and then we dissect each part of the cadaver based on the organ system we're in (e.g. cardiac, renal, respiratory, etc.) - I really like this part, since it keeps the information fresh and the clinical correlations relevant.
M2 is pathophysiology, and I'm digging M2. We have more regular PBL style clinical cases (sometimes at the end of every week, depending on theme). We also have relatively less lecture time, but more directed self-study (think: independent learning) - this flows with my style more, since I'm not a lecture kind of person.
Exams are computerized, with paper depending if you have histology/anatomy lab. Typically one to two exams every 4-6 weeks in M1 per systems theme, shortens to typically one exam every 2-4 weeks in M2 due to the increased amount of material we have to cover. M1 has mostly in-house tests, with some NBME-based exams near the end of M1. M2 has a lot more NBME-style examinations - we try to have at least half to all of our exam questions come from retired NBME questions, so it's good prep for USMLE.
Grading is a modified pass/fail - Excellence with Honors is the top 1-2%, Excellent for the next 5%, then G (Pass) for the majority. Marginal/Unsatisfactory if you go bottom 5%. Goes EH/H/G/M/U. For me, it's basically a pass/fail system, with an extra cherry on top (if you're so inclined to work hard enough) if I happen to score high enough to get an E. Because of that, there's no pressure for me of failing - I still press myself to do as best as I can, but I'm usually certain that I'll pass.
Yep, though days offered vary depending on our exam schedule. The Hilton Garden Inn at Albany Medical Center is the most convenient option if you'd like a hotel.
I'll probably be manning one of the MMI stations then, so I'll see you there!
Does anyone know where we would go to sign up for the hosting program? If not, is any current student willing to host someone on Sunday, Nov 18? I looked into the Hilton Garden Inn and it's super expensive.
Also, what would be the best way to get back and forth between the airport and the medical school? I booked a flight out of Albany that leaves at 6pm and the interview gets over at 4:30pm, so I'll be cutting it close. My friend did it last year so I figured I'd save money and hope I can do the same!
Thanks!
Also, what would be the best way to get back and forth between the airport and the medical school? I booked a flight out of Albany that leaves at 6pm and the interview gets over at 4:30pm, so I'll be cutting it close. My friend did it last year so I figured I'd save money and hope I can do the same!
Thanks!
We have the same interview date 😉
+1, I'm also trying to figure out transportation!
The best way to get back and forth from the airport is by taxi. It's probably a 30 minute ride and costs around $20. There is a way to take the bus, but it'd take at least an hour, if not closer to 2 depending on the timing of your flight and the buses, etc. www.cdta.org if you want to check it out (Try the 737 and then maybe walk from Central/Lark)
I would check with Admissions about what the interview day schedule is like. Albany is a small airport, so you don't really need to get there all that early to make it through security regularly (an hour is still good to be safe)... but that is the week of Thanksgiving, so things could be busy.
Also, a lot has changed in the interview day schedule from last year to this year. Previously there was some flexibility in your interviews - if you needed to get going, they could have you only do 1 interview instead of 2 and thus get out earlier. But this time around you will probably have to go through all of the MMI interview stations, so I don't know that there would be time to leave early. But again, the process is completely new this year, and I hear there might be some presentations from the Deans and Financial Aid added in to the day, too, so it'd be best to ask Admissions for more information.
As for the student host program, last I checked they don't have anything set up. I'm sure the intention is to offer it eventually, but Admissions is trying to get everything in place for the MMI process, such as getting interviewers trained and getting the computer program they use for evaluations all set, etc. I would definitely book a hotel room for now and then maybe you'll be lucky and can cancel it later, but no guarantees.
Having helped organize the student hosting program last year, I will say it got pretty difficult to find enough students to host when we were covering just one night each week (Wednesdays). They are almost doubling the number of students they are planning to interview, but our class size isn't any bigger, so it may be difficult to host a lot of students. Also the MMI dates are all over the place, so it's tough to have everyone on call for hosting at all times - there are some weeks where they are planning to do 4 interview dates within a week.
It used to be just first years hosting, but I would speculate that to accommodate so many interviewees, 2nd years would need to host, too, and our exam schedule is much busier so that may not necessarily be that much of a help!
Besides the Hilton Garden Inn, there's also a bed and breakfast nearby (walking distance):
http://www.theinnonsouthlake.com/
Most of the other hotels are farther out, closer to downtown or up by SUNY Albany, so you'd want to investigate whether they have shuttles that might be able to get you to the medical center. Did admissions not post a list on the portal where you signed up for your interview date? I thought there was a list a couple of years ago, but I ended up staying with a student, so I'm not sure. If not, you may just want to give them a call and ask for recommendations.
One nice thing is that with the systems based curriculum, once you have an exam, you'll be learning a whole new set of material come the next system (Theme). And they've tried hard to get all our exams scheduled on Fridays and have our themes start on Mondays. For example, both the first and second years just had exams yesterday and so now we have a whole *real* free weekend, which is glorious!
I'd say on a regular day classes start around 9am and then run to maybe noon or until 2 or 3. There are always stray days that start at 8am or run until 5pm, but those are usually the exception. At least 1 day a week you will have a whole afternoon off, but it varies.
Also, most of the classes are recorded - the audio is recorded as an mp3, and there is a recording of the lecturer's computer screen that is synced with audio as well that should be available. So you can watch from home, or skip class and study the material at some other time at your leisure.
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II this morning! Complete August. Having issues uploading a pic though 🙁 Did anyone find out how to do it?
Edit: Nevermind! For future reference Apple Safari + Apple Chrome + Windows IE + Windows Chrome doesn't work, but Windows Firefox will! Interview scheduled for 11/19!
Edit: Nevermind! For future reference Apple Safari + Apple Chrome + Windows IE + Windows Chrome doesn't work, but Windows Firefox will! Interview scheduled for 11/19!
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D
deleted470713
called and left a message...still no response. but at least I'm not the only one!! lol
I didn't have problems uploading the pic but I usually use Firefox. Maybe that's the key 🙂
Their FAQ says they only support Firefox and Internet explorer. Idk why ie didn't work for me though, thank god for Firefox!
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Kind of a dumb question...but with the MMI do you still prepare for a normal interview scenario as well ie tell me about yourself etc? Also do you just ask the tour guides whatever questions you have then? I've read up on MMIs enough to know that they emphasize a few different scenarios and that the people at the stations can't really veer off topic so I think I know the answer to my question, but it's my first MMI so I just wanted to make sure. Thanks!
Not a dumb question! I've done 2 MMI's and one of them had normal interview scenarios and the other didn't. The school that had been doing MMI longer did not have normal interview scenarios, but the other school (first year of MMI) did have 3 normal interview scenario questions (not Albany). I think that the tour is the best opportunity to ask any questions that you have about the school, but during my MMI with the normal interview scenarios, at the end of one of the scenarios they asked me if I had any questions.
My observation is that each school uses the MMI differently, so it's hard to compare one school to another school. That said, I haven't interviewed at AMC, but best of luck!
Some links I used when I interviewed at other MMI schools:
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showpost.php?p=10346357&postcount=21
http://www.mcgill.ca/files/caps/MMI_FAQ.pdf
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1046/j.1365-2923.2004.01776.x/pdf
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2923.2007.02767.x/pdf
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2923.2009.03407.x/pdf
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showpost.php?p=10346357&postcount=21
http://www.mcgill.ca/files/caps/MMI_FAQ.pdf
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1046/j.1365-2923.2004.01776.x/pdf
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2923.2007.02767.x/pdf
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2923.2009.03407.x/pdf
When you guys went to chose your interview day, did you only have 2 dates listed? Is it really "make one of these 2 dates or withdraw" as the screen would seem to imply?
I had three dates. November 19, 20, or 26.
PS thank you to the posters above for the MMI information!
Can anyone comment about life in albany? I know it's obviously not as busy as nyc or boston, but is it still a sizable city with a fair amount going on other than the medical school?
Finally saw that I was complete by logging into my account. I suppose I won't be hearing back from Albany for another month and a half now? Lol
Yeah, I find there is enough going on if you go look for it. Depends what you're looking for or interested in. I tend to think of myself as a rather boring old person - I like to sit at home and amuse myself with a good book or my knitting or the internet so I don't know if the activities I'll list will include what you're looking for, but they're probably out there and I just haven't found them... I also tend to keep myself really busy with school events and clubs, so I don't usually seek a whole lot of other stuff because my schedule is already packed as it is! I always say I feel like it's a nice balance here in Albany, because if I were in a bigger city, I'd probably get too distracted with cool events and start failing more of my classes😉
There are a couple of other schools in the area, so there are sometimes things going on through them if you keep your eyes open. In January a few of my classmates are going to catch Atul Gawande giving a talk at the Egg, which is a performing arts space downtown (5 min away from campus), courtesy of SUNY Albany. Some of us have been going to a monthly movie series at another performing arts center also close to campus (The Linda, also 5 min away), and there have been some interesting talks at the law school across the street lately.
I like going to the Farmer's Market in neighboring Troy when the weather is nice (though they also hold an indoor market in the winter), and I like going to concerts at the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall over there too. I tend to catch classical concerts, but they also have a lot of other types of groups in there as well. There's the Palace theater downtown that has various shows, and the College of Saint Rose often has fun performances, speakers and such.
A good blog to read for cool stuff in Albany is alloveralbany.com
The alternative newspaper is Metroland (the conventional one is the Times Union)
There are a bunch of bars, mostly concentrated around Lark Street and Pearl Street that people like to go to. In the fall, they hold a street festival on Lark (LarkFest) where they have bands, wine tasting, art, etc. There's 1stFridayAlbany if you're into the art gallery hopping. In the spring, they hold the yearly Tulip Festival in Washington Park which is a couple blocks from campus. They have lots of tulips, obviously, but also bands, art fair type booths, food tastings, etc. In the winter they had some sort of winter light sculpture display drive through thing in the park, too. And in the summer they do some plays in Washington Park.
I hear there's a good golf course in the area if you're into sports. The college has various intramural teams, though I know some friends who play on local softball leagues, soccer clubs, etc. There's a lot of good hiking and stuff around, like at Thatcher State Park nearby (20 min) and farther out, maybe up by Lake George? I'm not into that, but my roommate is always off rock climbing, camping, hiking, etc. One of the school clubs organizes a yearly ski trip to somewhere nearby, like in VT or thereabouts.
Up north is also Saratoga - I guess they have a cool ampitheater or something where a lot of concerts pass through. There's a racetrack up there and a lot of nice restaurants and such.
And yeah, it's not Boston or New York, but those are each only about 3 hours away and so they're easy to get away to for the weekend, and there have been plenty of opportunites so far in 1st and 2nd year to take off for a weekend, especially between Themes.
I called up they said that it was either those 2 dates or 2 others that aren't ideal. They said that the last date they have open at the moment is Dec 17th, so I'm going to call next week to see if they have something a little later.
Submitted 10/12, the woman who answered the phones there just told me it would probably be another few weeks until I hear back on an interview or not
Is there a reason they are interviewing almost twice as many applicants? Also, are there special admissions programs that reduce the number of regular acceptances?
This. It seems silly to make people come across the country in many cases to have a 1/10 shot after interview for an acceptance...
II today. Complete 8/05.
I will be withdrawing my application. Good luck to everyone!
I will be withdrawing my application. Good luck to everyone!
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New MMI format! And yes there are quite a few special admissions programs.
Can anyone comment on how to "prepare" for the MMI (perchance someone that has already interviewed). Not asking for the exact questions or scenarios, just what you think would be the best way to prepare (saw the links above, but they are VERY vague)
I think vague is the point. You can read up on ethics and prepare for scenarios, but ultimately you have to realize you're probably going to get some obscure scenario you weren't expecting. The idea is to be able to calmly gather your thoughts and clearly present them.
Not trying to nitpick but that doesnt really explain why they are interviewing so many more applicants. Is it because MMI is more efficient? Thanks
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