2012-2013 University of Iowa (Carver) Application Thread

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syoung said:
plans always get shucked out the door when the real situation occurs.

that sounds like you did well. next time, you could just copy into notepad, or another text editor and that way you can see what needs to be corrected.

good luck!
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Haha yeah, I realized that afterwards. I was in such a rush to get Iowa out that I didn't even think about that. Definitely utilized Notepad quite a bit on later secondaries.

And thanks🙂
 
I guess there weren't any acceptances today. Next Tuesday may bring some happy news to this thread!
 
Interview on 10/31 ANYONE!?!?!?!?! Sign up to stay with medical student for 1 night, W U NO CONTACT ME!!!!!!
 
resbenchwarmer said:
Thought I'd start posting and stop lurking. Need a place to let things out too lol.

Applied last year. Talked with the admissions director on the phone, and she said that I didn't have enough clinical experience. uGPA was 2.92, sGPA was 2.69, MCAT was 33P, grad GPA in bio was 3.86. For some reason she said that my undergrad was what it was, but my grad GPA was outstanding, which meant that my only red flag was not having enough experience in medicine. And maybe taking another chemistry class. She was incredibly nice too, and gave me her e-mail address if I had any questions or if I needed someone to talk with. That feedback session gave me hope for Iowa (false or not, I don't know), and how pleasant she was sold me even more.

I shadow various doctors, I go back to my local hospital and restart my volunteering, I go on a medical mission to Peru, and I retake Gen Chem II at my undergrad institution to prove that I actually knew my stuff, while working 2 part-time jobs and taking other classes. I submitted my AMCAS the first week and received secondaries a month later, but because the admissions director said that it would be a good idea to write about the mission in the secondary, I wait until I get back mid-July. And then Chem takes up my entire time (awful excuse, I know), so I finally get the secondary out early September after that summer session of Chem is over. Of course, I triple-check my secondary in Word and have others double-check it for me, only to post it into Iowa's secondary site and submit before realizing that quite a few apostrophes are missing because they couldn't be transferred over from Word ><

So yeah, I'm nervously checking my e-mail every day (though I remember I got my rejection through snail mail last year). I dunno, fingers crossed lol. Congrats to those who have got in, and good luck to those who have II's or are still waiting 🙂

tl;dr Applied last year, got rejected, got feedback from adcom, did everything she said, only to submit secondary late (especially compared to SDN standards) and without apostrophes. Now nervous as heck because my perfect plan didn't work out.
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I will try emailing the dean showing your improvement and stuff, that's kind of how I got my interview but I talked with her instead of emailing her.
 
ArsenalForever said:
I will try emailing the dean showing your improvement and stuff, that's kind of how I got my interview but I talked with her instead of emailing her.
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So e-mailing or calling the dean? Because I've been e-mailing with the admissions director, and I don't want to seem pushy.
 
Alright Iowa, stop playing hard to get and send me an interview invitation 🙂
 
resbenchwarmer said:
1:2 for OOS? That gives me hope, but that number seems a little too good to be true...
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That's what they said during the interview day. She said getting the interview is the biggest cut. After you interview, both IS and OOS have a roughly 1:2, but I think that means 1 acceptance for every 2 rejections = 33% chance
 
Anyone know the cheapest way to get to Cedar Rapids? Interview is 11/12 and I need ideas....thanks


Sent using SDN app, please excuse typos and brevity.
 
I'm coming from GA by the way


Sent using SDN app, please excuse typos and brevity.
 
There's a good chance I'll be in the Iowa-area Thanksgiving weekend. Does anyone know if they'll be interviewing that following Monday, Nov. 26? If so, I may shoot an in-the-area e-mail.
 
Dick Jones said:
I'm coming from GA by the way


Sent using SDN app, please excuse typos and brevity.
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Yeah, I checked all options before going from PA...trains, cars, flights...it wasn't cheap no matter what I was looking at. I flew into Moline, IL and rented a car to get to Iowa City. I'm sure you could do the same thing with Cedar Rapids.
 
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I interviewed here today, and I loved it! The interview was definitely way more relaxed than I was expecting, which was nice, and CBL was fun, too! Definitely my top choice as an in-state applicant! I was one of the two girls who interviewed, so I was a little out-numbered, but I definitely wasn't complaining. 🙂

Now the hard part... waiting... :xf:

PS. If anyone else who interviewed today is on here feel free to message me! I don't think it is too challenging to figure out who I am. haha
 
CyDoc said:
I interviewed here today, and I loved it! The interview was definitely way more relaxed than I was expecting, which was nice, and CBL was fun, too! Definitely my top choice as an in-state applicant! I was one of the two girls who interviewed, so I was a little out-numbered, but I definitely wasn't complaining. 🙂

Now the hard part... waiting... :xf:

PS. If anyone else who interviewed today is on here feel free to message me! I don't think it is too challenging to figure out who I am. haha
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That's funny, b/c on my day I think only 4 out of 16 of us were guys. Hopefully you'll be a Hawkeye next year! 😛
 
CyDoc said:
I interviewed here today, and I loved it! The interview was definitely way more relaxed than I was expecting, which was nice, and CBL was fun, too! Definitely my top choice as an in-state applicant! I was one of the two girls who interviewed, so I was a little out-numbered, but I definitely wasn't complaining. 🙂

Now the hard part... waiting... :xf:

PS. If anyone else who interviewed today is on here feel free to message me! I don't think it is too challenging to figure out who I am. haha
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Yup I was one of the 13 guys at the interview. It was funny whenever a speaker would be done, and you'd hear a booming "thank you" from bunch of really loud, low guy voices.

And they did say 1 in 2 odds for us OOSers but she also said they interview about 400 OOS for ~40 spots. Even accepting more than matriculated that seems like a large difference..


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markyb03 said:
Yup I was one of the 13 guys at the interview. It was funny whenever a speaker would be done, and you'd hear a booming "thank you" from bunch of really loud, low guy voices.

And they did say 1 in 2 odds for us OOSers but she also said they interview about 400 OOS for ~40 spots. Even accepting more than matriculated that seems like a large difference..


Sent from my iPad using SDN Mobile app
Click to expand...

Yeah, they said they have to accept about 160 OOSers to fill 40 spots because they end up going to other schools. She also said one year they went through the entire OOS wait list and STILL couldn't fill the 40 seats. I think that is just a good sign for everyone who interviews in that they interview good applicants that are likely to have a choice of schools to go to.
 
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TipToad said:
Perhaps a student could clear this up for me.

1: Does Iowa rank its students? I tried Googling this, but all I get are results for usnews.
2: I'm having a difficult time understanding the difference between H/NH/P/F and A/B/C/D. How are they any different from one another?
3: Dress code?
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Haven't seen anyone answer this so thought I would quick.

1. No iowa does not rank students. The deans letter that Iowa sends to residency program will show your approximate position for each class relative to everyone else but no numbers are given.
2. Think of Honors, near honors as A, A- and Pass as B,C. However the mindset here for the majority of my classmates is P=MD, especially after you start taking tests. The important part is getting through the first two years. Boards and clinical grades is whats going to ultimately matter.
3. No dress code, however you'll need to dress up for when we have guest patients, going to the hospital, or simulated patient stuff.

Congrats to all those who were accepted, and try to enjoy this year!!
 
MuAgonist said:
Yeah, they said they have to accept about 160 OOSers to fill 40 spots because they end up going to other schools. She also said one year they went through the entire OOS wait list and STILL couldn't fill the 40 seats. I think that is just a good sign for everyone who interviews in that they interview good applicants that are likely to have a choice of schools to go to.
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I'll take those 1:2 odds, and raise you with a Yes I will attend, thank you very much. Psh, I think Iowa's a damn nice school and I'd be happy for that as an OOS.
 
Interview invite just now, I'm looking at plane tickets and they look insanely expensive. Is there a preferred airport to fly into? I'm good with renting a car and driving a few hours to save some money.
 
annonymous819 said:
Interview invite just now, I'm looking at plane tickets and they look insanely expensive. Is there a preferred airport to fly into? I'm good with renting a car and driving a few hours to save some money.
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What airports are you looking at now? Did you look at Des Moines?? That's a less than 2 hour drive to Iowa City. Chicago is about a 3.5 hour drive to Iowa City - if that was OK with you, you could look Ito O'Hare or midway. Minneapolis is even farther
 
annonymous819 said:
Interview invite just now, I'm looking at plane tickets and they look insanely expensive. Is there a preferred airport to fly into? I'm good with renting a car and driving a few hours to save some money.
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Nice! When were you complete?
 
einstein1990 said:
What airports are you looking at now? Did you look at Des Moines?? That's a less than 2 hour drive to Iowa City. Chicago is about a 3.5 hour drive to Iowa City - if that was OK with you, you could look Ito O'Hare or midway. Minneapolis is even farther
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Right now I'm leaning towards flying into O'hare a few days early and hanging out with friends for a few days. It's a haul to drive there, but probably worth it. Plane tickets are like $400-600 vs. 115 into O'hare.

I don't remember exactly when I was complete, but it was one of the first days after the secondary was sent in late July.
 
Anyone recall the days of the week Iowa notifies for acceptances? Interviewed 10/3, starting to get a little antsy!
 
colonel23 said:
Anyone recall the days of the week Iowa notifies for acceptances? Interviewed 10/3, starting to get a little antsy!
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They notify on Tuesdays. It's usually not every Tuesday. Nothing happened last week so I suspect someone might hear something this Tuesday! 😀 When I interviewed, they also said there won't a meeting in the beginning of November due to a conference, and obviously during the holidays.
 
Can any out of staters share their opinion on carver. If you interviewed how did the city/facilities come off? Is there more than amazing research opportunities that is driving you towards Iowa rather than your own state school?
 
Blaughable said:
Can any out of staters share their opinion on carver. If you interviewed how did the city/facilities come off? Is there more than amazing research opportunities that is driving you towards Iowa rather than your own state school?
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I'm OOS but spent this past summer there doing research and interviewed a few weeks ago. The facilities in MERF are amazing and not more than a few years old. There's also a new research building under construction next to MERF which looks like it's going to be just as great. In my other interviews I really haven't seen anywhere nicer. However, sum of the other, adjacent research buildings (BSB, EMRB) research buildings are not a little older, and not as aesthetically appealing. But nonetheless the lab equipment, etc. (not to mention the faculty) is still great.

Also, Iowa City is a fun town to live in. If you're heading there for an interview you should make sure to check out the ped mall downtown.

Hope that helps a little bit!
 
nandresen said:
I'm OOS but spent this past summer there doing research and interviewed a few weeks ago. The facilities in MERF are amazing and not more than a few years old. There's also a new research building under construction next to MERF which looks like it's going to be just as great. In my other interviews I really haven't seen anywhere nicer. However, sum of the other, adjacent research buildings (BSB, EMRB) research buildings are not a little older, and not as aesthetically appealing. But nonetheless the lab equipment, etc. (not to mention the faculty) is still great.

Also, Iowa City is a fun town to live in. If you're heading there for an interview you should make sure to check out the ped mall downtown.

Hope that helps a little bit!
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That ped mall area had so many FroYo places. I couldn't even deal.
 
Hi Y'all,

I had the interview 10/22. Before heading to the Iowa, I utilized the student housing request. It is run by the medical student ambassador program. I stayed with a pretty chilled medical student.

I woke up to a rainy Monday, but I would not let the rain dampen my excitement. The med student showed me the free shuttle and I rode away to the interview.

10:30. A group of 15 student assembled in a conference room. We were given name tags along with our undergraduate university (which was good for me coming from Hopkins). There were some amazing applicants in the conference room. A lot of them had strong teaching experience, though not so much with scientific research. The applicants were mostly Caucasian, male and coming from schools around the Midwest.

At the conference room, they also had the names of the doctors that were going to interview you. I thought that was nice since I could look them up before the interview with them.

10:45 We had a series of speakers come in to talk about different aspects of the medical school (from the curriculum, to admissions, to financial aid, to selling points for OOS students). It was a bit sad that the admissions director could not make it in.

12:30 Lunch followed by a tour of the hospital by the med student (again, I think this was to attract OOS students). University of Iowa has some really interesting buildings - one building was modeled to look like a hypodermic needle, and another was modeled to look like a dental molar.

1:30 Half the group was split for interviews, and the other half was split for CBL. I was surprised that the group for the CBL was so large. It was hard to let one's personality show in such a large group. However, the med student moderator looked like he was not grading us that harshly.

Still, the CBL did not seem like it was that important for the admissions process. It seemed the CBL was to give the applicants an insight of the type of learning emphasized at Carver. Of course, if you did not come across like a team player in the CBL, that would probably hurt.

2:30 Interview time. Most of the day went by fast. However, the half hour leading up to your interview seem like it went on forever. I tried to make small talk with the other people waiting for the interview, but the tension was a bit overwhelming.

The actual interview went alright. The interviewers were nice but it was still a nerve wracking experience. Strangely, the 25 minutes for the interview went by really fast even though I was nervous. I think it would have been better if the interview time was a little longer.

3:30 Concluding talk and then I drove off into the sunset.

Overall the experience was really relaxed. It seemed that Iowa was trying really hard to attract OOS students. The entire process was around 6 hours, with a most of it trying to get students excited about Iowa. Granted, I was already stoked for Iowa. But I guess Iowa had a difficult time getting other OOS excited about Carver.

Good Luck to everyone else applying!
 
Pretty accurate description up top. Just had to say a couple things...nobody cares about your name tag. I also didn't get the impression that Iowa was trying really hard to attract OOS. A tour/"go x school!" theme is standard at pretty much every place. Carver is a great school and they know that.
 
To those who interviewed recently, did they give you an approximate date for the decision on the new curriculum? Just curious.
 
From what I was told at the interview, they are making gradual changes to their curriculum. Supposedly for the upcoming Med students, there is going be minor changes. I think the main thing was changing the amount of weeks and required rotations for 3rd and 4th year. Curriculum wise, it is mostly the same.

However, I heard that later Class of Med students will only have 3 semesters of classwork. =)
 
The big change to the curriculum (the one discussed on an earlier page) isn't going to happen until 2014. So, our (hopefully) M2 year.
 
TipToad said:
The big change to the curriculum (the one discussed on an earlier page) isn't going to happen until 2014. So, our (hopefully) M2 year.
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Yeah you're right at it is not going to happen until 2014, but I heard that it is not going to affect us (if we're all lucky enough to get in) because they're not going to change things in the middle of our preclinical education
 
Wow--thanks for the responses about the curriculum. The expedited preclinical years sounded great, but who wants to be in the guinea pig class, right?
 
ErrantWhatever said:
Wow--thanks for the responses about the curriculum. The expedited preclinical years sounded great, but who wants to be in the guinea pig class, right?
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I'll gladly be in the guinea pig class! C'mon Iowa, just say the word!
 
Have any more acceptances been sent out since the original (20ish) that went out the first day?
 
Does anyone know a good/inexpensive way to get to the Iowa House Hotel from the Cedar Rapids airport? Thanks!
 
12345679 said:
Does anyone know a good/inexpensive way to get to the Iowa House Hotel from the Cedar Rapids airport? Thanks!
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I took the shuttle from Cedar Rapids airport to my student host's house in Iowa City for... $38(give or take 5 bucks, I forget). It was convenient and for $70.00 they picked me up from my student host's house and brought me back to the airport.
 
Did you book the shuttle beforehand or when you got there? Thanks again!
 
12345679 said:
Did you book the shuttle beforehand or when you got there? Thanks again!
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I booked it when I got to the airport. There should be a 'airport shuttle service' or something like that by the luggage pickup. I think its next to Hertz.

I came in at like 10pm though so I didn't have to wait at all, but it'd probably be best to make reservations in case you come at a busy time and all of their vans are out. I'd give you more specifics about the name of the shuttle service and stuffs but my memory sucks (don't tell adcoms! =]).

Oh and... good luck! Someone posted an overview of the day a couple posts back and its pretty accurate and helpful. My day was a bit different though because I had interviews right after the presentations, but besides that it was all the same
 
Great, thanks for the info!

And thank you! This will be my first med school interview ever so I really have no idea what to expect but from what I read, it sounds like Carver hosts a pretty good interview day!

Good luck to you too!
 
II today! Complete email received 9/7. It may be worth pointing out that I added additional information to my secondary two days ago. Perhaps receiving the II right after is just a coincidence?
 
sodarayg said:
I took the shuttle from Cedar Rapids airport to my student host's house in Iowa City for... $38(give or take 5 bucks, I forget). It was convenient and for $70.00 they picked me up from my student host's house and brought me back to the airport.
Click to expand...

you can also find pretty cheap rental car deals for around the same price, maybe slightly more if you look at the Hertz website for that airport


Sent from my iPhone using SDN Mobile
 
Does it seem like Iowa sends out II in chronological order? Latest SDN II was complete 9/7, and I was complete at 9/10 so I'm hoping for good news.
 
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