2012-2013 University of Southern California (Keck) Application Thread

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I don't know why I am having such a hard time coming up with something the medical school application requirement should add/delete. Anyone care to throw out some ideas for inspiration?
Basically without giving you any stone cold ideas... think about what you hated or thought was completely pointless when applying (obviously with some merit behind it) or think about something that would help the med schools get to know you better and write about that.

atleast, thats what I did
 
Do we just upload 3-5 letters of rec through AMCAS to USC and USC will know? I don't see any places that indicate that there will be letters to be received. Thanks!
 
my "3-5" sentences are turning into 100+ word mini-essays. Oh well three to five sentences is three to five sentences I guess.
 
Could a "most prized possession" be a person? I have a pretty good '3-5' sentence idea about a family member, but something about referring to humans as "possessions" seems wrong. Any input would be good.... muchas gracias.
 
Could a "most prized possession" be a person? I have a pretty good '3-5' sentence idea about a family member, but something about referring to humans as "possessions" seems wrong. Any input would be good.... muchas gracias.
I am having the same issue. It seems that because they did not say material possession it would be okay to talk about a person. However, I think they want to know about you and your hobbies. In this thread someone said they wrote about their guitar. I feel like something along those lines would be a good answer.
 
Wow that was a fast rejection. 3 day turn around from my secondary. Am I that undesirable😕👎
 
Wow that was a fast rejection. 3 day turn around from my secondary. Am I that undesirable😕👎
Sorry to hear about that! Don't take it personally - I'm sure you're aware the application process can be pretty random. Good luck with the rest of the cycle!
 
Rejection here too, but I appreciate the fast response.
 
🙁 sorry to hear about that. when were you complete?
 
Just wanted to stop by and say good luck to all the applicants!! I'm an incoming MS1, so if you have any questions feel free to PM me. 🙂

Could a "most prized possession" be a person? I have a pretty good '3-5' sentence idea about a family member, but something about referring to humans as "possessions" seems wrong. Any input would be good.... muchas gracias.


I wrote about a picture of me and someone else I have, and consequently talked about how that person has influenced who I am. Or if they gave u something special, you could talk about that too.

FIGHT ON!
 
mcat: 33...11/12/10 gpa: 3.79

Jeez, isn't their accepted average like a 32/3.6? By any chance, did you not meet all their course requirements? I know their course reqs are pretty stringent, and not meeting one of them would be the only reason I can think of to warrant a quick rejection in your case.
 
Jeez, isn't their accepted average like a 32/3.6? By any chance, did you not meet all their course requirements? I know their course reqs are pretty stringent, and not meeting one of them would be the only reason I can think of to warrant a quick rejection in your case.

Am I missing something here? Why does this school have a reputation of having strict course requirements? Looking at their website it doesn't look abnormal to me:

http://keck.usc.edu/en/About/Administrative_Offices/Office_of_MD_Admissions/Course_Requirements.aspx
 
Am I missing something here? Why does this school have a reputation of having strict course requirements? Looking at their website it doesn't look abnormal to me:

http://keck.usc.edu/en/About/Administrative_Offices/Office_of_MD_Admissions/Course_Requirements.aspx

Most other schools don't require Molecular Biology (they only recommend it, along with some other classes like biochem, genetics, etc...) so people who are not biology or biochem majors may not have taken it. Also, they require 30 hrs of humanities/social sciences, which on a 3 credit hr system most schools use would be 10 semesters worth of classes, and that's probably a lot more than most science majors will take.
 
Oh okay, thanks for clarifying. I lucked out my major required molecular biology. Good luck everyone! I am hoping to submit my application tomorrow.
 
Just wanted to stop by and say good luck to all the applicants!! I'm an incoming MS1, so if you have any questions feel free to PM me. 🙂




I wrote about a picture of me and someone else I have, and consequently talked about how that person has influenced who I am. Or if they gave u something special, you could talk about that too.

FIGHT ON!

Beautiful... thank you. I just got a great idea.

FIGHT ON
 
I haven't got a rejection yet (fingers crosses) and I'm 3.6/29 but I have significant experiences with undeserved and Hispanic populations (volunteer and paid) and I heard USC likes these kind of activities (the Hispanic population aspect). Maybe that's what is keeping me alive. Or I'll get rejected tomorrow...

Also for what's it worth I got an A- in Molec so I fulfill that req.
 
You definitely didn't get rejected for stats. How did you answer the secondary questions? I'm also betting you aren't URM. How are your ECs as well?

Yea, not URM, not Californian (if that matters), medium ec's. My answers were too mundane I suppose. and I have the prereq's
 
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USCcame to a career fair at my school and what they said was they don't care that much about gpa and mcat compared to most schools and they use the secondary to get a sense of personality.
 
I am not too sure about the 3hour free time essay.
Knowing that it has 300 words limit, it seems to require a pretty detailed 3 hour activity, but I cannot think of anything inspring. I feel like the topic is more of one of the shorty essay question type...

Well I will just write what I would like to do for free time and hopefully that's enough..
 
I've been planning all along to take Molecular Bio in Spring 2013 and I put that down in AMCAS as "intended coursework" . . . do you think that will satisfy them for now? I have everything else covered.
 
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I've been planning all along to take Molecular Bio in Spring 2013 and I put that down in AMCAS as "intended coursework" . . . do you think that will satisfy them for now? I have everything else covered.

You should be fine. On their website, they say you only need to have them done by the time you matriculate (as opposed to some other schools where you have to have all the reqs done by the fall 2012).
 
You should be fine. On their website, they say you only need to have them done by the time you matriculate (as opposed to some other schools where you have to have all the reqs done by the fall 2012).

Thank you. Submitting today.
 
Interview Invite! In state 3.7+/35+. Complete 7/16!
 
II just now! 3.9+/40 in-state. Submitted 7/10

Also, they must have been very lenient with the 30 hour humanities requirement, because by my estimation I did not have that many...
 
Interview invite! Question- is there any strategy to when we choose our interviews? Does it help to be the first or last in a batch of September interviews?
 
Interview invite! Question- is there any strategy to when we choose our interviews? Does it help to be the first or last in a batch of September interviews?

I'm not entirely sure how USC does it...if it's like other schools then they may look at entire batches at once, so it probably won't matter. I signed up for session 2 on the 21st.
 
Interview Invite! My first and one that I did not expect at all because my grades are a bit sub-par: 3.44 sGPA/cGPA, 36S MCAT. In-state applicant. No I'm not a URM (I'm asian), nor am I from a disadvantaged background in any way. Guess they really liked my secondary responses 🙂

Also, because there was some debate/discussion about what you should write about in the USC II: my answers had absolutely nothing to do with health professions. I wrote about being a writer for my "alternative profession" question, and I wrote about hanging out at the beach with my GF for the "free afternoon" question. The only one that was tangentially related was the one where they asked what I'd change about the process. Hopefully that's helpful to anybody who's still writing their II!

Submitted II on 7/11
 
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Interview invite! Question- is there any strategy to when we choose our interviews? Does it help to be the first or last in a batch of September interviews?
I'm under the impression that earlier is better. However, I signed up for the last day available in September because I'm crossing my fingers that I can combine it with another trip, but we'll see how that goes 🙂.

Good luck!
 
Congrats everyone who got invites!!! Are you getting email notifications?

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using SDN Mobile
 
Amcas verified 6/7
Secondary Submitted 7/31
Interview Invite 8/10

OOS 31Q 3.33 GPA

Via E-mail Notification
 
Nice! I'll see you there. Same day same session.

Nice man! I'm so excited to return to my home state (+ turning this interview into a mini-vacation by going home to norcal for the weekend after the interview).
 
I was complete 7/13... No invite yet. But my gap is a bit low! Come on California show me some home state love!!
 
I was complete 7/13... No invite yet. But my gap is a bit low! Come on California show me some home state love!!

I'm also a bit worried! Keck is one of my top choices. I was complete 7/11 and have only received the silent treatment. I am an in-state applicant and my stats are well within range as well.
 
Yeah, I submitted 7/12 and haven't heard anything. OOS with good stats. Give me some love, Keck, you're my #1!
 
I'm also a bit worried! Keck is one of my top choices. I was complete 7/11 and have only received the silent treatment. I am an in-state applicant and my stats are well within range as well.

same..complete 7/11 but no interview :/ i have above average stats. i hope USC doesn't do silent rejections
 
same..complete 7/11 but no interview :/ i have above average stats. i hope USC doesn't do silent rejections

I don't think they do silent rejections, there were some people above in this thread that were rejected
 
I'm worried too man. Someone who was complete 7/31 got an II and I was complete 7/27 with no word yet :-/ ... OOS/3.9+/34Q. Pleaseeee USC?!?
 
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