2013-2014 Dartmouth College (Geisel) Application Thread

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Got my financial aid package today... Disappointing. :/ They didn't even cover the whole cost of attendance, and I already got 45K in loans from them. Will be withdrawing, so good luck to everyone waiting!
 
nemo123 said:
Got my financial aid package today... Disappointing. :/ They didn't even cover the whole cost of attendance, and I already got 45K in loans from them. Will be withdrawing, so good luck to everyone waiting!
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That's too bad! Was this by email or, er, mail-mail?
 
That's too bad. I thought their unit loan was only $35,000? Did it go up to 45K?
 
Waitlisted today. Interviewed 1/21

The optimist in me is hoping that tomorrow they'll send me an acceptance email with the subject line: "April Fools!!!!"
 
Hipocrates said:
Congrats! What date did you interview and mind providing your stats?
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Interviewed in September sometime. I'm a non-trad, Ph.D. war-veteran, and if you want numbers my bench press is 360. My other stats are average for Geisel.
 
Why the heck is all my "eye" (Phonectic India letter) changing to "me" and all my "ams" changing to "are". What is going on here? It's happening post submit and even in private convos.

Example: I am going crazy.
 
hubriz said:
Why the heck is all my "eye" (Phonectic India letter) changing to "me" and all my "ams" changing to "are". What is going on here? It's happening post submit and even in private convos.

Example: me are going crazy.
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What's today's date? ... Exactly.
 
Does anyone know when their second look is? Would love an excuse to go back to the East coast.
 
anyone know when the start date/first day of orientation is? jw
 
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hopelezwanderer said:
anyone know when the start date/first day of orientation is? in case I am fortunate enough to be accepted, I want to make sure I'm back from traveling by then
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Orientation starts on the 4th. Classes start on the 11th.
 
AbbeyRoade said:
Anyone have a Dartmouth match list I can see? I should have taken pictures during interview day but did not. Can't find it anywhere online.
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I'm in my last year at Dartmouth/Geisel, about to head off for residency, and I'm happy to answer any questions. If you guys are really interested I can post a de-identified match list (I'll just have to make one). Let me know.
 
physicsnerd42 said:
I'm in my last year at Dartmouth/Geisel, about to head off for residency, and I'm happy to answer any questions. If you guys are really interested I can post a de-identified match list (I'll just have to make one). Let me know.
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There's no need, as the de-identified match list was sent out to accepted students this past week. If any accepted students haven't received one, I recommend asking in the Facebook group.

@physicsnerd42, are you happy with your personal match results?
 
physicsnerd42 said:
I'm in my last year at Dartmouth/Geisel, about to head off for residency, and I'm happy to answer any questions. If you guys are really interested I can post a de-identified match list (I'll just have to make one). Let me know.
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I've heard rumors about financial difficulties and high faculty turnover at Geisel. I'm not sure if these are true, and, if they are, whether they have any real impact on the education students receive. Have you experienced the effects any of these issues in your time there? Do you foresee them being problematic in the coming years?

I'm currently waitlisted but on the (very very) slim chance I get off the list I want to be as informed as possible. Thanks!
 
takeahike said:
I've heard rumors about financial difficulties and high faculty turnover at Geisel. I'm not sure if these are true, and, if they are, whether they have any real impact on the education students receive. Have you experienced the effects any of these issues in your time there? Do you foresee them being problematic in the coming years?

I'm currently waitlisted but on the (very very) slim chance I get off the list I want to be as informed as possible. Thanks!
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I think that's a fantastic question and I'm going to give you my honest opinion.

Dartmouth, like many medical schools, is having financial difficulties, much of it due to the funding situation at the NIH. We had a budget deficit this year that was largely closed after some cost cutting. They're looking at options for how to deal with likely future budget shortfalls. One thing you need to understand is that budgets of the professional schools and the undergrad college are largely separate. Dartmouth has a large endowment, but the medical school does not. The last president of Dartmouth wanted to invest in the medical school; the current president doesn't really seem as interested in investing in the medical school or in using College funds to help close our budget deficit. The medical school, unlike many other medical schools, does not own the hospital so Geisel doesn't control that revenue stream. The medical school does get a subvention from the hospital, but that amount of the subvention has decreased over the last several years because the hospital has budget issues of its own.

Now, how does that impact education? They try very hard to not impact the student experience with cuts, and I think it has largely worked out that way. Our current dean is not always transparent about budget changes and has made some unpopular decisions. Sufficient student and faculty pushback has reversed some of those decisions. One of the things that the dean has protected is the budget for the curriculum redesign. So, the administration is somewhat responsive to input and they have tried to protect the student experience through the budget cuts.

I don't know what will happen in the future. I think the medical school will be fine financially as the NIH and economy recover. I don't think the medical student experience will be significantly impacted, and I wouldn't let the budget issues dissuade you from coming here. Most med schools are having budget issues and I don't think Dartmouth is much worse off than any other school.
 
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takeahike said:
I've heard rumors about financial difficulties and high faculty turnover at Geisel.
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Sorry, I missed half your question. I don't think the faculty turnover has been especially high here. At every institution you will have faculty leaving for other places and new faculty coming in. I actually think some amount of "churn" is good because it introduces new people and ideas to an institution. My impression is that there has been more turnover on the research side than the clinical side, which is not really surprising because of the situation at the NIH.

As a MD/PhD student, I have some concern any time we lose a senior, well-funded investigator (and am glad any time we attract well-funded investigators). As a medical student, I think the clinical side should be more concerning to you. I honestly don't feel like my clinical training has suffered because of faculty turnover.
 
physicsnerd42 said:
Sorry, I missed half your question. I don't think the faculty turnover has been especially high here. At every institution you will have faculty leaving for other places and new faculty coming in. I actually think some amount of "churn" is good because it introduces new people and ideas to an institution. My impression is that there has been more turnover on the research side than the clinical side, which is not really surprising because of the situation at the NIH.

As a MD/PhD student, I have some concern any time we lose a senior, well-funded investigator (and am glad any time we attract well-funded investigators). As a medical student, I think the clinical side should be more concerning to you. I honestly don't feel like my clinical training has suffered because of faculty turnover.
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Thank you for your very detailed and sincere responses! I feel like I now have a much better understanding of the situation.
 
physicsnerd42 said:
Sorry, I missed half your question. I don't think the faculty turnover has been especially high here. At every institution you will have faculty leaving for other places and new faculty coming in. I actually think some amount of "churn" is good because it introduces new people and ideas to an institution. My impression is that there has been more turnover on the research side than the clinical side, which is not really surprising because of the situation at the NIH.

As a MD/PhD student, I have some concern any time we lose a senior, well-funded investigator (and am glad any time we attract well-funded investigators). As a medical student, I think the clinical side should be more concerning to you. I honestly don't feel like my clinical training has suffered because of faculty turnover.
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Regarding high faculty turnover, I think that applies more to student support services than clinical or research faculty. The Office of Student Affairs has seen a nearly complete reorganization since my short time here and more changes are coming in the next year. Part of this process is driven by budget cuts, part is driven by faculty in student support services leaving.

As for the budget, physicsnerd42 is absolutely right that Geisel is being proactive about the budget shortfalls. I agree that a few years ago, most (if not all) medical schools were facing financial difficulties due to the financial crisis of 2008. However, with cost-cutting and increased revenues, Geisel has moved past that time. But, as physicsnerd42 alluded to, Geisel is facing a new financial shortfall this year due to a change in the College president leading to a change in the priorities of the College. How this will impact future students, I'm not sure. What I do know is that my loan burden has increased dramatically each year as the base loan keeps increasing.
 
Got my financial aid award. In my case, Geisel was reeeeally generous with the need-based aid! Just wish it was guaranteed for all four years. Like @PsychLove88 said, the loan burden increases from year-to-year as the base loan changes. If I choose not to attend Geisel, this "fear of the unknown" aspect of the financial aid process will definitely be a factor in that decision. A bird in the hand, and all that.
 
Can I ask what you mean by generous? I was happy to see that i received a large grant, but surprised that the package didn't cover full cost of attendance. With the grant plus the loans they awarded my aid comes to 60K, pretty far off from the 76K sticker price! Then again, my family is low income so I was anticipating getting grant to cover everything but the 35K unit loan they mentioned on interview day....?
 
KBev said:
Can I ask what you mean by generous? I was happy to see that i received a large grant, but surprised that the package didn't cover full cost of attendance. With the grant plus the loans they awarded my aid comes to 60K, pretty far off from the 76K sticker price! Then again, my family is low income so I was anticipating getting grant to cover everything but the 35K unit loan they mentioned on interview day....?
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I'll PM you. Anyone else who wants details can PM me.
 
KBev said:
Can I ask what you mean by generous? I was happy to see that i received a large grant, but surprised that the package didn't cover full cost of attendance. With the grant plus the loans they awarded my aid comes to 60K, pretty far off from the 76K sticker price! Then again, my family is low income so I was anticipating getting grant to cover everything but the 35K unit loan they mentioned on interview day....?
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Same here!
 
I have zero EFC at every other school and I have taking out 46k in loans. Its a joke. What is their unit loan?
 
Espadaleader said:
I have zero EFC at every other school and I have taking out 46k in loans. Its a joke. What is their unit loan?
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I don't understand what you are saying here, but I am curious to know the details.
 
hubriz said:
So what recourse does that leave for covering living expenses? Private loans???
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Private loans, no, but additional institutional loans, unsubsidized Stafford loans, and, if necessary, Grad Plus loans, yes.

In talking with others about this, the understanding I've come to is that if Geisel offers you a financial aid package of loans and scholarships totaling $60,000, and the cost of attendance is $76,000, they want you and your family to TRY to come up with money to cover the $16,000 shortfall. If you can't, you're expected to contact the office of financial aid so they can expand your loan options. In theory, they will offer you additional institutional loans first, before pointing you toward additional Stafford and Grad Plus money, since the institutional loans are lower-interest and may be subsidized. Remember, also, that not all students will end up needing the entire $76,000, since living expenses can vary a bit.

This practice is somewhat unusual among medical schools that I've seen - Most places will happily give out loans up to the cost of attendance in the initial financial aid package and leave it to the student to decide how much of the loan to decline, where Geisel wants you to ask them for more money before they dole it out.

(Disclaimer: Haven't gone through the process of asking for more loan money myself, but this is what I've been told by other SDN users who PMed me to ask about my financial aid award.)
 
surely said:
Private loans, no, but additional institutional loans, unsubsidized Stafford loans, and, if necessary, Grad Plus loans, yes.

In talking with others about this, the understanding I've come to is that if Geisel offers you a financial aid package of loans and scholarships totaling $60,000, and the cost of attendance is $76,000, they want you and your family to TRY to come up with money to cover the $16,000 shortfall. If you can't, you're expected to contact the office of financial aid so they can expand your loan options. In theory, they will offer you additional institutional loans first, before pointing you toward additional Stafford and Grad Plus money, since the institutional loans are lower-interest and may be subsidized. Remember, also, that not all students will end up needing the entire $76,000, since living expenses can vary a bit.

This practice is somewhat unusual among medical schools that I've seen - Most places will happily give out loans up to the cost of attendance in the initial financial aid package and leave it to the student to decide how much of the loan to decline, where Geisel wants you to ask them for more money before they dole it out.

(Disclaimer: Haven't gone through the process of asking for more loan money myself, but this is what I've been told by other SDN users who PMed me to ask about my financial aid award.)
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This is an interesting approach. Not sure I like it. Thanks for the clarification.
 
Hey guys, Canadian here. I'm waiting on Geisel's financial package as well and I wonder if any international students (who have received loans/scholarships) can comment on roughly how much is given out. I assumed that because I am not a US citizen, I won't be able to get as much. Please PM me if you're willing to let me know. Thank you!
 
hubriz said:
I don't understand what you are saying here, but I am curious to know the details.
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Hey. My unit loan package at Dartmouth was 46k! Really? Thats nuts. I have max need. 0 parental contribution. This is compared to 22k at Hopkins and 26k at Yale and 35k at Duke. WOW. They are giving people with max need the same aid as people with 100k+ at other schools. Its out of this world.
 
KBev said:
Can I ask what you mean by generous? I was happy to see that i received a large grant, but surprised that the package didn't cover full cost of attendance. With the grant plus the loans they awarded my aid comes to 60K, pretty far off from the 76K sticker price! Then again, my family is low income so I was anticipating getting grant to cover everything but the 35K unit loan they mentioned on interview day....?
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Stop. They are leaving you short 16k? They are not living in the same universe. Yo, if you run that on med loans you looking at damn near half a million to go to school in Hanover?
 
pDeluxe said:
If you don't mind me asking, were you just waitlisted today? I still have not received any post-interview decision.... and it's been about 7 months
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That's a long time pDeluxe!!! I don't know about bofocion, but I was waitlisted in late march, 4 months post interview.... I hope you hear something soon pDeluxe...!
 
hustle3 said:
That's a long time pDeluxe!!! I don't know about bofocion, but I was waitlisted in late march, 4 months post interview.... I hope you hear something soon pDeluxe...!
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Thanks, I hope so too! I was reading last year's thread and someone said that everyone hears a decision by mid-April. Of course, their last interview day was late March last year, but I think they went into April this year.
 
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