2013-2014 University of Southern California (Keck) Application Thread

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aec said:
MSAR doesn't list interview numbers. Anyone have any idea?
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From US News: 8% of applicants are interviewed, 59.5% of interviewees are accepted, and 48% of accepted students matriculate.
 
jamiechan said:
i was complete on 10th too and heard nothing back...maybe we dont stand out 🙁
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was hoping my high MCAT would help me stand out a bit ha ha but I guess we'll see. Reading through last year's thread there were a few people who were complete early who didn't get interviews till later, so hoping that's the case here!
 
This is my reachiest reach school, but I have a significant other in LA for med school so I am trying to crack the tough nut that is California.

I did like that the essay question were so quirky! It made me feel like I could really show them what I am about.
 
surfdoc29 said:
was hoping my high MCAT would help me stand out a bit ha ha but I guess we'll see. Reading through last year's thread there were a few people who were complete early who didn't get interviews till later, so hoping that's the case here!
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It's a long process based on the last years thread.
 
surfdoc29 said:
was hoping my high MCAT would help me stand out a bit ha ha but I guess we'll see. Reading through last year's thread there were a few people who were complete early who didn't get interviews till later, so hoping that's the case here!
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USC has a slight preference for MCAT over GPA which is what they told me last year.
 
earf said:
USC has a slight preference for MCAT over GPA which is what they told me last year.
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I guess I assumed that all schools, if forced to assign a weight to both, would also value MCAT more.

But...looking at USC's MSAR data it definitely looks they value MCAT noticeably more.
 
I applied to USC because I would be honored to even receive a rejection letter from them 😀 (no love expected from them)

Got verified this afternoon, and am almost done with the secondary. It's definitely a lot of fun. Too bad it won't make up for my MCAT score :laugh:
 
Jennyfishy said:
I applied to USC because I would be honored to even receive a rejection letter from them 😀 (no love expected from them)

Got verified this afternoon, and am almost done with the secondary. It's definitely a lot of fun. Too bad it won't make up for my MCAT score :laugh:
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Peeps my MCAT isnt the greatest, 30.
my GPA was 3.7.

Im interviewing next month there!!! its not all about the MCAT!
 
1cor1311 said:
Peeps my MCAT isnt the greatest, 30.
my GPA was 3.7.

Im interviewing next month there!!! its not all about the MCAT!
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I'm working with a 28, gurlfrand! :laugh:

Congrats on the interview invite though!
 
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Question for those following this thread:

I'm debating between two answers for the "most fun I've had" question. Opinions? 😀

The first is about a performance class I took my last quarter as an undergrad, which I did not talk about anywhere in my application (compiling your life story/experiences into a performance, and actually performing it in front of 400+ people).

The second is about my study abroad program I'm currently on and mentioned in my primary. We're super touristy (when we're not getting our Spanish on!), and it's been scary + fun being in a different country with people I don't know.
 
Jennyfishy said:
Question for those following this thread:

I'm debating between two answers for the "most fun I've had" question. Opinions? 😀

The first is about a performance class I took my last quarter as an undergrad, which I did not talk about anywhere in my application (compiling your life story/experiences into a performance, and actually performing it in front of 400+ people).

The second is about my study abroad program I'm currently on and mentioned in my primary. We're super touristy (when we're not getting our Spanish on!), and it's been scary + fun being in a different country with people I don't know.
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I'd go with the second! It's seems like you are definitely enjoying the experience. Talk a bit about it
 
indianjatt said:
I'd go with the second! It's seems like you are definitely enjoying the experience. Talk a bit about it
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There's definitely a lot more excursions and incidences to talk about 😀! Big city = becoming victims of crime, getting to live in the city for the first time (I'm from a small suburban home with <25K ppl), taking pictures of everything, ending up stranded and lost/semi-kidnapped by a taxi, and more :laugh:

People around SDN seem to try to really want to be "unique" in their answers, which was why I threw the performance one out there, in case study abroad seems a little too cliche and *yawn*/overdone. :laugh:
 
how are you guys approaching the difficult aspect of preparing to be a physician question? I'm have trouble thinking of something that wouldn't give them something to be concerned
 
Am I reading the question (What aspect of the preparation for becoming a physician did you find most challenging) correctly?

Are they asking about our personal challenges we dealt with in order to reach Med School, or are they asking about challenges/obstacles we would anticipate having to deal with on the path to becoming a Physician (licensed, post-med school)?
 
Jennyfishy said:
Am I reading the question (What aspect of the preparation for becoming a physician did you find most challenging) correctly?

Are they asking about our personal challenges we dealt with in order to reach Med School, or are they asking about challenges/obstacles we would anticipate having to deal with on the path to becoming a Physician (licensed, post-med school)?
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I think the use of the past tense "did" indicates challenges leading up to med school. At least that's how I interpreted it
 
TCSC13 said:
I think the use of the past tense "did" indicates challenges leading up to med school. At least that's how I interpreted it
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Ok, I figured :laugh:. I just think the question is poorly structured. Thanks 😀
 
Anyone think more II's will be coming out tomorrow or this friday? I feel like not many SDNers received II's yet
 
risenshine said:
how are you guys approaching the difficult aspect of preparing to be a physician question? I'm have trouble thinking of something that wouldn't give them something to be concerned
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be honest!!!
 
jennyfishy said:
am i reading the question (what aspect of the preparation for becoming a physician did you find most challenging) correctly?

Are they asking about our personal challenges we dealt with in order to reach med school, or are they asking about challenges/obstacles we would anticipate having to deal with on the path to becoming a physician (licensed, post-med school)?
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"did you find".....
 
Jennyfishy said:
Am I reading the question (What aspect of the preparation for becoming a physician did you find most challenging) correctly?

Are they asking about our personal challenges we dealt with in order to reach Med School, or are they asking about challenges/obstacles we would anticipate having to deal with on the path to becoming a Physician (licensed, post-med school)?
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I'm taking it as what part (applications, MCAT, undergraduate curriculum, grades, etc.) did you find most challenging leading up to where you are now.
 
Runican said:
I'm taking it as what part (applications, MCAT, undergraduate curriculum, grades, etc.) did you find most challenging leading up to where you are now.
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I took it as an opportunity to discuss the discouragement that a lot of doctors I met on clinical experiences sent my way, like from going into the field, docs who became cynical when they realized they don't make boatloads of cash and live extraordinary lives because of insane work schedules....and how I developed the tact to politely acknowledge these individuals without reacting to their insights brashly.
 
For those who got an interview, did you guys put serious answers in the secondary or funny witty ones? I want to do the latter, but I'm afraid it'll come off as being unprofessional. ahhh confused!
 
YankeeBean said:
I took it as an opportunity to discuss the discouragement that a lot of doctors I met on clinical experiences sent my way, like from going into the field, docs who became cynical when they realized they don't make boatloads of cash and live extraordinary lives because of insane work schedules....and how I developed the tact to politely acknowledge these individuals without reacting to their insights brashly.
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Yeah that's good. I'm writing about how being a non-traditional applicant (sort of) with no familial connections to medicine made it somewhat challenging because I didn't have a great support network of people with connections to medicine and knowledge of medical school... and how this taught me to be very proactive in pursuing my dreams.

I think the most important thing about that question is talking about what the challenge taught you....
 
calgirl1234 said:
For those who got an interview, did you guys put serious answers in the secondary or funny witty ones? I want to do the latter, but I'm afraid it'll come off as being unprofessional. ahhh confused!
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As long as you're profession and PC, it shouldn't be too bad. They're trying to gauge our personalities probably. For beautiful sight, I wrote about my green card that I got in the mail. Not a typical "beautiful sight" and corny, but works nonetheless. At least hopefully ... 😛
 
joonage said:
For beautiful sight, I wrote about my green card that I got in the mail. Not a typical "beautiful sight" and corny, but works nonetheless. At least hopefully ... 😛
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I'm writing about the finish line of my first marathon. Not traditionally beautiful, but at the time it was like seeing an angel.
 
talinnlove said:
This made me :laugh:
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Yup. hahaha It took a good 12 years to get it. First, it meant my parents could finally move over here to the States and second, meant I could apply to more medical school. Sorta corny, but it meant a lot. :laugh:

Runican said:
I'm writing about the finish line of my first marathon. Not traditionally beautiful, but at the time it was like seeing an angel.
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👍👍👍 See! I like these quirky ones. Who cares about a beautiful sunset or oceans! 😛
 
calgirl1234 said:
For those who got an interview, did you guys put serious answers in the secondary or funny witty ones? I want to do the latter, but I'm afraid it'll come off as being unprofessional. ahhh confused!
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For most of the short answers, I tried to infuse some subtle humor into semi-substantial answers. I let myself have a little more fun/creativity with the nickname and the essay.
 
the most fun I've had in the past year???

EASY!! studying for the MCAT, finishing a Ph.D. and losing my sanity AND my soul in the process! DUH!!!

🙂
 
calgirl1234 said:
For those who got an interview, did you guys put serious answers in the secondary or funny witty ones? I want to do the latter, but I'm afraid it'll come off as being unprofessional. ahhh confused!
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I got accepted and put pretty humorous answers last cycle. Dr. Arias will tell you that she reads every single application herself before offering you an interview. As long as you have fun with it in a way that's not over the top, that's not offensive, or that sounds insincere, then you should be fine.
 
joonage said:
Yup. hahaha It took a good 12 years to get it. First, it meant my parents could finally move over here to the States and second, meant I could apply to more medical school. Sorta corny, but it meant a lot. :laugh:



👍👍👍 See! I like these quirky ones. Who cares about a beautiful sunset or oceans! 😛
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LOL. I wrote something along these lines. Pretty conventional, but hey, this year has pretty much sucked the creativity out of me.
 
Does anyone know how indicating interest in the Health, Technology and Engineering (HTE) program affects the application process?

Also, does anyone know of a way to "rank" the CA schools in terms of acceptance of OOS applicants by chance? I'm loving the look of the program, but I've basically been told don't even bother for any of them (35 MCAT, lowish gpa)
 
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QrtrLifeCrisis said:
LOL. I wrote something along these lines. Pretty conventional, but hey, this year has pretty much sucked the creativity out of me.
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Ain't nothing wrong with sunsets. That's what I put. lol
 
I don't know if indicating interest in HTE would have an effect, my advice would just be honest if you're interested or not. I would assume it doesn't have an effect&#8212; I emailed the director of the program about prereqs and he reiterated that to be accepted to HTE you first have to be accepted into the medical school.

Also, I'm OOS and I would agree that applying to UC system (LA, San Diego, San Francisco, etc) is a bust. I was told it was harder to get into Cali public schools than some Ivies. But USC is a private school, so theoretically your residency shouldn't have an effect.
 
skab said:
For most of the short answers, I tried to infuse some subtle humor into semi-substantial answers. I let myself have a little more fun/creativity with the nickname and the essay.
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Same here, I actually really liked USCs prompts. Far easier to write about how much fun I had or something that I saw that was beautiful compared to a challenge essay or diversity essay. Here's to hoping our funny/quirky answers get us interview invites.
 
Worked for me 😉 Good luck!
 
supergirl7561 said:
I don't know if indicating interest in HTE would have an effect, my advice would just be honest if you're interested or not. I would assume it doesn't have an effect— I emailed the director of the program about prereqs and he reiterated that to be accepted to HTE you first have to be accepted into the medical school.

Also, I'm OOS and I would agree that applying to UC system (LA, San Diego, San Francisco, etc) is a bust. I was told it was harder to get into Cali public schools than some Ivies. But USC is a private school, so theoretically your residency shouldn't have an effect.
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Thanks for the information, very helpful. I did end up indicating interest in HTE, sounds like a pretty neat program.
 
Got an interview invite today
 
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Got an interview invite but there are only 2 interview slots from August to February next year! Anyone else have a similar problem?

Complete 7/27
 
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Purple Yams said:
Got an interview invite but there are only 2 interview slots from August to February next year! Anyone else have a similar problem?

Complete 7/27
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I would expect to see a bit more traffic on here with people reporting interview invites if that were the case.
 
hart024 said:
Congrats!! When were you complete?
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7/24
I was really surprised by the quick turnaround. I wasn't expecting to hear from any school until sometime towards the end of the month at the earliest.
 
Interview Invite!
Complete: 07/11

Do any current students have any tips for the interview?
 
Jordan2390 said:
Interview Invite!
Complete: 07/11

Do any current students have any tips for the interview?
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I'm not a current student but was accepted here last cycle. Best advice would be to have an answer for the question: tell me about yourself.

There's a way to answer this question that allows the interviewer to gain a picture of you and to enable (or even to encourage) him/her to ask questions about parts of your life that they're interested in. One person gave me this advice and made the analogy to a sampler platter.
 
Has anyone received a rejection yet? I feel left out of the whole status change thing :/
 
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