2014-2015 Dartmouth University Application Thread

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xo7 said:
Interviews are still going out! Any recommendations on how best to travel to Hanover? The Dartmouth Coach from Massachusetts?
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I flew to Boston/Logan and took the Dartmouth Coach to Hanover. It was much cheaper than flying to Lebanon airport. It would also be convenient if you try stay near the Dartmouth area since taxi's are a hassle and Uber/Lyft doesn't exist.
 
As a frequent traveler to Hanover, I greatly recommend the Dartmouth coach. The only down side is that it doesn't run at very frequent intervals. Aside from that, it is the best. If no student hosts are available and you have no car, staying near campus can be expensive (Hanover Inn, South Sixth.) The downside to Hanover is the lack of reasonably priced housing (short- or long-term.)
 
Just to throw in there... I flew in to Boston (from CA) and rented a car from FlightCar (RelayRides is also a great option). Total price was less than flying in to Lebanon, and I got to know the area better by driving through it! (And I had a car so I was able to do some sight-seeing -- I recommend Ben and Jerry's up in Vermont!)
 
chachi19 said:
Just to throw in there... I flew in to Boston (from CA) and rented a car from FlightCar (RelayRides is also a great option). Total price was less than flying in to Lebanon, and I got to know the area better by driving through it! (And I had a car so I was able to do some sight-seeing -- I recommend Ben and Jerry's up in Vermont!)
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Yes, and if you go the car route, you can stay in places much more reasonably priced--even White River is an easy drive. And the area is truly beautiful, once blizzard season has passed!
 
I just got the pre-II invite axe. Good luck to everyone still in the running.!
 
BengaliBrat said:
Yes, and if you go the car route, you can stay in places much more reasonably priced--even White River is an easy drive. And the area is truly beautiful, once blizzard season has passed!
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Even the blizzards are beautiful in their own way! 😛
 
BengaliBrat said:
Yes, and if you go the car route, you can stay in places much more reasonably priced--even White River is an easy drive. And the area is truly beautiful, once blizzard season has passed!
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Yes, and use AirBNB!! 🙂
 
There is still hope my friends! Received an II this morning and my application was complete back in September!
 
Well
chachi19 said:
Just to throw in there... I flew in to Boston (from CA) and rented a car from FlightCar (RelayRides is also a great option). Total price was less than flying in to Lebanon, and I got to know the area better by driving through it! (And I had a car so I was able to do some sight-seeing -- I recommend Ben and Jerry's up in Vermont!)
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If you have a car I recomend making the 25 min drive to Worthy Burger.

You can often get to LEB for a small up charge to the shuttle. Both have up side. It is a ten place airplane to LEB and weather can stop that flight.
 
Pluto2 said:
Well


If you have a car I recomend making the 25 min drive to Worthy Burger.

You can often get to LEB for a small up charge to the shuttle. Both have up side. It is a ten place airplane to LEB and weather can stop that flight.
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Man, I wish I had that recommendation earlier! I didn't find too many amazing places around to eat, but I am pretty spoiled with good food where I live.. but there's an excellent new Nepalese place called Base Camp in downtown Hanover 🙂
 
doconeday1.0 said:
just thought I would put this short list I compiled of decisions over the last two years. Its possible that I missed some re/acc/WL decisions but it gives a general sense of their process (i.e. no weekend correspondence)

2014
march 7th/10th/13th WL and R
march 17th/24th A
march 25h WL
march 26th A
April 1st/2nd A
April 16th/18th/21st WL

2013
march 6th WL
march 25th A
April 4th/5th WL
April 9th A
April 12th/15th WL


maybe next week we will get some news...
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Well then here's hoping for some news NEXT week!
 
BengaliBrat said:
Awww. . . . yes, Pollyanna. I prefer not walking or driving through one, though, I have to confess!
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Haha, well the school aspect of my experience there is surely making my perception of the weather at least a little rose-tinted. The lack of really bad weather also helped.
Anyway, it looked amazing up there despite the aftermath of an almost record setting winter.
 
Vain Brother said:
seconding the recommendation for the Hanover inn, but it is $$
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I've' stayed at sixth street South on Main and that is a nice place too.
Fireside Inn in West Leb is nice (if you have a car) but make the reservation directly telling them you are there for Dartmouth. Under $100 that way,
 
Also got the acceptance email on Monday, interviewed February 12th! I stayed with a host who happened to be about a 5 minute walk from the admissions building and would definitely recommend it.
 
Papataco said:
Also got the acceptance email on Monday, interviewed February 12th! I stayed with a host who happened to be about a 5 minute walk from the admissions building and would definitely recommend it.
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@Papataco, congratulations to you!!
 
Rose99 said:
For what it's worth, I got my acceptance email on Monday morning around 8 am, not on a Friday!

So they could be coming, guys! Hang in there! 🙂
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Congrats! When did you interview??
 
Papataco said:
Also got the acceptance email on Monday, interviewed February 12th! I stayed with a host who happened to be about a 5 minute walk from the admissions building and would definitely recommend it.
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I interviewed Feb 12th too! Haven't heard a peep though 🙁( CONGRATS!!!!!
 
Accepted. Interviewed mid-late February (don't want to give a specific date).

I'm not ashamed to say that I bawled like a baby. This journey has been far from easy (for all of us) and acceptances like this make all the precious hard work and sacrifices worthwhile.

Best of luck to you all!
 
kewlboy88 said:
Accepted. Interviewed mid-late February (don't want to give a specific date).

I'm not ashamed to say that I bawled like a baby. This journey has been far from easy (for all of us) and acceptances like this make all the precious hard work and sacrifices worthwhile.

Best of luck to you all!
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Congratulations!!
If I get accepted I will also probably start bawling.
 
jcae6 said:
Also accepted today. Interviewed mid-late February! Very grateful for this acceptance! and hoping that you all hear good news soon!
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eek! they are indeed speeding up. Can't be long before early March decisions are on the way out.
 
arcticNE said:
Have an interview coming up, and wanted to get peoples' take on what the social life is like up in Hanover? Having lived in cities all my life, I'm concerned it might be difficult, but certainly open to the possibility.
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@arcticNE, obviously life is different in med school, but I did live in Hanover five years. Of course, all depends on what you consider "social life." The med school is small and each class is small. The town is small. It is surrounded by miles of beautiful scenery in every direction, so if you like outdoor activities, you will never be bored. The cultural life is vibrant--LOTS of student talent (Shonda Rhimes and Mindy Kaling are just two recent alums) as well as visiting stars at "The Hop." (Eclectic--besides a capella, there is great theatre, both classical and experimental, jazz, world music, opera, comedians--pretty much whatever.) If you are used to New York or Chicago, though, you'll find that the problem is that the great stuff has to be scheduled--it is not on tap all the time. The restaurants nearby were pretty much universally in the dreadful-to-mediocre range, according to me. (I don't like pizza that much.) And, as you might expect, many, many "social" activities center around a few kegs and a fraternity.

However, the people tend to be friendly, and, as in many smaller environments, less breadth can mean more depth. If you like hanging out with friends, watching films, going to whatever is on that week (or drinking to unconsciousness), Hanover can definitely accommodate you. The students at the med school tend to become very close and form a community--I have several friends currently enrolled. Hope this helps a little. See how it strikes you and trust your gut. Well. . .and get in first, I guess. Good luck!!
 
kjj17 said:
finally got the pre-II rejection! officially the last school I still cared about. unwatching this thread and 100% heart set on where I'm going to be going 🙂
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@kjj17, wishing you all kinds of wonderful till we meet again!
 
interviewed 11/6 and still haven't heard a peep :ninja:
 
I think I finally get how this works: 1) Dartmouth truly does do a "holistic approach" on every application, but they may have some system in place to pick top candidates for interviews prior to everyone else. 2) If they pre-II reject you, they do not tell you until post-October 15th. 3) If you are given an II, they rank you that week or at the next meeting. 4) If you get high scores in a vote (passed a certain threshold) they accept you immediately. If you fall below another threshold, they reject you immediately. If you are between these two thresholds that they predetermined they hold off on their consideration until the very end (after all interviews) when they have an official list of approximately 1/2 of what they interviewed. They then, go over that official "waitlist" and rank it. Again they make cutoffs. They then notify everyone and make acceptances as others choose different schools based on your rank.

For those who received rejections post-interview (and it was 1 or 2 months after the interview) it is probably because you were at the bottom of the "waitlist" and then, when they interviewed new people, they had to bump you off to make room for those new people (i.e. if they only put 300 on the waitlist and you are ranked 299, but 2 other candidates they just finished interviewing ranked between 150 and 170 you get bumped in a frameshift style).
 
there's a very specific process they follow that is freely available online and in this thread
 
Pdoc387 said:
I think I finally get how this works: 1) Dartmouth truly does do a "holistic approach" on every application, but they may have some system in place to pick top candidates for interviews prior to everyone else. 2) If they pre-II reject you, they do not tell you until post-October 15th. 3) If you are given an II, they rank you that week or at the next meeting. 4) If you get high scores in a vote (passed a certain threshold) they accept you immediately. If you fall below another threshold, they reject you immediately. If you are between these two thresholds that they predetermined they hold off on their consideration until the very end (after all interviews) when they have an official list of approximately 1/2 of what they interviewed. They then, go over that official "waitlist" and rank it. Again they make cutoffs. They then notify everyone and make acceptances as others choose different schools based on your rank.

For those who received rejections post-interview (and it was 1 or 2 months after the interview) it is probably because you were at the bottom of the "waitlist" and then, when they interviewed new people, they had to bump you off to make room for those new people (i.e. if they only put 300 on the waitlist and you are ranked 299, but 2 other candidates they just finished interviewing ranked between 150 and 170 you get bumped in a frameshift style).
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1. After II, the candidate is reviewed and given a final score
2.. Above X gets acceptance, between X and Y gets waitlist, below Y gets reject
3. As interview period ends, the threshold score for acceptance gets lower until the class is filled
 
Does anyone know how the adcoms here perceive post-interview, pre-decision updates? I have some minor updates (some publications, presentations, etc.) and would absolutely love to go here, but nervous about emailing them prior to a decision as to not appear desperate or as a crazy stalker looking for some non-existing reciprocated love.
 
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bostonite said:
Does anyone know how the adcoms here perceive post-interview, pre-decision updates? I have some minor updates (some publications, presentations, etc.) and would absolutely love to go here, but nervous about emailing them prior to a decision as to not appear desperate or as a crazy stalker looking for some reciprocated love.
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I don't think at this point they care. I mean, if you haven't convinced them by now, they won't really be convinced all that much by publications, etc.. Just for the record, I just did a poster presentation and two publications in addition to my already two publications, it won't make a difference.

Just think, do really think the committee is like "gosh darn it! if only he had a couple of more publications..." lol...come on. Your record already got you an interview. Everything else depends on how you did on said interview. If you haven't received an "acceptance" depending on how long it has been, you probably are on the waitlist and nothing you do will increase or decrease your score.
 
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Pdoc387 said:
I don't think at this point they care. I mean, if you haven't convinced them by now, they won't really be convinced all that much by publications, etc.. Just for the record, I just did a poster presentation and two publications in addition to my already two publications, it won't make a difference.
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hmm, true, I suspected as much, but its always good to get that mental check/confirmation. Thanks
 
iceroll said:
Just got an II this morning. At this late in the game, have all the acceptances already been given out?
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Nope, Geisel is very conservative with acceptances. They really want to see everyone they interview before they fill up their class.
 
Surprisingly got a II today. Flying all the way from California so not sure if I can afford the plane ticket there with such late notice 🙁
 
Are there any current Dartmouth students that could possibly chime in about a few questions I have? I was recently accepted, which I am VERY happy about because I absolutely fell in love with the school (especially how small the class size is!)

1. One of the things that shocked me during interview day was that the admissions director told us that most 1st year fail at least one of the "quizzes" (or from what I heard, they're more like midterms every two weeks). Why do you think that is?

2. During lunch, a fourth year medical student joined us and talked about the preclinical curriculum. While she felt very well prepared for her clinical rotations, she mentioned that she wished the preclinical curriculum was more tailored towards the boards instead of trying to throw as much information at the students as possible. Obviously, she did her first year three years ago so the preclinical curriculum may have changed since then but I wanted to see what other MS1 and MS2's felt about their first year.

3. How much time do we get to study for Step1? Also, how are clinical rotations graded? If you did clinical rotations at sites other than Dartmouth (e.g. CPMC), did you like it or not?

(I apologize in advance if some of these questions were addressed during interview day. I really should've taken more notes because my interview at Dartmouth was squished between two other interviews)

After the excitement of the acceptance wore off, I started thinking about the realities of my situation. I haven't taken a core science class in about 2 years, and I'm truly nervous about handling the rigors of medical school. Any and all thoughts/advice about Geisel would be deeply appreciated!
 
Wow, what a pleasure today was. I really liked the sense I got from the students and the faculty 🙂 The ONLY hesitancy is how rural it is, but it's beautiful and it could be a good thing to have less distractions considering how much work med school is. Plus, the chance to spend part of third year in San Fran is awesome. It would be a joy to go here
 
does anyone have an idea when the admissions will start sending out acceptances/wait list decisions for those of us that have been waiting for awhile? Has anyone gotten such correspondence that wasn't automatic (as in 1 month after interview)??
 
doconeday1.0 said:
does anyone have an idea when the admissions will start sending out acceptances/wait list decisions for those of us that have been waiting for awhile? Has anyone gotten such correspondence that wasn't automatic (as in 1 month after interview)??
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They said decisions should know by April 14th, which is their meeting after all interviews are completed.
 
kewlboy88 said:
Are there any current Dartmouth students that could possibly chime in about a few questions I have? I was recently accepted, which I am VERY happy about because I absolutely fell in love with the school (especially how small the class size is!)

1. One of the things that shocked me during interview day was that the admissions director told us that most 1st year fail at least one of the "quizzes" (or from what I heard, they're more like midterms every two weeks). Why do you think that is?

2. During lunch, a fourth year medical student joined us and talked about the preclinical curriculum. While she felt very well prepared for her clinical rotations, she mentioned that she wished the preclinical curriculum was more tailored towards the boards instead of trying to throw as much information at the students as possible. Obviously, she did her first year three years ago so the preclinical curriculum may have changed since then but I wanted to see what other MS1 and MS2's felt about their first year.

3. How much time do we get to study for Step1? Also, how are clinical rotations graded? If you did clinical rotations at sites other than Dartmouth (e.g. CPMC), did you like it or not?

(I apologize in advance if some of these questions were addressed during interview day. I really should've taken more notes because my interview at Dartmouth was squished between two other interviews)

After the excitement of the acceptance wore off, I started thinking about the realities of my situation. I haven't taken a core science class in about 2 years, and I'm truly nervous about handling the rigors of medical school. Any and all thoughts/advice about Geisel would be deeply appreciated!
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Congratulations on your acceptance!
I'm a current 4th year at Dartmouth, anxiously waiting to find out where I match tomorrow.
Maybe I can answer some of your questions.

1. There is nothing to worry. This is not because the quizzes are hard but because there are many quizzes throughout the year (maybe 3-4 per course and you take 4 courses per term, with 3 terms in a year = 30 to 40 small quizzes) and almost everyone goes through their lazy / emotional / difficult moments in med school. Because first two years of med school cover a lot of material, it's very easy to fail a specific quiz (<70%) if you don't put in enough time for studying for the two weeks preceding the quiz. I too failed two quizzes during first year but it was not because the quiz was too hard..rather I slacked off and failed. Not a big deal and I just moved on. If you can make the cutoff for admissions, you have the capability to pass all the quizzes. It's more about your attitude and work-ethics during that specific quiz block that will determine if you pass.

2. I somewhat agree with the 4th year med student you spoke with. There is general consensus among professors both here at Dartmouth as well as other allopathic med schools that classes should be geared towards making good clinicians rather than primarily serving as USMLE prep courses. Unfortunately, because Dartmouth gradespass/fail for the first two years, the only way that residency programs can assess our basic science medical knowledge is through USMLE scores. If the school focuses too much on info not relevant for step 1 (even if relevant for clinical years), they're harming student's chances to match into good residency programs, and ultimately school reputation. I'm a 4th year med student, so the curriculum probably changed a lot at this point. Please consult 1st/2nd year for updated detail. Having said that, I really feel that Dartmouth prepared me well for clinical medicine. Also, myself and many of our classmates ended up scoring 250+ on my step 1, so despite the curriculum not primarily geared towards high usmle score, I felt that we were overall well prepared.

3. Things might have changed by now but we got the standard 5-6 weeks (with the option to extend it to 9-10 weeks if deciding to start off with an elective block for 3rd year), but this probably changed by now. Not sure how much they get at this point. Clinical rotation grading is pretty standard. Subjective clinical grading (by preceptor + resident) + Objective grading (NBME shelf exams or in-house exams) + other minor stuff (assignments / presentations / journal club). Every rotation is slightly different, but typically you must receive honors in both subjective & objective criteria and complete the minor things to get honors for the rotation. For CPMC rotation, I absolutely loved it. Learned different perspective - urban, west coast, different patient population. People there are really nice.

Hope that answers your question. Again, consult 1st/2nd year med student for more updated detail on current curriculum / schedule.
 
eqofhaoishfasiofho said:
3. Things might have changed by now but we got the standard 5-6 weeks (with the option to extend it to 9-10 weeks if deciding to start off with an elective block for 3rd year), but this probably changed by now. Not sure how much they get at this point.
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From what we were told today, this is still the case.
 
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