2014-2015 SUNY Downstate Application Thread

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I see from googling stuff that if you want school-based aid, you need to put your parents' information. Is this the case with downstate? And if the deadline has already passed, do I still need to?

These are probably questions for the financial aid department, just curious.

If you are already accepted, they sent an email a while ago with a bunch of info, and somewhere in a link to a link there was a pdf about financial aid.. It said put your parents info for institutional aid and file by March 1 to be "fully considered" for all institutional aid. Not sure if that is up-to-date info, though.
 
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I haven't been accepted here, but at Upstate. I am going to submit to a few schools though, just in case. Thanks for the info!
If you're wait listed, you should still send your FA info.
I've also been accepted to Upstate, random q but which would you choose?
If you are already accepted, they sent an email a while ago with a bunch of info but then somewhere in a link to a link there was a pdf about financial aid.. It said put your parents info for institutional aid and file by March 1 to be "fully considered" for all institutional aid. Not sure if that is up-to-date info, though.
Ah yes, forgot about that link. It pretty much had info on housing FA, forms etc, thanks for the reminder..

And lol @ "link within a link" Linkception.
 
Did Downstate offer you any school (non-government) loans as part of that package? Do you know if that's even an option? Thanks.
There are some institutional funds available; no idea how they award them, though. I got some as an OOS-er - I think they felt bad since my parents make no money, I have no money, and lots of loans. 😛

Yeah I remember reading somewhere on their website that to be considered for institutional financial aid you have to file the fafsa by March 1st….
Given that I wasn't accepted til June, and so hadn't submitted FAFSA by March 1, I don't think that's necessarily the case. Definitely file FAFSA as soon as you can (your taxes don't need to be complete to file FAFSA; you can do an estimate based on last year and have it automatically update when you do file your taxes, which you should try to do soon anyhow), though.

I see from googling stuff that if you want school-based aid, you need to put your parents' information. Is this the case with downstate? And if the deadline has already passed, do I still need to?

These are probably questions for the financial aid department, just curious.
For basically any school, yes, you need to include your parents' info, even if the deadline has passed.
 
Is anyone here possibly interested in rooming together? I'm a 23 year old female looking for a potential studio roommate with a similar living schedule:
I like to be in bed by 10 or 11 pm on weekdays and get up around 7 am (ideally). I am pretty quiet and love playing piano (will bring an electric keyboard with headphones) and swimming. Also I'll be class of 2019 obviously.

Please PM me if you'd be interested.. it might be better than a random assignment if you end up not getting someone with a similar lifestyle.
 
Is anyone here possibly interested in rooming together? I'm a 23 year old female looking for a potential studio roommate with a similar living schedule:
I like to be in bed by 10 or 11 pm on weekdays and get up around 7 am (ideally). I am pretty quiet and love playing piano (will bring an electric keyboard with headphones) and swimming. Also I'll be class of 2019 obviously.

Please PM me if you'd be interested.. it might be better than a random assignment if you end up not getting someone with a similar lifestyle.
Have you applied for housing already?
 
Is anyone here possibly interested in rooming together? I'm a 23 year old female looking for a potential studio roommate with a similar living schedule:
I like to be in bed by 10 or 11 pm on weekdays and get up around 7 am (ideally). I am pretty quiet and love playing piano (will bring an electric keyboard with headphones) and swimming. Also I'll be class of 2019 obviously.

Please PM me if you'd be interested.. it might be better than a random assignment if you end up not getting someone with a similar lifestyle.
For the record, there's a Downstate marketplace FB group (you should be able to search it; let me know if you can't find it) where people will be posting about roommates/housing/etc., so that could also be a good place to advertise.
 
I just got an email yesterday inviting me to an interview in mid April! I don't think my chances are very good this late in the cycle (probably interviewing for the waitlist?), but it makes me wonder, how long does Downstate interview?
 
I just got an email yesterday inviting me to an interview in mid April! I don't think my chances are very good this late in the cycle (probably interviewing for the waitlist?), but it makes me wonder, how long does Downstate interview?
I think that's pretty close to the end of the interview season, but to be honest, I'm not certain.

You may be interviewing for the waitlist, but Downstate really does accept a lot of students off the waitlist, so don't give up! 🙂
 
I JUST GOT MY ACCEPTANCE LETTER IN THE MAIL!!!!!

Interviewed Jan 5th. Stats: MCAT 24, GPA 3.6 (Shout out to everybody with unimpressive MCAT scores, we can DO IT!). I'm also in need of a roommate so please message me. Female, 24 ...study a lot...watch tv...things like that. Thanks guys!
 
I got accepted early February and sent back the acceptance form right away saying I would be attending. The next week or so I got an email from Downstate confirming they got my letter back to them. What is the next step? Will they be mailing me some sort of information packet? It's been over a month and I haven't really heard anything. I want to apply for financial aid and all, but I haven't heard anything from them about how to do that. Should I go ahead and add them to my FAFSA for now?

Also, congrats on the acceptances guys!
 
I got accepted early February and sent back the acceptance form right away saying I would be attending. The next week or so I got an email from Downstate confirming they got my letter back to them. What is the next step? Will they be mailing me some sort of information packet? It's been over a month and I haven't really heard anything. I want to apply for financial aid and all, but I haven't heard anything from them about how to do that. Should I go ahead and add them to my FAFSA for now?

Also, congrats on the acceptances guys!
They should mail you something; you can always call to check. You can definitely add them to FAFSA already, though.
 
I interviewed jan 22 and the rejection letter was postmarked mar 6.
 
For the record, there's a Downstate marketplace FB group (you should be able to search it; let me know if you can't find it) where people will be posting about roommates/housing/etc., so that could also be a good place to advertise.

I know there is an official one that the school runs. Is there an informal one run by students yet?
 
I interviewed jan 22 and the rejection letter was postmarked mar 6.
I'm so sorry to hear that. I interviewed that same day as well and I am wondering how was your experience, do you think it went well? Thanks for sharing!
 
I know there is an official one that the school runs. Is there an informal one run by students yet?
This is the marketplace group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/DownstateCOMMarketplace/
There's your class's official group, which people basically don't use after orientation. Don't think there's an informal one yet. I have a feeling that'll get set up after our exams, since I have a feeling that's my class's responsibility, so hang in there for now.
 
Does anyone know when the applicants held for spring review are going to hear back?

Are you talking about pre or post interview?

Pre-interview, I'm not really sure, although the interview season goes through early April so the latest you'd hear back would be sometime around then.

In terms of post-interview, I got the acceptance call off of the hold for spring list on May 21st last year and I think that it was the second day (at least according to SDN) that people were getting in off of that list. At that time, I had checked and seen that there were only 1 or 2 people that got in off of hold for spring before May 15th, so I'd guess that you'd most likely hear back then.
 
So does "hold for spring" yield more acceptances than the alternate list? I was put on HFS back in November and I though it was just a delayed "kiss of death" but now is there hope?
 
So does "hold for spring" yield more acceptances than the alternate list? I was put on HFS back in November and I though it was just a delayed "kiss of death" but now is there hope?

Saw this on their website ..
19. I received a decision email stating that my application is on hold after interview. Is this an alternate list?
The Alternate list placement is decided in late May. An applicant must first be on the Hold list to be eligible for consideration for the Alternate list.

Do we need to be placed on hold for spring to be placed on the alternate list?
 
Saw this on their website ..
19. I received a decision email stating that my application is on hold after interview. Is this an alternate list?
The Alternate list placement is decided in late May. An applicant must first be on the Hold list to be eligible for consideration for the Alternate list.

Do we need to be placed on hold for spring to be placed on the alternate list?

I think, emphasis on think, that the alternate list is created once the class is officially filled after the May 15th deadline. What I mean by that is, on May 15th, Downstate will find out how many of their accepted students are going to matriculate. At that point, they'll begin calling applicants off of the "Hold for Spring Consideration" list (aka HFS/the waitlist). Once the class has officially been filled (applicants accepted off of the HFS list now fill any remaining vacant seats) an alternate list is made. This alternate list will serve as the list of students that Downstate will choose from if someone that is holding a seat decides to withdraw.

Because waitlists at every school are moving throughout the summer, a student that has accepted their seat at Downstate may be accepted to another school, which would result in someone being called from the alternate list to fill a seat. I would imagine that the class will be filled by the end of May as Downstate will likely begin calling applicants off of the waitlist soon after May 15th (May 20th last year) and fill the remainder of the class with waitlisted applicants by the end of May. At that point they'll create an alternate list; those students will continue to be candidates for the class through the first day of Orientation in early August. I'm aware of a couple of individuals that were pulled off of the alternate list - one of whom came off of it the week before Orientation, but many, many students came off the HFS list (including myself).
 
Anyone interviewed 2/5 still waiting to hear back and slowly fading into nothingness? :welcome:
 
I interviewed 2/11 (though I stupidly wrote before that I interviewed sometime in January). I'm slowing withering, but it hasn't been egregiously long yet.

That's true. I have never been more anxious for Mondays to come since it means a new week for emails to check and post to tear open. I've become an outcast. WILSOOOOOON!
 
Does anyone get rejected off of HFS? Or does being on it mean you are essentially waitlisted....sorry to keep rehashing this but I just don't want to get my hopes up for nothing >.<
 
Does anyone get rejected off of HFS? Or does being on it mean you are essentially waitlisted....sorry to keep rehashing this but I just don't want to get my hopes up for nothing >.<

I don't believe so, or at least not until later in the summer when the class is filled, but even so, I'd imagine that HFS applicants would be put on the alternate list at that point. My assumption is that rejections for students given a post-interview HFS will be officially rejected at the start of August orientation if not called off of the list beforehand. Please take that with a grain of salt as I am not involved with admissions, but am solely speaking from experience - I don't want to disappoint you.
 
Financial aid offer in the mail today, loans only (didn't expect much). I live near the school.
 
So I just got an II for late April. I'm excited and a little surprised to be interviewing so late. Does that mean I will be notified pretty shortly after due to the 5/1 deadline? I'm used to schools taking a few weeks.
 
So I just got an II for late April. I'm excited and a little surprised to be interviewing so late. Does that mean I will be notified pretty shortly after due to the 5/1 deadline? I'm used to schools taking a few weeks.

Which 5/1 deadline are you referencing? I interviewed towards the end of March and was notified that I was put on "Hold for Spring Consideration" on May 12th before the May 15th deadline for withdrawing all but one acceptance. I then got the call that I was accepted less than 10 days later. I wouldn't expect to hear back before May 1st, but I think that it's reasonable to expect to hear back before May 15th.
 
Hi guys,

I was invited for interview recently. I've rummaged through this thread for insight on how interviews are conducted at Downstate and haven't come to a clear conclusion. Any interviewees care to share how their interviews went and what kind of questions were asked? Help a sucka out please 🙂
 
Which 5/1 deadline are you referencing? I interviewed towards the end of March and was notified that I was put on "Hold for Spring Consideration" on May 12th before the May 15th deadline for withdrawing all but one acceptance. I then got the call that I was accepted less than 10 days later. I wouldn't expect to hear back before May 1st, but I think that it's reasonable to expect to hear back before May 15th.

Oh I thought the deadline to pay a deposit if accepted was 5/1. I guess I am mistaken then. Either way I will probably be hearing within 3 weeks which is pretty good.
 
Oh I thought the deadline to pay a deposit if accepted was 5/1. I guess I am mistaken then. Either way I will probably be hearing within 3 weeks which is pretty good.

They'll still be sending out acceptances off the waitlist far after 5/1, so I'm sure they give you more time after that. Good news is that since the AAMC moved up the traffic rule date this year, waitlist movement should start sooner!
 
Well that's good, I like hearing soon. I'm a little nervous since the interview is so late in the season, I doubt they have a bunch of spots. But at the same time they wouldn't just send me an invite if they weren't interested.
 
Hi guys,

I was invited for interview recently. I've rummaged through this thread for insight on how interviews are conducted at Downstate and haven't come to a clear conclusion. Any interviewees care to share how their interviews went and what kind of questions were asked? Help a sucka out please 🙂

It was honestly the most relaxed interview I've ever had. Small tour and lunch before the interview (or after), and a writing sample. The day is really short. Interview was 1 on 1 with a staff member. Some people had doctors or deans, I had a researcher at the school interview me. They have a checklist of questions they have to ask and they're all the generic interview questions you would expect. A lot of the interview seemed to be geared towards figuring out how you deal with stress and how you play with a team. Also they liked seeing if you're a well-rounded person. Overall it was a very relaxed and pleasant experience, for me at least. But the general consensus was the same. With that being said, I still do not know if I got accepted or not, lol
 
Well that's good, I like hearing soon. I'm a little nervous since the interview is so late in the season, I doubt they have a bunch of spots. But at the same time they wouldn't just send me an invite if they weren't interested.

It was honestly the most relaxed interview I've ever had. Small tour and lunch before the interview (or after), and a writing sample. The day is really short. Interview was 1 on 1 with a staff member. Some people had doctors or deans, I had a researcher at the school interview me. They have a checklist of questions they have to ask and they're all the generic interview questions you would expect. A lot of the interview seemed to be geared towards figuring out how you deal with stress and how you play with a team. Also they liked seeing if you're a well-rounded person. Overall it was a very relaxed and pleasant experience, for me at least. But the general consensus was the same. With that being said, I still do not know if I got accepted or not, lol
+1, the questions on here are what they ask: http://schools.studentdoctor.net/?reload=1&r=1426474966197
 
Getting excited for my upcoming interview at Downstate! April feels so late, but everyone here has talked about how relaxed the process was, and I am starting to feel okay with it. It is close to decision deadlines but hey, if they're still interviewing they must still have spots left, right? Right?
 
Lol, guys, I heard from Downstate 11 weeks after I interviewed. It was the most nerve wreaking experience. The only way to get through it is to get through it. Distract yourself as best you can and don't go on SDN too much
 
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