2014-2015 The Commonwealth Medical College Application Thread

Discover Your Odds of Getting into Medical School
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plasmamorris said:
The MCAT (at least what will become the old MCAT in a few months) is separated into total score and verbal score. The GPA is obviously cumulative GPA and BCMP GPA. Each member reads folders for those up for evaluation and scores the candidate on a scale of 1-7. Averages for each candidate are established among the adcom members along with the score given by interviewers (both student and faculty). Cutoffs are established in the meeting. For example (these may not be the actual cutoffs): 5 and above would be granted acceptances, 4's would be deferred, 3 and below would be rejected outright. These are established at each adcom meeting. These cutoffs have been trending upwards as we are no longer a "backup school". The averages for our first year class meet those of many allopathic med schools. Decision dates historically have been: late october, late november/early december, early february, late march and late april.
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So is the verbal score considered significantly more important than the other sections? Does the VR get specifically mentioned much in meetings?
 
FedSquarewall said:
When i interviewed I was told starting in January you get every Monday for step 1 and 3-4 weeks after M2 for dedicated step 1 time.
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really? I was told that were encouraged to work it into 2nd year because there isn't set time given out for studying. I wonder if a current student could chime in
 
plasmamorris said:
About a month and a half of dedicated time depending on when you decide to take step 1. For example - the Mind block (the last block of 2nd yr) ended on Friday. All M2s have to take Step 1 before June 17th (don't remember the exact date, but it's around then). Third year starts June 18th.

Also starting in January, every Monday M2s have off to study for step.
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From last year's thread as well.
 
Is anyone having success sending updates? I've tried [email protected], the email they send the secondary from and delivery failed multiple times. I tried changing it to .edu and delivery failed saying that the domain was not found. Thanks for any help!
 
readingrl said:
Is anyone having success sending updates? I've tried [email protected], the email they send the secondary from and delivery failed multiple times. I tried changing it to .edu and delivery failed saying that the domain was not found. Thanks for any help!
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I emailed my update letter to this email address ( [email protected]) and I got a reply the same day.
 
FedSquarewall said:
From last year's thread as well.
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Haha that's handy that you found my answer to that from last year. As a second year going through this now - I can tell you that it's true. You get mondays "off" starting in January and about 5 weeks of dedicated step prep time. It seems to be enough for most people and the current 3rd years seems to have done well on step 1 so no worries on my end going into January. People start studying for step all over the place. I'm not gonna sit here and say what's right and what's wrong. You'll get here and figure out what makes sense for you. I think giving monday's off is a rather unique idea that I'm not sure is something you'll encounter at other schools.

Some soap box preaching - pre-meds as a whole think far too much about step 1. Get into med school, pass and learn first year really well and then worry about step 1. Step is important - but it has its time and its place. Trust me - you will miss not having to think about step 1.
 
lmw312 said:
I meant to be productive today, but it appears I will instead be staring at my email.
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+1 Anyone know if they meet to review all applications up to date or are they only certain dates? Interviewed 11/12
 
Hi! For anyone that has already interviewed, how did you send "Thank you" for the interview? Did you send it via email or mailed a thank you card?
 
doctor_mommy said:
Hi! For anyone that has already interviewed, how did you send "Thank you" for the interview? Did you send it via email or mailed a thank you card?
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A bit counter intuitive, but I did not send "thank you" notes to my interviewers. I didn't want to write in cliches, so I decided against thank you notes. I made sure to thank both of my interviewers after the conclusion of our conversations. In my personal opinion, thank you notes are usually over-done and often lack a personal feel. Of course, if you believe you can make your thank you note stand out and more personal I would send them to the admissions office to be forwarded to the respective recipient via email. Hope this helps!
 
doctor_mommy said:
Hi! For anyone that has already interviewed, how did you send "Thank you" for the interview? Did you send it via email or mailed a thank you card?
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for me it depends on the school. sometimes theyll give you information on who to mail thank you notes to, and in that case i mail them.
if they dont, i make sure to ask for a business card and email.
agreed about the personal part though, include sometime from what you talked about
 
I've just received my invite and the only days it says available for MD interview are two days at the end of Feb. and 2 days in the middle of Mar. These two times are pretty close so do you guys think there is much difference in interviewing earlier in this case? There is only a difference of about 2 weeks...
 
Anyone who interviewed 10/29 hear ANYTHING back yet?

Also on a side note: there is a little trend here.
Deferred emails sent out on = Wed, 11/12
Acceptance emails sent out on = Wed 11/19
Rejection emails coming on = Wed 11/26 ?? 🙁
 
tybuchanan said:
A bit counter intuitive, but I did not send "thank you" notes to my interviewers. I didn't want to write in cliches, so I decided against thank you notes. I made sure to thank both of my interviewers after the conclusion of our conversations. In my personal opinion, thank you notes are usually over-done and often lack a personal feel. Of course, if you believe you can make your thank you note stand out and more personal I would send them to the admissions office to be forwarded to the respective recipient via email. Hope this helps!
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Accepted on Nov 19th! Lizzy M = 74 and interviewed 9/29.

I have to disagree with this quote. I did send a thank you note to both the student interviewer and instructor. I believe thank you notes are a common courtesy, even if they are cliche. Remember these interviewers took the time out of their busy day to interview you and explain your cause for being a good fit at that school. If you appreciate the time they took to interview you and reiterate your story and why you believe school X would be a good fit to reach your career goals, it can only help you. Thank you notes are meant to be personal. You can talk about the conversation you had with each interviewer along with addressing any concerns you might have had in the interview. It is hard to make a cliche thank you note unless you always talk about the same thing with each interviewer. I think it is a must(it can only help), especially because almost all my interviewers give me their email address or business address. MMI are too short to write thank you notes though.
 
minion1992 said:
Accepted on Nov 19th! Lizzy M = 74 and interviewed 9/29.

I have to disagree with this quote. I did send a thank you note to both the student interviewer and instructor. I believe thank you notes are a common courtesy, even if they are cliche. Remember these interviewers took the time out of their busy day to interview you and explain your cause for being a good fit at that school. If you appreciate the time they took to interview you and reiterate your story and why you believe school X would be a good fit to reach your career goals, it can only help you. Thank you notes are meant to be personal. You can talk about the conversation you had with each interviewer along with addressing any concerns you might have had in the interview. It is hard to make a cliche thank you note unless you always talk about the same thing with each interviewer. I think it is a must(it can only help), especially because almost all my interviewers give me their email address or business address. MMI are too short to write thank you notes though.
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Congrats on the acceptance and I will respect your differing opinion, which is held by many if not most students.
 
II here!! OOS applicant and complete 08/13. Almost lost my **** when I got an invite because I did not expect it :zip:Soonest date I found was end of Feb. Good luck to you all and congrats to the accepted.
 
loveanswers said:
Anyone who interviewed 10/29 hear ANYTHING back yet?

Also on a side note: there is a little trend here.
Deferred emails sent out on = Wed, 11/12
Acceptance emails sent out on = Wed 11/19
Rejection emails coming on = Wed 11/26 ?? 🙁
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You should read a stats textbook. Probably a few times over actually.
 
Hi Folks,

Long time lurker.

Did your rejection e-mails include something about continuing to pursue your goals in medicine and an invitation to look at TCMC's Masters of Biomedical Science?

Thanks!
 
noleknight16 said:
Denied today. 🙁
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Sorry to hear that! So was I...definitely bummed out, but what can we do but move on.

Wanted to ask you - did your rejection e-mail include info on looking at their MBS program? Wondering if they send this to all students...

Thanks so much!
 
deuteron said:
Sorry to hear that! So was I...definitely bummed out, but what can we do but move on.

Wanted to ask you - did your rejection e-mail include info on looking at their MBS program? Wondering if they send this to all students...

Thanks so much!
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Yep, had info about their master's program.
 
minion1992 said:
Accepted on Nov 19th! Lizzy M = 74 and interviewed 9/29.

I have to disagree with this quote. I did send a thank you note to both the student interviewer and instructor. I believe thank you notes are a common courtesy, even if they are cliche. Remember these interviewers took the time out of their busy day to interview you and explain your cause for being a good fit at that school. If you appreciate the time they took to interview you and reiterate your story and why you believe school X would be a good fit to reach your career goals, it can only help you. Thank you notes are meant to be personal. You can talk about the conversation you had with each interviewer along with addressing any concerns you might have had in the interview. It is hard to make a cliche thank you note unless you always talk about the same thing with each interviewer. I think it is a must(it can only help), especially because almost all my interviewers give me their email address or business address. MMI are too short to write thank you notes though.
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This is very accurate imo. I try to send a thank-you note after each interview and although they all have the same general tone, I try to tailor it towards my interviewers and the conversations we had. As long as your thank-you note is seems courteous and genuine, it won't hurt you
 
I'm kinda nervous for my interview now. I'm an OOS applicant, my stats aren't as phenomenal as many of you guys (Lizzy M <70), and my interview isn't until Feb. Tips or advice to really blow it out of the water?? :scared:
 
LuckyDoc91 said:
I'm kinda nervous for my interview now. I'm an OOS applicant, my stats aren't as phenomenal as many of you guys (Lizzy M <70), and my interview isn't until Feb. Tips or advice to really blow it out of the water?? :scared:
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Don't worry about your stats. If they invited you for the interview, they think you're a competitive candidate. TCMC wants people who fit their mission statement and demonstrate their values. I would suggest studying up on NEPA and the community based model they implement in their curriculum.
 
tybuchanan said:
Don't worry about your stats. If they invited you for the interview, they think you're a competitive candidate. TCMC wants people who fit their mission statement and demonstrate their values. I would suggest studying up on NEPA and the community based model they implement in their curriculum.
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Thank you for your response, this definitely helps. I plan to be myself (as I was on my primaries and secondaries) and hope this is what they're looking for. Congrats on your acceptance by the way!
 
LuckyDoc91 said:
Thank you for your response, this definitely helps. I plan to be myself (as I was on my primaries and secondaries) and hope this is what they're looking for. Congrats on your acceptance by the way!
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Thanks! I think that is a great plan of action. It's a really laid back interview setting.
 
LuckyDoc91 said:
I'm kinda nervous for my interview now. I'm an OOS applicant, my stats aren't as phenomenal as many of you guys (Lizzy M <70), and my interview isn't until Feb. Tips or advice to really blow it out of the water?? :scared:
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+1 As others have said don't worry about your stats. Interviewers don't have access to any of them anyway at TCMC. Concentrate on the area, the flipped classroom second year, and LIC in third year.
However, It's a small school so even though it's relaxed still be conscientious the rest of the day (intro speech, introducing yourself, interviews, and exit interview) some of these may include the Dean of admissions as in my case).
 
CharmanderMD said:
@plasmamorris, I've heard that students are able to rank their choices for their campus assignment, is this true? Being assigned to the west campus is pretty important to me so I just want to know what I need to do to make sure it happens. Thanks!
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Typically accepted students are given a preference form and told to rank the 3 campuses. If this still exists next year - they try and give everyone one of their top 2 selections. However, just based on the nature of the distribution - a lot of people pick north. So if you put West as #1 you are almost guaranteed to get it.
 
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