2014-2015 University of Arizona Application Thread

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buurin925 said:
Same... finally got a closing after all those hopeful emails
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+1. To be fair it was a pretty kind email, never said anything about a "rejection" or "not meeting criteria," etc. Best of luck to those who are still in the running.
 
JPA178 said:
+1. To be fair it was a pretty kind email, never said anything about a "rejection" or "not meeting criteria," etc. Best of luck to those who are still in the running.
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It was, but it still stings. lol
 
Arizona doesn't seem to think higher education is a priority. The proposed $75 million cuts to higher education are actually now $104 million! When I was an undergrad at UA I remember my in-state tuition nearly doubled from around 6k to 10k per year because of budget problems in the state.

This leads me to question whether or not UA will hike the medical school tuition rates. Does anybody know if the tuition is locked? If not, does anybody know if this historic cost of attendance is correct (http://medical-schools.startclass.com/l/36/University-of-Arizona-College-of-Medicine-Tuscon)? Any input would be greatly appreciated.
 
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Hombre de Vitruvio said:
Arizona doesn't seem to think higher education is a priority. The proposed $75 million cuts to higher education are actually now $104 million! When I was an undergrad at UA I remember my in-state tuition nearly doubled from around 6k to 10k per year because of budget problems in the state.

This leads me to question whether or not UA will hike the medical school tuition rates. Does anybody know if the tuition is locked? If not, does anybody know if this historic cost of attendance is correct (http://medical-schools.startclass.com/l/36/University-of-Arizona-College-of-Medicine-Tuscon)? Any input would be greatly appreciated.
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Yes, the legislature here stinks. They'd rather fund more beds for private prisons that don't need them then fund education more fully.

That being said, no one can predict what will happen to tuition. For example, how will more funding through the Banner partnership affect things?

Logically speaking, it's in the best interest of a state medical school to provide cheaper tuition than private or OOS schools, as the more affordable tuition is a huge reason for why students select their state school over other options.
 
TheLionheart said:
Yes, the legislature here stinks. They'd rather fund more beds for private prisons that don't need them then fund education more fully.

That being said, no one can predict what will happen to tuition. For example, how will more funding through the Banner partnership affect things?

Logically speaking, it's in the best interest of a state medical school to provide cheaper tuition than private or OOS schools, as the more affordable tuition is a huge reason for why students select their state school over other options.
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Either way. This is the first website I have ever seen that has the historic costs of attendance to get an idea of how much the price *may* change. It'd be nice to have a current student verify the numbers. It also seems like there are "fees" associated with tuition so the true cost of tuition is actually higher.
 
Hombre de Vitruvio said:
Either way. This is the first website I have ever seen that has the historic costs of attendance to get an idea of how much the price *may* change. It'd be nice to have a current student verify the numbers. It also seems like there are "fees" associated with tuition so the true cost of tuition is actually higher.
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Any school you go to will have "hidden" fees. There are equipment fees, etc. Another school I was accepted to had a "technology fee" and a "student assembly fee".. I don't mean to justify it, but UACOM isn't the only school doing this.

With regards to tuition spikes, I'd expect it nationally as well (perhaps excluding private schools). No, the tuition at UACOM is not locked in (I've spoken to the financial aid office), and you should expect AT LEAST a 2% increase each year.
 
peanutsss said:
Can anyone current or prospective student comment on how accurate the cost of living budget is?

http://financial-aid.medicine.arizona.edu/cost-of-attendance

I looked at several cost of living calculators comparing Tucson to other cities and the cities I'm looking at are within a few percent of Tucson, for example Winston-Salem, NC. However their cost of living budgets are way different.

Wake Forest roughly $17k and UofA Tucson is roughly $26k. Like I said according to Bank Rate these cities are within 4.3% of each other in terms of total cost to live. (http://www.bankrate.com/calculators/savings/moving-cost-of-living-calculator.aspx) Is one high or one really low? Any thoughts?
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Hi! I have lived in Tucson for the past four years as an undergrad and currently live in a very nice home near the medical school. I can walk/bike to the medical school in minutes. I don't believe the cost of living budget is very accurate and know that the school has it overestimated to ensure we take out enough loans for each year. For rent, $500/month is very reasonable in the neighborhood and that eliminates transportation cost to get to school such as gas, parking pass, etc. With all utilities (including electricity, water, internet, the best cable package with watching every game possible, and alarm system), I pay under $600/month and groceries/gas costs me about $200/month. So for the past several years, I have budgeted $12,000 for the cost of living and this has never been an issue in Tucson.
 
Does anyone have info on when fin aid will be available?
 
Does anybody know how that huge education spending cut in Arizona is going to affect U of A Tuscon?
 
peanutsss said:
@livetoserve thank you for that thorough answer. Overestimating to increase access to loans for students seems to be the most plausible answer for why the stated value is so high.
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You're welcome! I know that it can be a pretty difficult decision when deciding between which medical school to attend. I know that at UACOM-Tucson, whatever you need/want to do, a faculty member will be willing whole-hearted to guide you. That is the reason why this medical school stands out to me.
 
hope2b62a said:
So, if the timeline is similar to last year's, this week or next we should hear whether or not we are being considered for the waitlist and the last round of acceptances should go out.
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They must be running late this year. I was in the Feb. 7th interview group and we haven't received any decisions yet (though I am hoping that it will be soon). They still have one more interview group (I think there was a group that came in late February) to consider after ours as well. I'd expect late March or early April to be when we hear from them about last acceptances/wait list decisions.
 
hope2b62a said:
So, if the timeline is similar to last year's, this week or next we should hear whether or not we are being considered for the waitlist and the last round of acceptances should go out.
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You're right, but they also added another interview date in late February, so if they follow this month-after trend, it won't be until late March and then early April.
 
OmnomBrains said:
They must be running late this year. I was in the Feb. 7th interview group and we haven't received any decisions yet (though I am hoping that it will be soon). They still have one more interview group (I think there was a group that came in late February) to consider after ours as well. I'd expect late March or early April to be when we hear from them about last acceptances/wait list decisions.
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HA! You beat me to it. 😛
 
Most nerve racking wait ever. Checking my e-mail every 15 minutes is a little ridiculous.
 
Either way, I just want them to dump me and get it over with!!
 
potatochip1 said:
come on buddy have a little faith! (not saying it has an impact, but its a nice thought)

As hard as the wait has been, and I do share some of your sentiment, UofA is still my top choice and I hope I get picked up.
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Being born, raised, and educated in this state doesn't bode well for acceptance 😉
 
marvelous31 said:
I just talked to admissions, who said that they are concluding their application cycle in mid-April and will send out the waitlist/rejected emails at that time. They also said (as anticipated) that there will be additional acceptance rounds between then and now.
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Thank you for getting in touch with them. It puts my mind at ease. Now I won't have to be as diligently watching my email.
 
Does anyone know around how many people have already been accepted?
 
Take this for what it's worth...ran into undergrad buddy who is now a third year and involved in admissions this morning and he says they admit around 200 total and have sent out around 160. I'm sure not everyone accepted will hold those seats by the traffic rules deadline, etc. he also said a "Big chunk of the class is filled in March." Something about the earlier admits getting into better schools and dropping, or whatever. Remember, this is all second hand.
 
hope2b62a said:
Take this for what it's worth...ran into undergrad buddy who is now a third year and involved in admissions this morning and he says they admit around 200 total and have sent out around 160. I'm sure not everyone accepted will hold those seats by the traffic rules deadline, etc. he also said a "Big chunk of the class is filled in March." Something about the earlier admits getting into better schools and dropping, or whatever. Remember, this is all second hand.
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Thanks so much for the update!!! I am a little confused though...if he told you that they admit approximately 200 and have already admitted 160 so far then, how can you say that a "Big chunk of the class is filled in March?" It seems like they have already filled most of their class if what he told you is true ( especially considering the 2/7 and 2/28 interview groups haven't even received an update). I am just a bit confused? 🙂
 
I'm sure there will be a lot of movement. If not now, then expect more after the April 30th deadline approaches. That's when many of the accepted students have to give up all but one acceptance.

Good luck!
 
workoutmaniac said:
Thanks so much for the update!!! I am a little confused though...if he told you that they admit approximately 200 and have already admitted 160 so far then, how can you say that a "Big chunk of the class is filled in March?" It seems like they have already filled most of their class if what he told you is true ( especially considering the 2/7 and 2/28 interview groups haven't even received an update). I am just a bit confused? 🙂
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Admissions departments typically admit more students than they have seats to fill exactly because of attrition (i.e. not all admitted students will matriculate). So, for example, a department may send admissions offers to 300 students if they want to fill a class of 200. If it's true that only 160 have been sent offers, then there is tons more room for offers to be sent.
 
fleiter53 said:
Admissions departments typically admit more students than they have seats to fill exactly because of attrition (i.e. not all admitted students will matriculate). So, for example, a department may send admissions offers to 300 students if they want to fill a class of 200. If it's true that only 160 have been sent offers, then there is tons more room for offers to be sent.
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Yea, but UA-Tucson wants to fill a class of only 115 ( not 200). They normally accept 200 total (including waitlist applicants). So if they have accepted 160 already, then they only have roughly 40 more spots left (including the waitlisters).
 
NonTradJp said:
Does anyone have info on when fin aid will be available?
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To answer my own question, I was told that UA-Tucson still are working through their application cycle but plan to get those done by Mid-April and have Fin Aid packages around then.
 
workoutmaniac said:
Yea, but UA-Tucson wants to fill a class of only 115 ( not 200). They normally accept 200 total (including waitlist applicants). So if they have accepted 160 already, then they only have roughly 40 more spots left (including the waitlisters).
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Could be, who really knows?
 
I don't know if using the number of people in the facebook group as an indication of those accepted is accurate, but there are 90 in there and it looks like at least 20 of them are current students.
 
workoutmaniac said:
Yea, but UA-Tucson wants to fill a class of only 115 ( not 200). They normally accept 200 total (including waitlist applicants). So if they have accepted 160 already, then they only have roughly 40 more spots left (including the waitlisters).
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I've gotten 6 deferral emails so far, and there was 1 round before that. So assuming there's 20 acceptances per round that would put it at 140 acceptances so far correct?
 
Anyone else feel like our speculating is similar? :hurting:🤣
"There's a lot of speculation on what the zombie apocalypse thing means. I have a feeling that it's kind of an expression of our subconscious fears. I think we know that something big and impossible - some enormous crash, around the corner."
Mark Pelegrino
 
workoutmaniac said:
Yea, but UA-Tucson wants to fill a class of only 115 ( not 200). They normally accept 200 total (including waitlist applicants). So if they have accepted 160 already, then they only have roughly 40 more spots left (including the waitlisters).
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Yup, and I think they are only filling a class of 105 this year because 10 of those spots are set aside for their P-MAP students. So I think they are accepting only like 190ish people this year.
 
Anybody from my February 7th interview date hear a decision yet? I hope this is the week.

Anxiety.
 
desertdweller said:
Not yet. And I believe they're on spring break now, so it might not be until next week that we hear.
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One of the med school profs informed me that the faculty don't go on break- so I'm hoping for an ad com meeting this week.
 
some students are on the adcom so it's kind of up in the air as to when they'll get their decisions done lol
 
I'm guessing next week for more decisions; from the past 3 SDN forums for U of A, it doesn't look like they've ever released a decision during spring break, coincidence or not... :shrug:
 
Hello, so like many of you I am anxiously awaiting the next round of admissions. U of A is my last hope and if I do not get in I will have to take a gap year. I was just curious as I am sure many of you on here have taken gap years, what some good options are to boost my resume if I unfortunately get denied.
 
zeec93 said:
Hello, so like many of you I am anxiously awaiting the next round of admissions. U of A is my last hope and if I do not get in I will have to take a gap year. I was just curious as I am sure many of you on here have taken gap years, what some good options are to boost my resume if I unfortunately get denied.
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When did you interview? if I were you I'd start preparing for a gap year regardless. Best case scenario you get your acceptance. Worst case scenario you're now prepared for your gap year and have a plan if you unfortunately don't get accepted. U of A doesn't offer feedback to applicants who are rejected unfortunately, so I'd look over your application and if there any significant weaknesses or anything missing I'd concentrate on those.

I'm a U of A re-applicant, so that's what I base this advice on.
 
zeec93 said:
Hello, so like many of you I am anxiously awaiting the next round of admissions. U of A is my last hope and if I do not get in I will have to take a gap year. I was just curious as I am sure many of you on here have taken gap years, what some good options are to boost my resume if I unfortunately get denied.
Click to expand...
This probably should have been posted elsewhere, but I'll indulge you. I have taken 2 years off and applied twice. I eventually got in the second time around. Still holding out on a UA acceptance though too. It seems to be fairly common so you'll be in good company. I know its stressful and there is a lot of doubt if you'll ever become a physician/surgeon. The best thing you can do is figure out what was weak in your application and fix it. Call the medical schools that are willing and talk to your pre-med advisors. FYI: UA wasn't too helpful in this regard as a reapplicant for me. This was my take away in general for why applicants don't get in.

1) Number of schools applied: If we assume the overall rate of acceptance is 40% for MD schools and there is a 4% acceptance rate for each school (96% rejection rate) that means that students on average apply to 12-13 schools. I did my math as follows Pr(any acceptance) = 1 - Pr(avg school rejection rate)^# of schools applied. For a more accurate model you should multiply the rejection rate of all schools applied to. These stats are hard, if not impossible to come by since MSAR publishes total number of matriculants rather than acceptances given out. Interestingly though MSAR MCAT and GPA data is for all accepted applicants which means the stats for all schools are likely inflated.

2) Types of schools applied: If you applied to mostly reach schools with super high GPA or MCAT scores as shown by the MSAR than you are shooting yourself in the foot. Keep in mind you should have a balanced MCAT. If your GPA and MCAT are in the bottom quarter of matriculated applicants than consider applying to DO schools. Heck, I'd consider it no matter what your academic stats are.

3) Submission date of AMCAS and secondaries: You should have your AMCAS by the end of June and your secondaries completed within 1-2 weeks after receiving them.

4) Weak medical experience: Medical experience is a must for any applicant. You should know what you are getting into and how medicine works. If you haven't shadowed a physician, do that and try to get a letter of recommendation out of it. I would suggest shadowing a DO since many DO schools require you to shadow a physician and high suggest shadowing a DO. I worked as a physician scribe in my 2 gap years. I hope my experience will help me as a medical student and future doc. If you have a better job lined up outside of medicine make sure you have good, current ECs in medicine.

5) Weak MCAT/GPA: Given the new MCAT I don't know what advice to give on retaking it. As for GPA, if your GPA is low consider enrolling in a post-bacc program for a 1-year special masters. There are quite a few, some even have a pathway to MD/DO from their programs. Class requirements are going to change significantly next year so make sure you have Anatomy/Physiology, Psychology, Biochemistry, and Statistics. They seem to be the 4 "new" required courses.

In addition, you should do what I did and make a plan if you do not get into medical school next year. Having a plan if it didn't work out again reduced my stress significantly.
 
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Hombre de Vitruvio said:
This probably should have been posted elsewhere, but I'll indulge you. I have taken 2 years off and applied twice. I eventually got in the second time around. Still holding out on a UA acceptance though too. It seems to be fairly common so you'll be in good company. I know its stressful and there is a lot of doubt if you'll ever become a physician/surgeon. The best thing you can do is figure out what was weak in your application and fix it. Call the medical schools that are willing and talk to your pre-med advisors. FYI: UA wasn't too helpful in this regard as a reapplicant for me. This was my take away in general for why applicants don't get in.

1) Number of schools applied: If we assume the overall rate of acceptance is 40% for MD schools and there is a 4% acceptance rate for each school (96% rejection rate) that means that students on average apply to 12-13 schools. I did my math as follows Pr(any acceptance) = 1 - Pr(avg school rejection rate)^# of schools applied. For a more accurate model you should multiply the rejection rate of all schools applied to. These stats are hard, if not impossible to come by since MSAR publishes total number of matriculants rather than acceptances given out. Interestingly though MSAR MCAT and GPA data is for all accepted applicants which means the stats for all schools are likely inflated.

2) Types of schools applied: If you applied to mostly reach schools with super high GPA or MCAT scores as shown by the MSAR than you are shooting yourself in the foot. Keep in mind you should have a balanced MCAT. If your GPA and MCAT are in the bottom quarter of matriculated applicants than consider applying to DO schools. Heck, I'd consider it no matter what your academic stats are.

3) Submission date of AMCAS and secondaries: You should have your AMCAS by the end of June and your secondaries completed within 1-2 weeks after receiving them.

4) Weak medical experience: Medical experience is a must for any applicant. You should know what you are getting into and how medicine works. If you haven't shadowed a physician, do that and try to get a letter of recommendation out of it. I would suggest shadowing a DO since many DO schools require you to shadow a physician and high suggest shadowing a DO. I worked as a physician scribe in my 2 gap years. I hope my experience will help me as a medical student and future doc. If you have a better job lined up outside of medicine make sure you have good, current ECs in medicine.

5) Weak MCAT/GPA: Given the new MCAT I don't know what advice to give on retaking it. As for GPA, if your GPA is low consider enrolling in a post-bacc program for a 1-year special masters. There are quite a few, some even have a pathway to MD/DO from their programs. Class requirements are going to change significantly next year so make sure you have Anatomy/Physiology, Psychology, Biochemistry, and Statistics. They seem to be the 4 "new" required courses.

In addition, you should do what I did and make a plan if you do not get into medical school next year. Having a plan if it didn't work out again reduced my stress significantly.
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Nice response. Lots of good info. By the way...where have you already been accepted? And would you mind sharing your stats?
 
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