2014-2015 University of Colorado Application Thread

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ski89 said:
I don't know if I should be embarrassed to admit this, but the frustration of being powerless over my fate at CU led me to focus my time on something that I do have power over. I got a copy of Step 1 First Aid and have started to make Anki decks for the material lol. While I know many will say its stupid to start studying for med school before you start, but I figure it's at least less stupid than sitting around refreshing SDN or counting the number or people in the Facebook group. Keep in mind too that I also have kids, so I rarely have the option of heading down to the bars or whatever any given night when I need to blow of some steam. Too be honest, it's actually been helpful 🙂
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Lol. I bought this too, but then felt demorilized when my padre said "I think your getting a bit ahead of yourself."
Your posting has made me want to go crack it open again!
 
lol yeah I can't really argue with your padre. Although like I said, it's actually more therapeutic than anything haha.
 
ski89 said:
I don't know if I should be embarrassed to admit this, but the frustration of being powerless over my fate at CU led me to focus my time on something that I do have power over. I got a copy of Step 1 First Aid and have started to make Anki decks for the material lol. While I know many will say its stupid to start studying for med school before you start, but I figure it's at least less stupid than sitting around refreshing SDN or counting the number or people in the Facebook group. Keep in mind too that I also have kids, so I rarely have the option of heading down to the bars or whatever any given night when I need to blow of some steam. Too be honest, it's actually been helpful 🙂
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I should go do that too. It sounds really nice to put all of my nervous energy into something that is at least somewhat productive
 
I feel like its probably more productive to pick up a new hobby or spend extra time with friends and family doing whatever before school starts. If I do anything like study I might just pick up Biochem for dummies to skim through when I have nothing better to do since I've never taken it.
 
Grenerd said:
I feel like its probably more productive to pick up a new hobby or spend extra time with friends and family doing whatever before school starts. If I do anything like study I might just pick up Biochem for dummies to skim through when I have nothing better to do since I've never taken it.
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Yeah, I wasn't doing it so much for productivity but rather for stress relief. Hitting the books and the gym, trying my best to prevent hitting some thing.
 
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Grenerd said:
I feel like its probably more productive to pick up a new hobby or spend extra time with friends and family doing whatever before school starts. If I do anything like study I might just pick up Biochem for dummies to skim through when I have nothing better to do since I've never taken it.
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I think you over estimate the time I have to spend with friends or to pick up a new hobby as a father of two 😉. It's more like; ok what am I going to do during their nap or when I put them down for the night - should I stress over and analyze the status of my waitlist position, or crack open a book that I will need to become intimately familiar with over the next two years.
 
IMHO - pre-studying for med school can be counterproductive for two reasons: 1) you're learning without context and 2) you're creating flashcards over two years before you start studying for Step 1. For me, a lot of the value derived from making flashcards (or Anki decks) comes from the process itself.

I would highly recommend picking up a Kindle and finding some good books to read over the next few months. Won't be a ton of time during med school to enjoy some quality fiction.

-Bill
 
ski89 said:
I think you over estimate the time I have to spend with friends or to pick up a new hobby as a father of two 😉. It's more like; ok what am I going to do during their nap or when I put them down for the night - should I stress over and analyze the status of my waitlist position, or crack open a book that I will need to become intimately familiar with over the next two years.
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You are very right, I've got zero experience in that realm haha. What about mindlessly watching Game of Thrones, House of Cards, etc? Seems like it could be a good nap time activity heh.
 
Heh sorry guys, I didn't mean to start a long debate on the matter. But nevertheless...

BillrothI said:
IMHO - pre-studying for med school can be counterproductive for two reasons: 1) you're learning without context and 2) you're creating flashcards over two years before you start studying for Step 1. For me, a lot of the value derived from making flashcards (or Anki decks) comes from the process itself.

I would highly recommend picking up a Kindle and finding some good books to read over the next few months. Won't be a ton of time during med school to enjoy some quality fiction.

-Bill
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I'm not sure I would buy that it's counterproductive (if you mean that literally; as in it's actually harmful). First off, I'm not making cards for topics I don't understand. I have really only been looking through material that I have already learned at some point (biochem, stats, some physiology) - I'm not trying to tackle histology for example. Also, I'm not trying to study for step 1, I'm just becoming familiar with the material because I find it interesting. I've also never used Anki until the last week or two so part of me just wanted to be come familiar with creating decks efficiently and experimenting with the program since I intend to make good use of it come August. Finally, I have always been someone who would much rather read a nonfiction book than fiction (the Kids Almanac was my favorite book as an 8-10 year old lol). I know it sounds dumb to some people but I'm doing it for my own personal enjoyment as I try to distract myself during this very stressful time.

Grenerd said:
You are very right, I've got zero experience in that realm haha. What about mindlessly watching Game of Thrones, House of Cards, etc? Seems like it could be a good nap time activity heh.
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Lol its funny you say that. I have already binge watched both of them! Great shows.
 
ski89 said:
I'm not sure I would buy that it's counterproductive (if you mean that literally; as in it's actually harmful). First off, I'm not making cards for topics I don't understand. I have really only been looking through material that I have already learned at some point (biochem, stats, some physiology) - I'm not trying to tackle histology for example. Also, I'm not trying to study for step 1, I'm just becoming familiar with the material because I find it interesting. I've also never used Anki until the last week or two so part of me just wanted to be come familiar with creating decks efficiently and experimenting with the program since I intend to make good use of it come August. Finally, I have always been someone who would much rather read a nonfiction book than fiction (the Kids Almanac was my favorite book as an 8-10 year old lol). I know it sounds dumb to some people but I'm doing it for my own personal enjoyment as I try to distract myself during this very stressful time.
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Just to chime in (cause when do I not) I think its great. Plus, its probably more enjoyable than taking up a hobby because a new hobby would likely not squelch the stress. Worst case scenario (which may not even be bad) you'll just get to reinforce the info when you study it again later. Ultimately I think it helps because we want to one day become competent physicians, so even if we can't control the expediency of CU, at least we can start building our knowledge base.
 
ski89 said:
I'm not sure I would buy that it's counterproductive (if you mean that literally; as in it's actually harmful). First off, I'm not making cards for topics I don't understand. I have really only been looking through material that I have already learned at some point (biochem, stats, some physiology) - I'm not trying to tackle histology for example. Also, I'm not trying to study for step 1, I'm just becoming familiar with the material because I find it interesting. I've also never used Anki until the last week or two so part of me just wanted to be come familiar with creating decks efficiently and experimenting with the program since I intend to make good use of it come August. Finally, I have always been someone who would much rather read a nonfiction book than fiction (the Kids Almanac was my favorite book as an 8-10 year old lol). I know it sounds dumb to some people but I'm doing it for my own personal enjoyment as I try to distract myself during this very stressful time.
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Fair enough. I agree that learning how to use Anki before the first day of class is a fantastic idea. I've been trying to do the same, although I can't seem to get a handle on "Image Occlusion."

FWIW - as far as non-fiction books go, I really enjoyed "The Future of the Mind" by Michio Kaku. It's a challenging read, but totally accessible for the lay person.

-Bill
 
BillrothI said:
Fair enough. I agree that learning how to use Anki before the first day of class is a fantastic idea. I've been trying to do the same, although I can't seem to get a handle on "Image Occlusion."

FWIW - as far as non-fiction books go, I really enjoyed "The Future of the Mind" by Michio Kaku. It's a challenging read, but totally accessible for the lay person.

-Bill
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Yeah image occlusion has been giving me problems too. I couldn't even get my pictures to show up correctly until yesterday. But it seems like a really powerful tool for learning subjects like anatomy and histology.

And thanks for the book tip! I'll look into that. Have you read "Moonwalking with Einstein"? - an interesting commentary on the power of our memory.
 
ski89 said:
Yeah image occlusion has been giving me problems too. I couldn't even get my pictures to show up correctly until yesterday. But it seems like a really powerful tool for learning subjects like anatomy and histology.

And thanks for the book tip! I'll look into that. Have you read "Moonwalking with Einstein"? - an interesting commentary on the power of our memory.
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Yes! Loved it. If you haven't seen it already, Joshua Foer's TED talk is definitely worth a watch.

-Bill
 
Hi guys. Do you know if there's a specific email we should send our withdraw letter to? I've looked through the email correspondence but I'm not entirely sure. I loved the school and think it'd an amazing place to study but my personality just fits a little better somewhere else. I hope one of you gets my spot!
 
oncemagic said:
Hi guys. Do you know if there's a specific email we should send our withdraw letter to? I've looked through the email correspondence but I'm not entirely sure. I loved the school and think it'd an amazing place to study but my personality just fits a little better somewhere else. I hope one of you gets my spot!
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You could probably send it to Vidal Dickerson
 
oncemagic said:
Hi guys. Do you know if there's a specific email we should send our withdraw letter to? I've looked through the email correspondence but I'm not entirely sure. I loved the school and think it'd an amazing place to study but my personality just fits a little better somewhere else. I hope one of you gets my spot!
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Mercedes Golden has sent me all of my updates:

[email protected]

You can reach the office of admissions at [email protected]

Or "for more complex inquiries" [email protected]

Good luck out there!!
 
Is anyone looking for a roommate? I don't have access to the FB page yet so I am posting here. PM please!
 
The deadline for holding a single acceptance is May 15, correct? Because CU definitely says April 30 on their website...
 
Only one more day! Hooray.
I wonder when the first WL acceptances will go out.
I'm hoping one of us will hear something by Cinco de Mayo!
 
Side note. The fb numbers are on the way down. Room for us to bring them back up!
 
max1221 said:
Did anyone get any sort of verification / response regarding requesting to stay on the waitlist?
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I did but I think only because I mentioned to Mercedes that I had received two emails and was only replying to one of them and she said that she had been impatient with the outgoing email and double sent it. But it seems mostly they do not confirm.
 
max1221 said:
Accepted! Hooray. stay positive guys! I am uber hopeful for you too. Looking forward to hearing all of your posts when you receive good news too!
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Woah, congrats!! Today?
 
For those that have been accepted off the waitlist, how long are they giving you to accept/decline?
 
max1221 said:
2 weeks
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If pulled off the waitlist, my decision will be primarily on financial aid. Is 2 weeks long enough to find out how much I am awarded? Can I start applying before accepted? Is anyone getting scholarships?
 
Senor Pez said:
If pulled off the waitlist, my decision will be primarily on financial aid. Is 2 weeks long enough to find out how much I am awarded? Can I start applying before accepted? Is anyone getting scholarships?
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I have yet to get my aid and was accepted in October...
 
Were those of you who got accepted off the waitlist asked to log onto the CU financial aid portal to provide more information? Or had you already done that via the prospective student portal?
 
Hey guys! Can someone tell me how to get into the accepted students FB page?
 
Sacrifice a small animal and then message one of the group admins. That might get you into the group in 3-4 weeks.
 
Does anyone have any status on the WL...how many acceptances have gone out, how many are left, when calls are made, etc.??
 
Grenerd said:
Got accepted by phone call from Dr. Z at 10:40 today. Very excited, CU has been my top choice since I was a kid! Good luck for all those still waiting!
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Yay! Very happy for you. And thank you for sharing. Good luck to the rest of us still waiting.
 
For the contract and residency confirmation forms is it ok to email in a scanned version or did you guys send them in via snail mail?
 
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