2014-2015 University of Kentucky Application Thread

BU Medical Sciences
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nike98 said:
Based on last years thread there could be some waitlist news this week. Does anyone have any additional information on this?
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I called them about two weeks ago, and they told me to look out for an email the week of the 13th so yes, you're right we should expect something this week.
 
Can anyone access their online application? The one that had your status and what not? I can't seem to login, it says that the admissions period is over.
 
xClashx said:
Can anyone access their online application? The one that had your status and what not? I can't seem to login, it says that the admissions period is over.
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I ran into the same thing. Guess they close the portal when they stop accepting secondaries?
 
shirlly89 said:
Man does anyone else think tuition at UK is really expensive?!?
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It is expensive. If you aren't in-state, it's definitely something to consider if you get into your state school. I'm from California, and I did not. My choices were between here and private schools, which weren't THAT much less than out-of-state tuition here. When I was making my decision about which school to attend, the overwhelmingly positive feeling I had about the people and opportunities at UK outweighed the 10-15K difference in tuition between here and private schools. And I'm extremely glad I made the decision I did. I love it here, and I don't think I would be as happy at the other schools I got into, some reasons for which I didn't even think about when I was making my decision. To others, the higher cost might carry higher weight in their decision. I will say the fixed price of tuition here at least ensures I won't pay more each year. Tuition is skyrocketing universally it seems.

Unfortunately, I also do not have billionaire grandparents.
 
nike98 said:
Nope. Will they send out rejections or do them silently?
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I'm not sure 🙁.. The hold letter they sent says they will update us on the status of our application prior to developing the final alternate list.
Is anyone else planning to call them on Monday?
 
Honestopinion said:
Has anyone heard anything yet?????
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Nope, I have been glued to my phone all week waiting for an email. She said because they usually send out the email en masse, that it might be wise to also check your spam. No luck for me there either 🙁
 
doyouhaveaflag said:
It is expensive. If you aren't in-state, it's definitely something to consider if you get into your state school. I'm from California, and I did not. My choices were between here and private schools, which weren't THAT much less than out-of-state tuition here. When I was making my decision about which school to attend, the overwhelmingly positive feeling I had about the people and opportunities at UK outweighed the 10-15K difference in tuition between here and private schools. And I'm extremely glad I made the decision I did. I love it here, and I don't think I would be as happy at the other schools I got into, some reasons for which I didn't even think about when I was making my decision. To others, the higher cost might carry higher weight in their decision. I will say the fixed price of tuition here at least ensures I won't pay more each year. Tuition is skyrocketing universally it seems.

Unfortunately, I also do not have billionaire grandparents.
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Could you speak a little more on your impressions of the school? I'm especially curious about how prepared students feel for Step 1 and the strength of the clinical years -- particularly in setting up students to match to competitive specialities. Thanks!
 
FZY_Health_Student said:
Nope, I have been glued to my phone all week waiting for an email. She said because they usually send out the email en masse, that it might be wise to also check your spam. No luck for me there either 🙁
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No luck for me either. Do you remember if she said anything about rejections? I know in the past people said they got the rejection letter, but they were also not placed on hold.
 
spockprime said:
Could you speak a little more on your impressions of the school? I'm especially curious about how prepared students feel for Step 1 and the strength of the clinical years -- particularly in setting up students to match to competitive specialities. Thanks!
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I'm only a first year so I can't say too much about board prep or strength of clinical years. I also have no comparison - this is the only med school I've been to! We can try to recruit @Phlox to answer. He (she?) is a fourth year, although our preclinical curriculum has changed since he was in it.

What I do know is the last block of second year is a step 1 prep class put on by our instructors. According to rumor, last year's second years did very well on step 1 and had a very high average. In terms of matching into a competitive specialty, that is entirely up to you and the work you want to put into it. If you kill the boards and do good research, you can match to a competitive specialty from here. I don't know how to interpret match lists because I don't know which programs are good, but we did have students match this year into "big name" programs, including UCSF derm, Stanford Diagnostic Radiology, and Mt. Sinai Ophthalmology among others. No idea if big name = good.

Sorry to not be very informative. If you want to know why I think the school is great (unrelated to board prep and clinical years), I can elaborate on that.
 
doyouhaveaflag said:
I'm only a first year so I can't say too much about board prep or strength of clinical years. I also have no comparison - this is the only med school I've been to! We can try to recruit @Phlox to answer. He (she?) is a fourth year, although our preclinical curriculum has changed since he was in it.

What I do know is the last block of second year is a step 1 prep class put on by our instructors. According to rumor, last year's second years did very well on step 1 and had a very high average. In terms of matching into a competitive specialty, that is entirely up to you and the work you want to put into it. If you kill the boards and do good research, you can match to a competitive specialty from here. I don't know how to interpret match lists because I don't know which programs are good, but we did have students match this year into "big name" programs, including UCSF derm, Stanford Diagnostic Radiology, and Mt. Sinai Ophthalmology among others. No idea if big name = good.

Sorry to not be very informative. If you want to know why I think the school is great (unrelated to board prep and clinical years), I can elaborate on that.
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No, thank you your response is great! And yes, I'd definitely love to hear your opinion of the school! That would be so helpful.
 
spockprime said:
No, thank you your response is great! And yes, I'd definitely love to hear your opinion of the school! That would be so helpful.
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What a perfect excuse to not study for the big Neuro exam on Monday! One thing that I think is seriously under-advertised about the school that I was looking for in choosing where to go is how much clinical exposure you get in the preclinical years. We have a fair amount of required shadowing for our longitudinal Intro to Clinical Medicine class and we get some say in which specialties we shadow. If you want to do more, it's easy to do so. We actually got a list of MDs in all specialties saying they were willing to take on first years. I find this clinical experience really valuable because it keeps me reminded of what the end game is - becoming a doctor - and I'm always surprised at how much I've learned so far as a first year actually applies to real-life doctoring. I also like making connections with the physicians and getting to know them. In addition, we get a lot of practice doing patient interviews with simulated patients. I feel pretty good about taking a history. And if you want to go above and beyond the required shadowing/interviewing practice, you can volunteer at the Salvation Army Clinic where you get to actually talk to and touch real patients and present them to the physician like a 3rd or 4th year student would. I really enjoy going to clinic.

The doctors here are also great, although again I have no comparison to other places. The ones I've worked with have been accessible, friendly, and great teachers. Almost invariably, when I've emailed one about shadowing or research, etc. I've gotten a response the same day, often the same hour. Some heads of department have made themselves available to be advisors even to us lowly first years and can help set you up with research in that field if you're looking for it. Even if you don't want to work with the department chair, the two docs who run the PSMRF research program make it their job to find you a research position doing something interesting to you. When I emailed someone I wanted to do research with based off the recommendation of a department chair, I got a positive response on my first try. A small stipend is available by application if you have a specific project you want to work on. In addition to getting advising from the department heads, the College of Medicine administration has two really excellent and experienced people who offer advising whenever you want to make an appointment and talk. In fact, everyone in the College of Medicine administration office is amazing. These are the nicest, most helpful people you could hope to work with. I always have extremely positive interactions with them and they are very receptive to suggestions about improving our curriculum. It's fluid and they tweak it every year based on the student evaluations.

Every med school has interest groups, but the ones here have really fun and useful workshops and perks that I've gotten a lot of benefit from. Want to learn anatomy better and impress on your rotations? The ultrasound group regularly puts on how-to workshops for different types of scans and you get access to the ultrasound lab several times a week if you want to practice on your own. Want to learn how to scrub in and suture for your surgery shadowing and future rotation? The emergency medicine interest group and surgery interest groups both put on suture workshops and the surgery group did a scrubbing in instruction. Other opportunities/workshops included access to the scrub machines for shadowing, interpreting a chest Xray, an emergency helicopter ride along, and putting on casts (among others). Again, it feels good to learn skills that feel like they will apply to your future career this early on.

One thing I didn't think about when I was choosing a school that I actually really value now is that the first year classroom is an auditorium within the hospital. If I want to shadow, I go down the hall. If I want to meet with my research group, I go down the hall. I see the physicians I've shadowed or met through research in the coffee line. It may seem trivial, but I feel like part of the hospital community. Something I thought would be important that turns out not to be (to me) is the grading system. I really thought I wanted pass/fail but I kinda like the reported percent. If you work really hard and get a high 90's score, it shows up on your transcript as such. I find this really motivating, but I may be a minority here. Another thing I thought would be important that isn't is the location. I'm from a big city on the West Coast (or rather, a suburban sprawl around a big city) so I thought I would get bored here. Turns out I don't have time to get bored. I study most of my waking hours that I'm not in class so I don't really miss the activities I had available back at home. I go out on weekends with friends, but a bar is a bar no matter where you are. And the bars here have cheap drinks. And it's super cheap to live here.

Sorry for the incredibly long post. I am a master procrastinator. No doubt I'll think of ten more things tonight that I wish I had said. I've clearly been drinking the Kool-aid. Bottom line, I really like med school. It's possible I would have liked it anywhere I went, but I came here and I am happy I did.
 
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Honestopinion said:
No luck for me either. Do you remember if she said anything about rejections? I know in the past people said they got the rejection letter, but they were also not placed on hold.
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No she didn't. It's definitely not rejection if you're placed on hold. There's still hope for us.
 
spockprime said:
Could you speak a little more on your impressions of the school? I'm especially curious about how prepared students feel for Step 1 and the strength of the clinical years -- particularly in setting up students to match to competitive specialities. Thanks!
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I am currently a 4th year (for about another month!); the first and second year curriculum has changed since I started, but I can answer from my perspective. We did not have the block of Step 1 prep, which I have heard good things about, but I felt prepared for Step 1. I think UK offers plenty of study time (most students do 4-6 weeks of dedicated study time), which is important and not something I thought about when I was applying to medical schools. Much of your Step 1 score is about you and how you prepare, and you can get a good score at any school as there are lots of good resources out there.

Our student affairs deans have told us that historically, UK students tend to do well on Step 2, which I think speaks to the strength of the clinical years. I particularly felt like our long internal medicine block (16 weeks) was valuable, and like the fact that emergency medicine is part of third year curriculum (often an elective, and in many schools not until fourth year). You will rotate at the University of Kentucky Hospital, the VA, Good Samaritan (which is more of a community hospital), and various outpatient clinics, so there is a nice variety of settings and each is a little different. People sometimes complain about AHEC rotations (off-site rotations, generally in rural areas of the state), and although they can be inconvenient, I learned a lot on the ones I did and the one I did fourth year was one of my favorite rotations. UK draws its patients from a large area of Kentucky, so you will see unusual and interesting things in addition to your bread and butter cases.

Going to UK will not prevent you from matching in a competitive specialty or at a prestigious program, but I would agree that much of that will lie with you. It will require you to be proactive about getting involved in research, extracurriculars, doing well on boards, etc. but all the opportunities are there. I'm not sure how helpful this is, but please let me know if there are any other questions I can answer.
 
Got the alternate list offer after a long "Hold Status" is this the usual with UK? And I'm assuming Alternate = Wait List?

Thanks, first post here... Wish I'd known about the forum sooner... Haha.
 
doyouhaveaflag said:
It is expensive. If you aren't in-state, it's definitely something to consider if you get into your state school. I'm from California, and I did not. My choices were between here and private schools, which weren't THAT much less than out-of-state tuition here. When I was making my decision about which school to attend, the overwhelmingly positive feeling I had about the people and opportunities at UK outweighed the 10-15K difference in tuition between here and private schools. And I'm extremely glad I made the decision I did. I love it here, and I don't think I would be as happy at the other schools I got into, some reasons for which I didn't even think about when I was making my decision. To others, the higher cost might carry higher weight in their decision. I will say the fixed price of tuition here at least ensures I won't pay more each year. Tuition is skyrocketing universally it seems.

Unfortunately, I also do not have billionaire grandparents.
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I decided to come to UK for this upcoming year with this same scenario. Came down to UK OOS (family nearby though) or a private school across the country. Felt like I had a great connection with people at UK and that I can be incredibly successful here though the other school has a little more prestige. Excited to join everyone
 
Very very difficult decision but i just withdrew yesterday. Hope the spot goes to the rest of you. 🙂
 
won'tstop said:
Very very difficult decision but i just withdrew yesterday. Hope the spot goes to the rest of you. 🙂
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I am holding on to my phone to hear the good news.....jk....the class is oversubscribed 🙁
Hopefully more people start deciding soon.
 
They told me on the phone that applicants have until May 5th to decide so, I bet that after that date there should be some major movement!
 
Thanks for the info! Hopefully we will be classmates! 🙂

Then again, as a international applicant, chances are slim xD
 
xClashx said:
Thanks for the info! Hopefully we will be classmates! 🙂

Then again, as a international applicant, chances are slim xD
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I am international. and just FYI i think UK is really friendly to international students. so don't lose your hope yet!
 
Just got the call from off the waitlist! Now I have about 24 hours to make a decision...
 
yeah. I don't expect any IS movement anytime soon.
 
Withdrew my acceptance. Seems like it came so fast! I loved the school, but it just wasn't the best fit for me. Good luck to everyone else!
 
There was no confirmation email or anything right. I've decided to go here and wanted to make sure that I'm in the class still
 
Recently withdrew my acceptance, OOS

Good luck to everyone still waiting!
 
I wonder why the list has slowed down so soon? Maybe it will speed up after May 5.
 
pinky44 said:
I will be starting as M1 in fall. I'm looking for a female roommate who is not a smoker and has no pets. If interested, please PM me. If you're already at Kentucky, and looking for a roommate, let me know.
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I can't personally help with this, cause I'm a guy, but if you haven't already, join the Facebook Group for our class! There are still people on there looking for roommates. We even have a Google spreadsheet set up for finding roommates, and the last time I looked there were at least a couple of girls on there.
 
This is a very dumb question/thought. But I was wondering, what happens if you miss their acceptance call? Do they leave voicemails?
 
Honestopinion said:
This is a very dumb question/thought. But I was wondering, what happens if you miss their acceptance call? Do they leave voicemails?
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Based on my experience, yes they do leave a voicemail (with a very strong hint that you've been accepted). If they're still unable to reach you, they might send an email as well. Once you confirm that you've received their offer, you have a business day to decide.

Hope that helps & good luck!

Personally I loved the campus and the people, but the differences in cost and distance were too great for me.
 
sustinamith said:
I can't personally help with this, cause I'm a guy, but if you haven't already, join the Facebook Group for our class! There are still people on there looking for roommates. We even have a Google spreadsheet set up for finding roommates, and the last time I looked there were at least a couple of girls on there.
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thank you! I have joined the FB group.
 
accepted OOS today! I was wondering if anybody else is in similar situation as I am in which is deciding between U of Louisville or U of Kentucky, I love them both and was wondering if there are any advantages to attending one over the other. Have to tell UK my decision by Monday afternoon
 
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