2014-2015 University of South Florida Application Thread

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ricecakeMD said:
GL!! 🙂 sending good vibes your way.

Could you/any current med student elaborate more on the pros/cons of SELECT?
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I'm currently an MS1 in SELECT. Obviously these are my personal opinions based on my experience, but here's my latest pro/con list.

Pros:
Having prologue week solely with SELECT helped us form really strong friendships right from the start of school. As someone who's pretty shy at first, I honestly believe this was crucial in my feeling comfortable during the first few weeks of class.
The staff is awesome - you get an additional support system that is invested in your success. This means more people to ask for advice, or for networking, etc.
Coaching groups - you have your regular doctoring group that all students are split up into, but SELECT also has a coaching group w/ faculty mentors. I love have time to discuss the information presented during our SELECT classes with a smaller group of classmates. Additionally, my LVHN faculty coach is incredible, and really boosted my confidence when I had some difficulty transitioning from a gap year to intense studying.
LVHN - Allentown itself is a cool little 'city' that has so much opportunity for learning about and working with different patient populations. LVHN is an INCREDIBLE medical system, and - bonus! - you have fewer classmates to 'compete' with when you're on rotations, meaning more 1 on 1 time with the staff. (This has been verified to me by multiple MS3/4s.) Also, if you are hoping to match in the NE, the fact that you are doing your clinical rotations in the NE can't hurt your chances.

Cons:
THE COST. For me, I guess it doesn't really matter since I'm OOS, but I want to give my IS SELECT classmates a hug whenever I remember that we pay 30k/yr more than Core.
It's kind of clique-y. I mean that in the nicest way possible - I personally don't try to be SELECT-exclusive, but it kind of just happens sometimes. We spent so much time together at the start of school that our friend groups are comprised of a lot of other SELECT students. However, I notice the cliques in Core and DPT also, so I don't think I can really put that as just a SELECT issue.
You don't get to rotate in Tampa your 3rd year. USF students have a decently high rate of matching to USF residencies, and this limits your chances to get to know the staff at Tampa General/Moffitt/the VA/etc. I personally want to match up North, so I'm not too concerned about this, but it may be problematic if you are hoping to match at USF or another FL program.

This last one can be either a pro or a con, depending on your attitude - you get out of SELECT classes what you put into it. If you go in thinking that things like mindfulness are complete BS, or you're not willing to discuss some things that are personal with your coaching group/coach, then you're going to have a terrible time in SELECT, and you'll probably make your classmates pretty frustrated with your negativity. But, if you go into it saying "ok, I may not completely agree with this, or I may not be totally interested in this topic, but I'm going to try my best to see how it connects to medicine and how I can best relate aspects of it to my own career goals and interests", then you'll enjoy the classes and learn a lot more.

Feel free to PM or respond with other questions. I can also ask some of my classmates any questions if you'd like to get other opinions 🙂
 
You are awesome, thank you! Very informative. I'm sorry if this sounds ignorant but when you say you are a MS1 but you are in PA already, what does that mean? Would your main faculty mentors be located in PA, so you KIT through email while you are in Tampa? And would there be opportunities to do research with the faculty?

Also I'm wondering what are the popular specialities/matches in SELECT.

Thank you so much!! I really appreciate it, I'm having a bit of trouble finding information online besides the curriculum overview on USF's website and I prefer personal perspectives anyways. 🙂

starkidbee said:
I'm currently an MS1 in SELECT. Obviously these are my personal opinions based on my experience, but here's my latest pro/con list.

Pros:
Having prologue week solely with SELECT helped us form really strong friendships right from the start of school. As someone who's pretty shy at first, I honestly believe this was crucial in my feeling comfortable during the first few weeks of class.
The staff is awesome - you get an additional support system that is invested in your success. This means more people to ask for advice, or for networking, etc.
Coaching groups - you have your regular doctoring group that all students are split up into, but SELECT also has a coaching group w/ faculty mentors. I love have time to discuss the information presented during our SELECT classes with a smaller group of classmates. Additionally, my LVHN faculty coach is incredible, and really boosted my confidence when I had some difficulty transitioning from a gap year to intense studying.
LVHN - Allentown itself is a cool little 'city' that has so much opportunity for learning about and working with different patient populations. LVHN is an INCREDIBLE medical system, and - bonus! - you have fewer classmates to 'compete' with when you're on rotations, meaning more 1 on 1 time with the staff. (This has been verified to me by multiple MS3/4s.) Also, if you are hoping to match in the NE, the fact that you are doing your clinical rotations in the NE can't hurt your chances.

Cons:
THE COST. For me, I guess it doesn't really matter since I'm OOS, but I want to give my IS SELECT classmates a hug whenever I remember that we pay 30k/yr more than Core.
It's kind of clique-y. I mean that in the nicest way possible - I personally don't try to be SELECT-exclusive, but it kind of just happens sometimes. We spent so much time together at the start of school that our friend groups are comprised of a lot of other SELECT students. However, I notice the cliques in Core and DPT also, so I don't think I can really put that as just a SELECT issue.
You don't get to rotate in Tampa your 3rd year. USF students have a decently high rate of matching to USF residencies, and this limits your chances to get to know the staff at Tampa General/Moffitt/the VA/etc. I personally want to match up North, so I'm not too concerned about this, but it may be problematic if you are hoping to match at USF or another FL program.

This last one can be either a pro or a con, depending on your attitude - you get out of SELECT classes what you put into it. If you go in thinking that things like mindfulness are complete BS, or you're not willing to discuss some things that are personal with your coaching group/coach, then you're going to have a terrible time in SELECT, and you'll probably make your classmates pretty frustrated with your negativity. But, if you go into it saying "ok, I may not completely agree with this, or I may not be totally interested in this topic, but I'm going to try my best to see how it connects to medicine and how I can best relate aspects of it to my own career goals and interests", then you'll enjoy the classes and learn a lot more.

Feel free to PM or respond with other questions. I can also ask some of my classmates any questions if you'd like to get other opinions 🙂
Click to expand...
 
ricecakeMD said:
You are awesome, thank you! Very informative. I'm sorry if this sounds ignorant but when you say you are a MS1 but you are in PA already, what does that mean? Would your main faculty mentors be located in PA, so you KIT through email while you are in Tampa? And would there be opportunities to do research with the faculty?

Also I'm wondering what are the popular specialities/matches in SELECT.

Thank you so much!! I really appreciate it, I'm having a bit of trouble finding information online besides the curriculum overview on USF's website and I prefer personal perspectives anyways. 🙂
Click to expand...

Not ignorant at all! I can see how it would be confusing 🙂 As an MS1 (and next year as an MS2), I am in Tampa taking the regular pre-clinical coursework with Core and DPT and Master's students. During SELECT classes and during our doctoring sessions, our assigned LVHN mentors skype into our lessons/meetings. I also skype with my LVHN mentor 1 on 1 once a month. Next block, I will be meeting with my USF mentor for those sessions on campus. My coaching group decided it'd be easier to just switch every block who we meet with.

My 'main faculty' is both USF and LVHN, then, because I talk with both mentors equally.

I honestly don't know much about research - we start thinking about research projects in November, I believe. But from what I've heard it's easy to do nearly anything you want, since you do your SELECT project over the summer and thus aren't limited geographically.

Again, can't say much about the popular specialties/matches in SELECT, because our first class graduates this year, with only 15 students. Quite a few of my classmates are interested in family med/peds/EM/surgery. I think it's a pretty balanced mix though, since a lot of us are interested in multiple specialties and are just looking forward to exploring them.

Of course! I agree, the website is lacking, but I think that's just because the program is so new and they're still working out how to incorporate all their awesome ideas into a fully cohesive program. I know I based my SELECT preference on the fact that I would do my rotations at LVHN, which really didn't give me any information into the actual program. There are still kinks to be ironed out, but the faculty is so receptive to feedback, especially from the students - a lot of new things in the program this year were directly suggested by the current MS2s. (This is true of our pre-clinical curriculum in general, as well.) I truly feel the SELECT faculty wants this program to be a strong presence in the medical field, and they are willing to listen to everyone's opinions in order to make the program be successful.
 
This is all very helpful and I think it speaks even more about the school's students/atmosphere when medical students go on these threads to answer our questions. Thank you again 🙂


starkidbee said:
Not ignorant at all! I can see how it would be confusing 🙂 As an MS1 (and next year as an MS2), I am in Tampa taking the regular pre-clinical coursework with Core and DPT and Master's students. During SELECT classes and during our doctoring sessions, our assigned LVHN mentors skype into our lessons/meetings. I also skype with my LVHN mentor 1 on 1 once a month. Next block, I will be meeting with my USF mentor for those sessions on campus. My coaching group decided it'd be easier to just switch every block who we meet with.

My 'main faculty' is both USF and LVHN, then, because I talk with both mentors equally.

I honestly don't know much about research - we start thinking about research projects in November, I believe. But from what I've heard it's easy to do nearly anything you want, since you do your SELECT project over the summer and thus aren't limited geographically.

Again, can't say much about the popular specialties/matches in SELECT, because our first class graduates this year, with only 15 students. Quite a few of my classmates are interested in family med/peds/EM/surgery. I think it's a pretty balanced mix though, since a lot of us are interested in multiple specialties and are just looking forward to exploring them.

Of course! I agree, the website is lacking, but I think that's just because the program is so new and they're still working out how to incorporate all their awesome ideas into a fully cohesive program. I know I based my SELECT preference on the fact that I would do my rotations at LVHN, which really didn't give me any information into the actual program. There are still kinks to be ironed out, but the faculty is so receptive to feedback, especially from the students - a lot of new things in the program this year were directly suggested by the current MS2s. (This is true of our pre-clinical curriculum in general, as well.) I truly feel the SELECT faculty wants this program to be a strong presence in the medical field, and they are willing to listen to everyone's opinions in order to make the program be successful.
Click to expand...
 
Oh wait sorry one last logistical question: where did you stay for your interview? Was it in allentown? I'm trying to Amtrak/bus from DC from another interview so I'm trying to smooth out the details.
 
I honestly don't know much about research - we start thinking about research projects in November, I believe. But from what I've heard it's easy to do nearly anything you want, since you do your SELECT project over the summer and thus aren't limited geographically.
Click to expand...

Did my summer project this summer and wanted to specify that it is designed to focus on the competencies that SELECT emphasizes Patient Centered Care, Leadership, and Health Systems. Beyond that it's flexible and can be as hard or easy as you want it to be. Some of my classmates made a documentary on health systems in Europe and what we can learn from them. Another created a community garden in Allentown. You do receive a stipend for it as well. There is the option to do a project in Allentown with faculty up there. There are even free housing options up there available (dormitories) for students not from the area.
 
ricecakeMD said:
Oh wait sorry one last logistical question: where did you stay for your interview? Was it in allentown? I'm trying to Amtrak/bus from DC from another interview so I'm trying to smooth out the details.
Click to expand...

My interview was in Allentown at LVHN - Cedar Crest. I ended up staying with a friend who lived nearby, but there are hotels in the area - I know that there's a Holiday Inn and a Comfort Suites right off of Cedar Crest Blvd, and there's probably some smaller ones as well.
 
lbjfan4life said:
Any recent core interviews? My app was viewed 10/2 but no update since then, so just wondering
Click to expand...
dont sweat it mann mine was viewed on the 23rd and no notice on my end as well... tbh i think the only people who got interviews so far are people with extremely high mcat scores and turned in app super early or were part of EDP!
 
Hello everyone!

Don't mean to distract from D-Day, but I wanted to know if anyone could advise me on how I can go about submitting an update letter. I don't see a tab to do so on the portal. Is it expected to just email them directly via their admissions email address? Please and thanks! I appreciate the help.

**Good luck (and congrats) to everyone receiving decisions today!
 
roqk08 said:
Hello everyone!

Don't mean to distract from D-Day, but I wanted to know if anyone could advise me on how I can go about submitting an update letter. I don't see a tab to do so on the portal. Is it expected to just email them directly via their admissions email address? Please and thanks! I appreciate the help.

**Good luck (and congrats) to everyone receiving decisions today!
Click to expand...

Before you send any update, make sure the school accepts them! They may be found as a nuisance.
 
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roqk08 said:
Hello everyone!

Don't mean to distract from D-Day, but I wanted to know if anyone could advise me on how I can go about submitting an update letter. I don't see a tab to do so on the portal. Is it expected to just email them directly via their admissions email address? Please and thanks! I appreciate the help.

**Good luck (and congrats) to everyone receiving decisions today!
Click to expand...


According to the USF secondary invitation email, they don't want any updates.
 
roqk08 said:
Hello everyone!

Don't mean to distract from D-Day, but I wanted to know if anyone could advise me on how I can go about submitting an update letter. I don't see a tab to do so on the portal. Is it expected to just email them directly via their admissions email address? Please and thanks! I appreciate the help.

**Good luck (and congrats) to everyone receiving decisions today!
Click to expand...

You can only send an update if you've been invited to interview there.
 
Just wanted to say I withdrew my application so hopefully my II spot goes to someone else
 
can yall post your stats :O or were you guys EDP?
 
Got the call from Dr. Daniel not too long ago. Accepted CORE, regular decision, in state. I almost didn't answer because it was a blocked number haha. Dr. Daniel is a great guy, and it was a pleasure to hear the great news straight from him.

Interviewed this month and was complete mid-July. Non-traditional with a 6.7 GPA and 78 MCAT. (i.e. PM me if you really want to know my "numbers," but I am the sum of my experiences—and I think the admissions folks at USF understood that.)

USF is a fantastic school with some lovely people and great facilities. It would be an honor to attend the COM. Good luck to everyone out there! Keep on overcoming all the obstacles this crazy process throws at you, and you'll be fine. 🙂
 
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Also got the call from Dr. Daniel at 9:30pm. I was making a pumpkin pie and my hands were a mess, and when the phone rang I saw "No Caller ID", my immediate thought was that it was Charlie Christ or Rick Scott calling asking for money again.... so not sure why I answered but glad I did.

In case it helps anyone else, I'm a non-traditional, IS, 32 MCAT, sGPA 3.6, cGPA 3.8, file was complete early or mid august (right after they sent the secondary) interviewed on 9/23.
 
Dr. Daniel called me at work! I missed it! RAWR. So begins 24/7 phone monitoring.....
 
Accepted! I got the call yesterday around 4 pm. Someone I know called USF and they said Dr. Daniel is out of town so he's calling while traveling, so if you were expecting to hear yesterday and didn't hear anything don't give up hope.

IS, traditional, sGPA 3.8, cGPA 3.7, 32 MCAT, app complete 8/1, interviewed 9/26
 
lbjfan4life said:
Any recent core interviews? My app was viewed 10/2 but no update since then, so just wondering
Click to expand...
Sorry if this is a silly question and I am just missing something which should be obvious, but where can you find info on when your application was viewed? I would think the "Application Status" page, but mine doesn't say anything about being viewed even though I have been complete since 7/25.
 
Woo! Got accepted last night! Dr. Daniel called me while I was in a patient's room and I dropped everything and ran outside to take the call! Lol.

IS, CORE, non-traditional, sGPA 3.3, cGPA 3.6, MCAT 32, app complete 8/8, interview on 9/16, accepted 10/16
 
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Is everyone accepted so far CORE program? Any acceptances from SELECT and if so do you guys mind sharing when you interviewed?
 
NGBlack said:
Woo! Got accepted last night! Dr. Daniel called me while I was in a patient's room and I dropped everything and ran outside to take the call! Lol.

IS, CORE, non-traditional, sGPA 3.3, cGPA 3.6, MCAT 32, app complete 8/8, interview on 9/16, accepted 10/16
Click to expand...

quick question what do you mean by non-traditional? do you mean you were EDP?
 
asi466 said:
quick question what do you mean by non-traditional? do you mean you were EDP?
Click to expand...
Non-traditional means he/she didn't come right from undergrad. So he/she took at least 1 year off and maybe worked, did research, did a master's, was in the military, ...
 
dawgfan11 said:
Any II for SELECT recently? Program seems awesome here, and I'm crossing my fingers for an interview!
Click to expand...

I applied to the CORE program and kinda weirdly got a phone call from USF yesterday telling me that they thought I fit their SELECT program and asked if I would like to go down to interview for that. Unfortunately for me I don't really have any interest in having to leave the Tampa area and its good hospitals to go to Pennsylvania.
 
anyone familiar with the area willing to comment on what Tampa is like. I interviewed in Miami a while back and was a bit overwhelmed by the city (traffic, size of the city, etc). Just too big of a city for me personally. any thoughts?
 
I went to USF undergrad and I would say that Tampa is a nice size city without being overwhelming like say Miami. The traffic is no where near as bad as Miami but it does have the normal rush hour traffic and I wouldn't be caught dead on I-275 during rush hour. My impressions while living there were its a large enough city that there are things to do so your not bored and the beach is relatively close if you're into that. I don't know what size city your coming from but I came from a large Florida city before my move to Tampa and it was a easy transition.
 
cacambo said:
I applied to the CORE program and kinda weirdly got a phone call from USF yesterday telling me that they thought I fit their SELECT program and asked if I would like to go down to interview for that. Unfortunately for me I don't really have any interest in having to leave the Tampa area and its good hospitals to go to Pennsylvania.
Click to expand...

The LVHN health network is one of the best hospital systems in the country. There are many reasons not to do SELECT ($$ being the most apparent reason for me), but the quality of the clinical rotations and hospitals I don't think is one of them.
 
cacambo said:
I applied to the CORE program and kinda weirdly got a phone call from USF yesterday telling me that they thought I fit their SELECT program and asked if I would like to go down to interview for that. Unfortunately for me I don't really have any interest in having to leave the Tampa area and its good hospitals to go to Pennsylvania.
Click to expand...
Perhaps you should try to contact someone in admissions regarding that phone call.

Last year I attended a general meeting with the USF medical school admissions officers to answer any questions applicants had about applying (specifically, to USF). At one point they brought up the topic of letting applicants know whether they are a better fit for CORE or SELECT, if the student did not originally apply to that program. It was my understanding that if, for example, a student was found to be a better candidate for the SELECT program when they only applied CORE, were notified, and did not switch programs, that they did not get into the program they DID originally apply to. Which is terrible. However, I know there have been changes from last year, hopefully this is one of them. I really would highly suggest asking admissions for their 2 cents if they are allowed to answer, because it would be awful to be passed up just because you fit one program better than the other.
 
xffan624 said:
The LVHN health network is one of the best hospital systems in the country. There are many reasons not to do SELECT ($$ being the most apparent reason for me), but the quality of the clinical rotations and hospitals I don't think is one of them.
Click to expand...

I didn't mean to imply that the other health system was inferior, it just doesn't interest me to have to leave Tampa and rotations that I would prefer there at Moffitt/TGH/etc.
 
cacambo said:
I applied to the CORE program and kinda weirdly got a phone call from USF yesterday telling me that they thought I fit their SELECT program and asked if I would like to go down to interview for that. Unfortunately for me I don't really have any interest in having to leave the Tampa area and its good hospitals to go to Pennsylvania.
Click to expand...

would you mind posting your stats. Im wondering if people stats have to do with being encouraged to apply for CORE or SELECT?
 
asi466 said:
would you mind posting your stats. Im wondering if people stats have to do with being encouraged to apply for CORE or SELECT?
Click to expand...

3.7, 36---I think it has more to do with having a very large amount of clinical care hours/having spent a lot of time volunteering in a rural clinic. No real idea of what exactly they are looking for though.
 
anyone know if they are receptive to in the area emails?
 
cHs88 said:
anyone know if they are receptive to in the area emails?
Click to expand...

Per the secondary invite email, they don't want pre-interview updates.

EDIT: sorry I didn't realize you asked about ITA emails. Idk if they're receptive to ITA emails
 
2332740 said:
II for CORE today!!!

First II so far - Morsani sounds amazing.

Good luck to everyone still waiting to hear back - I'M SO EXCITED!!!
Click to expand...

Congrats! What dates are they scheduling for? And mind sharing stats?
 
II today! So excited about this school!

Good luck to everyone still waiting to here back!!
 
lbjfan4life said:
II today! So excited about this school!

Good luck to everyone still waiting to here back!!
Click to expand...
Congrats! If you don't mind me asking, do you know when USF viewed your application?
 
giraffesuptop said:
Per the secondary invite email, they don't want pre-interview updates.

EDIT: sorry I didn't realize you asked about ITA emails. Idk if they're receptive to ITA emails
Click to expand...

Well I am going to try I guess, because flights are expensive!
 
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