2014-2015 University of Southern California (Keck) Application Thread

BU Medical Sciences
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So I wanted to share my thoughts on USC after interviewing there this week. I was pretty disappointed with the school which was really surprising as I thought that I would love it before going. First off, the med school campus is very small and feels very claustrophobic. Also, this feeling was compounded by how much of a commuter school it is. With all the students just driving in each day, it seems like you lose out pretty dramatically in terms of having a close student community. The huge upside to the school is obviously LAC+USC medical center which is an amazing clinical opportunity.

Perhaps unrelated to the school, my interviewer had a really hard time communicating clearly with me and I couldn't really understand the questions she asked. The closed file interview also made it difficult to discuss much of substance as the interviewers questions just seemed to rehash my CV.

Finally, the school didn't really try and sell itself at all so I left the interview day with basically just the same understanding of the program I had from the website.

Great weather and the students were nice but I guess I was a little bummed about the experience. It was just a big difference from my other interview days where I invariably fell in love with each school.

As always, please take this with a grain of salt as this is only n=1.
 
For those who have interviewed or have had experience (forgive me if this is rude) but is there generally any difference between faculty and student interviews?

Thanks!
 
I'm blatantly stealing Dennisdamenice's posts from when I was considering Keck, because he's spot on. 🙂

"It is true that Keck is a commuter school. Despite this fact, we still have a very social / fun atmosphere, IMO. With all the social events planned in the first few weeks of school (beach day, bar nights, welcome dinner, team-building activities, etc.), you'll have plenty of chances to meet your fellow classmates.

There are numerous gatherings throughout the year (almost too many, in fact), including football games / tailgates, Halloween parties, and post-exam celebrations. Even if you don't live with your friends, you'll likely still see them for many hours on most days, studying in your MDL cubicles or at the library. Lastly, the students themselves are the biggest reason why Keck is a friendly place to be. The adcom prides itself on selecting sociable and genuine applicants. Throw in the fact that classes are P/NP for the first two years and you've got a good recipe for camaraderie. You also get a 2nd year student through the Big Sib program to hook you up if you are really clueless.

I almost forgot to mention that student orgs are another great way to interact with your peers. The basketball club meets weekly while the wilderness medicine club and surf club make several excursions during the year. With a relatively large student body and >65 active orgs, there's something for everyone at Keck.

Housing around campus isn't the best in terms of security & food options, but there is one complex right on the edge of HSC (City View Terrace) that hosts a sizable cohort of med students. There is also on-campus housing, but hardly any med students elect to live there. Most live in neighborhoods around 10-15 minutes away."
 
Aabs9295 said:
II today! SO DAMN EXCITED. Except that it is in December :/. Complete sometime mid July, Lizzy M ~75
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Congratulations! Literally SO jealous, this is my top choice 🙁 Anyone know how late they keep interviewing applicants?
 
i know that USC is super not receptive to any updates or emails, but what if we are abroad and can only come back for interviews for a specific period of time? is this something acceptable to notify the admissions office with?
 
DirkN said:
Congratulations! Literally SO jealous, this is my top choice 🙁 Anyone know how late they keep interviewing applicants?
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Thank you very much! All I could think was that if I hadn't gotten a response by now, it must mean a rejection. But it didn't! So hold on!! I really hope an interview is on your way 🙂
 
[QUOTE="Aabs9295, post: 15718109, member: 607178" Complete sometime mid July [/QUOTE]
Wow. Congrats. And I guess there is still some hope for me who was completed end of July. God I love LA.
 
bluemachine said:
i know that USC is super not receptive to any updates or emails, but what if we are abroad and can only come back for interviews for a specific period of time? is this something acceptable to notify the admissions office with?
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I emailed them and told them that I'll be in the west coast for about a month sometimes ago~and I'm a east coast gal. No email back, instead, the entire email content was listed as a "status update". I don't know I was benignly mocked or that's how they do it.
 
Asiandunce said:
For those who have interviewed or have had experience (forgive me if this is rude) but is there generally any difference between faculty and student interviews?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

On my interview date it seemed to be the consensus that student interviews were a bit more laid back overall (interviews are conducted by second year med students). However the Dean said the weight of the faculty interview vs. the student interview could vary depending on which provided more insightful information for the admissions committee.
 
II!!! OOS 36/<3.7 cGPA/sGPA.

After a string of rejections from several schools I liked, I come home to see an email from Keck with "Congratulations!" instead of "We regret..." Man, I'm speechless because after getting rejected from UPitt and Case (both of which I have family and alumni connections with), I thought that was a sure sign my application was tanking. For some reason, I feel like it was actually my secondaries that got me the II. Despite the atypical questions, I really enjoyed coming up with creative and deep answers for them. Maybe they also liked how I raved about how amazing my spring break trip to SoCal was 😉
 
wenbinbin said:
II!!! OOS 36/<3.7 cGPA/sGPA.

After a string of rejections from several schools I liked, I come home to see an email from Keck with "Congratulations!" instead of "We regret..." Man, I'm speechless because after getting rejected from UPitt and Case (both of which I have family and alumni connections with), I thought that was a sure sign my application was tanking. For some reason, I feel like it was actually my secondaries that got me the II. Despite the atypical questions, I really enjoyed coming up with creative and deep answers for them. Maybe they also liked how I raved about how amazing my spring break trip to SoCal was 😉
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Congrats as well! Similar stats to yours so that definitely gives me hope! When were you complete?
 
Friendly_female_house said:
[QUOTE="Aabs9295, post: 15718109, member: 607178" Complete sometime mid July
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Wow. Congrats. And I guess there is still some hope for me who was completed end of July. God I love LA.[/QUOTE]

Thanks, and there is definitely hope. Good luck!
 
DirkN said:
Still no word from these guys..starting to give up hope 🙁 so many friends have II's here already, it's definitely demoralizing.
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I feel you. But just hang in there. Silence is still better than a fast rejection. There are people who have been rejected by Keck already. I've been complete since mid-July and I still have no response from them. Keep yourself busy and chin up.😉
 
hellanutella said:
Just wanted to report back post-interview! I had a grand 'ol time at Keck, though this school did the least amount of "selling itself" out of all my interviews (or at least for my interview session). There's no formal curriculum talk or extracurricular opportunities spiel... and they don't seem to expect you to come with a pre-formed argument for "Why Keck" either. They just want to have a friendly conversation.

While I found their approach refreshing, I think students unfamiliar with the program end up missing out on a lot of USC's assets. Ex: as a researcher in the LA area, I am able to see firsthand what a research giant USC is... though this was not touched upon at all during interview day. For those unimpressed with their interview day, please be sure to talk to current students. I'm not affiliated with USC, but I think there's a lot more to Keck than what was presented on interview day.

PS: they seemed very anti-update letter. Hang in there, guys!
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I agree, Keck definitely didn't try to sell itself to us, but I feel like alot of schools do too much of that. IMO why did you apply to this school and travel to the interview if you didn't know the programs you were interested in already?

AA|FCB|DOC said:
Does anyone know what the focuses are at keck? The mission statement seems so general. Also, for those that received II, did you guys make your responses to the secondaries medically related or were they answers that weren't related to medicine? Thanks.
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I got the feeling that Keck wants students first and foremost to be good doctors, but also heavily encourages you to do pursue outside interests as well.

bluemachine said:
i know that USC is super not receptive to any updates or emails, but what if we are abroad and can only come back for interviews for a specific period of time? is this something acceptable to notify the admissions office with?
Click to expand...

If offered an interview I would call admissions and figure that out with them.

laf53221 said:
On my interview date it seemed to be the consensus that student interviews were a bit more laid back overall (interviews are conducted by second year med students). However the Dean said the weight of the faculty interview vs. the student interview could vary depending on which provided more insightful information for the admissions committee.
Click to expand...

I had the opposite, my student was kind of a hard interview.
 
Osteoth said:
I agree, Keck definitely didn't try to sell itself to us, but I feel like alot of schools do too much of that. IMO why did you apply to this school and travel to the interview if you didn't know the programs you were interested in already?
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Not to interject where I don't belong, but @hellanutella is from the west coast, and was very familiar with the program prior to visiting (based off both her post and my relentless creeping of her MDApps profile)...

She's essentially saying the same thing you are: don't visit USC without knowing anything about their curriculum because they won't explain it to you.

I educated myself on keck before I went too, but I likewise found the total lack of curriculum overview/discussion a bit peculiar. Not bad, just different. I agree with HN (and you) in essentially forewarning others to learn about the program before considering it/interviewing.
 
Anyone who already interviewed willing to do a quick edit of my secondary? Thanks
 
onceawolverine said:
Not to interject where I don't belong, but @hellanutella is from the west coast, and was very familiar with the program prior to visiting (based off both her post and my relentless creeping of her MDApps profile)...

She's essentially saying the same thing you are: don't visit USC without knowing anything about their curriculum because they won't explain it to you.

I educated myself on keck before I went too, but I likewise found the total lack of curriculum overview/discussion a bit peculiar. Not bad, just different. I agree with HN (and you) in essentially forewarning others to learn about the program before considering it/interviewing.
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Oh yeah my tone was not meant to be demeaning, I simply meant it as a general question to other schools where they spend hours upon hours talking about the curriculum and the facilities and the programs that were probably the reasons most medical students applied in the first place.

I just wonder if that means they don't expect kids to really know what they're doing when they come to the school and that they have to be "sold" on the school. Seems to belie a tone of underachieving future medical students if they don't already know a good amount about the medical school they might one day come to.
 
Does anybody know if they split their curriculum into normal/abnormal or do they do it systems based?
 
To those who have interviewed already, any last minute tips(I interview in a week)? I've gathered from this forum and the interview impressions website that the interviews tend to be a little more laid back. I've familiarized myself with some basic healthcare topics, did anyone feel they weren't prepared enough for the interview and could offer some insight? Thanks!
 
Will anyone be at LAX in the evening this Thursday (10/2)? I would love to split a cab from the airport to the area around USC.
 
anyone else have an issue with only 3 letters being accepted? 2 have to be sciences, but my best letters comes from a doctor and two supervisors. Now I have to lose out on sharing two of my good letters with them :/
 
I'm new here and enjoy reading all the interview tips for Keck🙂

I got my II this past week and was pleasantly surprised because I had only turned in the secondary mid-Sept. Good luck to everyone applying!!
 
invissideways said:
Any idea when we'll start to hear back?
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According to the MSAR October 15th is the earliest acceptance notification day. I don't know if that is based off the previous years or what but I didn't see anything on Keck's website to confirm that date. I can't wait either!
 
Anyone know how many acceptances per interview invitation Keck sends out? Specifically, what are my statistical chances as an OOS student who has already interviewed? I can't believe we're only ~one week away from initial acceptances!
 
OnTheChainwax said:
Anyone know how many acceptances per interview invitation Keck sends out? Specifically, what are my statistical chances as an OOS student who has already interviewed? I can't believe we're only ~one week away from initial acceptances!
Click to expand...

It's 54% or so accepted for OOS I believe.
 
invissideways said:
It's 54% or so accepted for OOS I believe.
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I have heard this figure before. Where did you get it?

MSAR shows 257 OOS interviews and 39 matriculants (I realize #matriculants < #acceptances); which is about 15%.
 
PreMedMatt said:
I have heard this figure before. Where did you get it?

MSAR shows 257 OOS interviews and 39 matriculants (I realize #matriculants < #acceptances); which is about 15%.
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[OOS: 3791 Applied, 240 interviewed, 130 accepted, 40 enrolled.
IS: 3961 Applied, 501 interviewed, 320 accepted, 146 enrolled.] -USNews
 
HingleMcCringleberry said:
[OOS: 3791 Applied, 240 interviewed, 130 accepted, 40 enrolled.
IS: 3961 Applied, 501 interviewed, 320 accepted, 146 enrolled.] -USNews
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Sweet! (Though I'm slightly terrified of what may come on the 15th... ignorance is bliss). Does anyone remember if they call/email/update the portal?

Good luck, Hingle! I'm sure the 15th will bring you good cause for excessive celebration.
Gn7Ymf9.gif
 
Wait are you guys saying they accept 450 total? Doesn't that seem like a lot?
 
hellanutella said:
Sweet! (Though I'm slightly terrified of what may come on the 15th... ignorance is bliss). Does anyone remember if they call/email/update the portal?

Good luck, Hingle! I'm sure the 15th will bring you good cause for excessive celebration.
Gn7Ymf9.gif
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Thanks! I might actually get called for excessive celebration if I'm sitting at work and receive great news. In the meantime, I will be nervously sweating it out for the next two weeks awaiting two top choices.

On a side note, I didn't want to like you so much with your awesome amount of interviews, but your Keck post-interview write-up was just too nice and useful haha thanks for that.

Best of luck!
 
hellanutella said:
Sweet! (Though I'm slightly terrified of what may come on the 15th... ignorance is bliss). Does anyone remember if they call/email/update the portal?

Good luck, Hingle! I'm sure the 15th will bring you good cause for excessive celebration.
Gn7Ymf9.gif
Click to expand...

From what I remember she said they will email us. I'm so scared!
 
soccerusa said:
Wait are you guys saying they accept 450 total? Doesn't that seem like a lot?
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Not necessarily. One that is a strong enough applicant to get interviewed/accepted at USC is somewhat likely to have gotten other acceptances by the end of the cycle. I bet other private schools have a similar accepted/matriculated breakdown in part due to the differences in tuition compared to one's IS school
 
soccerman93 said:
Not necessarily. One that is a strong enough applicant to get interviewed/accepted at USC is somewhat likely to have gotten other acceptances by the end of the cycle. I bet other private schools have a similar accepted/matriculated breakdown in part due to the differences in tuition compared to one's IS school
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Yeah, I think BU also accepts around the same number of applicants.
 
OOS ii just now. LizzyM of 71. Mediocre ECs, so I'm in absolute shock. I had a couple of absurd answers for the secondary questions completely unrelated to medicine, and I think that played a big part in getting an ii. Scheduled for earliest date...mid-January...hope it's not too late. Can't wait to to visit the west coast for the first time.
 
nm825 said:
OOS ii just now. LizzyM of 71. Mediocre ECs, so I'm in absolute shock. I had a couple of absurd answers for the secondary questions completely unrelated to medicine, and I think that played a big part in getting an ii. Scheduled for earliest date...mid-January...hope it's not too late. Can't wait to to visit the west coast for the first time.
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Congrats! When were you complete?
 
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