2014-2015 University of Utah Application Thread

Discover Your Odds of Getting into Medical School
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Rejected


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Waitlisted. I don't know how anyone would know this, but I will throw it out there. Does anyone have a general idea of how many students they waitlist compared to reject? And generally how many of those students get off the waitlist. Being a state school/lower tuition and all I figure waitlist movement isn't too significant, but I was wondering if anyone has any clues to those questions.
 
anyone out there who has not received an email yet?
 
I was interviewed in Sept.. Maybe that's why I got the email earlier.
 
Got the email as I was driving home this morning. Didn't read it because A) I didn't want to cause an accident and B) I promised my wife I wouldn't read it without her.
Looks like I'm on the wait list for a second year in a row at the U. May this year's wait list be kinder to me than last year's...
 
Rejected 11:25 A.M. I think they are just processing through emails for rejection/wait list now.
 
And there it is... At 11:50 am. Rejected. At least I can start making plans to move to Lexington.
 
Alternate list (basically rejection I think). It's been good, guys, and best of luck to all of you.
 
Just to make sure, waiting list and alternate list are different right?
 
Ginred said:
Nope, they're the same thing. My email said alternate list as well.
Click to expand...
Oh wow. Thanks for the clarification. My gut feeling tells me that it is a pretty slim to none chance that the waitlist will see much movement, though. Do you concur?
 
rejected earlier today. No worries, wasn't meant to be. The only thing that was attractive to me about Utah was the 17k tuition from the tuition benefit. I am sure in the long run I will look back and be glad things turned out the way they did, as I don't think I would've been very happy at Utah as it was my bottom choice academically. Time to start sellin' my stuff and packin up to move! I actually didn't expect to feel this good, but the closure brings peace to a rather wild roller coaster of an application season.

Slightly bitter rant full of my opinions: I feel Utah has potential, especially in its research capabilities, to move upward in the field of medicine and become a contender amongst the mid-uppermid tier schools. However, as long as they continue to select students with such low GPA/MCAT, they will remain a mid-lower tier institution. Looking at the top 20-30 even 40 schools, you see an upward trend of GPA/MCAT as they are indicators of not only academic success in medical school, but are attractive to outside funding organizations. Don't get me wrong, Utah is a good school and they do accept a handful of well-qualified applicants in terms of GPA/MCAT (and I already know that many say, "but durr you can be good doctor with low mcat durr" but funding from various organizations comes from outside sources (such as NIH funding) to schools based on certain metrics. This is how TOP schools get to the TOP) Better school, higher 'ranking', more money, better facilities, better faculty attraction power, etc etc.

It seems to me they are trying to be like Mayo Clinic in their attempt to "holistically" score applicants, especially by adding arbitrary requirements to hours of volunteering and shadowing and leadership and random experiences (who else does these stupid hour requirements anyways?). While such an holistic approach works for Mayo Clinic, a private worldclass powerhouse who receives apps from the entire country to fill their class of <50 mother teresa superstars, it doesn't work so well on the state level that is confined to 80%+ in-state acceptances. You end up with a class of 3.5 gpa and 29 mcat who competed for the most hours at the maliheh clinic or soup kitchen or whoever is most "diverse" in a state that is 85+% white. While all schools view applicants as a whole, I feel Utah goes a little too far and values box check volunteering/experiences over a track record of academic success, which IMO is far more important. Looking back, perhaps I spent too much time studying instead of adding on random hours volunteering? I was above average in everything except the yearly volunteering area, as I decided not to double-dip. My advice to future Utah-hopeful applicants would be not to stress as much about the mcat, get a 29, and just pump your app full of experiences I suppose. Either way, I probably wouldn't have matriculated even if accepted but it's always good to feel loved from your state school! Just my opinions, not trying to offend or cause commotion. Congrats to all accepted! And to those still waiting I hope the best for you.:luck::=|:-):
 
There's really no reason to post your "critical analysis" of the University of Utah SOM on this forum, which includes a number of accepted and waitlisted applicants. For some, it's their dream school. For others it's the only school they got into.

It is never remotely okay or acceptable to put down another school (especially with misinformed comments), and you should simply leave your comments at "the school was not the right fit for me." The century long lesson "if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything" would go a far way.

I wish you the best of luck in medical school and I hope you find what you are looking for at whichever school you attend.

amad01 said:
rejected earlier today. No worries, wasn't meant to be. The only thing that was attractive to me about Utah was the 17k tuition from the tuition benefit. I am sure in the long run I will look back and be glad things turned out the way they did, as I don't think I would've been very happy at Utah as it was my bottom choice academically. Time to start sellin' my stuff and packin up to move! I actually didn't expect to feel this good, but the closure brings peace to a rather wild roller coaster of an application season.

Slightly bitter rant full of my opinions: I feel Utah has potential, especially in its research capabilities, to move upward in the field of medicine and become a contender amongst the mid-uppermid tier schools. However, as long as they continue to select students with such low GPA/MCAT, they will remain a mid-lower tier institution. Looking at the top 20-30 even 40 schools, you see an upward trend of GPA/MCAT as they are indicators of not only academic success in medical school, but are attractive to outside funding organizations. Don't get me wrong, Utah is a good school and they do accept a handful of well-qualified applicants in terms of GPA/MCAT (and I already know that many say, "but durr you can be good doctor with low mcat durr" but funding from various organizations comes from outside sources (such as NIH funding) to schools based on certain metrics. This is how TOP schools get to the TOP) Better school, higher 'ranking', more money, better facilities, better faculty attraction power, etc etc.

It seems to me they are trying to be like Mayo Clinic in their attempt to "holistically" score applicants, especially by adding arbitrary requirements to hours of volunteering and shadowing and leadership and random experiences (who else does these stupid hour requirements anyways?). While such an holistic approach works for Mayo Clinic, a private worldclass powerhouse who receives apps from the entire country to fill their class of <50 mother teresa superstars, it doesn't work so well on the state level that is confined to 80%+ in-state acceptances. You end up with a class of 3.5 gpa and 29 mcat who competed for the most hours at the maliheh clinic or soup kitchen or whoever is most "diverse" in a state that is 85+% white. While all schools view applicants as a whole, I feel Utah goes a little too far and values box check volunteering/experiences over a track record of academic success, which IMO is far more important. Looking back, perhaps I spent too much time studying instead of adding on random hours volunteering? I was above average in everything except the yearly volunteering area, as I decided not to double-dip. My advice to future Utah-hopeful applicants would be not to stress as much about the mcat, get a 29, and just pump your app full of experiences I suppose. Either way, I probably wouldn't have matriculated even if accepted but it's always good to feel loved from your state school! Just my opinions, not trying to offend or cause commotion. Congrats to all accepted! And to those still waiting I hope the best for you.:luck::=|:-):
Click to expand...
 
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I agree, amad01. I'm wondering if they actually select for those with lower mcats. Most of the class seems to be in the lower 30s and high 20s and maybe accepting the high outliers will hurt class unity. Maybe they won't fit in as well. I've heard from people at the U that they actually feel like the extreme high achievers on MCAT and GPA seem like "less real people" and might not get along in their program as well. They seemed to really emphasize that.

I got rejected today as well even though I was well above average in every category and I had a higher MCAT than any of the acceptees that I have seen. My interviewers gave me good feedback and said that I did well, so I'm not really sure how the decision was made. Ultimately, I accept their decision. They know what they are looking for in their class better than I do and have a lot more experience trying to build it. The money was the main reason I wanted to attend as well. I was not very impressed by their program or students that I met compared to the other schools I interviewed at. I suppose it's a good thing that someone more enthusiastic about the school culture will go instead of me.
 
^^ don't know what to say to these above comments but wow. How long did it take to write those? I wish you both well wherever you end up!
 
Today I found out that I'm on the alternate list at Utah. I've been very impressed by the school and would be happy if enough accepted students chose to go elsewhere to move my status to accepted.

I wish you luck at schools that are a better fit for you. It sounds like you would have been unhappy at UU, since you don't value the same things as the school. I'm glad the school saw this. Low tuition isn't a good enough reason to go to a school you don't respect.

amad01 said:
rejected earlier today. No worries, wasn't meant to be. The only thing that was attractive to me about Utah was the 17k tuition from the tuition benefit. I am sure in the long run I will look back and be glad things turned out the way they did, as I don't think I would've been very happy at Utah as it was my bottom choice academically. Time to start sellin' my stuff and packin up to move! I actually didn't expect to feel this good, but the closure brings peace to a rather wild roller coaster of an application season.

Slightly bitter rant full of my opinions: I feel Utah has potential, especially in its research capabilities, to move upward in the field of medicine and become a contender amongst the mid-uppermid tier schools. However, as long as they continue to select students with such low GPA/MCAT, they will remain a mid-lower tier institution. Looking at the top 20-30 even 40 schools, you see an upward trend of GPA/MCAT as they are indicators of not only academic success in medical school, but are attractive to outside funding organizations. Don't get me wrong, Utah is a good school and they do accept a handful of well-qualified applicants in terms of GPA/MCAT (and I already know that many say, "but durr you can be good doctor with low mcat durr" but funding from various organizations comes from outside sources (such as NIH funding) to schools based on certain metrics. This is how TOP schools get to the TOP) Better school, higher 'ranking', more money, better facilities, better faculty attraction power, etc etc.

It seems to me they are trying to be like Mayo Clinic in their attempt to "holistically" score applicants, especially by adding arbitrary requirements to hours of volunteering and shadowing and leadership and random experiences (who else does these stupid hour requirements anyways?). While such an holistic approach works for Mayo Clinic, a private worldclass powerhouse who receives apps from the entire country to fill their class of <50 mother teresa superstars, it doesn't work so well on the state level that is confined to 80%+ in-state acceptances. You end up with a class of 3.5 gpa and 29 mcat who competed for the most hours at the maliheh clinic or soup kitchen or whoever is most "diverse" in a state that is 85+% white. While all schools view applicants as a whole, I feel Utah goes a little too far and values box check volunteering/experiences over a track record of academic success, which IMO is far more important. Looking back, perhaps I spent too much time studying instead of adding on random hours volunteering? I was above average in everything except the yearly volunteering area, as I decided not to double-dip. My advice to future Utah-hopeful applicants would be not to stress as much about the mcat, get a 29, and just pump your app full of experiences I suppose. Either way, I probably wouldn't have matriculated even if accepted but it's always good to feel loved from your state school! Just my opinions, not trying to offend or cause commotion. Congrats to all accepted! And to those still waiting I hope the best for you.:luck::=|:-):
Click to expand...
 
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Their selection process is apparently very effective. They were obviously able to screen out applicants that were not interested in their program, and would have likely been a poor fit. I think you are incorrect, and frankly condescending, to presume that you were both rejected because of your high MCAT scores. The admissions committee simply did not feel you were what they were looking for in an applicant (ie your reportedly superior MCAT scores did not offset the shortcomings in your interview or application). And Amad, I think you're placing far too much emphasis on school rankings. Regardless of how bitter and resentful you feel, Utah is a great program. You got rejected. It's a competitive process, that happens. Maintain your dignity and don't lash out and insult the school, and by implication, the students who are currently waitlisted, accepted, or recently rejected.
 
Wow, I guess today was really stressful as it brought out some thread crapping. @amad01 I was really rooting for you to get your acceptance here. My condolences to each of you that didn't get good news today. It is a difficult process.

And, n=1, but my MCAT didn't keep me out of the U. Edited to add: maybe it was my 3.5 GPA that clinched it!
 
Hey guys, congrats to those accepted and my condolences to those who were rejected, it's a rough process, don't let it get you too down! I'll just say a quick blurb about the WL as I was accepted off of it last year. There are a few people (I know personally of 4 I believe there were more that were accepted off the WL). That may sound like a small amount but it is my understanding that the WL is kept fairly short at the U due to its high retention rate so IMO chances are still well within the range of possible for those on it.

As for those accepted, feel free to ask me anything about preparations, life at the school, or anything else.
 
zhopv10 said:
Hey guys, congrats to those accepted and my condolences to those who were rejected, it's a rough process, don't let it get you too down! I'll just say a quick blurb about the WL as I was accepted off of it last year. There are a few people (I know personally of 4 I believe there were more that were accepted off the WL). That may sound like a small amount but it is my understanding that the WL is kept fairly short at the U due to its high retention rate so IMO chances are still well within the range of possible for those on it.

As for those accepted, feel free to ask me anything about preparations, life at the school, or anything else.
Click to expand...
Is there a dress code for class?
 
Nope! Unless there is a patient presentation or an in the clinic activity in which case you'll be instructed to most likely wear "professional attire"

*edit: I believe the orientation week had a dress code as well...
 
zhopv10 said:
Nope! Unless there is a patient presentation or an in the clinic activity in which case you'll be instructed to most likely wear "professional attire"

*edit: I believe the orientation week had a dress code as well...
Click to expand...
Can you tell us about your learning community group and how you like or don't like the program?
 
amad01 said:
rejected earlier today. No worries, wasn't meant to be. The only thing that was attractive to me about Utah was the 17k tuition from the tuition benefit. I am sure in the long run I will look back and be glad things turned out the way they did, as I don't think I would've been very happy at Utah as it was my bottom choice academically. Time to start sellin' my stuff and packin up to move! I actually didn't expect to feel this good, but the closure brings peace to a rather wild roller coaster of an application season.

Slightly bitter rant full of my opinions: I feel Utah has potential, especially in its research capabilities, to move upward in the field of medicine and become a contender amongst the mid-uppermid tier schools. However, as long as they continue to select students with such low GPA/MCAT, they will remain a mid-lower tier institution. Looking at the top 20-30 even 40 schools, you see an upward trend of GPA/MCAT as they are indicators of not only academic success in medical school, but are attractive to outside funding organizations. Don't get me wrong, Utah is a good school and they do accept a handful of well-qualified applicants in terms of GPA/MCAT (and I already know that many say, "but durr you can be good doctor with low mcat durr" but funding from various organizations comes from outside sources (such as NIH funding) to schools based on certain metrics. This is how TOP schools get to the TOP) Better school, higher 'ranking', more money, better facilities, better faculty attraction power, etc etc.

It seems to me they are trying to be like Mayo Clinic in their attempt to "holistically" score applicants, especially by adding arbitrary requirements to hours of volunteering and shadowing and leadership and random experiences (who else does these stupid hour requirements anyways?). While such an holistic approach works for Mayo Clinic, a private worldclass powerhouse who receives apps from the entire country to fill their class of <50 mother teresa superstars, it doesn't work so well on the state level that is confined to 80%+ in-state acceptances. You end up with a class of 3.5 gpa and 29 mcat who competed for the most hours at the maliheh clinic or soup kitchen or whoever is most "diverse" in a state that is 85+% white. While all schools view applicants as a whole, I feel Utah goes a little too far and values box check volunteering/experiences over a track record of academic success, which IMO is far more important. Looking back, perhaps I spent too much time studying instead of adding on random hours volunteering? I was above average in everything except the yearly volunteering area, as I decided not to double-dip. My advice to future Utah-hopeful applicants would be not to stress as much about the mcat, get a 29, and just pump your app full of experiences I suppose. Either way, I probably wouldn't have matriculated even if accepted but it's always good to feel loved from your state school! Just my opinions, not trying to offend or cause commotion. Congrats to all accepted! And to those still waiting I hope the best for you.:luck::=|:-):
Click to expand...

Hey Amad, when you said the U is your bottom choice academically, is that compared to MCW as well? I think I remember you saying you got accepted there. I'm not trying to pick a fight at all, just curious. I got an interview there but didn't attend, but I've heard good things about it!! But in your opinion is it really an academically superior school to the U? If MCW wasn't one of your acceptances I apologize, I could have remembered wrong. Again, this isn't meant to be malicious, just curious!
 
Leslie_Knope said:
Can you tell us about your learning community group and how you like or don't like the program?
Click to expand...

Sure, so the LC group is a group of students that you are assigned to (and your preceptor) who you will stay with for all 4 years generally. Your preceptor is available for really anything but the focus of the group is clinical skills (you will do your clinical skills classes on Wednesdays with this group/preceptor).

Now, as far as how awesome it is I can really only attest to mine but I think it's fantastic. We have a really good group that works together extremely well and our preceptor is super awesome/hilarious/skilled/huge help with learning clinical techniques. He has even talked about having us get together and do some fun activities outside of school. Since this group stays static I feel that a lot of collegiality is developed among this group which is nice to have through all 4 years. It is also nice having a mentor who has known you through those years and understands your weaknesses and strengths to offer input. It's a pretty awesome system IMO.
 
medjo said:
There's really no reason to post your "critical analysis" of the University of Utah SOM on this forum, which includes a number of accepted and waitlisted applicants. For some, it's their dream school. For others it's the only school they got into.

It is never remotely okay or acceptable to put down another school (especially with misinformed comments), and you should simply leave your comments at "the school was not the right fit for me." The century long lesson "if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything" would go a far way.

I wish you the best of luck in medical school and I hope you find what you are looking for at whichever school you attend.
Click to expand...

Critical analysis of the school is the point of these forums... in what part was I putting Utah down? They accept some of the lowest stat student body for MD schools in the country.. 3.6/30, and my opinion (as I stated was my opinion) is this affects the school from climbing out of the mid-lower tier that it is, where they could potentially compete with some of the top schools in the country research-wise (this is a compliment, but I'm sure you'll twist it for a reason to be offended). Saying they accept low stat applicants and that it is lower-mid tier school is not putting Utah down, it is fact... I'm sorry if that offends you I don't know what to tell you...? They simply select against applicants with higher gpa/mcat, as shown with their 3.6/30 average because they claim to value other areas more (as Mayo Clinic does, basically the only top school with <34 ave mcat), which is fine... except Utah isn't Mayo Clinic. It is simply my opinion that academics should be valued a little more than checkbox hour requirement volunteering. And my advice to future applicants would be to focus more on those other areas. 👍
 
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