woohoo finally rejected!
2015-2016 Case Western Reserve University Application Thread
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See my PM
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It's like half hour drive? You should be fine.
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Yeah you can call and request a January date.
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Beachwood would be a-ok. I would be looking in similar areas myself if you have a family to consider.
You might want to look into Solon as well. Similar commute times, good suburb for schools, depending on your budget.
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1st off, congrats to everyone getting interviews and acceptances… The worst part of this whole process is almost over!
I'm a 2nd year at Case, and I just finished my block 5 exam, so I don't know what to do with my free time now 🙂. Figured I would come on SDN and share a few thoughts about the school for anyone who is looking for a student perspective.
Things I like about Case:
- IQ. Probably the most important thing to consider in choosing a school is whether it fits your learning style and personality. If you like to learn by reading on your own and then discussing/explaining ideas with your classmates, then IQ is a great format. It is not actually PBL. Most cases give you the patient's presenting symptoms, relevant history, physical exam findings, lab findings, diagnosis, and treatment. You then go home and read about these things so that you understand the underlying physiology, pathology, and treatments, and then you discuss these in the next IQ session. There is a facilitator in the room to make sure you hit all the important points. After a couple of blocks you get really good at figuring out what is important to know and what resources you can rely on for particular types of information. Most importantly, you can bring some humor into the experience and make it pretty fun.
- The emphasis on conceptual understanding rather than memorizing trivia. Most of our exams are essays, rather than multiple-choice. Instead of getting 100 questions about 100 random factoids, our exams usually consist of a handful of clinical vignettes and about 20 or so sub questions that are focused on your clinical reasoning. If you happen to forget some important factoids, the essay format often lets you work around it and show that you still get the main idea. The day after our end of block exam, we always have a mandatory NBME practice test for Step 1 that is not graded, but gives us an idea of how well we are preparing for the boards and keeps our multiple-choice skills sharp.
- The structure of the curriculum. I like that we have 6 blocks, and therefore only 6 exams, in the 1st 2 years. Each block covers multiple subdisciplines, tied together by common themes. Because the exams are so spaced out, you have an incentive to wrap your mind around a lot of information, draw connections, and hopefully build some long-term memories. I will say that the 1st 2 blocks were pretty annoying because they covered the social sciences and basic sciences, and it was hard to figure out what we actually needed to know clinically, which led to me over-studying and stressing out a lot more than I needed to, especially with basic science stuff like genetics and cell signaling. However, Blocks 3 to 6 cover the organ systems, where clinical relevance is much more apparent, and I am really enjoying it now. In retrospect, the curriculum is structured as logically as possible, given the complexity and insanity of how the human body works.
- Pass/fail (actually, "meets expectations"/"does not meet expectations" is what we see on our end of block report). I like to joke that our class is full of gunners because most of us are pretty driven to work hard, and the truth is that we would probably be a cut-throat bunch if we were graded and ranked in our 1st 2 years. However, after a couple of blocks of meeting expectations, most of us chill out and forget our high-strung premed ways. People who are aiming for competitive specialties (which is probably the majority of the class) put their energy into things like research and other activities.
- Opportunities. It is very easy to shadow, find PIs for research, start or join student interest groups, do clinical volunteering, etc. We have a wide variety of places to go for clinical experiences, including University Hospital, the VA, Metro downtown, the Cleveland Clinic, the Free Clinic, and several other satellite clinics and hospitals.
- Early clinical experience. I remember that this was very important to me when I was choosing a medical school, and then once in medical school it became kind of an annoyance because it takes time away from studying. But it is very helpful, both for getting ready for the 3rd year and for understanding the clinical relevance of the book learning. I would say Case gives us just the right amount of early clinical experience… It was not an overwhelming time commitment, but I have been able to practice histories, physicals, and presenting patients enough that I am not worried about my performance in the 3rd year.
- Social life. I don't know if this is how medical students are, just Case students, or just my class, but people are quite social here. In spite of the fact that we get stern warnings during our orientation about professionalism, sex, drinking, etc., and we are all told the story about the drunk guy who got his degree revoked, it does not put a damper on people having fun. There is a contingency of the class that continues to have undergrad style parties well into the 2nd year, probably beyond for all I know. There are also plenty of people who are not into that, but they hang out and have potlucks and stuff. IQ group dinners and potlucks are pretty common. I have made some very good friends here.
- The overall vibe. The people who work here are pretty friendly. It does not feel like med school, at least not the stereotypical, miserable experience that I was expecting. They have made such an effort to design a curriculum that makes learning as painless as possible, I almost feel indignant at the end of the block that I actually have to take an exam. The preceptors that I have had for clinical experiences have all been friendly and are usually very enthusiastic about teaching.
- Anatomy. Anatomy lab is mainly based on cadaver dissection that you do in small groups, but they recently started doing a prosection in each lab so that you can see what you are supposed to do that day, and there is a virtual dissection table that may or may not be useful. The anatomy exams consist of a practical and a written essay exam. They give you about 20 (very) long essay questions a couple months in advance that cover most of the anatomy content for the block with an emphasis on concepts and clinical implications. You can look up the answers to the questions and learn them, and then the written exam consists of about 5 of those questions.
- Most lectures are optional. Personally, I learn better from reading on my own and discussing in IQ. Most lectures are not video recorded, but the lecture slides are posted online, and the really high yield information is covered in the review lectures, which are recorded.
- Review lectures. Every Thursday, there are one or 2 review lectures that summarize content from the previous week. These are very high-yield! At the end of the block, about one or 2 weeks before the exams, there are end of block review lectures that summarize each topic from the block. These are also recorded, and they are extremely high yield!!! The block leaders who write the exam questions often give these lectures and guide you toward the most important topics to know.
- eCurriculum. Our calendar, assignments, lecture information and lecture slides, etc. are all organized through a web interface called eCurriculum. It is a little janky because it was coded in house, but it is really convenient to have everything in one place.
- Remediation. If you do not meet expectations on an exam, you "remediate." This just means you get a 2nd chance to take the exam. I think there might be 3rd and 4th chances too. Basically, they want you to learn this stuff and succeed, and they are not looking to weed anyone out. I have never remediated, but it is pretty common, and it is good to know that there is a safety net in place if you bomb an exam. I don't think it goes on your record unless you have to retake an entire block, which would obviously cause a change in your schedule.
- Dedicated Step 1 study time. I haven't gotten here yet, but I'm expecting it to be very helpful that they give us a chunk of free time to prepare for Step 1.
Things I don't like about Case (and medical school in general):
- Every medical school seems to be required to make its students write reflective essays and do various chores related to professionalism. (Note: if you are writing secondaries or getting ready to go into an interview, using the word "professionalism" will probably earn you some brownie points.)
- Every week we have homework that is due on Saturday at noon, consisting of some multiple-choice questions, a clinical vignette with some short essays, and a mandatory reflection essay. Technically, I guess the clinical vignette is good practice for the end of block exam, but I do not get much out of these assignments. At the very least, these usually do not take too much time to complete, and they are not graded… they are just mandatory to complete.
- Medical school is often compared to "drinking from a fire hose," because of how much information is thrown at you at once. This really bugged me in the 1st 2 blocks, but you eventually learn how to focus on what is important. There is never enough time to learn everything, and the preclinical years of med school are really just a crash course overview of ideas that you will be seeing over and over again throughout your training. Oftentimes our lecturers give us PowerPoint slides with incredibly detailed information, and their intention is just to give us a reference that we can look back on during our clinical years, but until you realize that it can seem overwhelming.
- Cost. Case is expensive. If you get in somewhere else that is much, much less expensive, then you should really weigh that heavily in your decision. But if you are comparing schools that are all in the same ballpark, then you should definitely look at all the other factors that I am listing.
Things I don't like about Case that are unique to Case:
- The fact that the anatomy exam is 2 days before the main block exam. They kind of compete for your attention. In certain blocks the anatomy content does not line up with the block content, so it leads to a lot of juggling and last-minute cramming. Technically, this has never been a problem for me and they do give us enough time to study both, but I have the lingering feeling that I would probably learn a little more if the exams were more spread out.
- The building. Few windows, kind of grungy, but gets the job done. They are currently constructing a new medical school building near the Cleveland Clinic, and as if to atone for the old building's paucity of windows, it looks like the new building is going to be made entirely of glass. But that is a few years away. For now, we have the current building. All things considered though, I only spend about 10 hours there per week. On the other hand, the hospitals are beautiful, and we're going to spend a whole lot more time in them.
Things about which I am neutral:
- Cleveland. I like that there is not much traffic here, I can rent a lot of space in a nice old house for not a lot of money, the changing seasons are beautiful, and there is more than enough stuff for a busy medical student to do when there is free time. The snow is kind of fun and pretty, but I hate the month of February (apparently my 1st winter here was exceptionally bad, so maybe there's still hope). There are some really good restaurants here, and I have a few favorites in particular, but there are also a ton of awful restaurants. Same goes for grocery stores, bars, etc.
Anyway, those are probably most of my thoughts about Case. Hope this helps when it comes time to commit to a school!
I'm a 2nd year at Case, and I just finished my block 5 exam, so I don't know what to do with my free time now 🙂. Figured I would come on SDN and share a few thoughts about the school for anyone who is looking for a student perspective.
Things I like about Case:
- IQ. Probably the most important thing to consider in choosing a school is whether it fits your learning style and personality. If you like to learn by reading on your own and then discussing/explaining ideas with your classmates, then IQ is a great format. It is not actually PBL. Most cases give you the patient's presenting symptoms, relevant history, physical exam findings, lab findings, diagnosis, and treatment. You then go home and read about these things so that you understand the underlying physiology, pathology, and treatments, and then you discuss these in the next IQ session. There is a facilitator in the room to make sure you hit all the important points. After a couple of blocks you get really good at figuring out what is important to know and what resources you can rely on for particular types of information. Most importantly, you can bring some humor into the experience and make it pretty fun.
- The emphasis on conceptual understanding rather than memorizing trivia. Most of our exams are essays, rather than multiple-choice. Instead of getting 100 questions about 100 random factoids, our exams usually consist of a handful of clinical vignettes and about 20 or so sub questions that are focused on your clinical reasoning. If you happen to forget some important factoids, the essay format often lets you work around it and show that you still get the main idea. The day after our end of block exam, we always have a mandatory NBME practice test for Step 1 that is not graded, but gives us an idea of how well we are preparing for the boards and keeps our multiple-choice skills sharp.
- The structure of the curriculum. I like that we have 6 blocks, and therefore only 6 exams, in the 1st 2 years. Each block covers multiple subdisciplines, tied together by common themes. Because the exams are so spaced out, you have an incentive to wrap your mind around a lot of information, draw connections, and hopefully build some long-term memories. I will say that the 1st 2 blocks were pretty annoying because they covered the social sciences and basic sciences, and it was hard to figure out what we actually needed to know clinically, which led to me over-studying and stressing out a lot more than I needed to, especially with basic science stuff like genetics and cell signaling. However, Blocks 3 to 6 cover the organ systems, where clinical relevance is much more apparent, and I am really enjoying it now. In retrospect, the curriculum is structured as logically as possible, given the complexity and insanity of how the human body works.
- Pass/fail (actually, "meets expectations"/"does not meet expectations" is what we see on our end of block report). I like to joke that our class is full of gunners because most of us are pretty driven to work hard, and the truth is that we would probably be a cut-throat bunch if we were graded and ranked in our 1st 2 years. However, after a couple of blocks of meeting expectations, most of us chill out and forget our high-strung premed ways. People who are aiming for competitive specialties (which is probably the majority of the class) put their energy into things like research and other activities.
- Opportunities. It is very easy to shadow, find PIs for research, start or join student interest groups, do clinical volunteering, etc. We have a wide variety of places to go for clinical experiences, including University Hospital, the VA, Metro downtown, the Cleveland Clinic, the Free Clinic, and several other satellite clinics and hospitals.
- Early clinical experience. I remember that this was very important to me when I was choosing a medical school, and then once in medical school it became kind of an annoyance because it takes time away from studying. But it is very helpful, both for getting ready for the 3rd year and for understanding the clinical relevance of the book learning. I would say Case gives us just the right amount of early clinical experience… It was not an overwhelming time commitment, but I have been able to practice histories, physicals, and presenting patients enough that I am not worried about my performance in the 3rd year.
- Social life. I don't know if this is how medical students are, just Case students, or just my class, but people are quite social here. In spite of the fact that we get stern warnings during our orientation about professionalism, sex, drinking, etc., and we are all told the story about the drunk guy who got his degree revoked, it does not put a damper on people having fun. There is a contingency of the class that continues to have undergrad style parties well into the 2nd year, probably beyond for all I know. There are also plenty of people who are not into that, but they hang out and have potlucks and stuff. IQ group dinners and potlucks are pretty common. I have made some very good friends here.
- The overall vibe. The people who work here are pretty friendly. It does not feel like med school, at least not the stereotypical, miserable experience that I was expecting. They have made such an effort to design a curriculum that makes learning as painless as possible, I almost feel indignant at the end of the block that I actually have to take an exam. The preceptors that I have had for clinical experiences have all been friendly and are usually very enthusiastic about teaching.
- Anatomy. Anatomy lab is mainly based on cadaver dissection that you do in small groups, but they recently started doing a prosection in each lab so that you can see what you are supposed to do that day, and there is a virtual dissection table that may or may not be useful. The anatomy exams consist of a practical and a written essay exam. They give you about 20 (very) long essay questions a couple months in advance that cover most of the anatomy content for the block with an emphasis on concepts and clinical implications. You can look up the answers to the questions and learn them, and then the written exam consists of about 5 of those questions.
- Most lectures are optional. Personally, I learn better from reading on my own and discussing in IQ. Most lectures are not video recorded, but the lecture slides are posted online, and the really high yield information is covered in the review lectures, which are recorded.
- Review lectures. Every Thursday, there are one or 2 review lectures that summarize content from the previous week. These are very high-yield! At the end of the block, about one or 2 weeks before the exams, there are end of block review lectures that summarize each topic from the block. These are also recorded, and they are extremely high yield!!! The block leaders who write the exam questions often give these lectures and guide you toward the most important topics to know.
- eCurriculum. Our calendar, assignments, lecture information and lecture slides, etc. are all organized through a web interface called eCurriculum. It is a little janky because it was coded in house, but it is really convenient to have everything in one place.
- Remediation. If you do not meet expectations on an exam, you "remediate." This just means you get a 2nd chance to take the exam. I think there might be 3rd and 4th chances too. Basically, they want you to learn this stuff and succeed, and they are not looking to weed anyone out. I have never remediated, but it is pretty common, and it is good to know that there is a safety net in place if you bomb an exam. I don't think it goes on your record unless you have to retake an entire block, which would obviously cause a change in your schedule.
- Dedicated Step 1 study time. I haven't gotten here yet, but I'm expecting it to be very helpful that they give us a chunk of free time to prepare for Step 1.
Things I don't like about Case (and medical school in general):
- Every medical school seems to be required to make its students write reflective essays and do various chores related to professionalism. (Note: if you are writing secondaries or getting ready to go into an interview, using the word "professionalism" will probably earn you some brownie points.)
- Every week we have homework that is due on Saturday at noon, consisting of some multiple-choice questions, a clinical vignette with some short essays, and a mandatory reflection essay. Technically, I guess the clinical vignette is good practice for the end of block exam, but I do not get much out of these assignments. At the very least, these usually do not take too much time to complete, and they are not graded… they are just mandatory to complete.
- Medical school is often compared to "drinking from a fire hose," because of how much information is thrown at you at once. This really bugged me in the 1st 2 blocks, but you eventually learn how to focus on what is important. There is never enough time to learn everything, and the preclinical years of med school are really just a crash course overview of ideas that you will be seeing over and over again throughout your training. Oftentimes our lecturers give us PowerPoint slides with incredibly detailed information, and their intention is just to give us a reference that we can look back on during our clinical years, but until you realize that it can seem overwhelming.
- Cost. Case is expensive. If you get in somewhere else that is much, much less expensive, then you should really weigh that heavily in your decision. But if you are comparing schools that are all in the same ballpark, then you should definitely look at all the other factors that I am listing.
Things I don't like about Case that are unique to Case:
- The fact that the anatomy exam is 2 days before the main block exam. They kind of compete for your attention. In certain blocks the anatomy content does not line up with the block content, so it leads to a lot of juggling and last-minute cramming. Technically, this has never been a problem for me and they do give us enough time to study both, but I have the lingering feeling that I would probably learn a little more if the exams were more spread out.
- The building. Few windows, kind of grungy, but gets the job done. They are currently constructing a new medical school building near the Cleveland Clinic, and as if to atone for the old building's paucity of windows, it looks like the new building is going to be made entirely of glass. But that is a few years away. For now, we have the current building. All things considered though, I only spend about 10 hours there per week. On the other hand, the hospitals are beautiful, and we're going to spend a whole lot more time in them.
Things about which I am neutral:
- Cleveland. I like that there is not much traffic here, I can rent a lot of space in a nice old house for not a lot of money, the changing seasons are beautiful, and there is more than enough stuff for a busy medical student to do when there is free time. The snow is kind of fun and pretty, but I hate the month of February (apparently my 1st winter here was exceptionally bad, so maybe there's still hope). There are some really good restaurants here, and I have a few favorites in particular, but there are also a ton of awful restaurants. Same goes for grocery stores, bars, etc.
Anyway, those are probably most of my thoughts about Case. Hope this helps when it comes time to commit to a school!
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Wow, did not see that detail. Are they just installing programs?
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II! Complete 7/20, was kinda starting to think it was a silent rejection... Hope is yet alive 🙂
Quick question though. I have an interview in early january at Jefferson and there are early december dates still available. I would save a bit of money by combining the flights and setting the date in January, but would it put me at a disadvantage to postpone for a month?
Quick question though. I have an interview in early january at Jefferson and there are early december dates still available. I would save a bit of money by combining the flights and setting the date in January, but would it put me at a disadvantage to postpone for a month?
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How is waitlist movement at Case?
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With rolling admissions earlier is always better. As to how much it would set you back to delay by a month I cannot say however.
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That will open up later in the year. You should get an email or see an announcement about it when it happens.
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Could not recommend it more. My student host was absolutely fantastic. She also had a lab puppy, which is a huge bonus for me.
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Sorry to hear that, when were you complete?
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All of my materials were turned in on 9/2. Although for some reason I had to email them weeks later to tell them that my app was still not marked as complete. So it was finally complete on 11/4. Hope that didn't make a difference.
LizzyM ~67, IS, strong clinical and laboratory research, adequate shadowing, volunteering, ECs. Fingers crossed for everyone still in the running 👍
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Anybody know when they are doing the next review to determine acceptances??? I hate this waiting game!!!
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What are the remaining interview dates?
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Patience!
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Pre interview? And via email or portal, sorry to hear btw and good luck elsewhere!
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Rejected pre-interview via portal for UT (CT rejection was like a month ago). Win some, lose some.
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Thought this was interesting from their Twitter account:
MCAT2015 performance similar to old; CARS most difficult for people:
MCAT2015 performance similar to old; CARS most difficult for people:
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There's an amazing phenomenon going on with my app. As time passes, the status is slowly changing from "There are no messages from the Admissions Office as of now" to "There will never be a message...for you in particular." Complete 7/29
Just kidding Case! You know I love ya....reciprocate pls? Thx.
Just kidding Case! You know I love ya....reciprocate pls? Thx.
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Rejected for MSTP on 11/15...complete 7/27...on pre-interview hold for CT since 10/6
I'm keeping hope alive!
I'm keeping hope alive!
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Accepted! Interviewed mid october.
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I drove to Case from central Iowa. If you have a fuel efficient car, gas isn't that bad. I wasn't ready for the damn tolls though!
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Lol uh thanks for quoting my post weeks later and bringing me back to this thread that I've been trying to ignore because I'm sad that I got put on hold. Really appreciate it.
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I saw that you posted in the thread and thought that maybe your status changed! Too cruel. Waiting for you to return in April .
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I hope so!
While I'm here, I guess I'll ask. I want to send a letter of intent, but I don't know when to do it. Should I do it now, or wait until January/February, when they'll be closer to thinking about taking people off the alternate list and forming the waitlist? I don't have any updates right now. The only update I'll have by Jan/Feb is a poster presentation, but not even at a conference or anything, just at Case. My grades this semester will likely bring my GPA down (they won't be bad, probably just a 3.8) so I don't particularly want to update them on that lol.
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complete date??
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I was complete 7/27 (almost 4 months ago!)
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Is there a student hosting program?
Edit, Jk, there is.
Edit, Jk, there is.
Last edited:
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Yes it's on the portal after being offered an II.
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It's never too late!
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Woah! Sorry to hear about that. Were you interviewing for CT or UT and then received a rejection from one of the other programs?
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Your original post COULD be interpreted as you received a rejection from Case in the middle of your interview day at Case.
That would be mess me so bad... "am I that bad at interview that they rejected me after an hour?!?!"
That would be mess me so bad... "am I that bad at interview that they rejected me after an hour?!?!"
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I doubt it. UT and CT are separate committees.
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If decisions aren't going to be released at the start of December, when can we expect to hear back? Is it supposed to say "Decisions will not be released until the beginning of Dec?"
