2015-2016 Michigan State University Application Thread

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Any advice on retaking classes too boost gpa? Can I take courses at a community college rather than university? I want to save money and sign up at a community college.

I'm just trying to prep for rejection and thinking about using this year to boost gpa.
 
My letters, secondary, and secondary fee are all marked complete but it still says my application isn't complete... Anyone else have this issue?
Yeah, they probably have to submit it for review on their end once everything is received.
 
Any advice on retaking classes too boost gpa? Can I take courses at a community college rather than university? I want to save money and sign up at a community college.

I'm just trying to prep for rejection and thinking about using this year to boost gpa.
I have heard that taking upper level science classes at a community college does not look good to AdComs, almost as if you are taking it at a community college to try and take an easy way out of a difficult class at a university. I have been told that taking basic pre-reqs at a community college would be fine though.
 
I have heard that taking upper level science classes at a community college does not look good to AdComs, almost as if you are taking it at a community college to try and take an easy way out of a difficult class at a university. I have been told that taking basic pre-reqs at a community college would be fine though.

Thanks for your help. I had the same concerns with them thinking I was taking the easy way. Since I've already graduated it will be very expensive to pay out of pocket at a university for each course. Not sure what I'll do.
 
Thanks for your help. I had the same concerns with them thinking I was taking the easy way. Since I've already graduated it will be very expensive to pay out of pocket at a university for each course. Not sure what I'll do.
If you did poorly in any of your lower level classes, you could always re-take those! And I'm not sure about how they look at post-bacc, I was talking about while you are an undergrad they frown upon taking upper levels at a community college.
 
If you did poorly in any of your lower level classes, you could always re-take those! And I'm not sure about how they look at post-bacc, I was talking about while you are an undergrad they frown upon taking upper levels at a community college.

Thanks again for your help. I think I'll have to go to community college because $3,000 out of pocket per class is not realistic for me. I also have my MPH and have a 3.7 with that degree. I just made some mistakes in undergrad that I should try to correct and boost that sGPA.
 
Could anyone give me some ideas on what you're writing for the last prompt? It should probably be the easiest: "What should we know about you?" but I don't even know where to begin. I'm currently stuck between "My mom says I'll be a great doctor," and "I can do a backflip, so if you ask me to, I'll stand up and do one during my interview." 😉 kidding, but any real help would be great! 🙂
 
Could anyone give me some ideas on what you're writing for the last prompt? It should probably be the easiest: "What should we know about you?" but I don't even know where to begin. I'm currently stuck between "My mom says I'll be a great doctor," and "I can do a backflip, so if you ask me to, I'll stand up and do one during my interview." 😉 kidding, but any real help would be great! 🙂
Talk about why you would be a good fit(ex. other novel experience not on your AMCAS app, intellectual curiosity, want to work with underserved populations and why and how your traits as an individual will allow you to thrive in their program.) IMO though. Personally I talked about going above and beyond in my undergraduates studies [ex. one anatomy class(3 credits is required for my program but I now have 16 anatomy credits, 3 of which are graduate level even though I'm an undergrad)] I also happen to dissect cadavers for their med school's grand rapids campus. Stuff like that. Maybe even perhaps a connection to the school or area (I know that might be hard especially if you are OOS). I hope that helps gets some ideas flowing
 
On the status section of my application, the secondary application fee status, secondary application submitted, and letters of evaluation all have a green check mark beside them, but for Application Complete - Forwarded for Review, there is still a red exclamation mark. Does anyone ales have the same problem?
 
On the status section of my application, the secondary application fee status, secondary application submitted, and letters of evaluation all have a green check mark beside them, but for Application Complete - Forwarded for Review, there is still a red exclamation mark. Does anyone ales have the same problem?


Yes, wouldn't stress it.
 
On the status section of my application, the secondary application fee status, secondary application submitted, and letters of evaluation all have a green check mark beside them, but for Application Complete - Forwarded for Review, there is still a red exclamation mark. Does anyone ales have the same problem?
+1 yup but all is in. Probably just needs a day or two to catch up.
 
For the first prompt, should your experience outside of your comfort zone been a success? I can think of a possible topic where I can talk about what I learned and how I matured from it but it was not a successful experience
 
For the first prompt, should your experience outside of your comfort zone been a success? I can think of a possible topic where I can talk about what I learned and how I matured from it but it was not a successful experience

Just answer the prompt, sounds like what you have will do nicely.
 
For the first prompt, should your experience outside of your comfort zone been a success? I can think of a possible topic where I can talk about what I learned and how I matured from it but it was not a successful experience
I think that would be fine as long as emphasize what you learned from the experience. A lot of experiences outside of someone's comfort zone aren't successful.
 
On the status section of my application, the secondary application fee status, secondary application submitted, and letters of evaluation all have a green check mark beside them, but for Application Complete - Forwarded for Review, there is still a red exclamation mark. Does anyone ales have the same problem?
I had this same problem yesterday, but it seems that today my application is officially completed and has been forwarded for review. I think it just took some time on their end to get everything ready to review
 
These essays are killing me...I feel like the first two go hand in hand 😵
Not only that the 2nd question is basically saying "what is your 4th most meaningful experience?" since you can't use anything that you went into detail on in your primary
 
Not only that the 2nd question is basically saying "what is your 4th most meaningful experience?" since you can't use anything that you went into detail on in your primary

Remember, this doesn't have to be a particularly momentous event. I think they just want to see you reflect on such an experience, no matter how small.
 
did you not put that in your primary?

Yes, it was in my primary but did not make the top 3 "most meaningful" experiences. I was able to say what I did, but not really go into much detail about the personally rewarding nature of the experience.
 
Yes, it was in my primary but did not make the top 3 "most meaningful" experiences. I was able to say what I did, but not really go into much detail about the personally rewarding nature of the experience.
ahhh, I gotcha now. Thank you.
 
I've spent a solid 10 hours on these essays and still am not feeling too confident about them :bang: ughhhhhh....most difficult I've had so far by a long shot.
 
I was wondering what my chances are like for this... I have a decent GPA and total MCAT score, but I bombed VR...
My GPA is 3.95, and 34 MCAT...but I got 11,8,15... is that red flag? I have pretty nice EC's. How are my chances? I am also Canadian.
ottawa and mcgill?
 
hey guys so im OOS with a 3.78 scGPA 3.75 cGPA and 510 MCAT (83rd percentile) with all being 127+ except one 126 (=9 on the old scale). Does MSU CHM take the highest mcat score or do they average them? Do these stats give me a chance?
 
Talk about why you would be a good fit(ex. other novel experience not on your AMCAS app, intellectual curiosity, want to work with underserved populations and why and how your traits as an individual will allow you to thrive in their program.) IMO though. Personally I talked about going above and beyond in my undergraduates studies [ex. one anatomy class(3 credits is required for my program but I now have 16 anatomy credits, 3 of which are graduate level even though I'm an undergrad)] I also happen to dissect cadavers for their med school's grand rapids campus. Stuff like that. Maybe even perhaps a connection to the school or area (I know that might be hard especially if you are OOS). I hope that helps gets some ideas flowing
Would it be bad to basically say "If accepted, this is where I'm going to school." I mean, it's my top choice so this is a completely true statement.
 
For all you june 19th test takers, I emailed them today since my secondary application has been complete since July 17th and it still wasn't forwarded for review and this is what they told me:

"Apparently AMCAS is having difficultly processing applications with the 6/19 MCAT date and our software application representative is looking into figuring out if this is what held up your application.

As soon as the issue is resolved your application will be forwarded and within 72 hours or less of that happening you'll be able to see in your status that your application has been "forwarded for preliminary review".

Please feel free to email if you have any additional questions or problems" Just so you all aren't worried about your status.
 
Most challenging aspect of being a physician? I feel like this is a trick question. Any answer would expose a possible weakness wouldn't it?
 
Most challenging aspect of being a physician? I feel like this is a trick question. Any answer would expose a possible weakness wouldn't it?

Everyone has weaknesses.

Even so, I don't think that's what the question is trying to get at.
 
Did anyone have a problem when paying for the application, it was still marked as incomplete. I received a notification in my email that I payed, but it is still incomplete. Because of that I can not submit 🙁
 
Just checked my status today. Apparently it was forwarded for preliminary review the same day I submitted. Not sure if that's good, bad, or normal. Cheers, y'all.
 
And OOS Tuition is absolute wicked, with no chance of becoming instate. I do wonder why anyone OOS applies to MSU or Wayne State. Like me applying to S. Carolina. That school is insanely expensive too.

I could be wrong, but it seems like getting IS after 1st year at U South Carolina is as easy as getting a driver license? Dare I say the website made it seem as if you could probably get IS before second semester bills go out.

Does MSU really lock OOS into OOS tuition without a chance of becoming instate? 1st year OOS seems fairly standard, but haven't personally run into anywhere that is all 4. Not trolling, looking for advice.

Thanks
 
I could be wrong, but it seems like getting IS after 1st year at U South Carolina is as easy as getting a driver license? Dare I say the website made it seem as if you could probably get IS before second semester bills go out.

Does MSU really lock OOS into OOS tuition without a chance of becoming instate? 1st year OOS seems fairly standard, but haven't personally run into anywhere that is all 4. Not trolling, looking for advice.

Thanks
It's near impossible to get IS tuition in Michigan if you're coming from OOS. You have to be a resident of the state for at least 12 months for a reason other than attending school. Usually you have to be working full-time for a year to get IS tuition.
 
This is one beast of a secondary to write about, to be honest.

Would it be bad if for question #1, I used a top 3 activity? For #2, I wrote about a long-term clinical activity which wasn't one of my top 3.
I feel like this secondary is an expansion of what I addressed in the primary.

For #3: What do you think will be the most challenging aspect of being a physician some day? I don't think it would be wise if I were to write about possibly getting sued LOL
 
Status change yesterday. Anyone else? "Your application has been reviewed and is on hold for comparison against larger applicant pool. Wait for interview decision" At least it's not a flat rejection from my #1.
Interesting, mine is still in preliminary review.
 
For #3: What do you think will be the most challenging aspect of being a physician some day? I don't think it would be wise if I were to write about possibly getting sued LOL

+2 points for intuition, -1 for guilty conscience. 😉
 
Status change yesterday. Anyone else? "Your application has been reviewed and is on hold for comparison against larger applicant pool. Wait for interview decision" At least it's not a flat rejection from my #1.
Did you get an email about the status change or did it just show up on the portal?
 
Status change yesterday. Anyone else? "Your application has been reviewed and is on hold for comparison against larger applicant pool. Wait for interview decision" At least it's not a flat rejection from my #1.


Did you get an email update for your status change?

Sorry to hear that!! Bright side, you submitted early, so you still have a good chance later on 🙂
 
I was forwarded for preliminary review 7/23 but I haven't had any status change since.... 😕
 
How long does it stay "Forwarded for preliminary review" before moving to the next status?
 
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