2015-2016 Northwestern University (Feinberg) Application Thread

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:)) said:
A typical M1 has science lectures for 2-3 hours 3-4 days a week in the morning, none of which are mandatory and all of which are recorded. We also have 2 hours of health & society each week (1 lecture, 1 small group) which is public health, global health, diet & exercise counseling- whatever else. Ethics is once a week, 1 lecture and 1 small group. We also have a class called medical decision making, which is basically applied biostats. Thats an hour each week, rotating between a lecture and a small group. Clinical skills are taught for 2 hours in the skills lab/practice clinic every other week, and then those are practiced in your preceptorship the other week. PBL is 2 hours each twice a week when we have it (PBL usually dies down in the weeks leading up to an exam to give us more time to study).

Pretty much all of my learning is in lecture/from lecture guides. Use textbooks very rarely besides consulting First Aid once in awhile. I think that will change when we start CV in a few weeks, I heard there are some good textbooks for that. In terms of PBL research- yes I do learn a good amount from that but typically I don't spend more than an hour on a PBL presentation so there's only so much learning that can be done during an hour. Let me know if you guys have any other questions!
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Wow! Thanks for the info. I thought that PBL was a much larger portion of the curriculum.
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DiDoc said:
Wow! Thanks for the info. I thought that PBL was a much larger portion of the curriculum.
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PBL really doesn't take up that much time and it's more of a review and integration thing. You might go more in depth on a disease that you briefly mentioned in class, but a lot of it is being able to look at a case and lab findings and start to recognize what's abnormal and build a differential. In terms of things you have to know for an exam for something from PBL, you get a sheet of take-away facts after each case (so max one sheet with about 7-9 bullet points on it a week, usually less).

I was honestly dreading it, but I really like it. It's very laid back. People take turns bringing snacks and my faculty members that I've had so far have been really good about helping where they're needed and only really stepping in if we're going in a very wrong direction or missing something huge. I also spend about 45 minutes to an hour on the presentations so it's been really great for me to figure out how all the resources work and how to find information quickly which has been super helpful in clinic when I have a few minutes to look a condition up before a patient walks in.
 
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Nica56744 said:
PBL really doesn't take up that much time and it's more of a review and integration thing. You might go more in depth on a disease that you briefly mentioned in class, but a lot of it is being able to look at a case and lab findings and start to recognize what's abnormal and build a differential. In terms of things you have to know for an exam for something from PBL, you get a sheet of take-away facts after each case (so max one sheet with about 7-9 bullet points on it a week, usually less).

I was honestly dreading it, but I really like it. It's very laid back. People take turns bringing snacks and my faculty members that I've had so far have been really good about helping where they're needed and only really stepping in if we're going in a very wrong direction or missing something huge. I also spend about 45 minutes to an hour on the presentations so it's been really great for me to figure out how all the resources work and how to find information quickly which has been super helpful in clinic when I have a few minutes to look a condition up before a patient walks in.
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Thanks!
 
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:)) said:
A typical M1 has science lectures for 2-3 hours 3-4 days a week in the morning, none of which are mandatory and all of which are recorded. We also have 2 hours of health & society each week (1 lecture, 1 small group) which is public health, global health, diet & exercise counseling- whatever else. Ethics is once a week, 1 lecture and 1 small group. We also have a class called medical decision making, which is basically applied biostats. Thats an hour each week, rotating between a lecture and a small group. Clinical skills are taught for 2 hours in the skills lab/practice clinic every other week, and then those are practiced in your preceptorship the other week. PBL is 2 hours each twice a week when we have it (PBL usually dies down in the weeks leading up to an exam to give us more time to study).

Pretty much all of my learning is in lecture/from lecture guides. Use textbooks very rarely besides consulting First Aid once in awhile. I think that will change when we start CV in a few weeks, I heard there are some good textbooks for that. In terms of PBL research- yes I do learn a good amount from that but typically I don't spend more than an hour on a PBL presentation so there's only so much learning that can be done during an hour. Let me know if you guys have any other questions!
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Do you find this to be a huge amount of work to take on? It seems like a very involved curriculum, which could either be amazing or totally overwhelming.
 
mscs2014 said:
Do you find this to be a huge amount of work to take on? It seems like a very involved curriculum, which could either be amazing or totally overwhelming.
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I would say that medical school has actually been less work than I thought. The P/F curriculum is a HUGE part of this. I would highly encourage everyone to choose P/F no matter what school you go to. Everyone is so collaborative and there is so much more focus on learning for the sake of learning rather than to beat a classmate. It's awesome. That being said, if you don't see yourself liking small groups and would rather study alone most of your days, don't go to Feinberg. I think they're a great way to learn in context, meet classmates, and develop professional skills, but they do take time away from the books. It's whatever you prefer, really.
 
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:)) said:
I would say that medical school has actually been less work than I thought. The P/F curriculum is a HUGE part of this. I would highly encourage everyone to choose P/F no matter what school you go to. Everyone is so collaborative and there is so much more focus on learning for the sake of learning rather than to beat a classmate. It's awesome. That being said, if you don't see yourself liking small groups and would rather study alone most of your days, don't go to Feinberg. I think they're a great way to learn in context, meet classmates, and develop professional skills, but they do take time away from the books. It's whatever you prefer, really.
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How many hours of "alone study time" do you think you could get a day if you really tried to make time for it?
 
:)) said:
I would say that medical school has actually been less work than I thought. The P/F curriculum is a HUGE part of this. I would highly encourage everyone to choose P/F no matter what school you go to. Everyone is so collaborative and there is so much more focus on learning for the sake of learning rather than to beat a classmate. It's awesome. That being said, if you don't see yourself liking small groups and would rather study alone most of your days, don't go to Feinberg. I think they're a great way to learn in context, meet classmates, and develop professional skills, but they do take time away from the books. It's whatever you prefer, really.
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While small groups are definitely a large part of the curriculum, this statement is a bit overblown in my opinion. You can definitely thrive at Feinberg even if you prefer to study alone. Everybody has their own style of studying.

I think small groups are an inefficient way to learn material, but they are great for developing other skills. My biggest quip with the small groups is that there are so many to keep track of.
 
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TaroBubbleTea said:
While small groups are definitely a large part of the curriculum, this statement is a bit overblown in my opinion. You can definitely thrive at Feinberg even if you prefer to study alone. Everybody has their own style of studying.

I think small groups are an inefficient way to learn material, but they are great for developing other skills. My biggest quip with the small groups is that there are so many to keep track of.
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Would you mind clarifying what else there is in addition to 4 hours of pbl a week?
 
Glazedonutlove said:
Would you mind clarifying what else there is in addition to 4 hours of pbl a week?
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Besides the PBL small groups, which change every module or two, we also have:
a biweekly stats small group
a weekly public health small group
a business of medicine small group that meets very very sporadically (this group has only met 2 times so far and yet the administration thought that it required a completely different set of small groups...)
an area of scholarly concentration small group that meets once a month (basically the research requirement small group)
a biweekly clinical skills small group
a weekly ethics small group (we've finished our ethics module, but I think we keep this small group for something else)

I think that's it. The small group sessions usually do not exceed 1 hour.
So, yea lots of small groups. Some of which may be necessary and some of which could be nixed with little consequence.
 
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TaroBubbleTea said:
Besides the PBL small groups, which change every module or two, we also have:
a biweekly stats small group
a weekly public health small group
a business of medicine small group that meets very very sporadically (this group has only met 2 times so far and yet the administration thought that it required a completely different set of small groups...)
an area of scholarly concentration small group that meets once a month (basically the research requirement small group)
a biweekly clinical skills small group
a weekly ethics small group (we've finished our ethics module, but I think we keep this small group for something else)

I think that's it. The small group sessions usually do not exceed 1 hour.
So, yea lots of small groups. Some of which may be necessary and some of which could be nixed with little consequence.
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Biweekly as in every other week?
 
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Accepted today! Interviewed mid-November. Pleasantly surprised to get news this early!
 
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Are there still II being sent out? Complete in Sept and have not heard anything yet.
 
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Last year interviews were conducted until mid-February, so invites could very well still be going out.
 
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:)) said:
Last year interviews were conducted until mid-February, so invites could very well still be going out.
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I would hope so! Their deadline was only a couple of days ago.
 
When does the rejections parade start rolling out here? :-(
 
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Just wanted to throw out that no one should be discouraged yet.

I submitted my II beginning of August, was invited for an interview in late January and interviewed 2/6 (last day), and was accepted off the waitlist in mid-May.

Definitely don't worry--anything could happen. Good luck!
 
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greenpenguin65 said:
Just wanted to throw out that no one should be discouraged yet.

I submitted my II beginning of August, was invited for an interview in late January and interviewed 2/6 (last day), and was accepted off the waitlist in mid-May.

Definitely don't worry--anything could happen. Good luck!
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lm3jhj5.jpg
 
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So from what I gather reading through this thread, the only group interview is with a current medical student (senior med student with multiple interviewees) and the rest of the interviews are 1-on-1 with faculty. For people who have interviewed, is that accurate?
 
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HopefulApp23 said:
So from what I gather reading through this thread, the only group interview is with a current medical student (senior med student with multiple interviewees) and the rest of the interviews are 1-on-1 with faculty. For people who have interviewed, is that accurate?
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Yes, this was true for my interview experience in November.
 
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Yes, and the group interview was only with one other interviewee. My interviews at Feinberg were the most relaxed and conversational that I have had thus far.
 
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KitKat30 said:
Yes, and the group interview was only with one other interviewee. My interviews at Feinberg were the most relaxed and conversational that I have had thus far.
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I definitely had the opposite experience. Both of my faculty interviews were the hardest interviews I've ever had
 
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vanillabear55 said:
anyone have success with an in the area email?
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Nope. I tried. Their response made it sound like they review in order, but may be open to accommodating travel plans after they decide to invite you.
 
rukia013 said:
It's probably a troll--they only have 2 posts for here and WashU and both posts just say 'Accepted.'
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Sigh, that's what I figured when I saw the WashU post after I had already posted this.
 
:)) said:
Last year interviews were conducted until mid-February, so invites could very well still be going out.
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They are! ;-)

Complete near the deadline & very excited. Dates through the first half of January, so I would venture that iis will continue to go out for a few weeks.
 
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p0gono said:
They are! ;-)

Complete near the deadline & very excited. Dates through the first half of January, so I would venture that iis will continue to go out for a few weeks.
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Congratz. Hoping to get some love from NW. :cold:
 
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edited
 
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ACCEPTED!! :soexcited: I am so stoked and shocked! Interviewed literally less than 8 days ago and here I was ready to wait 8 weeks! Good luck to everyone else waiting to hear! :nod:
 
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So I heard that if you are going to be accepted it will happen 2 weeks after your interview. Is that true? Or just a rumor? (I'm talking about straight up acceptance, not off the waitlist).
 
IglooIgloo said:
So I heard that if you are going to be accepted it will happen 2 weeks after your interview. Is that true? Or just a rumor? (I'm talking about straight up acceptance, not off the waitlist).
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How about Whats_Up_Doc? getting accepted on Wednesday after an October interview?
 
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Does anyone know if Northwestern sends out pre-interview rejections? Silence since August :yawn:
 
bradnjk said:
Does anyone know if Northwestern sends out pre-interview rejections? Silence since August :yawn:
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I called today to ask this question. I told them I had a question about the admissions process I couldn't find the answer to on the website. They said that they send one set of decisions in November and another in March, but that anything can happen in between. If you're open, my guess is that you may still be under consideration. They asked for my AMCAS ID and were able to tell me that a decision had not been made on my application.
 
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bunchesonothing said:
I called today to ask this question. I told them I had a question about the admissions process I couldn't find the answer to on the website. They said that they send one set of decisions in November and another in March, but that anything can happen in between. If you're open, my guess is that you may still be under consideration. They asked for my AMCAS ID and were able to tell me that a decision had not been made on my application.
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When were you complete?
 
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