2015-2016 SUNY Downstate Application Thread

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NoCaribbeanPlease said:
I sent a thank you email to the person that interviewed me. I also included some information that she had asked me about, and told me to email her with the answer. Anyway, that was over a week ago and she hasn't responded to me. Is it odd not to get a reply to a post-interview thank you email?
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Definitely do not overthink this. I did the same thing for my interviewer a year ago and to this day never got a response lol
 
On hold for spring consideration. Interviewed mid January. Not sure how to feel, at least no rejection so far.
 
+1 On hold for Spring; interviewed 1/5 OOS. Does anyone know if they accept updates?
 
it seems like there's a lot of movement off the Spring hold from last year's thread, so it's not a nail in the coffin @XactoPencilSharpener ! keep faith 🙂

rukia013 said:
+1 On hold for Spring; interviewed 1/5 OOS. Does anyone know if they accept updates?
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they do!

and omg, that's the day i interviewed. *cue internal screaming*
 
Kieyky said:
II TODAY! MCAT:503 GPA 3.5 ...In State!
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congrats. I'm still waiting to here from them. 503 is like a 27 or so. are you a minority or an under represented group? Also, did you send out letters of interest to them?
 
izotic said:
congrats. I'm still waiting to here from them. 503 is like a 27 or so. are you a minority or an under represented group? Also, did you send out letters of interest to them?
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Lol I know what 503 is equivalent to...I don't need you do the statistics for me. Honestly, med schools that use a holistic review to screen applicants place equal emphasis on all aspects of the application. Having a high MCAT score, high GPA etc can and will still leave you with a rejection.

To answer your question, yes...I am URM and no, I didn't send them a letter of interest. However, the fact that I am URM doesn't detract from how hard I've worked to get to even be considered for an interview.

I'd suggest just allowing the interview process to take its course. Every application is different. Using other applicants information to gauge your own success is essentially useless. The admissions process is an ambiguous one for the most part.
 
Kieyky said:
Lol I know what 503 is equivalent to...I don't need you do the statistics for me. Honestly, med schools that use a holistic review to screen applicants place equal emphasis on all aspects of the application. Having a high MCAT score, high GPA etc can and will still leave you with a rejection.

To answer your question, yes...I am URM and no, I didn't send them a letter of interest. However, the fact that I am URM doesn't detract from how hard I've worked to get to even be considered for an interview.

I'd suggest just allowing the interview process to take its course. Every application is different. Using other applicants information to gauge your own success is essentially useless. The admissions process is an ambiguous one for the most part.
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i didn't mean to offend you in any way. I'm sorry you took it as an offense. I'm sure you have worked hard as has everyone else. I'm asking based on the realities of the world today that URM do get a leniency on the grades that is all. Once, again congrats. No one is taking your accomplishments from you
 
izotic said:
i didn't mean to offend you in any way. I'm sorry you took it as an offense. I'm sure you have worked hard as has everyone else. I'm asking based on the realities of the world today that URM do get a leniency on the grades that is all. Once, again congrats. No one is taking your accomplishments from you
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I didnt think what u said was wrong...u were just trying to see who was been invited....Its a different playing field if your URM. We are just seeing if we are alive. Congrats I just to hope to get one!!
 
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Kieyky said:
Lol I know what 503 is equivalent to...I don't need you do the statistics for me. Honestly, med schools that use a holistic review to screen applicants place equal emphasis on all aspects of the application. Having a high MCAT score, high GPA etc can and will still leave you with a rejection.

To answer your question, yes...I am URM and no, I didn't send them a letter of interest. However, the fact that I am URM doesn't detract from how hard I've worked to get to even be considered for an interview.

I'd suggest just allowing the interview process to take its course. Every application is different. Using other applicants information to gauge your own success is essentially useless. The admissions process is an ambiguous one for the most part.
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Dude calm down
 
izotic said:
i didn't mean to offend you in any way. I'm sorry you took it as an offense. I'm sure you have worked hard as has everyone else. I'm asking based on the realities of the world today that URM do get a leniency on the grades that is all. Once, again congrats. No one is taking your accomplishments from you
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I understand what you were asking. What I'm saying is there isn't much leniency in being URM. I say this because if that was the case, the distribution in the class profile would be a lot different. In a class of 200, you may only see 15-20 URM. It's not a determining factor in any way.
 
For the lack of political correctness My undergraduate Gpa was 3.4 I spent about 65k on an smp program to up my Gpa,in which my gpa was 3.94 with M1's scored a 515 and I'm in state have hours of shadowing been working doing direct patient care for 7 months full time and can't get an invite,
 
DortorK said:
For the lack of political correctness My undergraduate Gpa was 3.4 I spent about 65k on an smp program to up my Gpa,in which my gpa was 3.94 with M1's scored a 515 and I'm in state have hours of shadowing been working doing direct patient care for 7 months full time and can't get an invite,
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Like I said, scores aren't everything. You're probably just not the right fit for the school (not to be shady or anything)...and that's okay. There are other schools that would be happy to have you. I think the sense of entitlement is what makes the difference sometimes. Med schools can definitely pick up on it.
 
Kieyky said:
Like I said, scores aren't everything. You're probably just not the right fit for the school (not to be shady or anything)...and that's okay. There are other schools that would be happy to have you. I think the sense of entitlement is what makes the difference sometimes. Med schools can definitely pick up on it.
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Sense of entitlement ? Sorry your mistaken, wrong person, IN THE REAL WORLD with your stats l wouldn't have even been granted a secondary from any MD school. Consider yourself entitled.
 
DortorK said:
Sense of entitlement ? Sorry your mistaken, wrong person, IN THE REAL WORLD with your stats l wouldn't have even been granted a secondary from any MD school. Consider yourself entitled.
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Lol well, there's two kinds of people in this world....

Btw, it seems to me neither my stats NOR your stats are going to grant you an interview.
 
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Kieyky said:
Lol I know what 503 is equivalent to...I don't need you do the statistics for me. Honestly, med schools that use a holistic review to screen applicants place equal emphasis on all aspects of the application. Having a high MCAT score, high GPA etc can and will still leave you with a rejection.

To answer your question, yes...I am URM and no, I didn't send them a letter of interest. However, the fact that I am URM doesn't detract from how hard I've worked to get to even be considered for an interview.

I'd suggest just allowing the interview process to take its course. Every application is different. Using other applicants information to gauge your own success is essentially useless. The admissions process is an ambiguous one for the most part.
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To be fair, we have no indication of how seriously they follow the holistic evaluation (med admission buzzword), and it doesn't mean they value all things equally. As an institution, they can opt to value factor X over Y as they see fit... They will look at everything, but if you have 500 hr research and lived in the city vs 5000 hr research and lived rurally, they have two factors... They don't need to value research and "likelihood of engaging in the community and working in the area" the same, and if they don't value them similarly, they aren't weighted equally. The class makeup, "mission", etc all play into what they value, but not all things are important to them even if they promise to consider them.

All that should matter is that they value you enough to invite you. Above an MCAT of ~27 the correlation with usmle seems to fall off anyways, so it doesn't matter for you moving forward.

If you think they don't value you (in part) because you're underrepresented, you're missing something; as you said, it's a package they are looking for. There are a lot of valuable reasons to have a diverse (race, SES, regionally, linguistically, etc) student body and future physician population, and you should focus on what you can positively and uniquely bring to the table rather than attack people who generalize. Some people will say that's why you got an II, and the best way to shut them up is to ignore them. Antagonizing them in return just keeps this crap cycling. This is an opinion built from other threads you've posted in too...
 
NonTrad16 said:
To be fair, we have no indication of how seriously they follow the holistic evaluation (med admission buzzword), and it doesn't mean they value all things equally. As an institution, they can opt to value factor X over Y as they see fit... They will look at everything, but if you have 500 hr research and lived in the city vs 5000 hr research and lived rurally, they have two factors... They don't need to value research and "likelihood of engaging in the community and working in the area" the same, and if they don't value them similarly, they aren't weighted equally. The class makeup, "mission", etc all play into what they value, but not all things are important to them even if they promise to consider them.

All that should matter is that they value you enough to invite you. Above an MCAT of ~27 the correlation with usmle seems to fall off anyways, so it doesn't matter for you moving forward.

If you think they don't value you (in part) because you're underrepresented, you're missing something; as you said, it's a package they are looking for. There are a lot of valuable reasons to have a diverse (race, SES, regionally, linguistically, etc) student body and future physician population, and you should focus on what you can positively and uniquely bring to the table rather than attack people who generalize. Some people will say that's why you got an II, and the best way to shut them up is to ignore them. Antagonizing them in return just keeps this crap cycling. This is an opinion built from other threads you've posted in too...
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Well said.
 
whatsupdr said:
[

Why not just post NOT your invite
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Orrr I can just remove myself from the forum entirely. It's more self serving than supportive in my opinion. All the best.

Btw, my interview invite is addressed to me...I'd be doing myself a disservice by posting it...and again, like most other info on this forum...it would be essentially useless for your success.
 
I want to take a second to restate something I said at the beginning of the cycle, and something I truly believe in. Do NOT use this forum as a way of comparing and contrasting applicants. You will not be able to figure out the process, nor will you be able to determine what your chances of gaining acceptance or an interview invite will be. All you will accomplish is 1) freaking yourself out 2) driving yourself crazy 3) starting pointless arguments at times.

I understand that students going into medicine as a whole tend to wanna know every little aspect about whats going on with the application process. I get that, as I was the exact same way last year. But honestly, just take a step back and let the cycle happen. If there are any specific questions about the school or in general how applying here works, I and other current students on this forum, will gladly take the time to answer and try the best to ease your concerns and thoughts.

Moral of the story...knowing somebody else's stats, their complete date, what they did in undergrad..NONE of that is going to have an effect on whether or not you get in, and you will not be able to find a trend. Literally nobody knows what goes on in admissions offices.

Congrats to whomever got accepted, interviewed, etc...I am sure I will see you all next year. To those still waiting...best of luck. This is an awful process, and I'm sure everyone is very qualified. Do yourself a favor and do not put any stake in what is said on this site, or what is going on in anybody else's application cycle. You will drive yourself crazy.

Ok...back to cranial nerves.
 
izotic said:
congrats. I'm still waiting to here from them. 503 is like a 27 or so. are you a minority or an under represented group? Also, did you send out letters of interest to them?
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This was an extremely unnecessary statement. What was the purpose of it? We all know what the old equivalent score is and we know that it's below average for the school, doesn't mean we have to point it out. Whether you realize it or not, that statement was very belittling, and I would have reacted the same way. This conversation would have went in a WHOLE different direction if that was omitted.

People need to realize that schools want diversity. They are NOT giving URMs leniency in gaining admission. They are simply taking the BEST out of every race/ethnicity to have the best and most diverse student body.

Everyone needs to understand that if schools were not aiming to have a diverse student body, then the entire class would be Asian and from California (based of statistics, this group has the highest stats). No school wants a student body that's all Asian or all White or all URM, and no student wants to have classmates that are just like them.
 
PugsAndHugs said:
This was an extremely unnecessary statement. What was the purpose of it? We all know what the old equivalent score is and we know that it's below average for the school, doesn't mean we have to point it out. Whether you realize it or not, that statement was very belittling, and I would have reacted the same way. This conversation would have went in a WHOLE different direction if that was omitted.

People need to realize that schools want diversity. They are NOT giving URMs leniency in gaining admission. They are simply taking the BEST out of every race/ethnicity to have the best and most diverse student body.

Everyone needs to understand that if schools were not aiming to have a diverse student body, then the entire class would be Asian and from California (based of statistics, this group has the highest stats). No school wants a student body that's all Asian or all White or all URM, and no student wants to have classmates that are just like them.
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Thank you! My point exactly. Good luck during this cycle!
 
I think everyone has their feelings too easily hurt nowadays... lol why do you guys care what anonymous internet keyboard warriors post? Congrats on the interview either way dude.. maybe we'll be classmates one day.
 
Interview was about an hour long this past thursday and i think it went well. basically just went over my app and asked questions from a sheet on top of that and wrote down what i said.
 
cardzkp said:
I think everyone has their feelings too easily hurt nowadays... lol why do you guys care what anonymous internet keyboard warriors post? Congrats on the interview either way dude.. maybe we'll be classmates one day.
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ya sensitive doctors is the last thing we need.
 
oreolucky2468 said:
For those who were accepted into the MPH program, but havent heard any news (pre-interview) from the MD part, did you still accept the offer from the MPH acceptance?
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I got a letter last month saying I was accepted and to wait for MD part as well. I have started to send my transcript info and acceptance reply form. They told me this does NOT officially commit you, should you choose else where bc you got into another MD program they understand. Have you heard any news since? Also, they mentioned there is a list of requirements for those students accepted into the MPH program. They also sent a link to the webpage that was supposed to provide this information which required a username and password, I was not sent one were you? Do you know what the list of requirements are for accepted students?
 
Someone might have posted this already but is there an accepted students facebook group!?
 
Has anyone gotten the form for participating in shadow a student day? They emailed me saying they would reach out soon (over a week ago) and I haven't heard back?
 
Interviewing at Downstate this upcoming Tuesday..I've been reading through the Interview Feedback section a bit but any other tips would be awesome! 🙂
 
jk441 said:
Interviewing at Downstate this upcoming Tuesday..I've been reading through the Interview Feedback section a bit but any other tips would be awesome! 🙂
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The interview is open file. My interviewer really read through every part of my package. Be familiar with your PS, secondary essay, AAMC activities and be prepared to answer some non classical questions. Be confident and be yourself. Good luck!
 
Jay_W said:
The interview is open file. My interviewer really read through every part of my package. Be familiar with your PS, secondary essay, AAMC activities and be prepared to answer some non classical questions. Be confident and be yourself. Good luck!
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Ah if only I actually saved my secondary responses haha..thank you!
 
Jay_W said:
I believe the essays asked about gap year and why Downstate/NYC.
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For the most part I remember what I wrote down..always nice to be able to go back and re-read though. Anyways, I'm looking forward to this one!
 
Interviewed about 2 weeks ago and I've become really interested in Downstate's MPH program. Has anyone else applied pre or post interview? Would appreciate any advice!
 
10_oreoo said:
Interviewed about 2 weeks ago and I've become really interested in Downstate's MPH program. Has anyone else applied pre or post interview? Would appreciate any advice!
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i applied MD and MPH and was accepted to both, feel free to PM me
 
Interviewed here in February. Really enjoyed my experience. I know that people often say that the facilities are pretty old but that was definitely not my impression. SOME of the facilities are definitely not new, but that felt pretty irrelevant. Seems to be a great place to train, and fingers crossed for some good news!

Funny Story: Spoke to the admit office after my interview and they told me that it may take 14-16 weeks to get a response. Is this true?!!! The website only says 4-6.. Maybe I heard wrong because I was so nervous for my interview.. haha.
 
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