2015-2016 University of Southern California (Keck) Application Thread

[DirkN]

Hey everyone! I'm really happy I get to create this thread for the all future applicants of USC-Keck.

I'll be matriculating here next year, and would love to answer any questions you have!

Additionally, I will update this post with information about secondary prompts as soon as they are released, as well as with general information about the school once I begin MS1.

Let's get this thread really active, and good luck to everyone applying!

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[hellanutella]

Stats *as per interview day*
~500 interviewed
>300 accepted
180 matriculated

- In 2014 USC did not accept any students from the waitlist. It has yet to be seen if they will do so for 2015.
- USC has no in-state bias, but class composition is usually 75% in-state and 25% out-of-state [x].

Secondary Application (there is no pre-screen)
*Note: secondary prompts have been known to change from year-to-year*

MD

• What is the most fun you’ve had in the last year? (3-5 sentences)
• If you could give yourself a nickname, what would it be? (3-5 sentences)
• If you had enormous wealth, how would you allocate your charitable donations? (3-5 sentences)
• What aspect of the preparation for applying to medical school did you find most challenging? (3-5 sentences)
• If you believe that you are a member of a group that is under-represented in medicine, describe what this designation means to you
• Write a sentence that is not true, then tell us why you wish it were true. (Please answer the question in 200 words or less.)

MD PhD

• Briefly describe your reasons for pursuing a combined M.D./Ph.D. degree and your most relevant research or scholarly experiences that have influenced your decision.
• List of publications and papers submitted including one or two sentences describing your role on each publication.
• Please provide the names of faculty at USC and Caltech with whom you would like to meet, if invited for an interview.

2014-2015 Important Dates
First secondary: July 10th, 2014
First interview: August 4th, 2014
First acceptance: October 15th, 2014 EST via email
First waitlist: October 15th, 2014 via email
First post-secondary rejection: February 2nd, 2015 via email
Final interview date: Feb 18th, 2015

Interview
One faculty interview and one student interview. Both are closed-file.

Curriculum
2-year preclinical; pass/fail.

Update Letter Policy
Updates are not accepted pre-interview OR post-interview. Waitlisted candidates can update Dean Arias come May.

Of note:

• USC has a rolling admissions process.
• As per interview day, USC makes a strong effort to extend full-tuition scholarships to a select number of students who are underrepresented in medicine. Merit scholarships can be applied to starting MS2 year. As per US News, the average graduating debt of the class of 2013 was $219,473.
• Class of 2018 Welcome Guide posted here. Guide has info on different LA neighbourhoods, transit options, and student life.
• The incoming class of 2020 marks the first class in which ~20-30 seats will not be occupied by members of the Baccalaureate/MD program, as it was cancelled, although a few members of the last class will be deferring.
  

 

[justadream]

Stats *as per interview day*
~500 interviewed
>300 accepted
180 matriculated

- In 2014 USC did not accept any students from the waitlist. It has yet to be seen if they will do so for 2015.
- USC has no in-state bias, but class composition is usually 75% in-state and 25% out-of-state [x].

Secondary Application (there is no pre-screen)
*Note: secondary prompts have been known to change from year-to-year*

MD

• What is the most fun you’ve had in the last year? (3-5 sentences)
• If you could give yourself a nickname, what would it be? (3-5 sentences)
• If you had enormous wealth, how would you allocate your charitable donations? (3-5 sentences)
• What aspect of the preparation for applying to medical school did you find most challenging? (3-5 sentences)
• If you believe that you are a member of a group that is under-represented in medicine, describe what this designation means to you
• Write a sentence that is not true, then tell us why you wish it were true. (Please answer the question in 200 words or less.)

MD PhD

• Briefly describe your reasons for pursuing a combined M.D./Ph.D. degree and your most relevant research or scholarly experiences that have influenced your decision.
• List of publications and papers submitted including one or two sentences describing your role on each publication.
• Please provide the names of faculty at USC and Caltech with whom you would like to meet, if invited for an interview.

2014-2015 Important Dates
First secondary: July 10th, 2014
First interview: August 4th, 2014
First acceptance: October 15th, 2014 EST via email
First waitlist: October 15th, 2014 via email
First post-secondary rejection: February 2nd, 2015 via email
Final interview date: Feb 18th, 2015

Interview
One faculty interview and one student interview. Both are closed-file.

Curriculum
2-year preclinical; pass/fail.

Update Letter Policy
Updates are not accepted pre-interview OR post-interview. Waitlisted candidates can update Dean Arias come May.

Of note:

• USC has a rolling admissions process.
• As per interview day, USC makes a strong effort to extend full-tuition scholarships to a select number of students who are underrepresented in medicine. Merit scholarships can be applied to starting MS2 year. As per US News, the average graduating debt of the class of 2013 was $219,473.
• Class of 2018 Welcome Guide posted here. Guide has info on different LA neighbourhoods, transit options, and student life.
• The incoming class of 2020 marks the first class in which ~20-30 seats will not be occupied by members of the Baccalaureate/MD program, as it was cancelled, although a few members of the last class will be deferring.

Does USC not extend merit scholarships for MS1 for non-URMs?

 

[DirkN]

Does USC not extend merit scholarships for MS1 for non-URMs?

It definitely does. All applicants are eligible for half tuition and full tuition scholarships based on academic merit (from their previous university). There are other scholarships available starting MS2 based on medical school merit.

 

[justadream]

It definitely does. All applicants are legible for half tuition and full tuition scholarships based on academic merit (from their previous university). There are other scholarships available starting MS2 based on medical school merit.

Got it. The avg debt load being so high is kind of scary though.

 

[DirkN]

Got it. The avg debt load being so high is kind of scary though.

It can definitely seem high for an incoming student, but remember that USC's tuition is roughly the same as the tuition of other private schools of its caliber (BU, Case, Dartmouth, Northwestern, etc.). Private schools generally have more expensive tuitions than state schools, and that's definitely something you should consider when applying!

 

[swimwear17]

3.8/35 IS. Dream school! Would be incredible to be accepted here

I know doctors who graduated from Keck that absolutely LOVED their time here. Do any current students have any input on what the faculty/professors are like? Maybe comment on research and clinical opportunities for students?

 

[ChillDawg]

Are the secondaries for Keck seriously that short? Is that normal for Keck and/or other med schools?

 

[DirkN]

Are the secondaries for Keck seriously that short? Is that normal for Keck and/or other med schools?

It definitely varies between schools, but Keck's secondary questions are shorter than the average medical school's questions and have been that way for a number of years.

Some of you may notice they're also kind of quirky. According to Dr. Arias (the admissions director), back when they used to ask the same types of questions as other medical schools (why this school, tell us about a challenge, etc.) they would mostly receive generic responses that were basically the same for each student. With these new questions, they're able to get interesting, unique answers that describe the applicant in just a few sentences.

 

[swimwear17]

So I was looking through USC's match list from the allopathic match list thread (copied below). It looks really, really impressive. Does anyone know USC's average step score???

University of Southern California (USC) Match List 2015

Orthopedic Surgery

Stanford
UCLA
UCSF
USC
University of Washington
San Diego Naval Medical Center
Cesars-Sinai
NYU
University of Kentucky Medical Center

Neurosurgery

USC
USC

Anesthesiology

Stanford
UCSD
UCLA
USC
USC
USC
University of Washington
University of Washington
Northwestern

Dermatology

UCLA
UC Irvine

Internal Medicine

Baylor
Cedars-Sinai
UCLA
UCLA
UCLA
Stanford
Northwestern
UMichigan
UC Davis
UC Irvine
Kaiser LA
Kaiser Santa Clara
Einstein
San Diego Naval
USC (x15)
Walter Reed National Military Medical Center

Otolaryngology

USC
USC

Pathology

Cedars-Sinai
Harbor-UCLA
Harbor-UCLA

Urology

USC
UCLA
UC Davis
Kaiser LA
Indiana

Oral and Maxillofacial

USC
USC

Thoracic Surgery

USC

Neurology

Harvard
USC
USC

Child Neurology

Stanford

Meds-Pediatrics

Brigham and Women's
Duke
UCSD
UCLA
USC
USC
UTSW
Rutgers

Pediatrics

Baylor
UTH
U Chicago
UCLA
Habor-UCLA
UCSD
UC Davis
Children's Hospital - LA
Children's Hospital-LA
Children's Hospital-LA
Children's Hospital-Oakland
Children's Hospital-Philadelphia

Ophthalmology

Yale
Yale
SUNY Stonybrook
Arizona
Schieie Eye Institute
NYMC

Pathology

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
Harbor-UCLA
Harbor-UCLA

Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation

Stanford

Radiation Oncology

Mayo Medical School

OB-GYN

Einstein
Einstein
NYU
UTSW
UTSW
UTSW
USC
USC
Maryland
Rush
Santa Clara
Alabama
Kaiser Permanente-Santa Clara

General Surgery

UCSF
UTSW
Cedars-Sinai
Georgetown
UC Davis
Wayne State
Tulane
Methodist Hospital Houston
Jackson Memorial Hospital
Albany Medical Center

Emergency Medicine

Brigham and Women's
Icahn SOM
Icahn SOM
Northwestern
USC
USC
Christiana Care (Emergency-Family Medicine)
Loma Linda
Cooper University Hospital
Cooper University Hospital
U Michigan

Family Medicine

UCSF
UC Davis
Habor-UCLA
U Washington
Kaiser-LA
Kaiser-LA
Kaiser-LA
Kaiser - Napa/Solano
Sutter Medical Center of Santa Rosa
Sweish Medical Center of Seattle
O'Connor Hospital
John Peter Smith Hospital
California Hospital Medical Center
White Memorial Medical Center

Radiology

U Chicago
UCSF
Stanford
UC Davis
MGH
NYP - Cornell
Harbor-UCLA
USC
USC
USC
Utah
Utah
Kaiser-LA

Psychiatry

UCLA
UCLA
USC
UC Irvine
Indiana SOM

Surgery Preliminary

UCSF
UCSF
UCLA
USC
UC Davis
Kaiser-LA
Kaiser-LA
Kaiser-LA
Indiana SOM
Huntington Memorial Hospital
Huntington Memorial Hospital
Loma Linda
St Joseph
Virginia Mason Hospital

Transitional

Scripps Mercy
Scripps Mercy
Santa Clara Valley

 

[DirkN]

So I was looking through USC's match list from the allopathic match list thread (copied below). It looks really, really impressive. Does anyone know USC's average step score???

Yep I cant argue that they had a great match this year and last year. USC has historically had one of the highest average step 1 scores in the country (237 last year, from US News), and their step 2 score is high as well. The curriculum gives students nearly 3 months to study for step 1, which helps students get high scores.

The USC advising office is also great at really prepping students for the match and making sure students get into great residencies. You'll also notice from the list how many students get California residencies. According to this page (http://hscnews.usc.edu/keck-school-celebrates-annual-match-day/), 113/167 matched in California this year, and the school had a 100% match rate in 2015.

 

[swimwear17]

Which hospitals is Keck affiliated with? I know they have LA county, but do they have a private hospital/children's hospital, etc.?

 

[DirkN]

Which hospitals is Keck affiliated with? I know they have LA county, but do they have a private hospital/children's hospital, etc.?

I know doctors who graduated from Keck that absolutely LOVED their time here. Do any current students have any input on what the faculty/professors are like? Maybe comment on research and clinical opportunities for students?

The biggest affiliates are LA County (public), Keck Hospital (private), Children's Hospital of LA, Norris Cancer Center (research/clinical complex), USC Eye Institute and the Veteran Administration Outpatient Clinic (VA).

From what I hear, the county hospital is where you'd hypothetically do most of your training during medical school. Since it serves LA's gigantic poor patient population, the faculty give students basically resident-levels of responsibility for the patients and a hands-on clinical experience. CHLA is really a great site for Peds rotations, since it's one of the top 5 children's hospitals in the country but still serves a ridiculous volume of low-income patients, requiring the faculty to give keck med students a lot of responsibility, kind of like the county hospital.

The Norris Cancer Hospital is where a lot of students do research. There are several research wings which have a bunch of labs for students to work in during med school. Not sure of its ranking but I know its one of the better cancer hospitals out there.

Edit: apparently there are a lot of research opportunities here, but they are mostly pursued by MD/PHD's.

They have a ton of other affiliate teaching hospitals around LA, like Huntington Memorial Hospital, Hospital of the Good Samaritan and Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center. I doubt you'll have much to do here though as a medical student, but they do have residency spots for several different specialities.

 

[MalibuPreMD]

Not sure I agree with your assertion that most students do research at Norris. I don't think many of the non MD/PhD students pursue bench research. There are plenty of research opportunities available there.

If any of you are interested in research, definitely try coming in to medical school knowing some biostatistics (linear / logistic regression) and statistical software (r/sas/stata). You will be very productive throughout medical school, and you don't need advanced math (i.e. calc) to learn biostats.

 

[DirkN]

Not sure I agree with your assertion that most students do research at Norris. I don't think many of the non MD/PhD students pursue bench research. There are plenty of research opportunities available there.

If any of you are interested in research, definitely try coming in to medical school knowing some biostatistics (linear / logistic regression) and statistical software (r/sas/stata). You will be very productive throughout medical school, and you don't need advanced math (i.e. calc) to learn biostats.

Hmm that's interesting. My student host last year did his research at Norris and told me that they offer a lot of research opportunities for medical students. @MalibuPreMD could you maybe say a little more about how most medical students pursue their research at keck? Or does it really vary by person?

 

[ShadyLane]

Not sure I agree with your assertion that most students do research at Norris. I don't think many of the non MD/PhD students pursue bench research. There are plenty of research opportunities available there.

If any of you are interested in research, definitely try coming in to medical school knowing some biostatistics (linear / logistic regression) and statistical software (r/sas/stata). You will be very productive throughout medical school, and you don't need advanced math (i.e. calc) to learn biostats.

Good to know! I have the opportunity to learn some of these programs at work, so what you said is giving me more motivation to do it. Can't wait to apply to Keck!

 

[MalibuPreMD]

could you maybe say a little more about how most medical students pursue their research at keck? Or does it really vary by person?

I imagine that most people pursue a project in a specialty that they are contemplating going into. Research is a great way to network (whether it's face time with attendings or going to conferences). The smart students will find a mentor that is 1) well known in his or her field (a letter from a big name carries a lot of weight) and 2) is productive. It's becoming more and more popular every year to take a 5th year dedicated to research, so picking a good mentor is a big decision that you will make during your first year.

A surgical side note: more and more residencies (plastics, thoracic, vascular) are becoming integrated and are very competitive. If you think you might want to be a subspecialist, surgeons at Keck and LAC are very welcoming to first years scrubbing in. I highly recommend taking advantage of this and using these experiences to then choose a mentor. Also note that doing research in a related field may actually work against you, especially if its surgical subspecialty research. i.e. if you do research in thoracic or vascular and are productive, you might find yourself having a hard time matching general surgery because general surgery programs don't want to be back ups to integrated programs. So if your gung-ho a certain integrated pathway then by all means work with a subspecialist, if you aren't sure I would work with a general surgeon (PM me for a recommendation).

 

[ChillDawg]

Regarding the MD/MPH track, do you first get accepted as MD, and then further considered for dual degree? Are there two seperate pools of applicants?
I'm interested in applying to MD/MPH, but I want to be sure that applying to MD/MPH doesnt exclude me from the MD student body.

 

[DirkN]

Regarding the MD/MPH track, do you first get accepted as MD, and then further considered for dual degree? Are there two seperate pools of applicants?
I'm interested in applying to MD/MPH, but I want to be sure that applying to MD/MPH doesnt exclude me from the MD student body.

From Keck's Website:

Application Process

Applications are made through the Keck School of Medicine’s MD degree supplemental application. The supplemental application will provide students with the option to apply to the MD/MPH program in addition to the MD program. If you select to apply to the MD/MPH, decisions regarding admission are made independent of the admission decision to the MD program. The prerequisites for the MD/MPH program are the same as those for the regular MD program.

The first block of MPH courses begin in the third week of May requiring that students accept a position in the MD/MPH program no later April 15th.

 

[Oranges2]

From Keck's Website:

Application Process

Applications are made through the Keck School of Medicine’s MD degree supplemental application. The supplemental application will provide students with the option to apply to the MD/MPH program in addition to the MD program. If you select to apply to the MD/MPH, decisions regarding admission are made independent of the admission decision to the MD program. The prerequisites for the MD/MPH program are the same as those for the regular MD program.

The first block of MPH courses begin in the third week of May requiring that students accept a position in the MD/MPH program no later April 15th.

I, too, am interested in this! Does anyone know if there are additional essay questions if you select MD/MPH on the primary app?

 

[Chasing Never Land]

Does this mean you can be accepted into MD/MPH and rejected by MD only? And therefore still go to med school? *confused*

 

[DirkN]

Haha no thankfully that cannot happen... you will be considered for the MD program, and if you are accepted, you will be considered for MD/MPH. There is absolutely nothing to lose by applying MD/MPH.

 

[MalibuPreMD]

Also note: med school will pay MPH tuition whether you do both degrees in 4 years or take a 5th year to do dedicated MPH.

 

[Chasing Never Land]

ok that makes more sense! ^ and the tuition thing is awesome

 

[nm825]

Is Keck purely pass/fail first two years? Is there any class rank?

Also, has anyone found housing for the fall yet? Looks like July is the earliest we'd find something for an August move-in.

 

[hellanutella]

Is Keck purely pass/fail first two years? Is there any class rank?

Also, has anyone found housing for the fall yet? Looks like July is the earliest we'd find something for an August move-in.

I was told at my interview that the preclinical was a true unranked pass/fail. Keck students are rather broadly ranked in their MSPE, but this could be based off of clinical grades.

The descriptors used in the summary paragraph are bolded, capitalized OUTSTANDING, EXCELLENT, VERY GOOD and GOOD. The numerical boundaries for these summary paragraph descriptor are found in Appendix D as OUTSTANDING top 20%, EXCELLENT 70%, VERY GOOD the bottom 10%, and no students were designated GOOD.

As for move-ins, due to the broad geographic area in which Keck students live, availability and waiting times for housing will vary. For an August move-in, I'd start doing Craigslist/Padmapper sweeps during June. Check out the student Welcome Guide to get a feel for the different neighbourhoods and their price points.

 

[Derikulus]

Surely a reach for me, but I have read nothing but good things about Keck. Any tips on a first time OOS applicant on how to better my chances of interviewing here?

 

[sovereign0]

Though there is no official IS bias, considering the rough 75/25 ratio would anyone wager that the OOS applicants had better stats, on average, to get interviews over the IS applicants?

In other words, should I apply here as an OOS?

 

[hellanutella]

Though there is no official IS bias, considering the rough 75/25 ratio would anyone wager that the OOS applicants had better stats, on average, to get interviews over the IS applicants?

In other words, should I apply here as an OOS?

I believe the 75/25 split reflects the propensity for CA students to stay in-state. Even UCSF, which accepts IS and OOS students in near-equal numbers, has a final class composition around 80/20. From what I gleaned from my fellow interviewees at USC's interview day, the native Californians were also far more willing to rationalize USC's extremely high sticker price for the location (presumably due to family ties, friends, and/or desire to serve LA county) than OOS students.

If you look at last year's thread, there was a good spread of stats for both OOS and IS students. I'd say go for it!

 

[sovereign0]

I believe the 75/25 split reflects the propensity for CA students to stay in-state. Even UCSF, which accepts IS and OOS students in near-equal numbers, has a final class composition around 80/20. From what I gleaned from my fellow interviewees at USC's interview day, the native Californians were also far more willing to rationalize USC's extremely high sticker price for the location (presumably due to family ties, friends, and/or desire to serve LA county) than OOS students.

If you look at last year's thread, there was a good spread of stats for both OOS and IS students. I'd say go for it!

I could totally see the California thing factoring into who actually matriculates, but I noticed that Keck interviewed ~12% of IS applicants vs only 7.7% OOS applicants (compared to almost 10% of all applicants, both OOS and IS).

Even still, I think I will pull the trigger!

 

[DesertTortoise]

If they keep this question on the secondary:

• If you could give yourself a nickname, what would it be? (3-5 sentences)

http://en.what-character-are-you.com/d/en/1365/index/8191.html

 

[Thoracic Bean]

If they keep this question on the secondary:

• If you could give yourself a nickname, what would it be? (3-5 sentences)

http://en.what-character-are-you.com/d/en/1365/index/8191.html

I'm pretty sure "Honeybear" might send the wrong message LOL

 

[Derikulus]

I could totally see the California thing factoring into who actually matriculates, but I noticed that Keck interviewed ~12% of IS applicants vs only 7.7% OOS applicants (compared to almost 10% of all applicants, both OOS and IS).

Even still, I think I will pull the trigger!

Right there with you! Who knows what will happen? Good luck!!

 

[panda16]

@hellanutella ,@MalibuPreMD , @DirkN Thank you all SO MUCH for posting all the info about Keck...has been very influential in my decision to apply!

 

[Oranges2]

If they keep this question on the secondary:

• If you could give yourself a nickname, what would it be? (3-5 sentences)

http://en.what-character-are-you.com/d/en/1365/index/8191.html

Hahahha!!! this is so funny. but seriously, this question is so hard, i have no idea what to put down

 

[Derikulus]

Hahahha!!! this is so funny. but seriously, this question is so hard, i have no idea what to put down

Yeah it is a hard one. I wonder if a given nickname would be acceptable. In my graduate program, my colleagues gave me a plethora of nicknames, my favorite being Derikulus: the 13th cranial nerve (C.N. XIII)

 

[got22]

MD secondary

• What is the most fun you’ve had lately? (3-5 sentences)
• If you could give yourself a nickname, what would it be? (3-5 sentences)
• If you had enormous wealth, how would you allocate your charitable donations? (3-5 sentences)
• What aspect of the future of medicine causes you the most concern? (3-5 sentences)
• If you believe that you are a member of a group that is under-represented in medicine, tell us how this may affect your role as a physician. (200 words or less)
• Write a sentence that is not true, then tell us why you wish it were true. (Please answer the question in 200 words or less.)

 

[Flashfan]

So is this confirmed for this year as well?

 

[got22]

So is this confirmed for this year as well?

Yes, I just received the secondary. One question was changed from last year's prompts.

 

[musicalfeet]

Does anyone else think these questions are harder than any other secondary question?

I feel that there's a lot of pitfalls in answering these questions, and many ways to look at someone's answer to reflect badly on them. For example, the most fun I've had this year was visiting my family overseas and visiting a foreign country together. That totally could be looked at as "spoiled rich kid who can afford to vacation" as well, so I'm hesitant on saying that. But it's the truth!

 

[Flashfan]

This is so much harder than a typical essay. Being rejected will make it seem like they don't like me as a person.

 

[ResidencyHopeful123]

Also just received secondary and submitted. Hoping for the best!

Although my nickname is gonna make the person reading it go or , maybe even .

 

[sharkbyte]

Does Keck screen for secondaries? Or does every applicant receive one?

 

[nmimi34]

* What aspect of the future of medicine causes you the most concern? (3-5 sentences).

Does this question refer to YOUR future in medicine (ie what worries you the most about being a doctor) or does it refer to the future of medicine in general (ie the cost of healthcare, shortage of physicians, etc) ?

 

[phuynh94]

Secondary received and submitted! Verified 6/4.
Attended USC as an undergrad. Here's hoping the Trojan Family connection pulls through!

 

[starlite911]

* What aspect of the future of medicine causes you the most concern? (3-5 sentences).

Does this question refer to YOUR future in medicine (ie what worries you the most about being a doctor) or does it refer to the future of medicine in general (ie the cost of healthcare, shortage of physicians, etc) ?

They're probably curious to see how you interpret it, although I'm sure either would be fine.

 

[phuynh94]

* What aspect of the future of medicine causes you the most concern? (3-5 sentences).

Does this question refer to YOUR future in medicine (ie what worries you the most about being a doctor) or does it refer to the future of medicine in general (ie the cost of healthcare, shortage of physicians, etc) ?

I personally talked about medicine in general, but personalized by bringing in my passions. (I talked about a potential disconnect between physicians who had a more conservative upbringing and how that might affect care for patients of younger generations, who are much more diverse).

 

[starlite911]

Does anyone have advice for the last question? It is so broad. Not sure what they are looking for?

I don't think they're "looking for" anything. I read that they started using these types of questions because they liked the variety of responses they got, versus "traditional" secondary questions, where half the applicants say the same thing

 

[nmimi34]

Thanks!

 

[Proteinz]

Does Keck screen for secondaries? Or does every applicant receive one?

I don't think they screen. On the msar, it says all AMCAS certified applicant receive secondary, which I think means everyone verified