2015-2016 University of Utah Application Thread

[Ginred]

Got the secondary invite this morning! AMCAS verified August 4

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[ScentOfPeace]

Any idea on when they start throwing out IIs? The email said they interview starting in September. Maybe for In-staters they can get away with giving less time to spare.

I'm thinking the first round of interview invites will go out late this week or early next week.

 

[ScentOfPeace]

Got the secondary invite this morning! AMCAS verified August 4

Whoooohooo! I'm still waiting on mine. I was verified August 5th, so I assume it will be here very soon.

 

[Strebor14k]

Complete email/LORs downloaded. Now the wait

 

[runs4chocolate]

OOS got a secondary on 8/21-- don't know that i'll fill it out as I don't think the prompt actually gets to know the individual applying.

 

[doctor-mommy]

OOS got a secondary on 8/21-- don't know that i'll fill it out as I don't think the prompt actually gets to know the individual applying.

You have the application for that.

 

[Ginred]

OOS got a secondary on 8/21-- don't know that i'll fill it out as I don't think the prompt actually gets to know the individual applying.

Even if the parameters of your argument held any weight (which they do not) you're saying you would nix the idea of applying to a school because you disagreed with the verbiage of an admissions essay. Your intentions in applying to The U of U are hyper-transparent my friend.

I hope you don't submit your application here, because you clearly aren't attracted to The University of Utah for what it is, as demonstrated by your dismay heretofore shown. This must just be a school on your list to apply to and just get out of the way.

In defense of the essay prompt, of course the prompt gets to know you better as an applicant! What were you hoping for, another cut-and-paste, dime-a-dozen diversity prompt? By answering the question about professionalism, you have the opportunity to showcase what it is you value by what you focus on.

Please take some time to learn more about this school rather than simply shy away because of a prompt that challenges you. If you end up liking what you see here, so be it and welcome aboard! If it isn't a fit for you then go with your feeling of not applying here and focus your efforts elsewhere. Good luck with your career decisions.


I'm out


(Drops mic and walks off stage)

 

[Ginred]

Whoooohooo! I'm still waiting on mine. I was verified August 5th, so I assume it will be here very soon.

I'm sure it will!!

 

[runs4chocolate]

Even if the parameters of your argument held any weight (which they do not) you're saying you would nix the idea of applying to a school because you disagreed with the verbiage of an admissions essay. Your intentions in applying to The U of U are hyper-transparent my friend.

I hope you don't submit your application here, because you clearly aren't attracted to The University of Utah for what it is, as demonstrated by your dismay heretofore shown. This must just be a school on your list to apply to and just get out of the way.

In defense of the essay prompt, of course the prompt gets to know you better as an applicant! What were you hoping for, another cut-and-paste, dime-a-dozen diversity prompt? By answering the question about professionalism, you have the opportunity to showcase what it is you value by what you focus on.

Please take some time to learn more about this school rather than simply shy away because of a prompt that challenges you. If you end up liking what you see here, so be it and welcome aboard! If it isn't a fit for you then go with your feeling of not applying here and focus your efforts elsewhere. Good luck with your career decisions.


I'm out


(Drops mic and walks off stage)

Exactly-- the U isn't the fit I thought it would be for me. Not dissing the school- it's a medical school which means it's above and beyond normal school standards and by no means was I staying that the school sucked because of the essay. Just not the fit I was hoping for. I wasn't expecting the copy and paste you suggested- but I do believe the secondary is a chance to get to know the applicant and I just didn't feel this essay would display me at my best which I think we can all agree needs to be done in order to get into medical school.

Good luck to everyone here- after all, it's all about finding a good fit for yourself in the long run.

 

[tdc]

@Ginred - Woah. Calm down. Others can have an opinion, it does not mean they are wrong and you are right. Your response is really unwarranted and makes this place feel like a suffocating environment (I will argue SDN does not need that). Maybe you're just looking for attention based on your 'act' - dropping the mic, etc., but I digress, we will respect your opinion, please try to respect the opinion of others... that might come in handy as a future physician.

 

[Buck Winters]

Exactly-- the U isn't the fit I thought it would be for me. Not dissing the school- it's a medical school which means it's above and beyond normal school standards and by no means was I staying that the school sucked because of the essay. Just not the fit I was hoping for. I wasn't expecting the copy and paste you suggested- but I do believe the secondary is a chance to get to know the applicant and I just didn't feel this essay would display me at my best which I think we can all agree needs to be done in order to get into medical school.

Good luck to everyone here- after all, it's all about finding a good fit for yourself in the long run.

I would hate for the secondary prompt to be the only thing to deter you or even be the strongest deterrent from a school. In my mind, I figure the interview/campus experience/interaction with faculty and students will be the ideal opportunity to get an idea regarding school fit. On one hand, I'm sure some people are thinking, "awesome, one less competing applicant," but I'm a reapplicant, and I personally did not like the entire year of disappointment and doubt, nor would I wish it upon anyone. If you are really confident that you can get into another school (hard to know) and that the other school is a better fit (again, hard to know at this point for most schools), then go for it. Otherwise, put your hat in the ring and give yourself a chance to really know if the school would work. Either way, good luck!

(For entertainment purposes, read all of my posts in the voice of Dr. Mr. T)

 

[runs4chocolate]

I would hate for the secondary prompt to be the only thing to deter you or even be the strongest deterrent from a school. In my mind, I figure the interview/campus experience/interaction with faculty and students will be the ideal opportunity to get an idea regarding school fit. On one hand, I'm sure some people are thinking, "awesome, one less competing applicant," but I'm a reapplicant, and I personally did not like the entire year of disappointment and doubt, nor would I wish it upon anyone. If you are really confident that you can get into another school (hard to know) and that the other school is a better fit (again, hard to know at this point for most schools), then go for it. Otherwise, put your hat in the ring and give yourself a chance to really know if the school would work. Either way, good luck!

(For entertainment purposes, read all of my posts in the voice of Dr. Mr. T)

Thank you for your encouraging words! I am a reapplicant as well and last year was very tough and wouldn't wish it upon anyone. I already have an acceptance letter and a few more interviews coming up so it's nice to be in a position where I can afford to be picky- because last year I didn't have that luxury. Figured I would be doing the ADCOMS and people who want to go here with everything in them a service by not wasting anyones time of being on the fence about the school until and *if* being given an II and a chance to further feel out the school and make an educated decision. I honestly do wish everyone the best of luck- it's draining and hard to go through the cycle.

 

[Ginred]

Exactly-- the U isn't the fit I thought it would be for me. Not dissing the school- it's a medical school which means it's above and beyond normal school standards and by no means was I staying that the school sucked because of the essay. Just not the fit I was hoping for. I wasn't expecting the copy and paste you suggested- but I do believe the secondary is a chance to get to know the applicant and I just didn't feel this essay would display me at my best which I think we can all agree needs to be done in order to get into medical school.

Good luck to everyone here- after all, it's all about finding a good fit for yourself in the long run.

I respect and appreciate your perspective and your response @runs4chocolate . I admittedly misread the tone of your previous post, and I was a little too blunt in my comment of "I hope you don't apply here." That comment was motivated by the query you posted of "I don't know if I should apply here." I now recognize that for you, the essay prompt was not the only thing that held you back from application, but a "last straw" to throw on the back of a camel that was already balancing out the prospect of whether or not to apply to this school in the first place. I completely get that.

In the spirit of what has been discussed in quite a bit of detail already on this thread, there is a feeling associated with this school that a lot of the students that apply here, especially IS students (which I know you are not) really aren't that interested in it, and are applying just to apply. I'm not worried about you competing for an interview spot with me because we are applying for different types of seats (i.e. IS vs OOS.) However, as is the common sentiment on this thread, I feel that we need prospective physicians to come to the U of U who love the state of Utah and who may very well stay here to practice medicine.

Good luck with your application cycle!

@Ginred - Woah. Calm down. Others can have an opinion, it does not mean they are wrong and you are right. Your response is really unwarranted and makes this place feel like a suffocating environment (I will argue SDN does not need that). Maybe you're just looking for attention based on your 'act' - dropping the mic, etc., but I digress, we will respect your opinion, please try to respect the opinion of others... that might come in handy as a future physician.

I didn't say runs4chocolate couldn't have an opinion. I honestly did not feel that my response to him/her was all that antagonistic, other than the aforementioned comment about my being a bit too blunt with the "I hope you don't apply here" sentiment. Judging by your comments though, it appears that the post was interpreted as something I did not intend: hostile. I agree with you that this should be an environment of support rather than one of antagonism, and I'll do better to engender that.

My "act" was certainly not a plea for attention; I've got enough of a support system and a variety of great things going on in my life that I have all the attention I need- the dropping mic comment was all in good fun. Anyway, thanks for letting me know that I may have been out of line when I didn't think I was; it's a good thing for us to have others show us things that we may be blind to in ourselves. Good luck to you as well with your application cycle.

 

[ScentOfPeace]

Guys lets try to focus on what is important here... I got my secondary!

 

[ScentOfPeace]

Complete.

 

[Ginred]

Hey guys- just out of curiosity, does anyone know Utah's most recent average MCAT score? I'm trying to determine if I'm above their average in this area for the 5/7 requirement.

 

[Ball_Is_Life]

Hey guys- just out of curiosity, does anyone know Utah's most recent average MCAT score? I'm trying to determine if I'm above their average in this area for the 5/7 requirement.

As far as I know they haven't changed it from 30, 10 in each section. That's a 507 on the new mcat, I believe. Maybe 506.

 

[limeindacoconut]

Hey guys- just out of curiosity, does anyone know Utah's most recent average MCAT score? I'm trying to determine if I'm above their average in this area for the 5/7 requirement.

When I called and asked about this, I was told that the minimum was a 123 in each section, and the average was a 127 in each section. But the person did have to spend a very long time looking up those numbers, so I'm not sure if they are set in stone.

 

[Ginred]

When I called and asked about this, I was told that the minimum was a 123 in each section, and the average was a 127 in each section. But the person did have to spend a very long time looking up those numbers, so I'm not sure if they are set in stone.

As far as I know they haven't changed it from 30, 10 in each section. That's a 507 on the new mcat, I believe. Maybe 506.

Ah yes, I have to get used to this new scoring scale. Thanks a ton for the feedback guys!

 

[I_am_the_pan]

Last year, their average went down to 29 though, according to USNEWS

 

[ChackieJan]

Last year the first II's were sent out on this Friday.

 

[Buck Winters]

Last year, their average went down to 29 though, according to USNEWS

I'll allow it

 

[Ginred]

I'll allow it

This was really funny when I read it in Mr. T's voice!

 

[Ginred]

After a dozen re-writes and a giant dose of paranoia, I submitted my payment to the U of U yesterday. After receiving the payment confirmation this morning, I re-read my application another time or two and finally got up the nerve to submit my secondary app! On to the interview invites!

 

[IDmed_girl]

Got my secondaries yesterday! Actually I was at work ( I am a scribe in the ER) and I fist pumped and jumped in the air. The doc I was with laughed at me. So regarding the prompt. Do you guys feel that more is better? Like putting in as much as you can think of associated to professionalism hitting closer to that 2000 characters? Or maybe a solid shorter character essay?

I figured fist pumping and jumping for joy does not equal professionalism, but a patient witnessed my happy moment and said "I want what she is having".

 

[Buck Winters]

Got my secondaries yesterday! Actually I was at work ( I am a scribe in the ER) and I fist pumped and jumped in the air. The doc I was with laughed at me. So regarding the prompt. Do you guys feel that more is better? Like putting in as much as you can think of associated to professionalism hitting closer to that 2000 characters? Or maybe a solid shorter character essay?

I figured fist pumping and jumping for joy does not equal professionalism, but a patient witnessed my happy moment and said "I want what she is having".

I highly doubt that the focus of the adcoms will be to first check the length of the essay. If I were an adcom, I wouldn't care too much about length as long as everything I read was well thought out and displayed a unique perspective. I think it is fairly common for applicants/students to stretch two paragraphs worth of thought into two pages because of being conditioned to meet minimum requirements. In this case, I think the 2000 character limit is them saying, "we made our essay box only accept 2000 characters because we don't think you need more than that to respond, plus we don't have all day."

 

[IDmed_girl]

"Ain't nobody got time for that!"
I was going in that direction as well. I feel like if I have a solid professionalism meaning with supportive experiences and explanations then I would not be "frowned upon" for it being shorter. Thanks for replying so quickly! Sometimes I feel like I am the only one keeping the SDN page open all day.

 

[Ball_Is_Life]

"Ain't nobody got time for that!"
I was going in that direction as well. I feel like if I have a solid professionalism meaning with supportive experiences and explanations then I would not be "frowned upon" for it being shorter. Thanks for replying so quickly! Sometimes I feel like I am the only one keeping the SDN page open all day.

I assure you, you're not the only one.

 

[desertrat12]

For the activities section did anyone just copy paste the description from their primary? I feel my primary really has the best descriptions for my activities and rewording would be pointless.

 

[zhopv10]

I would suggest using it as an opportunity to hit things from a different angle/provide opportunity to say something different. They are both looked at.

 

[desertrat12]

I would suggest using it as an opportunity to hit things from a different angle/provide opportunity to say something different. They are both looked at.

Thanks!


Man, I'm not sure about anyone else, but this is the most difficult/stressful secondary I've had to send out yet! ...I've got everything complete but haven't navigated the LOR thing yet!

 

[Patagonico]

I liked this secondary prompt. While shadowing a surgeon, the anesthesiologist working told me he regularly interacts with U of U med students and thinks many of the current medical students at the U are odd people who lack professionalism. I think the secondary will help future medical students be more professional if what this anesthesiologist said is at all true. As they posted the prompt in June, it really got me thinking an gave me time to think about what professionalism is and where I'm lacking in regards to it. Hopefully it has done the same for others. May this upcoming class at the U be one of their most professional classes ever. (and I'm VERY grateful they didn't ask "how are you diverse" like half the other schools I applied to). I hope my diversity shows through other parts of my application and maybe an interview.

 

[Buck Winters]

Here's hoping tomorrow brings some invites! Hopefully the Utes can do some work on Michigan tonight so the adcoms are in a good mood tomorrow morning.

*sets TV to watch the game*

 

[ScentOfPeace]

So... how about them Utes?

 

[Buck Winters]

So... how about them Utes?

big gulps, huh?

nice.

 

[I_am_the_pan]

Such a sweet game last night! Hopefully this puts people in a better mood while reviewing secondaries

 

[Dr. Death]

Yeah great game. Can't ask for better than that to get the season kicked off. Hey do you guys know about how many IS applicants they interviewed vs how many IS applicants they had? My subscription to MSAR ran out and I don't want to pay another 25$ since I already applied. Thanks for your help.

 

[I_am_the_pan]

Yeah great game. Can't ask for better than that to get the season kicked off. Hey do you guys know about how many IS applicants they interviewed vs how many IS applicants they had? My subscription to MSAR ran out and I don't want to pay another 25$ since I already applied. Thanks for your help.

 

[ScentOfPeace]

Based on a handout my advisor gave me:
For the class entering in 2015:

Residency: Applications/interviewed/accepted

Utah: 542/345/91(+10 non-residents that graduated in Utah)
Idaho: 100/45/8
Non-resident: 2067/100/13

Men: 73 Women: 49

 

[Dr. Death]

Holy crap they only accepted 13 out of 100 OOS interviews? Looks like getting an interview pretty much means nothing then.

Yeah that's what I was thinking. That is pretty stupid of them in my opinion. Hey lets make all these OOS people fly in and interview and not bother accepting almost any of them.

 

[Leslie_Knope]

Based on a handout my advisor gave me:
For the class entering in 2015:

Residency: Applications/interviewed/accepted

Utah: 542/345/91(+10 non-residents that graduated in Utah)
Idaho: 100/45/8
Non-resident: 2067/100/13

Men: 73 Women: 49

The class has 122 so I am sure they accepted more than that. The number listed is the number matriculated.

 

[Dr. Death]

Says they accepted 33 OOS and 13 matriculated. This includes 8 seats given to Idaho residents.

 

[p0gono]

Says they accepted 33 OOS and 13 matriculated. This includes 8 seats given to Idaho residents.

Ouch.
Where are people with significant ties in the breakdown?

 

[Dr. Death]

Ouch.
Where are people with significant ties in the breakdown?

Good question but I wouldn't be surprised if they comprised the other 5 OOS seats

 

[ebauche]

Also need to remember that the U matriculates 4-5 MD/PhD students every year too. I would guess that most of them are out of state.

 

[p0gono]

So basically there is no chance of us getting into this school if we're OOS and not from Idaho. Literally only 5 people in America will get in. F this school

I think strong ties might actually be part of the 82% quota. But they're pretty strict about what qualifies? I remember reading that somewhere now that I think about it. But yeah, still v slim chance regardless.

 

[Dr.Pilot]

Into which category would people who graduate from college or high school in Utah fall?

 

[MDWannabe483]

So basically there is no chance of us getting into this school if we're OOS and not from Idaho. Literally only 5 people in America will get in. F this school

Well, you gotta remember, Utah only has ONE school, and there are a TON of undergrads applying to medical school in Utah and Idaho. So, yeah, it's an in state school, thankfully for us it holds true to that status.

 

[MDWannabe483]

Into which category would people who graduate from college or high school in Utah fall?

Rumor has it, people who go to college in Utah are in state. I've heard that from a lot of my friends who are applying and not from Utah but went to school with me in Utah.

 

[p0gono]

Rumor has it, people who go to college in Utah are in state. I've heard that from a lot of my friends who are applying and not from Utah but went to school with me in Utah.

Yeah I think they qualify as strong-ties in state, but NOT for tuition purposes.