P/F no ranks - for the first two years.
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2016-2017 SUNY - Downstate Application Thread
Started by WedgeDawg
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100% pass/fail for the preclinical years. With no ranking system that students are aware of. Once third year starts it's honors/high pass/pass/lowpass/fail and ranking is in quartiles (I believe...won't know for sure til April when we find out more about how it works). I can't stress the importance of a pass/fail preclinical system enough. My class is super tight and collaborative entirely because of it.
Hold for spring consideration ... interviewed about a month ago
How long does it normally take to hear back? I interviewed around 2/14 and they didn't really give us a timeline or anything. I'm worried about not hearing from two schools until after April 30 🙁
I feel like everyone is a bit different. I interviewed 12/14 and heard back 1/6.
Long time lurker here. Seems like the people who have commented so far are getting 100% loans. Is that typically the case with Downstate? Everyone keeps saying how affordable the school is, but with full loans I'm not sure =/ Would any current students, or anyone else who has already received financial aid packages, be able to comment? Thanks 🙂
Med school is expensive. Most people at most schools get full loan financial aid packages.
At my undergrad, I got a need-based financial aid grant that covered $55K of my $60K bill and I got a special scholarship for low-income students, but I got $0 from all 8 med schools to which I was accepted. It's not a Downstate specific problem. Downstate was tied for the cheapest option based on tuition. The highest ranked private schools are the major schools that give need based aid
That being said, I took out $14K under what the financial aid suggested and have been fine. If you budget well, you don't need as much as they say.
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Basantijoo said: ↑
Long time lurker here. Seems like the people who have commented so far are getting 100% loans. Is that typically the case with Downstate? Everyone keeps saying how affordable the school is, but with full loans I'm not sure =/ Would any current students, or anyone else who has already received financial aid packages, be able to comment? Thanks 🙂
I already got my financial aid package from Downstate. As an economically disadvantaged student, I qualified for a $10k per year tuition waiver and $10k per year in subsidized loans. The rest was covered by unsubsidized loans. I can't speak to what most schools offer, since I am still waiting to hear back from other schools. But it seems that some schools use the unit loan formula where you borrow a certain amount (say 30 to 35k) before you qualify for scholarships. So the formula is: total budget - EFC - unit loan = scholarship, and so the remaining is covered by scholarships. At least that's what it seems on their websites. Again, not sure how many schools do this.
CirclingtheDrain, I always wonder how much less I can borrow compared to what they suggest. It's very impressive you could borrow 14k less! Do you live in the dorms?
Long time lurker here. Seems like the people who have commented so far are getting 100% loans. Is that typically the case with Downstate? Everyone keeps saying how affordable the school is, but with full loans I'm not sure =/ Would any current students, or anyone else who has already received financial aid packages, be able to comment? Thanks 🙂
I already got my financial aid package from Downstate. As an economically disadvantaged student, I qualified for a $10k per year tuition waiver and $10k per year in subsidized loans. The rest was covered by unsubsidized loans. I can't speak to what most schools offer, since I am still waiting to hear back from other schools. But it seems that some schools use the unit loan formula where you borrow a certain amount (say 30 to 35k) before you qualify for scholarships. So the formula is: total budget - EFC - unit loan = scholarship, and so the remaining is covered by scholarships. At least that's what it seems on their websites. Again, not sure how many schools do this.
CirclingtheDrain, I always wonder how much less I can borrow compared to what they suggest. It's very impressive you could borrow 14k less! Do you live in the dorms?
Thanks for clarifying, that really helps!
Hello fellow applicants, as a 3/14 interviewee I was wondering if the potential snow storm might delay or postpone the interview date. Are there any such experiences with downstate in the past?
Accepted last week after interviewing late October and being put on Hold For Spring around December! I sent a letter of intent a month ago with details about why I was a good fit and why I would succeed at Downstate. I also mentioned that I had other acceptances. No updates other than that!
LM ~70, good luck everyone! Can't wait to meet my future classmates!
Edit: in state as well
LM ~70, good luck everyone! Can't wait to meet my future classmates!
Edit: in state as well
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Congrats!!
Can I ask you what time you received this email ? So we can all nervously refresh our emails only a few times a day around that time haha
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Accepted last week after being placed on hold in early February! 
This is my second cycle. Last year I ended up on the waitlist here and was totally bummed, as it was my first choice. Never give up!
Edit: I did send an LOI less than a week after getting put on hold.
This is my second cycle. Last year I ended up on the waitlist here and was totally bummed, as it was my first choice. Never give up!Edit: I did send an LOI less than a week after getting put on hold.
Accepted last week after being placed on hold in early February!
Edit: I did send an LOI less than a week after getting put on hold.
Congratulations! When did you interview?
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Thank you! I interviewed in mid January, put on hold about 3 weeks later.
LizzyM is 68! The major change I made to my app was beefing up my clinical hours during the gap year (>1000 by the time the year is up).
Got an interview offer today. Pretty ticked off that my original email was very explicit in saying "We have not yet selected all the students for our entering class, so if you accept this invitation you will be considered for a position in the class," but this most recent one makes it clear that the interview is for the alternate list only. At least I'm not like the poor guy earlier in this thread who was waitlisted after supposedly receiving an acceptance, but I'm really disappointed in Downstate.
Is there a specific date we should be waiting for if we are HFS or should I just send LOIs and update letters asap? I don't have any acceptances right now so I'm going to be frank and say that I am incredibly anxious.
Were you on the pre-interview hold for re-review list before receiving the II?
I don't believe so - just got an email about a month ago telling me that I was being scheduled for an interview and another email today informing me of the time and date.
I'm in the same position as you, I got the same email last week. Do you know if there is a lot of movement on the alternate list or if they do a ranked alternate list? I'm just trying to figure out if I have a legitimate chance of getting an acceptance or if they are just extending us the interview as a courtesy because they sent us the original email.
Just got the same email. I was never on hold, but they did send me several emails requesting grades and other stuff. I am excited for the II while also bumped that is ONLY for the alternative list. All I can think is that they do want us but as of right now they have more than enough people accepted and we are the backup in case those accepted decide to go somewhere else.
Is there anyway to check your application status? For some reason my secondary app hasn't been working. When I click on it, it just says..."ONLINE SUPLEMENTAL" - with no other information. It's been like that for a long time.
I interviewed 2/15, just waiting for a decision now.
I interviewed 2/15, just waiting for a decision now.
I'll be withdrawing from the waitlist, I hope that bumps some of you up. Cheers!
I called admissions when I got the email with the interview date that said I will only be considered for the alternate list, and they told me that at that point, all of their seats for the incoming class has already been filled. So unfortunately I think so. This was on 3/8.
Sooo if we haven't heard back post interview this means waitlist at best?
I don't know about that. They could have made the decision already and had you as one of the final people to get an acceptance and just not have gotten back to you.
Turned down a last minute interview here that was for the alternate list only. Hope it goes to one of you that's still looking for one!
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You called on 3/8 or your interview date was 3/8?
Called on 3/8. My interview is early next month
My guess is until the end of April, as I know people w/ II for the 18th and 25th.
Anyone with access to MSAR willing to post the average GPA/MCAT for the school? Thanks so much
Average Matriculant GPA Overall: 3.8 Science: 3.7 [2015 entering class]
Average MCAT (old): ~33
(New) ~513-514
What is HFS?
Is there anyone else who interviewed in early February and hasn't heard back yet? I was under the impression decisions here took 1 month +/- 2 weeks. I'm just wondering if I need to email them ... a different school I interviewed at didn't contact me for months, so I reached out and it turns out they made a decision shortly after my interview. I just never got their email!
Are you on the wait list? If so, I think it's all about waiting blahh.
Huh? I don't have a decision so I'm not sure if I'm on the waitlist, accepted, or rejected.
I intervirwed mid feb and haven't heard yet. 🙁
