2016-2017 University of Iowa (Carver) Application Thread

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Just a reminder if anyone has any questions for an M1 feel free to post them or PM me.

Hi, I'm wondering if you can just give an example of what your average day/week looks like as an M1. Like how many lectures are required to attend, what kind of labs do you have, when are exams, how much time do you spend studying, how much free time do you have? I've seen some of the other threads where people talk about that, but I am just curious as to how it is at Iowa specifically. Thanks!

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Hi, I'm wondering if you can just give an example of what your average day/week looks like as an M1. Like how many lectures are required to attend, what kind of labs do you have, when are exams, how much time do you spend studying, how much free time do you have? I've seen some of the other threads where people talk about that, but I am just curious as to how it is at Iowa specifically. Thanks!

It's a pretty long reply so I'll PM you! :)
 
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It's a pretty long reply so I'll PM you! :)
Me as well! Thank you so much!

I'm also curious to know your thoughts on the grading system during preclinical years. I'm currently choosing between Carver and another school that uses P/F grading, and was wondering if I could get perspective on if this should be an important factor in my decision. Do your grades cause you significant stress/competition? Is it very difficult to get honors?
 
Me as well! Thank you so much!
I would also like to know this!^^^

Sorry I didn't want to clutter things, this was my reply.

I can use first semester as an example because it is a little more course heavy due to anatomy.

These are the main courses:

Foundations (Found): Basic sciences; eg. biochem, molecular bio, etc. This course is replaced by the mechanisms series (MOHD) that covers the bulk of the content half-way into first semester. The content in these series is optional lectures with bi-weekly tests.
Clinical and Professional Skills (CAPS): This course includes patient interviewing, note writing, physical exam, ethics, and evidence-based medicine. These are generally optional lectures (some exceptions) and mandatory groups or skills sessions.
Medicine and Society (MAS): This course covers the rest of the content; such as public health, wellness, etc. and the case-based learning part of the course. Generally this is all mandatory (or say, you must go to 70% of lectures).
Medical Gross Anatomy (MGA): Anatomy lectures (optional) and dissection labs (mandatory).

A normal week would be something like this first semester. This is an estimation of an average week. There may be more or less and everyone has different times for groups.

Monday - 8 - 10 Found lectures. 11 - 12 Nothing or MAS or CAPS lectures. 1 - 2 MGA lecture.
Tuesday - 8 - 10 Found lectures. 10 - 12 MAS CBL Session. 1 - 2 MGA lecture. 2 - 4 MGA lab
Wednesday - 8 - 10 Found lectures. 1 - 4 MGA lab
Thursday - 8 - 10 Found lectures. 10 - 12 Nothing or MAS or CAPS lectures. 1 - 3 Some small group or skills session.
Friday - Exam

There is never a day that goes past 5 PM, and I would say the average I am done each day is 2 PM. This doesn't include self-study time.

Spatter in a variety of other activities and I would estimate a normal day includes 2 hours of optional morning lecture, 2 hours of mandatory lecture (or nothing or a small group), and maybe a lab. Or on your off-lab day a lot of free time. Sorry this is pretty vague, but if you never went to optional lectures, you would need to be at school 0 - 6 hours a day. For example, today I just had a small group for 2 hours and nothing else.
 
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I'm also curious to know your thoughts on the grading system during preclinical years. I'm currently choosing between Carver and another school that uses P/F grading, and was wondering if I could get perspective on if this should be an important factor in my decision. Do your grades cause you significant stress/competition? Is it very difficult to get honors?

Sorry I missed this part. I was also in a similar spot, choosing between P/F and H/HP/P/F (Iowa).

I honestly don't think that should be a big part of your decision making. There are many other factors that you will actually notice, and the grading here likely is not one of them. It's true that there are grades, but they are based on cutoffs (eg, 90% means honors) and not curved. This means you are not competing against your peers and there is plenty of collaboration at Iowa. The facebook group always has someone posting their flashcards, study guides, resources , etc. In addition, there are quite a few students who treat it as P/F, without "worrying" about the H or HP grades. This is probably wise as "Honors in Basic Sciences" in ranked of lower importance in the NRMP PD survery.

In regards of the difficulty of getting honors, that will depend on you and the time you put in. Some people find it hard and others don't Generally there is a 90% flat cut-off for receiving an honors grade in pre-clinical courses, but this can be lowered (not raised) based on class performance.
 
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For people who are already accepted and will become future physicians: There is a complete lack of empathy asking questions regarding M1 year, rotations etc. in this thread. The majority of people checking this thread (at this point) are in the final pool and are waiting to hear back whether they will even get into a medical school, including myself.

If you are accepted . . . do your homework outside of this thread. Visit the school again. E-mail current students. Contact the Admissions department for a current student's perspective. Post a question in the accepted students FB group. I'm not saying it is completely unorthodox to ask questions in these threads after being accepted, I'm saying that it shows a lack of empathy for other applicants who have yet to be accepted. As future physicians, begin putting yourselves in others shoes.
 
Sorry I missed this part. I was also in a similar spot, choosing between P/F and H/HP/P/F (Iowa).

I honestly don't think that should be a big part of your decision making. There are many other factors that you will actually notice, and the grading here likely is not one of them. It's true that there are grades, but they are based on cutoffs (eg, 90% means honors) and not curved. This means you are not competing against your peers and there is plenty of collaboration at Iowa. The facebook group always has someone posting their flashcards, study guides, resources , etc. In addition, there are quite a few students who treat it as P/F, without "worrying" about the H or HP grades. This is probably wise as "Honors in Basic Sciences" in ranked of lower importance in the NRMP PD survery.

In regards of the difficulty of getting honors, that will depend on you and the time you put in. Some people find it hard and others don't Generally there is a 90% flat cut-off for receiving an honors grade in pre-clinical courses, but this can be lowered (not raised) based on class performance.

Thank you so much for your honesty and input! :)
 
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Sorry I missed this part. I was also in a similar spot, choosing between P/F and H/HP/P/F (Iowa).

I honestly don't think that should be a big part of your decision making. There are many other factors that you will actually notice, and the grading here likely is not one of them. It's true that there are grades, but they are based on cutoffs (eg, 90% means honors) and not curved. This means you are not competing against your peers and there is plenty of collaboration at Iowa. The facebook group always has someone posting their flashcards, study guides, resources , etc. In addition, there are quite a few students who treat it as P/F, without "worrying" about the H or HP grades. This is probably wise as "Honors in Basic Sciences" in ranked of lower importance in the NRMP PD survery.

In regards of the difficulty of getting honors, that will depend on you and the time you put in. Some people find it hard and others don't Generally there is a 90% flat cut-off for receiving an honors grade in pre-clinical courses, but this can be lowered (not raised) based on class performance.

What is the percentage needed for HP and P?

For people who are already accepted and will become future physicians: There is a complete lack of empathy asking questions regarding M1 year, rotations etc. in this thread. The majority of people checking this thread (at this point) are in the final pool and are waiting to hear back whether they will even get into a medical school, including myself.

If you are accepted . . . do your homework outside of this thread. Visit the school again. E-mail current students. Contact the Admissions department for a current student's perspective. Post a question in the accepted students FB group. I'm not saying it is completely unorthodox to ask questions in these threads after being accepted, I'm saying that it shows a lack of empathy for other applicants who have yet to be accepted. As future physicians, begin putting yourselves in others shoes.

I am waiting as well :( I appreciate the offer of answering questions and at least in the one above, I found it helpful for my decision should I get accepted to two schools. So far, I'm still waiting on final pool and Creighton.
 
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For people who are already accepted and will become future physicians: There is a complete lack of empathy asking questions regarding M1 year, rotations etc. in this thread. The majority of people checking this thread (at this point) are in the final pool and are waiting to hear back whether they will even get into a medical school, including myself.

If you are accepted . . . do your homework outside of this thread. Visit the school again. E-mail current students. Contact the Admissions department for a current student's perspective. Post a question in the accepted students FB group. I'm not saying it is completely unorthodox to ask questions in these threads after being accepted, I'm saying that it shows a lack of empathy for other applicants who have yet to be accepted. As future physicians, begin putting yourselves in others shoes.

Ehhh. As someone who has also not been accepted here (or anywhere :( ) and waiting for final pool, this thread is for anything related to the school this 'season'. People invited to interviews talking about interview questions or interview day may annoy those that don't have an II or people asking about secondaries early in the season and so forth. People in the final pool may be accepted and have these questions eventually anyways. If it annoys you so much, I would just avoid coming to SDN or until you find out you're in somewhere.
 
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For people who are already accepted and will become future physicians: There is a complete lack of empathy asking questions regarding M1 year, rotations etc. in this thread. The majority of people checking this thread (at this point) are in the final pool and are waiting to hear back whether they will even get into a medical school, including myself.

If you are accepted . . . do your homework outside of this thread. Visit the school again. E-mail current students. Contact the Admissions department for a current student's perspective. Post a question in the accepted students FB group. I'm not saying it is completely unorthodox to ask questions in these threads after being accepted, I'm saying that it shows a lack of empathy for other applicants who have yet to be accepted. As future physicians, begin putting yourselves in others shoes.

Thank you for pointing this out to me; I hadn't been taking that into consideration. Will try to be more tactful about this issue moving forward!
 
For people who are already accepted and will become future physicians: There is a complete lack of empathy asking questions regarding M1 year, rotations etc. in this thread. The majority of people checking this thread (at this point) are in the final pool and are waiting to hear back whether they will even get into a medical school, including myself.

If you are accepted . . . do your homework outside of this thread. Visit the school again. E-mail current students. Contact the Admissions department for a current student's perspective. Post a question in the accepted students FB group. I'm not saying it is completely unorthodox to ask questions in these threads after being accepted, I'm saying that it shows a lack of empathy for other applicants who have yet to be accepted. As future physicians, begin putting yourselves in others shoes.


The stress is getting to all of us @UniqueApplicant, but this thread is for the transfer of information. Any and all. As of right now none of us in the final pool have anything to talk about, so let the accepted enjoy this time and talk about school! The accepted and current students have more to discuss than the final poolers!

I'm sorry you were offended, and I sincerely hope you get into Carver College.
 
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For people who are already accepted and will become future physicians: There is a complete lack of empathy asking questions regarding M1 year, rotations etc. in this thread. The majority of people checking this thread (at this point) are in the final pool and are waiting to hear back whether they will even get into a medical school, including myself.

If you are accepted . . . do your homework outside of this thread. Visit the school again. E-mail current students. Contact the Admissions department for a current student's perspective. Post a question in the accepted students FB group. I'm not saying it is completely unorthodox to ask questions in these threads after being accepted, I'm saying that it shows a lack of empathy for other applicants who have yet to be accepted. As future physicians, begin putting yourselves in others shoes.

n=1, I am in the pool as well. I have appreciated all the questions/answers that have given me more insight into the school. It's definitely one of the reasons I watch this thread.
 
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For people who are already accepted and will become future physicians: There is a complete lack of empathy asking questions regarding M1 year, rotations etc. in this thread. The majority of people checking this thread (at this point) are in the final pool and are waiting to hear back whether they will even get into a medical school, including myself.

If you are accepted . . . do your homework outside of this thread. Visit the school again. E-mail current students. Contact the Admissions department for a current student's perspective. Post a question in the accepted students FB group. I'm not saying it is completely unorthodox to ask questions in these threads after being accepted, I'm saying that it shows a lack of empathy for other applicants who have yet to be accepted. As future physicians, begin putting yourselves in others shoes.
Lack of empathy? In what world is asking a question to a current M1 in a thread about the specific school in question a lack of empathy? Sure it might bother some people, but holy cow if you're trying to equate asking a question to an non-empathetic physician, you are overreacting.
 
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What is the percentage needed for HP and P?

So far honors has been 90% and P has been 70%. I think one class they adjusted the P down a notch or two based on averages.

HP is more variable, but generally they set it so 30% of the class falls into H and HP. So if 20% gets above a 90% and honors (H), then they set HP to capture the next 10% of students.
 
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There is a complete lack of empathy asking questions regarding M1 year, rotations etc. in this thread.

I don't agree. I found it valuable even before I was accepted to learn about my potential schools. If it concerns you, I am sorry, but I would suggest just avoiding the forums.
 
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For people who are already accepted and will become future physicians: There is a complete lack of empathy asking questions regarding M1 year, rotations etc. in this thread.
Please consider that empathy works bidirectionally (i.e. empathy for those who have been accepted, and potentially have multiple acceptances from which they must choose). Accepted students have questions whose answers may help direct time-sensitive, difficult, or otherwise pending decisions. Such answers also help those accepted from the final pool in a few days, those pulled off the waitlist in coming weeks, and those who apply to Carver in future cycles. The information is widely useful and therefore pertinent to this thread.

Having been in your position twice before, I know it stings and that pre-final-pool-decision anxiety is real. But that doesn't justify lashing out at accepted students and those trying to help them.
 
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Please consider that empathy works bidirectionally (i.e. empathy for those who have been accepted, and potentially have multiple acceptances from which they must choose). Accepted students have questions whose answers may help direct time-sensitive, difficult, or otherwise pending decisions. Such answers also help those accepted from the final pool in a few days, those pulled off the waitlist in coming weeks, and those who apply to Carver in future cycles. The information is widely useful and therefore pertinent to this thread.

Having been in your position twice before, I know it stings and that pre-final-pool-decision anxiety is real. But that doesn't justify lashing out at accepted students and those trying to help them.

Thanks for the perspective Gingy.
 
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Is anyone in the pool a reapplicant from last year? What was the "no later" date given? Thanks.
 
So are we thinking the 7th or the 14th for decisions?
 
Please let today be the day for good or evil.
 
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Finally get to stop swimming in this pool hopefully
 
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The final pool email which came January 19th said review will start in late January and the last day to submit changes was January 27th and that it would take approximately 5 weeks for review. If they started January 31st that would have been 5 weeks ago. Then they said "no later than March 15th". To me it seems reasonable that their goal was to send them out today and they gave themselves a week of padding just in case. But that is all hypothetical.
 
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May the odds be ever in your favor today. Good luck everyone! (If it is indeed today)
 
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Would it be weird to call them and ask if it's going to be today?

On one hand, the portal says "We cannot answer questions about the status of your application" in bold but on the other hand, they stress that the office people have no say in admission to the school, and they are all really friendly. I feel like it wouldn't hurt but they might not have any useful information.

This is my second time swimming in the pool. I'm antsy too... it's like being stuck on the tarmac waiting for a departing plane to leave the gate. So close, yet so far!
 
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Called front desk, but was told they don't really know either until it happens. So not today I guess.
Not sure if different results for calling Amy directly.
 
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Called front desk, but was told they don't really know either until it happens. So not today I guess.
Not sure if different results for calling Amy directly.

Don't give up hope! Last year everyone thought it wasn't going to happen that Tuesday because it was late in the day, then BAM! It happened. But yeah you just don't know when. It sucks. Hang in there!
 
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Called front desk, but was told they don't really know either until it happens. So not today I guess.
Not sure if different results for calling Amy directly.

Thanks for calling!!
 
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I can't log in to the 2ndary portal. Anyone else?
 
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The suspense is killing me
 
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I had to use a different browser to login. Thanks Safari. Still nothing. One more week in the pool.
 
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Do you guys think it is more likely to hear next Tuesday or any day in the coming week until March 15th?
 
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