2016-2017 University of Massachussetts Application Thread

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Anyone know if the committee meets on a specific day of the week for post-interview decisions? It'd be great if I could limit my neurotic email-refreshing to once a week...
 
intellectualedema said:
Anyone know if the committee meets on a specific day of the week for post-interview decisions? It'd be great if I could limit my neurotic email-refreshing to once a week...
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No idea. I'm in the same boat as you, so I feel your pain haha. I suggest linking your email to your phone so you hear if it goes off, and you can check then. That way you won't keep refreshing your email. It's what I've been doing, and it's much less stressful.

If you interviewed awhile ago, you can email the admissions assistant and she can check on your app. She offered to do that at my interview and said she wouldn't mind.
 
They told us Fridays they email decisions when I was there for my II. Really hoping to hear soon!
 
Anyone interviewing next Wednesday for PURCH and Thursday for regular MD?
 
I am really getting anxious that I have not heard anything and seeing all the activity here. Everything was submitted at the end of August and they acknowledged complete. I am IS, 3.74 gpa, 507 mcat, LM 66 Anyone interviewed or accepted already with similar stats? Trying to gauge my chances.
 
How soon after your Worcester II did you hear about the Purch program?
 
H3dr said:
How soon after your Worcester II did you hear about the Purch program?
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It sometimes takes longer to hear from Purch. They generally try to schedule the interviews a day apart so people can do both in one trip. Purch II's seem to be on Wednesdays and UMass interviews seem to be on Tuesdays.

On another note, for those who have interviewed and been accepted, waitlisted, or rejected, how long did it take you to hear back after your interview? Just curious what UMass's timeline looks like for getting back to people.
 
Adding my experience into the mix:
  • IS, LM ~70
  • Complete mid August, interviewed early October
  • There were 30 people at my interview day and we were told that it was an exceptionally large group
I called the admissions office on Friday because I, like most others, am antsy about hearing back. They told me that they send acceptances on Friday via email. Your portal may not be up to date when they accept you as they put that information in manually.

For those of you who have not yet gotten interviews, they told us that they only send a certain number of interviews / acceptances before their deadline for secondaries and they ramp up following that deadline.
 
II!

If my interview is in December and I still haven't heard from PURCH, should I assume i'm not interviewing with them?
 
Hey guys. I'm just about to send in my secondary (very late, I know) but I am stuck on this question.

"What is your interest or connection to attending medical school in Massachusetts (required for non-MA resident)? "

I am not a resident so I don't know much about life in Massachusetts. I've been to Boston and loved it but that's only one area. Can anyone give a few pointers? Is there anything current medical students or residents like specifically about the area? I almost mentioned proximity to so many great colleges but that might be awkward while applying to another school haha. Also would it hurt to mention specifically why I like the school?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
 
Noodles1 said:
Hey guys. I'm just about to send in my secondary (very late, I know) but I am stuck on this question.

"What is your interest or connection to attending medical school in Massachusetts (required for non-MA resident)? "

I am not a resident so I don't know much about life in Massachusetts. I've been to Boston and loved it but that's only one area. Can anyone give a few pointers? Is there anything current medical students or residents like specifically about the area? I almost mentioned proximity to so many great colleges but that might be awkward while applying to another school haha. Also would it hurt to mention specifically why I like the school?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
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Mentioning why you like the school is great.

Talk about Worcester specifically. They love their city. There is a large underserved population in Worcester, which allows you to talk about a desire to provide health care to the underserved. There are plenty of free clinics in the surrounding area that you can start volunteering at in your first year of med school. Cost of living is also low, which you could mention as a practical reason, as well as proximity to many hospitals for clinical rotations & residency (UMass's hospital, hospitals in Boston, and Baystate Medical Center in Springfield). Lastly, the population is very ethnically diverse, so you could talk about wanting to gain cultural competence. There are a lot of Hispanic, Portuguese, and Middle Eastern ethnicities (I'd look up some demographic information to be more specific if you want to go that route). I hope that helps.
 
Noodles1 said:
Hey guys. I'm just about to send in my secondary (very late, I know) but I am stuck on this question.

"What is your interest or connection to attending medical school in Massachusetts (required for non-MA resident)? "

I am not a resident so I don't know much about life in Massachusetts. I've been to Boston and loved it but that's only one area. Can anyone give a few pointers? Is there anything current medical students or residents like specifically about the area? I almost mentioned proximity to so many great colleges but that might be awkward while applying to another school haha. Also would it hurt to mention specifically why I like the school?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Click to expand...
On top of what was said above, I would say what you genuinely think. You said you're OOS, and UMass is known for being pretty hard to get into (especially for OOS applicants), so what makes you want to go there?
 
Austinj said:
Mentioning why you like the school is great.

Talk about Worcester specifically. They love their city. There is a large underserved population in Worcester, which allows you to talk about a desire to provide health care to the underserved. There are plenty of free clinics in the surrounding area that you can start volunteering at in your first year of med school. Cost of living is also low, which you could mention as a practical reason, as well as proximity to many hospitals for clinical rotations & residency (UMass's hospital, hospitals in Boston, and Baystate Medical Center in Springfield). Lastly, the population is very ethnically diverse, so you could talk about wanting to gain cultural competence. There are a lot of Hispanic, Portuguese, and Middle Eastern ethnicities (I'd look up some demographic information to be more specific if you want to go that route). I hope that helps.
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Thank you so much! I guess now I'll just try to fit it all in 254 characters. I'm inclined to ask if this was a mistake because the text box has already accepted more than 254. And also 254 is a random number of characters to request.
 
NEApplicant said:
On top of what was said above, I would say what you genuinely think. You said you're OOS, and UMass is known for being pretty hard to get into (especially for OOS applicants), so what makes you want to go there?
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Thank you! I'm going to add one or two statements about UMass specifically. The character limit is brutal though!
 
drtobee2016 said:
I am really getting anxious that I have not heard anything and seeing all the activity here. Everything was submitted at the end of August and they acknowledged complete. I am IS, 3.74 gpa, 507 mcat, LM 66 Anyone interviewed or accepted already with similar stats? Trying to gauge my chances.
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yea same boat.... similar stats and submitted everything late august early september and haven't heard anything yet... rejected from one school so far and waiting to hear back from 12 more... the wait is killing me
 
Does anyone remember if there is an accepted students re-visit weekend in the spring?
 
Hey y'all. First post here.

Anyone who interviewed on 10/3 hear anything yet?
 
For people who interviewed from out of state: did you stay in Boston overnight? I have to stay two nights, and my flight home is a 5am so I'm wondering if I should stay closer to the airport and rent a car the day of the interview. I'm not sure if the public transportation to Worcester is a better option or not...
 
zkane11 said:
For people who interviewed from out of state: did you stay in Boston overnight? I have to stay two nights, and my flight home is a 5am so I'm wondering if I should stay closer to the airport and rent a car the day of the interview. I'm not sure if the public transportation to Worcester is a better option or not...
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I'm from in state, but you could use the commuter rail from Worcester to boston and it'll take ~1 hr, which a drive would too. It stops at south station which has a shuttle to Logan if you stay near there.

http://www.mbta.com/schedules_and_maps/rail/lines/?route=WORCSTER
 
Does anyone else have a check mark under "under consideration" on your applicant portal? Does that mean you are actively in review and will hear soon, or does it just indicate that you were already interviewed?
 
NanaNutty said:
Does anyone else have a check mark under "under consideration" on your applicant portal? Does that mean you are actively in review and will hear soon, or does it just indicate that you were already interviewed?
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I'm pretty sure it just means you've interviewed and being reviewed, but who knows tbh


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
 
zkane11 said:
For people who interviewed from out of state: did you stay in Boston overnight? I have to stay two nights, and my flight home is a 5am so I'm wondering if I should stay closer to the airport and rent a car the day of the interview. I'm not sure if the public transportation to Worcester is a better option or not...
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I would find a hotel in Worcester and arrive there after your flight. That way, it will be a short trip on the day of the interview. It will also be significantly cheaper to stay in Worcester than Boston.
 
zkane11 said:
For people who interviewed from out of state: did you stay in Boston overnight? I have to stay two nights, and my flight home is a 5am so I'm wondering if I should stay closer to the airport and rent a car the day of the interview. I'm not sure if the public transportation to Worcester is a better option or not...
Click to expand...
Just a heads up, I take the train every day and its pretty reliable, but the earliest train from Worcester is at 4:45 am. So you might want to consider staying in Boston after your interview.
 
AnimalCrackers said:
Accepted today! Interviewed early October, complete mid August, IS, LizzyM ~70.

Good luck to all of you still waiting for acceptances. They will come soon!
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Congratulations!!! That's super exciting! It's also nice to know people who interviewed in October are starting to hear back - I interviewed October 25th. Maybe we'll end up being classmates!
 
AnimalCrackers said:
Accepted today! Interviewed early October, complete mid August, IS, LizzyM ~70.

Good luck to all of you still waiting for acceptances. They will come soon!
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congrats!!! :clap:Did you get a call or email?
 
Last edited:
drechie said:
wow congrats!
how did you feel your performance was on the MMIs?
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Pretty poorly, honestly. I didn't do so great on at least 3 of them, however 3 folks also told me that I would be a great fit. I remember one woman tried to keep a very straight face and I made her laugh, so that was a plus.
scdm said:
congrats!!! :clap:Did you get a call or email?
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Email. portal was updated a few hours later.
 
Any more updated? only one person reported on acceptance here
 
To those of you who have interviewed already - did you find doing a lot of prep work/practice MMI questions was helpful? I know it's pretty impossible to predict exactly what the questions are, but did you find it worthwhile to practice general types, like ethics questions, anyways? Thanks!
 
render25 said:
To those of you who have interviewed already - did you find doing a lot of prep work/practice MMI questions was helpful? I know it's pretty impossible to predict exactly what the questions are, but did you find it worthwhile to practice general types, like ethics questions, anyways? Thanks!
Click to expand...

Personally, I did find it helpful to think through practice scenarios and talk out loud. I probably went through 50 scenarios before interview day and on interview day I had a 2 hour waiting block where I went through scenarios with two really nice people I met. That being said, the practice scenarios were pretty different from what I was asked during the interview.

If you were to do a ton of prep, I would focus it on thinking critically, enunciating, and being concise.
 
It took UMass 8 months to get back to me - it was absolutely one of the most frustrating things I've dealt with in my life, but this place is AMAZING!!! If you get in, go here...people are extremely friendly, there are tons of opportunities and IT IS 100% PASS/FAIL (P = MD yall). Shoot me a message if you have any questions and good luck with this cycle!!! 🙂
 
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