2017-2018 Florida International University

Started by Lucca
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multivariabird said:
Hey guys, looking to crowdsource my LOI/update dilemma. Thanks in advance for any advice 🙂

I got placed on the waitlist on 1/9, and I've started writing an LOI, but I just received a II for another school in early March. It seems a little disingenuous to send an LOI when I haven't gone on all of my interviews yet (and receiving that one gave me hope for maybe 1 or 2 more, haha), but I loved this school so much and cannot anticipate choosing to go anywhere else for any reason other than money. Should I go ahead and complete my LOI and send it in now, or should I just write an update and save my LOI for when I'm sure this is definitely my top choice? I'm leaning towards just an update for now, but I wanted to know if anyone thought I should go ahead and send in my LOI and not worry about it.
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I would just send an update for now and then send the LOI later on when you're 110% committed to FIU (upon potential acceptance). I just think an LOI is not the most ethical/transparent thing to do when you're still not sure if you'd attend them over the other school. The simple update might be enough to push you over the edge anyway. Write something genuine, persuasive, and detailed, and they'll appreciate it
 
multivariabird said:
Hey guys, looking to crowdsource my LOI/update dilemma. Thanks in advance for any advice 🙂

I got placed on the waitlist on 1/9, and I've started writing an LOI, but I just received a II for another school in early March. It seems a little disingenuous to send an LOI when I haven't gone on all of my interviews yet (and receiving that one gave me hope for maybe 1 or 2 more, haha), but I loved this school so much and cannot anticipate choosing to go anywhere else for any reason other than money. Should I go ahead and complete my LOI and send it in now, or should I just write an update and save my LOI for when I'm sure this is definitely my top choice? I'm leaning towards just an update for now, but I wanted to know if anyone thought I should go ahead and send in my LOI and not worry about it.
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If I were you I would wait until after you’re done interviewing only because in my personal experience the interview days have changed my perception of schools A LOT. There were a couple interviews I didn’t think much of before going and ended up falling in love with the school so you really never know until you go and see what they have to offer and what the atmosphere is like. On another note, if you have something significant enough to send an update, I think most people reiterate interest in the school somehow in their updates so you can always do that and kind of quickly remind them why you would be a good fit without dedicating an entire letter to that purpose. Just my two cents! Good luck!
 
fldoctorgirl said:
I think you're overthinking it. Whether or not you have other IIs is irrelevant if this school is your top choice. The point of a LOI is to communicate that to the adcom.
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ImADocToBe said:
I would just send an update for now and then send the LOI later on when you're 110% committed to FIU (upon potential acceptance). I just think an LOI is not the most ethical/transparent thing to do when you're still not sure if you'd attend them over the other school. The simple update might be enough to push you over the edge anyway. Write something genuine, persuasive, and detailed, and they'll appreciate it
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The Unburnt said:
If I were you I would wait until after you’re done interviewing only because in my personal experience the interview days have changed my perception of schools A LOT. There were a couple interviews I didn’t think much of before going and ended up falling in love with the school so you really never know until you go and see what they have to offer and what the atmosphere is like. On another note, if you have something significant enough to send an update, I think most people reiterate interest in the school somehow in their updates so you can always do that and kind of quickly remind them why you would be a good fit without dedicating an entire letter to that purpose. Just my two cents! Good luck!
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Thank you for your input everyone! I am going to send an update for now and hold off on the LOI. The school I'm interviewing at costs about $20k less a year (I'm OOS), so I think an interview day and the tuition might ultimately have a large impact on any potential decision I have to make (though I love you FIU 🙁 )
 
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I know that I was wayyy more impressed with FIU than I thought I would be and wayyy less impressed with the other public SoFlo school than I thought I would be, funny how that works
 
For those accepted: don't forget your matriculation paperwork when the time comes. Aside from that, enjoy enjoy enjoy this summer. Go out and have some fun, or sleep in all day (although that seems like a giant waste). Come ready, med school is a crazy experience. Thankfully, there are some great experiences ahead of you here.
 
osckey said:
For those accepted: don't forget your matriculation paperwork when the time comes. Aside from that, enjoy enjoy enjoy this summer. Go out and have some fun, or sleep in all day (although that seems like a giant waste). Come ready, med school is a crazy experience. Thankfully, there are some great experiences ahead of you here.
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Where/when do we get the paperwork? Also, when do we have to pay the deposit?
 
osckey said:
For those accepted: don't forget your matriculation paperwork when the time comes. Aside from that, enjoy enjoy enjoy this summer. Go out and have some fun, or sleep in all day (although that seems like a giant waste). Come ready, med school is a crazy experience. Thankfully, there are some great experiences ahead of you here.
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Hey i have been accepted here and was wondering if this school is pass/fail? Also is there internal ranking and how difficult is it to have rotations at different places?
 
The_Free_Elf said:
Yeah that kinda concerns me too not gonna lie haha
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Especially when some people have said they grade on a curve and make 5-10% of the class repeat a year if they repeatedly do poorly, even if poorly is still passing.

Can any current students comment on this?

It was mentioned in the school Y vs School X forum a few days ago but wanted to bring it up again for a wider audience
 
Welshman said:
Especially when some people have said they grade on a curve and make 5-10% of the class repeat a year if they repeatedly do poorly, even if poorly is still passing.

Can any current students comment on this?

It was mentioned in the school Y vs School X forum a few days ago but wanted to bring it up again for a wider audience
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Geesh! Haha I didn’t even know that.. definitely a tad scary.

Yeah if any current students could comment on that it would be greatly appreciated
 
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Welshman said:
Where/when do we get the paperwork? Also, when do we have to pay the deposit?
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You'll get the paperwork some time after the decision day. That's when they typically begin to send out matriculation paperwork.

DrLebron said:
Hey i have been accepted here and was wondering if this school is pass/fail? Also is there internal ranking and how difficult is it to have rotations at different places?
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The school is graded with alphanumeric grading. For those most part, you can consider anything above an 80% as a pass and not worry about a thing. Between 75-80% is a minimum pass that puts you on the radar when it comes to academic performance. Too many performances between 75-80% and it's grounds for the promotion committee to recommend withholding your promotion to the next year.

All of this sounds damning and scary, and much of it is. However, every medical school out there has policies concerning promotion and finds people to hold back every year. In my class of around 126, I'd guess that 2 were held back. However, they were all dealing with personal issues that were making studying very difficult. 1-2 decided to take a leave of absence (health issues), and I believe one of us had a complete breakdown and decided med school wasn't for them. The person in question was rather strange and by 3 months in to med school they were gone. Just pass your pre-clinical coursework without a hitch and you'll be just fine when it comes time to apply to residency.

The point is, be well rested and ready for school when August comes. Med school is challenging but certainly possible, and if I can make it this far so can anyone else.
 
osckey said:
You'll get the paperwork some time after the decision day. That's when they typically begin to send out matriculation paperwork.



The school is graded with alphanumeric grading. For those most part, you can consider anything above an 80% as a pass and not worry about a thing. Between 75-80% is a minimum pass that puts you on the radar when it comes to academic performance. Too many performances between 75-80% and it's grounds for the promotion committee to recommend withholding your promotion to the next year.

All of this sounds damning and scary, and much of it is. However, every medical school out there has policies concerning promotion and finds people to hold back every year. In my class of around 126, I'd guess that 2 were held back. However, they were all dealing with personal issues that were making studying very difficult. 1-2 decided to take a leave of absence (health issues), and I believe one of us had a complete breakdown and decided med school wasn't for them. The person in question was rather strange and by 3 months in to med school they were gone. Just pass your pre-clinical coursework without a hitch and you'll be just fine when it comes time to apply to residency.

The point is, be well rested and ready for school when August comes. Med school is challenging but certainly possible, and if I can make it this far so can anyone else.
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So grading isn’t done on a curve as some people have suggested?
 
Welshman said:
So grading isn’t done on a curve as some people have suggested?
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Curving is done primarily in the first year, from what I've experienced. We have a z-score for the class. If you don't pass the class by the numbers (above 75), as long as you are within a certain z-score deviation (usually above -1.7) you'll be fine and you can ride the curve to pass. This becomes less and less common however as school progresses as the need to do so decreases significantly.
 
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Its been 3 hrs since I changed to "admissions review complete", hope they got all the waitlist emails done by now...:xf:
 
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Welshman said:
Has anyone gotten more information after they’ve been accepted? Besides the letter and magnet that is
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Do you know if we have to pay anything before decision day? Also why is everyone so damn quiet in that FB group. I want people to introduce themselves haha
 
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