2017-2018 University of Massachusetts

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

gyngyn

Alta California
Staff member
Administrator
Volunteer Staff
Lifetime Donor
10+ Year Member
Joined
Nov 4, 2011
Messages
28,820
Reaction score
55,100
Q1) Please respond to four of the following seven prompts related to competencies that are important for a physician to possess. (150 words/item, 600 words/total; please use the text box below for your answer, separate each of your four responses by writing the competency above/before your response; example: Teamwork - All teams have their struggles but they can be overcome...)

1) Describe a time when you have made a decision that was not popular and how you handled this. (Leadership competency)

2) Describe a time when you were on a team that was dysfunctional in some regard. How did you address the situation? (Teamwork)

3) Describe a meaningful interaction you have had with a person whom you have helped at work, school or another activity. (Empathy/Compassion)

4) Have you ever been in the middle of a situation where there was poor communication? What did you do to improve it? (Communication)

5) Describe a time when you have "thought outside the box" to solve a problem. (Inquiry)

6) Describe a time when you suffered a setback. How did you respond to this challenge? (Persistence/Grit)

7) Describe a challenging time when you advocated for someone. (Advocacy/Cultural Competence)

Q2) Please discuss any part of your application that you feel requires further explanation - for example, grades or MCAT scores that do not reflect your true ability, a gap in time that is not explained elsewhere in your application. If you are reapplying to UMass SOM, highlight how you have strengthened your application. (250 word limit)

Q3) If you have participated in UMass SOM or UMass Memorial Health Care, or UMMS Baystate sponsored programs (SEP, Summer Research Program, Worcester Pipeline Collaborative, AHEC, BaccMD, HSPP, Academic Internships, BSEP, Summer Scholars) please describe how these programs helped you decide to apply to UMass SOM. (200 word limit)

Q4) Why are you interested in UMass SOM? What will you bring to your class and the SOM community? (200 word limit)

PURCH Track Only:
Please describe how a focus on population health, healthcare disparities and the community as a patient will benefit you in your training and/or career? Please limit your response to less than or equal to 500 words.

Good luck to everyone applying!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Good luck to everyone else applying this year!

Or, because I have been watching way too much Star Wars recently: May the Force be with you.
 
Received Secondary 7/3. Slightly different questions from the ones I was working off of (which I think were from last year?):

Q1) Please respond to four of the following seven prompts related to competencies that are important for a physician to possess. (150 words/item, 600 words/total; please use the text box below for your answer, separate each of your four responses by writing the competency above/before your response; example: Teamwork - All teams have their struggles but they can be overcome...)

1) Describe a time when you have made a decision that was not popular and how you handled this. (Leadership competency)

2) Describe a time when you were on a team that was dysfunctional in some regard. How did you address the situation? (Teamwork)

3) Describe a meaningful interaction you have had with a person whom you have helped at work, school or another activity. (Empathy/Compassion)

4) Have you ever been in the middle of a situation where there was poor communication? What did you do to improve it? (Communication)

5) Describe a time when you have "thought outside the box" to solve a problem. (Inquiry)

6) Describe a time when you suffered a setback. How did you respond to this challenge? (Persistence/Grit)

7) Describe a challenging time when you advocated for someone. (Advocacy/Cultural Competence)

Q2) Please discuss any part of your application that you feel requires further explanation - for example, grades or MCAT scores that do not reflect your true ability, a gap in time that is not explained elsewhere in your application. If you are reapplying to UMass SOM, highlight how you have strengthened your application. (250 word limit)

Q3) If you have participated in UMass SOM or UMass Memorial Health Care, or UMMS Baystate sponsored programs (SEP, Summer Research Program, Worcester Pipeline Collaborative, AHEC, BaccMD, HSPP, Academic Internships, BSEP, Summer Scholars) please describe how these programs helped you decide to apply to UMass SOM. (200 word limit)

Q4) Why are you interested in UMass SOM? What will you bring to your class and the SOM community? (200 word limit)

PURCH Track Only:
Please describe how a focus on population health, healthcare disparities and the community as a patient will benefit you in your training and/or career? Please limit your response to less than or equal to 500 words.

@gyngyn
 
I'm having trouble paying for the secondary. When I click pay (after confirming my personal information) I just get a blank screen. Anyone else having problems. Also my photo is sideways and it wouldn't let me fix it.
 
Last edited:
. It doesn't work for me either!
 
Last edited:
I called the admissions department this morning and they said they were aware of the problem and were fixing it. They said it should be up by this afternoon or tomorrow morning. I just tried again (3pm EDT 7/5/17) with no luck.
 
I called the admissions department this morning and they said they were aware of the problem and were fixing it. They said it should be up by this afternoon or tomorrow morning. I just tried again (3pm EDT 7/5/17) with no luck.
I believe it is fixed, my payment went through last night.
 
What if I have a perfect answer for one of the competencies, but I already wrote about it in my personal statement? Thoughts on how to handle this?
 
Every time I try to pay my application fee I get sent to a page that says "Session has timed out"
Anyone else having this issue?
 
Every time I try to pay my application fee I get sent to a page that says "Session has timed out"
Anyone else having this issue?

Figured it out. Do not use Chrome browser. I was able to pay using Internet Explorer. All set now.
 
What if I have a perfect answer for one of the competencies, but I already wrote about it in my personal statement? Thoughts on how to handle this?

I think you should use the secondary to highlight things about you that they don't already know. Use other stories for these competencies, and your PS will hopefully be an added bonus that will draw their eyes in the first place!
 
Figured it out. Do not use Chrome browser. I was able to pay using Internet Explorer. All set now.
I got Chrome to work for me this morning. But tbh, their secondary's UI is not the most friendly of the ones I've seen so far, so it doesn't really surprise me that it's glitchy/temperamental
 
Anyone have tips on what aspects to emphasize in my UMass secondaries? (community service, research, etc.)
 
Anyone not have their LORs in even though AMCAS has sent it out? (Did submit the Secondary and waited a few days so thats not it)
 
Anyone not have their LORs in even though AMCAS has sent it out? (Did submit the Secondary and waited a few days so thats not it)
It says it could take 1-2 weeks in the email they sent along with the secondary.
 
Anyone not have their LORs in even though AMCAS has sent it out? (Did submit the Secondary and waited a few days so thats not it)

I submitted 4 days ago and still have the LORs on my "to do" list. I had the same problem with Georgetown and got this answer back when I asked my school's pre-med advisor:

"Once your committee letter is uploaded, all of the schools to which you’ve applied are notified that it’s available to them to download or “receive” it. So, that means that Georgetown has not yet downloaded it. If Georgetown were to notify you that they’re waiting for it, I would definitely recommend contacting them to alert them that it’s available. But at this point it might be best to wait, as every school works by its own schedule. "

It ended up taking over a week for Georgetown to notify me that they received my letters, so I wouldn't stress (for UMass or any other school)
 
I submitted 4 days ago and still have the LORs on my "to do" list. I had the same problem with Georgetown and got this answer back when I asked my school's pre-med advisor:

"Once your committee letter is uploaded, all of the schools to which you’ve applied are notified that it’s available to them to download or “receive” it. So, that means that Georgetown has not yet downloaded it. If Georgetown were to notify you that they’re waiting for it, I would definitely recommend contacting them to alert them that it’s available. But at this point it might be best to wait, as every school works by its own schedule. "

It ended up taking over a week for Georgetown to notify me that they received my letters, so I wouldn't stress (for UMass or any other school)

Thanks Sparks! Also saw you on the WashU thread, I'm sure we've got a similar list. Good luck with your applications!
 
Incoming MS1 at UMass if anyone has questions, I start in 2 weeks.

UMass was my top choice when I applied. I absolutely love the school!!
 
Incoming MS1 at UMass if anyone has questions, I start in 2 weeks.

UMass was my top choice when I applied. I absolutely love the school!!

Any specific reason UMass was your top choice? Was wondering why the school stood out to you (anyone else can answer as well) 🙂
 
Any specific reason UMass was your top choice? Was wondering why the school stood out to you (anyone else can answer as well) 🙂

I really liked the curriculum(that it was P/F) and the facilities were really top nitch. Also everyone seemed so nice during interview day, from the current students to the admissions office. I'm starting at UMass in a week too and can't wait.
 
Any specific reason UMass was your top choice? Was wondering why the school stood out to you (anyone else can answer as well) 🙂

You can tell a lot about a school based on the students and & staff you meet on your interview day. If people seem pretty rude, then that's a representation of the types of people the school hires/students they accept. At UMass, everyone there was nice and seemed like they genuinely wanted to be there. The staff was all wonderful, and the students I met seemed to genuinely love their school and the community on campus. The students seemed like a close knit group, despite that most of the lectures are recorded & most attendance isn't mandatory. At other schools, I interviewed at, it was really obvious that the student body didn't know each other well. The school is also very committed to diversity, and this was evident with how they treated the underrepresented applicants throughout the process (multiple diversity mixers at interview & second look day) and with the demographic makeup of their student body. This is something that I felt was very important in my school choice. A lot of schools express commitment to diversity just to sound nice, but UMass really lives it out with their students and with how they serve the population in the surrounding community in Worcester.

I also thought the campus was great. It's very nice, but also very compact, so it's easy to find your way around (even for someone like me who gets lost all the time lol). Their curriculum is also great and they have a fantastic mentoring program. The mentoring program is one of the reasons I chose UMass because I felt like it was a great way to help ease the transition into med school, which is what I was most worried about. UMass is also a top 50 school but has very cheap in-state tuition & a very generous financial aid department, so that was another huge plus.

It really all comes down to what you want out of a med school. When I was at UMass on my interview day, I immediately knew that it was the school for me. Trust your gut feeling about places when you interview (and if you get a lot, write down how you felt & some things about each school to help you pick later in the cycle).
 
I really liked the curriculum(that it was P/F) and the facilities were really top nitch. Also everyone seemed so nice during interview day, from the current students to the admissions office. I'm starting at UMass in a week too and can't wait.

Hey, see you soon! You going to MOE?
 
Any specific reason UMass was your top choice? Was wondering why the school stood out to you (anyone else can answer as well) 🙂

In the AAMC yearly survey given to all MS4s, UMass is consistently one of the top schools as measured by student satisfaction,
usually in the top 5. You'll grow tired of filling out all the evaluations, but the school really does listen to the students and
does a good job of making it a positive environment. Plus the students are great!
 
In the AAMC yearly survey given to all MS4s, UMass is consistently one of the top schools as measured by student satisfaction,
usually in the top 5. You'll grow tired of filling out all the evaluations, but the school really does listen to the students and
does a good job of making it a positive environment. Plus the students are great!
Do you know where we could find the survey that has the schools for top satisfaction?
 
Also, I know that the UMass secondary has some questions in the secondary to prove if you qualify as in-state or out-of-state. Could somebody post the questions for that?
 
Just a warning for y'all -- a couple of characters in my essays pasted in as upside-down question marks, including apostrophes, quotation marks, and dashes. This was even after first pasting into Notepad! After replacing the characters inside the textboxes, they seem to have been fixed.
 
My AMCAS was verified over a month ago, but I still haven't received a secondary from UMMS. I've gone through all my emails over and over to see if I missed it, and I believe their website says they send it out to everyone. I've even already gotten a secondary from Harvard...anyone happen to know why they wound't send me one? (I'm a MA resident) 🙁


EDIT: Received it today mere hours after posting this...odd...
 
Last edited:
My AMCAS was verified over a month ago, but I still haven't received a secondary from UMMS. I've gone through all my emails over and over to see if I missed it, and I believe their website says they send it out to everyone. I've even already gotten a secondary from Harvard...anyone happen to know why they wound't send me one? (I'm a MA resident) 🙁
You should call and ask
 
My AMCAS was verified over a month ago, but I still haven't received a secondary from UMMS. I've gone through all my emails over and over to see if I missed it, and I believe their website says they send it out to everyone. I've even already gotten a secondary from Harvard...anyone happen to know why they wound't send me one? (I'm a MA resident) 🙁

You should probably give them a call/email. I received my secondary today and I have no ties to MA whatsoever. (CA resident).
 
Congrats, but... Stats? Complete date? The whole shabang, please, to help out the rest of us common folk.
 
I was randomly checking my secondary app and my LOR received box used to have a check and now it went away....did this happen for anyone else?
 
Did everyone get a complete email besides that residency/tuition email or is that the complete one?
 
@boogiecousins94 I got a complete email the same day I submitted the secondary. Didn't get a residency/tuition email though
 
I'm OOS, I live in MA and have legal residence in CT. I emailed them to ask now but its strange. It says residency info is validated upon completion and it said complete within that email
 
I'm OOS, I live in MA and have legal residence in CT. I emailed them to ask now but its strange. It says residency info is validated upon completion and it said complete within that email

Maybe the residency info email was only for applicants who live(d) in MA? I'm a CA resident and have never been to MA
 
Are you IS or OOS?

"Your application is complete and will now be reviewed by the Admissions Committee."
I'm IS. My Residency email did not say that ^. It said "We have received your completed application. All applicants have their residency validated upon completion. We reviewed your Residency Validation form and based on the information you provided, we have determined that you are eligible for in-state tuition." etc. so I assume that means I am complete and under review now
 
Maybe the residency info email was only for applicants who live(d) in MA? I'm a CA resident and have never been to MA
I got the residency email about 5 days (july 25) after the complete email (which I got the same day I submitted my secondary) and I am from NJ. The email told me that reviewed what I put for my residency and wasn't eligible for instate tuition. *Not a huge surprise lol
 
Top