2018-2019 Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine

[Lucca]

Post secondaries when you got em.

Good to luck to everyone!

Interview Feedback: Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western University

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[freedoctor17]

Good luck everyone! One of my top schools right here.

 

[bigeman101]

Can you apply to both the university program (case western) and the college program (CCLCM)?
Edit: Just saw on the website that you can. "It is possible for an applicant to be interviewed by and receive an admission offer from both the College Program and University Program"

 

[freedoctor17]

Can you apply to both the university program (case western) and the college program (CCLCM)?
Edit: Just saw on the website that you can. "It is possible for an applicant to be interviewed by and receive an admission offer from both the College Program and University Program"

Yes it is, they are treated like two separate schools but with the benefit that you only have to pay to apply to one!

 

[Shubniguroth]

Hi all,

Prewriting my secondaries, and I had a quick question about the character limit on CWRU's College and University Track essays.

For these, I understand the character limit is a little fuzzy, but should I use with or without spaces included as my starting point? What did everyone do last year?

Thanks

 

[zimzamzoop]

Quick question: I'm prewriting some secondaries and so I'm wondering, for the research essay, is the admissions committee expecting a more technical write up (similar to an abstract but in more layman's terms) or do we still go with narrative writing? Or should it just be full blown technical writing? I'm only confused because it's such a research heavy program that I don't know how to approach it.

 

[freedoctor17]

Quick question: I'm prewriting some secondaries and so I'm wondering, for the research essay, is the admissions committee expecting a more technical write up (similar to an abstract but in more layman's terms) or do we still go with narrative writing? Or should it just be full blown technical writing? I'm only confused because it's such a research heavy program that I don't know how to approach it.

I have the same question

 

[wesleysnipes]

I know this a research heavy program so I'm considering waiting on submitting my secondary because I have several projects in progress that will be accepted any day now. I'm thinking latest by the end of July. Would that be a bad idea?

 

[freedoctor17]

I know this a research heavy program so I'm considering waiting on submitting my secondary because I have several projects in progress that will be accepted any day now. I'm thinking latest by the end of July. Would that be a bad idea?

End of July is still pretty early and within the recommended turn around time by SDN people

 

[dodolol21]

I know this a research heavy program so I'm considering waiting on submitting my secondary because I have several projects in progress that will be accepted any day now. I'm thinking latest by the end of July. Would that be a bad idea?

I would submit the secondary earlier and send all those in what would be a very nice substantial update. They also emphasize applying early on their website, so I would submit as soon as you get the secondary

 

[wesleysnipes]

I would submit the secondary earlier and send all those in what would be a very nice substantial update. They also emphasize applying early on their website, so I would submit as soon as you get the secondary

Lerner does not accept updates. That's my dilemma.

 

[Lucca]

Lerner does not accept updates. That's my dilemma.

I'm not applying here, but FWIW last year's secondaries started going out around July 10th. 2-4 weeks after submission is a fine turnaround for secondaries. I think it's a worthy thing to wait to include for a place like Lerner.

 

[dodolol21]

Lerner does not accept updates. That's my dilemma.

Ah..Yeah in that case I would def wait.

 

[wesleysnipes]

I'm not applying here, but FWIW last year's secondaries started going out around July 10th. 2-4 weeks after submission is a fine turnaround for secondaries. I think it's a worthy thing to wait to include for a place like Lerner.

Valid point. My adviser told me that timing is more important but I'm gonna have to go with my gut here (and you) and wait.

 

[freedoctor17]

Lerner does not accept updates. That's my dilemma.

I don't know what others are saying but turning your secondary in end of July is still plenty early. They literally send the secondaries at the earliest end of June early July. 3

Valid point. My adviser told me that timing is more important but I'm gonna have to go with my gut here (and you) and wait.

Timing is definitely not more important... Turning in a better application is. It's not like they take the first applications, they take the best applications.

 

[buckoh24]

So this is for CWRU and here: what is a good way to describe clinical research? The methods are pretty straight forward and my trials won't be done for another 2-4 years so there are currently no results. I feel like Im just describing what you do in clinical research (give one group the medication and none to the other and compare).

 

[oil_rig]

According to MSAR, the medians for Case (in general) are 3.82/518. Do we know if the college program (CCLCM) has higher averages?

 

[wesleysnipes]

According to MSAR, the medians for Case (in general) are 3.82/518. Do we know if the college program (CCLCM) has higher averages?

The CCLCM class was like 3.75/517 (Matriculated I believe). I believe that research is a much bigger part of their admissions pie.

 

[BillDugRomans]

The CCLCM class was like 3.75/517 (Matriculated I believe). I believe that research is a much bigger part of their admissions pie.

Where did you find that info? I've seen a few different numbers thrown around for the stats of average matriculants at CCLCM, but have not found any concrete sources. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

EDIT: Nevermind, found it: https://portal.cclcm.ccf.org/cclcm/...letter/LCM_InSight_newsletter_August_2017.pdf. Of course I find it right after I ask for a source, oh well

 

[oil_rig]

From the handout BillDugRomans posted,

"They have been involved in 119 oral presentations and have 86 scientific publications to their credit"

Holy cow, for a class of 32 that's nearly 3 pubs per person? Is that like full on papers or does it include like abstracts/posters? I have 3 pubs and some posters so I thought I would maybe stand out research wise but looks like I'll just be average? lol

 

[freedoctor17]

From the handout BillDugRomans posted,

"They have been involved in 119 oral presentations and have 86 scientific publications to their credit"

Holy cow, for a class of 32 that's nearly 3 pubs per person? Is that like full on papers or does it include like abstracts/posters? I have 3 pubs and some posters so I thought I would maybe stand out research wise but looks like I'll just be average? lol

I've talked to someone going here with no publications and they made it clear that they care about the actual research you've done more than the pubs. It just happens to be that you probably have some great research experiences if you have multiple publications. Some labs, especially biochemistry ones dealing with new proteins, take years to publish one paper so I'm glad they're understanding of the fact that sometimes it's not reasonable to expect them. Saying all that, 3 pubs still is pretty impressive, especially if you've got some first author ones in there.

 

[dyingtobemd23]

According to the CCLCM website, we need a letter from a research mentor AND a committee letter, but if our research mentor wrote a letter that is included in the committee letter, do you think that is ok? or should I ask my mentor to send a separate letter through AMCAS to CCLCM?

 

[D.Y.]

From the handout BillDugRomans posted,
"They have been involved in 119 oral presentations and have 86 scientific publications to their credit"

Current M2 here. There were some typos when they put together the handout. For example, it says our class has a "former Division 1 soccer player" even though that's for the class above us (we had a former D1 tennis player). It's unclear what the true number is, but plenty of my classmates had 0 publications coming in, while others had quite a few.

According to the CCLCM website, we need a letter from a research mentor AND a committee letter, but if our research mentor wrote a letter that is included in the committee letter, do you think that is ok? or should I ask my mentor to send a separate letter through AMCAS to CCLCM?

You may want to check with how your undergraduate institution handles committee letters. Mine used the committee letter as a cover letter and included all of the individual ones after that. What CCLCM wants to see is the original letter from your mentor, so you'll want to verify how your undergrad school does letters and make arrangements accordingly.

 

[dyingtobemd23]

Current M2 here. There were some typos when they put together the handout. For example, it says our class has a "former Division 1 soccer player" even though that's for the class above us (we had a former D1 tennis player). It's unclear what the true number is, but plenty of my classmates had 0 publications coming in, while others had quite a few.


You may want to check with how your undergraduate institution handles committee letters. Mine used the committee letter as a cover letter and included all of the individual ones after that. What CCLCM wants to see is the original letter from your mentor, so you'll want to verify how your undergrad school does letters and make arrangements accordingly.

My school uses it as a cover letter and attaches the original letters, but I asked for a letter from another research mentor I have this summer to add to my file (but won't be in the committee letter as it's an abroad internship)

 

[freedoctor17]

My school uses it as a cover letter and attaches the original letters, but I asked for a letter from another research mentor I have this summer to add to my file (but won't be in the committee letter as it's an abroad internship)

If they're both good letters, might as well send the extra one. I feel like it can't hurt to have more than one person vouch for you research capabilities at a place so focused on it.

 

[zimzamzoop]

Quick question: I'm prewriting some secondaries and so I'm wondering, for the research essay, is the admissions committee expecting a more technical write up (similar to an abstract but in more layman's terms) or do we still go with narrative writing? Or should it just be full blown technical writing? I'm only confused because it's such a research heavy program that I don't know how to approach it.

Hey! I just wanted to bump my previous question about CCLCM's research essay

 

[BillDugRomans]

Hey! I just wanted to bump my previous question about CCLCM's research essay

I don’t know specifically what they’re looking for but I wrote an abstract in layman’s terms. I assumed that I was writing for a scientific audience who had no specific background in my field, if that helps. Honestly I think it’s impressive if you can condense and communicate your research in a digestible way, you can always throw more detail in later (in my mind).

 

[MomJeansandDadJorts]

Hey! I just wanted to bump my previous question about CCLCM's research essay

I wrote about my different projects and a talked about the medications, what they do, and the new ones we are testing (since I do clinical). But with clinical it was a little bit easy since the methods are.....test it and see how it compares to the known meds.

 

[Shubniguroth]

Hey is anyone else having trouble with Case's secondary wrt Character and Word limits?

For example, the prompt for the Greatest Challenge essay says "Please limit your response to 1 page (about 3,500 characters)"

But the word limit is 501, and it cuts off any extra text over that limit, not based on characters but instead based on words.

 

[smileyfacegirl27]

For the prompts such as small group and areas of improvement, are people approaching this question with real world examples or a story from things they have already experienced/done/are doing, or is the answer supposed to be more hypothetical? Is there a preferential way to answer these prompts?

 

[Shubniguroth]

For those of you concerned about the character/word limit issues, I emailed back and forth with admissions and they have it fixed now!

The character limits mentioned in the prompts are the ones to follow, the word limits in the text boxes were a technical issue. They shouldn't be a problem any more. For either CWRU or CCLCM. I guess they moved to new secondary app software this year and it was just a glitch.

 

[tgc21]

For those of you concerned about the character/word limit issues, I emailed back and forth with admissions and they have it fixed now!

The character limits mentioned in the prompts are the ones to follow, the word limits in the text boxes were a technical issue. They shouldn't be a problem any more. For either CWRU or CCLCM. I guess they moved to new secondary app software this year and it was just a glitch.

Is everyone still seeing a 500 word limit for the CCLCM research essay? I pre-wrote for 3500 characters.

 

[deleted930295]

Is everyone still seeing a 500 word limit for the CCLCM research essay? I pre-wrote for 3500 characters.

I just submitted, and I saw a 500 word limit. Luckily my essay that I prewrote for 3,500 characters was just under 500 words.

 

[CAFFEINE!]

Just submitted the secondary last night! Good luck to everyone!

 

[oil_rig]

Hey guys for people who have received a CCLCM secondary, I understand that many of last year's prompts ended with 'If the X character recommendation is exceeded your essay WILL still be saved in its entirety.'

Is this still the case? I certainly don't plan on abusing this but I'm prewriting now and there are a couple where I am very slightly over and it's nearly impossible to bring them under now.

 

[premedthrowaway]

Hey guys for people who have received a CCLCM secondary, I understand that many of last year's prompts ended with 'If the X character recommendation is exceeded your essay WILL still be saved in its entirety.'

Is this still the case? I certainly don't plan on abusing this but I'm prewriting now and there are a couple where I am very slightly over and it's nearly impossible to bring them under now.

Yup!

 

[freedoctor17]

Hey guys for people who have received a CCLCM secondary, I understand that many of last year's prompts ended with 'If the X character recommendation is exceeded your essay WILL still be saved in its entirety.'

Is this still the case? I certainly don't plan on abusing this but I'm prewriting now and there are a couple where I am very slightly over and it's nearly impossible to bring them under now.

Except the research one, that one is limited to 500 words!

 

[begginandpleadin]

So I'll definitely be submitting my secondary 3 weeks after the invitation, if not 4. Should I bother applying or is it too late since they explicitly said 2 weeks in the email?

 

[Adds12345]

So I'll definitely be submitting my secondary 3 weeks after the invitation, if not 4. Should I bother applying or is it too late since they explicitly said 2 weeks in the email?

I wouldn't bother unless you had an extenuating circumstance you could explain to the admissions office

 

[Lazy Surgeon]

Does anyone know whether the research essay has to be about the research you conducted with the supervisor who you list as your affiliation? Can one list a previous mentor, but then talk about the current research?

 

[LernerLearner2023]

Hey everyone, new M1 at CCLCM here. Just wanted to say this school is truly amazing and I wish you all the best of luck with applications. I'd also be happy to answer any questions that I can. Looks like a few people have asked about the research essay.

I would recommend writing an essay that any scientifically literate reader can understand, but don't assume the reader is an expert in the field. Focus on the overarching question the project aimed to answer, the rationale for the experimental approach/design used, the conclusions you drew from the results, and what future directions you considered. I would advise against providing the gory details of an esoteric technique you used. In response to @Lazy Surgeon's question, our essay prompt last year didn't restrict which research experience we could write about. If the prompt doesn't restrict you, you can probably write about any meaningful research you did (past or present).

 

[866983]

Is a 517 MCAT too low for a realistic shot at getting into Cleveland Clinic?

 

[CCresearcher]

Is a 517 MCAT too low for a realistic shot at getting into Cleveland Clinic?

Nope! At least my year, 517 was our median score. That will not hold you back.

 

[866983]

Nope! At least my year, 517 was our median score. That will not hold you back.

That is good to know! If you don't mind me asking, when did you matriculate?

 

[CCresearcher]

That is good to know! If you don't mind me asking, when did you matriculate?

I’m a second year (so in 2017). Not sure what this year’s numbers were, but I’d imagine they were similar.

 

[999020]

Hey everyone, new M1 at CCLCM here. Just wanted to say this school is truly amazing and I wish you all the best of luck with applications. I'd also be happy to answer any questions that I can. Looks like a few people have asked about the research essay.

I would recommend writing an essay that any scientifically literate reader can understand, but don't assume the reader is an expert in the field. Focus on the overarching question the project aimed to answer, the rationale for the experimental approach/design used, the conclusions you drew from the results, and what future directions you considered. I would advise against providing the gory details of an esoteric technique you used. In response to @Lazy Surgeon's question, our essay prompt last year didn't restrict which research experience we could write about. If the prompt doesn't restrict you, you can probably write about any meaningful research you did (past or present).

Any idea how much current employment at CCLRI benefits me? I currently work as a research tech in a lab and have been here for a year.

 

[CCresearcher]

Any idea how much current employment at CCLRI benefits me? I currently work as a research tech in a lab and have been here for a year.

I know this wasn’t directed at me, but I also worked as a tech in a lab at Lerner (though for longer), as did one of my classmates. Another one did clinical research here as well. I also know some other LRI techs that didn’t get interviews.

I’d still say that it definitely helped. At a minimum, having a personal connection to a school usually gets your application a closer look. It certainly won’t get you an acceptance or interview if you’re not qualified, but it means you’re less likely to end up one of the many qualified candidates who gets weeded out due to the high volume of applications. I also felt like I really knew the culture at CCLCM and the clinic in general, and was able to convey that in my essays and interview.

Feel free to PM me if you have any more questions! (That goes for anyone on the thread)

 

[LernerLearner2023]

Any idea how much current employment at CCLRI benefits me? I currently work as a research tech in a lab and have been here for a year.

@CCresearcher has a great response above. I'll just add that it's important to keep your expectations in check regardless of affiliations. This doesn't apply only to CCLCM but all medical schools I think. Going into the cycle, I thought I knew which schools were the best fit for me based on my experience and affiliations, but some of those schools didn't even invite me to interview. On the other hand, I didn't even know about CCLCM until a few months before the application opened. Heck, even after I was admitted I wasn't sure it was where I was going to attend. At the same time, I spoke to students who had their heart set on CCLCM for years but weren't invited to interview.

Only after second look and matriculation did I realize that this place is really the best fit for me--and I can't imagine having picked one of my alternative options. And as flawed as the med school admissions process is, I do think there is a tendency for schools to select (qualified) students who they believe will fit in well even if the students don't recognize it initially. My point is that while it's okay to have preferences at the outset of the admissions season, don't set your heart on one school. Not only to save yourself from disappointment (which is inevitable in med school admissions), but also to give yourself the opportunity to explore schools that may ultimately be a better fit in the end.

 

[Unlimited Apps]

Worth applying with a 515 and above average GPA? I know matriculated seem to 517 but hopefully my extensive experiences in research and a strong LoR + how I write about my research can make it NOT impossible?

 

[Blob_459]

Worth applying with a 515 and above average GPA? I know matriculated seem to 517 but hopefully my extensive experiences in research and a strong LoR + how I write about my research can make it NOT impossible?

It's most definitely worth it! Remember average means half their students got in with less and I'm willing to bet 515 is around or above their 25th percentile. Also the process is pretty holistic and CCLM values your research experience above all else.