2018-2019 Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine

[F4532]

Man they really lost my app

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[mysonadoctor]

Mine too, thought I had a chance.

 

[Moose97]

Pre-II R today. I had high hopes for here, but oh well.

 

[BRM797]

I have an interview 3/14, invited 2/17

 

[TabbyTuxy]

Pre-II R this morning, complete Sept

 

[beetschutefarm]

just got an email about interview feedback...almost had a heart attack

 

[happyandhealthymd]

Since they notify most applicants so late in the cycle, do most students not attend second look?

 

[notanothergunner]

What is interview day here like? Big/small? How many interviews? Faculty/student/both? I'm super excited and anxious, this is my dream school

 

[sherm123]

What is interview day here like? Big/small? How many interviews? Faculty/student/both? I'm super excited and anxious, this is my dream school

There are about 25-30 interviewees (not sure if that changes from session to session). Two interviews - typically 1 faculty and 1 student. The interview itself depends on your interviewer and their own style/preferences (open/closed file, conversational/questions only, etc.). No need to really stress. If they invited you to interview, they already like you.

Aside from the interviews themselves, there are typical presentations from admissions & a tour of the medical center. No real surprises here.

Best of luck!

 

[blanket_wistful]

There are about 25-30 interviewees (not sure if that changes from session to session).

I had an interview group of 12 students, I think.

 

[BRM797]

I just withdrew my interview, good luck guys

 

[Amarantaa]

Just got an II... very unexpected! I will probably be withdrawing in hope that goes to someone who's really excited to attend this school .

EDIT: Complete early September, LM 70.

 

[Amarantaa]

Congrats! But I do keep saying on this website that superb candidates like yourself need to take advice from trusted advisors about putting a school list together, based on the specific application. And then once II start to come in, use those advisors to advise you as the season unfolds as to which interviews to go on and which to cancel. I may have a top tier advisee go on one or two geographically close interviews for "low target or safety schools" early in the season, for practice, and then schedule the rest of the less desirable interviews for towards the end of the season. If the applicant then predictably gets plenty of II, they can cancel those less desirable places.

There is no reason for outstanding applicants like yourself to apply to a ridiculous number of schools, nor is there any reason to go on a ridiculous number of interviews. If your school list is carefully chosen at the outset, based on your application, an ideal season for an applicant like yourself would include going on no more than 8-10 "good fit" interviews, to end up with a handful of "good fit" acceptances. Although I am sure you did this out of anxiety and insecurity, fellow applicants, who otherwise might have been accepted, are now stuck on WL's, which creates domino effects. Of course, I am in admissions world, but as "just an interviewer" I do not speak for the ADCOM staff. I speak more from the POV of applicants, for whom the WL unknowns create a lot of misery. For the future - for residency apps, please seek out and listen to advice about the relative strength of your application and apply accordingly.

This is very good advice. How could one know though (for those who don't have a trusted advisor)? All I could do was ask strangers (Reddit) and mostly base my school list on stats (GPA and MCAT). I had no one to speak of the strength of my entire application, and I didn't want to overestimate myself. I personally didn't apply to that many (20-25), but I did go to interviews I should have postponed for later in the cycle as you recommended. At the end, I had to cancel other interviews from schools I was more interested in because of $$$ :/. I guess for residency will be different since I will have access to many more resources and to a lot more people with knowledge of the process.

EDIT: Also asking because I have a friend who's applying this cycle and who has a very similar application. I want to give her the best advice possible.

 

[DrFortiusNatando]

This is very good advice. How could one know though (for those who don't have a trusted advisor)? All I could do was ask strangers (Reddit) and mostly base my school list on stats (GPA and MCAT). I had no one to speak of the strength of my entire application, and I didn't want to overestimate myself. I personally didn't apply to that many (20-25), but I did go to interviews I should have postponed for later in the cycle as you recommended. At the end, I had to cancel other interviews from schools I was more interested in because of $$$ :/. I guess for residency will be different since I will have access to many more resources and to a lot more people with knowledge of the process.

Yes - totally not your fault but I put this out there so that other people on SDN who are applying next year try to find trusted advisors who will give them guidance. 20-25 is not a ridiculous amount of schools to apply to - some very good applicants on SDN have applied to 40 or more and gotten 20+ interviews, which is just so unnecessary. Some people will be at undergrad schools where there is a top med school and where they can get lots of (free) advice. People in your situation just have to go with their gut - but in that case, hopefully they will take advice from you and me to put their less desirable schools at end of interview season, so they can cancel if need be! And you will have lots more guidance in the residency application process!

 

[deweystrontium]

Anyone who interviewed around the end of January get any decisions?

 

[NYC_MD_2b]

Anyone have luck here with a "lower" ~510 mcat and high GPA?

 

[nostra_damus]

Does anybody know about when decisions will come out?

 

[A2jordan]

Just declined my acceptance, good luck to you all! The people at this school were amazingly nice!!!

 

[jq92]

Anyone have luck here with a "lower" ~510 mcat and high GPA?

My d got an II here with roughly that. 511 and high GPA, but also a non-trad. Still waiting to hear, though, on whether that turns into an A. Good luck!

 

[Amarantaa]

Anyone have luck here with a "lower" ~510 mcat and high GPA?

My d got an II here with roughly that. 511 and high GPA, but also a non-trad. Still waiting to hear, though, on whether that turns into an A. Good luck!

+1 (also a non-trad)

 

[bmore94]

Anyone who interviewed around the end of January get any decisions?

I interviewed Jan 24th and found out about 2 weeks after

 

[realitysickness]

Does the school offer any merit scholarships to students?

 

[CHSNY]

I interviewed Jan 24th and found out about 2 weeks after

That’s pretty quick....is that the norm here? I’m interviewing here soon

 

[calimass]

That’s pretty quick....is that the norm here? I’m interviewing here soon

No, it is not the norm. Most people who have interviewed so far have not heard back

 

[calimass]

Did anyone email their interviewer to say thank you and not receive a response back?

One of my interviewers responded; the other didn't

 

[minimouse00]

1/29 interviewer here! Anyone remember when they said they would let us know about decisions?

 

[youngdochopeful]

Did anyone email their interviewer to say thank you and not receive a response back?

One of my interviewers responded; the other didn't

I also did not receive a response

 

[blanket_wistful]

Does the school offer any merit scholarships to students?

At my interview, they said the school did not offer any merit scholarships.

 

[CHSNY]

Hey! Interviewing here soon...was wondering how much time you spend outside. Trying to see if I can get away with flats during the tour or if I should wear snow boots...any suggestions are appreciated!

 

[BobaFettsJetpack]

Hey! Interviewing here soon...was wondering how much time you spend outside. Trying to see if I can get away with flats during the tour or if I should wear snow boots...any suggestions are appreciated!

I interviewed at the beginning of October when it was still nice outside, but we spent a fair amount of time walking between buildings on the tour and when jumping on the bus to get to the medical center.

 

[notanothergunner]

Hi everyone, Californian here wondering what type of shoes people wear for snow... I don't have snowboots - would rainboots even be helpful to wear (under slacks)? Or do most women just wear heels/flats and hope you don't slip on ice? lol I'm clueless but this is my #1 and I want to be prepared! Thanks in advance

 

[blanket_wistful]

Hi everyone, Californian here wondering what type of shoes people wear for snow... I don't have snowboots - would rainboots even be helpful to wear (under slacks)? Or do most women just wear heels/flats and hope you don't slip on ice? lol I'm clueless but this is my #1 and I want to be prepared! Thanks in advance

Hi there! Women at my interview day (myself included) wore either heels or flats (I personally wore some ankle booties that were covered by my slacks, they looked nice and provided a bit more stability than regular heels). There was some walking outside between buildings and to/from the bus, but the sidewalks were well maintained; I don't think ice was an issue for anyone, even though there was plenty of snow on the ground. I recommend staying with a student host if you can--mine was very receptive to questions like this and really reduced my anxiety.

 

[Haagen-Dazs]

Hi everyone, Californian here wondering what type of shoes people wear for snow... I don't have snowboots - would rainboots even be helpful to wear (under slacks)? Or do most women just wear heels/flats and hope you don't slip on ice? lol I'm clueless but this is my #1 and I want to be prepared! Thanks in advance

So I wore my winter boots which I had hoped to change to my flats when I got there. I ended up not changing them because basically all of the admin said nobody cares about that in NH because they understand. I didn’t have a problem with that during my interview and I was accepted a week later. So don’t stress much about that.

 

[CHSNY]

Hi there! Women at my interview day (myself included) wore either heels or flats (I personally wore some ankle booties that were covered by my slacks, they looked nice and provided a bit more stability than regular heels). There was some walking outside between buildings and to/from the bus, but the sidewalks were well maintained; I don't think ice was an issue for anyone, even though there was plenty of snow on the ground. I recommend staying with a student host if you can--mine was very receptive to questions like this and really reduced my anxiety.

I interviewed here last week and since it was pretty dry, I got away with wearing my heels/flats, because all the walkways etc were cleared. You do go outside to get on the shuttle to the hospital, and to go between buildings, so I would bring your snow/rain boots with you to NH just in case they get some snow right before your interview. Good luck!

 

[FloridaSpaceDoc]

Got an interview invite last week but I never saw it. Got an email saying they're going to withdraw my app since I never accepted my invite. Hopefully someone else gets it!!

 

[Tenniz]

Pre-II R just now (complete 10/1), good luck everyone!

 

[Msimas]

How are my fall interview peeps still in silence holding up? October feels like two years ago

 

[scaredlostconfused]

who here's still holding out hope for an ii?? tbh surprised i havent been sent an R yet.

 

[Black_Wall_Street]

who here's still holding out hope for an ii?? tbh surprised i havent been sent an R yet.

My pal got an interview five days ago.

 

[whaling.around]

after heavily creeping on last year's forum, it seems like this friday could be the first big wave of mid-march acceptances followed by the waitlist wave a week or two after. getting quite nervous...

 

[deweystrontium]

after heavily creeping on last year's forum, it seems like this friday could be the first big wave of mid-march acceptances followed by the waitlist wave a week or two after. getting quite nervous...

I really hope so!

 

[Msimas]

after heavily creeping on last year's forum, it seems like this friday could be the first big wave of mid-march acceptances followed by the waitlist wave a week or two after. getting quite nervous...

Some of the people on last years for were hilarious, it’s such a good read

 

[ucevla]

Interviewed early September and still haven't heard back.

 

[labscience]

omg I just got an II this morning after submitting August 3rd, I was REALLY convinced my cycle was over but guess I'll break out the interview suit one last time

 

[lildoc2018]

Got an II yesterday morning! Definitely not expected, complete early August

 

[happyandhealthymd]

Is it too late for an update/ letter of interest (post interview)?

 

[madlaham]

Is it too late for an update/ letter of interest (post interview)?

It can't hurt. Right?

 

[madlaham]

Do they accept letters of intent or only updates?

I think you can say whatever you would like in the update letter. I sent a letter of interest/update and got an II pretty soon afterward.

 

[CarpeDiem1993]

Anyone else slightly uncomfortable with how Dartmouth has taken a pretty significant hit, and continues to decline, in overall rankings over the past few years?

To be clear, rankings are not everything- by any means. But they are definitely a factor (if not just perception), which is why schools trumpet them all over whenever they rise a few spots. I only hope that this is not an indicator of overall decline in the school's quality and reputation. Thoughts?

 

[Msimas]

Anyone else slightly uncomfortable with how Dartmouth has taken a pretty significant hit, and continues to decline, in overall rankings over the past few years?

To be clear, rankings are not everything- by any means. But they are definitely a factor (if not just perception), which is why schools trumpet them all over whenever they rise a few spots. I only hope that this is not an indicator of overall decline in the school's quality and reputation. Thoughts?

It’s definitely a bit strange but Dartmouth continues to hold the spot as far as residency director ranking go. Honestly even if they got put on probabtion by LCME I’d be repping a Dartmouth sweater like no other.