2018-2019 Mayo Clinic School of Medicine - Arizona Campus

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Please post the secondary questions once you receive them. Check last year's thread in the 2017-2018 SSD forum for last year's questions, they tend to not change very much from year to year.

Good luck to everyone applying!

Interview Feedback - please share your experiences and help future students: Mayo Clinic College of Medicine & Science - Arizona Campus

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Would you recommend applying to both the Minnesota and Arizona campuses? If the Minnesota campus is your priority then would applying to Arizona be detrimental?
 
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Would you recommend applying to both the Minnesota and Arizona campuses? If the Minnesota campus is your priority then would applying to Arizona be detrimental?

Applying to AZ will in no way affect your chances at MN, or vice versa. The admissions committees are completely separate entities.

Best of luck!
 
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Applying to AZ will in no way affect your chances at MN, or vice versa. The admissions committees are completely separate entities.

Best of luck!

Well this is true except for Dr. Bostwick, he chairs both committees and knows who applies to both.
 
If I applied to Mayo MN last cycle and got an interview, do you guys think I can apply here with a very similar personal statement and be okay? I don't wanna change too much since it netted me some interviews the first time around haha but I'm applying to all different schools from last cycle except for this one.
Might want to show how you've grown/changed since you last wrote your PS ~1 year ago. My opinion shouldn't carry a ton of weight, but if I were in your shoes I would add a little to my PS but not completely overhaul things. Some Adcoms might have better input on reapplying.
 
Would you recommend applying to both the Minnesota and Arizona campuses? If the Minnesota campus is your priority then would applying to Arizona be detrimental?
I actually had a consultation with Mayo about my app (was rejected from both pre II) and she said redoing the whole PS isnt necessary if you got IIs from places last cycle. But they probably wanna see some alterations
 
Would you recommend applying to both the Minnesota and Arizona campuses? If the Minnesota campus is your priority then would applying to Arizona be detrimental?

No it won't hurt. If anything I could only see it helping. Some people have gotten into both campuses
 
Are there opportunities for sleep medicine research at the Phoenix/Scottsdale campuses?
 
Are there opportunities for sleep medicine research at the Phoenix/Scottsdale campuses?

I decided to ask some of the Neurology residents who are helping teach our current Neuroscience course here in AZ. They said that there is a very active sleep medicine center and it would be very easy to become involved in research. I was told that there are faculty from Neurology, Pulmonology, and other departments involved in the sleep center. I have not personally pursued sleep medicine research, but the opportunities are certainly there. I hope that helps to answer your question.
 
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Good luck to everyone applying! Wanted to share some resources I posted in the MN thread (edited out stuff that was mainly about Rochester). I'm a med student at the MN campus, but have spent significant time in AZ as well (mainly at Mayo Clinic Hospital in Phoenix). I've loved my time in AZ and am happy to answer any questions about my personal experience there and as a Mayo student in general (feel free to send me a private message if you prefer).

Meet Mayo Med (Student-run blog) - Meet Mayo Med
Med school's instagram account - Mayo Clinic School of Medicine (@mayoclinicsom) • Instagram photos and videos
Info on Selectives (unique aspect of Mayo's curriculum):
Selectives - M.D. Program - Mayo Clinic
Student Reflections on Selectives - M.D. Program - Mayo Clinic
another Mayo med student blog (with more posts about selectives) - All blog posts
 
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Is financial aid similar to the MN campus? Correct me if I'm wrong but it's my understanding that most students at mayo receive at least a partial scholarship.
 
Is financial aid similar to the MN campus? Correct me if I'm wrong but it's my understanding that most students at mayo receive at least a partial scholarship.

I found them incredibly generous. Most do, some were disappointed. There is always a mixed bag at every school.
 
What are opportunities are there to perform outreach for homeless people at the Arizona campus? I notice on the website that there are opportunities to provide food at Mesa Men's Shelter and at the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, but are there opportunities beyond giving out food?

Are there any opportunities to perform research on mental health services for homeless, indigent, or uninsured Spanish-speaking patients?
 
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Is there some sort of opportunity to serve indigenous Americans through Mayo? I ask because AZ and MN have significant indigenous populations.
 
Is there some sort of opportunity to serve indigenous Americans through Mayo? I ask because AZ and MN have significant indigenous populations.

Absolutely - I have some friends who are involved in this work. Feel free to message me if you'd like more specifics/contact info! but yes, if you're interested, you will definitely be able to pursue this at either campus
 
All the students I've talked to seem to be positive about about their experience at Mayo. However, mandatory lecture is generally seen as a significant negative by students. I'm trying to reconcile people's positive experiences here with the mandatory lecture requirement. Any thoughts by current or past Mayo students on the mandatory lecture requirement is greatly appreciated. Thank you!
 
All the students I've talked to seem to be positive about about their experience at Mayo. However, mandatory lecture is generally seen as a significant negative by students. I'm trying to reconcile people's positive experiences here with the mandatory lecture requirement. Any thoughts by current or past Mayo students on the mandatory lecture requirement is greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Emory and Harvard have mandatory lectures too. I think folks just deal with it at these kind of schools knowing the future payoff
 
Current Mayo here - I mean, would I like to sleep until 11 every day and cram all my studying into 3x speed for four hours? Sure, but I think in the end I will be better for dragging my butt to school every day. Some of that is I'm approaching this like I'm going to be doing this as a job one day, so treating it like one now with the sort of daily commute/attendance that requires kind of makes sense. And more immediately, I hope it will make third year hit me like a smaller bag of bricks than it could have because I'm used to commuting and time away from home.

We do a fair number of stuff in small groups beyond our lectures. These aren't student-led PBLs that I hear about from other schools but usually 10-12 of us with either a TA or professor doing clinical cases and learning higher-yield/sometimes more difficult concepts. These are generally pretty well received. If you're lucky, your group and/or group leader brings snacks.

As far as how I deal with being there every day, if the lecture/group is engaging, then it's worth being there and I learn far more in person (plus you get terrific in-jokes about, say, A&W Cream Soda). If the topic isn't engaging, then I'm doing flashcards or other studying while in class. I don't do much once I get home in terms of studying because I've gotten it done at school during the day. I have really enjoyed the vast majority of our professors, and I enjoy/learn from being around my classmates every day even more. One of the hidden benefits of mandatory attendance (though to be clear - they are flexible about missing class if you need, and as the year goes on everyone gets more relaxed regardless) is that I know my classmates really well and know I have 49 other people I can turn to for most anything. I don't think I would have that if we didn't see each other every day. We're just finishing up our summer weeks off now, and I'm legit excited to see everyone again.

Plus there are occasionally communal baked goods. We are easily bought with free food.

I was lucky enough to have choices for school, with Mayo being the only one with highly suggested class attendance. I don't regret my choice at all; even if it's not your thing, I think the other benefits of the curriculum, faculty and general learning atmosphere far outweigh that part.
 
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Current Mayo here - I mean, would I like to sleep until 11 every day and cram all my studying into 3x speed for four hours? Sure, but I think in the end I will be better for dragging my butt to school every day. Some of that is I'm approaching this like I'm going to be doing this as a job one day, so treating it like one now with the sort of daily commute/attendance that requires kind of makes sense. And more immediately, I hope it will make third year hit me like a smaller bag of bricks than it could have because I'm used to commuting and time away from home.

We do a fair number of stuff in small groups beyond our lectures. These aren't student-led PBLs that I hear about from other schools but usually 10-12 of us with either a TA or professor doing clinical cases and learning higher-yield/sometimes more difficult concepts. These are generally pretty well received. If you're lucky, your group and/or group leader brings snacks.

As far as how I deal with being there every day, if the lecture/group is engaging, then it's worth being there and I learn far more in person (plus you get terrific in-jokes about, say, A&W Cream Soda). If the topic isn't engaging, then I'm doing flashcards or other studying while in class. I don't do much once I get home in terms of studying because I've gotten it done at school during the day. I have really enjoyed the vast majority of our professors, and I enjoy/learn from being around my classmates every day even more. One of the hidden benefits of mandatory attendance (though to be clear - they are flexible about missing class if you need, and as the year goes on everyone gets more relaxed regardless) is that I know my classmates really well and know I have 49 other people I can turn to for most anything. I don't think I would have that if we didn't see each other every day. We're just finishing up our summer weeks off now, and I'm legit excited to see everyone again.

Plus there are occasionally communal baked goods. We are easily bought with free food.

I was lucky enough to have choices for school, with Mayo being the only one with highly suggested class attendance. I don't regret my choice at all; even if it's not your thing, I think the other benefits of the curriculum, faculty and general learning atmosphere far outweigh that part.

With such small classes sizes it would be crazy if attendance wasn't required or at least "strongly suggested". It would be pretty crappy for these amazing instructors to get a room of 5 to 10 students to engage with while lecturing.

Personally, I've enjoyed attending classes in undergrad, especially smaller classes w/ <40 students. I'm hoping I get into a med school where attending lectures in person is valued by the administration!
 
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All the students I've talked to seem to be positive about about their experience at Mayo. However, mandatory lecture is generally seen as a significant negative by students. I'm trying to reconcile people's positive experiences here with the mandatory lecture requirement. Any thoughts by current or past Mayo students on the mandatory lecture requirement is greatly appreciated. Thank you!
Incoming M1 here, mandatory lectures is one of the things I really liked about Mayo vs. other schools.
 
What's the deal with student organizations at Mayo? Any student council-type opportunites to host events for other students and interface with the administration regarding student activities / student life?
 
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Has anyone else received the secondary yet?
 
Question for you Mayo students... do you refer to Mayo as the Mayo Clinic, or just Mayo Clinic? For example, do you say "I want to go to the Mayo Clinic because.... "or is it "I want to go to Mayo Clinic because..."
 
Question for you Mayo students... do you refer to Mayo as the Mayo Clinic, or just Mayo Clinic? For example, do you say "I want to go to the Mayo Clinic because.... "or is it "I want to go to Mayo Clinic because..."

I've heard people use both but I'd go with just "Mayo Clinic"
 
Is there a consensus on what documents we should be uploading? I see their options for CV and photo upload and am hesitant to add anything that isn't necessary.
 
Is there a consensus on what documents we should be uploading? I see their options for CV and photo upload and am hesitant to add anything that isn't necessary.
Probably only add a CV if you're a non-traditional applicant with extensive work history that isn't on your primary app
 
Everyone gets a secondary right? I thought I remember reading that they didn't screen. I still haven't gotten mine either (and I was verified early May).
 
The last two secondary questions are exactly the same as Mayo MN. Should I consider changing the answers between the two schools? I will honestly probably keep the same structure for why Mayo MN and AZ but I do have some separate reasons for each so I'm not that worried about that question.
I applied to both MN and AZ last year. I used the same essay for our diversity question (the question was how we would bring diversity to the class) for both classes. I kept the same structure for the Why Mayo but put in different reasons for the respective campuses. I'm an incoming M1 at the Arizona campus so it seemed to work fine.
 
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minimum MCAT screen at mayo is much higher than 500. I think it is closer to 508.
 
How are you interpreting the two different diversity prompts? Seems kind of redundant.
How I interpret the first one: Recount your personal AND professional experiences. What aspects of your personal diversity* do your experiences demonstrate?

*protip: think of personal diversity as "your unique identity"

How I interpret the second one: Is a diverse learning environment important for medical education? Answer Y/N. If Yes, what are the characteristics of a diverse learning environment in medicine, and how will that impact the education of a medical student? If no, withdraw application [/sarcasm]

Subtly different, but different nonetheless.
 
What are the volunteer opportunities at the Arizona campus? I can't find this information on their website.
 
How I interpret the first one: Recount your personal AND professional experiences. What aspects of your personal diversity* do your experiences demonstrate?

*protip: think of personal diversity as "your unique identity"

How I interpret the second one: Is a diverse learning environment important for medical education? Answer Y/N. If Yes, what are the characteristics of a diverse learning environment in medicine, and how will that impact the education of a medical student? If no, withdraw application [/sarcasm]

Subtly different, but different nonetheless.
Ya first one is a fairly standard diversity prompt. Second one is just what... like what do they mean by diverse learning environment ?! Answer no if you're hardcore and want a real challenge
 
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Any current students (AZ or MN) that can talk about the Florida 2+2 track? I think I'm interested, but having trouble finding specifics on what's offered in Florida other than that they like Liver transplants :laugh:. For instance, what are the major differences between doing your clerkship years in Arizona vs. Florida? What are some pros and cons of the Florida track? Is there a specific interest you should have or specific type of person/applicant you should be to apply for the 2+2?
 
In addition to the post above,
How does indicating preference on the 2+2 Florida program affect my application?
More specifically, if I indicate it as my first choice, am I at a disadvantage for the main 2 'base' schools in Rochester or Phoenix?
Or if I indicate it as my second choice, am I at a disadvantage for the Florida program because I'm not 'all in'?
Thanks!
 
In addition to the post above,
How does indicating preference on the 2+2 Florida program affect my application?
More specifically, if I indicate it as my first choice, am I at a disadvantage for the main 2 'base' schools in Rochester or Phoenix?
Or if I indicate it as my second choice, am I at a disadvantage for the Florida program because I'm not 'all in'?
Thanks!
Last year someone said that there’s different committees that look at each track so it shouldn’t put you at a disadvantage. I could be remembering wrong but I beleive the 2+2 apps were actually given priority
 
Worth applying with LizzyM 69-70 but strong extracurriculars and disadvantaged non-URM applicant?
 
I have heard that a lack of a home program in a given specialty is a significant disadvantage for applicants into that specialty due to less research opportunities and less opportunity to make connections in the field. Do any current students here have thoughts on the lack of an ophthalmology program? If you were theoretically very interested in ophthalmology, is it better to look to other medical schools?
 
I have heard that a lack of a home program in a given specialty is a significant disadvantage for applicants into that specialty due to less research opportunities and less opportunity to make connections in the field. Do any current students here have thoughts on the lack of an ophthalmology program? If you were theoretically very interested in ophthalmology, is it better to look to other medical schools?

Programs in Rochester and Jacksonville are our home programs as well. You'll be able to do selectives, clerkships, and M4 elective rotations at any of the Mayo campuses. If you wanted to work with faculty at one of the other campuses, it would be easy to facilitate. That being said, all three sites are overflowing with research opportunities - AZ included. I have multiple classmates interested in ophtho, and none of them have expressed any difficulty in finding research or mentorship.
 
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Programs in Rochester and Jacksonville are our home programs as well. You'll be able to do selectives, clerkships, and M4 elective rotations at any of the Mayo campuses. If you wanted to work with faculty at one of the other campuses, it would be easy to facilitate. That being said, all three sites are overflowing with research opportunities - AZ included. I have multiple classmates interested in ophtho, and none of them have expressed any difficulty in finding research or mentorship.
I get that it may not be that difficult to do away rotations at other Mayo campuses. But how would the logistics of trying to do research with a faculty member in Minnesota actually work? Is anyone in your class actually doing this right now? Doesn't the distance make it exceedingly difficult unless you spend most of your time in MN? I looked at the amount of faculty and residency positions, and it seems like MN is significantly bigger than AZ by a large margin. Wouldn't this imply less options all else equal? Unless you wanted to do a significant amount of traveling, but that doesn't necessarily seem feasible given the demands of medical school.

Thank you for your thoughts!
 
I get that it may not be that difficult to do away rotations at other Mayo campuses. But how would the logistics of trying to do research with a faculty member in Minnesota actually work? Is anyone in your class actually doing this right now? Doesn't the distance make it exceedingly difficult unless you spend most of your time in MN? I looked at the amount of faculty and residency positions, and it seems like MN is significantly bigger than AZ by a large margin. Wouldn't this imply less options all else equal? Unless you wanted to do a significant amount of traveling, but that doesn't necessarily seem feasible given the demands of medical school.

Thank you for your thoughts!

A lot to unpack here. So, for clinical research, it is very doable to work on a project off-site. I know a few classmates working with different physicians not at Mayo AZ. Meeting and getting to know a faculty member is certainly helpful if you'd like to work on a project with them, but the nature of most clinical research does not require much more than a computer and access to the medical record. You definitely don't have to spend a a bunch of time in MN to complete a clinical research project with MN faculty. You do a vast majority of the work at home on your computer. Yes, MN has more faculty/residents than AZ. Again, no - I don't think that means less options. I feel faculty at MN or FL are accessible to me. If I'm interested in a certain field or faculty member - I set up a selective, do a short rotation, and ask them to get involved in their projects.

I hope that helps.
 
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saw that my LOR and app was marked complete today but didn't get an email!
 
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