2018-2019 University of Southern California (Keck)

Go for it!

 

Hi! Some questions: How is the location around the med school? Is it safe enough/are there lots of things to do/places to eat in the nearby area? How is the wellbeing of students here in general? Are you/they happy and have time to relax and do other things besides study?

 

Silence since I was complete 7/12. Do I win an award for "most borderline application ever"?

So tempted to call and ask if they lost my application for curiosity's sake just because it can't exactly hurt at this point

Shame though, I really like the school!

 

In a similar boat. If you call them, please lmk what they say lol.

 

I was kidding about calling them (mostly...)

 

Same situation, complete 7/8 and nothing at all....

 

Saving the best for last?

I can't even be upset, I just find it so funny that they have a small group from July that they haven't made decisions on yet. Most borderline group of applicants ever? Application submission malfunction? Reviewer quit part way through cycle and they forgot to reassign those applications? The wild theories are endless!

 

do any current students have any insight into the study abroad programs available for the elective clerkships? on the website, it mentions being able to complete certain rotations internationally, but i can’t find any more information on it.

 

also, does anybody know approximately how many students are offered full rides in each class and what the admission office’s considerations are? like stats, need-based, acceptances to other schools, etc.

 

What I remember from interview day is that the full rides are merit based and your interviewer has to recommend you for it

 

Did anyone else just receive an email with their USC ID? It had no further information about setting up an online FAST or myUSC account. Id like to fill out their financial aid supplemental...

 

OK they finally found my application and sent me my R.

Best of luck to everyone still in the running here!

 

+1 your boi finally got the axe, pre-ii R

 

same here.

 

I have to say, this was my favorite R I've received so far because I genuinely began to believe they forgot about me

 

3rd R of the day, not mad though! Just glad to be released from some places haha good luck everyone!

 

Also got the pre-II R here today, glad to finally get some word. Good luck everyone else!

 

if you go to the main financial aid page (just google financial aid keck) and click the part that says financial supplement, it'll open a banner at the top to create a youUSC account for new students. When you make that, itll let you fill out the supplement.

 

Hi if you come here I would definitely recommend owning a car. For those who buy lunch on campus, I know people like the cafe at the Norris cancer center (called Rainbow), and there are a few food trucks that hang around, like a burrito truck that makes excellent carnitas. We also have a panda express and a starbucks. This is also in addition to the frequent catered lunch talks that happen all of the time.

I've always felt safe, but I also don't tend to hang around late at night. There are lots of security officers and vehicles that I see around though.

If you're worried about having places close by for food and stuff to do, then living in DTLA might be a good choice, but the rent there is very very high. You can find some phenomenal food in LA if you're willing to open your radius a bit from campus. But again, you'll need a car.

I'm very happy and am still pursuing my hobbies like reading, watching movies, doing outdoorsy things, and doing things in LA. There are also lots of opportunities to do community service and research. I can't imagine I'll be able to do as much during rotations, but for now, I'm content. It's all about time management.

 

Still no word from here since submitting in July... seemed to have missed both waves of II's and R's Would it be bad to send them an interest email, or are those frowned upon from Keck?

 

Imo, it wouldnt hurt to try

 

For the "If you had the power to change anything, what would it be?" is it corny to say something like "end world hungry" or "stop racism"?

I mean how would I answer this without coming across corny or tone deaf (if i went the opposite way in my answer)?

 

Same here. I was wondering if they forgot about me. Does Keck accept pre-II updates?

 

Iirc I think I wrote about something really big and "corny", but it's something I'm really passionate about and have studied and ties into some other things on my app and medicine. So I think you can write about those things without sounding corny if you talk about why it's important to you

 

Guys, if we interviewed last week, are chances low that they will review my application today (they're meeting today)?

 

I interviewed on a Tuesday in December, and I heard back exactly one week later. Dean Arias told us on our interview day that she would do her best to get our applications to the committee meeting the upcoming Monday, so I think chances are decent you get looked at if they're still reviewing applications that way.

 

Oop I thought decision day was next Tuesday

 

Oh is it next week?

 

I think it's this week; I got the call from the dean today!

 

Got the A call 30 min ago

 

Dang I interviewed on 1/16 and have yet to receive a call :/ I guess that’s most likely an R or WL?

 

Mood

 

Congratulations! Out of curiosity, what day did you interview?

 

Thank you! I interviewed on Jan 16 )

 

.

 

She didn't talk about WL movement during my interview day, sorry

 

So waitlist emails go out tomorrow?

 

WL emails usually go out the same or next day so if they got to your file you should hear back by tomorrow. As for waitlist movement, previous SDN threads have shown that there is some!

 

Just got the WL email today

 

I interviewed two weeks ago and haven't received anything . Is anyone else in the same boat???

 

Yeah, I'm in the same situation :/

 

could any current students talk about how exams are set up? are students assessed primarily on end of block finals? or are there other assessments in between?

 

I know someone who goes there and they said its similar to a quarter system, there's a test like every 6 weeks. And a dead week before every test!

 

Is there anyone complete early July and still waiting?

 

Me... Glad I'm not the only one.

 

Blocks are set-up at around ~5-7 weeks each for derm and infectious (1 week blocks). There is a written final for each block, and a gross anatomy final for FMS2, GI/Liver, Neuro, Repro and MSK. There are also a graded midterms in the neuro and heme blocks. The percentages that account for the total grade will vary, but it usually ends up being ~20-30% of your final grade will be the gross anatomy if there is one, the midterms would also account for ~25-30% of the grade if applicable, and then whatever is left over is the written final.

We also get a dead week for final exam week. Either there's a written test on the Friday, or a test on the Wednesday and Friday when there's a gross anatomy final. Exceptions are derm (Monday after a week of lectures) and infectious (Friday after 4 days of lecture).

And they provide some fruit, pastries, bagels, coffee, juice and water during the written final

 

This might be a dumb question but when you say "written" final do you mean the test is free response style? Or is it multiple choice?

 

It’s all multiple choice! You use your own computer and you get your score right after submitting.

 

Has anyone been able to set up their USC Net ID online account yet? The recent email said we would be able to activate it on Feb 4th but its still not working for me.

 

pre-II rejection after sending an update i guess that was a mistake...