2018-2019 University of Southern California (Keck)

Med School Insiders
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Moh3njo_Daro said:
Hi! I actually spoke to someone in the financial aide office last week and they told me aid packages would be sent out May 1.
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After the april 30th deadline to narrow to one acceptance. Rough 🙁
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modernnarwhal24 said:
I mean you could still really want to go to Keck but it's an expensive institution. Seems a bit much to have us commit without knowing if we can afford it
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They have a pretty generous COA allowance (I believe it's around 30k above tuition). If you're referring to grants, I don't know if Keck gives out any grants/scholarships besides the small number of recruitment scholarships.
 
ClamShell said:
They have a pretty generous COA allowance (I believe it's around 30k above tuition). If you're referring to grants, I don't know if Keck gives out any grants/scholarships besides the small number of recruitment scholarships.
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What do you mean when you say "30k above tuition?"
 
jms429 said:
So I just called the financial aid office because I didn’t believe the May 1st date, and they told me it’d be after April 1st.
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That's so weird they're telling people different dates... Hopefully it is closer to April 1st, I know FAFSA is due by like April 5th or something like that
 
Can any current students answer the following about parking:

Is parking included in the projected cost of attendance (this one is from last year)? Which parking lots do students have access to/most frequently use? Can they park overnight?
 
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premedinske said:
Can any current students answer the following about parking:

Is parking included in the projected cost of attendance (this one is from last year)? Which parking lots do students have access to/most frequently use? Can they park overnight?
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The projected CoA overestimates so you should def have enough money to pay for parking. I mean $3420 for books and supplies lol You're gonna be parking in either San Pablo or Lot 71. SPS you can park overnight for sure coz it's a parking structure and that's the one right beside Currie Hall. It costs $300 more too for the entire year. For Lot 71, it's an open lot so even tho you can technically park your car overnight there, you probably don't wanna do that.
 
Question for current students:

I understand MSTP students are jointly enrolled at Cal-Tech for their research years, but what opportunities do regular MD students have at Cal-Tech regarding research and/or Masters year? Thanks in advanced!
 
Do you need a car as a student here? I assumed maybe for 3rd/4th year, but since LAC is right next to the school I was hoping I wouldn’t need a car for at least the first two years...
 
Remember Who said:
Question for current students:

I understand MSTP students are jointly enrolled at Cal-Tech for their research years, but what opportunities do regular MD students have at Cal-Tech regarding research and/or Masters year? Thanks in advanced!
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I don't really know too much about doing research at Cal-Tech specifically for a Masters year specifically. I also don't know of any direct opportunities/programs that'll give you instant connections to Cal-Tech research. However, I do know students that do research at schools that aren't USC. These students would just do the usual cold email/contact random faculty in schools they wanted to do research in, and you can also use whatever work you do for these as your RSP.

notanothergunner said:
Do you need a car as a student here? I assumed maybe for 3rd/4th year, but since LAC is right next to the school I was hoping I wouldn’t need a car for at least the first two years...
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You don't need a car if you live in Currie especially if you can make friends with people with cars. You can also just uber/lyft everywhere.

Personally tho, I would hate not having my own car coz I'd feel trapped on campus and there's not a lot to do within walking distance of Currie Hall. Having a car just gives you more flexibility.
 
premedinske said:
Can any current students answer the following about parking:

Is parking included in the projected cost of attendance (this one is from last year)? Which parking lots do students have access to/most frequently use? Can they park overnight?
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Yes, cost of attendance includes parking (for all lots).

-Most students park in Lot 71/P10. It is uncovered, but is the cheapest and largest.
-If you live in Currie, then it would make the most sense to park in San Paolo (the lot RIGHT next to Currie). It's covered and slightly more expensive. They also have electric car charging spots here for those of you with plug in hybrids.
- If you're really bougie, you can buy a parking pass for the biggy structure, which is on campus. I only know a handful of students who pay for this (most expensive option).


Remember Who said:
Question for current students:

I understand MSTP students are jointly enrolled at Cal-Tech for their research years, but what opportunities do regular MD students have at Cal-Tech regarding research and/or Masters year? Thanks in advanced!
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(Disclaimer, I'm not an MD/PhD ) We're encouraged to conduct research with whomever we decide to. We're better set up to connect with Keck researchers, but working with Cal-Tech Researchers isn't out of scope.

notanothergunner said:
Do you need a car as a student here? I assumed maybe for 3rd/4th year, but since LAC is right next to the school I was hoping I wouldn’t need a car for at least the first two years...
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Unless you're living in Currie, I would say yes, you need some form of transportation. I know some students who live in Currie and Downtown who utilize public transportation/uber/lyft (kudos to them for making it work), but it's not the easiest. Thankfully, we don't have many required courses so you don't necessarily need to be on campus everyday.

Remember Who said:
What are the chances of Keck going tuition free?
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If they do, they better retroactively hook us current students up.
 
Remember Who said:
Has anyone heard back for their financial package?
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What would a financial package entail for Keck? If I remember correctly, they don't offer need-based scholarships. So would the "financial package" just contain the type of loans you'd receive?

Also, if we need to take out loans for COL, was putting Keck on the FAFSA enough? Or was there more we needed to do
 
Cidermill said:
What would a financial package entail for Keck? If I remember correctly, they don't offer need-based scholarships. So would the "financial package" just contain the type of loans you'd receive?

Also, if we need to take out loans for COL, was putting Keck on the FAFSA enough? Or was there more we needed to do
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bloody hell, they don't offer need-based scholarships at all? Is this common for med schools?
 
jessicajonesharvard said:
bloody hell, they don't offer need-based scholarships at all? Is this common for med schools?
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This is quite a sensitive topic for several people. Long story short, several schools don't offer it because they expect you to take out loans to get you through med school and then starting paying back those loans after 10 years on your physician salary. I'm a bit against that but to each their own opinion.

But yes, some schools do and others don't. But getting your entire education covered through need-based grant aid (like several people get in undergrad) is very rare, as far as my knowledge goes.

I think @LizzyM and @DrFortiusNatando know a lot about that
 
ClamShell said:
This is quite a sensitive topic for several people. Long story short, several schools don't offer it because they expect you to take out loans to get you through med school and then starting paying back those loans after 10 years on your physician salary. I'm a bit against that but to each their own opinion.

But yes, some schools do and others don't. But getting your entire education covered through need-based grant aid (like several people get in undergrad) is very rare, as far as my knowledge goes.

I think @LizzyM and @DrFortiusNatando know a lot about that
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I am just surprised that a solid mid-tier school in California won't offer any need-based scholarships, and their tuition is like 70k... With the high cost of living in LA, that's like 400k in loans. How is reported average graduate indebtedness only 200k? Do most parents help out or something (i.e., most students are from rich SES?) How do they even attract successful low-income students? There is no way a low income admitted student would choose Keck over say, UC Irvine- based on the cost. I wonder what percentage of Keck students come from low SES.
 
jessicajonesharvard said:
I am just surprised that a solid mid-tier school in California won't offer any need-based scholarships, and their tuition is like 70k... With the high cost of living in LA, that's like 400k in loans. How is reported average graduate indebtedness only 200k? Do most parents help out or something (i.e., most students are from rich SES?) How do they even attract successful low-income students? There is no way a low income admitted student would choose Keck over say, UC Irvine- based on the cost. I wonder what percentage of Keck students come from low SES.
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I honestly don't know whether or not Keck has need-based aid.

But here are the reasons why I think Keck's average debt is lower than you would expect:
-Keck has a lot of students commuting from their parent's house in the LA area
-Some students may have spouses that offer a bit of financial support
-Outside scholarships (both full and partial)
-Parental support
-Merit scholarships that Keck gives out

To be fair, there are several other schools with high COA's that don't offer need-based support. Like I said earlier, schools expect you to take out loans and pay back with your triple digit physician salary.
 
Keck offers “need based” aid if it sees you are taking too much out in loans. It does not take into consideration individual or parent SES
 
Does anybody know anything about Keck's match reputation? Even anecdotal info would be helpful...I can't find any match lists online, though I know a huge amount of the class each year matches back at USC/county. As much as I love Keck, I really REALLY don't want to end up in LA for residency/long term. Do people match at places like UCSF/Davis/UCSD/U of Washington? Or even east coast schools?
 
notanothergunner said:
Does anybody know anything about Keck's match reputation? Even anecdotal info would be helpful...I can't find any match lists online, though I know a huge amount of the class each year matches back at USC/county. As much as I love Keck, I really REALLY don't want to end up in LA for residency/long term. Do people match at places like UCSF/Davis/UCSD/U of Washington? Or even east coast schools?
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Didn’t they give you the list during your interview?

If you happened to lose it, you can email admissions and ask for another copy. The worst that will happen is that they’ll say no.
 
notanothergunner said:
Does anybody know anything about Keck's match reputation? Even anecdotal info would be helpful...I can't find any match lists online, though I know a huge amount of the class each year matches back at USC/county. As much as I love Keck, I really REALLY don't want to end up in LA for residency/long term. Do people match at places like UCSF/Davis/UCSD/U of Washington? Or even east coast schools?
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Idk how much help this can be but I currently work at a lab at keck and I've worked with students (4th year med students) who matched into competitive residencies in new york and oregon for a specific surgical field, both of which were their top choices. They told me they had people match all over, although a lot matched back at usc/county. From what they described, it seems as if it's just easy to build connections to residencies at places like usc/county because of rotations and doing research with faculty who are the local residency directors. One of the other students I had met earlier was doing research for the literal straight up head honcho for one of the residencies here and to no surprise at all he matched at that USC residency. Just seems like there is a lot of security here in knowing that you'll have a great chance of matching here just in case.
 
notanothergunner said:
Does anybody know anything about Keck's match reputation? Even anecdotal info would be helpful...I can't find any match lists online, though I know a huge amount of the class each year matches back at USC/county. As much as I love Keck, I really REALLY don't want to end up in LA for residency/long term. Do people match at places like UCSF/Davis/UCSD/U of Washington? Or even east coast schools?
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forums.studentdoctor.net

MD & DO - 2019 Match Lists

Sinai st lukes is pretty weak too. It just has the mt sinai name. mmm I semi agree... tons of great applicants choose it bc it's only 3 years and in NYC, and probably stronger than most of the knock off name brand places, but I'd agree definitely not anything crazy great.
forums.studentdoctor.net forums.studentdoctor.net

Someone posted this year's match list if you scroll to the bottom. You'll see that a majority of students match in programs around LA but there's still a bunch that get into places up in NorCal and really all over the map (including UCSF, Davis, UCSD, UW, and a few big name east coast programs). Students are matching everywhere so you'll definitely have a chance to leave LA if you want.
 
ClamShell said:
Didn’t they give you the list during your interview?

If you happened to lose it, you can email admissions and ask for another copy. The worst that will happen is that they’ll say no.
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Ah wow totally forgot about that, I just found my copy! Thank you 🙂
 
Soooo, are we getting financial aid packages before the April 30th deadline? I've seen mixed messages from comments above. I have to say, I'd be a bit thrown off if they're holding our finaid until after the April 30th... that'd put a sour taste in my mouth. I'm trying to make an informed decision about my next four years and financial situation for the foreseeable future, and it's hard to do without every detail laid out in front of me...
 
+1
Dr_Omnicient said:
Soooo, are we getting financial aid packages before the April 30th deadline? I've seen mixed messages from comments above. I have to say, I'd be a bit thrown off if they're holding our finaid until after the April 30th... that'd put a sour taste in my mouth. I'm trying to make an informed decision about my next four years and financial situation for the foreseeable future, and it's hard to do without every detail laid out in front of me...
Click to expand...
 
Dr_Omnicient said:
Soooo, are we getting financial aid packages before the April 30th deadline? I've seen mixed messages from comments above. I have to say, I'd be a bit thrown off if they're holding our finaid until after the April 30th... that'd put a sour taste in my mouth. I'm trying to make an informed decision about my next four years and financial situation for the foreseeable future, and it's hard to do without every detail laid out in front of me...
Click to expand...


I do agree it's annoying. But on the other hand, there won't be too much information to glean from the financial aid report really. Your cost of attendance will be roughly comparable to the previous year, which is published. And if you were a recipient of a recruitment scholarship, you would know. The rest is just loans: ~42K/year in Direct Stafford, which presumably we are all eligible for, and the rest of COA in Grad PLUS. These will be at 5.X% and 7.X% interest rates, respectively.

But yeah I do agree on principle that they should have them out before the deadline
 
premedinske said:
I do agree it's annoying. But on the other hand, there won't be too much information to glean from the financial aid report really. Your cost of attendance will be roughly comparable to the previous year, which is published. And if you were a recipient of a recruitment scholarship, you would know. The rest is just loans: ~42K/year in Direct Stafford, which presumably we are all eligible for, and the rest of COA in Grad PLUS. These will be at 5.X% and 7.X% interest rates, respectively.

But yeah I do agree on principle that they should have them out before the deadline
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I feel like USC doesn’t release aid info before the deadline because the financial aid situation is the same for everyone who doesn’t get a scholarship: full COA loans at certain limits and interest rates at the numbers you described.

I’m pretty sure USC doesn’t give you grants or scholarships based on financial need.

They do, however, have disadvantage loans.
 
premedinske said:
I do agree it's annoying. But on the other hand, there won't be too much information to glean from the financial aid report really. Your cost of attendance will be roughly comparable to the previous year, which is published. And if you were a recipient of a recruitment scholarship, you would know. The rest is just loans: ~42K/year in Direct Stafford, which presumably we are all eligible for, and the rest of COA in Grad PLUS. These will be at 5.X% and 7.X% interest rates, respectively.

But yeah I do agree on principle that they should have them out before the deadline
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I thought Direct Stafford was close to 7%?
 
Sorry if this has been asked before, if we are waitlisted and already have other acceptances, do we have to send a LOI after April 30 in order to get off the waitlist? Also, whats the chance that we can get off with a potential chance of getting some scholarship? Thanks
 
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yakarma11 said:
Sorry if this has been asked before, if we are waitlisted and already have other acceptances, do we have to send a LOI after April 30 in order to get off the waitlist? Also, whats the chance that we can get off with a potential chance of getting some scholarship? Thanks
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Yes it has to be after April 30th according to Dean Arias. And the chances of scholarship are really low, since USC doesn't give much money in the first place (the merit scholarships have something to do with your interviewer recommending you iirc from my interview day)
 
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