2019-2020 Commonwealth (Geisinger)

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NatGeoLover said:
I would agree with everything here based on my interview as well! Good synopsis

On a related note, a student told me that the MS3/4 locations are *completely random* while at lunch, but I explicitly asked my faculty interviewer if it was random, and he said no (he said we could rank our clinical sites and people usually ended up where they "wanted" to go)? So I'm confused about what the reality is--can anybody confirm whether the student or the faculty I talked to is correct?
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On their website it says it is random (they use a lottery to assign you to rotations) so not sure why your faculty interviewer told you that.
 
secondboys1 said:
anyone know how long takes for the adcom to make a decision here?
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From the portal: "Typically, this process takes 6-8 weeks; therefore students who have interviewed can expect a status update 6-8 weeks after their interview."
 
limeyguydr said:
I interviewed on their first day this cycle and they said we should hear back oct 15/16
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Was that late August/early September? Or later on? Maybe they have a quicker turnaround for the first few interview dates!
 
OxenFoxen said:
Biggest turnoff for me is the random assignment for clerkships (god bless whoever wants to gain experience in NEPA and is assigned to Atlantic City of all places)

Also the longitudinal clerkship sounds good in theory but I bet it’s pretty rough on the student to be doing 1/2 day rotations through 7-8 fields each week...also curious how shelf exams work with this business...
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So in years 3/4 we have no ties to Scranton? If I get sent to location x, I stay in location x for years 3/4?
 
pj225 said:
So in years 3/4 we have no ties to Scranton? If I get sent to location x, I stay in location x for years 3/4?
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pj225 said:
So in years 3/4 we have no ties to Scranton? If I get sent to location x, I stay in location x for years 3/4?
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My understanding is for clerkships you are randomly assigned to a location, 3 are in NEPA and the other in Atlantic City but yes you would do all your core rotations in that area
 
Does anyone know how frequently the adcom makes decisions / releases them? I interviewed on the 27th, but owe a LECOM deposit I really don't want to pay on October 30th. Is there any chance I'd hear back before then? Is there any way Geisinger would be open to releasing the decision early if I call them? I know this is a far reach, but 1.5k is so much money.
 
biomechanic97 said:
Does anyone know how frequently the adcom makes decisions / releases them? I interviewed on the 27th, but owe a LECOM deposit I really don't want to pay on October 30th. Is there any chance I'd hear back before then? Is there any way Geisinger would be open to releasing the decision early if I call them? I know this is a far reach, but 1.5k is so much money.
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they say 6-8 weeks... that said I interviewed 9/9 and was accepted 10/15. I'd hold off as long as possible (literally until Oct 30) before submitting that deposit to LECOM
 
biomechanic97 said:
I know this is a far reach, but 1.5k is so much money.
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talk to the financial office. My friend defered paying the deposit for over a month to BCOM while waiting back by saying he had trouble immediately finding the money etc....which he did actually have trouble doing, but also was waiting for another response. but yeah DO deposits are insane.
 
Is anyone interviewing on Dec 6th and driving back to New York afterwards?
 
aight after talking to some ms3s and recent graduates, I have a new pro/con list that is also influenced by the fact that I was accepted:
Geisinger
proscons
2 hours from Philly and NYC (good for people in the area who want to be able to go home)rural location in PA and Scranton just doesn't have a lot/many places close early
lecture attendance isn't mandatory and is posted online (not live-streamed, but posted right after lecture)in house exams (neuro NBME at end of 1st year) (but they correlate well enough with board material that a lot of people just use board material)
P/F preclinical got weird vibe but that was d/t my interviewer, not the school likely
cheap cost of livinggiven PCs (if you have a MacBook, etc it won't integrate)
new building for med school that is really pretty and has lots of windowsYou have to buy your own stethoscope, ophthalmoscope, otoscope
parking is $100 (cheap); given $20/year for printing and it's $0.05/black and white sheet and $0.10/color sheet which is reasonableRank at end of M3 for MSPE but MSPE is NOT quartiles it is "The descriptors Outstanding, Excellent and Very Good are used in summary paragraph, but the boundaries are undefined"
You can choose when to take shelf exams MS3 because of the longitudinal integrated clerkships which I think are pretty cool bc you get a lot of one on one time with the same attending for 6 monthsonly 5 weeks of dedicated step study time
do well enough on step for a "lower-tier schoo"l (231 98% pass rate)hard to stay in Scranton for all 4 years as they have regional campuses so you will likely have to move after the first two years but some people like this as they can go to Atlantic City for MS3/MS4 but you could get stuck in bumble**** PA
in house exams correlate well with board material actually - one professor bought Pathoma and integrated it into his courses. They realize some of their profs aren't the best and they're working on it
pro/con: 100 hours community service - you need it for residency anyways but it's mandated which I don't like because I don't like being told what to do lol
 
Submitted back on 09/05 --- should I be concerned without hearing about II's yet?
 
I've already interviewed and was deferred to the next committee meeting... do you think I can use one of the two updates as a continued interest letter? Or should I wait until I have more substantial updates?
 
limeyguydr said:
aight after talking to some ms3s and recent graduates, I have a new pro/con list that is also influenced by the fact that I was accepted:
Geisinger
proscons
2 hours from Philly and NYC (good for people in the area who want to be able to go home)rural location in PA and Scranton just doesn't have a lot/many places close early
lecture attendance isn't mandatory and is posted online (not live-streamed, but posted right after lecture)in house exams (neuro NBME at end of 1st year) (but they correlate well enough with board material that a lot of people just use board material)
P/F preclinicalgot weird vibe but that was d/t my interviewer, not the school likely
cheap cost of livinggiven PCs (if you have a MacBook, etc it won't integrate)
new building for med school that is really pretty and has lots of windowsYou have to buy your own stethoscope, ophthalmoscope, otoscope
parking is $100 (cheap); given $20/year for printing and it's $0.05/black and white sheet and $0.10/color sheet which is reasonableRank at end of M3 for MSPE but MSPE is NOT quartiles it is "The descriptors Outstanding, Excellent and Very Good are used in summary paragraph, but the boundaries are undefined"
You can choose when to take shelf exams MS3 because of the longitudinal integrated clerkships which I think are pretty cool bc you get a lot of one on one time with the same attending for 6 monthsonly 5 weeks of dedicated step study time
do well enough on step for a "lower-tier schoo"l (231 98% pass rate)hard to stay in Scranton for all 4 years as they have regional campuses so you will likely have to move after the first two years but some people like this as they can go to Atlantic City for MS3/MS4 but you could get stuck in bumble**** PA
in house exams correlate well with board material actually - one professor bought Pathoma and integrated it into his courses. They realize some of their profs aren't the best and they're working on it
pro/con: 100 hours community service - you need it for residency anyways but it's mandated which I don't like because I don't like being told what to do lol
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Excellent list. Let me clear up some stuff:

-Plenty of free parking on the streets if you get to school early enough. Save your money, don't buy a pass.
-The rank is in quartiles AND descriptors.
-LIC is great or awful depending on what you end up wanting to do. Most everyone in my class tolerates LIC at least, but also wishes it were shorter.
-The school does try very hard to make adjustments based on student complaints. The effort doesn't always pan out.
-Someone somewhere said there isn't enough study space. I have no idea what they're talking about.

At the end of the day, go where you feel you'll be the most successful. I like the school otherwise I wouldn't be on this forum. But if you didn't vibe with the school or you can't stand the idea of living in Scranton for 2-3 years (4th year everyone scatters to the winds), then don't come here. Don't go to any school you don't get the warm and fuzzies from.
 
For those that have interviewed, how closely do they follow their schedule? Does the day really end at 2 PM? Also, is there space to store luggage for those of us traveling?
 
Hypnosis said:
For those that have interviewed, how closely do they follow their schedule? Does the day really end at 2 PM? Also, is there space to store luggage for those of us traveling?
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Yes they followed the schedule pretty tightly. I think my day we finished just before 2:00 pm. I'm not sure where you would be able to store your luggage though if you're arriving the day of.
 
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