2019-2020 Commonwealth (Geisinger)

BU Medical Sciences
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Withdrew my II. Hope it goes to one of you!
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Now 10 weeks out from my interview and still awaiting decision. This wait time is getting ridiculous.
 
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TabascoNo said:
I went 11/4. Not sure if the people from late August heard back either though
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People from late August should have heard back. There were even a couple people from 11/2 in this thread that got decisions before the break.
 
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Any ideas on why it is taking this long? I can't see the holidays delaying it for 3 weeks, or am I wrong?
 
TabascoNo said:
Any ideas on why it is taking this long? I can't see the holidays delaying it for 3 weeks, or am I wrong?
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yeah.. who knows. I'm approaching 11 weeks, but I know some others on this thread is almost at 12 weeks post interview.
 
I have II coming up soon for this school. Can anyone shed like onto how the interview is ? Is it a panel , MMI? Was it a chill experience?
 
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laflame said:
I have II coming up soon for this school. Can anyone shed like onto how the interview is ? Is it a panel , MMI? Was it a chill experience?
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2 one on one interviews, one with an adcom and one with a student. My experience was quite chill. Coming up on 12 weeks post interview as well, fingers crossed
 
Can anyone who is a current student or local speak more about Scranton as a place to live? Or be willing to PM?
 
laflame said:
I have II coming up soon for this school. Can anyone shed like onto how the interview is ? Is it a panel , MMI? Was it a chill experience?
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It was a very chill experience overall. One interview was with a current med student, the other was with a faculty member. They asked questions about my secondary application, and in general just wanted to learn more about me. There was a lunch with current med students where you could ask them any question, and then it ended with a tour of the building. It was a really great experience in my opinion. Best of luck!
 
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Got excited about an email from geisinger today but it was just about financial aid (interviewed 11/6 awaiting decision)
 
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medapp2020account said:
Got excited about an email from geisinger today but it was just about financial aid (interviewed 11/6 awaiting decision)
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What was the wording of yours? Mine ended with "We look forward to welcoming you in August!", which seems like an odd way to end the email considering I haven't gotten a decision yet.
 
I just got an email from financial aid asking me to confirm my state of residency and to return a form to them by March 15. They signed off on the email and said "We look forward to welcoming you in August!" Does anybody know if this means I got accepted?? I haven't received any official email from Geisinger yet. Fingers crossed!!
 
i am instate, did fafsa, and did not recieve that email so not everyone got that email. might be bad news for me, but good luck to you guys
 
I’m in state but did not fill out a fafsa yet and did not get the email either. Hopefully it’s just bc I haven’t filled out the fafsa
 
ruledaworlds said:
Can anyone who is a current student or local speak more about Scranton as a place to live? Or be willing to PM?
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The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area is on the lower end of the socioeconomic spectrum with pockets of fairly dangerous areas and pockets of quite posh areas. Scranton itself is relatively safe, though if you grew up in a Pleasantville-type of suburbia you're going to think it's more on the dangerous side. IMO Scranton merely looks more dangerous than it actually is with Wilkes-Barre having more of the dangerous areas.

Housing is very cheap, but the places near the school go by fast. You can get a house, an actual house, for somewhere around $1000/month. It might not be the prettiest house, but definitely livable. Avoid housing near University of Scranton. They're all slumlord quality. Avoid the area about a half mile NE of GCSOM. Either stay within or go further beyond into Dunmore. It's the next town over, but it's actually not that far and it's a much nicer area.

There's plenty to do in the area if you like outdoorsy things. Lots of good walking/hiking nearby (e.g. Nay Aug Park, Eales Preserve, some place out in Honesdale I've heard about but not sure exactly where it is). You have to look a little harder for the not-so-outdoorsy things, but there are still events and fun things to do (e.g. First Fridays, every type of ethnic food festival between May and September, Scranton 1/2 marathon in April, apple picking, Clarks Summit Festival of Ice).

The driving here is ****. This region has a long history of mob-type corruption within the government so infrastructure upkeep is not the best. I had a classmate who had to get a new car because he went over a pothole too quickly. Trying to avoid all the potholes is a mental exercise. Public transport is not that great so I would recommend you get a car very quickly.

The food scene leaves something to be desired, but all in all it's not terrible. Pizza is BIG here. There's something for everyone, though you may have to drive a little further away for it. Some of the more oft-visited restaurants/bars: Ale Mary's, Backyard Ale House, Osaka, Thai Rak Thai, Peculiar Slurp Shop, Corelife, Little Pizza Heaven, Italo's Mexican, Chicano's Mexican, Mayuri Indian, New Amber Indian, Zummo's, Northern Lights.

There's a Giant grocery store in town. Wegman's is in Dickson City about 10 minutes away. There is no Trader Joe's or Whole Foods, but Wegman's is kind of like the lovechild of both so it's all good.

Because this is a poorer area with one of the highest senior populations anywhere in the country, there's lots of good medicine to be learned. One would think a region this size wouldn't have such busy hospitals, but let me tell you Geisinger Community Medical Center in Scranton and Geisinger Wyoming Valley in Wilkes-Barre are extremely busy. The outpatient clinics are even more so.

That's all I can think of for now. Feel free to ask more questions. If you PM me a question that I think is generalizable to the forum, I will post it here unless you ask me not to.
 
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Since some people seemed to have accidentally gotten financial aid emails they weren't supposed to (yet), I'm hoping that tomorrow is the day for us early November interviewees, if it is good luck to everyone!

For people who have received a decision already, what time of day did they send them out?
 
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Does anyone know what the post II acceptance % is for OOs interviewees?
 
Accepted this morning as well! Out of state and interviewed on 11/11
 
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Deferred. 11/4 interview, in state. Really bummed bc I thought it went very well. Good luck to everyone
 
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Accepted!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sorry for the obnoxious number of exclamation points, but GCSOM shot to the top of my list after interviewing here so I'm over the moon!!!!!!!!!!! WOO! :soexcited:

Got the email at 1000 sharp
Interviewed 11/25 (they must really be plugging away at decisions)
FWIW, I did get the residency email a few days ago (in-state)

GL to everyone still in the anticipation or holding stage - I'm rooting for ya.
 
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does anyone know how often/when during the month the committee meets?
 
ACCEPTED! OOS. Interviewed 11/11
So excited. Geisinger also shot up to the top of my list after interviewing there :)
 
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Accepted! Interviewed 11/15. Good luck to everyone!
 
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Interviewed 11/6 and have not heard back today. Does anyone know how often the committee meets?
 
accepted yesterday via email!! soooo happy. in state, interviewed 11/18, and for what it's worth, i haven't completed fafsa yet and got that financial aid email a couple of days ago (which btw, the attachment says it needs to be completed by ACCEPTED MD students so idfk what they're doin).
 
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oh also... i'm VERY grateful to have more than one acceptance but am starting to feel anxiety already about which one to choose lol. so everyone pleasepleaseplease share your personal pros and cons for geisinger :)
 
pugsandstuff said:
oh also... i'm VERY grateful to have more than one acceptance but am starting to feel anxiety already about which one to choose lol. so everyone pleasepleaseplease share your personal pros and cons for geisinger :)
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HighCortisol 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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Here were my pros and cons!
 
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HighCortisol said:
Here were my pros and cons!
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Preclinicals are P/F. HOWEVER, your overall performance during school is ranked into QUARTILES. The school won't tell you what number you are (e.g. 52/100) but you will know by September of 4th year which quartile you're in. So if you're gunning for AOA, your preclinical exam grades DO count. This all may change by the time you all are 4th years getting your MSPEs, but my class and every class since the school was founded was grouped into quartiles.
 
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