2019-2020 Iowa (Carver)

BU Medical Sciences
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How late does interview season last for Iowa? Are they pretty much done sending out II?
 
I've been scouring the depths of Iowa's website and came across something mentioning that the medical school has its own online housing exchange website. Anyone know how to get to this or if it's even open yet?
 
GoCubs17 said:
I've been scouring the depths of Iowa's website and came across something mentioning that the medical school has its own online housing exchange website. Anyone know how to get to this or if it's even open yet?
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I had the same question
 
97premed97 said:
Congrats on your interview!! This should give those of us who already interviewed hope that there are more Tuesdays to hear back than we thought!
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Probably not what you want to hear but they always do interviews until end of January. The last interview is going to be around Jan 24th this year. This is also the last day you can submit an application update. After Jan 24th, adcom meets and starts looking at the final pool. Everyone that interviews after the final pool is announced (around Jan 15) is automatically final pooled.
 
UnknownObi said:
Thank you both for your info ! Regarding the grading , is there internal ranking associated with it too ? How are the exam formulated and how often are they ? And with the short pre clinical , you take step beginning of 3rd year ? and all the rotations are in Iowa city itself?
What about the class itself , do you feel you guys hang outside for fun ? Things you like about the city itself ?

Thanks again
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Not who you were replying to, but can try to supplement the above answers.

-There is no internal ranking, we are unranked - can confirm as I just went through the residency interview process and the MSPE had no ranking.
-Exams are generally in-house for preclinical and NBME shelf for clinical rotations. Pre-clinical every other week and clinical at the end of the rotation (4-6 weeks).
 
Cawolf said:
Not who you were replying to, but can try to supplement the above answers.

-There is no internal ranking, we are unranked - can confirm as I just went through the residency interview process and the MSPE had no ranking.
-Exams are generally in-house for preclinical and NBME shelf for clinical rotations. Pre-clinical every other week and clinical at the end of the rotation (4-6 weeks).
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Thanks for this information! But surely there must be some sort of ranking on the MSPE? Quartiles at least for clinicals?
 
Dr. Rick Sanchez said:
Thanks for this information! But surely there must be some sort of ranking on the MSPE? Quartiles at least for clinicals?
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Nope. Completely unranked. The only "ranking" is honors hours through pre-clinical and core clinical rotations, which is used to invite the top % of the class to apply for AOA. There is no published quartile or ranking to use on applications.
 
Cawolf said:
Nope. Completely unranked. The only "ranking" is honors hours through pre-clinical and core clinical rotations, which is used to invite the top % of the class to apply for AOA. There is no published quartile or ranking to use on applications.
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Wow, I actually didn't know that! Thank you for the information! Honestly, I think I would prefer the unranked + grades system to some secret internal ranking + P/F system.
 
pauliepauliepaulie said:
Wow, I actually didn't know that! Thank you for the information! Honestly, I think I would prefer the unranked + grades system to some secret internal ranking + P/F system.
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It is nice. It is also nice that the grades are not curved, but to straight cutoffs, so no one really competes - it is a very collaborative environment.
 
At my 6 week mark and desperately want to hear back before the final pool.

Does anyone remember what the situation with update letters was?
 
Gull81 said:
At my 6 week mark and desperately want to hear back before the final pool.

Does anyone remember what the situation with update letters was?
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You get a max of 3 activity updates through the portal. Additionally anyone think it’s possible we will hear today? I’m assuming not a chance but who knows
 
Cawolf said:
Not who you were replying to, but can try to supplement the above answers.

-There is no internal ranking, we are unranked - can confirm as I just went through the residency interview process and the MSPE had no ranking.
-Exams are generally in-house for preclinical and NBME shelf for clinical rotations. Pre-clinical every other week and clinical at the end of the rotation (4-6 weeks).
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thanks for the info. Do you have any advice about housing. I saw that there are two frats that are walking distance to the school?
 
AllYouNeedIsHope said:
thanks for the info. Do you have any advice about housing. I saw that there are two frats that are walking distance to the school?
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I don't know anything about the group housing things, sorry. They seem fine if you are into that living arrangement I guess. Plenty of other people live in apartments that are either walking or biking distance to the hospital, or on an easy bus route. There is a pretty modern complex called Aspire that looks really nice and is on a bus route. Other people prefer to be a little farther from the hospital and live in Coralville or farther east in Iowa City, preferably with easy bus access. You can also get a parking pass for about $25-$40 a month in a lot a short bus ride from the school, if you prefer to buy a house or live even farther. Here are a couple sketches that show potential areas to look in Iowa City (walk/bike) or Coralville (bus).

 
Cawolf said:
I don't know anything about the group housing things, sorry. They seem fine if you are into that living arrangement I guess. Plenty of other people live in apartments that are either walking or biking distance to the hospital, or on an easy bus route. There is a pretty modern complex called Aspire that looks really nice and is on a bus route. Other people prefer to be a little farther from the hospital and live in Coralville or farther east in Iowa City, preferably with easy bus access. You can also get a parking pass for about $25-$40 a month in a lot a short bus ride from the school, if you prefer to buy a house or live even farther. Here are a couple sketches that show potential areas to look in Iowa City (walk/bike) or Coralville (bus).

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this is so nice! I just wonder if there is any problem ever about needing to be somewhere for school before the buses start running. I might get a place in aspire or coralville.
 
AllYouNeedIsHope said:
this is so nice! I just wonder if there is any problem ever about needing to be somewhere for school before the buses start running. I might get a place in aspire or coralville.
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I took the bus during pre-clinical a lot and never had any issues. For example the route that runs to Aspire (although I don't live there) has its first bus get to the hospital (WCTC) at 6:00 AM and the medical school (MERF) at 6:03 AM (Hawkeye Hospital Route Schedule, New | Parking and Transportation). This is more than enough for any pre-clinical class (generally 8:00 AM start) and almost every clinical rotation. The exception would be any night shifts on OB-GYN and surgical services which round in the 5:00 AM hour. For these times a car is useful (with a weekly parking ramp pass from the medical school) if you are too far out to bike (or it is winter).

An example schedule for Coralville that runs through the area I circled above is the Lantern Park route (https://www.coralville.org/DocumentCenter/View/4694/Latern-Park-Transit-Routes-2015-08?bidId=) which has its first bus get to the hospital at 6:21 AM. This still is enough time for most clinical services IMO, but will have some more times where a car is needed.

Hope this is helpful, feel free to ask anything else about Iowa - will answer if I can.
 
Cawolf said:
I took the bus during pre-clinical a lot and never had any issues. For example the route that runs to Aspire (although I don't live there) has its first bus get to the hospital (WCTC) at 6:00 AM and the medical school (MERF) at 6:03 AM (Hawkeye Hospital Route Schedule, New | Parking and Transportation). This is more than enough for any pre-clinical class (generally 8:00 AM start) and almost every clinical rotation. The exception would be any night shifts on OB-GYN and surgical services which round in the 5:00 AM hour. For these times a car is useful (with a weekly parking ramp pass from the medical school) if you are too far out to bike (or it is winter).

An example schedule for Coralville that runs through the area I circled above is the Lantern Park route (https://www.coralville.org/DocumentCenter/View/4694/Latern-Park-Transit-Routes-2015-08?bidId=) which has its first bus get to the hospital at 6:21 AM. This still is enough time for most clinical services IMO, but will have some more times where a car is needed.

Hope this is helpful, feel free to ask anything else about Iowa - will answer if I can.
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Hi Cawolf, thanks for all the helpful information! I have a few more questions, if you don't mind! 1) How does one go about finding roommates and such? 2) Also, I was wondering if it's helpful to accept the full amount of financial aid to start saving for expenses associated with M3/M4 years, as opposed to accepting the bare minimum of financial aid and declining the rest. 3) If one is to get a car while attending Carver, when is the best time to get one? Anytime before core clerkships begin? During pre-clinical? Thanks again for your help! Really appreciate it 🙂
 
pauliepauliepaulie said:
Hi Cawolf, thanks for all the helpful information! I have a few more questions, if you don't mind! 1) How does one go about finding roommates and such? 2) Also, I was wondering if it's helpful to accept the full amount of financial aid to start saving for expenses associated with M3/M4 years, as opposed to accepting the bare minimum of financial aid and declining the rest. 3) If one is to get a car while attending Carver, when is the best time to get one? Anytime before core clerkships begin? During pre-clinical? Thanks again for your help! Really appreciate it 🙂
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No problem. I have a lot of free time right now.

1) I personally do not have a roommate, so no personal experience there. But I am pretty sure the people who do found people in the class Facebook page for the most part. Or other people met throughout the year and moved in together.

2) This is a personal question, in that my experiences probably don't translate well to your financial situation. I would take it all at first and then return the extra if you want, but not sacrifice living a comfortable life. As far as extra expenses, the main ones are to have money to take Step 1 and 2 CK/CS, as well as for application season. You can take extra aid for residency applications if needed though.

3) If you don't have a car already, I think living in Iowa City generally requires one. I know plenty of people who don't, but aside from getting to work and school, public transit isn't so widespread that errands are easy to do without a car. If you want to go to the grocery store, Target, Costco, etc, a car is really needed. When is it mandatory? I think before clerkships as you will have 8 weeks of clerkships away from Iowa City which require a car.
 
Hey everyone, I have a question for current students or anyone familiar with Iowa. I have a cat and was wondering about pet friendly housing options at Iowa Carver. Any personal insights about having a pet in medical school and finding housing/roommates would be appreciated!
 
pauliepauliepaulie said:
Hey everyone, I have a question for current students or anyone familiar with Iowa. I have a cat and was wondering about pet friendly housing options at Iowa Carver. Any personal insights about having a pet in medical school and finding housing/roommates would be appreciated!
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Hopefully you can get some other responses also, but I know multiple people who live at Aspire with pets, so it is seemingly pet friendly. Other people (like myself) who have a pet rent or buy a little farther out from campus where you can have a yard and/or pet-friendly housing.
 
Any recent IIs? Last year they sent out some after Christmas but it’s been silent so far this year. I wonder if they still have some IIs left.
 
Does anyone know if Iowa will give out post-II rejections in January?
 
I am hoping to get in some updates today or tomorrow to hopefully get reviewed before the last acceptance day before final pool. These would be updates on future plans. Like a new volunteer gig at a hospital for this coming semester and a scheduled physician shadowing in January. Is it appropriate to put in these updates now even though they haven’t happened yet. They’re firm plans and I just want to let the admissions committee know because clinical experience is one of the weaker points in my application. Thanks!
 
Kenken514 said:
I am hoping to get in some updates today or tomorrow to hopefully get reviewed before the last acceptance day before final pool. These would be updates on future plans. Like a new volunteer gig at a hospital for this coming semester and a scheduled physician shadowing in January. Is it appropriate to put in these updates now even though they haven’t happened yet. They’re firm plans and I just want to let the admissions committee know because clinical experience is one of the weaker points in my application. Thanks!
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Seems kind of light to me, because these are things you might do, not completed - even the "firmest" plans can be broken. I guess it couldn't hurt (or might?) but I don't think it is worthy of an update. I have no idea how admissions works though, so this is just my opinion. If you go for it, good luck! 🙂
 
Cawolf said:
Seems kind of light to me, because these are things you might do, not completed - even the "firmest" plans can be broken. I guess it couldn't hurt (or might?) but I don't think it is worthy of an update. I have no idea how admissions works though, so this is just my opinion. If you go for it, good luck! 🙂
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I have something similar, I am starting a new job in 2 weeks that would be considered a promotion from my current. I also want to sneak it in before the last rolling acceptance day if possible, is this too light since it hasn't happened yet? I was going to frame it "Starting in January, I will be working with x company doing y".
 
Listle said:
I have something similar, I am starting a new job in 2 weeks that would be considered a promotion from my current. I also want to sneak it in before the last rolling acceptance day if possible, is this too light since it hasn't happened yet? I was going to frame it "Starting in January, I will be working with x company doing y".
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I see if you are trying to be noticed before the final pool, it may be useful, but it sounds neutral to me. As I said above, not involved in admissions at all, but if I was I would think that a pending job change isn't that exciting. So I would use your judgment and do whatever you think it best - good luck!
 
Hoping for a decision today too. 11/11 interviewer.

Does anyone know whether they are open today or is it considered a holiday?
 
Gull81 said:
Hoping for a decision today too. 11/11 interviewer.

Does anyone know whether they are open today or is it considered a holiday?
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Because it is New Year’s Eve I think it’s pretty unlikely anyone will hear anything this week. The admissions office treats holidays in the same way normal business operations would. There still is hope for hearing back next week, but I think it’s also good to prepare for having to wait to hear back in March.
 
CardioEnthusio15 said:
Any recent IIs? Last year they sent out some after Christmas but it’s been silent so far this year. I wonder if they still have some IIs left.
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I received an II yesterday (12/31/19) and I will be interviewing on Jan 8. I'm OOS and Iowa was my top OOS choice, so I feel fortunate to have the chance to visit. There were still dates of the 8th, 10th, 13th, 15th, and 17th remaining when I was picking a slot.

Edit: I decided not to take the interview because I was already accepted at UW-Madison (for which I am IS) and somebody else could use the slot more than I could. Good luck to everybody waiting!
 
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Anyone think we'll hear back on Tuesday (interviewed 12/2)? (I'm currently in that uber stressed mood where I'm double checking my portals and scouring sdn for any information on schools I'm waiting to hear from)
 
Kenken514 said:
Anyone think we'll hear back on Tuesday (interviewed 12/2)? (I'm currently in that uber stressed mood where I'm double checking my portals and scouring sdn for any information on schools I'm waiting to hear from)
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It looks like this Tuesday is the last Tuesday before final pool so I sure hope so.
 
So if I interview this week (Wed) am I automatically being final pooled?

Sent from my SM-G935V using SDN mobile
 
Zen Arcade said:
Don’t quote me on this but I’m pretty sure all January interviews go into the final pool.
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Yeah, at my interview they said anyone December or later is most likely final pool automatically, that might not completely apply but since the last pre-final pool decision is Tuesday you will definitely be final pooled.
 
Well poop. Does final pool mean I automatically get waitlisted or just that I have to wait till March to hear back?

Sent from my SM-G935V using SDN mobile
 
Final pool means we wait until March to hear back from Iowa (whether it be an A, WL, or R)
 
Has anyone gotten the Certiphi background check e-mail yet?
 
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