2020-2021 Drexel

Med School Insiders
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sweaters1234 said:
did anyone have ethical questions during their interview or were they just about your application?
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I had one about health policy.

I went to grad school in England, so I had a question about how I would alter the US healthcare system to emulate the level of accessibility found in the UK.

The rest of the questions were application based.
 
By paying the $100 refundable deposit and holding our seat, we are not committing to enroll right? The way they are talking about seeing us in August makes it seem that we committed to enroll. They said we had to respond within 21 days so i was assuming it was talking about just holding our seat??
 
blueberryscone said:
right! you are just saving your seat. i think that official decision to enroll happens later, in the spring. the AAMC also has the "choose your school" option, which will become available later in 2021
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Thanks! The way the worded their page made it seem like a commitment 😂 I mean i'd love to go here, but its wayyy to early to decide hahah
 
airbusa321 said:
That's what I read as well. But I was looking through the 2019-2020 cycle, and it appears that some people got their acceptances on the following Monday (November 25th, 2019). Hopefully that's the same as what's going on here?
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I really hope we get more acceptances on Monday. Friday definitely had me really upset as a 10/6 interviewee. 🙁
 
I interview in a couple of days! My first med school interview ever. I was wondering if any of y'all who already interviewed had any advice? Feel free to PM me!
 
CheesyMacaroni said:
I interview in a couple of days! My first med school interview ever. I was wondering if any of y'all who already interviewed had any advice? Feel free to PM me!
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Aside from reading through past questions on the SDN interview page and rereading your application, you really just need to be yourself. From my interview day and from what others have said, most interviews are laid back and feel more like a conversation than an interview. That being said, stay professional and make sure to steer that conversation to topics you are comfortable discussing. Most of the people that get an ethical question in typically casual interviews get one because they lead the conversation there. Anyway this was a late night drunken reply, so if you have any questions feel free to PM me. I think Drexel is a great place to have your first interview because of how relaxed it is. If you get Dr. Hanau then you are in for an awesome interview.
 
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Melchizedek said:
Hey, current student here to rack up likes and answer questions (PM to catch my attention).

Mostly the racking up likes part though.
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Thank you for hanging out with us here (even if it may just be for the likes) 🙂

For those who have interviews/have acceptances, I guess:
1) How would you describe the culture at Drexel and its surrounding interviews? Similarly, how would you describe its diversity and the administration? Especially with the inability to visit in person this year, any insight would be helpful.
2) What do you see as the benefits/drawbacks of attending Drexel?
3) What research and volunteer opportunities are available (or at least widely popular)?

For those who are waiting to hear back (such as myself):
1) What do you feel Drexel values most in a medical school applicant? That is to say, is there a specific factor that unites all Drexel students/specific mission that Drexel caters towards?
2) If you happen to know, how open are they truly to update letters? I've seen people both get put on hold and get interviews after sending an update letter so wanted to know what your general impression is.

And last but not least, for everyone:
1) What advice do you have for us as medical school applicants and as future med students?
 
Kind of a general question but do med schools not send out II or decisions the whole week of a holiday or just the few days around it? If anyone even knows haha
 
For those accepted or any current/prior Drexel students, what’s the general consensus on the new reading campus?
 
II just now! LM 66.5 so I’m shocked but ecstatic! Complete 7/15 with no update letters sent!

edit to add: As it stands, there were 3 interview dates in mid December and 3 dates in early/mid-January (Mon, Tues, Thurs seems to be their interview times). Since their last round of decisions is Feb. 19th, they definitely have a lot more IIs to send 🙂
 
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Just_Daikon said:
II just now! LM 66.5 so I’m shocked but ecstatic! Complete 7/15 with no update letters sent!

will update with potential II dates when I have access to my photo...
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I just scheduled my interview a few days ago - there were multiple dates open in December and early January, for anyone wondering 🙂 also congrats @Just_Daikon !!!
 
AnythingButCARS said:
Aside from reading through past questions on the SDN interview page and rereading your application, you really just need to be yourself. From my interview day and from what others have said, most interviews are laid back and feel more like a conversation than an interview. That being said, stay professional and make sure to steer that conversation to topics you are comfortable discussing. Most of the people that get an ethical question in typically casual interviews get one because they lead the conversation there. Anyway this was a late night drunken reply, so if you have any questions feel free to PM me. I think Drexel is a great place to have your first interview because of how relaxed it is. If you get Dr. Hanau then you are in for an awesome interview.
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Hanau is amazing, i loved her
 
Hey guys! I have been doing research at a company since july and one of my supervisors offered to write me a letter! Does drexel accept these letters and how can I submit it?
 
premedjazz said:
Hey guys! I have been doing research at a company since july and one of my supervisors offered to write me a letter! Does drexel accept these letters and how can I submit it?
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@premedjazz To send an additional letter of rec, I was told by other schools to just submit through the AMCAS portal. Once AMCAS processed my letter, it was received by all the schools (including Drexel) and uploaded automatically to my portal. Hope this helps!
 
Zhlv said:
Would you recommend this campus over the philly one? I have to choose my preference soon
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Seeing as the campus didnt exist while i was a student.. idk. But Reading has so many specialties and a robust/busy ER. It is a large hospital as well. You also don’t have to move around during your clinical years but there’d be a good chance you’d have to at the Philly campus.

It comes down to where would you prefer to be. Reading is in a more rural area an hour outside of Philly.
 
CricB4Tube said:
Starts with an orientation session for about an hour, then you do your one on one faculty interview or your student interview. My student interview took place with 2 other applicants and it was very conversational with no questions related to medicine or the application process. The student didn't even seem to have access to our applicants and it felt very relaxed and friendly. The orientation was very informative and Brian, the guy who did my orientation, was very transparent and open about pointing out the pros/cons of Drexel (there are some glaring cons).
My faculty interview was with a surgeon and I was not impressed by the way he conducted the interview. He started it off by telling me he was busy finishing something so I just waiting there watching him type on the computer for the first 6 minutes in silence. He seemed to have zero interest in talking to me, no follow-up questions, and I found his responses to my questions very condescending.
I asked him about the work/life balance of surgery and he responded with, "you should worry about getting into med school first since you have to go to medical school before residency, you know that right?"
I also asked him about how he thinks step 1 going to pass/fail will impact how residency directors assess applicants and he said "you tell me" as he blankly stared at the screen, waiting for me to ask my next question.
When I realized he wasn't interested in answering my questions, I politely thanked him for his time and he ended the interview session by sarcastically saying, "I hope you get in SOMEWHERE."
Of my 12 interviews this cycle, I have always been given high praise after interviews and I have yet to receive a rejection or waitlist yet so I know I'm a decent applicant with good interviewing skills. If this was my first interview, I would have been distraught but now I know this faculty member was just a jerk, for lack of a better word.
This was my absolute worst interview experience and I am so grateful I have other options over this school. So if you happen to be interviewed by a surgeon whose name sounds like a synonym for vineyard, do not be discouraged if your interview does not go well, and avoid asking too many questions about your future, just focus on the curriculum and student organizations or something more immediate.
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+1. He was a little more interested in my hobbies but pretty much did his own thing during the interview.
 
Just_Daikon said:
Thank you for hanging out with us here (even if it may just be for the likes) 🙂

For those who have interviews/have acceptances, I guess:
1) How would you describe the culture at Drexel and its surrounding interviews? Similarly, how would you describe its diversity and the administration? Especially with the inability to visit in person this year, any insight would be helpful.

So many questions in one question
1a) I'm not sure I'm understanding what you're asking, but the interview culture at drexel is very laid-back. Yes you're on stage, and you have to perform for the people there, but no one in the audience is holding tomatoes waiting for you to fail.

The student body itself, the culture varies from class to class, but overall there's a sense of "Let's get through this together." People build anki decks, consolidate notes, find outside resources, but they also share those with the class. Help the people around you because you never know when you're going to need their help.

1b) Diversity is mission 1 (to hell with safety) at Drexel!

but in all seriousness, it IS their mission. DUCOM came from a trailblazing institution, Woman's Medical college, and DUCOM makes it a point to honor that history by continuing to be all encompassing and diversity focused.

They do a great job of admitting people from all walks of life, and then the dean of admissions herself would go through and read people's profiles to pick out interesting stuff about them. There's one thing very unique about my application that she brought up in conversation when I was chatting with her the first few weeks of 1st year. Took me by surprise, but I was glad to know she read close enough to find unique things about each person.

See below for info about administration/faculty

2) What do you see as the benefits/drawbacks of attending Drexel?

Strength: I've never felt lost or felt like I don't have a clue whats going on or how to go about doing something. All it takes is walking into your favorite admin/professor/dean/w.e. and sitting down to chat with them about something. I mean don't be annoying like me and just stroll in between classes, email them first, but unless they're doing something really important, faculty and staff LOOOOVE when students drop in to ask questions/seek life advice/chat

Feedback is also a big thing at DUCOM. Admins take feedback seriously, and they implement changes frequently to improve. Curricular changes are slowest. They take until the next year, but that theoretically means you're getting the best of what they have to offer. Other more day-to-day stuff, they integrate ASAP. The reverse works too, if they make a change and students react with a hell no, they'll change things again. This was a thing before COVID, but especially during COVID, its been super helpful.

Drawback: The big elepant (or missing elephant) Hahnemann
The biggest problem at the moment is not having those home programs and Program Directors who could network on students' behalf. The classes 2020, and 2021 had something to worry about, but 2020's match list was pretty great. Lots of matches into all of the competitive residencies anesthesia, ortho, rads as well as big name programs like Penn, Stanford, a lot of the University of California hospitals, Mt. Sinai. Our match list is pretty comparable to Jeff/Temple.

(Residency Match - College of Medicine)

c/o 2023 onward has Tower Health residency programs and PD who will fill that role. Tower has a good reputation with potential for growth, but we'll see where they go.

TL;DR - yeah it sucks acutely but its not all doom and gloom, it'll smooth itself out again soon enough that current applicants will be minimally affected. It for sure isn't just all hell in a handbasket like people on SDN make it out to be.

3) What research and volunteer opportunities are available (or at least widely popular)?

We have like.....a whole website in and of itself, for research opportunities. They release excels with ongoing projects, PI's looking for new research slaves students to join their team, M2's look for M1's to hand off their projects to when they go into STEP hibernation. If you want research, you'll find research believe you me

For those who are waiting to hear back (such as myself):
1) What do you feel Drexel values most in a medical school applicant? That is to say, is there a specific factor that unites all Drexel students/specific mission that Drexel caters towards?

Uhh I guess see above about student culture and school values. Drexel values open-minded students who are ready to engage with others, explore the diversity of ideas around them, and will contribute to making everyone's education better, not just their own.

2) If you happen to know, how open are they truly to update letters? I've seen people both get put on hold and get interviews after sending an update letter so wanted to know what your general impression is.

I've answered this question a couple of times now on these threads, search LOI and my name and you'll find it.


And last but not least, for everyone:
1) What advice do you have for us as medical school applicants and as future med students?

1. Use the search function on SDN.

II) Take EVERYTHING you read on SDN with a grain of salt (yes even including my advice). This website has a lot of toxic community members, who make educated guesses based on the wrong information. Its a good general guideline for the application process, but only if you take things with heavy skepticism. People's views on things like "what a successful applicant looks like" "reputation of a school" or "what to do to get it" are especially distorted here. As time goes on it only gets more and more polarized because the personality of this site breeds on itself. People who aren't of a certain mindset get turned off by that and walk away, leaving only people who all share an opinion (groupthink)

C- If your answer to "why do you want to be a doctor" is some spiced up version of "because I want to help people" please do some soul searching because you can help people in a whole lot of ways that aren't being a doctor. There's a reason that most doctors will tell you if you can see yourself doing anything else with your life, go do that instead. You're about to dedicate yourself to a field where most days are going to suck and its going to feel like you're not helping anyone at all. Why are you putting yourself through that when you can help people by volunteering, starting a non-profit, or even working in healthcare, but a different role.
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expand the quote above for my responses in purple (because I choose to be obnoxious like that)



JK I needed a contrast color to indicate my responses and purple is the only color that looks good in SDN darkmode.
 
Hey everyone! Interviewed on 10/14, and saw acceptances/ deferrals for interview dates up to 6 days past mine. In all honesty, I was expecting the post-II rejection email today, but still radio silence. I just wanted to throw this out there and see if anyone has experienced the same? Should I view this as a deferral/ rejection, or maybe said emails are just late? Obviously, with COVID and the holidays, I am not certain what to expect but was hoping to hear some feedback. I apologize for the neuroticism, it has just been a confusing few days. I hope everyone has a safe and healthy Thanksgiving!
 
Cortisol_alltimehigh said:
Hey everyone! Interviewed on 10/14, and saw acceptances/ deferrals for interview dates up to 6 days past mine. In all honesty, I was expecting the post-II rejection email today, but still radio silence. I just wanted to throw this out there and see if anyone has experienced the same? Should I view this as a deferral/ rejection, or maybe said emails are just late? Obviously, with COVID and the holidays, I am not certain what to expect but was hoping to hear some feedback. I apologize for the neuroticism, it has just been a confusing few days. I hope everyone has a safe and healthy Thanksgiving!
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Hi, you're not alone. I interviewed before you and haven't heard back either. If we haven't gotten the rejection yet, we're still in the running so keep the faith. Only time will tell, so try to engage in other hobbies to keep your mind off of it.

Also, solid username haha.
 
That moment when you realize your interview starts at 8:30 am, but since it’s in EST you have to be awake at 5:30 am 🙁

Love you Drexel for the II but why you do this ( 😛)

ETA: it’s more of a joke as opposed to a complaint. I guess it seemed unclear and I apologize if I came off as ungrateful for the opportunity. Drexel is actually is one of my top choices.
 
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LilSatxrn said:
Should've been in the East coast (best coast) lol
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msmathteacher said:
Just be happy you have an interview! Haha
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Definitely excited/happy to have the interview, but just find it amusing how Drexel's starts so early. Definitely the earliest I've seen by far for start time for an East coast school.

And trying to get to the East coast!! (but if I get rejected then west coast is still best coast 😛 )
 
Just_Daikon said:
That moment when you realize your interview starts at 8:30 am, but since it’s in EST you have to be awake at 5:30 am 🙁

Love you Drexel for the II but why you do this?
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.......I think you have beef with Sir Sandford Fleming not DUCOM XD
 
SouthernGeorgiaPines said:
what are Drexel’s home hospitals?
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Crozer, Allegheny, York, Reading, Pinnacle, Kaiser - Bay Area are the “regional” campuses.

But also send students to Abington, Bayhealth, Capital Health, Chambersburg, VA hospital in Coatesville and Philly, Friends, Holy Redeemer, St Francis, Mercy Nazareth, Mercy Fitz, Mercy Philly, St Chris, and Virtua
 
blueberryscone said:
since the old main hospital recently closed and Drexel has a partnership w Kaiser, would it be realistic to assume that by attending one could score a residency slot in the bay area? it seems difficult to maintain longitudinal relationships w program directors there, esp with it being across the country. i might be wrong. really curious to hear opinions on this
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It’s realistic. It won’t hurt being out there if you get to go and you truly want to be in Cali
 
WhatDoYouKnow said:
For people who have interviewed, how long was the interview, and what time did it end at?
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Interviewed 10/21 with no decision yet. If you interview in the morning you can expect to be done around 2/2:30 but if you’re in the afternoon I’d guess you’ll be done around 4 or so
 
A hold was placed on my application. Anyone else in a similar situation/hear back after the hold was put?
I have a lot in my update letter, but not sure if it would make a difference.
 
Just_Daikon said:
That moment when you realize your interview starts at 8:30 am, but since it’s in EST you have to be awake at 5:30 am 🙁

Love you Drexel for the II but why you do this?
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At least 1/3 of your fellow interviewees will be in the same position (I was) - it is a good way to welcome you into the sleepless world of medicine. Although 5:30 am doesn't sound ideal, id argue that having to travel the day before and then wake up in their time zone is worse, so no real reason to complain. On the bright side, the interview day is over by 10:30 am, so you still have the whole day!
 
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