2020-2021 SUNY - Downstate

Discover Your Odds of Getting into Medical School
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anyone know what the difference is b/w the "Direct Grad Plus Loan" and the "Direct Med Unsubsidized Loan"? the only thing I could find on FAFSA is that the former has a 5.3% interest rate and the latter has a 4.3% interest rate. can we negotiate with the school to receive more direct unsubsidized loans since it has a lower interest rate? my award is roughly half each
 
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nicks9000 said:
anyone know what the difference is b/w the "Direct Grad Plus Loan" and the "Direct Med Unsubsidized Loan"? the only thing I could find on FAFSA is that the former has a 5.3% interest rate and the latter has a 4.3% interest rate. can we negotiate with the school to receive more direct unsubsidized loans since it has a lower interest rate? i was awarded around half and half for each
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There is a government set limit on the amount of federal unsubsidized loan money that you can take out. The rest of the money needs to be taken out with a GradPlus loan.
 
Does anyone know if Stonybrook gives out better aid? Or is this a general SUNY policy of no aid?
 
does anyone know how often we have to be on campus for M1 assuming things are still virtual in the Fall? i live 1.5 hours away and am thinking of commuting to save money; it won't be so bad if it's 1-2 times/week; anything more and i'm probably going to have to find housing
 
nicks9000 said:
does anyone know how often we have to be on campus for M1 assuming things are still virtual in the Fall? i live 1.5 hours away and am thinking of commuting to save money; it won't be so bad if it's 1-2 times/week; anything more and i'm probably going to have to find housing
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I talked to a current DS student and they said they have in-person classes 2-3 times a week. I also live about 1.5 hours away and am definitely going to look for housing if I commit to DS. Spending 9hr/wk on the subway doesn't seem efficient to me (can't rly study well on there).
 
how long was your suny interview
also don't know if they are still sending out invites but i know SUNY started their interview cycle late and is running late on top of that so there may still be hope
 
jakemainstreet said:
I interviewed here with a faculty member on Jan. 11 and had my student interview over the phone three days later. The faculty interview was about 35 minutes and the student interview was an hour. Both had questions they were required to ask me – see the SDN interview feedback for Downstate for a good sense of what they will be. The faculty interviewer seemed a bit rushed and didn't leave any time for questions. On the other hand, I asked at least half of the questions in the student interview! It was a nice conversation.

Still waiting for a decision, and feeling a bit frustrated that Admissions wouldn't promise a decision date earlier than August.
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i was only scheduled for a faculty interview...did i miss something? No student interview?
 
gogetter898 said:
i was only scheduled for a faculty interview...did i miss something? No student interview?
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My faculty interview was 50 mins long. A student should reach out to you via email after your faculty interview to schedule a phone call.
 
Does anyone know anything about dorming or has spoken with any of the students about it? Was wondering about how clean they are / whether it's close to school / easy for guests to come visit. Don't have enough available funds to rent an apt
 
wowza777 said:
Does anyone know anything about dorming or has spoken with any of the students about it? Was wondering about how clean they are / whether it's close to school / easy for guests to come visit. Don't have enough available funds to rent an apt
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I know there is a video tour available on YouTube you can access it through the information section on your secondary portal! During my group session students said it’s right on campus and very convenient ! Hope that helps
 
first wave on Feb 16 had about ~26 ppl saying they got an A. then one person reported a week after getting an A. its been 3 weeks, and still no other big wave is so weird. they have sooooo many applicants that have interviewed from Sept-Mid January and most have not heard back... they need to realize the stress that applicants go through, it's truly not fair to them. I understand cause of COVID there's issues, but every school is having issues. most are staying in communication with us.
 
hosie618 said:
first wave on Feb 16 had about ~26 ppl saying they got an A. then one person reported a week after getting an A. its been 3 weeks, and still no other big wave is so weird. they have sooooo many applicants that have interviewed from Sept-Mid January and most have not heard back... they need to realize the stress that applicants go through, it's truly not fair to them. I understand cause of COVID there's issues, but every school is having issues. most are staying in communication with us.
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I could not agree more
 
Curious as to if anyone knows the purpose of the post interview writing assignment. it states it will not be factored into admissions decisions
 
wya2020 said:
Curious as to of anyone knows the purpose of the post interview writing assignment of it states it will not be factored into admissions decisions
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It was really weird, just a random scene. I don't know how it could possibly factor into admissions decision. Having talked to current students, no one really knows the purpose of it. By far the weirdest component of applying to med school this year.

Edit: weird but easy don't worry
 
ladybug321 said:
It was really weird, just a random scene. I don't know how it could possibly factor into admissions decision. Having talked to current students, no one really knows the purpose of it. By far the weirdest component of applying to med school this year.

Edit: weird but easy don't worry
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It might a way to judge if you really wrote your application materials yourself, or if you had someone else write it for you. People's writing styles don't usually change in a few months.
 
CorgiLoaf said:
It might a way to judge if you really wrote your application materials yourself, or if you had someone else write it for you. People's writing styles don't usually change in a few months.
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Oh hmm maybe but I spent wayyyyyy wayyy less time on it

I doubt they can really assess accurately... maybe in more extreme cases though
 
Did y’all just try to write out the scene from a purely objective viewpoint? As in, you just described what was on there visually? I treated it like a creative writing assignment and actually came up with a super small story for the scene in the picture. Starting to think that was too much 😭
 
hosie618 said:
first wave on Feb 16 had about ~26 ppl saying they got an A. then one person reported a week after getting an A. its been 3 weeks, and still no other big wave is so weird. they have sooooo many applicants that have interviewed from Sept-Mid January and most have not heard back... they need to realize the stress that applicants go through, it's truly not fair to them. I understand cause of COVID there's issues, but every school is having issues. most are staying in communication with us.
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I know people that are holding off making plans for housing / moving for cross country acceptances, in the event that they get accepted to downstate. They are an early December interview. I’m sure there are dozens of people like this that really need to know if they’ll be staying in NY or moving to the west coast. Preferably more than a couple of weeks before orientation....
 
ladybug321 said:
Oh hmm maybe but I spent wayyyyyy wayyy less time on it

I doubt they can really assess accurately... maybe in more extreme cases though
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Probably just for extreme cases.

Fresc_0 said:
Did y’all just try to write out the scene from a purely objective viewpoint? As in, you just described what was on there visually? I treated it like a creative writing assignment and actually came up with a super small story for the scene in the picture. Starting to think that was too much 😭
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I had some fun with it and pretended I was Sherlock Holmes analyzing the picture lmfao. Had a little backstory and everything.
 
Having gone to SUNY schools for my undergraduate and masters studies, I would suggest not to expect any of the NYS medical schools to give much merit aid. Most of their grants and awards go to other academic programs or research
 
Fresc_0 said:
Did y’all just try to write out the scene from a purely objective viewpoint? As in, you just described what was on there visually? I treated it like a creative writing assignment and actually came up with a super small story for the scene in the picture. Starting to think that was too much 😭
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honestly last year when i applied, i did a objective POV and it didnt work out for me as i got WL, this year i did a subjective POV to change it up little haha
 
Fresc_0 said:
I know people that are holding off making plans for housing / moving for cross country acceptances, in the event that they get accepted to downstate. They are an early December interview. I’m sure there are dozens of people like this that really need to know if they’ll be staying in NY or moving to the west coast. Preferably more than a couple of weeks before orientation....
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yes exactly this is what I am talking about. waiting this long for an answer is not helpful in the case for personal, financial and other reasons when accepting a school or jus moving on. as someone said earlier, obvi there is not ONLY 30~ accepted, even if you estimate how much there is, from past stats SUNY DS accepts alotttttt of ppl and then they wait for ppl to drop the A but from what it seems a lot of people are still waiting.
 
Has any accepted person been able to get in contact with a current student? I requested to get in tough with a student from a specific organization with the admissions department via e-mail but no response. I’m two steps away from just resorting to Instagram lol.
 
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