2020-2021 UNC - Chapel Hill

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medunc123 said:
definitely feel your frustration but as a current MS4, i can say that i've had a very good experience at UNC. i agree that the admissions process is often disorganized and unpredictable, but i wouldn't say this is reflective of the culture as a whole at UNC. we have an amazing pre-clinical and clinical experience with faculty dedicated to teaching and receptive to our feedback. we don't really work with the office of admissions once we're students unless we're helping out with interviews
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Seconded. This is a very long and frustrating process and we have all been through your pain. Admissions needs some reworking for sure, but we have no say in that really. The admin we have worked with as students though have been amazing. They are extremely receptive to everything we say. In fact, they ask for our feedback on literally everything we do. And the program has grown and made excellent improvements over the years because of it. I know when we answer questions during the interviews it sounds super cheesy and like we were given talking points, but believe it or not, those are our own thoughts. This school has been amazing for me. Its everything I wanted and everything I didn't even know to want. Admissions is perhaps the worst part of it lol and if I could change that for y'all I would. Be frustrated and angry with their methods if you want, but you shouldn't think less of the school because of that one dept. It would definitely be your loss, because I can't imagine going anywhere else.
 
I am very encouraged by your positive feedback of the school. During my interview that was the biggest surprise to me...how receptive the faculty were to the students and how positive the students felt about being listened to, and how quickly changes were made based on their feedback. My interviewer gave a couple of current examples of that very thing. It didn't feel cheesy or rehearsed to me at all. I was pleasantly surprised. Hopefully I/we will get some answers next week when they get back to work. I will keep an open mind, and will probably be on this forum asking questions as I try to compare programs. UNC students have posted very helpful advice in this thread.
 
Is the FAFSA code 002974 for the medical school too? Only the undergrad comes up when i put it in the application?
 
Here’s what they wrote in the overview of admissions process email they sent a few months ago: “Apply at www.fafsa.ed.gov with school code 00297401.”

Edit: I freaked out because I only used 002974 and went in to correct it but it didn’t let me add the “01”, so I googled what the correct school code was for the medical school and it was just 002974.
 
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MedApp Lurker said:
Out of curiosity, how much does FAFSA contribute for med school aid?
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FAFSA is how you get government loans. Unfortunately there's no Pell Grant or other need based grants that come from the government for medical school. But schools themselves use the information from the FAFSA to help determine need based scholarships.
 
EmmaculateMD said:
Looking forward to interviewing next week! Any tips for UNC and for online interviews and VITA in general? This will be my first!
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The interview was super conversational. I’d say just relax review your app so you know what you want to talk about. For VITA, I’d just do the practice one and review the competencies and how you meet them. Idk if that helps but good luck!
 
Gopher16 said:
The interview was super conversational. I’d say just relax review your app so you know what you want to talk about. For VITA, I’d just do the practice one and review the competencies and how you meet them. Idk if that helps but good luck!
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Would you say the group interview was also conversational or if it was scenario based? And thanks for the advice.
 
FutureMed2020 said:
Would you say the group interview was also conversational or if it was scenario based? And thanks for the advice.
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Sorry I really can’t say. We signed agreements about it. But it wasn’t high stress at all
 
Hey guys! Does aamc vita come out the day of the interview or am I supposed to email the admission office about this?
 
So for anyone that interviewed, I have my interview this week and have not received a VITA or the schedule icon on the attendify site? Should I contact UNC regarding this issue or did any of you have this same issue?
 
FutureMed2020 said:
So for anyone that interviewed, I have my interview this week and have not received a VITA or the schedule icon on the attendify site? Should I contact UNC regarding this issue or did any of you have this same issue?
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The schedule icon appears at the time (day) of your interview so you don't have to worry about that as long as you're set up with your attendify account. I would look around your email in junk/spam if you haven't received the VITA link because most people get the link from AAMC soon after their interview invite and if it's not there then definitely email admissions about it because you want to get that in before or soon after your interview
 
itachisimp said:
The schedule icon appears at the time (day) of your interview so you don't have to worry about that as long as you're set up with your attendify account. I would look around your email in junk/spam if you haven't received the VITA link because most people get the link from AAMC soon after their interview invite and if it's not there then definitely email admissions about it because you want to get that in before or soon after your interview
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Ok thanks I'm glad to know! Thanks for the advice!
 
regina-phalange said:
has anyone received any information about sending vaccination records?
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You don't have to worry about that yet. We submitted them over the summer, and we actually had until like October to submit them. Part of it is having a TB test done (some more specific instructions on that so hold off for now) and having a Hep B vaccine titer to ensure your immunity. Anyway the whole process with those two can take a few weeks to months so they give you plenty of time.
 
For anyone interviewing next week, have you heard whether you're in the "AM" or "PM" group for the interview yet? I received an email showing me my schedule (MD/PhD is spread over two days), and see that my timeslot for meeting with the director is given, but don't see which medical school interview slot (AM/PM) I'll have yet. It also said in the email that Attendify would populate with my personal interview schedule a few days ahead of the interviews so I might be getting ahead of myself, but I'm from CA and might want to prepare sleep-wise a couple days ahead of time if I get the AM slot 🙂 Thanks and good look to all others here!!
 
sweetpotater said:
For anyone interviewing next week, have you heard whether you're in the "AM" or "PM" group for the interview yet? I received an email showing me my schedule (MD/PhD is spread over two days), and see that my timeslot for meeting with the director is given, but don't see which medical school interview slot (AM/PM) I'll have yet. It also said in the email that Attendify would populate with my personal interview schedule a few days ahead of the interviews so I might be getting ahead of myself, but I'm from CA and might want to prepare sleep-wise a couple days ahead of time if I get the AM slot 🙂 Thanks and good look to all others here!!
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MD/ PHD interviews are all day. Also, the schedule will load the day before.
 
Not sure if this is a weird question, but *where* are y'all doing your interviews from? I really don't want to interview from my room in my distracting and poorly lit college apartment, but none of my school libraries where I can reserve a study room are open before 9AM, and my apart complex clubhouse that has a study room opens at 9AM as well. Just curious to hear what other people have done!
 
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EmmaculateMD said:
Not sure if this is a weird question, but *where* are ya'll doing your interviews from? I really don't want to interview from my room in my distracting and poorly lit college apartment, but none of my school libraries where I can reserve a study room are open before 9AM, and my apart complex clubhouse that has a study room opens at 9AM as well. Just curious to hear what other people have done!
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Not a weird question at all. I just want to reassure you that wherever you decide to interview from, you will not be assessed based on your lighting, background, connectivity issues, or anything like that, so interview wherever works best for you, somewhere you can focus and won't be interrupted. We know this is a new situation for everyone, so we really are understanding of issues caused by the virtual platform.

That being said, I highly recommend everyone interviewing to update your zoom app before your interview, because I've noticed it takes longer for people to get in and out of breakout rooms if they haven't updated the app. Again, nothing that would affect our decision on you, but it'll make it easier for you.
 
EmmaculateMD said:
Not sure if this is a weird question, but *where* are ya'll doing your interviews from? I really don't want to interview from my room in my distracting and poorly lit college apartment, but none of my school libraries where I can reserve a study room are open before 9AM, and my apart complex clubhouse that has a study room opens at 9AM as well. Just curious to hear what other people have done!
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I have been interviewing in the dining room of my apartment which has an interior brick wall. The lighting isn't great usually but I get a tabletop lamp and put it behind my computer and also I ordered a ring light from Amazon which really works well in evenly illuminating my face. (I also stage it slightly by bringing in a side table with a small potted plant and a mug). This is probably way more thought and preparation than is necessary but tbh it puts me in a good state of mind.
 
Interviewed this past week and just want to say that was truly a conversational interview. I understand that it depends on the interviewer but I was so positively impressed since so many of the places I have interviewed at so far (8 other schools) people on SDN claimed it was conversational but I personally felt like I was being grilled and/or rushed.

Also want to add that it was mentioned that the class is NOT full and they are NOT interviewing for waitlist spots only.

Good luck everyone!
 
sol0stinthesauc3 said:
Interviewed this past week and just want to say that was truly a conversational interview. I understand that it depends on the interviewer but I was so positively impressed since so many of the places I have interviewed at so far (8 other schools) people on SDN claimed it was conversational but I personally felt like I was being grilled and/or rushed.

Also want to add that it was mentioned that the class is NOT full and they are NOT interviewing for waitlist spots only.

Good luck everyone!
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Did they mention anything about when you'd hear back? I interviewed back in November and haven't heard back yet so was wondering what the timeline might look like if they mentioned anything.
 
itachisimp said:
Did they mention anything about when you'd hear back? I interviewed back in November and haven't heard back yet so was wondering what the timeline might look like if they mentioned anything.
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Seems fairly unpredictable. I heard back after about 8-9 weeks, but there are people here still waiting to hear back after September interviews.

I definitely feel your pain. Sucked waiting. Gonna just have to ride it out though, unfortunately.
 
I haven't been keeping track but any current UNC students have any recommendations on where to live? I'd prefer to live alone so I'm starting to look into how much I should budget.
 
Rusino said:
Seems fairly unpredictable. I heard back after about 8-9 weeks, but there are people here still waiting to hear back after September interviews.

I definitely feel your pain. Sucked waiting. Gonna just have to ride it out though, unfortunately.
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For those who interviewed in Sept & Oct and not have not heard back, is the general impression that there is something that did not wow adcom? (Yes, it is great to get an II.) Is adcom looking for better candidates to replace those interviewees? Or is adcom just behind? (likely a combination of both...)
 
This waiting process can be too much at times but I know we have to stick it out. I’ve only been waiting for a little under 4 weeks but it feels like forever. So my heart goes out to you all who have been waiting for longer than I have. We’ve got this people!
 
So how much weight does the interview hold for UNC? Like can a great interview get you accepted or can a great interview just keep you still in consideration. Just wondering. New to this so just wanted to ask a doubt. Anybody have any ideas?
 
FutureMed2021 said:
So how much weight does the interview hold for UNC? Like can a great interview get you accepted or can a great interview just keep you still in consideration. Just wondering. New to this so just wanted to ask a doubt. Anybody have any ideas?
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As little as any of us actually knows about admissions, some people who have done interviews/admissions at UNC previously said to me that once you get to the II phase there's not as much emphasis on GPA and MCAT anymore and more of a holistic review of your background, reasons for being interested in medicine and experiences/achievements and interview. Since UNC's post II acceptance rate is about 50% (give or take) I'd guess the interview is pretty heavy in the decision process but what do any of us really know 😗
 
FutureMed2021 said:
So how much weight does the interview hold for UNC? Like can a great interview get you accepted or can a great interview just keep you still in consideration. Just wondering. New to this so just wanted to ask a doubt. Anybody have any ideas?
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The general explanation given online for med school apps is that you are essentially "tiered" or "ranked" going into the interview versus other interviewing applicants and you can either move up or down depending on your interview eval. You can alternatively view it as a class where your final grade is a big percentage of the total and you only have your attendance, HW, and midterm grades set going into the final, so there is a lot of room to either improve our drop. But you can be in a better or worse position (i.e. you have a 70 on 60% of your grade or you have a 90).

The obvious disclaimer is that I just described my personal understanding of the process and I could be mistaken as I am just a humble applicant. But I feel pretty good about it tbh
 
FutureMed2021 said:
So how much weight does the interview hold for UNC? Like can a great interview get you accepted or can a great interview just keep you still in consideration. Just wondering. New to this so just wanted to ask a doubt. Anybody have any ideas?
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(Insert usual disclaimer that I'm not on adcomm) The interview is very important in the decision, though I can't comment on the validity of the ranking thing someone above said. Grades and MCAT can tell us if you can do sufficiently well in med school. Essays can tell us a bit about you, but everyone has a lot of room to edit how they appear in those essays. Its not until the interview that we really get an idea of who you are as a person, how you work with other people, and how you would fit in the environment we already have at UNC. I've said for a long time, that UNC doesn't necessarily select the best students (though their students do very well), but they do select the best people. We have a big emphasis on collaboration and teamwork, so we want people who are caring and can work well with others, and the hyper-competitive med school stereotype really doesn't exist here. These are things you just can't assess without meeting someone. I only know about evaluating the group interviews, but very few people stand out as red flags during that portion. Ultimately, we have a lot of people who could fit well here, but we can't take everyone, so they have to look for the people who stand out as great during the interview. I hope this helps!
 
alibon said:
(Insert usual disclaimer that I'm not on adcomm) The interview is very important in the decision, though I can't comment on the validity of the ranking thing someone above said. Grades and MCAT can tell us if you can do sufficiently well in med school. Essays can tell us a bit about you, but everyone has a lot of room to edit how they appear in those essays. Its not until the interview that we really get an idea of who you are as a person, how you work with other people, and how you would fit in the environment we already have at UNC. I've said for a long time, that UNC doesn't necessarily select the best students (though their students do very well), but they do select the best people. We have a big emphasis on collaboration and teamwork, so we want people who are caring and can work well with others, and the hyper-competitive med school stereotype really doesn't exist here. These are things you just can't assess without meeting someone. I only know about evaluating the group interviews, but very few people stand out as red flags during that portion. Ultimately, we have a lot of people who could fit well here, but we can't take everyone, so they have to look for the people who stand out as great during the interview. I hope this helps!
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Thank you for this insight! As someone who works well in teams, but am definitely on the quieter side, I'm a little scared about how the virtual group interviews will go! I.e. I'm afraid of accidentally cutting people off or not knowing how to speak up in a virtual setting. I know you can't give details, but are the group interviews set up in a way that more meek people won't be totally thrown off?

Also, is there any data out there on post-interview acceptance rates?
 
avocadosnumber said:
Thank you for this insight! As someone who works well in teams, but am definitely on the quieter side, I'm a little scared about how the virtual group interviews will go! I.e. I'm afraid of accidentally cutting people off or not knowing how to speak up in a virtual setting. I know you can't give details, but are the group interviews set up in a way that more meek people won't be totally thrown off?

Also, is there any data out there on post-interview acceptance rates?
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Like you said, I really can't comment on the group interviews, but I will give you the same advice I would if I weren't involved in the interviews. Medicine has become a very team based approach, trying to include and collaborate with everyone involved in a patient's care (physicians, nurses, pharmacists, social workers, etc.), but in most of those teams, the doctors act as the coordinator within the group, which means you're kind of going to have to learn to speak up and be more involved. And I think the interview is the perfect time to work on it. No one there knows you yet, so there's nothing to be nervous or self-conscious about. I can also be a really shy person sometimes, but honestly med school is where I started to speak up more, and its been great. I'm not saying to monopolize the conversation, but absolutely contribute and make sure your thoughts are heard.
 
FutureMed2021 said:
I think the post-interview acceptance rate is about 50 percent based on the previous threads but not sure so if anybody can confirm that will be nice. And being 50 percent I think that will be good right?
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Is the 50% for IS or same for OOS?
 
FutureMed2021 said:
I think 50% for IS and higher for OOS. Don't take my percentage seriously though until someone else can confirm
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According to the UNC website, we interview about 600 applicants for our class of 190, so its actually more like 32% post II.

FAQs | Office of Admissions

General Information Prerequisites and Requirements Applying Interviews International Applicants and Degrees North Carolina Residency Dual Degree Programs and Branch Campuses
www.med.unc.edu www.med.unc.edu
 
alibon said:
According to the UNC website, we interview about 600 applicants for our class of 190, so its actually more like 32% post II.

FAQs | Office of Admissions

General Information Prerequisites and Requirements Applying Interviews International Applicants and Degrees North Carolina Residency Dual Degree Programs and Branch Campuses
www.med.unc.edu www.med.unc.edu
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Would that be considered "good"/high relative to other programs?
 
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