2020-2021 UNC - Chapel Hill

BU Medical Sciences
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alibon said:
So two things to consider here. First, match registrants increased by like 6% this year according to an article I read, which caused the nationwide match rate to drop 2% from last year. Additionally, I've asked about our match rate before and my advisor said really the only people at UNC who don't match are applying to programs they really aren't qualified for or likely to get into (despite their advisor telling them its not a realistic goal).
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that make sense ! Thanks for the info!
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Have people been contacted for the financial package? I have submitted FAFSA and the scholarship form but not CSS.
 
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Jhong_18 said:
Have people been contacted for the financial package? I have submitted FAFSA and the scholarship form but not CSS.
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I emailed them a few days ago about financial aid and they said "students should begin to receive a financial aid packet sometime in April"
 
MS4 here. regarding the match rate of 96%, that includes students who initially didn't match but then successfully SOAP'd. Admittedly this is not a great number. that being said we have students matching into competitive specialities at top programs across the country. when choosing a med school i would worry less about match rate and more about whether all specialities are well represented by the faculty. a lot of us think we know what we want to do when we enter med school but end up changing our minds during clinical rotations. it will be important for you have faculty advocates in that specialty when you eventually apply for residency
 
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This is not the proper place to ask this but I am just wondering if any of you have opinions about it-

It seems like the majority of UNC graduates match into residencies in NC. Is this because most students are IS and prefer to stay there? Or is this because of the much worse option- it's difficult for UNC students to match OOS?
 
ChonkySkyBison said:
This is not the proper place to ask this but I am just wondering if any of you have opinions about it-

It seems like the majority of UNC graduates match into residencies in NC. Is this because most students are IS and prefer to stay there? Or is this because of the much worse option- it's difficult for UNC students to match OOS?
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It's a fair question. n=1 but most of the people I know who matched in NC ranked it number 1 because they wanted to stay (for personal and family reasons, etc.). there is also selection bias because part of UNC's mission is to train physicians who will care for the population of North Carolina. They try to accomplish this in several ways including admitting mostly in-state students and providing incentives to stay in NC (the FIRST program, for example). There is also a very supportive culture for students pursuing primary care specialities, in contrast to places like Harvard which don't even have a Department of Family Medicine. But at the end of the day, i think that people matching in NC choose to do it because it aligns with their goals not because they don't have other options.
 
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medunc123 said:
It's a fair question. n=1 but most of the people I know who matched in NC ranked it number 1 because they wanted to stay (for personal and family reasons, etc.). there is also selection bias because part of UNC's mission is to train physicians who will care for the population of North Carolina. They try to accomplish this in several ways including admitting mostly in-state students and providing incentives to stay in NC (the FIRST program, for example). There is also a very supportive culture for students pursuing primary care specialities, in contrast to places like Harvard which don't even have a Department of Family Medicine. But at the end of the day, i think that people matching in NC choose to do it because it aligns with their goals not because they don't have other options.
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Thank you so much for your insight! I see you're an MS4 so if you don't mind, it would also be nice to hear your opinion on if there are opportunities for students to build competitive apps for residency outside of primary care, and even the more competitive specialties. I know med school is what you make it, but speaking in terms of accessibility to mentors/research pubs opportunities/etc.

This is just something that lingers in my mind since UNC seems to be very primary care focused. I wonder if the students who do choose to go into competitive residencies fair well when matching/ have a good match rate from UNC.
 
ChonkySkyBison said:
Thank you so much for your insight! I see you're an MS4 so if you don't mind, it would also be nice to hear your opinion on if there are opportunities for students to build competitive apps for residency outside of primary care, and even the more competitive specialties. I know med school is what you make it, but speaking in terms of accessibility to mentors/research pubs opportunities/etc.

This is just something that lingers in my mind since UNC seems to be very primary care focused. I wonder if the students who do choose to go into competitive residencies fair well when matching/ have a good match rate from UNC.
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The biggest strength of UNC in my opinion is that it is an academic powerhouse in just about every subspecialty. There are few other public institutions I know of that are like this. UW, UCSF, and Michigan are the main ones off the top of my head. Whatever field you end up going into, you are likely to find an expert in that area at UNC. While most top private medical schools have this, few also have a robust reputation in primary care and relatively low cost of tuition. This combination is what sets UNC apart in my mind
 
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medunc123 said:
The biggest strength of UNC in my opinion is that it is an academic powerhouse in just about every subspecialty. There are few other public institutions I know of that are like this. UW, UCSF, and Michigan are the main ones off the top of my head. Whatever field you end up going into, you are likely to find an expert in that area at UNC. While most top private medical schools have this, few also have a robust reputation in primary care and relatively low cost of tuition. This combination is what sets UNC apart in my mind
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I am an OOSer coming from Umich so that is especially reassuring to hear! It is so hard to gauge a school when you're unfamiliar with it and coming from 600 miles away! Thanks for your insight!
 
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ChonkySkyBison said:
Thank you so much for your insight! I see you're an MS4 so if you don't mind, it would also be nice to hear your opinion on if there are opportunities for students to build competitive apps for residency outside of primary care, and even the more competitive specialties. I know med school is what you make it, but speaking in terms of accessibility to mentors/research pubs opportunities/etc.

This is just something that lingers in my mind since UNC seems to be very primary care focused. I wonder if the students who do choose to go into competitive residencies fair well when matching/ have a good match rate from UNC.
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I'm not a current student yet but I just wanted to add my 2 cents. On interview day they told us (without anyone having to ask, they just brought it up) that although UNC is the #1 PC med school, they support students in whatever specialty they want to pursue. They assured us that we shouldn't feel pressured to go into PC. I personally know a neurosurgeon who graduated from UNC SOM. I've also been tracking their match lists for the past few years and they always have matches in competitive specialties like plastics, neurosurgery, and ortho. They have LOTSSSS of NIH funding too so you wouldn't have to worry about research opportunities either.
 
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medunc123 said:
It's a fair question. n=1 but most of the people I know who matched in NC ranked it number 1 because they wanted to stay (for personal and family reasons, etc.). there is also selection bias because part of UNC's mission is to train physicians who will care for the population of North Carolina. They try to accomplish this in several ways including admitting mostly in-state students and providing incentives to stay in NC (the FIRST program, for example). There is also a very supportive culture for students pursuing primary care specialities, in contrast to places like Harvard which don't even have a Department of Family Medicine. But at the end of the day, i think that people matching in NC choose to do it because it aligns with their goals not because they don't have other options.
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I would also add that it’s not abnormal for schools to match into their home state/home institution even for privates. USC matched the vast majority of its students into California residencies even though they’re private and Vanderbilt had a significant proportion of students stay there from match. That’s a small sample size just bc those are two schools I’ve also been considering but I think it’s partly indicative of the fact that there are a lot of good home programs at these schools and people really want to stay
 
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ChonkySkyBison said:
Thank you so much for your insight! I see you're an MS4 so if you don't mind, it would also be nice to hear your opinion on if there are opportunities for students to build competitive apps for residency outside of primary care, and even the more competitive specialties. I know med school is what you make it, but speaking in terms of accessibility to mentors/research pubs opportunities/etc.

This is just something that lingers in my mind since UNC seems to be very primary care focused. I wonder if the students who do choose to go into competitive residencies fair well when matching/ have a good match rate from UNC.
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There are so many opportunities, you can definitely build a solid resume for anything you want to go into. Research opportunities are everywhere and funding is relatively easy to get, no matter what specialty you're interested in (I have classmates doing research in ENT, plastics, neurosurgery, etc). There are plenty of community service opportunities if you're interested in that (oldest student-run free clinic in the country :) That's part of why I picked UNC, because I knew I could go anywhere from here (specialty-wise, but also I am planning on leaving NC for residency)
 
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EmmaculateMD said:
Admissions never got back to my emails, so I ended up having to attend their virtual office hours. Turns out they just hadn't clicked one button to send my actual decision through. They did it then and there. R as anticipated but I'm glad to finally know for sure! Just thought I would share in case they don't get it together and someone else finds themselves in this situation in the future.
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You are very kind and thoughtful to report this back and share this. Hope you land something at the end of all this.
 
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Does anyone know if we were supposed to receive a link for Second Look? I know it’s on Attendify but I don’t remember how to access it on my computer.
 
itachisimp said:
Does anybody have any insight into whether a faculty member from the university advocating for you if you're on waitlist impacts your chances of being accepted at all?
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I don't have any objective insight but I imagine it would help immensely, especially if that faculty member is well known among people on the AdCom.
 
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Declined my spot at UNC today. Hopefully one of you deserving folks gets it. What a crazy cycle.
 
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EnEyeAitch said:
Why was UNC's match rate 96% this year? Did they not include SOAP in their Match percentage? 96% is pretty concerning to me
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How are y'all finding school-specific match rates? Is there like a website or a spreadsheet or something? Please excuse my ignorance lol
 
KomodoHype said:
How are y'all finding school-specific match rates? Is there like a website or a spreadsheet or something? Please excuse my ignorance lol
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I usually just find it on each schools website. Usually googling "XYZ SOM match list 2021" will pull it up. There is also a SDN forum on the 2021 match list for all schools here.
 
Has anybody received financial aid information from this school?
 
PremedNC said:
Any movement from the waitlist?
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I saw someone mentioned about seeing Reddit updates - where is that found? FB is at 202 members... doesn't look like any movement. The WL group in SDN got bigger too.
 
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MAGABLM said:
I saw someone mentioned about seeing Reddit updates - where is that found? FB is at 202 members... doesn't look like any movement. The WL group in SDN got bigger too.
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Hmm any idea how many of those are upcoming students vs adcom/current students?
 
Hello! I just wanted to pop in to say that there are a lot of us in the accepted students GroupMe who are not fully committed to UNC and are waiting for their FA to be released. So don't toss out the idea of WL movement just yet :) Some students have heard back about FA but a lot of us have not
 
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ChonkySkyBison said:
Hello! I just wanted to pop in to say that there are a lot of us in the accepted students GroupMe who are not fully committed to UNC and are waiting for their FA to be released. So don't toss out the idea of WL movement just yet :) Some students have heard back about FA but a lot of us have not
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WOW - thanks for the insider info!!!
 
Yeah it's kind of a crazy mess. Students are wondering if we will even be able to receive a package before the April 30th deadline
 
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Jhong_18 said:
Yeah it's kind of a crazy mess. Students are wondering if we will even be able to receive a package before the April 30th deadline
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I thought the scholarships already came out (someone said earlier.) Are folks expecting $$$ from other sources or is the student loan the expected route?
 
MAGABLM said:
I thought the scholarships already came out (someone said earlier.) Are folks expecting $$$ from other sources or is the student loan the expected route?
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I would say some have heard a while back about scholarships and some are getting news about theirs like three days ago. So it's definitely a slow process. In terms of the financial aid package, I think half of the people got it and half are waiting (this is just a rough estimated though)
 
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Jhong_18 said:
I would say some have heard a while back about scholarships and some are getting news about theirs like three days ago. So it's definitely a slow process. In terms of the financial aid package, I think half of the people got it and half are waiting (this is just a rough estimated though)
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Thanks for sharing!! Just a few questions:

1) The half that is waiting - isn't the default expectation = pay full price?

2) Does UNC enforce you and others to commit by 4/30?

3) Is the slow process due to students waiting for "hand me down" scholarships (i.e. the winner has to turn down the award and then it gets passed down)?
 
MAGABLM said:
Thanks for sharing!! Just a few questions:

1) The half that is waiting - isn't the default expectation = pay full price?

2) Does UNC enforce you and others to commit by 4/30?

3) Is the slow process due to students waiting for "hand me down" scholarships (i.e. the winner has to turn down the award and then it gets passed down)?
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Hi, I know you weren't asking me but I am in this situation so I can speak on it based on my experience!

1) The default is probably to go to another school. For example, if offered no scholarship to UNC I will choose another school that offered me one.
2) Not sure about this one
3) No, individual scholarships are still going out, not all scholarships have been exhausted. They are just taking their sweet time.
 
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ChonkySkyBison said:
Hi, I know you weren't asking me but I am in this situation so I can speak on it based on my experience!

1) The default is probably to go to another school. For example, if offered no scholarship to UNC I will choose another school that offered me one.
2) Not sure about this one
3) No, individual scholarships are still going out, not all scholarships have been exhausted. They are just taking their sweet time.
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Thank you for chiming in!!! Really appreciated!

In response to #1, you said that you will choose another school with scholarship. Generally speaking, are you find that many students are in your situation? Can I assume most accepted students are in state? I always thought 90% (or some high percentage) of the students pay sticker price...
 
MAGABLM said:
Thank you for chiming in!!! Really appreciated!

In response to #1, you said that you will choose another school with scholarship. Generally speaking, are you find that many students are in your situation? Can I assume most accepted students are in state? I always thought 90% (or some high percentage) of the students pay sticker price...
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I am not quite sure if there are many others who are in my situation in terms of being offered a scholarship at another place and waiting on UNC. But there are quite a few people with multiple acceptances. For example, there was a separate GroupMe made for applicants to discuss how they are feeling towards UNC vs their other schools, and that has 30 or so people in it. I don't know specifically how many would choose other schools if not given a scholarship though or how many of those 30 ish have since decided to committ to UNC since the groupme's creation.
 
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ChonkySkyBison said:
I am not quite sure if there are many others who are in my situation in terms of being offered a scholarship at another place and waiting on UNC. But there are quite a few people with multiple acceptances. For example, there was a separate GroupMe made for applicants to discuss how they are feeling towards UNC vs their other schools, and that has 30 or so people in it. I don't know specifically how many would choose other schools if not given a scholarship though or how many of those 30 ish have since decided to committ to UNC since the groupme's creation.
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Thanks for your input. Do you agree that SDN groupme does not include everyone accepted so there are many that are not in the group that can also consider another school right? I'm not really sure how many people are in the group.
 
FutureMed2021 said:
Thanks for your input. Do you agree that SDN groupme does not include everyone accepted so there are many that are not in the group that can also consider another school right? I'm not really sure how many people are in the group.
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The GroupMe was put in the fb group so it has the majority of accepted students in it, there’s around 160 people in it
 
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FB is still at 203... I'd be interested to see how quickly people will leave in the coming weeks.
 
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