2021-2022 Albany

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SpinShady said:
Hi, i am a current MS1.

I felt the same way about prosection vs dissection before starting school and now that Im almost through my first year I can say with confidence that prosections have been a blessing!
You go in there and all the important structures are tagged for you. You dont have to spend 6 hours a week trying to dissect on your own. Ive also heard from upperclassmen who did their own dissections that it was always very time consuming and dependent on how much of a good job the other group assigned to the cadaver did. Meaning alot of times they had to first finish dissecting what the other group didn't and then start on their part. Prosections enable you to spend that time studying, doing research, seeing friends etc. if you REALLY want to dissect your own I believe there is an opportunity for that during the summer.

As for grading I know there are some people who would rather switch to strict P/F system but that would mean that anyone who gets below 70% would not pass. With the current system we go +/- 1.5 SD from the mean. Meaning if the class average was low you can get below 70% and still pass because the exam must have been hard for everyone. It does suck to have students who got +1.5 and -1.5 all get the same grade of Good but at the end of the day its just a bigger safety net for those struggling with a certain theme. I've also come to realize that even if you do outstanding in one theme it doesn't mean you'll do as well in another because they all bring their own unique challenges so sometimes having that extra safety net is not all that bad.

Basically, dont let these two things dissuade you from attending Albany med.
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Thank you so much for this! I really appreciate it! Part of the reason I was worried about the grading was for (albeit a bit premature) residency apps. My thought was what if most of the class got Excellent and I just got Good or something, wouldn’t that look worse than if we all just Passed? Do you have any insight on that down the line?
 
throwaway89372631 said:
Thank you so much for this! I really appreciate it! Part of the reason I was worried about the grading was for (albeit a bit premature) residency apps. My thought was what if most of the class got Excellent and I just got Good or something, wouldn’t that look worse than if we all just Passed? Do you have any insight on that down the line?
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95% of class gets “Good” which is a pass!
Only like a handful of people get excellent. As long as you are passing all of your classes you will be good. No need to stress about not getting an excellent
 
rizoni112 said:
How will it be different? Also, do you have insight on how non true P/F will affect residency apps?
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I’m sorry I don’t have the details on the new curriculum. I just know that they are working on changes. Possibly combining learning normal and abnormal all together rather than year 1 all normal and year 2 abnormal but don’t quote me on this
 
SpinShady said:
95% of class gets “Good” which is a pass!
Only like a handful of people get excellent. As long as you are passing all of your classes you will be good. No need to stress about not getting an excellent
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Thank you! My last question for you would be do you find it to be very collaborative with the grading situation?? I’m really hoping to go to a place where everyone tries to work together to succeed. And most people talk about how not having pass/fail means you’ll be studying way harder and not able to collaborate as much. Have you been able to find “your people”, so to speak? Thanks again for answering my questions!
 
throwaway89372631 said:
Thank you! My last question for you would be do you find it to be very collaborative with the grading situation?? I’m really hoping to go to a place where everyone tries to work together to succeed. And most people talk about how not having pass/fail means you’ll be studying way harder and not able to collaborate as much. Have you been able to find “your people”, so to speak? Thanks again for answering my questions!
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Even though the grading system is not a true P/F the whole class and even upperclassmen share resources. We are really not competitive here. Sure there might be one or two gunners but for the most part we all know we need to just Pass the first two years to do well and we help each other do that. I've never encountered anyone who isn't willing to help because they are trying to get a high pass and be better than you.
 
hi, can someone break down albany's grading system for me? I am having a tough time understanding it. Thanks!
 
tally29 said:
hi, can someone break down albany's grading system for me? I am having a tough time understanding it. Thanks!
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This is how it works currently. Note that it might change to regular P/F for the incoming class.

Lets say the class average on an exam was 80% and that one standard deviation was 8%
then grades would be distributed as following

  • High Excellence - (+)2.0 SD and above = 80+ 16= 96% on the exam and above
  • Excellent- (+)1.5 to (+)2.0 SD = 80+12 to 80+16 = 92% to 96%
  • Good - (-)1.5 to (+) 1.5 SD= 80-12 to 80+12 = 68% to 92% (this is the range that over 90% of class falls within)
  • M - (-)2.0 to (-)1.5 SD= 64% to 68%
  • U - below (-)2.0 SD = below 64%
 
SpinShady said:
This is how it works currently. Note that it might change to regular P/F for the incoming class.

Lets say the class average on an exam was 80% and that one standard deviation was 8%
then grades would be distributed as following

  • High Excellence - (+)2.0 SD and above = 80+ 16= 96% on the exam and above
  • Excellent- (+)1.5 to (+)2.0 SD = 80+12 to 80+16 = 92% to 96%
  • Good - (-)1.5 to (+) 1.5 SD= 80-12 to 80+12 = 68% to 92% (this is the range that over 90% of class falls within)
  • M - (-)2.0 to (-)1.5 SD= 64% to 68%
  • U - below (-)2.0 SD = below 64%
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Thank you so much for clarifying. So essentially it is kind of like p/f except the top 10% get more recognized?
 
Akrylix said:
Same here lol, can’t imagine the terror I would’ve felt if one of the interviewers randomly just asked me to stand up or I had to run and grab something 😂
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Omg at another school the interviewer asked me to get my dog because she wanted to meet him and before I could process it I said “okay let me just move my camera up I’m not wearing any pants” 😅😅😅 we both laughed and she made a joke about how she was wearing jeans so it was fine.
 
lela013 said:
Omg at another school the interviewer asked me to get my dog because she wanted to meet him and before I could process it I said “okay let me just move my camera up I’m not wearing any pants” 😅😅😅 we both laughed and she made a joke about how she was wearing jeans so it was fine.
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If I were the interviewer that would be a straight admit for you hahahaha
 
arnim said:
Pajama pants for me, I gaslit myself into thinking if I was more comfortable then I would do better during the interview
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See for me i still wore dress pants but I definitely had on the fuzziest slippers I owned so at least my feet would be warm even if my soul felt like it was dying.
 
Hi there - if there was anyone at the info session today that happened to have captured the schedule for our curriculum I'd love to get ahold of it before they post the videos next week!
 
medschoolapplicantanon said:
haven't received an ii & no update... do they do silent rejections?
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Zero communication by April from schools that confirmed their last II's went out in early March — I'm calling that a silent rejection. Tbh if Albany sends me an R in June I'm just gonna be annoyed lol. For $120, I expect a timely R thankyouverymuch!
 
tally29 said:
hi, can someone break down albany's grading system for me? I am having a tough time understanding it. Thanks!
Click to expand...
In the second look the other day, I think they said they're changing the grading to just P/F/High pass
 
Hey everyone! I am a current MS1 here at AMC and had a few incoming students reach out to me regarding a Facebook page- there has been one since December, so if you've been accepted please join!! People will post housing opportunities, etc. and it will be a good way to start meeting classmates. Albany Med Class of 2026
 
bananamacaroon said:
Hello🙂 if we are taken off the waitlist, are we notified by phone or email?
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Last year, people who got off the waitlist late got called because at that point they need to make sure they fill their class but people who got off around now got emailed. Also, last year people reported having gotten the background check email before getting their acceptance email, so if you get a background check email first, you can most likely assume you've been accepted! Although I saw people saying that they were really disappointed because they didn't like how that's how they were notified, so maybe AMC corrected it this year.

I read all of last year's thread so you guys don't have to
 
for people interviewed on March 4th, did you hear back anything?
 
ms2731 said:
They were done with interviews many weeks ago
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Yeah the admissions office said the last interview date was 3/23 I believe, so I assume the last II's went out well before that.

I'm not sure why they haven't sent us the R's, I know materially it doesn't matter at all but for some reason I find it quite annoying haha
 
Big fat Pre-II R just now. Complete late July, OOS but with ties to NY.
 
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