2021-2022 Central Florida

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@REL -- thanks for the extremely detailed history detailing where we are. One question remains unanswered, perhaps because it is irrelevant, due to the existence of the consortium, or maybe because nothing has yet been done. But I was always under the impression that the Lake Nona Medical Center would be hosting residencies, what we lay pre-meds would refer to as home residencies, where we could network with PDs while doing research and clinical rotations while attending school on-site.

Is this never happening? Or has it not yet been decided? Or will it be happening sometime in the next 4 years?

While the affiliation model you describe might be the norm in Florida, my understanding that most med schools are, in fact, under common ownership with the entities that host their home residencies, with Harvard being the big exception among top programs. Mayo, Hopkins, Penn, Pitt, Chicago, Northwestern, Mt. Sinai, Stanford, UCSF, UCLA, Michigan, NYU, Cornell, Columbia, Jefferson, Cooper, Hackensack, Kaiser, Emory, Duke, etc., etc., etc.. Public, private -- doesn't seem to matter. Florida actually seems to be on an island by itself here! Am I misunderstanding something here?
Does the U and UF own their own hospitals?

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Does the U and UF own their own hospitals?
UM does, but their main teaching hospital is Jackson, which is actually owned by Miami-Dade County and is where a lot of UM's residency spots are at (internal med, peds, etc.) But the hospital system they own is called UHealth, which has Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, Sylvester Cancer Center, and their own hospital called UHealth Tower. I think during my interview the students said they rotate mostly at Jackson though?

Not sure about UF
 
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Does the U and UF own their own hospitals?
Does the U and UF own their own hospitals?
UF and Shands are affiliated. But of course in all affiliated situations, as described, they need each other so there is very little chance (or in most cases an alternative option) of a change in partner. In larger areas with multiple hospital systems there is more of a chance of multiple affiliations. I also have to make it clear that I am not an expert on residencies and affiliations other than what I have experienced over the many years of being a med school admissions and registrar guy.
 
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UF Health Shands refers to Shands Teaching Hospital and Clinics Inc., a private, not-for-profit 501(c)(3) corporation affiliated with UF. The Gainesville-based hospital system has a total of 1,162 licensed beds.
 
I interviewed at both (waitlist at UF and UCF) and the two seemed to have good but different vibes/cultures. UCF seemed more like a startup town with new hospital, biotech companies moving in. UF felt like a state flagship college campus with mega-hospitals nearby. I noticed that UF seems to really prefer UF undergrads whereas UCF seemed to prefer students from florida more generally (not just UCF)
 
I interviewed at both (waitlist at UF and UCF) and the two seemed to have good but different vibes/cultures. UCF seemed more like a startup town with new hospital, biotech companies moving in. UF felt like a state flagship college campus with mega-hospitals nearby. I noticed that UF seems to really prefer UF undergrads whereas UCF seemed to prefer students from florida more generally (not just UCF)
Yeah UF is notorious for picking mostly from their own undergrads :(
 
For those who have done the post interview virtual visit, how was it? Do you actively participate or pretty much just listen to presentations?
 
For those who have done the post interview virtual visit, how was it? Do you actively participate or pretty much just listen to presentations?
I remember it was pretty passive. Might have been a student q and a but it was a larger group.
 
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Says "as professional as possible", so I'd assume same attire as the interview
Thanks for the reply.

Was wondering where you saw this info? Was there an additional e-mail sent out about the virtual visit in addition to the initial interview invite email?
 
Thanks for the reply.

Was wondering where you saw this info? Was there an additional e-mail sent out about the virtual visit in addition to the initial interview invite email?
No problem. It was in the email saying thank you for RSVPing, which also included the presentation schedule.
 
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Officially rejected from my alma mater 🥰
Good luck to everyone who got in! To everyone still holding out for an A or an II it’s not over yet!
Keep your head up, we got this.
 
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I'm sorry to hear that! might i ask if this was pre or post interview?
 
I'm sorry to hear that! might i ask if this was pre or post interview?
I don't think they do post-II Rs until the very end. Post-II, I'm pretty sure everyone either gets an A or falls into one of six quadrants on the WL (upper or bottom half of either the top, middle or bottom third).
 
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Does anyone know if UCF is still sending out IIs? I remember seeing a post from REL that they complete IIs in the 2nd or 3rd week of February and I'm starting to lose hope 😫
 
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Yeah, I think they’re pretty much done with IIs sadly. I hope they still give feedback, I could really use it tbh.
 
Yeah, I think they’re pretty much done with IIs sadly. I hope they still give feedback, I could really use it tbh.
I do believe that we are on schedule to complete II offers by the end of this week.

As for Feedback, yes we will begin that in March. We have a Feedback Request Section on our website that you can refer to now. It identifies what we are looking for categorically. It is our hope that applicants and reapplicants can use this tool for your own benefit and identify your own areas to strengthen without having to submit it to us. Please visit www.med.ucf.edu/admissions, then select Admissions Requirements, then scroll down to the bottom item to the Feedback section. This is an extra service that we provide on a time-available basis beginning in March. We had about 300 requests last year and were able to respond to about 60% of them. In most cases the metrics were competitive but the areas of medical motivation (volunteering, shadowing/paid scribe,MA, etc, and community service were severely lacking).
 
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Pre-II R just now. I really thought I had a shot at UCF this year 😭 Best of luck to the final interviewees!
 
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Pre-II R today. Happy for the transparency this program espouses and wish the best for those applicants who were chosen to interview.
 
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Has anyone who interviewed recently gotten their committee review date?
I was expecting to find out my committee review date today based on what was said during the virtual visit this week, but I haven't heard anything yet!
 
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I was expecting to find out my committee review date today based on what was said during the virtual visit this week, but I haven't heard anything yet!
When they mentioned review dates, I suddenly remembered getting an email weeks ago. It was in my inbox, but I had missed it. Maybe take a look!
 
Letters of Intent (to enroll) can be helpful if you are being considered for admission before the admissions committee meets or if you end up on the waitlist and the committee is in your score area making a decision about two to select. (ie, you are in a WL group of 5 who have a final committee score of 60 - a letter of Intent can be used as the tie-breaker). Letters of Interest are not as valuable as a Letter of Intent.

Submitting a Letter of Intent is subject to professionalism standards. That means if you submit a Letter of Intent, get accepted, and then withdraw for another program, it could be discussed with that program. Of course you would already be enrolled in that other program, but it could be reported to them and then they could question your professionalism under that program's student code of professional standards.
Just wondering, were there ever cases where students were reported for submitting a letter of intent and then not attending that school?
 
For those that have been accepted, about how long after your interview did you get the call? Thanks in advance!
 
Just got the call an hour ago, my first acceptance!!!
 
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@REL are there any updates on when FA/Scholarships will be released?
It is my understanding that the Scholarship Committee will begin reviewing applications beginning next week. That is generally consistent with past years. They will review applications in a series of meetings and determine offers at each meeting. Award information is provided to the COM Financial Aid Office who will prepare and release information when instructed by the committee. It seemed to me that awards were released in batches starting toward the end of March.
 
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For those that have been accepted, about how long after your interview did you get the call? Thanks in advance!
mine was a month and a half but they should email you the exact date your application will be voted on so it won't be a surprise when you get called
 
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@REL Is it common for UCF to rank OOS low on the waitlist. I’m just trying to wrap my head around how it’s possible to be accepted to two higher ranked schools (not T20 or anything but think 40-75), one with a significant merit, but be ranked at the bottom of UCF’s list. This is really a blow to self esteem. How did 200+ applicants have better applications? Or was it probably just a terrible interview?
 
@REL Is it common for UCF to rank OOS low on the waitlist. I’m just trying to wrap my head around how it’s possible to be accepted to two higher ranked schools (not T20 or anything but think 40-75), one with a significant merit, but be ranked at the bottom of UCF’s list. This is really a blow to self esteem. How did 200+ applicants have better applications? Or was it probably just a terrible interview?
It's possible because every school does not look for the same things. Period.

How is it possible to receive an II at Harvard and not Columbia? An acceptance at Duke and not Northwestern? Or an acceptance at UF and not UCF? I dunno, but I've seen it happen each and every cycle. Welcome to med school admissions! Maybe an IA might even have something to do with it, once a file makes it to a full adcom for a vote? :cool:

If you are not kidding, you should know by now not to take any of it personally, or to allow it to impact your self esteem. It's a brutal, highly competitive process, and you are dealing with a significant, self inflicted wound. Why are you obsessing on it when you have far exceeded your initial goal, proven all the naysayers wrong, and even received a significant merit scholarship to boot?

The answer is very obvious and simple -- one adcom was impressed with you and your credentials and another, not so much. Just a little proof, since you apparently need it, that USNWR rankings aren't everything, and that, at least in some respects, a #86 school is more selective than a #40-75 one.

Beyond your ego and self esteem, why are you even posting, given your apparent worship of the rankings? Would you ever really choose to be full pay at #86 when #40-75 awarded you a significant merit scholarship? Or is it a foregone conclusion that a full ride at #86 would inevitably accompany the A? :cool:
 
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It’s very random this process and you will never know how it works. I interviewed at some very good schools that I would have not expected to get an invite from but also was rejected from schools where I was above the stats range.
TBH though, this can be easily explained by resource protection, and does not explain being placed in the bottom tier of a WL post-II.
 
@KnightDoc this wasn’t meant to come off as a slight against the school. UCF actually had a more impressive match list past few years than where I will likely be attending (2021 had neurosurgery, 4x ENT, 7x Ortho, urology, dermatology) which is very impressive given class size and will definitely move up rankings in coming years.
 
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@KnightDoc this wasn’t meant to come off as a slight against the school. UCF actually had a more impressive match list past few years than where I will likely be attending (2021 had neurosurgery, 4x ENT, 7x Ortho, urology, dermatology) which is very impressive given class size and will definitely move up rankings in coming years.
I know you a little by now, so I know you are pure of heart, but that is in fact exactly as it read (#40-75 gave me money, how is it possible that I am at the bottom of the interview pool at #86?).

And, I'm telling you, don't think like this. @REL in particular hates the rankings (for obvious reasons -- his school is newish and doesn't receive a fair shake based on the metrics they use).

Beyond that, you just know that different schools look at different things. You also know, based on all of your experience, that your interview skills are just fine. Like at other schools, people selecting you for an interview at UCF are not all the same as those voting afterwards, and things happen at these meetings.

You weren't shocked after not receiving As at T20-30 schools post-II, even when they have very high post-II acceptance rates, but your ego and self esteem are taking a hit at #86. This is only because you are placing way too much weight on an arbitrary number USNWR gives a school, as though doesn't UCF realize it is not Michigan, and how dare they treat you this way?

And, finally, you know exactly what the issue is with your application. You are just lucky every school doesn't have an @Goro voting at the meetings. If they did, you'd be staying on Wall Street. :cool: So please, stop obsessing on what you don't have, and let yourself be proud and enjoy what you do have.
 
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Yes that makes sense, but I was just very surprised by my alma mater because I was around their 75th percentile for MCAT and higher end for GPA and had very strong ties to the school.
Yeah, your alma mater I can't explain, especially with the ties and LORs. OTOH, you have some great schools to choose from, so it's really going to be their loss, and you are going to be fine.
 
:cool: So please, stop obsessing on what you don't have, and let yourself be proud and enjoy what you do have.
I actually really like this. Been depressed with what I don't have but I should really just focus on what I've got. Thanks!! This helps.
 
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I actually really like this. Been depressed with what I don't have but I should really just focus on what I've got. Thanks!! This helps.
Believe me, it is far easier for me to say it to others than to follow it myself, so your comment is very much appreciated!

Other than the rock stars choosing between Harvard and Stanford, we are ALL experiencing it to one degree or another, and no one more than those with no As or no IIs. So, my heart goes out to them constantly, as I continue to obsess on where I am going to end up, and what I could have done better this cycle.
 
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