2021-2022 Miami

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I assigned my letters of recommendation for Miami about a month ago and it is saying on the application portal that it has not been received. I just submitted my secondary application. Does it take some time for Miller to process the letters? I did submit them a while back.

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should we be giving brief descriptions for the "Please provide a chronological list with dates of your community service/volunteering. " question even though it doesnt mention it like the clinical volunteering one. Im confused because in the instructions it says put brief description for all chronological questions. what are yall doing for this one?
 
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How important is it to be near 500 words for each prompt?
 
Anyone know what they mean by citizenship number? I was born outside of the states but am a citizen. Can I put my SSN down?
I believe it’s the number of your naturalization certificate.
 
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Anyone know why it says "Do not enter lab courses in this prerequisites section"? What if the lab is separate for a class? How are they supposed to know we did the lab if they say they require a lab?
 
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Miami says they haven't gotten my LOR packet yet, but AMCAS has marked mine as submitted, and a lot of other schools have marked them as having been received, and my application complete. What should I do?
 
How long is everyone making the optional sports/fine arts, travel, and student organization essays? I can only think of writing 150 words for any of these without sounding repetitive or adding fluff. Any advice?
Recommend reading the last few posts on the 2020-2021 version of this page.
 
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SO I just saw that they require either 1 semester OR two quarters of biochemistry. However, I have only taken 1 quarter of biochem but it was for 2.70 semester hours. This was also the only biochem class actually offered for undergrads at my university so I am not exactly sure how else I was supposed to fill it. Am I totally screwed or is it still worth applying?
 
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SO I just saw that they require either 1 semester OR two quarters of biochemistry. However, I have only taken 1 quarter of biochem but it was for 2.70 semester hours. This was also the only biochem class actually offered for undergrads at my university so I am not exactly sure how else I was supposed to fill it. Am I totally screwed or is it still worth applying?
I think you should ask. They only require 1 semester of organic chemistry and your second semester of organic chemistry might be substitutable.
 
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Are people providing hours for the list of employment/volunteering or just the dates?
 
is it possible to apply to the MD program and MD/MPH program
 
@TelemarketingEnigma
Could I use something like how I (I'm Chinese American) was subjected to prejudice due to how the pandemic originated in China and how I tried to correct those notions? The 'How I correct an issue of systemic discrimination' essay is hard since I really don't much experience with these topics.

Also if I were to use Art as a hobby, would I be able to apply it to the optional Fine Arts essay or is the Fine Arts optional essay for things like winning an art contest or something similar?

Finally, Could I use my adversity essay (which is about my experience living in China) in the most memorable Travel optional essay?
 
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@TelemarketingEnigma
Could I use something like how I (I'm Chinese American) was subjected to prejudice due to how the pandemic originated in China and how I tried to correct those notions? The 'How I correct an issue of systemic discrimination' essay is hard since I really don't much experience with these topics.

Also if I were to use Art as a hobby, would I be able to apply it to the optional Fine Arts essay or is the Fine Arts optional essay for things like winning an art contest or something similar?

Finally, Could I use my adversity essay (which is about my experience living in China) in the most memorable Travel optional essay?
- I think that could definitely be a good option for that essay! All depends how you write it, but sounds like a good starting point to me.

- You don't need to have won awards to discuss things in the optional essays! If it's meaningful to you and gives a better picture of who you are as a person, go for it. I wouldn't include something you did like, one single time, but if it's a consistent hobby that you could have a conversation about in an interview then I think it's fair game.

- I would make sure that you have something new to say about it that you didn't already say in another essay. Remember that the optional essays are OPTIONAL. but if you have something new to say about it that wasn't covered elsewhere then it would be fine!
 
What should I write for the "describe your research" question. I do not have any research experience. Should I just talk about research papers I have written in my science classes? Or should I honestly say that I did not have the opportunity to conduct research in undergrad, but I am planning to make it a large part of my medical education (which I am)?
 
How are you guys answering "What have you done to help identify, address and correct an issue of systemic discrimination?"
 
How are you guys answering "What have you done to help identify, address and correct an issue of systemic discrimination?"
I didn’t have much to say I’ve done but I basically talked about my experiences with language barriers that motivated me to learn Spanish and how I want to use it as a doctor
 
Anyone think it would be a bad idea to talk about my travel to Israel for the most memorable travel experience given current events?
 
Anyone think it would be a bad idea to talk about my travel to Israel for the most memorable travel experience given current events?
Not if you explain what was so meaningful about it. Just try to stay away from anything political and taking sides!
 
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Make sure you all log back in after submitting your secondary and upload your photo.
 
How are you guys answering "What have you done to help identify, address and correct an issue of systemic discrimination?"
If you did some kind of food pantry volunteering, that would work since certain minority populations are lower income on avg. and therefore more likely to be affected by food insecurity.
 
Does anybody have the MD-PhD specific prompts?
You should solicit at least three letters of recommendation; two of these references should specifically address your research ability and potential for a career as a physician scientist. At least one of these must be from a mentor who has guided you during your most significant research experiences.

Letters of Recommendation (will be sent from the following individuals)

Narrative 1: Why are you applying specifically to UMMSM's MSTP (MD-PhD program)?

(Limit response to 500 words)

Narrative 2: Research Interests (Limit response to both sections to 500 words)

  • Briefly describe your areas of research interest (e.g., regulation of gene expression, cellular neuroscience, virology, cell biology, human genetics etc.).
  • What graduate training programs AND what faculty interest you at UMMSM? Medical Scientist Training Program (M.D./Ph.D.)
Narrative 3: Additional information (Limit response to 1500 words)

This section provides you with the opportunity to provide an additional statement or update information since submitting your primary application. This may include:

  • New information related to your professional goals and experiences. You can also discuss how important new factors/challenges (such as the COVID-19 pandemic, social and racial injustice issues) have had an impact on your life, professional/career goals and application.
  • Research update, scientific presentations, or new publications.
  • Required: If you are not a full-time undergraduate student at the time of application, briefly describe your activities since graduation and your plans for this year.
 
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For this question:

Please provide a chronological list with dates AND a brief description of your clinical experiences/shadowing.

Are you putting a description after each activity or all together at the end? I feel like they want the latter but the other is easier
 
For this question:

Please provide a chronological list with dates AND a brief description of your clinical experiences/shadowing.

Are you putting a description after each activity or all together at the end? I feel like they want the latter but the other is easier
After each activity. I think all together at the end might be too confusing.
 
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For this question:

Please provide a chronological list with dates AND a brief description of your clinical experiences/shadowing.

Are you putting a description after each activity or all together at the end? I feel like they want the latter but the other is easier
Can we copy/paste directly from our Primaries or are they expecting something different?
 
Can we copy/paste directly from our Primaries or are they expecting something different?
I'm gonna assume just put even brief summaries cuz they already have our primaries, and I assume they actually read the primaries activities hopefully? Does anyone know if it's ever come out that Miami focuses on the secondary activities rather than primary activities?

I think the secondary question is just to give the opportunity for students to list extra stuff on top of their original stuff if their 15 boxes were filled. Plus, to put another filter for applicants who don't feel like completing their long secondary.
 
If I volunteered in a hospital setting would you put that under clinical experiences/shadowing AND community service/volunteering? I assume they wouldn't want to read the same thing twice so I'm leaning towards just community service/volunteering.
 
For the chronological list of clinical experiences+shadowing, are y'all bulking the shadowing experiences and talking about them as a whole and how they influenced your path to medicine, or are you talking about each shadowing experience separately?
 
For the chronological list of clinical experiences+shadowing, are y'all bulking the shadowing experiences and talking about them as a whole and how they influenced your path to medicine, or are you talking about each shadowing experience separately?
Separate
 
Am I considered a re-applicant to this school if it was in my AMCAS school list but I never submitted a secondary last year?
 
Am I considered a re-applicant to this school if it was in my AMCAS school list but I never submitted a secondary last year?
You are a reapplicant to a medical school if you submitted a verified primary application to it in a previous cycle.
 
Where on the application can we upload our headshot photo? Can't seem to find the option to do so.
 
Where on the application can we upload our headshot photo? Can't seem to find the option to do so.
So I didn’t see it until I submitted the application and then when I checked my status it showed me that I had not uploaded the photo and then I was able to do it from there
 
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If I copied the shadowing experiences from my primary, would that be frowned upon? I had a resume-style shadowing entry for my AMCAS application. Any feedback is heavily appreciated :)
 
Can any incoming MS2s/ students that went through new curriculum msg me?
 
when do you think we will start getting scored?
 
Would it look tacky to talk about sports & fine arts in the 1st optional prompt? Both are very important to me and have been touched on in my primary application, D-1 athlete for one of my most meaningful and violinist for a normal activity. So far I've written further into my music background and think I could talk about sports more in the hobbies section, lmk what you guys think.
 
Hey all,

Due to scheduling issues I was unable to take biochem prior to application. I plan to take it spring of my senior year prior to matriculation but I realize that Miami requires you to indicate the prereq. I took two full sems of orgo and orgo lab.

Since I will take it prior to theoretical matriculation, should I still apply and fill out their secondary? Or would that be money in the meat grinder?
 
Sorry if I missed this but I took three quarters of ochem, can one of those quarters fulfill the second biochem class required?
 
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