2023-2024 Drexel Pathway to Medical Application Cycle (DPMS)

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cmcxo said:
Hi future docs ❤️

I'm a first-year medical student, teaching Assistant and DPMS alum (class 22'). If you've read through the previous threads, you may have seen my profile and followed my journey here hehe. I wanted to chime in and answer/comment on some of the common concerns or questions. 🙂
  • I am not connected to admissions by any means, so I am only speaking on behalf of my experience as an applicant & working with this year's current cohort as they went through it as well.

  • Interview invites are completely random. If you submitted an application in January vs. the day before the application closed, you are equally still in the running to get an interview invite. Do not get discouraged by the updates on this forum - interviews will go on until June.

  • The same idea applies to acceptances - even if you interview early in the cycle, does NOT mean that you will hear back early either. Do not count yourself out until you receive an actual rejection email. Literally, anything can happen.

  • I understand the timeline of these events is not really ideal as you try to plan for the next steps (I.e moving to a new state, deciding to go with a different program, applying to medical school, etc...). But you must remain patient through this process, which is truly the most difficult part. Part of the complexity of this process is that although DPMS is a graduate school program, it is technically still maneuvered by the College of Medicine. So a lot of times, the ease of how things move along for the program depends heavily on the COM and where they are on THEIR application/interview cycle for the MD program.

  • I think the application cycle has closed now, so that means that there are no longer accepting supporting documents or test scores. For example, if you submitted your application in March with an MCAT score of 490 and re-took your MCAT that same month but won't be receiving the scores until the end of April, that NEW score will not be considered because it is past the deadline. If you are offered an interview and ultimately accepted, you will deal with your March score by then.

  • For those who are curious about the stats of the people who have been part of the first wave of interviews - I cannot stress enough that the importance of those numbers is very person dependent! DPMS brings students in with GPA/MCAT combinations of all kinds. (low/low, high/high, low/high, high/low)!! Although these numbers are important factors to help gauge where you stand academically, they are not everything. The way someone frames and delivers their story, recommendation letters, and other experiences is a huge component of this process. (In MY opinion, the most important!)

  • INTERVIEWS - You must remember that an interview goes both ways. At this point, you need to realize they've liked everything you have presented. The next step is the formality of connecting a person to an application. A big part of DPMS is the culture students bring to the program - i.e., the kind of student that aligns with their values and mission. Equally important, as much as the program wants to make sure you are a fit for them, you also need to ensure the program is a FIT for YOU! [DPMS is an amazing opportunity, but you need to be realistic if this will be amazing for you. This fast-paced, INTENSE program requires you to be 10000% dedicated to it. You will be a full-time DPMSer. Admin can see pretty things on your application, but only you know if you are ready to be committed to this. This is especially important for future Track 1 students - think about having to study for MCAT while having to keep up with graduate-level academics. It's doable (a bunch of us have done it, me included 🙂 ), but it is extremely challenging and will require even more of you. Ofc, the lower your MCAT score is coming into DPMS, the more work you will have to do to make up for that.] Do your research, connect with past students, and come prepared to ask questions about the things that matter to you! The interview is very important, but this shouldn't be stressful - this is the easy part now - showcase yourself, be confident in your experiences/story, and just be yourself. That's ALL.

  • CASPer - just schedule one as soon as you can. If you are interviewing soon and won't be able to squeeze it in beforehand, It should be fine if it's after your interview. If you are waiting for an interview, I suggest you take it anyway so you can be prepared. The scores take a couple of weeks to be sent & you don't actually receive your score for this; they get sent directly to the school. I HIGHLY recommend taking the practice test.

  • Want to emphasize this point because I've been in touch with some people that weren't fully aware of this: If you decide to apply to DPMS, by default, you are interested in attending Drexel Univ College of Medicine. If you are accepted into the program and confirm attendance, you are tied to a contract with Drexel and are NOT allowed to submit an AMCAS application to any other school. If you ultimately don't meet contract (3.2 GPA, 499 min 123 each section) you can still graduate with a master's degree you just wouldn't be starting medical school. You would need to wait until the following application cycle to apply to medical school since you signed a contract opting out of applying to medical school for that year.

  • Lastly, I need you all to take care of yourselves through this journey! I also was tied to this platform and lost plenty of sleep waiting for people to post updates. What's meant to be for you will always be there. Be confident and stay focused. Continue doing the things that matter to you and your growth as a future medical student (whatever that looks like for you). Do not pause everything in your life as you wait for an interview invite or acceptance. Things may come when you least expect them.

  • Wishing you all the best of luck on this journey. It's long and stressful but absolutely worth it. Do not lose sight of your goals REGARDLESS of what happens between now and the next couple of weeks. Do not let imposter syndrome win, you are worthy of being in this field. 💕


    XOXOXOXO
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Thank you so much for your well-detailed insight. How important is the CasPer test? I took one on May 4th, and I am afraid I didn't do that well.
 
CarlosTheDwarf said:
Lasted roughly 30 minutes and they said decisions range from mid/end of May to the first week of June (ideally)
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What time did your interview start? It says it begins at 8:30 am Eastern time. I am in California, which means 5:30 am here. If it is 30 minutes, please explain how your interview day started.
 
Seanluis said:
What time did your interview start? It says it begins at 8:30 am Eastern time. I am in California, which means 5:30 am here. If it is 30 minutes, please explain how your interview day started.
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the day before the interview you will receive a schedule for the day. For me it started with a short introduction then I had my interview 1.5 hours later. Then came the Q&As with staff and students. I'm in California too so it was really early lol but the whole day was pretty relaxed
 
CarlosTheDwarf said:
the day before the interview you will receive a schedule for the day. For me it started with a short introduction then I had my interview 1.5 hours later. Then came the Q&As with staff and students. I'm in California too so it was really early lol but the whole day was pretty relaxed
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Thank you.
 
Seanluis said:
I submitted mine on the 14th and heard back on May 1st. My interview is on the 10th.
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Congrats bro!

I'm starting to wonder if this past week was actually the final week for interview invites. Just looking at threads from previous years it seems there's about 3 or so weeks of invites. I think people in here were getting invites before the April 14th deadline too.

Are any current/former DPMS students around? It's tough to get a read on things. I know from previous years if you email admissions you'll get the same canned response until you're rejected.
 
MyKnee Hurting said:
Congrats bro!

I'm starting to wonder if this past week was actually the final week for interview invites. Just looking at threads from previous years it seems there's about 3 or so weeks of invites. I think people in here were getting invites before the April 14th deadline too.

Are any current/former DPMS students around? It's tough to get a read on things. I know from previous years if you email admissions you'll get the same canned response until you're rejected.
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According to the website, the interview invitation is extended until the end of May, and offers of admission from May through mid-June.
 
MyKnee Hurting said:
Congrats bro!

I'm starting to wonder if this past week was actually the final week for interview invites. Just looking at threads from previous years it seems there's about 3 or so weeks of invites. I think people in here were getting invites before the April 14th deadline too.

Are any current/former DPMS students around? It's tough to get a read on things. I know from previous years if you email admissions you'll get the same canned response until you're rejected.
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I'm speculating that interview invites are sent out with dates for the upcoming week. So I'm assuming (and hoping lol) that there will be a possible final wave of interview invites this upcoming week for interviews the following week.

I emailed asking about interview invites, but I haven't gotten a response lol. I'm fully expecting a "you will hear back soon about the status of your application"...
 
Hi everyone! I'm a current TA, MS1 & alum (but NOT part of admissions lol) for those who didn't see my previous messages. 😊
  • Interviews for this cycle will go on until the last week of May. So if you haven't received an invite yet, there is still a chance.

  • Someone mentioned that they've been lacking communication - commencement is this week for both the MS4s and Graduate students, so I imagine they've been busy with that. There are interviews taking place this week, so things are moving, just not necessarily with the people active on this thread. All interviews have been held on Mondays and Wednesdays. So if anyone who has interviewed already wants to chime in on how far in advance you received an interview invite, that may help others gauge where they stand each week.

  • I've received a lot of questions regarding the importance of Casper - in my opinion, I don't think it can make or break your application. It is just another tool to help them know who you are. But of course, trying to do well on it should be a priority. I think it's one of those things where if you have similar applicants in terms of GPA/MCAT/Story etc... but have drastic Casper scores, I would assume they'd go with the person with the better score. Again, this is just my opinion in terms of how I think this goes. I personally don't know anyone who has ever gotten feedback on how their Casper test went. I can confidently say it is likely not the most important thing on your application, so I wouldn't dwell on it too much. However, I understand that you may be stressed if you feel that you didn't perform as well as you wanted. Overall, the test does require certain skills in order to guarantee a decent score (i.e. being a skilled typer), so if this was not in your favor, then you likely struggled - which is absolutely not representative of your character (which is obviously what they're trying to gauge).

  • For anyone that is still debating if they should take it or not, I advise that you do because you'll never know when you'll be invited to interview. It is best to be prepared. It's unfortunate that a lot of this process requires fees but there's almost no way around it 🙁

  • There typically have been two waves of acceptances; I anticipate the first one being mid to end of May and will likely include the people that have interviewed earlier, but not necessarily. And the last one will for sure be in June. If you interviewed early and do not get an acceptance during the 'first wave,' you're still safe. If you don't receive an acceptance after the 2nd wave, you may have made it to the waitlist; not everyone is automatically added to the waitlist, and you will receive an email letting you know where you stand. If you don't receive anything at all, you have been rejected (not sure if the changes would show up on your portal or if there's a formal email). There were a handful of people in the past cycles who rejected their acceptances due to other circumstances, so those spots would then be offered to people on the waitlist. I know a few that made it off the waitlist and successfully started the program (which seems to happen every year), even with the timeline being very, very tight (I'm talking just a couple of days before the program starts).

    In conclusion: for anyone that has interviewed already: anything can happen between now and late June (the first day of DPMS is 6/26). For anyone that is still waiting for an interview: if you haven't received one by May 20thish, then you can likely start executing other plans/programs, etc.
 
If i applied to DUCOM regular cycle, and sent them my casper scores, do i need to send casper scores directly to dpms again in this cycle? or do they already have my scores? i am so confused
 
crayizzle said:
If i applied to DUCOM regular cycle, and sent them my casper scores, do i need to send casper scores directly to dpms again in this cycle? or do they already have my scores? i am so confused
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Same! I’m wondering if I’m supposed to retake casper but for this cycle since the one I applied with to Drexel was taken last year
 
is anyone doing either DPMS or other drexel grad programs looking for housing? Please hmu if you are!
 
Did anyone get a confirmation of their interview after emailing the person scheduling them?
 
meb23 said:
Congrats!! Anyone wanna share stats? Track I or track II if you don't mind me asking.
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cGPA: 3.4
sGPA: 3.2
MCAT: 494 (Track 1)
I was heavily involved in multiple extracurriculars, worked as a medical scribe in ED, shadowed 2 docs (100 hrs), surgical pt aide volunteer, ED pt aide volunteer (over 1000 total volunteer hrs), psychology research assistant
 
Lalisaloveme said:
Can you ask during your interview when decisions will be released?
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Unfortunately, they will not have that information and will give you an estimated answer like "towards the end of the month and latest early June". I know it sucks but I don't want you to get your hopes up for a specific date/week.
 
Dr.Legend10 said:
so my MCAT is 503, but my cars is 122, does that place me in Track 1?
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Yes, so you would have to re-take MCAT (Track 1). The majority of people that end up in Track 1 are because of CARS; as you can imagine, most of us are not native English speakers and/or simply never had a strong foundation in English/writing/reading etc. for many reasons.

MCAT score required to meet contract and matriculate: 499 or higher, minimum of 123 in each section. There's a strict policy of NO superscoring (I.e your first MCAT was a 495 with a 124 CARS, but your current one is 503 with 122 CARS ---> will still place you in Track 1 because you need to meet all the requirements in one score). Also, even if you had a high MCAT score like a 510 with 122 CARS, you would be expected to retake. Non-negotiable. 😣
 
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cmcxo said:
Yes, so you would have to re-take MCAT (Track 1). The majority of people that end up in Track 1 are because of CARS; as you can imagine, most of us are not native English speakers and/or simply never had a strong foundation in English/writing/reading etc. for many reasons.

MCAT score required to meet contract and matriculate: 499 or higher, minimum of 123 in each section. There's a strict policy of NO superscoring (I.e your first MCAT was a 495 with a 124 CARS, but your current one is 503 with 122 CARS ---> will still place you in Track 1 because you need to meet all the requirements in one score). Also, even if you had a high MCAT score like a 510 with 122 CARS, you would be expected to retake. Non-negotiable. 😣
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I see, thank you so much for your help!
 
thulex said:
Same! I’m wondering if I’m supposed to retake casper but for this cycle since the one I applied with to Drexel was taken last year
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Yes, the CASPER scores are only valid for that specific application cycle which means you would need to take it every year you plan to apply.
 
Anyone know somebody that got accepted with an average CASPer quartile?😭😭😭😭. I did my test recently but I am worried that I did not do too well. @cmcxo??? Anyone?
 
GraciousTunic said:
Anyone know somebody that got accepted with an average CASPer quartile?😭😭😭😭. I did my test recently but I am worried that I did not do too well. @cmcxo??? Anyone?
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I don't think I've ever heard of anyone even talking about their Casper scores, so I really wouldn't know. But if I had to guess, just like mcat/gpa etc... I'm sure there's a range and I don't think you should be in panic mode over it. Maybe check out the past 2 threads to see if anyone mentioned it.
 
GraciousTunic said:
Anyone know somebody that got accepted with an average CASPer quartile?😭😭😭😭. I did my test recently but I am worried that I did not do too well. @cmcxo??? Anyone?
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Someone from the 2022-2023 cohort got into the program with a Casper score in the 25% quartile, meaning the lowest quartile. So I am sure you will be fine.
 
GraciousTunic said:
I hope so! I have not worked so hard to this point only for some side test to get in the way 🥲
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I feel that I scored in the lowest quartile. These exams do nothing to show who we are as an applicant. I guarantee I am not a psychopath even tho I did terribly on the Casper lol. Despite scoring low I still got an interview, so there's still hope!
 
Still haven't heard anything back yet. Should I reach out or give it another week or so?
 
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