2023-2024 SUNY Downstate (Brooklyn)

[SupercalifragilisticNY]

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Literally the wait is agonizing 😭 i think they’re waiting for people to reject so they can accept people 1 by 1 but it seems like they haven’t even filled the class yet

They just feed on our anxiety. They collect it and use it as energy. The movie “Monster inc” was a made for kids movie loosely based on Downstate’s adcom. They need our anxiety.

 

[peter_lambda]

A yesterday (interviewed September)!! Got the acceptance on my grandfather's birthday (he immigrated to Flatbush, Brooklyn in 1950's after WWII) so he was looking down on me for the day 😭 Hope to see many of you future classmates this summer 😄

 

[yourgfgf]

I was reading last years thread and it seems like by this point they were ready to riot. At least we aren’t there…yet lmao.


But in all seriousness it seems like last year acceptances were put out every few weeks. I think another poster is right and they’re kinda waiting to do 1-1 acceptances for each denial. Also we aren’t guaranteed to be notified that we were put on a waitlist. So I think for those of us who haven’t heard yet we should strap in for a long road ahead.

 

[sayiduhh]

I was reading last years thread and it seems like by this point they were ready to riot. At least we aren’t there…yet lmao.


But in all seriousness it seems like last year acceptances were put out every few weeks. I think another poster is right and they’re kinda waiting to do 1-1 acceptances for each denial. Also we aren’t guaranteed to be notified that we were put on a waitlist. So I think for those of us who haven’t heard yet we should strap in for a long road ahead.

i say we start a riot now!

 

[bdizzle646]

retreating until Monday see u all then

 

[augabear]

View attachment 383061
retreating until Monday see u all then

in the initial wave, decisions came out at like 9 PM so I’m still waiting 😭

 

[2000doc]

Do decisions come after completion of post interview tour ?

 

[julianbashir]

Do decisions come after completion of post interview tour ?

I mean technically it would depend on when you sign up to tour— I interviewed in early December and signed up for a mid-February tour and I still haven’t gotten a decision yet so yeah, my decision will come after the post-interview tour.

But I don’t think they’re waiting for us to tour before they release our decision. It seems like coordinating that would be adding too much logistical complexity on their part.

 

[strong4u24]

Hey, I keep hearing more about Downstate Hospital closure and how many departments within are already closing down.. Has anyone heard from admins how this might affect clinical rotations at the hospital?

 

[futuredoc2478]

Does everyone get a tour invite?

 

[yourgfgf]

Does everyone get a tour invite?

Everyone who interviews gets an invited I believe

 

[vintagepremed__]

Do letters of intent help at this school?

 

[malongjie]

Do letters of intent help at this school?

I (IS II October) wrote a letter of intent in January and got accepted in the earliest wave on Jan 30th. Im sure it helped somehow. Make sure to attach it to your portal. If you have any q’s you can dm me

 

[aspiringmed23]

I (IS II October) wrote a letter of intent in January and got accepted in the earliest wave on Jan 30th. Im sure it helped somehow. Make sure to attach it to your portal. If you have any q’s you can dm me

When did you interview?

 

[almostemdee]

Do letters of intent help at this school?

i did not send a LOI, but i did send an update letter in november (interviewed in september, accepted in first wave). I remember during the virtual chat, the dude (forgot his name, i think the director?) explained in a very detailed manner of how to leverage updates and LOIs, and he even said that if downstate is your #1 to send a LOI.

 

[coolgirlxx]

i did not send a LOI, but i did send an update letter in november (interviewed in september, accepted in first wave). I remember during the virtual chat, the dude (forgot his name, i think the director?) explained in a very detailed manner of how to leverage updates and LOIs, and he even said that if downstate is your #1 to send a LOI.

wait can you give more information about the LOI part and what the director said we should include in them

 

[annieding]

i did not send a LOI, but i did send an update letter in november (interviewed in september, accepted in first wave). I remember during the virtual chat, the dude (forgot his name, i think the director?) explained in a very detailed manner of how to leverage updates and LOIs, and he even said that if downstate is your #1 to send a LOI.

I though he said to wait until the end of Feb and if we didn’t get any updates back then we send it? 🥲

 

[almostemdee]

wait can you give more information about the LOI part and what the director said we should include in them

i dont remember much bc i attended the oct virtual chat, but here is what im confident he said then: he said to send a LOI in nov/dec before they send out first wave decisions if downstate is your top choice. he also said to send an update letter bc he said that could be your second chance of reaching out, but this might be more specific for earlier interviewees. p sure he said the latter bc he even said we should do that for other med schools in general

also withdrawing my A, hoping it goes to you if downstate is your #1!

 

[the_waiting_game]

Is LOI a letter of interest or intent?

 

[xxerosx]

Is the interview format one faculty interview or two interviews with faculty and a current student?

 

[2024app411]

It was one and one for me and I believe most people have that format.

 

[kattep24]

IS II today!

 

[pre-med Man 24]

IS II today!

Congratulations. Mind sharing stats?

 

[Linden111]

How many As do we think they sent out already?

 

[momwithanmd]

Has anyone received an interview after getting the “interview interest” email?

 

[SupercalifragilisticNY]

has any december or late november interviewees heard back? From what I have seen, even this past wave has been for those in October.

 

[noblesmk]

II today! I didn't think they would send out them so late in the cycle

 

[yourgfgf]

has any december or late november interviewees heard back? From what I have seen, even this past wave has been for those in October.

based on last year I believe there should be another small wave of decisions released in early march. my guess is that it will come out sometime next week! After that I'm really not sure. FWIW i interviewed in october and also haven't heard back yet seems like a lot of us may be waiting until after May 1

 

[aspiringmed23]

based on last year I believe there should be another small wave of decisions released in early march. my guess is that it will come out sometime next week! After that I'm really not sure. FWIW i interviewed in october and also haven't heard back yet seems like a lot of us may be waiting until after May 1

Im so confused what their plan is because in the info session they said by end of feb theyll release decisions for applicants who interviewed before jan (i believe) and then if you don't hear by then its most likely a waitlist. But since the majority of us didnt even hear yet like are we all waitlisted i doubt that

 

[julianbashir]

Im so confused what their plan is because in the info session they said by end of feb theyll release decisions for applicants who interviewed before jan (i believe) and then if you don't hear by then its most likely a waitlist. But since the majority of us didnt even hear yet like are we all waitlisted i doubt that

The AMCAS ‘Traffic Rules’ document says:
“By March 15 of the matriculation year, [medical schools must] issue a number of acceptance offers at least equal to the expected number of students in its first-year entering class.”

So by the end of the next 17 days, they have to have sent out a minimum of 190 acceptances to equal their expected class size.

I couldn’t guess how many acceptances they’ve already sent out since a lot of folks don’t post on these forums or CycleTrack so we don’t have enough data to form a hypothesis unless we hear more from Downstate directly.

It’s possible they’re cutting it close to the wire given their recent statements about having been delayed, so there could still be a large chunk of acceptances left to issue in the next 17 days, but it’s also possible that we’re mostly bound for the waitlist (at best) since we haven’t heard anything yet— it’s hard to say…

We’ll see though! As everyone says, it’s not over till it’s over.

 

[mdmdmd123123123]

Anyone consider reaching out to student interviewer to see if they have any insight? Or is that a bad look

 

[aspiringmed23]

The AMCAS ‘Traffic Rules’ document says:
“By March 15 of the matriculation year, [medical schools must] issue a number of acceptance offers at least equal to the expected number of students in its first-year entering class.”

So by the end of the next 17 days, they have to have sent out a minimum of 190 acceptances to equal their expected class size.

I couldn’t guess how many acceptances they’ve already sent out since a lot of folks don’t post on these forums or CycleTrack so we don’t have enough data to form a hypothesis unless we hear more from Downstate directly.

It’s possible they’re cutting it close to the wire given their recent statements about having been delayed, so there could still be a large chunk of acceptances left to issue in the next 17 days, but it’s also possible that we’re mostly bound for the waitlist (at best) since we haven’t heard anything yet— it’s hard to say…

We’ll see though! As everyone says, it’s not over till it’s over.

This is great insight thanks! Yeah, I guess let's wait and see until March 15 then most likely its waitlist :/

 

[julianbashir]

Anyone consider reaching out to student interviewer to see if they have any insight? Or is that a bad look

Near the end of my interview I did actually ask my student interviewer whether I could reach out to him in the future to chat if I had any additional questions to ask him.

He told me that he felt student interviewers were discouraged from maintaining contact with applicants post-interview until/unless they were accepted, so my interview would be my only opportunity to interact with him and if I wanted to speak with other Downstate med students I would have to do so on the tour and/or online information sessions.

It’s fully possible that my student interviewer just didn’t want to chat with me any further and interpreted the guidelines strictly to give him an polite way out of talking to me again, but regardless of whether it’s Downstate policy or my interviewer’s personal preference, he was pretty clear that he didn’t expect any further contact from me so I won’t be following up with him.

YMMV with your own student interviewer— maybe they’re more chill and wouldn’t mind if you reached out— but based on my conversation I wouldn’t recommend risking it unless you feel confident that your student would be open to it.

 

[highspeed123]

I am a student interviewer and we do not have any insight, unfortunately. We aren’t involved with the admissions committee at all. But I can tell you that every downstate student would agree that the admissions office is poorly run. I’m sorry that you guys have to go through this. The administrative incompetence is limited to the office of admissions and doesn’t reflect the rest of the university

 

[yourgfgf]

Im so confused what their plan is because in the info session they said by end of feb theyll release decisions for applicants who interviewed before jan (i believe) and then if you don't hear by then its most likely a waitlist. But since the majority of us didnt even hear yet like are we all waitlisted i doubt that

Thankfully for downstate it’s a leap year so they have an extra day to get more decisions out. I have also heard that downstate likes to keep a rather extensive waitlist and slowly release decisions as people withdraw and reject their acceptances for other places. Honestly I’m fully preparing myself to be waiting until May to hear back once the PTE option opens and downstate will have a better idea of how many people are actually planning to enroll. I’m trying to stay patient and hopeful but I do wish we had a little more communication especially for those of us who interviewed before the new year!

 

[aspiringmed23]

do we put updates/loi in portal or emailed?

 

[2024app411]

I called a few days ago and they said the portal

 

[aspiringmed23]

I called a few days ago and they said the portal

Thank you!

 

[ilikepotatos]

Near the end of my interview I did actually ask my student interviewer whether I could reach out to him in the future to chat if I had any additional questions to ask him.

He told me that he felt student interviewers were discouraged from maintaining contact with applicants post-interview until/unless they were accepted, so my interview would be my only opportunity to interact with him and if I wanted to speak with other Downstate med students I would have to do so on the tour and/or online information sessions.

It’s fully possible that my student interviewer just didn’t want to chat with me any further and interpreted the guidelines strictly to give him an polite way out of talking to me again, but regardless of whether it’s Downstate policy or my interviewer’s personal preference, he was pretty clear that he didn’t expect any further contact from me so I won’t be following up with him.

YMMV with your own student interviewer— maybe they’re more chill and wouldn’t mind if you reached out— but based on my conversation I wouldn’t recommend risking it unless you feel confident that your student would be open to it.

Am also a student interviewer, and I tell everyone I interview the exact opposite of what this interviewer said. I tell applicants that they can feel free to reach out to me at any point after the interview.

In my mind, once I'm done with the formal interview itself, I've completed my due diligence to the admissions office. In the future I'm just another contact and I feel free to speak further about the school off the record if any applicant chooses to reach out and ask questions!

Really goes to show how different interviewers interpret the guidelines.

 

[augabear]

I hope we hear back tomorrow

 

[julianbashir]

Received an email last night saying those who applied MD/MPH will have a decision on the MPH acceptance “very soon”.


“We will be in touch very soon with the official decision from the School of Public Health.

The School of Public Health and the College of Medicine review applications independently and you must be accepted to both schools to enter the combined MD/MPH program.

Since your application will be reviewed by two separate Admissions Committees, you may receive two separate admissions decisions; one from the School of Public Health and one from the College of Medicine.

An acceptance to the School of Public Health does not guarantee acceptance to the College of Medicine; conversely, acceptance to the College of Medicine does not guarantee admissions to the School of Public Health.

The deadline for an MD/MPH completed application is May 1, 2024.”

 

[momwithanmd]

That “very soon” has my anxiety on 1000 … just say accepted or rejected if you’re gonna send an email lol

 

[littlemac]

Received an email last night saying those who applied MD/MPH will have a decision on the MPH acceptance “very soon”.


“We will be in touch very soon with the official decision from the School of Public Health.

The School of Public Health and the College of Medicine review applications independently and you must be accepted to both schools to enter the combined MD/MPH program.

Since your application will be reviewed by two separate Admissions Committees, you may receive two separate admissions decisions; one from the School of Public Health and one from the College of Medicine.

An acceptance to the School of Public Health does not guarantee acceptance to the College of Medicine; conversely, acceptance to the College of Medicine does not guarantee admissions to the School of Public Health.

The deadline for an MD/MPH completed application is May 1, 2024.”

Also received this!

 

[bdizzle646]

...

 

[cuddlycactus]

Does anyone know if Downstate offers medical Spanish?

 

[UniCrys]

Does Downstate have a second look day or is it just the tour?

 

[knitgirl]

Does anyone know if Downstate offers medical Spanish?

On the tour a student mentioned that they took a medical Spanish course during their first year at downstate but I don’t know the details

 

[ilikepotatos]

On the tour a student mentioned that they took a medical Spanish course during their first year at downstate but I don’t know the details

Theres a 0-credit Med Spanish elective run by the Latino Medical Student Association, its a very casual fully student-run class that meets once a week in the evening that you can choose to take

 

[aspiringmed23]

I was looking at past sdn threads and it looks like for most years by now they have already filled the spots they need to and the rest of us who haven't heard are probably on alternate list and they'll notify us soon of that (or maybe not at all). I think the majority of their class comes from the alternate list and that happens sometime in May 🙁 hoping im wrong tho and things changed

 

[julianbashir]

I was looking at past sdn threads and it looks like for most years by now they have already filled the spots they need to and the rest of us who haven't heard are probably on alternate list and they'll notify us soon of that (or maybe not at all). I think the majority of their class comes from the alternate list and that happens sometime in May 🙁 hoping im wrong tho and things changed

I know people have been speculating that the changes to this year's cycle have made the process slower-- with affirmative action changed/eliminated after the Supreme Court's rulings (SFFA v. Harvard and SFFA v. UNC) admissions offices might have gotten off to a slower start than usual as they worked to change their procedures and policies to make sure they abide by the new guidelines, then with a delayed FAFSA release it's possible that more people are holding multiple acceptances until they can compare financial aid packages, which keeps acceptances that would have been passed on to someone else tied up for longer.

But I don't really know if those things have actually materially affected the speed of this year's admissions cycle or not, so it seems reasonable to assume that this cycle is similar to the previous ones in timeline because the March 15 AMCAS Traffic Rules deadline is still the same. The Downstate website says that alternate list invitations will be issued "Mid April" but that's not very reliable because the same site also said acceptance letters would be issued "Early February" and we all saw how that one played out! So I'm steeling myself for more waiting and, at best, a potential alternate list notification at some point, like you said... But I also hope to be proven pessimistic!