Anyone familiar with these MD schools?

[jhinso]

Hey all,

I am currently a sophomore, student veteran at the University of Alabama. I am on the pre-med track and am majoring in psychology, with a minor in philosophy. I was just wondering if any of you have applied to these schools that I am about to list. If so, how did it go? Do you have any input on one of these particular ones?

1. The University of Alabama School of Medicine
2. The University of South Alabama College of Medicine
3. University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences College of Medicine
4. Florida Atlantic University Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine
5. Florida International University Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine
6. University of Florida College of Medicine
7. University of Central Florida College of Medicine
8. University of South Florida College of Medicine
9. Mercer University School of Medicine
10. University of Mississippi School of Medicine
11. Medical University of South Carolina College of Medicine
12. University of South Carolina School of Medicine
13. East Tennessee State University James H. Quillen College of Medicine
14. Meharry Medical College School of Medicine
15. University of Tennessee College of Medicine
16. Baylor College of Medicine
17. Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine
18. University of Texas Medical School at Houston
19. University of Texas School of Medicine at San Antonio
20. Dell Medical School at The University of Texas at Austin

I know, these are all in the south. Haha.

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[WedgeDawg]

There are school specific threads in the school specific discussion forum for each of these schools. I would recommend starting there.

 

[LizzyM]

You might also want to acquire access to MSAR and see what each school is looking for in terms of applicants. Given how expensive the application process is, it is the best money you'll spend. If it helps you avoid one "waste of time" appliacation it will have paid for itself.

 

[purplegold201635]

MSAR is totally worth the money. The most useful tool I had when applying.

 

[applesaucey]

Like the others said, the MSAR is a worthwhile investment. Make sure you pay attention to how friendly the schools are towards out of state applicants. I know for example that your chances of getting into one of the SC schools from out of state is nearly impossible unless you have strong state ties, and this may be true of a few of the other schools on your list as well.

 

[redferrari]

Meharry has a very specific mission. Mercer and all of the Texas schools are very biased to in-state. Mississippi allows ONLY residents of Mississippi to apply. However, Texas likes two types of out-of-state students, Mormons and veterans (just an honest fact), so you may find success there if you are competitive. Thank you for your service!

 

[mw18]

I interviewed at four of these and I'm also a veteran. Feel free to message me with any questions. But like others have said, you're a ways away from interviews as a sophomore and MSAR will be most helpful.

 

[jhinso]

A huge thank you to all of the responses! I will absolutely make sure to check out MSAR. I'm considered a resident of Alabama now, so UAB School of Medicine is a huge goal for me. Once again, thank you for the responses!

 

[stickgirl390]

Most of the Florida schools give most of their seats to Florida residents.

 

[The Knife & Gun Club]

Florida Atlantic University Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine
Florida International University Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine
University of Florida College of Medicine
University of Central Florida College of Medicine
University of South Florida College of Medicine

I applied to these 5...They are all Florida state schools, so will not be accepting a ton of OOS students.

FAU: Takes a solid % OOS, but with a class size of 64 I think theres only ~20 OOS spots. Great faculty but very new and not great clinical resources since theyre not associated with a teaching hospital

FIU: Borderline mission based school...if you dont have some connection to hispanic people or south florida I wouldnt bother applying. ~50% of the class is URM, mostly hispanic or carribean.

UF: Very good school, they dont accept a ton of OOS but there are seats. Excellent research. Debatably better than UM

UCF: Pretty good. Great board averages.

USF: Was not a fan. Interviewed here and withdrew (but they were nice enough to tell me they were going to waitlist me anyway). They take alot of OOS though, and have a good affinity for veterans from what I understand (SELECT program)

 

[Phrasing]

Florida Atlantic University Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine
Florida International University Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine
University of Florida College of Medicine
University of Central Florida College of Medicine
University of South Florida College of Medicine

I applied to these 5...They are all Florida state schools, so will not be accepting a ton of OOS students.

FAU: Takes a solid % OOS, but with a class size of 64 I think theres only ~20 OOS spots. Great faculty but very new and not great clinical resources since theyre not associated with a teaching hospital

FIU: Borderline mission based school...if you dont have some connection to hispanic people or south florida I wouldnt bother applying. ~50% of the class is URM, mostly hispanic or carribean.

UF: Very good school, they dont accept a ton of OOS but there are seats. Excellent research. Debatably better than UM

UCF: Pretty good. Great board averages.

USF: Was not a fan. Interviewed here and withdrew (but they were nice enough to tell me they were going to waitlist me anyway). They take alot of OOS though, and have a good affinity for veterans from what I understand (SELECT program)

What didn't you like about USF?

 

[purplegold201635]

Mercer, ETSU, and MUSC are all highly biased to in-state students.

 

[Lannister]

A huge thank you to all of the responses! I will absolutely make sure to check out MSAR. I'm considered a resident of Alabama now, so UAB School of Medicine is a huge goal for me. Once again, thank you for the responses!

If you're not a Texas resident, do not bother applying to any public schools in Texas.

 

[redferrari]

If you're not a Texas resident, do not bother applying to any public schools in Texas.

Not at all true. I received two acceptances in Texas last year with pretty mediocre stats. Superstars I know who apply there get a fair amount of interviews.

Also OP, I have a veteran friend who was accepted to ETSU despite being from a whole different region. They are veteran friendly. I'm not trying to give you false hope, rather, I'm trying to save you from a bunch of the cynicism on here. Your best bet is to reach out to schools you are interested in and find out for yourself.

 

[Lannister]

Not at all true. I received two acceptances in Texas last year with pretty mediocre stats. Superstars I know who apply there get a fair amount of interviews.

Congrats, but for most people, applying to Texas public schools is not a good use of their money or time. By law, they have to accept >90% Texas residents.

 

[The Knife & Gun Club]

What didn't you like about USF?

I wrote my PS about how my dad died of Hep C, so my interviewer asked me a series of questions about the disease (what is the viral structure, binding proteins, etc) which I got completely wrong. He responded with "Wow I would've thought you'd care enough to learn about the disease that killed your father"

That pretty much did it for me.

 

[MusicDOc124]

Also see the link in my signature

 

[redferrari]

I wrote my PS about how my dad died of Hep C, so my interviewer asked me a series of questions about the disease (what is the viral structure, binding proteins, etc) which I got completely wrong. He responded with "Wow I would've thought you'd care enough to learn about the disease that killed your father"

That pretty much did it for me.

I think I would've punched someone if they said that to me. That's horrible.

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

I wrote my PS about how my dad died of Hep C, so my interviewer asked me a series of questions about the disease (what is the viral structure, binding proteins, etc) which I got completely wrong. He responded with "Wow I would've thought you'd care enough to learn about the disease that killed your father"

That pretty much did it for me.

Wow, I would have walked out right then and there. What a completely insensitive and unintelligent thing to say.

 

[The Knife & Gun Club]

It always blows my mind how some people just have vastly differing views on what is socially acceptable.

I'm sure there's idiots at every med school, but it says something if they don't take the time to vet who gets to talk to the prospective students

 

[ScottTenorman54]

I'm sure there's idiots at every med school, but it says something if they don't take the time to vet who gets to talk to the prospective students

To be fair, I'd be shocked if every med school didn't have a rogue interviewer at some point or the other. There are probably interviewees from the school you ended up at who have similar stories. The argument for MMI wouldn't be nearly as strong as it is if this was a rare incident reflective of the school as a whole. Sucks that you had to deal with this, though.

 

[purplegold201635]

I wrote my PS about how my dad died of Hep C, so my interviewer asked me a series of questions about the disease (what is the viral structure, binding proteins, etc) which I got completely wrong. He responded with "Wow I would've thought you'd care enough to learn about the disease that killed your father"

That pretty much did it for me.

Wow. I would have had to try really hard not to lose my cool there.

 

[GinnyWeasley]

Not at all true. I received two acceptances in Texas last year with pretty mediocre stats. Superstars I know who apply there get a fair amount of interviews.

Also OP, I have a veteran friend who was accepted to ETSU despite being from a whole different region. They are veteran friendly. I'm not trying to give you false hope, rather, I'm trying to save you from a bunch of the cynicism on here. Your best bet is to reach out to schools you are interested in and find out for yourself.

How mediocre were your stats though? The few OOS I saw on my interviews were also getting IIs at top 20s.

 

[redferrari]

How mediocre were your stats though? The few OOS I saw on my interviews were also getting IIs at top 20s.

GPA >3.9 and MCAT right at matriculant average. I did undergrad in Texas FWIW.

Mormons (especially BYU) and vets made up the lions share of OOS at my interviews. Didn't ask them where else they were interviewing though.

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

Mormons (especially BYU

Can definitely attest to this.

 

[GinnyWeasley]

GPA >3.9 and MCAT right at matriculant average. I did undergrad in Texas FWIW.

Mormons (especially BYU) and vets made up the lions share of OOS at my interviews. Didn't ask them where else they were interviewing though.

Texas is unusual with the fact that they love high gpas. I would not call a 3.9+ mediocre, especially in TX, where some schools have averages around there.