FlexMed 2015

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Also - would love to help, celebrating with the fam - but I put "Help SDN because you've been there and you know the tragedy of the premed life" on my to do list
Is there any way I can double like this? LOL

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Got in! I will be accepting! I will definitely be willing to pm anyone who wants to know my stats - I know what it's like to be a sophomore and applying - anyway I can help I will!
 
Let's please create a FB group for people who are accepting! Pm me and I'll give you my Facebook details
 
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Congrats everyone who got in!! Again, I would love to hear about anyone's stats/ECs since, like Carmiche, I'm also a rising sophomore who might be applying if I have a decent shot ;P
 
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Also in! Incredibly pumped to join this awesome community.
 
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anyone (those who got accepted) had a GPA less than a 3.5 here?
I find that extremely unlikely, unless extreme URM or SES disadvantaged status. Or exceptional, exceptional accomplishment already.
 
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I also got in. PM me if you want more information.
 
I also got in. I'm an international student from HYPS. My SAT (2020) and GPA aren't that high in comparison to other applicants though (3.7 when I applied and it dropped to 3.6 during spring transcript request). But I have other interests outside of medicine (start ups and business). I have clear plans of what I want to do with my gap years and flexibility. PM me if you have any question.
 
I also got in. I'm an international student from HYPS. My SAT (2020) and GPA aren't that high in comparison to other applicants though (3.7 when I applied and it dropped to 3.6 during spring transcript request). But I have other interests outside of medicine (start ups and business). I have clear plans of what I want to do with my gap years and flexibility. PM me if you have any question.
URM status?
 
anyone (those who got accepted) had a GPA less than a 3.5 here?
I think that's incredibly unlikely b/c in order to stay in we have to maintain a cumulative above a 3.5, just fyi
 
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For those who got in, there is a Facebook group called "accepted students flexmed 2015" - it is closed but an admin can add you or a fellow acceptee can invite you
 
Hey guys, congrats on your acceptances!
I got into an accelerated early assurance program a few weeks ago and understand how happy (and relieved) many of you must feel.
 
@treecat could be any of the regional/school restricted early assurance programs across the US. I'm guessing it's not one of the open-to-all programs.
 
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Hey FlexMedders, gonna post my take now that I'm in...but first here's incredibly useful advice from 2014's thread from someone who also got in..thought I'd repost:
[Purplownz]
After going through the app process and reading the past HuMed threads, I've come to the conclusion that:

a) Avoiding the MCAT should definitely not be your primary goal when applying. I strongly believe that the students who were accepted are so strong academically that they would achieve strong MCAT scores if they were to take the test. It's not the test itself, it's the time commitment that's necessary to do well on it (and thus time that you could be using productively for your other, interesting extracurricular pursuits) that is important.

b) You should be strong academically. I firmly believe that you MUST have the numbers to be accepted to this program, regardless of how amazing your extracurricular activities are (i.e. high stats are necessary but insufficient). This is because the school has only a limited academic history by which to assess you and gauge your future performance in medical school. The adcoms in the third FlexMed informational video essentially say that students with "Bs or Cs" should strongly consider waiting to apply the regular way. With no MCAT and only 1.5 years of college + high school, any slip ups in grades are much more harmful.

**c) I have noticed that UNLIKE with HUMED, elite academic undergraduate pedigree seems to have played a much smaller role for FlexMed admissions. Browsing through this thread reveals a wide array of schools (Ivies, mid-low tier state schools and privates). Don't get me wrong, there are still tons of students from Ivies (I go to Columbia) but many students were accepted without the elite Northeast stamp that seemed to be important for HuMed.

d) Continuing with this idea, UNLIKE with HuMed, having already taken traditional pre med requirements did not seem to be deleterious to one's application for FlexMed. In other words, many students seem to have already taken organic chemistry or physics and/or other advanced science courses, even as humanities majors. This did not appear to be the case with HuMed, where taking traditional pre-med requirements often hurt one's chances for admission.

e) That being said, you CANNOT be a "cookie cutter" pre med student. You MUST stand out with some combination of extracurricular activities, awards/accomplishments, and letters of recommendation. Examples of what accepted FlexMed students are doing this summer include: Howard Hughes Summer Research (hyper prestigious research fellowship), leading a project in a 3rd world country for Engineers Without Boarders, and tons of research projects at Hopkins, CHOP, Sinai, Yale and other top REUs. A number fluently speak foreign languages and are going abroad to several different countries.

f) Therefore, you must think carefully about your interests. Get to know faculty who are involved in your academic area of interest (or project leaders, if you are interested in some social issue). Develop your relationship with them and collaborate on projects during your freshman year. By the time you apply, you will already have a well-supported plan and excellent letters of recommendation. Acceptance to FlexMed will allow you to continue pursuing this interest and hopefully make a significant contribution to your area, as well as gain experiences that will be able to enhance your career in medicine.

Good luck everyone! Congrats to everyone who was accepted. It's clearly an incredible group of people that I am honored to be able to be a part of.

EDIT: Stats are 3.9+ cumulative and science. 2250+ SAT. Double major in chem/English. 1 pub at the time of app w/ 1 more expected this summer.
 
I'd echo the same advice. I had a 2250, 3.9, Bioengineering, lots of extracurriculars and internships not related to medicine.

The big question you have to be able to convincingly answer is "Why should they take you now as opposed to 2 years from now?" This is the opposition argument: Waiting 2 years gives them more data on you, more certainty on your quality, less risky to accept you then compared to now....The argument you all have to make is that the 2 years they're giving you are more valuable in terms of personal growth than the certainty they'd get by accepting you later...so the idea is.. simply being more comfortable while you do premed things isn't going to be enough. You have to have dramatic and concrete plans.

If you're "pursuing a healthcare management degree" that's fantastic, but honestly that's super vague compared to someone who is "looking to take [classes] to learn [skills] and use them for [project, extracurricular activity, goal - specifics]"...hopefully that makes sense. Rhetoric is sometimes a good thing, but the committee wants tangibles.

Assuming you've earned it, realize that many people who haven't will be applying with you. If you were FlexMed, realize that after the initial stats-based sifting, the next thing you'd do is throw out all the candidates who are full of fluff but haven't actually done anything. In my interview, for example, we spent like 5 minutes on the issue of "Why Doctor?" and the rest of the time on minute details of my extra-curriculars that seemed rather trivial..."Where in Nicaragua did you go? With who? What was the weather like? What was memorable about the trip?"...questions that I could only answer if I had done those things, questions that, so far as I could tell, were intent upon separating out candidates with big mouths from those who did things. So focusing on tangibles is important.

One more thing - They're looking at limited information, so in this app more than any other, details matter. I'd take any part of the application as an opportunity to showcase something, and make sure you take care to articulate everything clearly and concisely.

Hope that helps future FlexMeders! Good luck!
 
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I'd echo the same advice. I had a 2250, 3.9, Bioengineering, lots of extracurriculars and internships not related to medicine.

The big question you have to be able to convincingly answer is "Why should they take you now as opposed to 2 years from now?" This is the opposition argument: Waiting 2 years gives them more data on you, more certainty on your quality, less risky to accept you then compared to now....The argument you all have to make is that the 2 years they're giving you are more valuable in terms of personal growth than the certainty they'd get by accepting you later...so the idea is.. simply being more comfortable while you do premed things isn't going to be enough. You have to have dramatic and concrete plans.

If you're "pursuing a healthcare management degree" that's fantastic, but honestly that's super vague compared to someone who is "looking to take [classes] to learn [skills] and use them for [project, extracurricular activity, goal - specifics]"...hopefully that makes sense. Rhetoric is sometimes a good thing, but the committee wants tangibles.

Assuming you've earned it, realize that many people who haven't will be applying with you. If you were FlexMed, realize that after the initial stats-based sifting, the next thing you'd do is throw out all the candidates who are full of fluff but haven't actually done anything. In my interview, for example, we spent like 5 minutes on the issue of "Why Doctor?" and the rest of the time on minute details of my extra-curriculars that seemed rather trivial..."Where in Nicaragua did you go? With who? What was the weather like? What was memorable about the trip?"...questions that I could only answer if I had done those things, questions that, so far as I could tell, were intent upon separating out candidates with big mouths from those who did things. So focusing on tangibles is important.

One more thing - They're looking at limited information, so in this app more than any other, details matter. I'd take any part of the application as an opportunity to showcase something, and make sure you take care to articulate everything clearly and concisely.

Hope that helps future FlexMeders! Good luck!
you go to Columbia?
 
i think that was a repost from [Purplownz]
 
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I'm going to be a sophomore biomedical engineering student in a B.S./M.D. program at University of Toledo. In other words, I have a seat in University of Toledo's medical school already. Should I mention this on my FlexMed application or during the interview? Will that hurt me or help me or do nothing?
 
I'm going to be a sophomore biomedical engineering student in a B.S./M.D. program at University of Toledo. In other words, I have a seat in University of Toledo's medical school already. Should I mention this on my FlexMed application or during the interview? Will that hurt me or help me or do nothing?
I feel like Toledo might have a problem with this.
 
I feel like Toledo might have a problem with this.

You're going to have problems all around with this.. You would probably have to forfeit your admission to Toledo if you applied to flexmed. I honestly don't see why you would even apply to flexmed, as you already have a seat in a medical school. What's the point of forfeiting that for a less than 10% chance of getting an early seat at another school.
 
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You're going to have problems all around with this.. You would probably have to forfeit your admission to Toledo if you applied to flexmed. I honestly don't see why you would even apply to flexmed, as you already have a seat in a medical school. What's the point of forfeiting that for a less than 10% chance of getting an early seat at another school.
About 7% while competing with kids from HYPSM undergrad. Icahn cares about school name a significant degree for Flexmed.

I'd say regardless of stats don't apply.
 
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As someone who is in, you guys are totally wrong about name. I go to a school that no one in the northeast has even heard of. And I'm in the program currently.
 
But I agree that is unethical to break your contract with Toledo like that. Mt Sinai will not see that favorably and neither will Toledo.
 
But I agree that is unethical to break your contract with Toledo like that. Mt Sinai will not see that favorably and neither will Toledo.
I know for certain that's not true. While yes, many state-lower ranked schools do get in, the top Ivies are heavily overrepresented. I received a copy of their matriculating institutions a couple of years ago (first class, I think), and about half were HYPSM-Penn-Columbia.
 
The reason they have so many HYPSM kids is because the type of kid they look for - a top 10% national premed student who also has noteworthy elite caliber passions for something else - is rare to find but there's quite a few of these "tweeners" at Ivies. Second, the program is NOT well known outside of the Northeast and this is partially due to the fact that HuMed was biased towards the elite LACs and Ivies. But I specifically asked them about this and they insisted that their hope was to take students from all over. I'm personally proof that the name wasn't a big deal. If you're an outstanding student (like top 1% at your school), you have a chance against anyone.
 
Hey guys, quick question- (I am applying this new cycle)

The prompt says something along the lines of "Please answer the following 250 words-1000 words"... Is this per question or should the total for all 3 questions not exceed 1000 words?

Thanks!
 
Hey guys, quick question- (I am applying this new cycle)

The prompt says something along the lines of "Please answer the following 250 words-1000 words"... Is this per question or should the total for all 3 questions not exceed 1000 words?

Thanks!

This is an interesting question. It definitely is vague. I would assume 250-1000 per essay, that seems the most reasonable.

Lets move this to the new thread though: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/flexmed-2016.1153589/
 
Lol, all these crazy stats. I knew the Mt Sinai program was competitive, but I didn't know it was this competitive.
 
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