Florida Schools Application Thread (2008) part 2

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I know the answer to this question likely varies considerably from person to person, and changes as the interview cycle progresses, but can some of you post how long it took to get an interview invitation at FSU after you submitted your secondary? I have been complete there for 6 weeks, and I'm wondering if being a late applicant is going to exclude me.
What about UF and USF. Is it true that USF is notoriously slow?


I would suggest to keep waiting for FSU, I was complete in the beginning of October and was invited to interview on November 31st. Call FSU though. After being complete for a few weeks, i called them and was told that my letters and information weren't filed together, so call to make sure everything is in order.

I wish I knew about UF and USF. I have not heard anything from them, but I don't think it's because they are slow. I have recieved invitations from many different private schools up north and from FSU and Miami, but I think UF and USF are looking for a particular type of candidate right now. Also, I know many people who were still interviewed during March and were accepted by UF and USF.
 
Good luck!! Doesent it suck having to go on other interviews when you already know where you wanna go. I had to go all the way to nyc and do this since I did not have any acceptances yet. Why do you prefer boca over main campus

I love Miami for these reason's. Boca just seems like a much better fit for me. But Main campus would be hard to just say no to as well.


**************

I am going to be honest. I was super impressed with University of Miami. I have interviewed at several schools and a few in Florida and I kid you not my feelings have brought me back thinking Miami is the place to be.

I am not criticising any other school in Florida but I thought another school would of had a much more impressive showing for what it was made out to be.

The strongest points on UM for me are this. The clinical focus is amazing. You really get the feeling that they are education future doctors here to immediately go out into the community and make an impact. For me it is a win win situation. I love people so getting access to them as soon as possible is exciting to me.

***An anatomy class that is stretched out over the year rather than in some block setting. From what I have honestly heard, the retention of anatomy is poor and part of the reason is the cram crash course style they give it to you in with other curriculums. (this is a boca aspect so I am not entirely sure if Main campus is the same.)

***integrative teaching. UM Board scores were on par with the best schools in the country let only Florida, WAY ABOVE AVERAGE! That includes both main campus and Boca Raton. Some of this was told to me by students is that instead of PhD's teaching everything they actually do have physician's teaching and utilize board style questions. Not that it is a focus but it is something that is more recognizable in the education process that will make studying and learning for the boards a little easier. Like I said they have the numbers to prove it.

***Academic societies... Hogwarts style. NICE! I actually like group interaction like this. What a great idea. It started with the main campus and is now even up at Boca Raton. Again, the students seem happy and pleased about being at UM. Having interactive group settings surely helps get to know one another.

***PBL! I was amazed but one other school hadn't even heard what this was. If you do not know what this is then I will describe it to you. Case based learning. It is where you are presented with a "case" i.e. problem in medicine or pathology and you have to work together with a group to solve the problem based on what you learned and can research. Present it and get graded on it. This style of PBL differs a bit from the main campus to Boca Raton so make sure you ask what the differences are so you can see what you might like more. More group stuff, cool!

***Research if ya want to. It isn't some false forced requirement at UM. Some schools give you the impression that they are big research schools and their ranking blah blah but in all honesty how does that translate to you? Are you MD/PhD? If not all the funding, research and development is probably being utilized by some other resource throughout the institution. We are here for medical school over the next 4 years this has to be our home. Getting poor grades or not getting the residency I want isn't going to make me a better physician. So to me, this put in perspective the whole ranking thing. What type of doctor do I want to be? Where do I see myself in 10 years? Can I get this accomplished from the school I will be attending? These are questions that should be answered about medical school education. Not "how highly are you ranked."

***Facilities. Boca Raton wins out in this aspect flat out. Everything is new new new. The nerderies are awesome. Your own cubby hole with your own LAPTOP. WOW. That is awesome. 24 hour access to academic building is something that could be useful too. UM's facilities were older but not decrepit like some schools I have visited. The lecture hall in UM Main is kinda cool too.

********Night life and life in general over the next four years. Let me tell you. You can not beat SoBe and UM Main wins in this category but UM Boca isn't far from Miami nor is Fort Lauderdale or even Delray Beach much of a concession. In fact Hard Rock in Hollywood is AWESOME and IMO better even than SoBe. There is rumors that the med students at UM Main have VIP access to clubs and what not in South Beach. LOL, hilarious. I have had friends that went to Law School at UM and I will tell you the night life in South Florida is rivaled by few if not none. The people are beautiful and the culture is deep. The beeches are just cherry on top of the cake.

Hopefully this will help you on your decisions but these were my assessments on my visit to the UM campuses.

GOOD LUCK TO YOU ALL. I hope to get an acceptance SOON!
 
I know the answer to this question likely varies considerably from person to person, and changes as the interview cycle progresses, but can some of you post how long it took to get an interview invitation at FSU after you submitted your secondary? I have been complete there for 6 weeks, and I'm wondering if being a late applicant is going to exclude me.
What about UF and USF. Is it true that USF is notoriously slow?

For FSU and USF I heard back about a week and a half after I was complete. I wasn't complete at UF until Jan. 4 and I heard from them on Jan. 13 about an interview (so it is possible to get an interview even if you are late!). As for Miami, I was complete there at the beginning of Dec. and I have not heard back about an interview.
 
Has anyone else not heard anything from Miami? I submitted my app in november, but have heard nothing since... Definitely starting to worry about it. (I haven't heard from USF either, but i applied on the last day so I'm not expecting much.)
 
It seems there are many applicants who are beginning to get a little concerned about USF and Miami being so quiet lately. Maybe they're in the process of deciding who will make the cut in the final round of interviews. Then again, who knows. I just pray some news happens soon; preferably the good kind😀
 
It seems there are many applicants who are beginning to get a little concerned about USF and Miami being so quiet lately. Maybe they're in the process of deciding who will make the cut in the final round of interviews. Then again, who knows. I just pray some news happens soon; preferably the good kind😀

I know how you guys feel about Miami. One of my friends that I've alluded to in the past is in the same boat as you. They've heard from out of state schools and other in state schools but not UMiami. I wonder if Miami is getting tougher on who they let in or in terms of what they are looking for extracurricularly or some other factor. I really do.
 
I haven't heard from Miami and was complete in early Dec.
 
For FSU and USF I heard back about a week and a half after I was complete. I wasn't complete at UF until Jan. 4 and I heard from them on Jan. 13 about an interview (so it is possible to get an interview even if you are late!). As for Miami, I was complete there at the beginning of Dec. and I have not heard back about an interview.

Wow, one week turn-around in January! You must have some amazing numbers and/or EC's. Still, I think my numbers are slightly above average at UF, so your interview is good news to me! About when is your interview, if you don't mind me asking?
 
I know how you guys feel about Miami. One of my friends that I've alluded to in the past is in the same boat as you. They've heard from out of state schools and other in state schools but not UMiami. I wonder if Miami is getting tougher on who they let in or in terms of what they are looking for extracurricularly or some other factor. I really do.

I don't want to get anybody anxious, but there is probably some truth to the competitiveness argument. In the acceptance letter, it said that they received more than 4400 applications this year.
 
I don't want to get anybody anxious, but there is probably some truth to the competitiveness argument. In the acceptance letter, it said that they received more than 4400 applications this year.

I also agree. I think this year is the first in which UM opened up their secondary to all applicants (in all states) who sent their primary application to the Miller School of Medicine.

But to look at things from a broader angle, 4400 applications is slightly less competitive than the 13,000 applications GW, Temple, BU, and others receive. It's still good to be a Floridian!
 
Wow, one week turn-around in January! You must have some amazing numbers and/or EC's. Still, I think my numbers are slightly above average at UF, so your interview is good news to me! About when is your interview, if you don't mind me asking?

I think my numbers are slightly below average for UF so I'm not sure why I got such a quick turnover. I am a non-trad student and have had some interesting life experiences (I don't if this helped??) My interview is scheduled for March 7.
 
I think my numbers are slightly below average for UF so I'm not sure why I got such a quick turnover. I am a non-trad student and have had some interesting life experiences (I don't if this helped??) My interview is scheduled for March 7.
I am also bewildered by UF(and other schools for that matter). My stats are above average for UF and I still havent heard anything from them. I have been complete since the end of october. I guess it does not matter for me anyway since I will decline their interview. But seriously, why havent they called. Jennifer, I thought you were pretty set on USF?
 
I am also bewildered by UF(and other schools for that matter). My stats are above average for UF and I still havent heard anything from them. I have been complete since the end of october. I guess it does not matter for me anyway since I will decline their interview. But seriously, why havent they called. Jennifer, I thought you were pretty set on USF?

I think she was but we all encouraged her to go to the interview just to check out whether USF is really the one for her or whether she might like UF more. I don't know, I think it is better to go to more then one school unless you have some compelling reason why there's only one place you could go to med school.
 
Yes I am set on going to USF which is why I am not too sad that I haven't heard from Miami. I am a bit curious as to how the whole process of picking interviewees goes though. It seems so random! Maybe 20 years down the line I will be on an ADCOM and understand the secret formula:idea:.
 
Yes I am set on going to USF which is why I am not too sad that I haven't heard from Miami. I am a bit curious as to how the whole process of picking interviewees goes though. It seems so random! Maybe 20 years down the line I will be on an ADCOM and understand the secret formula:idea:.

yeah it would be nice to know how it all works. I would feel so bad putting anyone else through this tedious process. Congrats
On usf!
 
Yes I am set on going to USF which is why I am not too sad that I haven't heard from Miami. I am a bit curious as to how the whole process of picking interviewees goes though. It seems so random! Maybe 20 years down the line I will be on an ADCOM and understand the secret formula:idea:.

I can't speak for other schools but Dr. hinkley explained how they choose interviewees at Miami a few years ago.

They used to rank the applicants as their applications came in.

The ranking system was scored by the following measures out of 110 total points.

50 pts for your MCAT and GPA
20 pts for your direct clinical contact
15 pts for other extracurriculars
15 pts for LORs
10 pts for other adversities that you have overcome being taken into consideration.

Based on your numerical score, this is how they'd determine where you stood relative to other applicants to determine whether or not they wanted to give you an interview.
 
I can't speak for other schools but Dr. hinkley explained how they choose interviewees at Miami a few years ago.

They used to rank the applicants as their applications came in.

The ranking system was scored by the following measures out of 110 total points.

50 pts for your MCAT and GPA
20 pts for your direct clinical contact
15 pts for other extracurriculars
15 pts for LORs
10 pts for other adversities that you have overcome being taken into consideration.

Based on your numerical score, this is how they'd determine where you stood relative to other applicants to determine whether or not they wanted to give you an interview.

This is very good information. I always heard they rank applicants pre-interview, but never knew the method to their madness.
 
Yes I am set on going to USF which is why I am not too sad that I haven't heard from Miami. I am a bit curious as to how the whole process of picking interviewees goes though. It seems so random! Maybe 20 years down the line I will be on an ADCOM and understand the secret formula:idea:.

I'm glad to see you are set on USF. I have been more than happy with the education I have received as a soon-to-be graduate of the program.

The USF adcom process is not that tricky. All members vote at the end of the file presentation between 0-5. The average is taken and that decides if you are accepted immediately, waitlisted, or denied admission. There is no vote pre-interview. I hope that helps.
 
I can't speak for other schools but Dr. hinkley explained how they choose interviewees at Miami a few years ago.

They used to rank the applicants as their applications came in.

The ranking system was scored by the following measures out of 110 total points.

50 pts for your MCAT and GPA
20 pts for your direct clinical contact
15 pts for other extracurriculars
15 pts for LORs
10 pts for other adversities that you have overcome being taken into consideration.

Based on your numerical score, this is how they'd determine where you stood relative to other applicants to determine whether or not they wanted to give you an interview.
If that is the system at UM then I am curious as to what is holding my app back. I have been complete there for months and have heard nothing from them or USF. I am still favoring the notion that this year they are really upholding their VR scores as important. It is very likely that most people who got interviews there have 10+ on that section.
 
If that is the system at UM then I am curious as to what is holding my app back. I have been complete there for months and have heard nothing from them or USF. I am still favoring the notion that this year they are really upholding their VR scores as important. It is very likely that most people who got interviews there have 10+ on that section.

if you dont mind me asking, when were you complete at UM. You should definitely be in the running for UM, your scores are GREAT! That 9 should not get you down for UM
 
I'm glad to see you are set on USF. I have been more than happy with the education I have received as a soon-to-be graduate of the program.

The USF adcom process is not that tricky. All members vote at the end of the file presentation between 0-5. The average is taken and that decides if you are accepted immediately, waitlisted, or denied admission. There is no vote pre-interview. I hope that helps.

One of the reasons I like USF so much is because the admissions office is so helpful. They tell you exactly where you stand and how the process works. I like the fact that USF gets current m.d. students involved in the admissions process. It makes it seem more like a team instead of the normal student/faculty divide.
 
If that is the system at UM then I am curious as to what is holding my app back. I have been complete there for months and have heard nothing from them or USF. I am still favoring the notion that this year they are really upholding their VR scores as important. It is very likely that most people who got interviews there have 10+ on that section.

I think that might be a possibility, but you have a very strong score overall. I am surprised that you have not heard back. I know I have read that med schools look very closely at the VR scores because I think they directly correlate with your performance on the USMLEs. However, I still think you will be getting an interview from both USF and Miami even if it comes a bit late.
 
if you dont mind me asking, when were you complete at UM. You should definitely be in the running for UM, your scores are GREAT! That 9 should not get you down for UM
Back in October.
Thanks for the reply but I am losing hope since it is already late in the cycle and so many acceptances have already been offered. We'll see... I still have my fingers crossed.👍
 
I haven't heard from Miami and was complete in early Dec.

I have been complete at Miami since September and have heard nothing. I have interviewed at UF, Tulane, and FSU (but haven't been accepted yet), so I don't know why Miami is holding out. My stats are above their averages, and I think my resume is pretty balanced.

All the waiting is getting frustrating.
 
I was just offered an interview for both campuses for the University of Miami for feb. 24 and feb. 25. does anyone know if they are just interviewing for the waitlist now since its so late into the season or are there still spots still available? I'm out of state and was complete waay back in august/september.

i'm really excited and i hope to get in...but it'd be a real disappointment if i was paying all that money just to interview for a waitlist. i'm from CA by the way.
 
I have been complete at Miami since September and have heard nothing. I have interviewed at UF, Tulane, and FSU (but haven't been accepted yet), so I don't know why Miami is holding out. My stats are above their averages, and I think my resume is pretty balanced.

All the waiting is getting frustrating.
I hear you krizmizz. It is frustrating to not know what are they looking for.
Oh well... Another week of hoping for the best (March interview).
 
I can't speak for other schools but Dr. hinkley explained how they choose interviewees at Miami a few years ago.

They used to rank the applicants as their applications came in.

The ranking system was scored by the following measures out of 110 total points.

50 pts for your MCAT and GPA
20 pts for your direct clinical contact
15 pts for other extracurriculars
15 pts for LORs
10 pts for other adversities that you have overcome being taken into consideration.

Based on your numerical score, this is how they'd determine where you stood relative to other applicants to determine whether or not they wanted to give you an interview.

I'm curious as to where the personal statement and secondary essays fit into here. I was always under the impression that they mattered at least a little hehe.
 
As promised, I write to touch base with you regarding your status on
our waitlist. While I can't tell you that you've been accepted at this
point, I can tell you that I am still quite hopeful that you may well be
accepted later in the season.
Please be patient, however, as it
probably won't be until the middle of May before I have firm news movement on
our waitlist.


Did anyone else get this email? Does the bolded statement mean anything significant or does everyone get this message who has interviewed and not been immediately accepted?
 
As promised, I write to touch base with you regarding your status on
our waitlist. While I can't tell you that you've been accepted at this
point, I can tell you that I am still quite hopeful that you may well be
accepted later in the season. Please be patient, however, as it
probably won't be until the middle of May before I have firm news movement on
our waitlist.


Did anyone else get this email? Does the bolded statement mean anything significant or does everyone get this message who has interviewed and not been immediately accepted?

I got the same e-mail.
 
what school did you receive that email from?
 
I was just offered an interview for both campuses for the University of Miami for feb. 24 and feb. 25. does anyone know if they are just interviewing for the waitlist now since its so late into the season or are there still spots still available? I'm out of state and was complete waay back in august/september.

i'm really excited and i hope to get in...but it'd be a real disappointment if i was paying all that money just to interview for a waitlist. i'm from CA by the way.

Being that you are OOS it might be more difficult to get in. I don't think that they are only interviewing for the waitlist because I think schools tell interviewees when there are no seats left and I haven't heard that Miami is full. If you have above average stats for UM than I would say it is a good possibility you will get accepted even though you are OOS.
 
what school did you receive that email from?
 
As promised, I write to touch base with you regarding your status on
our waitlist. While I can't tell you that you've been accepted at this
point, I can tell you that I am still quite hopeful that you may well be
accepted later in the season.
Please be patient, however, as it
probably won't be until the middle of May before I have firm news movement on
our waitlist.


Did anyone else get this email? Does the bolded statement mean anything significant or does everyone get this message who has interviewed and not been immediately accepted?

That sounds really positive! Is that from USF?
 
i got that same email. Do you know how high you are on the waitlist?
 
If that is the system at UM then I am curious as to what is holding my app back. I have been complete there for months and have heard nothing from them or USF. I am still favoring the notion that this year they are really upholding their VR scores as important. It is very likely that most people who got interviews there have 10+ on that section.

I'm not sure about the Verbal thing; I interviewed at both schools with a 9. There's also some debate about which is more important, VR or BS. I'm not sure where the importance of VR came from, but it would make sense that it is telling of your ability to digest research articles, patient files etc, in a shortened period of time. However, I have heard from advisors and a few interviewers that the BS section is the most important; supposedly, these scores are what correlate most with USMLEs, Step 1. That being said, your application is very solid, and any stigma associated with the 9 melts away with the 13 and 14 it stands next to. I'm pretty confused why you haven't heard anything. I have two questions. You seem to have a strong background in research. Did you apply MD/PhD (I think these spots are harder to get), and have you had any success with any other research oriented schools?
 
i got that same email. Do you know how high you are on the waitlist?

They told me that I'm on the higher end of the waitlist. I saw some posts from last year and I noticed that they already started calling some people before May 15th 🙂 Hopefully that will be the case this year (even though I have a feeling they're going to make us wait)
 
I was just offered an interview for both campuses for the University of Miami for feb. 24 and feb. 25. does anyone know if they are just interviewing for the waitlist now since its so late into the season or are there still spots still available? I'm out of state and was complete waay back in august/september.

i'm really excited and i hope to get in...but it'd be a real disappointment if i was paying all that money just to interview for a waitlist. i'm from CA by the way.


First off, congratulations for being invited. 👍

They are definitely interviewing for successful matriculants, not for waitlist slots. If you have an invitation for interview and are an out of state applicant, statistically, you have just about a 1 in 3 chance of being admitted, which is about the same or better than most other private institutions. Just be yourself in the interview, it is very laid back and have an open mind at the Boca interview because you may be impressed. I am an in-state student and I interviewed and was accepted at both campuses, if you want to know anything about the interview, PM me.
 
I also agree. I think this year is the first in which UM opened up their secondary to all applicants (in all states) who sent their primary application to the Miller School of Medicine.

But to look at things from a broader angle, 4400 applications is slightly less competitive than the 13,000 applications GW, Temple, BU, and others receive. It's still good to be a Floridian!


4.400 applications is competitive, but i think we're forgetting the proportion of in-state, out-of-state students. non-residents make up approximately 18% of the class, and i'll take the guess that a large number of the 4,400 applications are OOSters.
 
As promised, I write to touch base with you regarding your status on
our waitlist. While I can't tell you that you've been accepted at this
point, I can tell you that I am still quite hopeful that you may well be
accepted later in the season.
Please be patient, however, as it
probably won't be until the middle of May before I have firm news movement on
our waitlist.


Did anyone else get this email? Does the bolded statement mean anything significant or does everyone get this message who has interviewed and not been immediately accepted?

i got the same e-mail, i think it was sent to those to the prospective ones on the waitlist. i dont think they'd send it to everyone on that list.
 
If that is the system at UM then I am curious as to what is holding my app back. I have been complete there for months and have heard nothing from them or USF. I am still favoring the notion that this year they are really upholding their VR scores as important. It is very likely that most people who got interviews there have 10+ on that section.

I got an interview in late October at usf, pretty early in the cycle. i had a 33 overall w/ a 7 on the verbal. so i don't think usf would exclude one so much on a subset score of the mcat. i kno that they are known for selecting candidates that emphasize volunteering and clinical experience. i have heard from friends receiving interviews and acceptances from UM w/ a high VR, but this is my only lead from that school on that issue. so it leads me to believe that school favors high VRs. i also have yet to hear back from UM.
 
First off, congratulations for being invited. 👍

They are definitely interviewing for successful matriculants, not for waitlist slots. If you have an invitation for interview and are an out of state applicant, statistically, you have just about a 1 in 3 chance of being admitted, which is about the same or better than most other private institutions. Just be yourself in the interview, it is very laid back and have an open mind at the Boca interview because you may be impressed. I am an in-state student and I interviewed and was accepted at both campuses, if you want to know anything about the interview, PM me.

At this stage of the application cycle, the Miami class is basically full. Everyone gets put on the waitlist. I been told that around Dec/Jan Miami class fills up. I interviewed in Feb last year and got waitlisted along with other people in my interview group. I know someone who had a 39 MCAT, interviewed very late and got waitlisted.

The great caveat is that the statistics of getting accepted off the waitlist at Miami are VERY good.
 
At this stage of the application cycle, the Miami class is basically full. Everyone gets put on the waitlist. I been told that around Dec/Jan Miami class fills up. I interviewed in Feb last year and got waitlisted along with other people in my interview group. I know someone who had a 39 MCAT, interviewed very late and got waitlisted.

The great caveat is that the statistics of getting accepted off the waitlist at Miami are VERY good.

Are you for sure? Because for students coming from other states, that is a raw deal if the the best they can do is get on the waitlist after paying so much to get over here. I know that at my Boca interview someone brought it up and Dr. Rose said they accept students throughout the cycle, but this may just be for Boca. Now, would the same thing about being waitlisted, apply if the OOS student was complete recently like in Dec or late Nov in the cycle, and the committee just now got to his application?
Thanks for any input.
 
If that is the system at UM then I am curious as to what is holding my app back. I have been complete there for months and have heard nothing from them or USF. I am still favoring the notion that this year they are really upholding their VR scores as important. It is very likely that most people who got interviews there have 10+ on that section.
I dont think verbal scores have much to do with it. I received an interview from both UM and USF (and was accepted 2 both miami campuses) with a verbal score of 8(my other two scores were real good).
 
i got the same e-mail, i think it was sent to those to the prospective ones on the waitlist. i dont think they'd send it to everyone on that list.
they dont send that email to everyone. I received a letter via snail mail saying they could no longer consider me for the class of 2012.
 
they dont send that email to everyone. I received a letter via snail mail saying they could no longer consider me for the class of 2012.

Oh wow. Sorry to hear that. I'm surprised that they're already notifying others on the waitlist that they're no longer considered. Where on the waitlist were you?
 
At this stage of the application cycle, the Miami class is basically full. Everyone gets put on the waitlist. I been told that around Dec/Jan Miami class fills up. I interviewed in Feb last year and got waitlisted along with other people in my interview group. I know someone who had a 39 MCAT, interviewed very late and got waitlisted.

The great caveat is that the statistics of getting accepted off the waitlist at Miami are VERY good.

I don't know if that is necessarily true. One of the girls I know in the Class of 2008, interviewed in Feb 2004 and was accepted right away. She outright asked them that question at the interview about whether they really had seats left or completely filled up.

I think there may be very few seats left but it probably isn't full completely just being more picky at this point. That's how it goes at a lot of schools. Even USF from my understanding, when she interviewed around mid spring was not necessarily outright full.
 
they dont send that email to everyone. I received a letter via snail mail saying they could no longer consider me for the class of 2012.

Where were you on the waitlist? That's odd. usually if you are on the waitlist they leave you on there. Were you put on the waitlist originally or rejected outright without a waitlist in between? Because usually waitlist means that no matter how high or low they keep you on there til the class is filled.
 
they dont send that email to everyone. I received a letter via snail mail saying they could no longer consider me for the class of 2012.


Sorry to hear abt the news... i kno they were letting people kno throughout the year if they were too far down the waitlist as opposed to letting them linger around and keep their hopes up for the whole year, something different than last year. i was on the waitlist for a while last yr too, but my chances were bad that it didnt really matter. i would of rather known earlier than later for me personally.
 
Thegold91,

The bright side is you got in both Miami campuses and Miami is one of the other med schools I really think is truly awesome. Good luck next year.
 
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