Is DMS impossible to get into?

[tennesseejed]

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I am applying to DMS for 2004 matriculation and want to know maybe what some successful candidates did to get in?

Maybe also some people who got rejected. What did you feel was your weak point?

I just want to know if there is a certain quality that DMS weights more heavily and if they just like smart easygoing people?

Thanks for posting!🙂

 

[fava]

i don't think dartmouth is unlike every other med school in terms of what they are looking for... it's the same old, same old.
the only extra info i can offer is:
i believe they split applicants up according to undergrad when evaluating apps, to better/more fairly compare, and they tend to interview the high-number superstars early on.

good luck, though. it's definitely not an impossibility (and the hospital is soooo nice!)

 

[PublicHealth]

"At Dartmouth, pretty much all of our applicants have high GPAs and MCAT scores. We're looking for students who are genuinely motivated to serve humanity."

-- Dean of Admissions at Dartmouth Medical School, 10/2002

 

[BerkeleyPremed]

When you say lack of clinical experience...do you mean lack of hospital volunteer work? Or just lack of any work in the healthcare field?

 

[Brickhouse]

Originally posted by PublicHealth
"At Dartmouth, pretty much all of our applicants have high GPAs and MCAT scores. We're looking for students who are genuinely motivated to serve humanity."

-- Dean of Admissions at Dartmouth Medical School, 10/2002

I don't think one presupposes the other. My MCAT was not blow-the-roof-off-the-mother fabulous, but I am definitely genuinely motivated to serve humanity and feel that I can still do so with the score I got. Am I right?

 

[loomis]

hi
i had very little clinical experience (and many years ago)...but did lots of research. got my acceptance last week (sent Oct 17th i think?). very excited! be happy to answer any q's....although i can only speak from my interview experiences 🙂 hope that helps

Originally posted by BerkeleyPremed
When you say lack of clinical experience...do you mean lack of hospital volunteer work? Or just lack of any work in the healthcare field?

 

[Suey]

What's considered insufficient amount of clinical experience? Would a year's worth of hospital volunteering be considered enough or too little?

 

[personal jesus]

Loomis
How did you hear from Dartmouth when they do not notify until Jan 1st?

 

[loomis]

dunno why i heard early...got it via snail mail date oct 17 (letter..forgot the actual mailing date since i was away interviewing the whole week). very personal touch...andy welch even wrote a handwritten thing accompanying the form accpetance letter. maybe others on this board have heard too? hope that helps 🙂

Originally posted by personal jesus
Loomis
How did you hear from Dartmouth when they do not notify until Jan 1st?

 

[fava]

yeah, i was accepted last year in october, too.
and that card thingy was a nice touch, i must say.

 

[ironey]

Originally posted by Moose1
you MUST declare your undying love for the area and the importance of rural health care. i feel they typically look for the usual credentials, but they really pride themselves on their location - they love it and so must you.

i feel they have a lot of non-traditional students as well, so they might offer additional experiences that applicants straight from college don't have. however, when i interviewed there, the other candidates were 20-24ish, so pretty young. we had to say a fun fact about ourselves and some of these fun facts were pretty impressive!!! but they weren't stated in a show-offy sort of way. the interviewees got along great.

a friend of mine got rejected and they told her that her lack of clinical experience was what did her in. they send out a wonderful DVD. i got mine after i was offered an interview, but i'm sure if you call them and ask them to send it to you, they would be happy to do it. it gives you a really good idea of the personalities of the students there and what they are looking for.

You do NOT have to have a stated intrest in rural health to be competetive for DMS admissions!! There is a Rural Health Scholars program to which you can apply once you get here, but the real emphasis of DMS is humanity in medicine.

The faculty works closely with the students and most have open door policies. The away rotations available are really amazing in both 3rd and 4th years. There is also the Brown-Dartmouth program where you spend the first two years in Hanover and then do year 3/4 rotations at Brown (your degree will ultimately come from Brown). People who are more interested in practicing in an urban area tend to apply to the B/D program.

If you're interested in learning more, PM me and I'll try to get back to you.

 

[UCLAMAN]

Originally posted by Moose1
you MUST declare your undying love for the area and the importance of rural health care. i feel they typically look for the usual credentials, but they really pride themselves on their location - they love it and so must you.

I disagree....Like someone pointed out earlier, Dartmouth is like any other medical school. They want a diverse class. Therefore it is not necessary for one to declare their undying love for the area or for a rural setting. If they want you and feel you would make their class great, then they would accept you.

I got accepted last year. I wasn't completely in love with the area(not that i didnt like it but i wasn't head over heels for it either). I am certainly not interested in rural healthcare. Nevertheless I was tempted to go because unlimited runs on a mountain with fresh snow woulda been great!(big bear, ca is a joke compared to new hampshire). But ya...I just wanted to dispel the myth that one has to must do things one set way to get into a certain school. I am proof of that.

 

[Xega]

Finally finishing up secondaries! For Dartmouth's second question "Please share with us something about yourself that is not addressed elsewhere in your application and which could be helpful to the Admissions Committee as we review your file. " is a response to this required? If so what sort of things did you put and is there something that they are specifically looking for.

 

[jlee9531]

Originally posted by Xega
Finally finishing up secondaries! For Dartmouth's second question "Please share with us something about yourself that is not addressed elsewhere in your application and which could be helpful to the Admissions Committee as we review your file. " is a response to this required? If so what sort of things did you put and is there something that they are specifically looking for.

its optional
and nothing in particular i think.

hmm...i just talked a bit more about me so they can get to know me a bit better.

life philosophy etc...

 

[topherius]

Wait--I don't think that question on the secondary is optional at all. As I understood it, that's something they're really going to look at closely. I would put a lot of time into it. I wrote mine about an extracurricular that I didn't mention at all in AMCAS and how it might tie into being a good doctor. Call the school if you're unsure, but I never saw anything about it being optional.

Personal Jesus, I don't know where you heard that thing about DMS not notifying until Jan 1, but it's not true. I also got my acceptance a couple of weeks ago.

To second what a couple of other people said, you definitely do NOT have to state any kind of interest in rural health to get into Dartmouth. They really just want to know that you're interested in patient care..."the humanity of medicine," as ironey put it.

To go back to the original question...I don't pretend to know what they're really looking for, but I met a bunch of the students and thought they were definitely the most easy-going group of any of the schools at which I've interviewed so far. So I would say just be yourself and you should be fine.

 

[ATPase]

topherius - When did you interview there?

 

[topherius]

I interviewed there...mmm...I think 9/30?

I don't think one presupposes the other. My MCAT was not blow-the-roof-off-the-mother fabulous, but I am definitely genuinely motivated to serve humanity and feel that I can still do so with the score I got. Am I right?

Absolutely. I think the point of that quote from the dean was that once you've gotten an interview they're not so interested in your stats any more. (Once again, I'm not claiming to really know what they're talking about, but...) If you can show them that you want to be a doctor because, basically, you want to help other folks, I think you've got a great shot at getting in. Me, for example--my scores were decent but not anything that would amaze people, and I made it. If you get an interview there, just sit back and relax! You've made the big cut, now it's just a matter of letting them know you're the kind of person they want! Cool beans.

 

[Giving My .02]

For those who have heard back did you Dartmouth or Dartmouth-Brown.

 

[topherius]

Dartmouth.

 

[loomis]

i also applied to just dartmouth md. good luck!!!

 

[ewing]

Dude,

The only med school I can think of that is impossible to get into is Princeton's. They have not yet accepted a single student, and have no intentions of accepting any in the forseeable future.

Seriously, though, you'll be fine. Good luck.

 

[Tezzie]

I was Dartmouth only also.

 

[ATPase]

Tezzie, did you get accepted? When did you interview?

 

[mlw03]

anyone hear anything from DMS lately? i interviewed on oct 30 and haven't heard anything back yet. i was told it would take at least a month to hear anything, but i've seen a couple of SND posters that heard back in about 2-3 weeks.

also, of those accepted, has anyone decided they will definately be attending?

 

[acretinmelon]

My boyfriend's aunt graduated from DMS. She was a pretty unremarkable student, to tell the truth. It was the only school she got into, and she got in off the waitlist. I don't have any of her numbres, but I think the fact that it was the only school she got into goes to show that it's definitely not impossible....good luck!

 

[sophRI]

don't worry if it's taking a long time to hear back. dms is really cautious about over-enrolling, so they are a little slow with sending out acceptances. a lot of people in our class didn't hear back for a long time and were worried, but, unless you get rejected, don't assume that they don't want you - it's just a small class and they want to keep it small. it couldn't hurt to send them more info if you're really interested.

nobody in our class has figured out exactly how admissions works. we all have very different backgrounds - it's not all about grades and stats - most people either had really good grades or really good mcats or something else really cool going on, but i assume that's the same everywhere. i had some clinical experience (nothing exceptional), and a year of lab research. community service is BIG up here, no doubt. other than that, it's all a mystery.

and to beat a dead horse, i know it's been said, but you don't need an interest in rural health to be up here. we have a lot of people who are very clearly not headed in that direction - i definitely stated no interest in rural health. it doesn't hurt to love the outdoors, though... it's beautiful up here if you like hiking, fly-fishing and snowboarding and skiing, but it is definitely an outdoor kind of place. i saw it as a perfect spot to go to school for a few years and i love it so far, even though i don't want to live in a rural area later on. i like that the class is small, that you run into your profs at the grocery store and they know your name, and that the lifestyle is outdoorsy (so we all stay in shape instead of being cooped up) and the students are really laid back.

hope something in there helps. i've got finals this week so i should probably go study.

 

[Lux Aeterna]

Man, DMS gave me the boot, and I kinda thought I'd have a good shot there. Wishful thinking, I suppose. I was really hyped about that Dartmouth-Brown program. Oh well, I guess it wasn't meant to be! 😉
ETA-it was a post secondary reject

 

[mlw03]

i'm just curious if anyone has heard anything from dartmouth lately. there's one dude posting that s/he has been accepted, and s/he's also been accepted to JHU, so i doubt hanover will be the final destination.

is dartmouth traditionally pretty slow on their acceptances? they sent out 250 or so last year - do they all come march or later?! see, i may sound selfish, but in reality i'm trying to be nice. if i get one DMS acceptance that'll open up 2 acceptances at FL schools, so i'm just doing my part to instill some yuletide cheer into floridian lives.

oh and just to make you northerners hate us more, today's high was just under 70 degrees, light breeze, no clouds. the girls are STILL wearing their tiny little tops. sigh... that will be one thing i'll miss if i go up north.

 

[pika7]

mlw03,
I'll try to answer both of your questions. First, when I was at Darmouth, the Dean said that they send out acceptances based on batting average-like scores. For instance, they start off in November/December with those scores great than 0.800. As the season progresses, they drop that cutoff score each time. The dean said that they traditionally accept 250 people out of 600 interviews. So I think you have a great shot if you get an interview.

I was really impressed with the Dartmouth program. The hospital was amazing (they fashioned it like a mall to provide people with comfort) and the faculty were extremely friendly. You were right, though, I've made the decision to attend JHU. So one more spot at Dartmouth opened up.

 

[Moose1]

mlw03....i sent you a PM about me, did you get it? it says your box is full. I'm going to be pissed if you didn't get it! It was a long one.

 

[Hermeone]

start pissing,
if it says that his/her box is full. he/she didn't get it.

 

[smartreader]

Does DMS accept any Canadian applicants? I'm wondering if DMS is worth my time and money when i apply next year. My stats are, B Sc (Physical Therapy) 3.71, 30P MCAT with significant clinical experience and clinical research.

 

[DMBUGA34]

mlw03....i sent you a PM about me, did you get it? it says your box is full. I'm going to be pissed if you didn't get it! It was a long one.

Yea, I've written him a couple while his box is full. Congrats on your acceptance, hopefully I'll get one soon! 🙂

Does DMS accept any Canadian applicants? I'm wondering if DMS is worth my time and money when i apply next year. My stats are, B Sc (Physical Therapy) 3.71, 30P MCAT with significant clinical experience and clinical research

Yes they do, so you might as well try. It says on pg 34 of their little veiwbook "about one in four students is either a person of color or an international student."

 

[Giving My .02]

I guess Moose1 and pika7 are hitting at about .800. Moose1 are you going there, or have you been accepted elsewhere.

 

[mlw03]

sorry all, but i don't know what's up w/my PM's. i have NOTHING in my box, so i don't know why it's saying i'm full and not sending stuff through. anyone who wants to PM me, please just send it to [email protected] instead.

 

[ixitixl]

Originally posted by ewing
Dude,

The only med school I can think of that is impossible to get into is Princeton's. They have not yet accepted a single student, and have no intentions of accepting any in the forseeable future.

Seriously, though, you'll be fine. Good luck.

Right. Until the purchase/takeover UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson which they are already in the process of doing. They are tired of being the only IVY without a medical school.

Oh right this is a DMS post. Even though Dartmouth is technically a private school, it gives preference to New Hampshire residents because the state doesn't have it's own medical school.

 

[dot]

has anyone been accepted to Brown-Dartmouth or is it too soon to ask? does anyone know whether they wait until the end of the season to notify Brown-Dartmouth applicant? thanks in advance for any reply 🙂

 

[tennesseejed]

just wanted to know your stats and stuff to see where I stand.

 

[ironey]

Originally posted by smartreader
Does DMS accept any Canadian applicants? I'm wondering if DMS is worth my time and money when i apply next year. My stats are, B Sc (Physical Therapy) 3.71, 30P MCAT with significant clinical experience and clinical research.

There are several Canadians and people of other nationalities at DMS. Go ahead and apply!

 

[tennesseejed]

Just bumping!