Is there some truth to med schools

[cottagepepper]

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Favoring their own undergrad students?
Does anyone know about UPENN? that's what my premed counselor seems to think and tell me, but I think he was trying to be encouraging.
UGh. Somebody just give me some notice about where I am going to get interviewed..! I was even going to try to go visit a psychic today... 🙁

 

[Gerg]

I dunno, but if you've networked appropriatly, then when you're in undergrad, you should find out who is on the adcom, and then work for their lab, kiss their ass, marry thier daughter, ect. This will help you get in.

 

[cottagepepper]

I dunno, but if you've networked appropriatly, then when you're in undergrad, you should find out who is on the adcom, and then work for their lab, kiss their ass, marry thier daughter, ect. This will help you get in.

Hmmm... Thanks for the ideas . Haha! 😀

 

[LauraMac]

I dunno, but if you've networked appropriatly, then when you're in undergrad, you should find out who is on the adcom, and then work for their lab, kiss their ass, marry thier daughter, ect. This will help you get in.

or marry their son... we're not all guys or lesbians.

 

[Gerg]

marry their son can be under ect.

notice how I put "their"

I sacrafice my ability to correctly use the english language for gender neutrality. Next time I put "Marry his daughter" when I'm talking about Adcoms, just because it's proper english to use the masculine form of the word when the subject's gender is unknown.

If you went to school in California and think I should use the "err" word..... I just want to type a string of expletitives.

PC is overrated.

 

[LauraMac]

marry their son can be under ect.

notice how I put "their"

I sacrafice my ability to correctly use the english language for gender neutrality. Next time I put "Marry his daughter" when I'm talking about Adcoms, just because it's proper english to use the masculine form of the word when the subject's gender is unknown.

If you went to school in California and think I should use the "err" word..... I just want to type a string of expletitives.

PC is overrated.

i know. i'm sorry. i don't know why i'm so obnoxious about this stuff.

 

[Gerg]

Sorry to jump at you Laura Mac, I don't hold you personally accountable. I like you. Let's be friends. (or as best friends as two complete strangers who type stuff to eachother over a public forum can be)

It's just one of my pet peeves. Just as what I did may be one of your pet peeves. There's nothing wrong with that.


"There ain't no good guy. There ain't no bad guy. There's just you and me, and we just disagree" - some 80's band.


Have a good day all!

 

[secretasianman]

aw how cute, friends..

 

[LauraMac]

Sorry to jump at you Laura Mac, I don't hold you personally accountable. I like you. Let's be friends. (or as best friends as two complete strangers who type stuff to eachother over a public forum can be)

It's just one of my pet peeves. Just as what I did may be one of your pet peeves. There's nothing wrong with that.


"There ain't no good guy. There ain't no bad guy. There's just you and me, and we just disagree" - some 80's band.


Have a good day all!

no problem. 🙂

haha, okay, let's be friends.

 

[Fermata]

At some schools there tends to be "feeder" colleges.

 

[bewitched1081]

look at the undergrads from which matriculants spent their undergrad years. some schools will show 20-30 undergrads from the same institution matriculating at their med schools each year.

 

[Neuronix]

Favoring their own undergrad students?
Does anyone know about UPENN? that's what my premed counselor seems to think and tell me, but I think he was trying to be encouraging.(

It's sort of a double-edged sword.

On the one hand, yes Penn does admit alot of its undergrads and the undergrads of Princeton since they're nearby and they don't have their own med school.

On the other hand there's good reasons for this. First, Penn undergrads are high-caliber, well-groomed Ivy Leaguers who have probably been gunning for med school since elementary school. Second, alot of students really want to stay in whatever area they're from. Many probably chose to come to Penn or an area school because they're from nearby, and when it comes down to it they're going to make Penn their first choice because they still wanna be close to home.

So admissions is well aware that we seem to favor our own. You have to take it into context that there are just a ton of high stat pre-meds running around here, and they're the ones getting in. Because of the perception that we so heavily favor our own, you still need to be a top applicant because you probably aren't going to get a break just because you're an undergrad here.

 

[linuxizer]

It's sort of a double-edged sword.
On the other hand there's good reasons for this. First, Penn undergrads are high-caliber, well-groomed Ivy Leaguers who have probably been gunning for med school since elementary school. Second, alot of students really want to stay in whatever area they're from. Many probably chose to come to Penn or an area school because they're from nearby, and when it comes down to it they're going to make Penn their first choice because they still wanna be close to home.

Well, there aren't a ton of Philadelphians at Penn, but there are definitely some (there's a rumour that Penn and the city struck a deal some time ago to admit a certain number of local students every year). But even the Penn undergrads who aren't from the area (e.g. me) would generally love to go to Penn, and will at least apply.

So admissions is well aware that we seem to favor our own. You have to take it into context that there are just a ton of high stat pre-meds running around here, and they're the ones getting in. Because of the perception that we so heavily favor our own, you still need to be a top applicant because you probably aren't going to get a break just because you're an undergrad here.

Another factor here is that rec letters tend to be from Med School faculty, which never hurts. One of the pre-med advisors here once claimed at a talk that ~80 undergrads apply to Penn Med every year and ~30 get in, which is sure a good bit better than the average acceptance rate. She actually said it to correct a perception among undergrads that Penn Med disfavors its own. Still, there are lots of reasons why the accept rate should be higher. I'd be willing to wager that at least 30/year here get into Harvard, WashU, Duke, et. al combined, and since students here are likely to apply, presumably those are the same 30 ridiculously-qualified students that are getting in everywhere.

Oh, and Neuronix, we're not all as lifeless as you make us sound 😛 . In my experience Penn kids tend to be the most well-rounded of schools of this calibre, but I'm also biased....

Ciao,
Ari

 

[velo]

I don't know if schools actually give special consideration to applicants from the undergrad campus, but it does seem that at most schools the undergrad university is well represented

 

[pbehzad]

I've heard emory gives preference to its undergrads. I think it helps cause the med school is well aware of the academic rigor at the corresponding undergrad school.

 

[Neuronix]

Well, there aren't a ton of Philadelphians at Penn, but there are definitely some

I said from nearby, and what I meant was the surrounding area -- i.e. NY, PA, NJ, DE, MD, etc... Not just Philadelphia.

One of the pre-med advisors here once claimed at a talk that ~80 undergrads apply to Penn Med every year and ~30 get in, which is sure a good bit better than the average acceptance rate.

Right, and my point was simply that a good fraction of the undergrads who are accepted will end up here because it's either close to home, they feel comfortable here after going to ugrad here, or both. That gives the perception that Penn favors its own, when in reality Penn undergrads are just the over-achievers I said previously. When I said that about the students earlier, I didn't mean that overachieving was exclusive to Penn--it's true of any Ivy and any other ugrad with a big name reputation.

Oh, and Neuronix, we're not all as lifeless as you make us sound 😛 . In my experience Penn kids tend to be the most well-rounded of schools of this calibre, but I'm also biased....

I wouldn't know, I haven't been a student at any of the other medical schools. Though I do know that my fiancee is a second year medical student at Temple and they have way more funding for and attendance at student events. The funny thing is that I remember when I was as excited as you are to be here... Kudos to you if you get through Cardiology (and all the modules before it) without losing 90% or more of that enthusiasm.

 

[missmod]

there are 19 kids from penn undergrad here in penn's ms1 class. neuronix is right about the whole hometown location thing but i think its even more so for penn because a lot of people tend to shy away from penn b/c they don't think philly is a nice place to live. me, i had spent 4 years here already and it really started to grow on me.

i do think there is a slight advantage to accepting your own. in pure money terms, if you have 2 kids who are exactly the same, maybe u want to accept the one from your undergrad (esp at a school like penn where the med school right on the campus) because they may have more loyalty to the school once they graduate (leading to donations, sending kids here, participating in alumni events, continuing to work here... etc.)

and yes, penn premeds are relatively low strung. this is because whartonites overshadow them in anal retentiveness and competitiveness.

 

[JM.]

Oh, and Neuronix, we're not all as lifeless as you make us sound 😛 . In my experience Penn kids tend to be the most well-rounded of schools of this calibre, but I'm also biased....

Ciao,
Ari

Who are you kidding!

 

[CanIMakeIt]

NC schools take tons of undergrads from their own school to their med schools..... ECU takes about 10-15/72, UNC takes about 20-25/160 and so do Duke and Wake Forest....

 

[SailCrazy]

"There ain't no good guy. There ain't no bad guy. There's just you and me, and we just disagree" - some 80's band.

That would be Dave Mason, Rock of Roll Hall of Fame inductee, former member/founder of Traffic, and all around good time guy... 😀
Dave Mason
Another Dave Mason site

 

[linuxizer]

Neuronix - Wasn't arguing, rather was intending to agree with most of your points, which apparently didn't come out. *Curses silly text-based media*.

I wouldn't know, I haven't been a student at any of the other medical schools. Though I do know that my fiancee is a second year medical student at Temple and they have way more funding for and attendance at student events. The funny thing is that I remember when I was as excited as you are to be here... Kudos to you if you get through Cardiology (and all the modules before it) without losing 90% or more of that enthusiasm.

Just to clarify, I was talking about undergrad, which is the only area in which I shall feel qualified to comment for another few years 😛.

Sorry to hear the social stuff isn't that great. Could explain all the med students participating in undergrad activities here, which I've always thought was cool. Ah, well, there goes a little of that enthusiasm LOL.

Take care, and congrats on your engagement.
Ari

 

[Neuronix]

Ah, my apologies. I'm in a bad mood. The cardio exam is notoriously impossible and this block is just a pain in the rear end. To make me even madder, the administration said yesterday we should not bring anything into the exam room but pencils, and to leave our backpacks elsewhere. Don't trust us eh? It was also our class that they sprung the "no questions allowed" rule and the "you must sign out that you didn't see any cheating" sheet on. I can only imagine the level of student unfriendliness they will spring on your class.

Further, the plastinated hearts that are available all the time for us to look at have been removed pre-exam. They're too afraid that one of us will steal one. Grrr... Quote the administration: "HOWEVER, you can use your atlas to study the structures." Thanks for the tip.

Regadless, I shouldn't take out my aggression on SDN, though it's so much fun! So again, I made a rash judgement that your earlier post was threatening when I realize it was not. Still, after interviewing October 8, I'm half-expecting an e-mail saying "Ok, no more interviews for you." I just don't know what to tell the applicants when they ask me "What do you like about Penn?"