Learning About Specific Medical Schools

[yellowfish]

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Hey everyone,

I was wondering for those of you who have applied to medical school, how did you learn about the specifics and particulars of each of the medical schools you applied to? I'm curious because I want to decide which medical schools I want to apply to or could see myself attending, and also so I have something real to say when I'm asked "Why [X] school?" in the secondaries and interviews.

How did you guys find out what a medical school is really like? Did you use the MSAR, or just read as much as possible off their respective websites?

Any advice or stories would be much appreciated!

 

[Slowpoke]

Ideally, you would be able to apply to ONLY the schools you were absolutely interested in and knew the opportunities and resources available at said school. However, medical admissions is tough and it is rather common for people to apply to many, many schools to garner an acceptance somewhere.

Here is my logic flow for the application cycle:

1) Use the LizzyM excel sheet to select schools which were in-line with my GPA/MCAT.

2) From the list of schools, remove the ones that were unreceptive to OOS students (my criteria was if the previous years matriculating class had a below 20% representation from OOS students then I would remove it from the list).

3) This left me with over 30 schools that were reasonable for me to apply to. As you may realize, at this point, I still have not done very much research on any of the schools. It was just not yet feasible to get invested in any one school for me as I was a very average applicant.

4) When I received secondaries, I would research the schools IF (and this is a big IF) the school asked for specifics of WHY X school. Otherwise, if the secondaries asked me to further expand on my motivation, future career goals or to exemplify my altruism I would be able to do it WITHOUT much research.

5) Only when I received an interview invite was when I genuinely tried to learn as much as I could about the school. Using the search function on SDN with the school's name (advanced search -> Search Titles Only -> input "school name") allows you to best understand the school through the eyes of current and past students.

6) Try to enjoy the ride for what it is. It was only by sitting down and forcing myself to write my personal statement that I could finally vocalize elegantly my reasons for why medicine. I would even go as far as to say that it was through my secondaries that allowed me to put my career aspirations in perspective (I am referring to you...UCSD secondary... 6300 character autobiography... 🙄)

 

[sector9]

Hey everyone,

I was wondering for those of you who have applied to medical school, how did you learn about the specifics and particulars of each of the medical schools you applied to? I'm curious because I want to decide which medical schools I want to apply to or could see myself attending, and also so I have something real to say when I'm asked "Why [X] school?" in the secondaries and interviews.

How did you guys find out what a medical school is really like? Did you use the MSAR, or just read as much as possible off their respective websites?

Any advice or stories would be much appreciated!

First of all, it's tough to know what a med school is really, really like before you're a student there. Of course, you can't try out a bunch of schools.🙂 Additionally, it's tough to really know what it's like without visiting the campus, talking to students in person, etc.

However, since you have to start somewhere, I would suggest looking at the MSAR to start off. You can eliminate a lot of schools quickly based on location, price, prereqs, stats, in-state eligibility/state ties, etc. From there, check out a school's website. I also spent time on a bunch of the school-specific threads to get a feel for each school. Usually users will post their impressions of interview day which can contain useful information.

You also should be aware of what is important to look for when you're picking a medical school. Since I haven't started medical school, I'll turn to the opinion of others more experienced in the process and point you to a few threads:
Suggested Questions to ask at each school, from a 4th year
The relevant section from NickNaylor's "Reflections/Thoughts on the admissions game" (article form here, thread form here. The article form is a little more polished version of NickNaylor's thoughts but I include the thread form too because you may find some of the other responses to be useful as well)
Applications Process: Looking back as a 4th year

The last think I'll say is that you've got the right idea. It really helps you a lot if you know why you're applying to each school before you write your secondary essays. The secondaries that I spent the most time on also ended up producing the best results from the admissions committees.

 

[thlaxer]

5) Only when I received an interview invite was when I genuinely tried to learn as much as I could about the school.

+1. Pretty much sums up my experience as well .

 

[NickNaylor]

Agree with the above. You gleam very little from websites and only a bit more from the interview day. You really can't get a good feel for a school until you're actually a student there. The website and interview day generally represent the school's "best face:" hopefully you pick a school that genuinely meant everything they said on the interview day.

 

[yellowfish]

Great information guys! I think I have somewhere to start now. I also have a better idea of what's important in a medical school and what's not so important, and what to look for when observing specific schools. Thanks a lot for the help!

Last question - any idea about how many schools, on average, might ask the "Why us?" question? Is it fairly ubiquitous, or more of a rarity these days?

 

[sector9]

Last question - any idea about how many schools, on average, might ask the "Why us?" question? Is it fairly ubiquitous, or more of a rarity these days?

Tatertots went through all of the trouble to make this spreadsheet (http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?p=10763720&postcount=17) a year and a half ago. Most of the prompts haven't changed but some of them have. Anyway, it should help you get an idea of what you're asking for.

If I had to guess, I'd say somewhere around 50%?😕

 

[yellowfish]

Tatertots went through all of the trouble to make this spreadsheet (http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?p=10763720&postcount=17) a year and a half ago. Most of the prompts haven't changed but some of them have. Anyway, it should help you get an idea of what you're asking for.

If I had to guess, I'd say somewhere around 50%?😕

This is a fantastic resource! Props to you for remembering it and to Tatertots for compiling it!

 

[Nooblet]

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[flatearth22]

I really wish the Allo/Preallo forums had a thread like this - http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=407104

I know there's a school feedback section on the interview feedback page (http://studentdoctor.net/schools/?view=allopathic) but there really aren't enough responses on there for the vast majority of schools for it to warrant anything. I guess you could talk to students at specific schools but what I've found is that so far the students you encounter on interviews are the super-enthusiastic bunch who won't say anything bad about the school. I feel an anonymous internet posting would give a more balanced view of specific schools which can lead to better decision making by prospective students.

 

[yellowfish]

The "why us" question is by far the most annoying question out there...

Love this flowchart though. Basically what I ended up doing although I didn't have it thought out so well. I'd also say that if you are particularly genuinely interested in a school, you could email them asking for student contacts within the school - usually MS4s who can look back and reflect on it all. I've been contacted once or twice this year by premeds asking general questions and didn't mind providing an honest answer

Hmmm. Good idea. When you say contact "them" should I just send an email to the general admissions office email?

 

[Nooblet]

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