Marian University (MU-COM) Discussion Thread 2014 - 2015

[Flagella]

Just completed my secondary, does anyone know how to submit the LORs to them? I can't find it anywhere!

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[JMS15]

Just completed my secondary, does anyone know how to submit the LORs to them? I can't find it anywhere!

There should have been an attachment sent with your initial supplemental application invite but it is also on the website under Application Process here:
http://www.marian.edu/osteopathic-m...s/doctor-of-osteopathic-medicine-(do)-program

 

[Flagella]

There should have been an attachment sent with your initial supplemental application invite but it is also on the website under Application Process here:
http://www.marian.edu/osteopathic-m...s/doctor-of-osteopathic-medicine-(do)-program

Got it, thank you!

 

[jafeel]

Just had my interview today. I am really impressed with Marian's facility, it seems that the faculty are really invested in their students and that the school of medicine has great potential. Definitely became one of my top choices after today.

 

[osteohack10]

Just had my interview today. I am really impressed with Marian's facility, it seems that the faculty are really invested in their students and that the school of medicine has great potential. Definitely became one of my top choices after today.

I was there yesterday and definitely enjoyed it. I was shocked at how big the interview groups were!

 

[MedOldAge]

I was there yesterday and definitely enjoyed it. I was shocked at how big the interview groups were!

Do you mean 50 or say 75 interviewees?

 

[Shinobiz11]

Do you mean 50 or say 75 interviewees?

There's 14 slots for the two groups, so 28.

 

[MedOldAge]

There's 14 slots for the two groups, so 28.

Thanks!

 

[chiralC]

Anyone else interviewing on the 18th? I'd be down to grab some dinner and/or some drinks and share a hotel or rental car!

 

[UBC2014]

Anyone else interviewing on the 18th? I'd be down to grab some dinner and/or some drinks and share a hotel or rental car!

I will be there, would be down to grab dinner and such either the night before or after the interview in the evening

 

[France07]

Hey all, I just submitted my primaries to a few schools to add a few to my list. I was originally done and submitted to a bunch of schools in June...have had three interviews, and am waiting to hear on two of them. I figured I would broaden my horizons to schools I would like to go to but originally didnt have the money to apply at. What do you think chances are, applying right now, kinda of mid-cycle? Can anyone say what my chances may be? Also, anyone from BYU apply here? If so, PM me?

 

[Higherprimate]

Hey all, I just submitted my primaries to a few schools to add a few to my list. I was originally done and submitted to a bunch of schools in June...have had three interviews, and am waiting to hear on two of them. I figured I would broaden my horizons to schools I would like to go to but originally didnt have the money to apply at. What do you think chances are, applying right now, kinda of mid-cycle? Can anyone say what my chances may be? Also, anyone from BYU apply here? If so, PM me?

I'm not from BYU but I am from UVU and just interviewed here on Friday. If there is anyway I can help let me know.

 

[Nectarine09]

Is anyone interviewing on the 17th? Trying to figure out hotel/car accommodations.

 

[deleted614224]

Hey all, just recieved an interview invitation for November. Rather nervous and excited here. More importantly, I am rather scared of the MMI style interview. Can someone give me more information about it and how to prepare for it?

 

[jafeel]

Hey all, just recieved an interview invitation for November. Rather nervous and excited here. More importantly, I am rather scared of the MMI style interview. Can someone give me more information about it and how to prepare for it?

Honestly, there's no point prepping for it. None of the stations required background knowledge.

 

[deleted614224]

Oh no... I am not saying about background knowledge but the general preparation to the interview itself. How to be in the interview zone when we have many different mini interviews to beat?

 

[601136]

Oh no... I am not saying about background knowledge but the general preparation to the interview itself. How to be in the interview zone when we have many different mini interviews to beat?

If you've successfully taken a class that focused on critical thinking then you should fare well. I have interviewed twice with MU-COM and I agree with jafeel that there's no point in prepping. If you're determined to prepare, then have someone create a few hypothetical prompts that present dilemmas for you. The topics are irrelevant and so are your answers, but you can practice composing multifaceted responses that attempt to examine all available options.

 

[MU COM]

Hold interview decisions for this week have been released.

Admissions

 

[Strokezone99]

II today!!! scheduled for 11/14. This is my first invite of the cycle. SO excited!!

 

[Patkay52]

II today!!! scheduled for 11/14. This is my first invite of the cycle. SO excited!!

When were you complete?

 

[AribaGirl]

Just rejected today after being put on hold pre-interview 09/19. Good luck to the rest of you

 

[Osteopath999]

Just rejected today after being put on hold pre-interview 09/19. Good luck to the rest of you

I was also on hold, but I got a MU-COM application update today saying that interview invite is deferred due to my slightly less competitive GPA for automatic interview invite, and interview invite will be decided after my grades update for the most recent semester. I have recently updated AACOMAS with my grades for summer 2014. Hope it will save me a spot for the interview.

 

[WorldChanger36]

Rejected today

 

[mike222222222222222]

I was also on hold, but I got a MU-COM application update today saying that interview invite is deferred due to my slightly less competitive GPA for automatic interview invite, and interview invite will be decided after my grades update for the most recent semester. I have recently updated AACOMAS with my grades for summer 2014. Hope it will save me a spot for the interview.

I updated AACOMAS with my grades but when I called my school, the school said they never received any updates from aacomas. I would recommend you to contact mu-com to make sure that they have received your most recent grades from aacomas. I am not sure if mu-com accepts direct transcripts. If they do, I would directly send them the transcripts. Good luck.

 

[pollos]

I was also on hold, but I got a MU-COM application update today saying that interview invite is deferred due to my slightly less competitive GPA for automatic interview invite, and interview invite will be decided after my grades update for the most recent semester. I have recently updated AACOMAS with my grades for summer 2014. Hope it will save me a spot for the interview.

So they essentially automatically give interviews to people with high GPAs?

 

[OsteopathicHopeful]

So they essentially automatically give interviews to people with high GPAs?

I wonder whats considered a high GPA???

 

[pollos]

I wonder whats considered a high GPA???

Yeah I'd like to know as well, although I'm sure I don't make the cut, somewhat disheartening

 

[MU COM]

So they essentially automatically give interviews to people with high GPAs?

Not exactly. If one part of an application is less competitive than the whole, MU-COM defers an interview decision for more grades or a planned MCAT score. Essentially, we provide the applicant an opportunity to improve instead of rejecting outright. We believe this approach is more fair and holistic.

Admissions

 

[Osteopath999]

So they essentially automatically give interviews to people with high GPAs?

I think what they mean by "automatic" is that they have a cut off for GPA (mostly more weight on science GPA I guess) for the applicants they are interested in to offer the interview invite. For me, since my gpa is probably slightly below their "competitive GPA" (i quote them, and I have no idea what is the cut off for GPA) , so they need to see improvement in GPA before they can offer me the interview. So for those with high GPAs, but if they are not interested in offering interviews (due to other factors of your application) to those folks, those applicants can be put on hold or completely out of the game.

 

[Osteopath999]

I updated AACOMAS with my grades but when I called my school, the school said they never received any updates from aacomas. I would recommend you to contact mu-com to make sure that they have received your most recent grades from aacomas. I am not sure if mu-com accepts direct transcripts. If they do, I would directly send them the transcripts. Good luck.

Thank you for advice ! I have consistently kept in touch with MU-COM admission staff, and always let them know if I have any updates. Hope everything goes well !

Question for @MU COM , does MU-COM receive direct transcript update from school?

 

[pollos]

Not exactly. If one part of an application is less competitive than the whole, MU-COM defers an interview decision for more grades or a planned MCAT score. Essentially, we provide the applicant an opportunity to improve instead of rejecting outright. We believe this approach is more fair and holistic.

Admissions

Thank you for the clarification.

I think what they mean by "automatic" is that they have a cut off for GPA (mostly more weight on science GPA I guess) for the applicants they are interested in to offer the interview invite. For me, since my gpa is probably slightly below their "competitive GPA" (i quote them, and I have no idea what is the cut off for GPA) , so they need to see improvement in GPA before they can offer me the interview. So for those with high GPAs, but if they are not interested in offering interviews (due to other factors of your application) to those folks, those applicants can be put on hold or completely out of the game.

I see, looking at the underdawgs thread I saw your stats which my sGPA is slightly lower than yours. I'm assuming I'll get the same response but I don't have any planned courses at all. Wish I would have know this before I paid for my secondary since it seems my chances are slim to none now. I suppose I could call them and ask what my options are.

 

[MU COM]

I think what they mean by "automatic" is that they have a cut off for GPA (mostly more weight on science GPA I guess) for the applicants they are interested in to offer the interview invite. For me, since my gpa is probably slightly below their "competitive GPA" (i quote them, and I have no idea what is the cut off for GPA) , so they need to see improvement in GPA before they can offer me the interview. So for those with high GPAs, but if they are not interested in offering interviews (due to other factors of your application) to those folks, those applicants can be put on hold or completely out of the game.

We have preferred metrics for interview invitations but they are not hard and fast cut-offs. As such, applicants are invited to interview [and get admitted] with less than those metrics when the holistic review warrants it.

Admissions

 

[MU COM]

Thank you for advice ! I have consistently kept in touch with MU-COM admission staff, and always let them know if I have any updates. Hope everything goes well !

Question for @MU COM , does MU-COM receive direct transcript update from school?

We do but it is not preferred. Updating your AACOMAS application is the only official way. It is also important to note that we [MU-COM] do not recalculate GPAs. Only AACOMAS does.

Admissions

 

[deleted614224]

If you've successfully taken a class that focused on critical thinking then you should fare well. I have interviewed twice with MU-COM and I agree with jafeel that there's no point in prepping. If you're determined to prepare, then have someone create a few hypothetical prompts that present dilemmas for you. The topics are irrelevant and so are your answers, but you can practice composing multifaceted responses that attempt to examine all available options.

Thank you. That sounds like a very nice way to practise. If nothing else, it will help me to reduce stress and anxiety associating with interview. Hopefully, at the end, we all will be accepted somewhere on this continent.

 

[studentp0x]

I wonder whats considered a high GPA???

3.40 is competitive/preferred (based on their website and the general trend). Less than that... not so much. This is for the cGPA btw.

 

[OsteopathicHopeful]

3.40 is competitive/preferred (based on their website and the general trend). Less than that... not so much. This is for the cGPA btw.

Good point.... I'm above that

 

[MU COM]

3.40 is competitive/preferred (based on their website and the general trend). Less than that... not so much. This is for the cGPA btw.

"Results in improved chances for acceptance" is what our website says. The earlier discussion was about interview invitations. Also, the figure quoted is an average so half are above/half below.

Admissions

 

[Strokezone99]

When were you complete?

Was complete on 9/16, put on hold 9/19, and invited for interview on 10/7.

 

[601136]

 

[studentp0x]

Good point.... I'm above that

Well there's many ways of looking at it really. Generally speaking, someone who was working during school as well as doing lots of ECs will get a bit of leeway with their GPA if their MCAT score is high and everything else is good. Or if their GPA is slightly lower due to one poor semester that happened due to an incident or something.
It makes sense anyway, if someone's GPA is a little lower because they couldnt devote as many hours as they'd like due to legit reasons... then they deserve some leeway. Whereas someone with a solid GPA who wasn't doing as much outside of school doesn't deserve the same leeway.

 

[pollos]

Well there's many ways of looking at it really. Generally speaking, someone who was working during school as well as doing lots of ECs will get a bit of leeway with their GPA if their MCAT score is high and everything else is good. Or if their GPA is slightly lower due to one poor semester that happened due to an incident or something.
It makes sense anyway, if someone's GPA is a little lower because they couldnt devote as many hours as they'd like due to legit reasons... then they deserve some leeway. Whereas someone with a solid GPA who wasn't doing as much outside of school doesn't deserve the same leeway.

I'm hoping this is what will keep me from getting a flat out rejection from them. I had one real bad semester due to a family crisis which I explained in my secondary. Really hoping for love from this school!

 

[deleted614224]

Was complete on 9/16, put on hold 9/19, and invited for interview on 10/7.

I see that you are planning to go to the interview on the 11th next month. Hopefully we will meet each other.

 

[deleted614224]

I see that you are planning to go to the interview on the 11th next month. Hopefully we will meet each other.

I mean the 14th next month.

 

[MU COM]

Initial interview decisions for this week will start today and conclude on Friday.

Admissions

 

[Clinicall]

.

 

[deleted614224]

To everyone, regarding photo, how official does it have to be and can it affect our chance of acceptance? The email said it should be a passport type photo. I don't like my passport photo; you can't smile or do anything really. It looks as if I want to eat the person who is taking it.

 

[yocharlie]

To everyone, regarding photo, how official does it have to be and can it affect our chance of acceptance? The email said it should be a passport type photo. I don't like my passport photo; you can't smile or do anything really. It looks as if I want to eat the person who is taking it.

Highly doubt it will affect your chances unless its a picture of you doing something stupid or unprofessional. Just slap on a nice button up, find a white wall, and use a cell phone and send that in.

 

[MU COM]

To everyone, regarding photo, how official does it have to be and can it affect our chance of acceptance? The email said it should be a passport type photo. I don't like my passport photo; you can't smile or do anything really. It looks as if I want to eat the person who is taking it.

This was answered earlier in the thread.

MU-COM

 

[TennisGumbi]

Hey all, just recieved an interview invitation for November. Rather nervous and excited here. More importantly, I am rather scared of the MMI style interview. Can someone give me more information about it and how to prepare for it?

First of all, CONGRATS on your II-- very exciting!

Like you, I was initially nervous about the MMI format. So to prepare for last weekend's interview, I watched videos, practiced with loved ones (i.e., I drove them crazy), read a medical ethics book, and so on. In the end, over-preparing was counter-productive because it made me extremely nervous-- which in turn led me to over-think all of my prompts and occasionally ramble like a buffoon.

In the end, I had no reason to be nervous because the majority of the interviewers were friendly, and the prompts were interesting, but not too difficult. Even though I think that my nerves may have negatively impacted my performance (I guess I'll find out in the next 1-8 days... Not that I'm counting...ha), I enjoyed the experience nevertheless. Even though MMIs are standardized evaluations, the overall tone of the 'assessments' were more like having 'office hours' conversations with your favorite college professors. They want you to feel comfortable because they want to get to know the 'real' you. Remember— you're interviewing MU-COM as much as they're interviewing you, so they want you to succeed and have as pleasant of an experience as possible.

The best advice I can give you is to prepare in whatever way that'll give you the most confidence. If reading a million articles and practicing with others gives you confidence, then go for it. If just YouTubing a couple of videos and reading your application over a few times does the trick, then do that. Personally, if I could do it all over again, I would have put in far more time reflecting on my application and life experiences to integrate into my answers rather than reading the ins-and-outs of every conceivable 'category' of MMI topic. The point of an MMI is that you can't prepare for every scenario, so what you really need is confidence and some familiarity with the format (and just in case you don't have the latter, they do provide a brief MMI presentation beforehand).

I know it's easier said than done, but just try to relax and have as much fun as possible while putting your best foot forward. You will have a great experience, I promise! Good luck!

 

[MPHOrtho13]

Even though I think that my nerves may have negatively impacted my performance (I guess I'll find out in the next 1-8 days... Not that I'm counting...ha), I enjoyed the experience nevertheless.

Ditto! I've been checking my phone and e-mail like it's my job. It's not like I have midterms to study for...

Don't worry, I was extra nervous for mine also (and I am not one to get nervous). Nerves happen.

Just try to stay positive...You did your best, and it's out of your hands now. Besides, I'm sure you did better than you think. Worst case scenario, if you don't get the news you were hoping for, you can always ask for constructive feedback so that you may grow from the experience. Besides, the fact that you made it this far means that you have a very, very bright future ahead of you.

To everyone prepping for interviews... Just relax and be yourself. I can assure you that the interview will most likely be far more intimidating and nerve wrecking in your mind than it will be in real life. Everyone I encountered was incredibly nice, and it truly had a 'conversational' feel.

Good luck everyone!