Michigan State University (MSUCOM) Discussion Thread 2013 - 2014

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Hey everyone, just had my secondary marked as complete last week. Hope they would at least review my file before the end of the cycle. Instead of posting my stats, I thought I'd say a prayer:

"O, most merciful and righteous adcom members of MSUCOM, true servants of our father, Dr. A.T. Still (peace and grace be upon his hallowed name), shine upon this humble applicant with thine benevolent eyes, and accept this noble sacrifice of a 3.72 post-bac sGPA as an offering of repentance for the wrongdoings of a sinful c3.15/s3.13 undergraduate life. May my 34 MCAT score forever be the enunciation of my dedication to the art of osteopathic medicine, and this modest 1000 hours of volunteerism please your insatiable appetite for serving mankind. Amen."

Good luck everyone! :luck:
 
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FuzzyMemory said:
Hey everyone, just had my secondary marked as complete last week. Hope they would at least review my file before the end of the cycle. Instead of posting my stats, I thought I'd say a prayer:

“O, most merciful and righteous adcom members of MSUCOM, true servants of almighty Dean Strampel, D.O, shine upon this humble applicant with thine benevolent eyes, and accept this noble sacrifice of a 3.72 post-bac sGPA as an offering of repentance for the wrongdoings of a sinful c3.15/s3.13 undergraduate life. May my 34 MCAT score forever be the enunciation of my dedication to the art of osteopathic medicine, and this modest 1000 hours of volunteerism please your insatiable appetite for serving mankind. Amen.”

Good luck everyone! :luck:
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OMG, I almost peed myself. Made my day. Thank you. :laugh:
 
runawaycar09 said:
I have like the exact same stats except I was complete 7/26. So I'm assuming we're just gonna wait more for them to get to our range. I'm planning on calling in late November regardless if I don't hear by then
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Did you have the same stats last year for the most part? Reapplicant right? If so, I really hope that your time comes soon. 🙂
 
StudyShy said:
Did you have the same stats last year for the most part? Reapplicant right? If so, I really hope that your time comes soon. 🙂
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No, I had a 3.0 scgpa last yr. I did the same phone interview with an advisor who told me to take post bacc classes. So this year I have a 3.8 scigpa, plus a couple hundred more volunteer hours. 27 MCAT. But yes reapplicant! Waiting is the worst. Thanks for the positive thoughts, and I send them right back to you 🙂
 
runawaycar09 said:
No, I had a 3.0 scgpa last yr. I did the same phone interview with an advisor who told me to take post bacc classes. So this year I have a 3.8 scigpa, plus a couple hundred more volunteer hours. 27 MCAT. But yes reapplicant! Waiting is the worst. Thanks for the positive thoughts, and I send them right back to you 🙂
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Thank you! 🙂

I think that you are golden this year! 🙂
 
Got an e-mail from MSU..heart jumped...now I'm a awake. 😳

There's an open house for the Macomb (9Am-12PM) and Detroit (1-4PM) campuses for Friday, November 8th.
 
This is a long shot, but is anyone able to save and send me the full MSU-COM secondary and instructions?

I would really like to see it
 
SFU said:
This is a long shot, but is anyone able to save and send me the full MSU-COM secondary and instructions?

I would really like to see it
Click to expand...

These are the prompts:

Describe in two to three paragraphs how you learned about the osteopathic profession and why you feel the profession is a good fit for you. (500 word limit)

What is your approach to leadership and how do you plan to utilize this approach throughout medical school? (250 word limit)

What do you believe, as a medical student, would be the three most important characteristics of professionalism? (250 word limit)
 
StudyShy said:
Got an e-mail from MSU..heart jumped...now I'm a awake. 😳

There's an open house for the Macomb (9Am-12PM) and Detroit (1-4PM) campuses for Friday, November 8th.
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I got it too. Anyone else going? I'm checking out Macomb.
 
Shinobiz11 said:
I got it too. Anyone else going? I'm checking out Macomb.
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I'm going to try to get a babysitter for the Detroit campus. Well, maybe I can bring the kids. My youngest went a med school interview last year in utero, lol! You should have seen their faces when I waddled in.
 
StudyShy said:
These are the prompts:

Describe in two to three paragraphs how you learned about the osteopathic profession and why you feel the profession is a good fit for you. (500 word limit)

What is your approach to leadership and how do you plan to utilize this approach throughout medical school? (250 word limit)

What do you believe, as a medical student, would be the three most important characteristics of professionalism? (250 word limit)
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I already had these, wanted to know about specifics of listing volunteer work, work experience and things like that. Is it true that they dont look at work experience?
 
SFU said:
I already had these, wanted to know about specifics of listing volunteer work, work experience and things like that. Is it true that they dont look at work experience?
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They only ask you to list your volunteer activities on the secondary. I'm not sure if they will totally dismiss your work experience but they definitely put more emphasis on volunteer hours.
 
SFU said:
I already had these, wanted to know about specifics of listing volunteer work, work experience and things like that. Is it true that they dont look at work experience?
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bionerd89 said:
They only ask you to list your volunteer activities on the secondary. I'm not sure if they will totally dismiss your work experience but they definitely put more emphasis on volunteer hours.
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Don't worry too much about the entering part of the volunteering hours. It does go by chronological order, and they only want short descriptions of what you did. They also want total number of hours and the name of the organization and your title from your volunteer experience. Do worry about the amount of hours. MSU students usually have a ton of hours.

There is also a section where you can put extra things about yourself such as big life changes (marriage, having a baby,moving from a different country) and where you can put upcoming events (taking a specific class, taking the MCAT, retaking a class, more shadowing, etc.).

I'm not sure how much weight, if any, is placed on prior work experience. For my own sake, I hope that it is taken into consideration especially to show that I can to school full time, work full time, have a family, volunteer, and not be stressed out. We'll see! 🙂
 
StudyShy said:
Don't worry too much about the entering part of the volunteering hours. It does go by chronological order, and they only want short descriptions of what you did. They also want total number of hours and the name of the organization and your title from your volunteer experience. Do worry about the amount of hours. MSU students usually have a ton of hours.

There is also a section where you can put extra things about yourself such as big life changes (marriage, having a baby,moving from a different country) and where you can put upcoming events (taking a specific class, taking the MCAT, retaking a class, more shadowing, etc.).

I'm not sure how much weight, if any, is placed on prior work experience. For my own sake, I hope that it is taken into consideration especially to show that I can to school full time, work full time, have a family, volunteer, and not be stressed out. We'll see! 🙂
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On a note on volunteer activities, how did you guys put in the end dates for the ones that you're still involved in? The system wouldn't let me leave the end date blank, so I just filled in the month that I was writing the secondary (ie. September). Good luck this cycle studyshy, you've been a big help in this thread for a lot of us 🙂.
 
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StudyShy said:
Don't worry too much about the entering part of the volunteering hours. It does go by chronological order, and they only want short descriptions of what you did. They also want total number of hours and the name of the organization and your title from your volunteer experience. Do worry about the amount of hours. MSU students usually have a ton of hours.

There is also a section where you can put extra things about yourself such as big life changes (marriage, having a baby,moving from a different country) and where you can put upcoming events (taking a specific class, taking the MCAT, retaking a class, more shadowing, etc.).

I'm not sure how much weight, if any, is placed on prior work experience. For my own sake, I hope that it is taken into consideration especially to show that I can to school full time, work full time, have a family, volunteer, and not be stressed out. We'll see! 🙂
Click to expand...

So there is still a section to put work experience correct? Also is there any limits on how many volunteer entries and work entries you can put?
 
SFU said:
So there is still a section to put work experience correct? Also is there any limits on how many volunteer entries and work entries you can put?
Click to expand...

There is no official section that is dedicated to work experience but they have this:

Instructions: You may use this page to provide bullet points of any additional information you feel will help us to get a complete picture of your life experience such as major achievements or explanations.
 
bionerd89 said:
There is no official section that is dedicated to work experience but they have this:

Instructions: You may use this page to provide bullet points of any additional information you feel will help us to get a complete picture of your life experience such as major achievements or explanations.
Click to expand...

That is dissapointing... alot of my research and other very important experiences we're paid. I still have a lot of volunteer work, but it's kind of sad not to be able to have a section on work experience.

Any chance someone can pm me the full secondary?😳
 
SFU said:
That is dissapointing... alot of my research and other very important experiences we're paid. I still have a lot of volunteer work, but it's kind of sad not to be able to have a section on work experience.

Any chance someone can pm me the full secondary?😳
Click to expand...

Not sure how to do that, as it's all electronic & you make entries like in your primary.

Here's the exact quote for the additional information section:

"Instructions: You may use this page to provide bullet points of any additional information you feel will help us to get a complete picture of your life experience such as major achievements or explanations.

Examples: Fluency in more than one language; family and/or personal health or life crises; major life events like marriage, birth of a child, long distance move, career change. You may also use the page to note pending activities such as job changes, shadowing or volunteer experiences."

Hope this helps.
 
FuzzyMemory said:
Not sure how to do that, as it's all electronic & you make entries like in your primary.

Here's the exact quote for the additional information section:

"Instructions: You may use this page to provide bullet points of any additional information you feel will help us to get a complete picture of your life experience such as major achievements or explanations.

Examples: Fluency in more than one language; family and/or personal health or life crises; major life events like marriage, birth of a child, long distance move, career change. You may also use the page to note pending activities such as job changes, shadowing or volunteer experiences."

Hope this helps.
Click to expand...

Thanks FuzzyMemory, I guess then saving as PDF wouldn't work or screenshot? (i guess that is alot of work too...)

Is there specific instructions for volunteer work then, and limits on amount of entries or characters etc?
 
yes it is ! anxiously waiting for a phone call all day sucks. I am on campus all day today, so I brought my charger in case my phone dies lol. hoping for some canadian lovin today 🙂
 
Congratulations to everyone accepted this week. People must be busy celebrating! 🙂
 
Bam Accepted!! IS, MCAT 25, GPA 3.71, ~1000 hours of volunteering. Secondary completed Aug 1st. Good luck to the rest of you!
 
Congrats to everyone who has received a call so far!! This Thursday-Friday roller coaster is quite the ride...
 
Hi All!
Congratulations to everyone that's accepted!

So - I was complete August 21. 26 MCAT, 4.0 Masters GPA (12 credits and counting...), 3.51 Postbacc, 3.1 UG sci GPA, 1093 volunteer hours (w/o high school), 1 year clinical trial monitor experience.

I desperately want to go to msucom. I've met with the advisors several times. I haven't heard back yet. Is it wise for me to schedule an appointment with an adviser? I want to emphasize that I have followed their advice like its my job (literally quit my job to complete postbacc courses, etc...). I also have specific questions for them regarding the program.
 
Meeting with advisers won't make your chances of acceptance any higher. If you have already sent in your applications to MSUCOM, then now all you can do is wait, I'm afraid. On the other hand, if you simply have questions, then there is no problem with meeting with them to have them answered.
 
lysine9740 said:
Bam Accepted!! IS, MCAT 25, GPA 3.71, ~1000 hours of volunteering. Secondary completed Aug 1st. Good luck to the rest of you!
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are you an URM? Because I was complete before you back in July and have way better stats, including much more volunteer hours. Otherwise, I don't understand.
 
Warnerade said:
He is taller
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Could be that, too, since physical height is also just about as fair and indicative of his/her medical skills and qualifications as any other physical characteristic you absolutely cannot control. Not trying to be rude, just pretty positive I'm not the only one experiencing the same frustration and confusion.
 
somenerv said:
Could be that, too, since physical height is also just about as fair and indicative of his/her medical skills and qualifications as any other physical characteristic you absolutely cannot control. Not trying to be rude, just pretty positive I'm not the only one experiencing the same frustration and confusion.
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You are right...you are not alone, my stats are also better than his and I am waiting patiently along with a majority of applicants....there is no need to call him out on anything, he could have amazing EC for all we know...just wait patiently...it's still early in the cycle my friend.
 
lysine9740 said:
Meeting with advisers won't make your chances of acceptance any higher. If you have already sent in your applications to MSUCOM, then now all you can do is wait, I'm afraid. On the other hand, if you simply have questions, then there is no problem with meeting with them to have them answered.
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Sure, understood. I wasn't meeting with them to increase my chances or as a sales pitch. I was wondering if it would be wise for me to meet with them w questions as a current applicant.
 
Warnerade said:
You are right...you are not alone, my stats are also better than his and I am waiting patiently along with a majority of applicants....there is no need to call him out on anything, he could have amazing EC for all we know...just wait patiently...it's still early in the cycle my friend.
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didn't mean to call anyone out. Just asking a simple question to better understand the "logic" that will ultimately decide my future. I appreciate the empathy tho
 
raidergoblue said:
Sure, understood. I wasn't meeting with them to increase my chances or as a sales pitch. I was wondering if it would be wise for me to meet with them w questions as a current applicant.
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Are you a reapplicant multiple times over? A post bacc gpa coupled with a master's curriculum seems like a long time to be taking their advice and not be getting the desired results... Unless your post bacc classes = your masters classes. Because if you took their advice with the post bacc classes and still didn't get in as a reapplicant, that's not very encouraging for those of us that also took their advice and are waiting for the results of all that extra money and time spent on said advice... I'm hoping this is your first or second time applying and if so, I would 100% meet with them again if I were you.
 
Well, I've been in the united states for about 15 years. But, I am a war refuge and escaped to the united states when I was young. I had a very powerful personal statement, and strong letters, which I believe helped me a ton. My ECs where all working with many different DOs and volunteering at hospitals. I also raised my MCAT from a 20 to 25 when I retook it. Which is what I believe they want to see.

I'm sure your time acceptance will come shortly. 🙂
 
lysine9740 said:
Well, I've been in the united states for about 15 years. But, I am a war refuge and escaped to the united states when I was young. I had a very powerful personal statement, and strong letters, which I believe helped me a ton. My ECs where all working with many different DOs and volunteering at hospitals. I also raised my MCAT from a 20 to 25 when I retook it. Which is what I believe they want to see.

I'm sure your time acceptance will come shortly. 🙂
Click to expand...

Kosovo or Former Yugoslavia I/m assuming ? 😛 similar story to you, though I am in Canada not in the USA. Hoping for some Canadian lovin soon, got my MCAT up to a 31 this summer, though gpa is poop with a 3.4 (upward trend though)
 
johnny122 said:
Stats please if you don't mind🙂
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IS, 27, 3.95. they told me i was told that i got accepted because i have strong rec letters and great community work. The person who called me was super nice. I was called from a 586 area code. I have a lot of volunteering and research but i believe that the type of work matters not the quantity.
 
Hey ChineseKid ! Any luck anywhere in the USA as a fellow canadian 🙂?
 
lysine9740 said:
Well, I've been in the united states for about 15 years. But, I am a war refuge and escaped to the united states when I was young. I had a very powerful personal statement, and strong letters, which I believe helped me a ton. My ECs where all working with many different DOs and volunteering at hospitals. I also raised my MCAT from a 20 to 25 when I retook it. Which is what I believe they want to see.

I'm sure your time acceptance will come shortly. 🙂
Click to expand...

I understand now. Thanks for clarifying and congrats
 
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