MSU-COM Discussion Thread 2012-2013

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Yea every doc I've shadowed say that the hardest part of med school is getting in and we can all relate to that now. But my bad man I was reading back and realized 100312 was the guy that applied last year and didn't get looked at. Didn't mean to put you on the spot runaway about your stats but good luck!
 
Yea every doc I've shadowed say that the hardest part of med school is getting in and we can all relate to that now. But my bad man I was reading back and realized 100312 was the guy that applied last year and didn't get looked at. Didn't mean to put you on the spot runaway about your stats but good luck!

Yep that's what I've heard too. Haha and it's alright, that's what I figured. Good luck to you, too!
 
Question for you guys...what schools are you from and how many ppl from there applied to msucom that you know of. I went to SVSU and I think there was only 5 of us who applied. I figured that if msu takes 320 students at least 250+ have to be IS.
 
Question for you guys...what schools are you from and how many ppl from there applied to msucom that you know of. I went to SVSU and I think there was only 5 of us who applied. I figured that if msu takes 320 students at least 250+ have to be IS.


"More than 86 percent of the students in the 2012 entering class are Michigan residents."

According to the above info found on MSUCOM's website, if they take 320 students, > 275 (86%) would be IS.

I believe the entering class is 300 by the way.
 
Oh well, I'm OOS, so I guess I just keep my hope low then.
 
Oh well, I'm OOS, so I guess I just keep my hope low then.

I think there was a discussion earlier in this thread about why there is such a large percentage of in-staters. While obviously they are a public school and prefer in-state, I don't think that should give OOS-ers less hope - because many OOS-ers who are accepted will likely choose another school over this one due to the CRAZY tuition they have for OOS. If people have another option, a lot of the time they just don't want to spend that much money.

So don't be too discouraged, it's not that unlikely that you'll get some MSUCOM love 😉
 
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Thanks Dr.Meows for your thoughtful encouragement,

My sentiments have been fluctuating from anxious anticipation to dreary despair these days. I guess I just have to keep faith in myself and find a way to approach this whole process with peace.

and yes! MSUCOM love for you too! Woohoo!!
 
Alright I have a quick Q about the professional form in the application packet. Section 15 says to list all activities since high school...Is this seriously just asking us to re-state EVERYTHING we already filled out in our primary and the MSU secondary?
Also, I am not sure how credits work in the US as I am Canadian. I believe after graduation I will have a US equivalent of 120 semester hours. Would this be equal to 120 credits?
Thanks!
 
Thanks Dr.Meows for your thoughtful encouragement,

My sentiments have been fluctuating from anxious anticipation to dreary despair these days. I guess I just have to keep faith in myself and find a way to approach this whole process with peace.

and yes! MSUCOM love for you too! Woohoo!!

IS or OOS amen to that!
 
Alright I have a quick Q about the professional form in the application packet. Section 15 says to list all activities since high school...Is this seriously just asking us to re-state EVERYTHING we already filled out in our primary and the MSU secondary?
Also, I am not sure how credits work in the US as I am Canadian. I believe after graduation I will have a US equivalent of 120 semester hours. Would this be equal to 120 credits?
Thanks!

Actually it is asking for a list that includes high school activities.
 
Actually it is asking for a list that includes high school activities.
Whatever, I just wanted to know if this is what it is asking. Ie restate everything that we already told them 2 times
 
Whatever, I just wanted to know if this is what it is asking. Ie restate everything that we already told them 2 times

Sure, if you already told them everything about all the activities including high school I guess the task is simple for you. Some people use this as a chance to expand on the extent of their activities.
 
Alright I have a quick Q about the professional form in the application packet. Section 15 says to list all activities since high school...Is this seriously just asking us to re-state EVERYTHING we already filled out in our primary and the MSU secondary?
Also, I am not sure how credits work in the US as I am Canadian. I believe after graduation I will have a US equivalent of 120 semester hours. Would this be equal to 120 credits?
Thanks!

For some reason I thought it was asking for employment activities only and that's all I filled in (I guess I got this impression from the examples given). With the little space allotted, I didn't think it was meant to for us to re-state everything we've included in our non-academic worksheet. May have to clarify with one of the admissions advisors.
 
For some reason I thought it was asking for employment activities only and that's all I filled in (I guess I got this impression from the examples given). With the little space allotted, I didn't think it was meant to for us to re-state everything we've included in our non-academic worksheet. May have to clarify with one of the admissions advisors.

I'm just going to send them pretty much a copy-and-pasted activities sheet from the secondary - at least this way they have everything they will need. Does anyone know what I should put for credits? Is it equal to semester hours?
 
I'm just going to send them pretty much a copy-and-pasted activities sheet from the secondary - at least this way they have everything they will need. Does anyone know what I should put for credits? Is it equal to semester hours?


I would assume that semester hours are equal to credit hours, but you should email one of the admissions advisors just to be sure--they are all very helpful.
 
Im applying too guys! Cgpa 3.64 Sgpa 3.94 waiting on my mcat score. My EC's are solid as are my LOR's. Hope we all get accepted. Does anybody know how MSU conducts their interviews?


MSUCOM doesn't conduct interviews, but the secondary application is quite extensive.
 
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Im applying too guys! Cgpa 3.64 Sgpa 3.94 waiting on my mcat score. My EC's are solid as are my LOR's. Hope we all get accepted. Does anybody know how MSU conducts their interviews?

Are you applying this year? How are you waiting on your MCAT score? Because the latest date in September would have been out by now...
 
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Yea every doc I've shadowed say that the hardest part of med school is getting in and we can all relate to that now. But my bad man I was reading back and realized 100312 was the guy that applied last year and didn't get looked at. Didn't mean to put you on the spot runaway about your stats but good luck!


I can assure you, getting in is not the hardest part. While I thought the application process was very difficult, the schooling is much, much harder. I, too, heard people say that many times and was caught very off-guard by the difficulty. I was always told that around 98% of the class that started would graduate. So far, we have lost over 20 people in EL alone from what I have heard. Many dropped out because of the stress and not because they were failing. Many are failing, have failed biochem so be ready for it and do very well on the first exam (near 60% of your biochem grade). I myself was just put on anti-anxiety medication because I am having a difficult time coping with the stress, and I was never stressed in undergrad. The new curriculum seems to be designed to do this. One professor told me that they expected us to be studying all day, every day. That is basically what most of us do. I had a 4.0 undergrad GPA and a 30 MCAT so I thought I would be fine, I was wrong. While I am doing well in all my classes, the stress is truly crushing me and many around me. I know I'm not the only one that feels this way. I am not trying to deter you from your lifes mission, just trying to forewarn you to not listen to those that say "getting in was the easiest part". Good luck to you all and I look forward to meeting you. I will not sugar coat the curriculum and the school like many will. Also, I am only one persective so take what I say with a grain of salt, but these are my true thoughts. There is a great deal of comradery and genuinely awesome people, these are the only saving graces to me.
 
I can assure you, getting in is not the hardest part. While I thought the application process was very difficult, the schooling is much, much harder. I, too, heard people say that many times and was caught very off-guard by the difficulty. I was always told that around 98% of the class that started would graduate. So far, we have lost over 20 people in EL alone from what I have heard. Many dropped out because of the stress and not because they were failing. Many are failing, have failed biochem so be ready for it and do very well on the first exam (near 60% of your biochem grade). I myself was just put on anti-anxiety medication because I am having a difficult time coping with the stress, and I was never stressed in undergrad. The new curriculum seems to be designed to do this. One professor told me that they expected us to be studying all day, every day. That is basically what most of us do. I had a 4.0 undergrad GPA and a 30 MCAT so I thought I would be fine, I was wrong. While I am doing well in all my classes, the stress is truly crushing me and many around me. I know I'm not the only one that feels this way. I am not trying to deter you from your lifes mission, just trying to forewarn you to not listen to those that say "getting in was the easiest part". Good luck to you all and I look forward to meeting you. I will not sugar coat the curriculum and the school like many will. Also, I am only one persective so take what I say with a grain of salt, but these are my true thoughts. There is a great deal of comradery and genuinely awesome people, these are the only saving graces to me.

Wow, way to be a Debbie Downer haha..just kidding, not trying to downplay what you are saying but also a little disturbed by those drop-out numbers. I have a ton of friends who are in/already made it through med school, and they said only a handful of people in their class actually didn't make it...and like you mentioned, some of them quit but not necessarily because they were failing...

Regardless, I think it's smarter to go into it a little optimistic as opposed to preparing yourself for failure. I mean if you think you can't make it, why would you even start this insanely difficult/stressful process in the first place?
 
I think that the hardest part is to maintain your sanity throughout the whole process, from prepping for the MCAT, applying to med schools, surviving the brutal curriculum, all the way to practicing the profession.

Back in my undergrad time, the amount of people who dropped out of pre-med program by the time I graduated was alarming. I guess the profession just weeds out people step by step like that.

EdVedDO, Is it even possible at all for you to de-stress somehow? I'm not in med school yet so I'd appreciate your insight.
 
Alright I have a quick Q about the professional form in the application packet. Section 15 says to list all activities since high school...Is this seriously just asking us to re-state EVERYTHING we already filled out in our primary and the MSU secondary?
Also, I am not sure how credits work in the US as I am Canadian. I believe after graduation I will have a US equivalent of 120 semester hours. Would this be equal to 120 credits?
Thanks!

I'm confused. Do you get an application package after acceptance?😕
 
Is anyone visiting the campus in November? Any Michigan people know how the weather is usually like around that time?
 
acceptance packet *.. good catch lol

Now I see why I did not understand your earlier questions. I thought you were talking about the secondary that whole time. My bad...I couldn't figure out why you were filling out your secondary application so late.
 
Is anyone visiting the campus in November? Any Michigan people know how the weather is usually like around that time?

Cold, snow, cold, cloudy, snow, oh and cold.
 
Wow, way to be a Debbie Downer haha..just kidding, not trying to downplay what you are saying but also a little disturbed by those drop-out numbers. I have a ton of friends who are in/already made it through med school, and they said only a handful of people in their class actually didn't make it...and like you mentioned, some of them quit but not necessarily because they were failing...

Regardless, I think it's smarter to go into it a little optimistic as opposed to preparing yourself for failure. I mean if you think you can't make it, why would you even start this insanely difficult/stressful process in the first place?


Sorry to be a Debbie Downer! I agree, definitely go in with an optimistic attitude that you will succeed, but don't assume that the hardest part is over and that you'll skate through. You will realize you were wrong when it's too late. I just want everyone to know that it isn't as pleasant as many make it sound. It may just be the curriculum change, I have had friends went through the program that said it was easy. There are many things with the new curriculum that need to be tweaked and that will hopefully be ready by the time your guys start. The worst part, to me, is the fact that we have 3 weeks in between many exams. We had one today that covered nearly 800 pages of material (just course pack material). Most of the time I only have enough time to read things once and have to remember it for 3 weeks. This is probably more of a personal problem since I am not a fast reader, luckily I retain information well. I often question if the difficulty I'm having is just me, but I think the drop out/fail out rate speaks for itself. It sounds substantially higher than any other year. My friends that went through the program said that they hardly lost anyone. We have lost some great people that would have made excellent physicians but decided the stress was too much. This is not a decision that they took lightly, it would be extremely difficult to say goodbye to your dreams after having them so long.
I haven't found a great way to cope with the stress. I don't feel like I have enough time to do anything fun. I try to get out golfing from time to time, but I'm usually just thinking about the reading I should do. I have a feeling that they will get rid of some of the extra classes that they gave us that are pointless yet require time to do all the readings. Lately I have tried meditating in the morning (my doctor suggested I try it) to relieve stress. Everyone I know handles the stress differently, but they all agree they're extremely stressed. Again, I am not trying to deter anyone, I am still at the beginning of the journey and I hope it is all well worth it in the end.
 
Sorry to be a Debbie Downer! I agree, definitely go in with an optimistic attitude that you will succeed, but don't assume that the hardest part is over and that you'll skate through. You will realize you were wrong when it's too late. I just want everyone to know that it isn't as pleasant as many make it sound. It may just be the curriculum change, I have had friends went through the program that said it was easy. There are many things with the new curriculum that need to be tweaked and that will hopefully be ready by the time your guys start. The worst part, to me, is the fact that we have 3 weeks in between many exams. We had one today that covered nearly 800 pages of material (just course pack material). Most of the time I only have enough time to read things once and have to remember it for 3 weeks. This is probably more of a personal problem since I am not a fast reader, luckily I retain information well. I often question if the difficulty I'm having is just me, but I think the drop out/fail out rate speaks for itself. It sounds substantially higher than any other year. My friends that went through the program said that they hardly lost anyone. We have lost some great people that would have made excellent physicians but decided the stress was too much. This is not a decision that they took lightly, it would be extremely difficult to say goodbye to your dreams after having them so long.
I haven't found a great way to cope with the stress. I don't feel like I have enough time to do anything fun. I try to get out golfing from time to time, but I'm usually just thinking about the reading I should do. I have a feeling that they will get rid of some of the extra classes that they gave us that are pointless yet require time to do all the readings. Lately I have tried meditating in the morning (my doctor suggested I try it) to relieve stress. Everyone I know handles the stress differently, but they all agree they're extremely stressed. Again, I am not trying to deter anyone, I am still at the beginning of the journey and I hope it is all well worth it in the end.

Have u tried going to the gym to de-stress?
 
Have u tried going to the gym to de-stress?

Yeah, I try to go a few times a week so I don't get fat from all the time I spend on the couch studying. I think a lot of the stress comes from how disorganized much of our curriculum is. You guys will benefit from us being guinea pigs because our class complains weekly to Dr. Falls and the other people that are in charge of designing the curriculum. Hopefully it will change and you guys won't know the stress I'm talking about.
 
So its a new week, who are we rooting for this week? I know I am hoping for good news Wednesday morning.

Who's with me?
 
My opinion on MSUCOM and the new curriculum is a bit different. So far I have found it somewhat disorganized but very doable. I entered with a 31 MCAT and a 3.5 GPA. I don't study all of the time but a good amount. The first weekend after each exam usually I say I'm going to study but I end up not lol. In the end I have been doing good. I'm averaging about 85-95% on the exams. The dreaded biochem exam was pretty tough. I can't give a great opinion on that however, since I took a very similar class before and ended up acing the exam. However, they are still messing with the curriculum and are changing it for us next semester. I think the biggest adjustment that our class needs to have is learning how to study 600-800 pages of material in 3 weeks for one 100 question exam. Our class has been typically focusing on one subject or another and doing decent on one and failing on another. I think once we get used to this the class overall will get better. MSU is hard, I mean medical school is hard, what do you guys applying and what did current students expect? It's medical school! I get pretty stressed before each exam but it isn't immense stress. Just know what you are getting into. If you enjoy the material, you'll be fine.
 
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My opinion on MSUCOM and the new curriculum is a bit different. So far I have found it somewhat disorganized but very doable. I entered with a 31 MCAT and a 3.5 GPA. I don't study all of the time but a good amount. The first weekend after each exam usually I say I'm going to study but I end up not lol. In the end I have been doing good. I'm averaging about 85-95% on the exams. The dreaded biochem exam was pretty tough. I can't give a great opinion on that however, since I took a very similar class before and ended up acing the exam. However, they are still messing with the curriculum and are changing it for us next semester. I think the biggest adjustment that our class needs to have is learning how to study 600-800 pages of material in 3 weeks for one 100 question exam. Our class has been typically focusing on one subject or another and doing decent on one and failing on another. I think once we get used to this the class overall will get better. MSU is hard, I mean medical school is hard, what do you guys applying and what did current students expect? It's medical school! I get pretty stressed before each exam but it isn't immense stress. Just know what you are getting into. If you enjoy the material, you'll be fine.

So is it a block curriculum? One subject at a time or all the subjects at once?
 
100% agree :/ Although this week is looking beautiful. Those going to the open house on Friday will enjoy it.

Speaking of the open house, I never was able to get in contact with anyone for more information. Is it too late to sign up?
 
So is it a block curriculum? One subject at a time or all the subjects at once?

This semester we have 10 classes, but we aren't taking all of them at the same time. So some exams will have 3 different classes and others will have 5 different classes. Biochemistry and physiology are about over, but pathology and genetics are about to begin.
 
Speaking of the open house, I never was able to get in contact with anyone for more information. Is it too late to sign up?

The email said no RSVP necessary for this one! Try contacting the MSUCOM DMC campus, I'm sure they'll have more info. I can't make it to that one (exams) but I did RSVP for November.
 
This semester we have 10 classes, but we aren't taking all of them at the same time. So some exams will have 3 different classes and others will have 5 different classes. Biochemistry and physiology are about over, but pathology and genetics are about to begin.

I don't mind the new curriculum but I think some changes will be made for next year. I only had a 25 mcat entering and am doing just fine. If you are good at time management, you will be fine.
 
I don't mind the new curriculum but I think some changes will be made for next year. I only had a 25 mcat entering and am doing just fine. If you are good at time management, you will be fine.

If you don't mind me asking, why the career change?
 
Me too! Hopefully it's a good week for all of us!
 
Hey meow I have been lurking the boards and I see you a lot. I am curious to know if you got in anywhere because you seem very hopeful and really want to in. What are your stats by the way if I do not mind asking.

I hope you get in if you haven't yet. Just following your story and want to see a good.outcome. I know how ****ty applying and waiting can be. I applied last year and got wait listed at Wayne state. This result took like 7 months after completing my secondaries and I never got off the wait list. It was.a rather depressing process.
 
Hey meow I have been lurking the boards and I see you a lot. I am curious to know if you got in anywhere because you seem very hopeful and really want to in. What are your stats by the way if I do not mind asking.

I hope you get in if you haven't yet. Just following your story and want to see a good.outcome. I know how ****ty applying and waiting can be. I applied last year and got wait listed at Wayne state. This result took like 7 months after completing my secondaries and I never got off the wait list. It was.a rather depressing process.

I'm guessing this post is directed at me because 1 - I'm the only one with a ridiculous cat meow name lol and 2 - i post like crazy! 😳

I'm currently not in anywhere - going on my 4th interview right now that's scheduled for tomorrow. I'm also a reapplicant - waitlisted at 2 schools last year and also never pulled off 🙁

I took down my MDApps for now to try and remain anonymous but for general purposes i have a sGPA and cGPA btwn 3.0 and 3.3 (working on raising it), a master's degree and a 27P MCAT. Lots of the random pre-med fluff associated with that too (research, shadowing, volunteering blah blah blah). I'm hoping someone will decide to like me 🙂 i really appreciate your support, though! It's nice to meet supportive people on here 🙂
 
When you were waitlisted were you guaranteed admission the next year?
 
Just have a question for my fellow canadians. Have you guys started applying for student visa? How does the process look like? I was filling out the forms they sent me, I'm not sure how to fill the visa section? Anyone shed some light on this? Thanks!
 
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