***Official Post-Acceptance Questions To Ask Thread***

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

tantacles

Full Member
Moderator Emeritus
Lifetime Donor
10+ Year Member
Joined
Sep 28, 2009
Messages
9,225
Reaction score
3,794
I'm certain that plenty of you are gearing up and trying to figure out how to interview, and while I understand looking good at your interview is excellent, I wanted to make this thread to discuss some must-ask questions. These aren't questions you need to ask your interviewer; in fact, you'll probably get better answers (or none, which would be very informative) from a current student after you're accepted. I encourage anyone who is attending or has attended an allopathic or osteopathic thread to contribute questions.

In addition, try to keep the questions limited to ones that actually have some sort of concrete answer and are specific to schools you've been accepted at.

1. What is the health insurance like?

Specifically, what is the deductible for primary care? What is the deductible for surgery? Do most students who aren't still on their parents' health insurance purchase the plan? Does the plan offer full coverage or is it a plan where the school pays part of the cost and you pay part of the cost (i.e. an 80/20 plan or something similar)?

2. How easy is it to start a student organization?

How much paperwork do you need to fill out? In what format does it need to be submitted? Do you need to attend a litany of meetings to make your organization official or are organizations established as soon as paperwork is submitted? What kind of funding is available to student organizations?

3. What is the grading system?

Is it pass/fail? Is it ranked? How are your scores in courses reflected in your Dean's letter? You may need to speak to an upperclassman, recent alumnus, or dean for this one.

4. How much does housing cost?

How much does the on-campus housing cost? How much does local housing cost? Again, students are probably your best source for this.

5. How does financial aid work?

Since most schools offer a number of students or a % of students on financial aid, you should ask a few more detailed questions: How many students receive merit-based scholarships? How many receive need-based scholarships? Is there an application process for these? If so, when are the deadlines for these applications, and when will the school tell you if you've received a scholarship?

6. How many students to a cadaver?

Keep in mind that fewer students to a cadaver is not always better; if you aren't particularly excited about anatomy, as I wasn't, six students to a body can be amazing. Most people end up asking this question at the interview, but it's not a bad question to ask afterwards if you forgot to ask earlier.

7. What are classes like? (Adapted from mcloaf)

What percentage of classes are mandatory? Are all non-mandatory lectures video recorded? If not, what percentage are videotaped? Also, If not, is there a scribe service? WHICH classes are mandatory? How often do these classes occur?

8. How are rotations structured? (Adapted from sunsfun)

How are the rotations determined? Who is evaluating you during them? Is there a lot of busy work or scut work?

9. How is the pre-clinical curriculum structured? (Adapted from sunsfun)

Is the pre-clinical curriculum relevant to clinical rotations or is the focus mainly on teaching minutia? How does the school help students study for the boards? Does the school provide Firecracker? First Aid? A substantial discount on UWorld? CBSE? Anything?

Members don't see this ad.
 
Last edited:
Please grow this list. This will be super important in two weeks!
 
Members don't see this ad :)
It is not necessarily about questions, but can someone describe step-by-step tasks for financial aid, post-acceptance, in layman's terms? I know that AAMC already has this information, but I was hoping someone could briefly talk about them.

EDIT: Just trying to throw an idea here. It might not be much relevant in this particular thread..
 
It is not necessarily about questions, but can someone describe step-by-step tasks for financial aid, post-acceptance, in layman's terms? I know that AAMC already has this information, but I was hoping someone could briefly talk about them.

EDIT: Just trying to throw an idea here. It might not be much relevant in this particular thread..

I don't think I even remember what steps to take, but if someone else remembers, they can certainly post. It does vary by school, though, so it might be a good idea to contact the financial aid office. While they aren't always the most helpful, they can at least give you an idea of what the bare minimum is to get your loans in order.
 
I've been trying to determine how many students to a cadaver at each of my schools! Some schools do 4 whereas others do 8 and you have to rotate so you don't get to do all of the dissecting...I don't know about other people, but it's important to me!
 
Has anyone heard about how to leverage financial aid packages between two schools that have accepted you to get the best deal?
 
I've been trying to determine how many students to a cadaver at each of my schools! Some schools do 4 whereas others do 8 and you have to rotate so you don't get to do all of the dissecting...I don't know about other people, but it's important to me!

Since it's specific to schools you've been accepted at, added.
 
Members don't see this ad :)
The biggest thing I can think of after pass/fail grading is whether or not class/lecture attendance is mandatory. I've loved my first year so far, and I know I'd be enjoying things much less if I didn't have the flexibility to stream lectures from home and organize my schedule how I prefer.
 
The biggest thing I can think of after pass/fail grading is whether or not class/lecture attendance is mandatory. I've loved my first year so far, and I know I'd be enjoying things much less if I didn't have the flexibility to stream lectures from home and organize my schedule how I prefer.

Added.
 
I've been trying to determine how many students to a cadaver at each of my schools! Some schools do 4 whereas others do 8 and you have to rotate so you don't get to do all of the dissecting...I don't know about other people, but it's important to me!

+1 super important
 
I think those questions can be asked before acceptance as well.

Also, I have read quite a few threads and it seems to me that more questions need to be asked about the clinical years:

How are the rotations determined?

Who is evaluating you during them?

How are you protected from scut?

How specifically will the things you learn during years 1-2 while doing some sort of initial clinical exposure help during year 3?

How does the school help students study for the boards?

How receptive is a school to student feedback?
 
A lot of these are also great questions to throw at your interviewer at the end of your interview :thumbup:
 
I think those questions can be asked before acceptance as well.

Also, I have read quite a few threads and it seems to me that more questions need to be asked about the clinical years:

How are the rotations determined?

Who is evaluating you during them?

How are you protected from scut?

How specifically will the things you learn during years 1-2 while doing some sort of initial clinical exposure help during year 3?

How does the school help students study for the boards?

How receptive is a school to student feedback?

Added to the top post.

I left out your final question, though, since I don't think there's a great metric for this. I asked this very question of my school's students, and they said the faculty was very receptive to student input; definitely not the case. So if you can think of a way to quantify that question, I'll add it.
 
A lot of these are also great questions to throw at your interviewer at the end of your interview :thumbup:

I definitely agree.

More importantly, however, any student who is choosing between two medical schools should know the answers to ALL of these questions before making a final decision.
 
Bump. I'm trying to choose between medical schools, and this thread seems like a great source. Any more med students want to weigh in?
 
Top