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Official SMDEP 2013 Thread
- Thread starter sarahrk
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I'm applying this year bro, waiting for my school to calculate my final gpa, smh right? Lol but after that I'll submit my app. The only things I've submitted are my LOR's! Best of luck to you!
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Bookish:
You can apply to 3 SMDEP sites. The national program office has scholarships that you can apply to that cover travel.
You can include your test scores if you like but they will be more interested in your personal statement. They are looking for students that have a strong interest in medicine or dentistry.
The best tips I could give you are:
1-Submit your application, transcripts, and letters of recommendation ASAP. Sites start screening applicants in early January. I submitted my application in November and was accepted January 2nd, although they did not officially told me I was accepted until February 16th, they picked me on January 2nd.
2-Write strong essays that talk about your goals for the future. If you have encountered hardships along your way thru college, make sure to mention those. A lot of students that did the program with me had big disadvantages. Some were taking care of a parent with a terminal disease, others had lost brothers or sisters to a disease, others were foster kids and never met their parents, others had experience with a disease themselves.
3- GPA is not as important as people think. Several students that did the program with me had GPA's of 2.7 and they still got in.
4-This is a really good program that will open many doors for your future. Take advantage of it.
As far as the problem with the demographics page:
I also encountered a problem like this when I applied. Just keep clicking and trying to work your way around it, it will eventually work. SMDEP receives thousands of applications every year and little glitches like these happen. Continue emailing ( you can also call) the National program office and let them know. Don't give up until you get an answer.
Let me know how it went!
You can apply to 3 SMDEP sites. The national program office has scholarships that you can apply to that cover travel.
You can include your test scores if you like but they will be more interested in your personal statement. They are looking for students that have a strong interest in medicine or dentistry.
The best tips I could give you are:
1-Submit your application, transcripts, and letters of recommendation ASAP. Sites start screening applicants in early January. I submitted my application in November and was accepted January 2nd, although they did not officially told me I was accepted until February 16th, they picked me on January 2nd.
2-Write strong essays that talk about your goals for the future. If you have encountered hardships along your way thru college, make sure to mention those. A lot of students that did the program with me had big disadvantages. Some were taking care of a parent with a terminal disease, others had lost brothers or sisters to a disease, others were foster kids and never met their parents, others had experience with a disease themselves.
3- GPA is not as important as people think. Several students that did the program with me had GPA's of 2.7 and they still got in.
4-This is a really good program that will open many doors for your future. Take advantage of it.
As far as the problem with the demographics page:
I also encountered a problem like this when I applied. Just keep clicking and trying to work your way around it, it will eventually work. SMDEP receives thousands of applications every year and little glitches like these happen. Continue emailing ( you can also call) the National program office and let them know. Don't give up until you get an answer.
Let me know how it went!
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My application has been completed today at 8:54 AM. Ive applied to Columbia, UofW and UCLA. Hopefully I get into one of the programs! The suspense is already killing me, SMH!
I also applied to UofW, UCLA, and Columbia. Hopefully we'll see each other this summer!
My application was complete on 12/18 but I am still waiting on one professor to submit a LoR. I'm afraid this will affect my chances of getting in :/
My application was complete on 12/18 but I am still waiting on one professor to submit a LoR. I'm afraid this will affect my chances of getting in :/
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You shouldn't worry about it too much. Many people will not have complete applications until late January, when several schools release transcripts with Fall 2012 grades. Just send friendly reminders to your professor every 4-7 days until the letter is submitted.
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You and I should be fine. I emailed AAMC about this concern and they told me as long as they have my completed application by February 1st, the application will not be affected.
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No, I did not knew I was accepted on jan 2. I found out about this while in the program a few years back.
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522396
I'm interested in what did you wrote about in your diversity essay. What topics or general ideas did you use?
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Hasn't happened to me at all when turning paperwork into the office. When I mailed mh transcripts, it took them 7 days to process it, including the time it took to arrive in the mail (3 business days). It's safe to assume it took them 4 days to process my transcripts!
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Hasn't happened to me at all when turning paperwork into the office. When I mailed mh transcripts, it took them 7 days to process it, including the time it took to arrive in the mail (3 business days). It's safe to assume it took them 4 days to process my transcripts!
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This depends on lots of things. Diversity is a very broad definition.
Multiculturalism, or ethnic diversity, the promotion of multiple ethnic cultures
Cultural diversity, the respect of difference cultures and interculturality
Functional diversity (disability), an alternative term for "special needs," "disability," "impairment" or "handicap"
Neurodiversity, a movement in support of civil rights of people with atypical neurological characteristics
Diversity training, the process of educating people to function in a diverse environment
Diversity (politics), the political and social policy of encouraging tolerance for people of different backgrounds
Diversity jurisdiction, a concept under which U.S. federal courts can hear suits between parties from different states.
is it ok that my transcript and letter of recommendations have been received before my application? my english professor is still editing my essays but i hope to submit the application by the end of this week. will this affect my chances of getting in? does it takes 10 business days to process my application as well?
Submitted everything today! Just one thing...the application says 95% every time I log back in even though I submitted everything?
EDIT: They said it's something they're working on but if you submit it and its at 95% it's fine not to worry!
EDIT: They said it's something they're working on but if you submit it and its at 95% it's fine not to worry!
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I did this too. I made sure all my proffs sent the LORs and my school sent my transcript before actually submitting..I just called and they said it's fine. Even if you didn't submit your app it's all good.
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do the committees make an official decision with just the essays or do they need to read the essays and transcripts and letters of recommendation before making a final decision? I've heard from some people that if your application got there really early, they accept you. But how's that possible if your transcript and lore's aren't sent yet?
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They don't make official decisions until they have at least the Personal Statement, Transcripts, and at least 1 letter of recommendation.
But what you are hearing might be possible. If a student already attends the school that sponsors the specific SMDEP that he/she applied to, it is possible that he/she knows people that run the SMDEP site and that could be an advantage for getting in. But this is just a possibility.
Hey, but don't stress too much. If you already submitted the application, you are in a good spot right now.
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If an application says "application in review" for all three site already, does that mean a person has a good chance that they have already been accepted to those sites or does it mean that there is a good chance they have already been rejected? Also, is calling a site to find out a decision before the february 15th decision release suggested or is it a bad idea?
Your help is much appreciated.
Your help is much appreciated.
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1-Application in review only means that the SMDEP National Program Office has released your application to the sites you chose in the application for them to review it.
2-You can call the site you are interested in. Tell them your name and show that you really want to do SMDEP at that site. Do not ask them right now if you were accepted. They will not be able to tell you until the 15th of February. When you call, make sure that you speak with the site coordinator.
3-Be very vigilant of the email address you wrote on the application. Start checking it at least once a day starting Feb. 1st. Dont go on vacation to Iraq or get arrested during February.
4-If your application status says in review, then you will most likely receive an acceptance or rejection on Feb. 15th.
5-As soon as you get an offer for admission into their program, make sure to say yes. Some sites only give you 2-3 days to accept or decline the offer. Do not wait for 2 weeks for your other sites to send you an offer.
6-If you dont get an email by the end of February; dont be disappointed, Christmas may come in March.
7-If for some rare reason you dont get into any of your sites by May, dont give up. As soon as the program starts in June, students start dropping out of SMDEP sites for several reasons, including: family emergencies, illness, behavioral problems (like not complying with the rules), unrealistic expectations, immature behavior, etc. It is at this point when the site directors have to make decisions on the fly and fill those spots, and send out last minute offers to students that did not get in. They usually send an email saying There is an open spot in our site, if you want the spot, please respond to this email by 5:00PM Eastern TODAY.
8-Extra: If you do get accepted into a site and you accept the offer, make sure that you start working on getting all the required vaccines and Tb tests ASAP. They will give you a deadline for submitting proof of all this to their student health center, or otherwise, they may drop you by a certain deadline. Get all these tests done in your hometown with your family doctor; It will be cheaper and convenient to get all this done early. Some students get to their SMDEP site still missing one or two vaccines but this ends up costing them 10 times more than at their home state (one student had to pay $500.00 for tests and shots, ouch!). You dont want to spend your entire SMDEP stipend on vaccines, right?
9-If for some reason you are allergic to tests and vaccines or have strict religious, philosophical, political, or family beliefs against vaccinations, you will have to deal with their student health center in advance.
Wheu!! I think that was enough info.
Good luck!!
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It was enough and then some lol Thank you!!
Hey I'm interested in UCLA but I'm afraid to apply because they "give preference to community college students." I'm currently at a 4 year historically black college. Do you know if/how many spots they give to non-CC students
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only one of my sites says "Application in Review"
Should I be worried?
Should I be worried?
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One of my applications are in review, too!
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My application is in review for Columbia and UCLA so far, wonder what's going on with University of Washington. I really, really want to get into Columbia or UCLA or even UofW.
Should I give Columbia a call? It seems as if calling them boosts your chances...
Should I give Columbia a call? It seems as if calling them boosts your chances...
So, this post died lol. Did anyone's application become marked complete on Jan 31'st? Only one of my sites says "application in review", so I'm hoping the others have my applications but just haven't updated their status. I called SMDEP and they said to check back Feb 15, to see if I've gotten accepted anywhere. I really want to get in...but eh, we'll see! Also, @Jared825 you're from brownsville!? I lived there! Coool beans, haha.
Yeah! I'm from Brownsville but I go to UT Austin. Did you go to school in Brownsville?
Also, my application was completed on the 29th, but it doesn't say reviewing for any of my sites. Which sites did you apply to and how long after it was completed did your sites say your application was being reviewed?
Also, my application was completed on the 29th, but it doesn't say reviewing for any of my sites. Which sites did you apply to and how long after it was completed did your sites say your application was being reviewed?
I lived in Brownsville before I moved to New York for college! But I went to Los Fresnos High my freshmen and sophomore year, and then to MSA the my junior and senior year. And you? My application was complete on the 31st and a day after only of my sites said "in review".
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Awesome! I went to Lopez... Hopefully living in Brownsville and writing about it in the essays can give us an advantage. lol.
My application was complete on the 29th and none of mine say it yet lol. Which sites did you apply to?
My application was complete on the 29th and none of mine say it yet lol. Which sites did you apply to?
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Same here, it's been like that for a couple of days! I hope I get into at least 1 of the 2!
one of my lor still hasn't been processed so my application isnt in review. the feb.1 deadline has passed. can i still get in? the official deadline is in march but i just wanted to know what my chances are if the schools review my entire application in feb.
Does your application say completed on""? If not, then you may have missed the Feb 1st deadline. Mine was completed on 1/31 (Whew!), but one of my LOR still hasn't been processed. But, one of my sites is reviewing my application, and when I called SMDEP HQ they told me to check back by feb 15 to see if I got in.
Unfortunately, it definitely will be harder for you to get into one of your sites, especially if they're competitive (Yale, Duke, Columbia, UVA) and you completed after feb 1st. I poured through the SMDEP threads of 2012 and 2011 and, for the majority of the people who applied after the feb 1st deadline, their chances of getting into their sites diminished greatly. They mostly got into only one or two of their choices, or none at all. Most sites also tend to get full. SMDEP encourages early applicants..but that DOESN'T mean you won't get into your selections...it just means your chances are lower.
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Oookay, so I finally stopped lurking every SMDEP thread ever made and decided to post. It's kind of comforting to know other people are just as nervous as you, lol. Good luck to all of you Feburary 1sters, only a little bit longer til we find out!
I actually only applied to the Yale site because...well because I really wanna go to that specific site, or I'm just a really intense chick haha. Probably not gonna happen, buut either way, here's to hoping, and trying everything once
Oh, and do any of you know if we might hear earlier than the 15th? My app's been in review since the first but as I'm sure you can all understand...it feels like it's been two years.
I actually only applied to the Yale site because...well because I really wanna go to that specific site, or I'm just a really intense chick haha. Probably not gonna happen, buut either way, here's to hoping, and trying everything once
Oh, and do any of you know if we might hear earlier than the 15th? My app's been in review since the first but as I'm sure you can all understand...it feels like it's been two years.
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Oookay, so I finally stopped lurking every SMDEP thread ever made and decided to post. It's kind of comforting to know other people are just as nervous as you, lol. Good luck to all of you Feburary 1sters, only a little bit longer til we find out!
I actually only applied to the Yale site because...well because I really wanna go to that specific site, or I'm just a really intense chick haha. Probably not gonna happen, buut either way, here's to hoping, and trying everything once
Oh, and do any of you know if we might hear earlier than the 15th? My app's been in review since the first but as I'm sure you can all understand...it feels like it's been two years.
From reading other SMDEP Threads I've sort of learned that if you apply after Dec chances are you're going to find out exactly on the 15th. I saw some that applied early Dec (Damn over achievers
) and get their decision by the 13th or so. Looks like another 10 days of unneeded stress..Needless to say exams are the 14th..THANKS FOR BEING CONSIDERATE SMDEP!! GL though 
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From reading other SMDEP Threads I've sort of learned that if you apply after Dec chances are you're going to find out exactly on the 15th. I saw some that applied early Dec (Damn over achievers
I know right?! I keep checking multiple times a day like something's gonna change...hahaha. Nope.
You have no idea how many times I check...I'm paranoid b/c if you don't answer for two days your offer is retrieved so I just stay on the F5 button! Cross ya fingers..what sites did you apply too?
