Official U Maryland Class of 2009 Thread

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Yes, it's great that Dr Foxwell emailed us the medscope password! Just yesterday, I was thinking about how nice it would be to see how the students use that resource. But, you're right, neuropower -- there's a lot we still can't access. Looking a the pics of current students is interesting, though. It somehow makes it more real.

I'd definitely be up for a get-together sometime in March/April, too. In fact, it might be nice to walk around campus again and maybe sit in on a class before we make a final decision.
 
Just called to find out what happened with my application on Monday, and BOOOYA, I got in! Just thought I would post that for everyone who helped me out.
 
whaaa hooo!!!
i just found out that i'm gonna be your guyses classmate

my first...its a good feeling.
 
shawty ya'head said:
whaaa hooo!!!
i just found out that i'm gonna be your guyses classmate

my first...its a good feeling.

Congratulations! I've been wanting to meet you since you posted that story about sending your friend to a fake Penn interview in a cereal box costume.
(In a platonic way- I'm married and whatnot)
 
shawty ya'head said:
whaaa hooo!!!
i just found out that i'm gonna be your guyses classmate

my first...its a good feeling.

Cool 😀 Congrats!

I can't wait to meet y'all.
 
Thanks everyone! I really liked Maryland when I was there. The hospital is amazing.
 
That's fantastic JDAD and shawty ya'head!! Congratulations! 🙂
 
Congratulations JDAD and shawty ya'head! I am looking forward to meeting everyone. August can't come quickly enough, as far as I'm concerned...I am so eager to get started.
 
Sweet JDAD! Congrats Shawty! 👍 👍 😀
 
I was just searching for threads about University of Maryland in the allopathic forum and amidst all the really awesome praises, I found two that brought up Maryland re: schools that have low step 1 pass rates...a couple years ago 10% of students FAILED step 1??? I wonder why?
I'm not worried about failing, but I do wonder why so many students were unprepared? my initial thoughts are that because it seems to be a pretty laissez-faire curriculum and requires lot of study on your own time, that undisciplined students really get hit hard by that.
any other thoughts?
 
Good question. On a related note, does anyone recall the Step 1 average that Dr. Foxwell quoted on the interview day?
 
and congratulations the two new UMAB acceptees! 🙂
 
neuropower said:
I was just searching for threads about University of Maryland in the allopathic forum and amidst all the really awesome praises, I found two that brought up Maryland re: schools that have low step 1 pass rates...a couple years ago 10% of students FAILED step 1??? I wonder why?
I'm not worried about failing, but I do wonder why so many students were unprepared? my initial thoughts are that because it seems to be a pretty laissez-faire curriculum and requires lot of study on your own time, that undisciplined students really get hit hard by that.
any other thoughts?

was a there a curriculum change or something? Maybe during the change some material was accidentally left out? Hmm... i bet cytoskelement would know 😀 Otherwise, I'd think your reason makes sense... you do have to have a lot of self-discipline with this curriculum.
 
The curriculum changed starting in 1994.
 
Hey guys,

I just PM'd a Maryland student to see if they knew what the deal was with 10% of the students failing step 1 in the past. So I'll post what I learn if that person gets back to me. 😉
 
Congrats JDAD & shawty! How did you guys find out so soon if the adcom met on the 14th?
 
calvin&hobbes said:
Congrats JDAD & shawty! How did you guys find out so soon if the adcom met on the 14th?


Thanks,

My application was a special case. My interviewer had forgotten to mail my review into the committee. I waited about 9 weeks and then emailed Dr. Foxwell. He made sure my application was reviewed on the 14th, and he called me yesterday to tell me that I was accepted.

I hope you get good news soon, he told me they put the letters in the mail yesterday afternoon.

Good luck you homicidal psycho jungle cat!
 
BlueMagpie said:
Hey guys,

I just PM'd a Maryland student to see if they knew what the deal was with 10% of the students failing step 1 in the past. So I'll post what I learn if that person gets back to me. 😉


cool. thanks for being so proactive!
 
8 students didn't pass last year on the first try. 6/8 passed on the second try. That's about a 95% first time pass rate... which i think may be a bit higher or equal to the national first time pass rate. i'm confident that UMD prepares its students well for Step 1. We all have individual meetings with Dr. Dolan of the Office of Medical Education who helps us set up a personal study schedule.

And just some food for thought... recently a team of 4 students (2 3rd years and 2 2nd years) from UMD entered the medical jeopardy tournament sponsored by the ACP. Our team finished second. The team that beat our team was a group of IMG residents from Harbor Hospital. We CRUSHED the student team from the school across town and beat their RESIDENT team rather modestly. How's that for preparation!
 
Hi everybody

I got accepted also,

U MD is one of my top choices and I would love to go there. Still waiting from other schools but most likely I will join you guys. U MD had one of the best hospitals I have ever seen. Great facilities and great people, can not wait.

Heard that there are not many female students but it is ok, let the male bonding begin
 
Without Wax said:
Heard that there are not many female students but it is ok, let the male bonding begin

Congrats on the acceptance Without Wax 🙂 I thought UMD had too many girls. But if you're right it'll make me really happy 😍
 
Law2Doc said:
Doesn't sound right - I was told Md student breakdown was 60% female.

*sigh* yeah, i was pretty sure it was over 50% females 🙁
I should have applied to schools with more boys.
 
Law2Doc said:
Doesn't sound right - I was told Md student breakdown was 60% female.

That's true it is about 60%. The class of 2008 is 63% female...!
 
Congrats, Without Wax! 🙂
 
For those accepted to UMD, what was the turnover time from interview until they got back to you? Am now a couple of weeks post interview, and waiting anxiously. (oh, and I assume JDAD was an exception)

Thanx
 
interviewd on 1/19
called and found out on 2/16
got letter on 2/18
committee meeting was on 2/14

g'luck
i feel yo' pain.
 
Does anyone know when the next adcom meeting is? In other words, when will the next batch of letters be sent out?

Another question: Can the office tell applicants their status (post-interview) over the phone? So they won't be annoyed when we call and ask 1 month after our interview?

You guys are so lucky that you don't need to anxiously wait for mail anymore. 😀
 
calvin&hobbes said:
Another question: Can the office tell applicants their status (post-interview) over the phone? So they won't be annoyed when we call and ask 1 month after our interview?

yup, i found out i was accepted over the phone 🙂 The lady I spoke with was super nice too.
 
So I didn't learn anything new about the percentages of Maryland students who pass/fail Step 1, but as we're all brilliant, I'm sure we'll be fine 😉

Anyhow, I can't seem to find information about what type of vaccinations we're going to need before matriculation. I know part of our tuition pays for a Hep B vaccine and a TB screening, but are we supposed to have a physical before we come in and any additional tests we pay for beforehand? Because if so, I need to schedule it now!!

Have you guys seriously tried to find housing yet? I'm looking for a one bedroom and the prices are $$$$$$$ 😱

Anyhow, hope you all are faring well.

🙂
 
I know. Housing prices are ridiculous in baltimore 😡

I didn't know we had to get vaccines. I suppose we need to have a physical done as well? If I actually call and ask what we need to do before classes start i'll post the info.
 
For all those matriculating at UMB SOM, I welcome you class of 2009! You all must be very well qualified and you are wise to choose maryland. I am graduating from Maryland med in May, so if you have any questions as far as anything (housing, parking, PSP, baltimore . . . ) let me know. I was a tour guide for the applicants, so I know a bit about the program.

Congrats and welcome!
 
SteelEyes said:
For all those matriculating at UMB SOM, I welcome you class of 2009! You all must be very well qualified and you are wise to choose maryland. I am graduating from Maryland med in May, so if you have any questions as far as anything (housing, parking, PSP, baltimore . . . ) let me know. I was a tour guide for the applicants, so I know a bit about the program.

Congrats and welcome!

Hi SteelEyes, thanks for the warm welcome!
I"m thinking of commuting and so would need parking by the school everyday. the website indicates we have to pay $4 a day for the student garage...is this really the only option or is there some insider information i haven't heard about yet? could i park on the street somewhere?

also, and you may not know this since you haven't been a first year for a while, but i heard that the lecture hall is being renovated...any word on when that's going to be finished?

thanks! and good luck in your last year!
 
neuropower said:
Hi SteelEyes, thanks for the warm welcome!
I"m thinking of commuting and so would need parking by the school everyday. the website indicates we have to pay $4 a day for the student garage...is this really the only option or is there some insider information i haven't heard about yet? could i park on the street somewhere?

also, and you may not know this since you haven't been a first year for a while, but i heard that the lecture hall is being renovated...any word on when that's going to be finished?

thanks! and good luck in your last year!

Well right now the only 'official' student parking is in the lexington garage and it is about $4/day. Ways to 'beat the system' would be if you find a friend who lives in Ridgely's delight and would like to give you their visitor parking pass. There happens to be a limited number of free (non-metered) parking spots on the west side of MLK, but that gets to be less safe.

Also, they are in the process of renovating FLH (freshman lecture hall) but I don't know when it will be done. I'm guessing before you start.

Let me know if you have any other questions and welcome once again! 🙂
 
I will be more pro-active about this- regarding financial aid, were we supposed to submit anything other than FAFSA to Maryland at this point?
 
uptoolate said:
I will be more pro-active about this- regarding financial aid, were we supposed to submit anything other than FAFSA to Maryland at this point?

If you are a maryland resident, the preprofessional scholarship was due march first. But that's it.

oh, and a.j.- we don't have to fill out that insititutional form i told you to fill out. The financial aid office said they aren't using that form this year.
 
tinkerbelle said:
If you are a maryland resident, the preprofessional scholarship was due march first. But that's it.

oh, and a.j.- we don't have to fill out that insititutional form i told you to fill out. The financial aid office said they aren't using that form this year.


WOW- I missed that pre-professional scholarship thing altogether. What did you have to do to apply?
Thanks for the info.
 
uptoolate said:
WOW- I missed that pre-professional scholarship thing altogether. What did you have to do to apply?
Thanks for the info.

It was just a tiny little form. You just needed to fill out your address and gpa and some easy stuff like that.

It was posted here earlier, but they removed the link so you can't access the form anymore:

http://www.umaryland.edu/fin/state.html

Although I'm the biggest ditz with dates and finding forms, so you should try searching the website and seeing if you can find the form somewhere else. Maybe they will still let you submit it... you're only like 4 days late.
 
tinkerbelle said:
It was just a tiny little form. You just needed to fill out your address and gpa and some easy stuff like that.

It was posted here earlier, but they removed the link so you can't access the form anymore:

http://www.umaryland.edu/fin/state.html

Although I'm the biggest ditz with dates and finding forms, so you should try searching the website and seeing if you can find the form somewhere else. Maybe they will still let you submit it... you're only like 4 days late.

Thanks!
 
tinkerbelle said:
I was trying to find out when classes start, and this calendar says August 11th. Do y'all think it's wrong? It seems a bit early (not that i care... i can't wait!) and last year classes didn't start until Aug 23rd.

http://www.umaryland.edu/orr/calendar/calendar_2005_06.doc


I saw the August 11 thing too- it seems early but its on all the web-based calendars I've come across. I'm starting my daughter at the daycare center nearby and called last week to up her start date from September 1 to first week in August. Doesn't it seem so soon? After all this time waiting to find out about things?
 
uptoolate said:
I saw the August 11 thing too- it seems early but its on all the web-based calendars I've come across. I'm starting my daughter at the daycare center nearby and called last week to up her start date from September 1 to first week in August. Doesn't it seem so soon? After all this time waiting to find out about things?

Yup, it feels like classes are just around the corner! I'm so excited 🙂 I didn't know you had a daughter.... are you going to bring her to an orientation event so we can all tell you how adorable she is and how much we love little kids 😀 ?
 
Looks like last year the MS1 class had orientation from Thurs. Aug 12 through Monday Aug. 16, with the Medical Informatics course starting on Tues. Aug. 17. Pretty similar to our schedule, it seems. Isn't it great to (finally!) be able to start planning in more concrete terms! I hope we receive a packet with more information soon.
 
starfruit said:
Looks like last year the MS1 class had orientation from Thurs. Aug 12 through Monday Aug. 16, with the Medical Informatics course starting on Tues. Aug. 17. Pretty similar to our schedule, it seems. Isn't it great to (finally!) be able to start planning in more concrete terms! I hope we receive a packet with more information soon.

oh. so the "first day" - aug 11th is actually the first day of orientation? Yeah, I can't wait to get a packet on orientation and everything either 🙂
 
Right. Aug 11 = first day of orientation.

The second year students may start classes then, but we're just in orientation mode for a few days.

If you look on the Medscope site, under Year 1, the calendar for MS1s for 2004-05 is there. It's pretty helpful in terms of starting to visualize what our first few months will be like.
 
BlueMagpie said:
Anyhow, I can't seem to find information about what type of vaccinations we're going to need before matriculation. I know part of our tuition pays for a Hep B vaccine and a TB screening, but are we supposed to have a physical before we come in and any additional tests we pay for beforehand? Because if so, I need to schedule it now!!

Hi BlueMagpie 🙂

So it looks like there are 2 health related forms we need to turn in. I'm assuming we will receive them in April or May... although I suppose we could just download the forms from the Health Center website.

http://www.umaryland.edu/health/

Immunization Policy -> lists all the immunizations we need
Report of Medical History -> The actual form your doc needs to fill out concerning your immunizations and stuff.

As far as the HepB vaccine goes, it sounds like we get it once we go there (or at least this is what I think after reading the Student Handbook). However, the Medical History Form lists Hep B on it. Soooo. I don't know.

I don't see anything about a physical. Does anyone know if we really need to get one?
 
it's not right for us to be alllll the way on the 4th page. i think our thread deserves to be bumped up to the first page 😀

anyone find any new info out about all these forms?
 
Hey, thanks for posting that link, tinkerbelle! 🙂

I haven't found anything new. Maryland is being rather slow IMO, I don't want to wait until May to be notified of what I need to do.

*Sigh*

We don't even know whether or not we're accepted to the summer program until the end of April. 😡
 
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