To matriculate or not to matriculate? That is the question.

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CRguy3

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Hey all, first time writing on here so please show some decency and care. I am a recent college graduate and have applied for the 2016 entering class. I have gotten rejected from most schools besides a few I interviewed at. I recently got accepted into Penn State Hershey but am still waiting to hear back from my IS schools. My question is if I get rejected from my IS schools, should I accept my acceptance and run or reapply for the next year? I have a near-perfect GPA and fine extracurriculars. I know that my MCAT is my weakest link (specifically just one section). Only thing holding me back from Hershey is thats its a decent distance away from home, the OOS cost is pretty concerning, and I may want to specialize in a very competitive specialty after med school, primarily in my home state. Also, does anyone know how good of a school/tier/rank Penn state is and how competitive I may be coming out from there I want to remain IS but i was told to apply broadly to different states so i did so. I am grateful for the acceptance but I just want to hear from some other valuable sources. Thanks for your time and please try to remain civil and somewhat positive

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Penn State is a pretty good school. You say Penn State Hershey but it's their main MD program

If you have an acceptance you have to take it.
 
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Penn State is a pretty good school. You say Penn State Hershey but it's their main MD program

If you have an acceptance you have to take it.

I just don't know whether i can truly get a competitive residency in my home state (NY) such as orthopedics, neurosurgery, derm, etc if i go to penn state since i know many residencies prefer IS medical educations
 
I just don't know whether i can truly get a competitive residency in my home state (NY) such as orthopedics, neurosurgery, derm, etc if i go to penn state since i know many residencies prefer IS medical educations

You may have to worry about just getting into medical school again if you turn down this acceptance...

Better to just take the acceptance and do all the right things in med school to get your resume up to par for those competitive specialties.
 
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I just don't know whether i can truly get a competitive residency in my home state (NY) such as orthopedics, neurosurgery, derm, etc if i go to penn state since i know many residencies prefer IS medical educations
Your residency has less to do with where you're from than what your board scores are, and most people don't plan a residency according to IS or OOS status. NY and PA are adjacent, so that's pretty darn close geographically. Take that acceptance, crush your boards and do the best you can to match where you want in four years.
 
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If you turn down the MD acceptance this year and try to reapply next year, I'm 99% sure you won't get in. Schools will see that you were accepted the previous year, which will pretty much blacklist you from another acceptance
 
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Why did you apply to Hershey if you weren't planning on going if accepted? There is no thinking involved at this point. Go to the school that you got into. Do as well as you can on your boards and in classes. If you don't get into the specialty that you want, it is going to be because of you, not Hershey.
 
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For its recognition and education, is Penn state considered a low tier or mid tier school in terms of clinicals and research.
 
I don't know about that, but generally turning down an MD acceptance looks REALLY bad

Also Penn State is a good school, if you're fighting for one of those residencies from the very beginning...

I just don't know whether i can truly get a competitive residency in my home state (NY) such as orthopedics, neurosurgery, derm, etc if i go to penn state since i know many residencies prefer IS medical educations
 
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Also, since Penn State does not rank its students nor give any letter grades (pass/fail), how are we able to get AOA recognition?
 
Why did you apply to Hershey if you weren't planning on going if accepted? There is no thinking involved at this point. Go to the school that you got into. Do as well as you can on your boards and in classes. If you don't get into the specialty that you want, it is going to be because of you, not Hershey.
I ask this question to people I personally know every day. It truly is shocking. Like, they apply to their backups, and then act like they want to avoid it like the plague.

"Why did you apply if you didn't want to go!!!???"
 
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I just don't know whether i can truly get a competitive residency in my home state (NY) such as orthopedics, neurosurgery, derm, etc if i go to penn state since i know many residencies prefer IS medical educations
What? If you do well in med school and step you will be competitive for those residencies. Whether or not you get those residencies isn't going to depend on what US MD school you're at, it is whether you perform well on step, rotations, and research.
 
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Also, since Penn State does not rank its students nor give any letter grades (pass/fail), how are we able to get AOA recognition?

If you don't go to medical school, how will you be able to get AOA recognition?
 
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What? If you do well in med school and step you will be competitive for those residencies. Whether or not you get those residencies isn't going to depend on what US MD school you're at, it is whether you perform well on step, rotations, and research.
Do you have any idea how Penn State fares in terms of research?
 
I just don't know whether i can truly get a competitive residency in my home state (NY) such as orthopedics, neurosurgery, derm, etc if i go to penn state since i know many residencies prefer IS medical educations

Like premed, many thought they were the cream of the crop, but once they hit medical school, they found out they weren't. Maybe your the exception, who knows, but why apply if you weren't even interested in going there?

Or, as usual,
upload_2016-4-5_20-5-6.png
explains it all.
 
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My friend is currently on the waitlist for Penn State, so by all means drop it.
 
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Penn State has plenty of NY matches. They actually had a NYU ortho match last year. 9 ortho matches this year, so they obviously have everything you need to build up a good resume. And the regional bias is more...regional than a state by state basis.

Plus Hershey has a cheap COL and is only $10K/yr more than SUNY schools. I don't always agree when people talk about the opportunity cost of losing a year of attending's salary, but that extra year as an attending will cover that $40K. So basically Penn State class of 2020 would put you financially at the same level at SUNY class of 2021
 
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My friend is currently on the waitlist for Penn State, so by all means drop it.
Me too and I have family in the area, so feel free to pass that spot along OP
 
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Would you guys say that attending Downstate over Penn State would increase my chances of getting a residency in NY?
 
I suggest that you decline the acceptance, because you obviously don't want to be a doctor.

Someone who really wants to be a doctor would take the accept, and be patient enough to hear from the other schools.

Personally, I'm not a fan of Penn state because their parent organization protected a child molester for > 20 years.

But an accept is an accept.


Hey all, first time writing on here so please show some decency and care. I am a recent college graduate and have applied for the 2016 entering class. I have gotten rejected from most schools besides a few I interviewed at. I recently got accepted into Penn State Hershey but am still waiting to hear back from my IS schools. My question is if I get rejected from my IS schools, should I accept my acceptance and run or reapply for the next year? I have a near-perfect GPA and fine extracurriculars. I know that my MCAT is my weakest link (specifically just one section). Only thing holding me back from Hershey is thats its a decent distance away from home, the OOS cost is pretty concerning, and I may want to specialize in a very competitive specialty after med school, primarily in my home state. Also, does anyone know how good of a school/tier/rank Penn state is and how competitive I may be coming out from there I want to remain IS but i was told to apply broadly to different states so i did so. I am grateful for the acceptance but I just want to hear from some other valuable sources. Thanks for your time and please try to remain civil and somewhat positive

Are you paying any attention to what the other posters are saying? getting a residency anywhere is you, not state of residence.

Would you guys say that attending Downstate over Penn State would increase my chances of getting a residency in NY?

And Penn S got > $38 million in grants last year, that's quite decent for a low tier school. It's a little more than Jefferson and >> Drexel

 
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You only got into penn state. Penn state is a fine institution. They match well. You barely got into medical school although i do hope the instate school thing works out as ny has good schools

But what makes you think you're gonna metamorphosize into some sort of superstar getting into cornell or nyu next year
 
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Some people i spoke to, including clinicians, tell me that if its not top 15-20 that it doesn't matter which MD you go to as long as its a US MD. Basically, f its not a top tier school then it doesn't really make a huge difference for residency where you come from. Can anyone speak to the accuracy of that statement since it really does assume a lot. Thanks in advance
 
tl;dr -- dont ever turn down an acceptance in the hopes of something better coming along the way..you'll be killing your medical career.
 
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Some people i spoke to, including clinicians, tell me that if its not top 15-20 that it doesn't matter which MD you go to as long as its a US MD. Basically, f its not a top tier school then it doesn't really make a huge difference for residency where you come from. Can anyone speak to the accuracy of that statement since it really does assume a lot. Thanks in advance

Let's put it this way, you ain't getting a date with Jessica alba even if you wait ten years

But you can still be happy with your neighborhood sweetheart
 
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Some people i spoke to, including clinicians, tell me that if its not top 15-20 that it doesn't matter which MD you go to as long as its a US MD. Basically, f its not a top tier school then it doesn't really make a huge difference for residency where you come from. Can anyone speak to the accuracy of that statement since it really does assume a lot. Thanks in advance

As has been said earlier, there are regional biases when it comes to residency matching. Whether that is the effect of the school, the applicants, or the PDs is not totally clear, but it's likely some combination of the three. So in that respect, where you go for medical school "matters". At many (most?) schools, the highest percentage of matches to a single place are to a home or affiliated institution (Harvard --> MGH/BWH, Columbia --> NYP, Hopkins --> JHH, Kansas --> Kansas, Ohio State --> Ohio State, etc etc etc), so that also "matters" because it creates a different statistical profile for where you're most likely to end up. At schools that have a strong program in a particular specialty, particularly the smaller ones where everyone knows everyone, it can be helpful to have a well known home institution physician make calls on your behalf or help set up connections, so that "matters". Certain medical schools are also feeder schools to certain other hospitals, so that "matters".

But ultimately, if you're at a US MD school, the person with the most control over how strong of an applicant you are and where you will have the most success matching will be you.
 
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What have you done this year to improve your application? How will you explain rejecting your acceptance IF you manage to get any interviews as a reapplicant? Why did you apply to PennState in the first place? Did you do any research on this school before you applied? I agree with @Goro decline the acceptance. You obviously don't want to attend. Why be miserable for the rest of your life. But whatever you do -don't blame the school if you don't get the residency you want.


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I could vastly boost my MCAT to over 90 percentile and I have a full time research job and may be getting 2-3 publications so i would say thats a decent improvement along with more volunteering and shadowing
 
I could vastly boost my MCAT to over 90 percentile and I have a full time research job and may be getting 2-3 publications so i would say thats a decent improvement along with more volunteering and shadowing

It's unfortunate that these things will be heavily overshadowed by a declined MD acceptance
 
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Would you guys say that attending Downstate over Penn State would increase my chances of getting a residency in NY?
Residency program directors won't be splitting hairs between Downstate and Penn State. We're not talking about HMS vs. PS here.

Go to Penn State if it's your only acceptance. How well you do in medical school is largely dependent on your own aptitude and work ethic. Do well in your Step exams, get involved in research early, and plan to do aways and possibly even a research year at the programs you're aiming for. You'll be a doctor -- many other premeds can't say the same thing. Good luck!
I could vastly boost my MCAT to over 90 percentile
You could also do the same or worse and shoot yourself in the foot.
 
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It always baffles me when people who seem pretty much average just expect that they're all of a sudden going to become superstars. Like what makes you think that you're going to be able to rock your MCAT retake when you did poorly on your first try, or that you'll get into a top medical school the second time around when you barely got in the first time, or that you'll be competitive for top residencies when your history provides no evidence that you are an exceptional individual? Not that any of those things are impossible, but it just seems naive to assume that you're all of a sudden going to become exceptional.
 
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Residency program directors won't be splitting hairs between Downstate and Penn State. We're not talking about HMS vs. PS here.

Go to Penn State if it's your only acceptance. How well you do in medical school is largely dependent on your own aptitude and work ethic. Do well in your Step exams, get involved in research early, and plan to do aways and possibly even a research year at the programs you're aiming for. You'll be a doctor -- many other premeds can't say the same thing. Good luck!
You could also do the same or worse and shoot yourself in the foot.

So you think Downstate and Penn State won't be viewed much differently from a residency perspective? Also, do you happen to know which fares better in terms of research and clinical? I have been doing research but couldn't find much comparing the 2 programs.
 
So you think Downstate and Penn State won't be viewed much differently from a residency perspective? Also, do you happen to know which fares better in terms of research and clinical? I have been doing research but couldn't find much comparing the 2 programs.

Well..Hershey does have that brand new Childrens Hospital. Also Im sure there are research opportunities, there or up at Main Campus.

But alas, I am biased.
 
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Well..Hershey does have that brand new Childrens Hospital. Also Im sure there are research opportunities, there or up at Main Campus.

But alas, I am biased.

Mhmm. Also a fairly new (2009ish I think) cancer institute, if that's your cup of tea.
 
And if you flap your arms hard enough you could fly to the moon.

I could vastly boost my MCAT to over 90 percentile and I have a full time research job and may be getting 2-3 publications so i would say thats a decent improvement along with more volunteering and shadowing
 
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Mhmm. Also a fairly new (2009ish I think) cancer institute, if that's your cup of tea.

There and at the Main Campus hospital (Mt Nittany) finished construction on its own cancer center. These kind of things I obviously heard about my entire undergraduate career.
 
So you think Downstate and Penn State won't be viewed much differently from a residency perspective? Also, do you happen to know which fares better in terms of research and clinical? I have been doing research but couldn't find much comparing the 2 programs.
Both Downstate and Penn State are in the same tier, i.e. neither program is prestigious enough to give you a leg up for residency applications. Program directors are simply not splitting hairs or losing any sleep over this distinction. You will likely end up in the same place coming from either Penn State or Downstate.

Penn State will offer you the same opportunities as Downstate to showcase your abilities. Your performance, grades, and board scores will be based on your own aptitude and work. You'll also (presumably) be able to do research in your field of interest at both schools. And if you're like most applicants applying into competitive specialties, you'll likely do a research year (at a fancy big name hospital), and do multiple away rotations. The differences between the two programs really ends up being quite small.
 
Both Downstate and Penn State are in the same tier, i.e. neither program is prestigious enough to give you a leg up for residency applications. Program directors are simply not splitting hairs or losing any sleep over this distinction. You will likely end up in the same place coming from either Penn State or Downstate.

Penn State will offer you the same opportunities as Downstate to showcase your abilities. Your performance, grades, and board scores will be based on your own aptitude and work. You'll also (presumably) be able to do research in your field of interest at both schools. And if you're like most applicants applying into competitive specialties, you'll likely do a research year (at a fancy big name hospital), and do multiple away rotations. The differences between the two programs really ends up being quite small.

If i do get into Downstate (my IS school), would you recommend that or Penn state? Penn State is 17 k more in tuition but will probably be about 1 k cheaper per month in terms of living expenses.
 
If i do get into Downstate (my IS school), would you recommend that or Penn state? Penn State is 17 k more in tuition but will probably be about 1 k cheaper per month in terms of living expenses.
Whichever is cheaper and will give you more peace of mind / a better support network. For you, probably Downstate. But if Penn State is your only option, you would be a fool to pass it up.
 
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Honestly the OP is so myopic that I'm surprised he can type so well with his eyes closed.

It's people like the OP that harms the health care system.... they care pretty much for themselves and has no real interest to practice medicine for the people. The questions he asks are laughable at best....... should be more concerned about actually doing well in med school rather than cherry picking.

Do the community a favour and don't be a doctor...... you are in it for the prestige, not the privilege.
 
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Well..Hershey does have that brand new Childrens Hospital. Also Im sure there are research opportunities, there or up at Main Campus.

But alas, I am biased.

Everyone and their mothers has a new children's hospital
 
Penn State is a great school! People are having weird reactions to getting into medical schools on SDN. You should be excited! You get to be a doctor!
 
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Hey guys should I matriculate at my only accepted US MD school or should I sit on this running chainsaw?!

pls help,

OP
 
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