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patho said:I have an interview at UMDNJ on Oct. 6 and I have a 3.6 overall, 3.5 science and 27 mcat. I have very strong extracurriculars though. Mentoring, a lot of research, hospital volunteering, hospice volunteering, premed amsa and I've been to U.S. Army Airborne School. I also retook the August MCAT and probably earned a 29-31, but they (nor do I) know that yet. I completed my app there about 3-4 weeks ago. Just call the admissions office and check your status, that's what I did today.
shenningdo said:Thanks! We sound like a matched set, except for the U.S. Army Airborne School. Everything else is the same, right down to numbers and ECs. My application was complete over two months ago, and I am currently at UMDNJ allo finishing my Master's. I will just wait and see. Thanks for the input and good luck!
medhacker said:shenningdo, is that your undergrad GPA or GPA+Master?
shenningdo said:Just my undergrad transcript GPA... the Graduate transcript GPA did not get calculated into my GPA on AACOMAS.
DrFeelgoodDO said:If your grad GPA is significantly higher than your undergrad, MAKE SURE THEY KNOW THIS. The grad gpa will be used instead in the admissions process. My credentials are that I was on the ad comm for two years as a student member. I know the process very well. BTW, extracurrics are great, but they don't get your foot in the door @ SOM. They're just something to talk about during the interview, as is the personal statement. Numbers talk, and bullsh*t walks. Catch my drift?
DrFeelgoodDO said:I was on the ad comm for two years as a student member.
KMMD said:Hey shenningdo... don't worry. My stats are just slightly below what has been discussed, like a 3.5 cum and 3.45 BCPM. I have great ECs and recommendations. I've been a neuroanatomist research assistant for two years now at Rutgers-Newark, but it is part of the UMDNJ graduate dept here, and I have shadowed DOs and MDs. Not much different from everyone else. UMD takes it's open house for the Osteopathic very seriously, were you there on April 22nd? Also, you have any connections to UMD-SOM physicians?
shenningdo said:Wow, that was direct. My graduate GPA is the same as my undergrad GPA, I do not know any physicians at UMDNJ, and no I was not at the Open House in April. My mother had heart surgery that week, and it was more important for me to be with her since she is the only family I have. If UMDNJ is more focused on numbers and not the person I am or how I developed into that person, then they sound like they approach admissions more like an allopathic school. I appreciate the information. I will just wait and see. Good luck with your future!
KMMD said:I'm sure they care about the person just as much as the numbers. Thats pretty ludacris to comprehend after meeting and speaking with the fantastic physicians there or who have attended. In fact I have yet to meet a DO that treated me even close to the impersonal stone cold number humpers that most of the MD schools do. There open house was fantastic, but obviously they cannot hold that against you with your situation. I hope all is well with your mother. Best of luck with UMDNJ-SOM.
Nate said:Hey shenningdo, I didn't attend open house, in fact I never visited the campus before my interview, and was accepted in September last year. It is way more than just numbers, but without numbers you are really relying on luck. That is just the name of the game. However the numbers mentioned in this thread are competitive for SOM in my opinion.
I have said it before and I will say it again, if you don't have an SOM doc writing your LOR or you have never been to campus you should really call up the admissions office and tell them how interested you are, let them hear in your own voice that SOM is your top choice and ask them what you can do to get in. We have small classes and everyone becomes a family here, the deans will know you by name, it is a great place to be. Good luck,
~Nate