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regnaR175 said:
Is anyone able to confirm or deny the rumor that the overall number of applicants this year to both campuses is lower due to the board scores? I mean, every single institution that develops or changes a curriculum suffers low scores for the first class to implement the program...growing pains...but it would occur to me that would not necessarily cause less people to apply. However, rumors have indicated otherwise. If you happen to have solid information on this, say, from inside sources or the like, I'd love to hear the situation. My having fallen asleep periodically throughout the MCAT causes me to want the numbers to be lower to buffer my less than stellar score. I know that sounds selfish, but I want to go to med school, not wish I was going to med school. And as much as I'd love to get into the PHX campus so I don't have to sell my house in this non-esxistent market and transplant my family, I'll go anywhere.

One more question: Are there any of you whom have done both Princeton Review and Examkrackers? I did Princeton review last year for the 'cat and do not want to fork over the cash to take it again, so I was thinking the Examkracker books would be a nice alternative. What's the point in taking the same class over again anyway? So if anyone has some opinions about Examkrackers, good or bad, and especially in comparison with TPR, I'd love to hear 'em. Good luck, y'all.
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I took a TPR classroom course the first year I applied and took the MCAT (26R: PS-7, VR-10, BS-9). Although I think their methods are very thorough and I did learn alot, I felt a little bit limited by their agenda--in other words it didn't give me enough time to really focus on my individual weak areas. On the second time around, I used the EK books (I only supplemented with TPR texts on topics I needed a thorough review of) to study on my and absolutely loved them! They have you study only what you need to know for the exam, and the VR technique is especially superior to TPR. My score improved alot, especially in VR (30R: PS-8, VR-13, BS-9). I HIGHLY recommend EK books for individual study, though the TPR science books are great when you need an in-depth review of a topic.
 
Were we required to update the office with our fall grades?
 
afkari said:
Were we required to update the office with our fall grades?
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I received an email after my file was complete asking to update them with fall grades by Jan. 15. They said an email (so no official transcript) would suffice. I'd go ahead and send them in if you haven't already - to the medapp email address.
 
Yea, I was thinking of just sending it in, but i received two Bs and thought it wouldn't look good. AMCAS gpa : 3.6 and fall gpa: 3.45 any advice?
 
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regnaR175 said:
Is anyone able to confirm or deny the rumor that the overall number of applicants this year to both campuses is lower due to the board scores? I mean, every single institution that develops or changes a curriculum suffers low scores for the first class to implement the program...growing pains...but it would occur to me that would not necessarily cause less people to apply. However, rumors have indicated otherwise. If you happen to have solid information on this, say, from inside sources or the like, I'd love to hear the situation. My having fallen asleep periodically throughout the MCAT causes me to want the numbers to be lower to buffer my less than stellar score. I know that sounds selfish, but I want to go to med school, not wish I was going to med school. And as much as I'd love to get into the PHX campus so I don't have to sell my house in this non-esxistent market and transplant my family, I'll go anywhere.

One more question: Are there any of you whom have done both Princeton Review and Examkrackers? I did Princeton review last year for the 'cat and do not want to fork over the cash to take it again, so I was thinking the Examkracker books would be a nice alternative. What's the point in taking the same class over again anyway? So if anyone has some opinions about Examkrackers, good or bad, and especially in comparison with TPR, I'd love to hear 'em. Good luck, y'all.
Click to expand...
I used kaplan the first time got a 29 10 10 9BS. The online resourses are great but the texts too much and too dry too overwhelming. the next time i used Exam crackers scored a 33 10 12Ps 11VR, the texts were concise clear and intersting. The practice questions were excellent and in the mcat style. For me, I think it was easy to waste alot of precious time using kaplan, exam crackers the whole cirriculum is essential. Follow the 10 week cirriculum religiously and I think you'll get at least few extra points. I did the cirriculum in 10/11 weeks and used an additional 4 weeks to do just full lenth practice tests that I purchased directly from the aamc web site. hope this is helpful. If you have more questions feel free to ask.
 
afkari said:
Yea, I was thinking of just sending it in, but i received two Bs and thought it wouldn't look good. AMCAS gpa : 3.7 and fall gpa: 3.55 any advice?
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They will need all grades eventually so just send it in asap. Also if you are accepted you will have to send them a final transcript anyways. There is a deadline this month to send them in if I remember correctly and you wouldn't want your file deemed not complete and discarded. In fact the admissions committee may not even be allowed to see your file until you have sent in those grades as they only view "completed" files. Best bet is a email or call to tanisha and follow their instructions.
 
afkari said:
Yea, I was thinking of just sending it in, but i received two Bs and thought it wouldn't look good. AMCAS gpa : 3.7 and fall gpa: 3.55 any advice?
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Not sure what else you can do besides send them in and hope for the best. Two Bs isn't the worst thing that can happen, just be glad they weren't Cs or Ds
 
Thanks for the responses. The deadline has already passed, but I will contact the office to see what they say. This is the email I received:

Congratulations! You have endured the AMCAS, a secondary application and two interviews for your application to The University of Arizona College of Medicine! Your file is now considered complete and will be released to the admissions committee for review. Again, decisions will be shared on a rolling basis from December through March; remember, reviews are constant and continuous through the end of the season. Do not lose sight of your overall goal "to become a doctor" and keep up the hard work in your current day-to-day activities.

If you are currently registered for courses, we would appreciate a fall grade report by January 15, 2009. To save time and money, we will gladly accept an unofficial copy of your transcript attached to an email address to [email protected].

We appreciate your application to The University of Arizona College of Medicine and wish you the best.

Bear Down!

Office of Admissions
The University of Arizona
College of Medicine
 
From the email it seems to me like sending in your grades is not mandatory, but just recommended?
 
I couldn't afford to take a class but after reading Kaplan, I magically stumbled on Examkrackers. Kaplan tanks in comparison. I really felt that I did not need the class after EK. It really is that thorough. And then, after taking the MCAT, I felt that EK was dead on with everything it said...except for genetics. The MCAT is starting to bust out with these really hard genetics questions....really master that and you will be okay. One passage had I think 3 genes that were cross linked or sex linked with 3 other genes. It was just really hard.
 
So is the next acceptance batch definitely this Friday? Also, does anyone have any idea how many people will be accepted?
 
I went through Princeton and liked the classes, but I prefer individual study and felt I needed time alone in the library. I used EK and the tests from aamc. I ended up with a 30Q on the first try, which isn't fab, but good enough to get in. If I were doing it again, I would go to the MCAT website, download the topics and study them from EK and regular textbooks, and take A LOT of practice tests. Also, I completely agree that Princetons VR technique is ridiculous- use the EK way.
 
I did not get anything today unless you consider the spam email from "University of Phoenix" something. Yes, I actually thought you know what. I also received another army scholarship email. It is starting to look more and more attractive to me. Anyone get in today?
 
I really think that since they will be releasing a larger number this month that when the acceptance day finally arrives, a good number of SDN'ers will be posting good news around 9am and we will all know the day has come. I really think it will be Friday. If the Phx ADCOM is not meeting until tomorrow (as someone reported earlier in this thread) and both campuses sent emails on the same day last month, then that means it can't be tomorrow and probably not Thursday...Regardless, I will be nervous to check my email tomorrow, Thursday, and everyday until it happens!
 
If you follow the timeline....dec 5 was first release, then 19, then jan 5. The pattern is the ~2 week delay. So, I guess the 22nd seems feasible, since 19 to 5 is 17 days and the 5 to 22 is also 17 days. Okay, I'm going to stop analyzing.
 
InvitroDerm said:
If you follow the timeline....dec 5 was first release, then 19, then jan 5. The pattern is the ~2 week delay. So, I guess the 22nd seems feasible, since 19 to 5 is 17 days and the 5 to 22 is also 17 days. Okay, I'm going to stop analyzing.
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There actually was no releases on Jan. 5. I called both campuses and asked them the next week and they both were really surprised to hear that...the girl said they had barely gotten back into the office that week. This week is definetely the first week in Jan. of "official" acceptance releases..(which is a good thing for all of us!)
 
This is what Dr Organic wrote on Jan 6 :
Heard from Phoenix yesterday (jan 5th). Don't know how many emails they sent out though. I'm going to tell them no (I want to stay in Tucson), so that spot's going back up for grabs. Maybe I should auction it off to help pay for tuition....😀😀

Is he a troll?
 
InvitroDerm said:
This is what Dr Organic wrote on Jan 6 :
Heard from Phoenix yesterday (jan 5th). Don't know how many emails they sent out though. I'm going to tell them no (I want to stay in Tucson), so that spot's going back up for grabs. Maybe I should auction it off to help pay for tuition....😀😀

Is he a troll?
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That is why I called, because of his post...but I definetely think that if they had released acceptances they wouldn't have withheld that information. Maybe he didn't check his email for a while or he was accepted there in Dec. and there was a mistake sending him the 1st email...not sure. I just know they confirmed 1st exceptances to be this week for January. Maybe you could call tomorrow Invitro and double check? (and maybe get a confirmation on Friday and the number to be released 🙄)
 
Tanisha or Ann:
Please, if you are reading this, please set up a user name (TucsonADCOM) and please tell us exactly when the acceptances will be mailed (e.g. 9:00:00 am on Friday) and how many will be released.
Thank you and we will see you in Aug.
 
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Cuddy420 said:
There actually was no releases on Jan. 5. I called both campuses and asked them the next week and they both were really surprised to hear that...the girl said they had barely gotten back into the office that week. This week is definetely the first week in Jan. of "official" acceptance releases..(which is a good thing for all of us!)
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Just fyi, all of UofA was in winter shut down from before Christmas Eve until Jan 5th, so all offices were closed and shut down. Without commenting on that the previous posts, I can tell you that nothing happened since before Christmas Eve. And then release names when just when you get back to the office after over a week seems strange. Especially when the current students even had to wait til the end of the week for our financial aid checks and everything to clear. Just fyi....
 
Krosburg said:
Just fyi, all of UofA was in winter shut down from before Christmas Eve until Jan 5th, so all offices were closed and shut down. Without commenting on that the previous posts, I can tell you that nothing happened since before Christmas Eve. And then release names when just when you get back to the office after over a week seems strange. Especially when the current students even had to wait til the end of the week for our financial aid checks and everything to clear. Just fyi....
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Thanks Krosburg for helping confirm what I had been told!
 
MedMan25 said:
When looking at that match list you also have to remember that this list doesn't include the names of all the individuals who didn't pass the boards and consequently weren't eligible to apply. When looking at the total # of 4th year students vs. total number who matched I believe the figure is in the neighborhood of 50%.

P.S. I hope I don't sound like I'm trying to turn this into an anti-carib discussion, you can most certainly make it going the carib route, just putting my 2c in, that's all 🙂
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Depends on the school you're looking at. Again there is the Caribbean and there is the Caribbean. MOST of the schools suck and I would not touch with a ten foot pool or a twenty-five foot one for that matter.
Look at AUC there average MCAT for matriculants is a 21-24, Ross last year was a 26 and SGU ~28. SGU for example has over a 90% first time pass rate on the USMLE Step 1. Ross and AUC are in the eighties (and some students don't make it that far).
So yes when you're looking at foreign schools in general the overall USMLE pass rate is in the 60's vs about 90-95% for the US.
St. Georges also has that $100 million agreement with New York Hospitals incorporated so they have actual clinical centers....meaning you do all your rotations in one hospital.
For example...I intered for five months with a St. Georges grad. He graduated from NYU with honors and did great on his MCAT but could not get in. So he went to St. Georges and did some of his clinicals at St. Vincent in Manhattan. They liked him so he went on to do a pulmonary/critical care residency there. The truth is a lot of schools look down upon the Caribbean grads; but SOME of the schools there (mostly St. Georges and Ross to some extent) have built a good reputation for producing quality physicians.
So I agree. Most of the schools suck...and hence they don't have licensing in all fifty states or access to federal loans. But a few make the cut.
 
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regnaR175 said:
Is anyone able to confirm or deny the rumor that the overall number of applicants this year to both campuses is lower due to the board scores? I mean, every single institution that develops or changes a curriculum suffers low scores for the first class to implement the program...growing pains...but it would occur to me that would not necessarily cause less people to apply. However, rumors have indicated otherwise. If you happen to have solid information on this, say, from inside sources or the like, I'd love to hear the situation. My having fallen asleep periodically throughout the MCAT causes me to want the numbers to be lower to buffer my less than stellar score. I know that sounds selfish, but I want to go to med school, not wish I was going to med school. And as much as I'd love to get into the PHX campus so I don't have to sell my house in this non-esxistent market and transplant my family, I'll go anywhere.

One more question: Are there any of you whom have done both Princeton Review and Examkrackers? I did Princeton review last year for the 'cat and do not want to fork over the cash to take it again, so I was thinking the Examkracker books would be a nice alternative. What's the point in taking the same class over again anyway? So if anyone has some opinions about Examkrackers, good or bad, and especially in comparison with TPR, I'd love to hear 'em. Good luck, y'all.
Click to expand...


I took the PR planning to take the MCAT in April. Wasn't ready since in addition to the PR I was pulling 20 credit hours. I was at a 24-26 at that point (9VR, 7BS and 8PS) on the AAMC tests.
Used EC to study over the summer and pulled it up to a 31 (and my actual test was one of the "Killer" test dates).

So if I had to do it over again skip the PR; way too much time spent in class.
Instead use ExamKrackers and the Gold Standard MCAT videos. Those videos are awesome.
 
Proteinpowda said:
Look at AUC there average MCAT for matriculants is a 21-24, Ross last year was a 26 and SGU ~28. SGU for example has over a 90% first time pass rate on the USMLE Step 1. Ross and AUC are in the eighties (and some students don't make it that far).
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Schools like Ross and AUC administer a comprehensive exam at the end of second year. If you fail this exam, they don't even let you take the boards until you can pass it. You can probably see now why that 90% figure is slightly misleading since it only takes into consideration the students who were able to pass the comprehensive exam and thus were eligible to take the boards. In other words, 90% does not mean 90% of the entire class passed the boards 1st try although they try to put that spin on it.
 
MedMan25 said:
Schools like Ross and AUC administer a comprehensive exam at the end of second year. If you fail this exam, they don't even let you take the boards until you can pass it. You can probably see now why that 90% figure is slightly misleading since it only takes into consideration the students who were able to pass the comprehensive exam and thus were eligible to take the boards. In other words, that 90% figure does not mean 90% of the entire class passed the boards 1st try.
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Very true! Hence I'd prefer to go Midwestern or UA of course. I applied to NYCOM as well (their match list is quite impressive)
Here's what I'm stressing: DO, MD, SOME offshore schools, they are all good options. While some of them are not as optimal as others you work with what you have and make the best of it. Residency options might be fewer but at the end of the day if you bust tail you will still be a doc.
 
Proteinpowda said:
Very true! Hence I'd prefer to go Midwestern or UA of course. I applied to NYCOM as well (their match list is quite impressive)
Here's what I'm stressing: DO, MD, SOME offshore schools, they are all good options. While some of them are not as optimal as others you work with what you have and make the best of it. Residency options might be fewer but at the end of the day if you bust tail you will still be a doc.
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Agreed.
 
Let me clarify about the loans....yes, you can use govt...but the cap is 220K for US govt loans. If you go to SGU, the tuition is $200K. Then you have $60K living expenses. That means that you have to borrow $40K from a private lender and are subjected to variable interest rates more than likely. Anyway, I'm sure you will get in to an MD or DO here Protein. I know you want to get it over with already, but you should wait a little longer. That is a good MCAT score.
 
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InvitroDerm said:
Let me clarify about the loans....yes, you can use govt...but the cap is 220K for US govt loans. If you go to SGU, the tuition is $200K. Then you have $60K living expenses. That means that you have to borrow $40K from a private lender and are subjected to variable interest rates more than likely. Anyway, I'm sure you will get in to an MD or DO here Protein. I know you want to get it over with already, but you should wait a little longer. That is a good MCAT score.
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I'm not sure if that's true-- it's my understanding that the federal Stafford loans are capped, but the federal GradPlus loans have no limit up to the cost of attendance (as estimated and reported by your school).
 
InvitroDerm said:
Let me clarify about the loans....yes, you can use govt...but the cap is 220K for US govt loans. If you go to SGU, the tuition is $200K. Then you have $60K living expenses. That means that you have to borrow $40K from a private lender and are subjected to variable interest rates more than likely. Anyway, I'm sure you will get in to an MD or DO here Protein. I know you want to get it over with already, but you should wait a little longer. That is a good MCAT score.
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Yeah I thought so. 10B,10V,11PS R. But you know...I applied to 22 schools for 2008...my only interviews were for the Caribbean and UA. So I'm trying again. I turn 25 next month; and it's tough some time watching everyone become ensconced in their careers and starting their "real lives," while many of us have no idea where we'll be living in six months and then have to move again in four years later for residency. So in retrospect maybe it would have been nice to have graduated college the fast route and not worried about grades, MCAT so much and gone offshore or DO (I'd be in my fourth year or so of med school now), but in in the interim I've had some really amazing experiences which I wouldn't give up.
 
So, rkells is right according to this article: http://www.usnews.com/articles/busi...best-federal-loans-for-graduate-students.html

You can cover the total expense...but the interest rate is higher for PLUS. Anyway, I can't imagine that someone with a 31R can't get into a DO program (avg is 26). The Carib does have some benefits...first, you'll be studying harder to get back in the USA, second, you will interact with different cultures and see things you've never seen before. And then, when you get back to the US, you can be the best resident ever by working super hard and people will say, whoa, that guy went to the Carib?!
 
Did anyone get in today? I can't wait until this madness is over.
 
I heard from Ann yesterday that acceptances will be sent out tomorrow (Friday).
 
JFrusciante said:
I heard from Ann yesterday that acceptances will be sent out tomorrow (Friday).
Click to expand...

Yes this is correct. I wouldn't recommend anyone else call today, as the admissions staff seems a bit annoyed (at being hounded by students, I would think). So I guess we all have to chill out for awhile and not keep harassing them.

The information I got today is that there will be one acceptance notification release this week, and then 2 more in February.
 
All of us Sdners sit here and wait,
For that email sealing our fate,
To wear a white coat and stethoscope in this hot weather,
Man until 9am tommorow can we keep it together?
We took our MCAT's and passed our rigorous exams,
All so we can go to school in this cowboy land,
So please Mister and Miss med school official choose me,
Because I'll be just as good at medicine as I am being witty!


To 9am Ladies and Gentleman!
 
Pretty funny protein lol. Many of us were just reflecting in lab the other day on the moment that we received that wonderful letter almost a year ago now. Your mind tends to wander during skining of your cadaver lol. You will be amazed at how much you will change in ways you may not have even expected. Oh and be nice and post on here if you get info from Ann or Tanisha, they are really busy and sharing info really helps cut down on the calls they have to take. They really get TONS of calls everyday and they still remain very pleasant.

Cheers and good luck!

PS those white coats are actually rather hot, mine is pretty heavy and already the pockets have begun to fill with odds and ends, stethoscope, eye chart, drug book, neuro hammer, id cards, pens, flashlight, trauma shears, schedules etc
 
wow, it's going to be really hard for me to resist that urge at 9 am to NOT check my email during my interview tomorrow morning, lol.
 
I hope that most of us applied to other schools in addition to the U of A🙄
 
I'll be teaching at that very moment. I have no idea how I'm going to be able to concentrate on the lecture. I might just tell everyone to hang on and then grab a student's laptop. Good luck everyone.
 
Good luck everyone. Kind of off-topic, but can the medical students or re-applicants give me some advice as to how the committee views taking CC courses while you are enrolled at the university? I can PM anyone my specific situation.
 
Thank you everyone for your thorough advice on classroom versus Examkrackers study methods. It appears the Examkrackers books are exceptional in comparison. It also seems the VR portion is presented much more effectively. VR has always been my downfall. I got a 5 in VR when I took it the first time and an 8 when I took it again two months later. My sciences are fine, so I can only imagine, based on all of your advice, that Examkrackers will at least not hurt, if not drastically help my scores. That is, unless the rest of my application is good enough in the eyes of the adcoms this cycle...crossing my fingers for this January batch of acceptances. I will keep this updated. Thank you again.
 
merryjoulton said:
Even if the number of applicants was lower, how would you determine that the sole reason was because of the lower board scores? You'd have to go out and ask everyone who would have applied but didn't what their reasons for not applying were... which seems unlikely.
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In my post I asked if anyone can confirm or deny those rumors. I myself was not trying to determine any sole reason at all, rather if these rumors had been generated from some sort of real data or statistical analysis to which someone with "inside connections" may have had access or the like. I understand that that is an unlikely bit of info for us pre-meds, but thought I'd throw the question out. My other source, beside unreliable hear-say, was the explanation I received at my Tucson interview pertainint to why I should not let the board scores influence my decision should I be accepted. Perhaps this was as a result of some sort of statistical trend across the nation for applicant numbers following a low-scoring year that I don't know about, but that another SDNer may, thus sharing this information with me in response to my question. Would I let something like that influence my own decision? Absolutely not! I own my actions wether they be failures or outstanding achievements. If I got an acceptace I would run around my house for hours singing Christmas carols for no other reason than being ridiculously ecstatic. My question was really more of an attempt at a conversation piece on a board where a large portion of us are uncomfortably nervous about the looming admissions decisions.
 
Me neitherrrrr argh I wish I could know one way or another so I can get back to sleep!!
 
is it always 9am exactly.. or maybe 10am? of 5pm? who even knows..
 
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