University of Michigan Class of 2009

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footcramp said:
ok i'm obviously not a huge fan of michigan but i think this is pretty much a non-issue for medical students. if you are in the mstp program, there are plenty of non-clinical mds or phds to work under who are doing research. if you are an md applicant thinking of doing summer research, again, there are plenty of people doing research, and you can always do outside research as well. if you play your cards right the school might also fund your outside ventures, though this is BY NO MEANS guaranteed. the disgruntled surgeon is a surgeon. unless you're thinking of matching at michigan, doing surgery, AND doing research, i can't imagine why this person's situation would in any way affect you as a medical student.

there are plenty of opportunities for research for a medical student at michigan. i would definitely NOT factor this in your decision.
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Thanks footcramp!! That is reassuring.
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On a different note, does anyone have any anecdotes about the UMich waitlist (i.e. is it fairly fluid, etc.)?

Also, if it came down to a choice between UMich and a southern state school ranked in the 20's (sorry to throw rankings in everyone's face) and you wanted to match in the South anyway, would there be a palpable advantage of going to UMich over the southern school (or could the opposite even be true???)?

thanks.
 
Is it too early to bump this post?...oops.
 
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hey maybe i can answer some of your questions. i don't know/remember too much about the waitlist, but i think around 60% of people who interview eventually get accepted. word was that last year's class had relatively little movement, but i'd imagine that changes from year to year. if i remember correctly there are two big deadlines, march 15 and may 15. the first being the date by which schools must fill their class, and the latter being the date by which an applicant must let go of all spots except one. needless to say there will probably be people being pulled off the waitlist until late may and possibly later.

i know that the school is still interviewing, so this probably isn't the best time for waitlist movement. those are just my guesses though.

also, some info about waitlists... waitlistees are put in 3 tiers based on god knows what. it's sort of weird because they pull people off the list from all 3 tiers. maybe to diversify the class in whatever way they see fit.

if you're thinking of matching in the south, i would just go to whichever is a better fit for you. money, atmosphere, people, whatever. i don't think you'd have too much trouble matching in the south coming from michigan, but i'm just talking out of my ass here.

i think rankings are overrated.

one last thing - do not trivialize the effect of weather on your overall quality of life.
 
I was waitlisted today :(
 
people are taken off the waitlists at michigan all the way up until the week before classes start. there are people in my class (07) that were pulled off in june & july. a friend of mine at a different school (class of 05) said he was pulled from the umich waitlist mid-june, but he'd already submitted his app deposit to somewhere else and ultimately chose that other school anyway. i don't know much about the 08 class, though. from what i know of the tier ranking hoo-ha, basically nearly all 1st tiers get in, 2nd tiers have a 50/50-ish shot, and 3rd tier may want to send in deposits to the other schools they definitively got into.

i have no direct info from the adcoms/whoever; this is just info i get from speaking with med students in my class and in other classes. *shrug*
 
GoodMonkey said:
people are taken off the waitlists at michigan all the way up until the week before classes start. there are people in my class (07) that were pulled off in june & july. a friend of mine at a different school (class of 05) said he was pulled from the umich waitlist mid-june, but he'd already submitted his app deposit to somewhere else and ultimately chose that other school anyway. i don't know much about the 08 class, though. from what i know of the tier ranking hoo-ha, basically nearly all 1st tiers get in, 2nd tiers have a 50/50-ish shot, and 3rd tier may want to send in deposits to the other schools they definitively got into.

i have no direct info from the adcoms/whoever; this is just info i get from speaking with med students in my class and in other classes. *shrug*
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I keep getting the impression that it won't even begin to move until after May 15th. Bleh.
 
Man, I got the big waitlist today too :thumbdown: . It's a bummer that we won't find out our standing 'til April but it's good to know how active it's been in the past. Ahh well, didn't Churchill or someone say "That which is too easily obtained cannot be highly esteemed"?


GoodMonkey said:
people are taken off the waitlists at michigan all the way up until the week before classes start. there are people in my class (07) that were pulled off in june & july. a friend of mine at a different school (class of 05) said he was pulled from the umich waitlist mid-june, but he'd already submitted his app deposit to somewhere else and ultimately chose that other school anyway. i don't know much about the 08 class, though. from what i know of the tier ranking hoo-ha, basically nearly all 1st tiers get in, 2nd tiers have a 50/50-ish shot, and 3rd tier may want to send in deposits to the other schools they definitively got into.

i have no direct info from the adcoms/whoever; this is just info i get from speaking with med students in my class and in other classes. *shrug*
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can someone comment on the housing situation in ann arbor - specifically apt hunting? in my previous experience w/'college towns' you would sign a lease in the spring for a place for the following fall. what's it like out there? any recommendations on where & when to look? seems like there's one or two big complexes near the med school. do the fill up quickly?
thanks.
 
bridge01, here's the class of 2007 thread created a few years ago. there's housing information in there as well as other stuff.

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=63055

wow i just scanned through the first two pages of that thing again. we were such sickeningly optimistic and happy people. :barf:
 
here's another waitlist anecdote...a classmate/good friend of mine got off the waitlist one week before school started!
 
footcramp said:
ok i'm obviously not a huge fan of michigan but i think this is pretty much a non-issue for medical students. if you are in the mstp program, there are plenty of non-clinical mds or phds to work under who are doing research. if you are an md applicant thinking of doing summer research, again, there are plenty of people doing research, and you can always do outside research as well. if you play your cards right the school might also fund your outside ventures, though this is BY NO MEANS guaranteed. the disgruntled surgeon is a surgeon. unless you're thinking of matching at michigan, doing surgery, AND doing research, i can't imagine why this person's situation would in any way affect you as a medical student.

there are plenty of opportunities for research for a medical student at michigan. i would definitely NOT factor this in your decision.
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absolutely agree 100%.

There is a good # of world-class labs here; you will tend to see some MSTPs congregate at these labs for their thesis work.

You only need to find one or two of these to work with (you're not gonna be working in a whole lot of labs) and they're pretty easy to find.
 
footcramp said:
bridge01, here's the class of 2007 thread created a few years ago. there's housing information in there as well as other stuff.

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=63055

wow i just scanned through the first two pages of that thing again. we were such sickeningly optimistic and happy people. :barf:
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thanks footcramp. the barfing smiley face is a nice touch. :laugh:
 
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AndyMilonakis said:
here's another waitlist anecdote...a classmate/good friend of mine got off the waitlist one week before school started!
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Yeah, one of the students doing my tour when I interviewed said he got in the week before classes started too. If you're on the waitlist, hang in there! There's still a lot to hope for!
 
footcramp said:
bridge01, here's the class of 2007 thread created a few years ago. there's housing information in there as well as other stuff.

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=63055

wow i just scanned through the first two pages of that thing again. we were such sickeningly optimistic and happy people. :barf:
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haha i am a raging psycho on that thread hopped up on some TCAs or speed or something. (i had a boring-ass job at the time.) oh well at least i was a veritable fount of information. or bull$hit. or something. :laugh:
 
i like all the honest opinions from everyone. i would assume there are some bitter and unhappy people like footcramp at EVERY school just to keep that in mind.

i just got in yesterday and am hoping there's a fleece on its way. :)

and yes, robert was super nice. i really liked the place a lot. i already go here for undergrad, though, so i'm kind of looking for a change.
 
For all the prospective umich students: the results of the ENT, ophthy, urology, neurosurgery, and neurology matches are in and it looks like Michigan grads kicked some major booty. I don't have a comprehensive list of the matches, but here's what I know so far...

ENT:
Michigan (top 5 program)
U Penn
U Iowa (top 5 program)

Ophthy:
Bascom Palmer--#1 program in the country
Wills Eye (2)--top 5 program in the country
UT Southwestern
Michigan (top 10)


Neurosurgery:
University of Washington (top 5 program)
UCLA

Urology:
Michigan

There are other matches in these specialties, but this is what I know so far. I'll keep you guys updated. :cool:
 
I believe roughly 60 of this year's M1s (out of 170) came in off the waitlist.
 
Sweet. Here's to me being one of the 60.

Crete said:
I believe roughly 60 of this year's M1s (out of 170) came in off the waitlist.
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Incidentally, it's interesting to note that only one person posted waitlist movement on the "Official 2004 Waitlist Movement Assistance Thread" for UMich. Maybe that goes to show you what a unrepresentative sample SDN is. We only represent 1/60 of the application pool...exactly. Please, don't try to argue, numbers don't lie, especially when they have been so carefully calculated.

Dr. Donkey said:
Sweet. Here's to me being one of the 60.
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Someone who needs a thesis for a statistics major or something like that should definitely try to do an analysis of how representative SDN is. It seems like there is definitely an azz-load of information available. Probably be a little complicated though.
 
Hey potential classmates and colleagues,

So in my application, i mentioned some stuff about serving the underserved and things like that. I'd like to think that i really meant it, which is why i feel a little hesitant about going to umich. I understand it's an awesome school with "second-to-none clinical and basic science teaching, not to mention great reputation among residency directors," all of which attracted me to the school. But after the interview, I feel when it comes to working with the poor, uninsured, immigrants, and ethnic minorities (or underserved ethnic majorities), there doesnt seem to be a lot of opportunities at umich. Yeah, there're ppl in detroit and the metro area (which my interviewers pointed to when i asked them this question), but those are a quite a ways away (how often do you/would you really go to detroit).

Just to give you something to compare with, it seems obvious to me that schools like a. einstein, ucirvine, usc, uic, ucdavis, uchicago, ucsf, etc have very direct access to underserved populations. But not so obvious for umich. Then again, i dont know much about washtenaw co or ann arbor.

Would you all agree? disagree? Help me get a better picture of how it really is, please. Especially those who are there now.

(sorry for the long post!)
 
hi beebs,
many of my classmates in the class of 2007 had the same concerns as you. there are currently three programs for your interests. one is called the MAPI clinic, and i don't remember what it's for, but it's for underserved populations. the other is the HOPE clinic, which i think is for elderly african american populations, but again i'm not sure. the last one is Project H, which was started by some motivated people in our class and encompasses a wide variety of underserved populations through various activities.

some of these places require a drive, i think MAPI is in taylor michigan. don't know how far that is from here, but you can mapquest it probably.

oh and also there are projects going on in detroit with the hmong community, as well as various free screening programs we set up a few times each year for cholesterol, glaucoma, and other stuff. oh and we also have a program for visiting retirement homes and shoveling snow from driveways of elderly people.

sorry to be sparse on the details but as you can tell i haven't really been too involved in these things. i think you're right that working for the underserved in ann arbor does take a bit more initiative, not to mention driving times, but i think that anywhere you go to school, you'll be able to find underserved populations. it might be as obvious as LA's skid row, but they are there. underserved populations cross color lines and geographic borders. i hope that helps.
 
:thumbup: automaton - thanks this was helpful. do these student groups have websites?
 
yeah, thanks! That was helpful!
 
Real quick before I go to bed:

1) I don't know what the surgeon was talking about.....and MD/PhD is the surgery chair......compared to most surgical departments, I would guess ours is more research intensive than others. I can't speak for MSTP's, but i have noticed that people generally go into one of a handful of labs, but I always thought that was because they had good mentoring for MSTP students.
2) There are all sorts of clinics for the underserved both in Ann Arbor and surrounding area. The county that hte airport is in (Wayne) is 20 minutes away and is a fairly needy area (understatement). The question isn't if there are clinics but which one you want to get involved in.
3) You can find housing pretty easily in Ann Arbor. Don't worry about it. The undergrads have to sign leases early because around central campus there is a huge demand for housing. Closer to the medical school there isn't that much of a demand comparitively (the complex I live in is mostly grad students, med students, and residents)
4) One of my friends got in the week before classes, so yes the waitlist moves for a while.

Time for bed.
 
beebs said:
Hey potential classmates and colleagues,

So in my application, i mentioned some stuff about serving the underserved and things like that. I'd like to think that i really meant it, which is why i feel a little hesitant about going to umich. I understand it's an awesome school with "second-to-none clinical and basic science teaching, not to mention great reputation among residency directors," all of which attracted me to the school. But after the interview, I feel when it comes to working with the poor, uninsured, immigrants, and ethnic minorities (or underserved ethnic majorities), there doesnt seem to be a lot of opportunities at umich. Yeah, there're ppl in detroit and the metro area (which my interviewers pointed to when i asked them this question), but those are a quite a ways away (how often do you/would you really go to detroit).

Just to give you something to compare with, it seems obvious to me that schools like a. einstein, ucirvine, usc, uic, ucdavis, uchicago, ucsf, etc have very direct access to underserved populations. But not so obvious for umich. Then again, i dont know much about washtenaw co or ann arbor.

Would you all agree? disagree? Help me get a better picture of how it really is, please. Especially those who are there now.

(sorry for the long post!)
Click to expand...

so i had a lot of the same concerns as you when i was applying last year. i'm really, really interested in the service/public health aspect of medicine and that was a huge consideration in where i applied to med school. i've found that here, despite a2 being a safe town and a world in itself, there is NO shortage of opportunities to get involved in volunteering and service - especially to underserved communities and the uninsured. i'm involved in a ton of these projects myself and they keep me sane. off the top of my head...the ashley and hope clinics target the uninsured and homeless populations. the students and faculty i've worked with on these projects are really dedicated and sincere, and it's been great. i've had a chance to volunteer there and it's easily one of THE best experiences i've had this year. sadly, there still is a large contingent of homeless and uninsured individuals here - i can't imagine being homeless in this weather. :( but the upside of working in these clinics is that you *really* do get to be part of a positive, real impact. you not only work with amazing doctors who've dedicated years of their lives to setting up these projects, but you see stuff from the classroom coming to life. those are the times when i think going to med school is 110% worth it.

feel free to pm me with any questions. good luck! :)
 
Sorry to subject hop, but does U of M have tests every weekend (you pick the time) or was it something less frequent?
 
frantic983 said:
Sorry to subject hop, but does U of M have tests every weekend (you pick the time) or was it something less frequent?
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We have quizzes every weekend. A typical quiz consists of 30-40 questions over the material covered that week (anatomy, physiology, embryology, histology, etc., of an organ system). The quizzes can be taken at the medical school any time between 5 PM Friday and 8 AM the following Monday. It's a sweet deal.
 
weekly quizzes begin to phase out second year. we had two early in the year but haven't had any since. so during second year you'll mostly have exams every 2-3 weeks. we all take it at the same time (no flex). flex time was sweet.
 
.
 
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it's only pass/fail so it doesn't matter what the guy down the hall is doing. i know people that take the quizzes on friday and those that take them on monday morning. just personal preference i guess. oh, and i'm only in undergrad here, so my opinion may not be as valuable as others. :)
 
Any news on the move for a P/F 2nd year? Or is this going to be way beyond the incoming c/o 2005?
 
when I interviewed in sept. they said that it looked good for p/f 2005, but I don't know about any changes in the interim
 
re: flex time

people spend all weekend studying mostly because they spent all week slacking off. some people like doing their slacking on the weekend after the quiz, some like doing their slacking during the week... hmmm, also after the quiz. think of it as the morning types vs the night owls. just a different preference for when they'd rather work.

nobody cares about your score first year unless you fail. anything above 75 is for your own sense of accomplishment or intellectual curiosity. sometimes lecturers will congratulate you for scores in the high 90s though. basically those are nice ego boosters but not much more than that.

pass fail is pretty awesome. just don't fail. grades are not so awesome.
 
so when can we call and find out what tier of the waitlist we are on?
 
Hoorraay for michigan!! haha just felt like saying that. :p
 
fun8stuff said:
so when can we call and find out what tier of the waitlist we are on?
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April 1st. According to the status page, "Waitlisted applicants may call our office after April 1 to request more information about their relative position on the wait list and the size of the list this year. "

Good luck. I'm hoping to be rescued from the waitlist as well.
 
Creatine said:
April 1st. According to the status page, "Waitlisted applicants may call our office after April 1 to request more information about their relative position on the wait list and the size of the list this year. "

Good luck. I'm hoping to be rescued from the waitlist as well.
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Creatine, would you choose UMich over UW? You get the sweet instate tuition for UW, right?
 
I'm an M4 at UMich and just wanted to give hope to all those worried about residency prospects. I had pretty unremarkable pre-clinical grades and Step I score, good clinical grades, and got interview offers from every big name program I applied to for residency, like UCSF, the Harvard programs, Hopkins, etc. Sure I worked hard, had good letters, had other experiences on my app, but honestly, I figure the UMich name had to have helped a bit in opening some doors for me.

And I'm a potential contributor to the phenomenon of Michigan students staying at Michigan...I thought all the way through med school that I would serve my time here in the midwest and definitely escape back to a coast for residency, but after all my interviews, I had to very grudgingly admit that UMich really is a fantastic place to train and I would be a fool not to place it very high on my rank list. So you never know how or why your preferences will change over time!
 
june2005 said:
I'm an M4 at UMich and just wanted to give hope to all those worried about residency prospects. I had pretty unremarkable pre-clinical grades and Step I score, good clinical grades, and got interview offers from every big name program I applied to for residency, like UCSF, the Harvard programs, Hopkins, etc. Sure I worked hard, had good letters, had other experiences on my app, but honestly, I figure the UMich name had to have helped a bit in opening some doors for me.

And I'm a potential contributor to the phenomenon of Michigan students staying at Michigan...I thought all the way through med school that I would serve my time here in the midwest and definitely escape back to a coast for residency, but after all my interviews, I had to very grudgingly admit that UMich really is a fantastic place to train and I would be a fool not to place it very high on my rank list. So you never know how or why your preferences will change over time!
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this is good to know. question: do you mind telling what field of medicine you're going into? (i'm interested in I.M.) thanks.
 
Creatine said:
April 1st. According to the status page, "Waitlisted applicants may call our office after April 1 to request more information about their relative position on the wait list and the size of the list this year. "

Good luck. I'm hoping to be rescued from the waitlist as well.
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thanks
 
.
 
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frantic983 said:
When will we hear about financial aid (for those who submitted FAFSA a while ago).
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In May! :eek: but if I recall correctly we can request an estimate from the fin aid office if we email them later this month or sometime in April...they should respond in a couple of days
 
almost positive this is where i'm going now after getting rejected from the other school i really liked... so, who else is going to be in a2 next year for sure?

4 more years of football saturdays! i'm excited already!
 
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