<p>CCL, my daughter was asked the same question at an interview as well. She was a bit uncomfortable with it, but answered truthfully as well. She was accepted.</p>
<p>CapeCod, The medical school may have an interest to know that if they admit you and another school also admits you, which school will you attend? At some interview session, the school may tell every applicant that if that school is your top choice, you need to let them know it as soon as possible. (When you tell them so, it is another question whether or not they trust you.)</p>
<p>I heard that after a certain day (March? April?), all medical schools will know whether you have been admitted to other schools. One applicant last year received an email from school X, which asked him/her that, between school X and Y which he had been admited into (Yes, the other school’s name was specifically mentioned) which one he/she plans to attend?</p>
<p>Thanks GA2012Mom and mcat2. It is a little awkward to start off an interview that way, but I guess surprise may be part of the plan? 
It was fine and I do understand them wanting to know for their own yield purposes, but it does start it off a bit on an odd note, rather than saying something like, “So what is it that attracts you to …” Different styles I guess. No worries. He thinks it went well.
I just get excited when my son says he loves it somewhere and hence apprehensive hearing anything that might seem a bit off. Of course we’d love them to get accepted everywhere, but honestly, I just want him to be accepted where it’s the best mutual fit, though it is good to have choices as it relates to finances, locations, and so forth. </p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Can somebody give me an idea of when FA packages will start coming in? Will all or most of them be out in enough time to evaluate them and decide on which second looks to attend?</p>
<p>Didn’t get mine until March, picked up a few scholarships in May.</p>
<p>Frankly, it seems that some Med. Schools are actually waiting for applicant to be accepted at similar place before they invite to their own interview. That seems to be going on between NwU and Case. Again, I might be wrong, but there are good number of applicants every year who decide between these 2. There is even special thread on SDN “Battle of Westerns”. Any way, I advise people who are in similar situation, to attend at least Case’s Second Look event, last year atendees were treated first class, limo’s, 5 star Hotel,…etc., very impressive.</p>
<p>CapeCodLady: At an interview on Monday my son was asked what other schools he had been invited to for interviews and if he had other acceptances. He answered honestly, but didn’t know if it hurt his chances there or not. On one hand, perhaps they won’t offer you admission because you already have acceptances; on the other hand, could it make you more attractive to them because they know that other schools want you? I’m hoping they judge the applicants based on fit. My son liked this school and thought the interview went well, but was a little nervous about having to answer this question, too.</p>
<p>“on the other hand, could it make you more attractive to them because they know that other schools want you?”</p>
<p>-I believe so, at least the case with some schools (my post 466).</p>
<p>What do they know and when do they know it:
(from the AMCAS Instructions, page 12)</p>
<p>"The AAMC disseminates application information to medical
schools to which you have applied. The AAMC also shares acceptance information across
schools in order to assist medical schools’s adherence to AAMC recommendations. This
acceptance data is shared as follows:</p>
<p>a) Beginning in February of each year, a medical school that has accepted an applicant can
view the other school or schools that have accepted the applicant, if applicable.</p>
<p>b) Beginning in April of each year, a medical school can view the school or schools that
have accepted an applicant, even if that applicant has not yet been accepted by the
medical school"</p>
<p>(b) is helpful to schools when selecting from their waitlist .</p>
<p>At an interview in October, one interviewer asked me what the “other competition” was for me. Admittedly, I was a bit surprised by the question at the time, but I told him frankly what my other top choices were and where I had/expected to be accepted. I was accepted at that school less than a month later. Sometimes I just think the interviewers are curious about what other schools their desired applicants are looking at, and I don’t believe it plays a big role in their final decision.</p>
<p>I posted earlier today that my son had answered the “where else are you interviewing/have you been accepted anywhere” questions at an interview on Monday. Today he received an acceptance letter from that school. So, in his case, the fact that he had other acceptances and told them about them did not hurt his chances at that school. I thought the timing was interesting.</p>
<p>Thanks, everyone. Good to hear that it isn’t that unusual.
pccool- That’s reassuring as well. Good luck with all.
miami- Interesting thoughts regarding acceptances and interviews. Hope that is true!
ohiomom- Interesting timing indeed! Congrats to your son. Interview on a Monday and accepted on a Saturday. Sweet!!
plumazul- Thanks for the information. I knew there was some timetable but had never seen it. </p>
<p>Cannot wait to see how everything unfolds. So in May, does everyone here start disclosing where they are going? Do most applicants do the re-visits at the accepted schools? Lord, I wish we had frequent flyer miles for these trips! </p>
<p>Have a great day~</p>
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<p>Those are two great med schools in the Midwest and will have a lot of cross-admits. That said, the schools in “less desirable” locations tend to try a little harder at Second Look. Before you get upset, I think most people would regard Cleveland as a less desirable location than Northwestern’s prime Chicago location. Don’t expect limos or paid for hotels at every Second Look.</p>
<p>Talking about desirable locations, I once heard a story about a prime hospital/medical school location in an affluent neighborhood:</p>
<p>If you go to a medical school where its affiliated hospital is in a very affluent area, most patients are wealthy and they do not want to be “taken care” by, relatively speaking, inexperienced medical school students or residents. The problem is more serious in the residency program.</p>
<p>An exception is when you want to pursue academic medicine rather than being a practicing doctor. In this case, the more prestigious, likely the better.</p>
<p>Is there any truth in this saying? Basically, that person said the hospital where you receive your training had better to have a certain percentage of poor patients who can not afford to be picky about what doctor they see. For example, a public hospital in a less desirable location may provide more learning opportunity than a big name, prestigious hospital where the rich, famous, or even celebrities may go.</p>
<p>For UG, there is a reason to go to a school in a prime location if you prefer to go to a well sheltered environment (e.g., an area like the suburban neighborhood where many of you live most of your life.) But for a medical school/residency hospital, there may be some reason to keep some distance from the super rich neighborhood.</p>
<p>I’ve heard the same things about certain hospitals (Stanford Hospital, Ronald Reagan/UCLA Medical Center come to mind). I’ve talked to some medical students about it during interviews, and they mentioned that a lot of the real hands on learning can happen at affiliated community hospitals, not necessarily the main big-name medical center. Lots of medical schools have an affiliated VA hospital.</p>
<p>I’m interested to hear what other people think…</p>
<p>
UT medical school at Galveston? At one time, I even heard each medical student may be assigned a couple of prisoners “completely at his/her disposal.”</p>
<p>It may not be ethical to say/do this: Pick up the skills by treating the poor who have no other choice (e.g., by delivering their babies at a community Hospital if you will be an OB doctor), and then get paid by serving the ones who can afford the bill (i.e, those top N percenters.) Then, if you feel too guilty about this, do some “charity work” by taking some non-paying patients (or those relying completely on Medicare.)</p>
<p>Yeah, I mention the VA hospitals because a student told me his most useful training was there. And this was with a very famous hospital right next door. </p>
<p>As far as the ethical concerns, who knows? People need to be trained. Still, how many doctors are willing to let their loved ones be treated by interns fresh out of medical school? 
This will probably always be debated…</p>
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<p>Actually, I’ve found the opposite to be true. The toughest (ie most grumpy/unruly) patients are the more indigent ones. In general, I’ve found 95% of patients to be very receptive to being taken care of by a med student or a resident. If you go to an academic center, you know you’ll be seen by students. Don’t expect the uninsured to be grateful for the free care you provide.</p>
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<p>Prestige is definitely important if you want to go into academics. But, there’s no correlation between prestige and location. Northwestern, Cornell, UCSF, etc. are in great livable cities and are prestigious. As is WashU, Penn, etc. They’re just not in great locations. </p>
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<p>I believe in balance. You need the poor uninsured patients but you also need to see the normal patients. Guess what the population base is for 90% of practicing physicians? Yep, normal patients with normal insurance. County hospitals and VA hospitals provide interesting clinical experiences but I do not think they provide the best education nor are they great examples of evidence-based medicine. I would never want to go to the county hospital or the VA as a patient.</p>
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<p>Ask M4’s and residents what they prefer 
A big academic center like Northwestern or Cornell that is a tertiary referral center will get a lot of rare pathology regardless of the location. But, it’s undeniable that Chicago or Manhattan is just more fun (and safe) than St. Louis or Cleveland. </p>
<p>Good residency programs in places like Cleveland, Detroit, St. Louis, Brooklyn work really hard to sell the location. Residents simply don’t want to go there. Meanwhile, places in Cali, Manhattan, Chicago know that they are much more desirable. Low-tier community radiology programs in Cali for example are more competitive to get into than many mid-tier academic programs in the Midwest. The best programs in Chicago are much more competitive than the best programs in Pittsburgh or Cleveland.</p>
<p>So to summarize:</p>
<p>Advantage of community hospitals/VA/County hospitals:
-You get to do more as a student and a resident
-Crazy pathology because people don’t take care of themselves</p>
<p>Disadvantages
-Usually the nurses are um “subpar:” at our VA, the patient could be coding and the nurse would still be bothering me about writing diet orders. Why? Because that’s what patients bother THEM about
-Not the best example of evidence-based medicine
-Can be flat out dangerous (for example, at the radiology residency program at our local county hospital, brand new first year radiology residents are reading complex studies like CTA’s, which fellows usually read). I’m all for clinical experience but somethings flat out kill patients</p>
<p>Advantage of academic places:
-More evidence-based medicine
-Bigger names, more research
-Crazy pathology because of referrals from surrounding hospitals</p>
<p>Disadvantages:
-You get to do less in terms of hands-on experience (that said, I’ve been able to do everything as a med student including spinal taps, paracentesis, etc.; my classmates even delivered one of the attending’s babies)</p>
<p>Overall, I would still want to train at a big academic center, whether it’s in a ritzy area or not. There are many many hospitals in every city. For example, in Chicago, people know about Northwestern and UChicago’s flagship hospitals. But, what about all the no-name community hospitals? That’s where the Caribbean students do their US rotations. There is a world of difference in the quality of education.</p>
<p>Good to know! Thanks for the info.</p>