<p>Congrats to wowmom’s D2!</p>
<p>Congrats to your D2!</p>
<p>I agree with kristin 100% on this. There’s obviously plenty of factors to consider when you finally pick your school, but as much as admins like to paint “brand new curriculum” as a great thing, I think it’s a negative. You want schools that are responsive to feedback, but I don’t want to be learning the material at the same time that teachers are learning how to present it.</p>
<p>With regard to somemom’s comment about 1.5 year curriculums. While in theory I agree with what she says, my school at least claims that there is data to support that 1.5 year curricula lead to lower step 1 scores - and anecdotally at least, my friend at Duke med said it was horrible to go through and that she wished she had been in a 2 year program. There are plenty of opportunities as a medical student to get exposure to a wide range of fields such that before you even begin 3rd year, you at least have some sense of where you’re headed and can use elective time to decide between the handful of specialties you’re considering. For some specialties frankly, you need to decide by the end of 1st year so that you can spend your summer between M1 and M2 doing something in that area anyway.</p>
<p>Congrats, WOWM. Don’t you love those complete surprises.</p>
<p>Congrats to WayOutWestMom’s daughter!</p>
<p>My son did his first MMI at NYU. He signed an NDA regarding the exact questions of the MMI. There were twenty kids divided into 2 groups. A few of them known faces for him on the interview circuit. There were 10 stations with 9 ethical questions and one question specific to him (they change that question for each applicant). His specific question made him laugh out loud (it was complementary). I heard somewhere, in MMIs most end up with middle of the pack scores. I suppose it’s pretty good practice for his interview with Stanford on Wednesday. He and I will fly out to Frisco tomorrow evening.</p>
<p>Goodluck to your son at Stanford Kal. In your son’s honor, I bumped into a Stanford med school parent as well as a Stanford med resident on Saturday. :D</p>
<p>Just a quick question: I am registering for classes for spring semester and have some conflicts with my future coursework that I listed on AMCAS. I will be taking completely different classes except for one that I listed. However, none of them are prereqs–they were more electives like spanish, electives in my major and a general education class. I am taking a language, an elective in my major, and 2 or three other elective non-science classes (I want to explore different things for my last semester). Should I contact the school and let them know about the change?And is it a concern that I am not taking a science course for this final semester? </p>
<p>I guess this wasn’t a quick question, lol. But I appreciate the advice!</p>
<p>So you listed classes for final semester which you will be switching around but none originally listed count for AMCAS/admitted colleges requirements?</p>
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Thanks!</p>
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<p>I would suggest, you read the contingencies in your acceptance letter(s) carefully and call the school(s), if needed. My son’s acceptance letter from UVA had several contingencies (1. He should notify them with any changes to his schedule including changing a course to pass/fail. 2. A C grade in any class requires written explanation. 3. A D grade in any class will force them to re-evaluate his acceptance. …)</p>
<p>Better safe than be sorry…</p>
<p>Pink, I’m wondering the same thing about schedule changes, too. You could call and ask the school(s), which is probably what I will end up doing.</p>
<p>Cross-posted with kal.</p>
<p>Kal, I notice you often travel with your son when he goes to interviews. Do most parents do this? I didn’t realize and don’t think I have that kind of flexibility. It’s also very expensive.</p>
<p>Lima, I haven’t travelled with my son to any of his 7 interviews so far. I did pick him up from his Cornell interview, because its just a few minutes away from my workplace. The trip to Stanford would be my first one with him. I’m doing it because I have family and friends in that area. I probably will accompany him to Chicago for his Northwestern interview, once again to meet family.</p>
<p>As far as the cost is concerned, I still have around 500,000 frequent flier miles, that I can use for travel. I haven’t been able to spend any of them on my son’s trips because most of his flights have been on Southwest and my miles are with other airlines.</p>
<p>^ FYI-- don’t call SF “Frisco” (you can call it “The City”) or CA “Cali”— we don’t use those terms here in the Bay Area, lol :)</p>
<p>Kal wants to burn through his second kid’s college fund so he will go to Alabama. :p</p>
<p>I was thinking of emailing them, but I will call tomorrow. The letter just said its contingent on passing the background check and completing my planned degree with transcripts. But I’ll call and let you all know. I can just call admissions right?</p>
<p>Whatever they say on the phone, it is best to have it in writing.</p>
<p>texaspg, I wish my second one takes a cheaper route. He is a national merit finalist and Alabama offers full ride to any finalist that applies there. Also, he will definitely get 80% from Rutgers, if not full ride. He also has a 30k/year presidential scholarship from Tulane. My second brother lives in New Orleans and it would be great if he goes there. It is still being negotiated. As of now, he wants to ED to JHU or UPenn. JHU extended the ED deadline and he is not ready with their supplementary essay. We shall see.</p>
<p>I would suggest not applying ED. </p>
<p>Not sure about your income level but some of the Ivies consider the expenses of med school for FA. I don’t know if Penn or JHU consider grad students in the family.</p>
<p>There is no chance of any need-based aid. Neither JHU nor UPenn offers any discount for the sibling of a grad student. I am telling him to pull back from ED. He thinks ED is his best chance to get in because unweighted GPA is less than 3.9, which he thinks is the minimum to get into these schools. His ECs are on the lighter side 'cause he put all his eggs into marching band and other music related stuff.</p>
<p>Have you checked with Penn? I have heard HYPS consider med students in the family. S told a med freshman parent no money this year but when the second kid is college next year, med school would take that into account.</p>