<p>in reading through the posts...i notice it is rare to see an actual school name mentioned by an applicant.. whether talking about the app process or why an applicant chose one school over another.... was thinking it might be helpful but is it a privacy issue?</p>
<p>It was for my kiddo. There aren’t that many med schools and there aren’t that many that interview and then get accepted to each school. Some schools have under 100 in their class, some even smaller.</p>
<p>And with our kiddos having some unique and different (noticeable) credentials it might be easier to identify who they are with the school names given.</p>
<p>Heck I think its easy to identify just on some previous posts and some background. But I know most of us have mentioned here and there where they were considering and where they ended up.</p>
<p>Kat</p>
<p>Yes. </p>
<p>There’s often enough identifying info posted on the forum to “out” a particular applicant and med school admission directors can and do sometimes get upset over unflattering public commentary about a school’s negatives or the posting of specifics about its financial aid offers.</p>
<p>(In fact, given what you’ve posted about your son here on CC, I could [given sufficient motivation to do so] probably figure out his identity/name. It’s not all that hard to do…)</p>
<p>Identifying a poster has happened over at SDN where one poster got a rather unhappy email from a school’s admission director over his/her comments about the AD’s school. Can’t remember if the poster’s admission got rescinded or not…</p>
<p>In any event, the choice of a med school is very personal thing. What suits Person A probably won’t suit Person B.</p>
<p>that makes sense. thanks</p>
<p>Not a dumb question.</p>
<p>You can always private message any of us.</p>
<p>What wowmom says is also true, what one student might want in a med school is not what another would want.</p>
<p>Kat</p>
<p>I just think the names of the schools is kind of irrelevant. I imagine most people seeking advice here care much more about the process (UG, ECs, applying, interviewing, etc) than the details, because the process is what’s applicable to them. I’ve peppered many of my posts with my school’s name, the names of schools where I interviewed, etc when more or less directly asked (eg the OP asked about experiences at these specific schools, and I interviewed at one of them). I’m happy to share as specifically as you want–but maybe I’m the strange one (heck, my tag is my name!). I could also probably rattle off the schools, years, specialty choices, etc of at least a dozen posters or their kids. But I mean, what good would that do? Even if your kid was hellbent on going to my school, the chances that my individual experience there would help him or her significantly have to be pretty slim. </p>
<p>So, privacy seems to be an issue, but I think the more important one is that the names just simply don’t matter much!</p>
<p>Good question P56. I’m still trying to learn about the medical schools too, really just because I like to learn these things. Isn’t there a difference among these schools? I suppose I could run off to SND to learn more, but as a parent, not so sure I’m welcome there. </p>
<p>Anyway, I was curious about one school that was mentioned here recently, so I PM’d the poster who regularly posts here on this thread. But got a non-answer. Maybe my question was too subtle, so I asked again. Again a non-answer. When reading the answer to my very direct question third time around, I felt like I must have asked that poster to break some code. I concluded:
- if you find out where someone goes to med school, it’s the most personal detail about someone you’d ever get.
- sharing a name of a med school must be equal to sharing your SS#.
- all med schools must be very similar.</p>
<p>
A few years ago, an SDNer posted that likely because of what he had posted, his interview invite got rescinded. Several SDNers were quite sympathetic to his misfortune. Disclaimer: I am not 100 percents sure what this SDNer posted was indeed true. But that SDNer had posted on SDN for 1 to 2 years before he made that post.</p>
<p>limabeans, My take:
- Agree.
- Agree.
- While all med schools are good, there are differences among them.</p>
<p>BTW, isn’t there a saying that goes like this: The best med school is the one which admits you. This is because, generally speaking, while a student chooses the college to attend, a med school chooses the students it is willing to take (based on its own criteria, which may be quite different depending on the school.)</p>
<p>
But how do you learn about them? I’m not even sure how to “evaluate” a med school or compare med schools, other than the basics like research required, or classes are P/F vs letter grades. These things you can learn from a book, but how do you decide what makes a “good fit”? It’s not like you’d transfer, right?</p>
<p>And, that SND poster really must have said something terrible. They are like open books over there, I’ve noticed.</p>
<p>I do not think med school student can transfer.</p>
<p>Sometimes, some current med school students may come out to share some of their experiences with MS0 on some threads for newly admitted students.</p>
<p>Regarding “good fits”: It is not easy to know it. This is why there is a 2nd look event for almost all med schools.</p>
<p>BTW, I think DS placed a lot of value on P/F in preclinical years. I do not know whether he still thinks the same now, as many of his peer students work awfully hard anyway. (It is almost like a ritual in our weekly call that we feel we need to remind him not to study too hard. 
I believe he thinks he has studied hard enough, but he once commented many students not only study as hard as him, but also work hard to distinguish themselves on the non-course-work related front simultaneously, e.g., join some intense, more time-consuming research group also.)</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>LOL! Love it :)</p>
<p>Fit is nebulous thing and I don’t think a student can decide where he or she belongs until he/she has actually visited the campus and talked with actual students there. (Which is what on-campus interviews and second look days are all about.)</p>
<p>(And fit is luxury-- since most students do not have multiple admission offers…they get one or two and often finances are the bigger consideration than fit.)</p>
<p>I also think that some of the onus is on the student to understand himself and how he prefers to learn. If he can do that, be that honest with himself then he can apply to those schools selectively that fit his needs/wants/ideal. </p>
<p>Will he be happier with only P/F the first 2 years since it’s may be less stressful? Or is he the kind of student who needs to know how well/badly he’s doing when compared to others? Does the student like small-group learning? Or does he prefer lectures for learning new material? Does the student want the variety of a large class of 250? Or a smaller class of 75 where he knows everyone? Does he want a traditional 2+2 curricula? Or early clinical experience where he’s plunged into doing patient exams during his first semester? </p>
<p>And location? The med student will be living there for 4 (or perhaps more) years. Is this a city kid who will chew his own foot off in small town flyover country? Or does the idea of NYC make their skin crawl?</p>
<p>I do think there’s some truth in what mcat2 said–med schools tend to select student they think fits their ideal.</p>
<p>And transfers in med school–almost never possible.</p>
<p>I had a hard time figuring out which were the most important factors in evaluating med schools too, so I asked one of our resident gurus and got some really helpful advice, with permission:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>thanks for posting that entomom!</p>
<p>agree with limabeans… reading in msar etc, just doesnt give you a feel for the school. S2 will be the one doing the work, research, etc for where he will apply, but a hangover from undergrad here on cc perhaps has me wishing i could say… “i heard on cc that x school is…” :)</p>
<p>NO question is dumb. However, I shared several times that decision process is so personal that many aspects of ot would not be applicable to others. Make sure that you treat your own criteria with the greatest respect before you consider inputs from others. We restricted ourselves from suggesting anything when our D. decided, except for one point. I made sure that she would not choose the school based on financial aspect of it, I removed this point from her decision making, but again it was her specific situation which would not be applicable to others and many will consider the price tag which would be correct thing to do under their circumstances. Again, it is very personal, so besides privacy issue, it does not make much sense at all to compare schools as comaprison will be based on very personal criteria not applicable to many others.</p>
<p>My daughter knew that second looks would be out of the question (WAY too much money spent on interview travel) so she tried to get to her interview locations as early as possible the day before. That gave her time to look around the area and talk to her overnight hosts about the school. For her selection, she narrowed her choices down to three and then used other criteria for her final selection such as location, cost, the feel she got about the school from the interview, etc. In hindsight she applied to and interviewed at way too many schools, but it did give her nice choices so she was able to then consider all of the factors listed in post #13.</p>
<p>thanks entomom. Your post will be very helpful. I will share this with my son so when he is trying to figure out his list of schools, he has some features to consider beforehand. Of course, I’m not at all sure how to learn about some factors you mentioned, like whether they do lots of group work vs lectures, but that’s what he’ll have to research.</p>
<p>Here’s something that I kind of fear: finding out about the school only after all the applications are in and he starts interviewing. For instance, my son is interested in Public Health, but how does he find out if a med school places much focus on that before he has already sent out his applications. I mean, a second look is too late.</p>
<p>Look in the MSAR to see if there is MPH program offered at the school and check to see if there is an associated School of Public Health associated with the university.</p>
<p>Some medical schools also have their curricula posted online. </p>
<p>I believe all medical school incorporate public health topics into their units.</p>
<p>Lima-
you can also look at the rankings for Schools of Public Health, (top 3 are Johns Hopkins, UNC, and Harvard). Also search out med schools that offer a joint program for a MD/MPH in 5 years vs. 6 years.</p>
<p>Kat</p>