2015-2016 Brown University (Alpert) Application Thread

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So I was wondering whether or not to apply here, and I got my MCAT preliminary percentile back. According to that, I will score 90th percentile or higher. I have other great EC's, but my drawback is a 3.55 GPA. Should I go through with it and apply here? Any suggestions welcome!

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Mine is 3.4 and I'm going for it. Brown is really quirky about who they take. If you love the school, its worth a shot.
 
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Just got my secondary, seems like it's just in time for the tech issues to resolve!
 
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+1 secondary as well, earlier this morning
 
Brown is very selective about whom they choose to interview--but, if you make it to interview day, you have an extremely high chance of being accepted. They accept something like 250 out of 300 people they interview each year. Your personal statement, AMCAS application and letters of recommendation REALLY COUNT here (much more so than top grades and MCAT scores).

It seems like you will have the best chance of being picked to be interviewed if you are a non-traditional student who has accomplished interesting things in both the medical and the non-medical realms. At my interview day, we had a stand-up comic who was also an EMT, an HIV researcher who is also a professional dancer, etc. So my advice would be to play up what makes you special outside of the health sector. If you can tie it to why you'd make a good physician, you will have a great shot at Brown.
guess i'm screwed :(
 
Anyone not received a secondary yet (and verified before Jul 1)?
 
For course requirements, does anyone know if we're supposed to enter hours like it appears on our transcript or in AMCAS?
 
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Not sure what to do with this one... I'm about to move 3,000 miles (from the state where I did my post-bac to my home state) and am applying for jobs in healthcare, but don't have a job yet and haven't established a volunteer gig or anything like that. Seems a bit presumptive to write 2000 char about what I hope to be doing. Is anyone else in a similar boat?

Yes, but I still haven't received the secondary and am hoping to have something lined up by then. However, I imagine that they'd understand many people are in a similar situation to yours especially if you moved far away to do your post bac. Just be honest about the positions you've been applying to and how that aligns with your goals.
 
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For the question:
4. What are your aspirations for your medical practice? Fast-forward to 15 years in the future: where do you imagine yourself? (3000 char)

I'm sort of thinking I might like to do Ob/GYN. I have no experience shadowing a professional in this field (tried to but the hospital had a policy against it), but the reason I feel called to this for the moment is I feel like I relate very well to women and I am very interested in the whole female reproductive system. Basically I am interested in women's issues, from a medical standpoint and a societal stand point and I would love to pursue it. Having said that I have more of an oncology background (research). So I'm not sure my interest is entirely believable.

Does anyone have any thoughts about whether it would be a terrible idea to say any of this? Also any thoughts on how to spin other volunteering/shadowing/research into an interest in Ob/GYN?
 
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For the question:
4. What are your aspirations for your medical practice? Fast-forward to 15 years in the future: where do you imagine yourself? (3000 char)

I'm sort of thinking I might like to do Ob/GYN. I have no experience shadowing a professional in this field (tried to but the hospital had a policy against it), but the reason I feel called to this for the moment is I feel like I relate very well to women and I am very interested in the whole female reproductive system. Basically I am interested in women's issues, from a medical standpoint and a societal stand point and I would love to pursue it. Having said that I have more of an oncology background (research). So I'm not sure my interest is entirely believable.

Does anyone have any thoughts about whether it would be a terrible idea to say any of this? Also any thoughts on how to spin other volunteering/shadowing/research into an interest in Ob/GYN?
Also forgot to mention that another part of this is my younger brother was born with very rare cysts in his lungs that needed immediate attention upon his birth or he would've died. There are a whole lot of scary/fascinating aspects of this story and basically I think having grown up hearing about this and obviously being happy that my brother had such a great care team, has influenced me and my desire to be an Ob/GYN. Potentially for high risk pregnancies like his, but that's all conjecture at this point :p
 
Are most of you guys applying Brown undergrads? I really like the location of Brown, the school, their curriculum, etc. but have been told that it is not worth applying since they take 60% of their own undergrads and the others come from linked programs.

And this info is coming from adcoms btw
 
Are most of you guys applying Brown undergrads? I really like the location of Brown, the school, their curriculum, etc. but have been told that it is not worth applying since they take 60% of their own undergrads and the others come from linked programs.

And this info is coming from adcoms btw

There is no way that 60% of the program is Brown undergrads the way you are saying it (in which the 60% does not include those from linked programs).

According to their website:

They have earned degrees in more than 30 different majors—from Anthropology to Cognitive Neuroscience Engineering to Theater Arts—at 49 different US or Canadian colleges and universities.


https://www.brown.edu/academics/medical/admissions/class-profile
 
Based on those number w/ Brown undergrads and linked programs it probably ranges between 45-50%. Which is pretty high for med schools?

Correct me if I'm wrong, just trying to get a sense if it is worth the money. Even with great stats close to half the class is set aside for those from Brown/linked programs.
 
Does anyone know the questions for the MD/ScM program?
 
I got Brown's secondary and noticed that calculus is a prereq. I took pre-calc and statistics can I justify those as quantitative reasoning. Not sure if I should even bother sending in a secondary.
 
Still waiting on this secondary, I have been verified since 7/2/15...
 
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Still waiting and been verified since 6/26...do they screen at all?
 
Still waiting for a secondary here as well. Verified 6/11 ...
 
Does anyone know the questions for the MD/ScM program?
First two questions same as above (Limited availability and what you're doing during the 2015-2016 application cycle).
3. How will your unique attributes (e.g., cultural or socioeconomic background, lifestyle, work experiences) add to the overall diversity of the Alpert Medical School community?
4. Imagine that you are approached by a multibillionaire philanthropist who wants to donate a substantial fund of money to a single project with the goal of "fixing the US healthcare system." He/she asks for your expert opinion on what project this money should go towards; what would you advise and why?
5. Often when we talk about medicine, we focus on the individual physician-patient relationship. Why should medical schools train future physicians to care for communities and populations as a whole, and not just individual patients?
 
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Gah. Brown is the only one not to send a secondary yet. They're killing me XD Whyyyyyyyyyy
 
Filling out the Brown Secondary and, like an above poster, I'm having trouble figuring out if stats works in place of calc. Any ideas? I feel like requiring calc is outdated at this point, and all the other schools are accepting stats instead.
 
I'm starting MS1 here in a couple months. Chose Brown over 9 other schools. Here to answer any questions about the application year at Brown!

Are you doing the MD/ScM program? If not - any insight into the program itself? Advantages/Disadvantages?

I'm interested in health administration/policy and was actually thinking of pursuing an MD/MBA or MPH, but from the descriptions, the ScM would teach me the same skills...

The question's also open to anyone out there who can enlighten me lol. Thanks in advance :D
 
Ah HA! So this is why...

"This is to confirm that we received your AMCAS record. We are currently experiencing technical issues related to sending out secondary application information. Our technical staff is working diligently to resolve the problem as quickly as possible. Please be assured that this issue does not affect the information in your AMCAS record.

We apologize for the delay in sending you the secondary application information. We anticipate sending it to you sometime next week. Thank you for your patience." -Brown Alpert Med
 
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Submitted my secondary yesterday! YAY!
 
So I hate to keep reposting a question, but does anyone know if Brown accepts stats instead of calc? I would hate to lose my #1 choice because of a math requirement!!!
 
First two questions same as above (Limited availability and what you're doing during the 2015-2016 application cycle).
3. How will your unique attributes (e.g., cultural or socioeconomic background, lifestyle, work experiences) add to the overall diversity of the Alpert Medical School community?
4. Imagine that you are approached by a multibillionaire philanthropist who wants to donate a substantial fund of money to a single project with the goal of "fixing the US healthcare system." He/she asks for your expert opinion on what project this money should go towards; what would you advise and why?
5. Often when we talk about medicine, we focus on the individual physician-patient relationship. Why should medical schools train future physicians to care for communities and populations as a whole, and not just individual patients?
Do the MD/ScM questions have a character limit?

So I hate to keep reposting a question, but does anyone know if Brown accepts stats instead of calc? I would hate to lose my #1 choice because of a math requirement!!!
I contacted them a few months ago to ask about this and whether they were flexible on the 10 year course policy (I took calculus exactly 10 years ago). They were not, unfortunately. I will still apply and will gladly take it again if I manage to get accepted.
 
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what kind of "supplemental information" do people submit? I feel like i'm required to submit something since it's there, although it's "optional"...
 
So what are you guys putting for hours?
I'm on the quarter system but I've also taken community college classes, so I am not sure what I should enter.

Also, they say to put course number and name but they only leave a space for the number. Whats up with that?
 
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Ah HA! So this is why...

"This is to confirm that we received your AMCAS record. We are currently experiencing technical issues related to sending out secondary application information. Our technical staff is working diligently to resolve the problem as quickly as possible. Please be assured that this issue does not affect the information in your AMCAS record.

We apologize for the delay in sending you the secondary application information. We anticipate sending it to you sometime next week. Thank you for your patience." -Brown Alpert Med

I still haven't received a secondary either. Do you guys think I should call them to let them know, or do you think many people are having the same problem and it should be resolved soon?
 
I still haven't received a secondary either. Do you guys think I should call them to let them know, or do you think many people are having the same problem and it should be resolved soon?

Haven't received one either. If you call, let me know what they say!
 
I still haven't received a secondary either. Do you guys think I should call them to let them know, or do you think many people are having the same problem and it should be resolved soon?
I'm still waiting and they don't screen so I suppose we wait. If you email them would you mind sharing the response?
 
Haven't received one either. If you call, let me know what they say!

I'm still waiting and they don't screen so I suppose we wait. If you email them would you mind sharing the response?

Just called their admissions office. They were able to look into my application and confirm that they've received my AMCAS, but they're having some technical difficulties on their side. They anticipate they'll send out the secondary by the end of this week.

The lady that answered my call was very nice and helpful, so I wouldn't hesitate to call if you need to!
 
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For the premed prerequisites section, I know they count AP credits, but does that only go in the alternatives box or do we enter in the equivalent course we got credit for into the section above?

Also, do they want just the bare minimum they ask for? It says 1 organic chemistry course, but if I took 2 semesters and another semester of orgo lab, does that all go in or just the first semester?

There's no place for course name even though it's in the instructions, so I guess we just include course number?
 
Is anyone else having trouble logging in? I received their emails and was able to activate my account, but I haven't been able to login. I've tried changing my password 3 times with no luck. :(
 
Anyone still waiting for a secondary? AMCAS verified 6/2
 
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