2017-2018 University of Southern California (Keck)

BU Medical Sciences
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wesleysnipes said:
Just got my first rejection of this cycle from USC. This one hurts, but I will still be wearing cardinal and gold at the game this Saturday. For people wondering ~520 and complete mid august.
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Brutal, you will land somewhere great in the end.
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wesleysnipes said:
Just got my first rejection of this cycle from USC. This one hurts, but I will still be wearing cardinal and gold at the game this Saturday. For people wondering ~520 and complete mid august.
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Bummer! Hope to see you at a different school if we both get IIs


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Lizzy M of 77.5 and radio silence. I am terrified.


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At least USC is sending out rejections pretty quickly... rather than stringing everyone along.
 
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spotstorm said:
I could use some advice/opinions about something! So for prompt "Describe a situation in which you didn't get something you felt you deserved," I gave a response about something I got that I didn't think I deserved. Complete 7/25 and still haven't heard back. Just realized I made this mistake.

Should I email them and acknowledge the mistake and offer to send an updated response (I guess via email) to the intended prompt? Or should I just let it be and hope that they decide to overlook the mistake? Do you think it's likely they would be forgiving about this or is it an automatic rejection?

I'm bummed because USC was one of my top choices and I think the rest of my secondary is pretty good.
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I think if you said something along the lines of "I didnt help with a group project but got all the recognition" and acknowledged that you didnt deserve the recognition etc. that should be fine. I think what you wrote is a correct answer to the question, but you wrote the more "humble" answer in that you thought you deserved to be punished or something but were not and acknowledged your mistake. I feel like this question exists to see how people interpret it and to weed out people who think they deserve stuff and may be ungrateful etc. but thats just my own opinion and I'm an applicant too so who knows
 
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dodgeball.gif

How I feel about USC's current bloodbath....
 
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Anyone with a 518 and a II or reject??
 
OldSavage said:
and it seems like the bloodbath may be over! Congrats! When were you complete?
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I was actually complete today, they already had everything else. I submitted right around 4 PM and got my II at 5:15 PM. Kinda shocked by that.
 
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Nathan17182 said:
I was actually complete today, they already had everything else. I submitted right around 4 PM and got my II at 5:15 PM. Kinda shocked by that.
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*Gets interview within hour of submission*
 
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You submitted your secondary essays at 4pm and heard back in an hour?
 
Nathan17182 said:
I was actually complete today, they already had everything else. I submitted right around 4 PM and got my II at 5:15 PM. Kinda shocked by that.
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Is there like a cheat-code you used to unlock this or something if so pls share
 
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Nathan17182 said:
I was actually complete today, they already had everything else. I submitted right around 4 PM and got my II at 5:15 PM. Kinda shocked by that.
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Woah... what was your MCAT? URM? Extenuating circumstances? Star applicant? Sorry just curious how you went from complete to interview within 1 hour... you skipped to the very front of the line. It has to take at least 30 minutes to thoroughly go through an application.
 
MareNostrummm said:
Woah... what was your MCAT? URM? Extenuating circumstances? Star applicant? Sorry just curious how you went from complete to interview within 1 hour... you skipped to the very front of the line. It has to take at least 30 minutes to thoroughly go through an application.
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My MCAT was 510. I am also a URM. My stats don't make me a star applicant, but I've had some pretty good experiences that I talked about on my application and my letters of rec were strong. I'm still in shock of how fast I got it. I also didn't do the option 200 word essay in case anyone is wondering.
 
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Nathan17182 said:
My MCAT was 510. I am also a URM. My stats don't make me a star applicant, but I've had some pretty good experiences that I talked about on my application and my letters of rec were strong. I'm still in shock of how fast I got it. I also didn't do the option 200 word essay in case anyone is wondering.
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Nice, good luck with the interview!
 
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beachboy12 said:
I'm not surprised. my friend last year submitted and received II same day.
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Man! I was complete at the end of July... not freaking out or anything now.
 
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Rejected today, 517 MCAT (with expired 26 as a caveat). Anyone know what they're looking for specifically? Email said not to ask for feedback. Was looking forward to this school but on to the next one I guess.
 
Dantes said:
Rejected today, 517 MCAT (with expired 26 as a caveat). Anyone know what they're looking for specifically? Email said not to ask for feedback. Was looking forward to this school but on to the next one I guess.
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damn,good luck to you this cycle. nice mcat improvement
 
Dantes said:
Rejected today, 517 MCAT (with expired 26 as a caveat). Anyone know what they're looking for specifically? Email said not to ask for feedback. Was looking forward to this school but on to the next one I guess.
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Lol

yw8Ye8O.gif
 
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So just to clarify things here, Keck went on a massive rejection spree, accepted people minutes after submission, then went silent again... Bold strategy Cotton
 
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Gatorzmed said:
So just to clarify things here, Keck went on a massive rejection spree, accepted people minutes after submission, then went silent again... Bold strategy Cotton
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Keck sent interview invites (not acceptances) minutes after submission. It would be amazing for people to be accepted outright with no interview. Maybe Taylor Swift would get in immediately if she applied.
 
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Geez, this thread reminds me of the crazy Tulane drama that went down 4 weeks ago.

FWIW, OOS, 3.81/520, dead silence.
 
With all this bloodbath, not sure I should bother applying with a 123 CARS?
 
E.Hemingway said:
I think it really depends on the rest of your application. Isn't it a bit late though?
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Probably :/ I had no time to work on my secondaries in July so I've been running through them in August and have a few left still, including this one
 
Current MS1 here with some spare time to answer questions if you'd like.
 
nylock10 said:
Current MS1 here with some spare time to answer questions if you'd like.
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How dangerous is it around USC Keck? I keep hearing people say it's not in the safest place. Do people fear for their lives or getting mugged/robbed/harassed/shot everyday? Do you need to have a security guard escort you when you're alone? Where do most MS1s live? How do you get around on and off campus?

Also, what do you like/dislike about the school based on what you've seen so far?
 
cloudcomputingunicorn said:
How dangerous is it around USC Keck? I keep hearing people say it's not in the safest place. Do people fear for their lives or getting mugged/robbed/harassed/shot everyday? Do you need to have a security guard escort you when you're alone? Where do most MS1s live? How do you get around on and off campus?

Also, what do you like/dislike about the school based on what you've seen so far?
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In my opinion it's as safe as most metropolitan areas. I think what spooks people is that it isn't an anesthetically pleasing area which can make you think there's higher crime rates (i.e., broken window theory). It also has a large Spanish-speaking population which may be new to some people. Medical students typically come from more affluent areas so this environment might be new for a lot of people and I could see how it'd be off-putting. I grew up in the Bay Area though so this part of Los Angeles has a familiar feeling to it. I definitely don't feel unsafe here.

I also live in Currie Hall which is essentially on-campus so I don't walk outside of the area very much. Most other students live here too or within a 20-30 minute drive from campus. However, the downside to living in Currie is that it's a genuine food desert. I need to drive about 15 minutes to go grocery shopping or use a delivery service like AmazonFresh. As for the school itself, I really don't have any complaints. There's a very collaborative atmosphere here and it's been stress free for me so far. The school puts a lot of effort into making you feel supported.
 
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Immunorunner said:
Do you speak Spanish? Do you think it will be critical to your patient interactions in M3/M4?
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Ha, I took Spanish in high school and college but forgot it. Good news is that the school has a medical Spanish elective course with different difficulty levels depending on your current (or lack of) skill in Spanish. They'll teach you the basics of Spanish and how to tailor conversations towards history taking. (It's less daunting than you think because you control the conversation when taking histories and can anticipate what your patient will say.) Speaking Spanish will absolutely help during MS3/MS4. LAC+USC serves a huge Spanish-speaking population. In fact it even helps as an MS1/MS2 since we still go to the hospitals every week to practice taking histories on real patients.
 
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E.Hemingway said:
I guess it isn't actually that late yet. if you can afford it, you might as well give it a shot. I didn't mean to discourage you. Good luck!
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No worries haha and thanks, you too!
 
nylock10 said:
Current MS1 here with some spare time to answer questions if you'd like.
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Do the medical students help process applications? What do you think makes someone a good fit for Keck SOM?
 
MareNostrummm said:
I'm pretty sure it does. I know several people who were backdoored into Keck USC just by knowing someone (not a student but faculty).
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Haha I'm sure thats the case for every school in the world. I put down a peer reference, hope it helps lol
 
MareNostrummm said:
Do the medical students help process applications? What do you think makes someone a good fit for Keck SOM?
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Not sure about processing applications but students can interview applicants. (I had a student interviewer when I was applying and assume they still do this.) Also not sure what criteria they use to assess fit but based on the personalities in my class it seems to trend towards friendly and collaboration-minded people.

KingHourGlass said:
Also does having a peer reference help in any way?
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It seems so. Don't think it enables us to recommend absolutely anyone (i.e., they still need to have the right qualifications) but from what I've heard it gets people reviewed quicker.
 
Ayahuasca said:
I didn't put one down and got an II ~2 weeks after submitting. But I am also from the area so that might play a role? idk...
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Damn brah. Stats? I've been on review since like 8/4. IS 71 peer reference lol
 
Does anyone know how many applicants are interviewed and, of those, how many are offered admission?
 
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