2018-2019 Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson

[Lucca]

Please post the secondary questions once you receive them. Check last year's thread in the 2017-2018 SSD forum for last year's questions, they tend to not change very much from year to year.

Good luck to everyone applying!

Interview Feedback: Thomas Jefferson University Sidney Kimmel Medical College

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[Doctor Strange]

Current PGY-2 Jefferson alum. I'm free to answer any questions anyone may have. I was under the old curriculum so won't be able to answer any questions related to the new one.

 

[XOXO123]

My school does not have a premed committee so I will be sending individual LORs. TJ's websites states that for people like me, they prefer one bio, one chem, one physics, and one humanities letter in lieu of the committee letter. I do not have this, and since they're the only ones I've encountered with this specific of a preference, I'm not going to try to scrape these types of letters together. For academic letters, I have 2 bio letters and one humanities, plus some EC letters. Is anyone else in the same boat? Does anyone know how strict this preference is? Is it worth it for me to apply with what I have?

 

[Unlimited Apps]

Current PGY-2 Jefferson alum. I'm free to answer any questions anyone may have. I was under the old curriculum so won't be able to answer any questions related to the new one.

Hey! I am applying this cycle and had a few non-curriculum questions that I hope you can help out with?

1) What is your favorite thing about the school and your least favorite thing about the school (also what name do you guys call the school? There are quite a few that I have heard tossed around haha)

2) The school has very large classes (250+ I believe), how is that dynamic socially and educationally? Does it cause problems come rotation time in terms of standing out and getting to know instructors and doctors well?

3) Living in Philly sounds awesome. What's it like being in medical school but also in Philly at the same time? Do you guys have a lot of time to go out and have fun in the city, how is the surrounding area?

4) What specialities would you say Jefferson and the affiliated clinical facilities most well known for? From what I have researched: excellent surgical education.

Thanks again! Excited to be applying.

 

[hebrewBAMmer]

My school does not have a premed committee so I will be sending individual LORs. TJ's websites states that for people like me, they prefer one bio, one chem, one physics, and one humanities letter in lieu of the committee letter. I do not have this, and since they're the only ones I've encountered with this specific of a preference, I'm not going to try to scrape these types of letters together. For academic letters, I have 2 bio letters and one humanities, plus some EC letters. Is anyone else in the same boat? Does anyone know how strict this preference is? Is it worth it for me to apply with what I have?

They're really flexible with the letter requirements. I emailed them last year saying here are the letters I have and asking if that would work. They were completely fine with it.

 

[buckoh24]

Current PGY-2 Jefferson alum. I'm free to answer any questions anyone may have. I was under the old curriculum so won't be able to answer any questions related to the new one.

In terms of the secondary, I know jefferson has an optional essay. Do you think it would hurt to plug in a diversity essay or something or do they just wanna see something super significant?

Also do most students live close to the school? I am WL at another philly school right now and I was looking at apartments in the area and City Center/Rittenhouse seemed to be a bit pricy.

 

[Chip1]

Hi everyone! I am going to be a second year next month, and I was in the first class with the new curriculum. Please reach out if you have any questions and I will do my best to answer. Good luck to everyone applying this cycle!

 

[Chip1]

In terms of the secondary, I know jefferson has an optional essay. Do you think it would hurt to plug in a diversity essay or something or do they just wanna see something super significant?

Also do most students live close to the school? I am WL at another philly school right now and I was looking at apartments in the area and City Center/Rittenhouse seemed to be a bit pricy.

So, the essay is the forum to put in anything you feel like you want to say. A lot of people use this for a variety of things, and there is nothing set on what you have to talk about.
A lot of students live close to the school, with most students living in on campus housing in the first year. Most students do, like you said, live in the surrounding areas but most are very close to campus.

 

[Doctor Strange]

Hey! I am applying this cycle and had a few non-curriculum questions that I hope you can help out with?

1) What is your favorite thing about the school and your least favorite thing about the school (also what name do you guys call the school? There are quite a few that I have heard tossed around haha)

2) The school has very large classes (250+ I believe), how is that dynamic socially and educationally? Does it cause problems come rotation time in terms of standing out and getting to know instructors and doctors well?

3) Living in Philly sounds awesome. What's it like being in medical school but also in Philly at the same time? Do you guys have a lot of time to go out and have fun in the city, how is the surrounding area?

4) What specialities would you say Jefferson and the affiliated clinical facilities most well known for? From what I have researched: excellent surgical education.

Thanks again! Excited to be applying.

1/3) Location and community. Center City Philadelphia is quite simply a fantastic place to live, and I was very sad to leave. Things are relatively cheap compared to other large cities, and the public transportation system is very functional. You definitely have enough time to take full advantage of the stuff to do around the city. I still refer to it as "Jeff."

2) A large class means that you can usually find a group of people you click with. It doesn't really cause problems when getting things like letters as you typically ask for them during or soon after a rotation.

4) Ortho and ophtho are our biggies.

In terms of the secondary, I know jefferson has an optional essay. Do you think it would hurt to plug in a diversity essay or something or do they just wanna see something super significant?

Also do most students live close to the school? I am WL at another philly school right now and I was looking at apartments in the area and City Center/Rittenhouse seemed to be a bit pricy.

Diversity essay is fine. Most students live within ten blocks from the school.

 

[passionbound]

Hi everyone! I am going to be a second year next month, and I was in the first class with the new curriculum. Please reach out if you have any questions and I will do my best to answer. Good luck to everyone applying this cycle!

How would you characterize the overall environment at Jefferson? Collaborative, innovative, competitive, etc?

 

[initialize]

I know this is an extremely broad question, but what are the biggest differences/pros of attending Jefferson compared to the other Philly schools? Which one has the best location?

 

[puahate]

How is Jefferson for oncology? I know their hospital is top 20 in USnews

 

[rathoarder]

I know this is an extremely broad question, but what are the biggest differences/pros of attending Jefferson compared to the other Philly schools? Which one has the best location?

jeff has the best location, hands down

 

[mariposas905]

Wow..their phone admission staff is very rude. I'm surprised and was kind of speechless after talking to them. Not liking the vibe of this school atm hopefully, it's just that one person though

 

[initialize]

Wow..their phone admission staff is very rude. I'm surprised and was kind of speechless after talking to them. Not liking the vibe of this school atm hopefully, it's just that one person though

What did they do


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[mariposas905]

What did they do


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PM'ed you.

 

[Tryrosine]

PM'ed you.

If possible could you let me know as well?

 

[wwjd777]

I saw the same complains from last year’s thread. Hopefully it’s just that same person.


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[mariposas905]

If possible could you let me know as well?

Hey I tried, but for some reason I'm not able to PM you

 

[hebrewBAMmer]

Wow..their phone admission staff is very rude. I'm surprised and was kind of speechless after talking to them. Not liking the vibe of this school atm hopefully, it's just that one person though

I think it's just the one person. One time I called and the person I talked to was rude a.f. I called a few weeks later with something else, got a different person, and they were as nice as could be. There's definitely a number of schools I have called in the past with unfriendly people who answered the phone

 

[owlsandturtles]

Secondary received!

 

[thenotoriousone]

Any prompts?

 

[wwjd777]

Secondary received!

Can you please post the prompt(s)? Thanks!


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[owlsandturtles]

Just "Do you have any additional information that hasn't been covered?" (4000 chars)

Interesting that they asked for SAT and ACT sub-section scores though

 

[premedalt]

Just "Do you have any additional information that hasn't been covered?" (4000 chars)

Interesting that they asked for SAT and ACT sub-section scores though

Crap I forgot my SAT subsection scores

 

[ChickRick16]

Secondary received!

+1

 

[700458]

Interesting that they asked for SAT and ACT sub-section scores though

Wait, seriously??

 

[staygold83]

Anyone care to share the secondary prompts?

 

[rigal]

Secondary received!

+2!

 

[rigal]

Anyone care to share the secondary prompts?

just one prompt: Do you have any additional information that hasn't been covered?

 

[Mr. Peanutbutter]

Secondary received! Gonna need to scour my records for my SAT/ACT scores

 

[rigal]

where can I find my SAT and ACT scores...I took it 5 years ago

 

[staygold83]

just one prompt: Do you have any additional information that hasn't been covered?

Would this be a good place to add a diversity essay?

 

[rigal]

Would this be a good place to add a diversity essay?

That's what I'm thinking about doing.. or a why Jefferson essay in relation to my interests.


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[Mr. Peanutbutter]

where can I find my SAT and ACT scores...I took it 5 years ago

I just called the Collegeboard and reset my account. I took it 7 years ago and my scores haven't been archived yet so you should be fine

 

[buckoh24]

That's what I'm thinking about doing.. or a why Jefferson essay in relation to my interests.


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Im doing a combination because my diversity ties in with my mission. So maybe talk about how their school will help me towards this mission.

 

[sfs2468]

Is anyone else's showing up as "LORs not received" even though they were submitted when AMCAS was verified? Or just me?

 

[Mr. Peanutbutter]

Anyone know which ACT score we should enter for English? I took it with writing so I have and English score and an English/Writing score. The English/.Writing score is a smidge higher so I want to report that but it feels like cheating

 

[owlsandturtles]

Anyone know which ACT score we should enter for English? I took it with writing so I have and English score and an English/Writing score. The English/.Writing score is a smidge higher so I want to report that but it feels like cheating

According to last year's thread, the SAT and ACT scores are just for research purposes - not evaluation - so I would just go with the English score.

 

[RingBear]

where can I find my SAT and ACT scores...I took it 5 years ago

If you remember your login info for collegeboard, they'll still have your SAT scores. Also if you still have access to your undergrad email you should be able to login somewhere and find their records of your scores. Varies by undergrad, otherwise I would be more specific.

 

[pstomd]

Are secondaries usually sent out in waves? I was verified the first day AMCAS was open for submission but still haven't received a secondary.
Thanks!

 

[aseriousbagel]

They're really flexible with the letter requirements. I emailed them last year saying here are the letters I have and asking if that would work. They were completely fine with it.

About this though, on reviewing the PDF of their secondary, it clearly states "one letter from each required" - is there a consensus on how to go about this if we don't have one of them?

edit: Unfortunately I'm unable to post the link due to the forum permissions (less than 10 posts), but if you go to the admissions page and click on secondary, then "PDF" it will be right there.

 

[road-to-MD-123]

@pstomed
just received mine about an hour after everyone else-- must be waves

 

[kinjin24]

just submitted the secondary

 

[itsalwayssunny96]

Is anyone else's showing up as "LORs not received" even though they were submitted when AMCAS was verified? Or just me?

Yes, mine has the same thing lol

 

[VersaceJack]

Is it okay to submit an employment and a shadowing LOR in addition to the academic ones?

 

[FroYoOreo]

Is it okay to submit an employment and a shadowing LOR in addition to the academic ones?

I called the admission office and the guy just said that's fine and just explain that in the additional information section.

 

[milgauss17]

anyone else just getting a "server not found" screen when trying to open the link to the secondary?

 

[hebrewBAMmer]

About this though, on reviewing the PDF of their secondary, it clearly states "one letter from each required" - is there a consensus on how to go about this if we don't have one of them?

edit: Unfortunately I'm unable to post the link due to the forum permissions (less than 10 posts), but if you go to the admissions page and click on secondary, then "PDF" it will be right there.

Just email the admissions office and say what letters you have, and ask if this will be ok as a substitute to the letter requirement. They had no issue with this

 

[buckoh24]

Just email the admissions office and say what letters you have, and ask if this will be ok as a substitute to the letter requirement. They had no issue with this

+1 I did this the other day and they are super cool with additional letters if you cant meet the requirement. I think having them from science faculty helps if you are trying to get the requirement waived.