when did they call you? Congratulations

Like 3 minutes ago

got the call !! IS A and they called around 4:10 pm

Hi I am a current M1 at FAU, congrats to anyone who got in.

I wanted to share my experience because I know how difficult choosing a medical school can be once u start receiving acceptances. I got into 4 MD programs in Florida and ultimately chose FAU. It such a difficult decision at the time but now that I'm a few months into medical school I wanted to share some of the reasons why I chose FAU and how they've actually played out.

1. Pass/fail curriculum

This was a huge factor for me. Medical school is already difficult enough without feeling like you're competing against your classmates for grades. Having a pass/fail preclinical curriculum takes away some of that pressure and encourages a more collaborative environment. Speaking to my friends at graded schools made me realize my stress is not as bad as it could've been.

2. Collaborative culture and small class size

We are constantly working in different small groups so u get to know pretty much everyone. There's very little sense of competition and people are always willing to help each other (sharing resources, research, etc)

3. Problem-based learning (PBL)

PBL is one of the biggest highlights of the curriculum for me. We research different learning objectives and teach them to each other.FAU really emphasizes learning by teaching instead of just memorizing information from lectures you explain concepts and apply them to patient cases. I've found that teaching something forces u to understand it much more deeply.

4. Humanism in medicine

Something I didn't fully appreciate until starting here is how much FAU emphasizes the human side of medicine. From the beginning we're encouraged to think beyond diseases and diagnoses and consider the actual people we're treating.

5. Faculty accessibility

With a smaller class size it's much easier to interact with faculty and physicians. Our professors are super approachable, know our names, and genuinely want us to succeed. It's nice being somewhere where you're not just another student in a massive lecture hall.

6. Financial considerations

This and p/f were the most important for me. As someone who got no financial help from parents in undergrad/med school, I was going to go wherever I got the most money. FAU's finaid offer was similar to other programs, so it really came down to the other reasons listed above.

Obviously every school has its pros and cons and what matters most will depend on what you're looking for. FAU is a smaller and relatively newer medical school so it doesn't have the same large academic hospital system or number of home residency programs as some older institutions.

That being said, they are affiliated with Baptist and when I went to Boca Regional there were tons of residents/faculty repping FAU.

They are also affiliated with 2 level 1 trauma centers (Delray Medical Center & St. Mary's) where the M3-M4s rotate and they have a massive research faculty page that is only accessible to med students. They've thrown tons of research opportunities at us so finding research was way easier then I thought as someone who wants a competitive specialty.

https://www.fau.edu/medicine/research/opportunities/

If you're between FL MD programs you really can't make a wrong choice bc they're all excellent

anyone know when financial aid offers / potential scholarships come out?

havent gotten an interview but i checked my portal and it says "All applicants must submit the following before they can be selected for interview:" i dont remember this being there last year is this normal?

I got that when I got an email for an interview maybe yours is coming? Check spam! And I would send the info they ask and see if an interview is scheduled

I see it too but no interview 💔

When did y'all submit? Mine still says "Admissions screening in progress" </3

i submitted 8/20 and my status is "Preliminary Review Completed"

the message about submitting info must have popped up within the last few days since i check my portal a few times a week and havent since at least wednesday of last week.