2013-2014 Stanford University Application Thread

[aspirantmed]

Did anyone figure out what the pattern is to rejections? Here's to hoping those who haven't gotten snail mail yet are still under consideration!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Kalydeco]

I know the secret pattern. You may want to sit down for this.

Stanford carefully reviewed certain applications and decided, after thoughtful consideration, not to admit their authors. Stanford then proceeded to notify those individuals via US Mail. Stanford carefully reviewed other applications and decided not to send their authors interview invitations, but also not to act further on their applications until some yet to be determined time. Prospective students whom Stanford rejected received letters; prospective students whom Stanford did not reject did not receive letters.

Many Bothans died to bring us this information.

 

[yasah]

I know the secret pattern. You may want to sit down for this.

Stanford carefully reviewed certain applications and decided, after thoughtful consideration, not to admit their authors. Stanford then proceeded to notify those individuals via US Mail. Stanford carefully reviewed other applications and decided not to send their authors interview invitations, but also not to act further on their applications until some yet to be determined time. Prospective students whom Stanford rejected received letters; prospective students whom Stanford did not reject did not receive letters.

Many Bothans died to bring us this information.

I feel like this is true! Ar least in my case. Thanks!

 

[Cinabonchik]

I feel like not even worthy to be rejected...still nothing

 

[funniful]

So will people eventually receive a rejection letter or will some people still fall through the cracks and hear nothing till March at which point its safe to assume that your application just got tossed? That would be horrific..

 

[Narmerguy]

So will people eventually receive a rejection letter or will some people still fall through the cracks and hear nothing till March at which point its safe to assume that your application just got tossed? That would be horrific..

I agree. This is very disappointing to see from Stanford.

 

[yasah]

just called stanford! for the first time they answered my phone call. they said my application is still under review. At least i made sure my rejection letter wasn't sent to my pervious address.

 

[rickalkine]

If you interviewed earlier in the cycle (October) but have not been contacted yet, is that essentially a waitlist/rejection?

 

[oceanmist]

If you interviewed earlier in the cycle (October) but have not been contacted yet, is that essentially a waitlist/rejection?

I definitely don't think you can assume that. But it seems as though others have had success reaching out to the Office of Admissions. If you're interested in getting this answer you may find it useful to call them!

 

[termitechips]

Was there an interview day at Stanford this week?

 

[DubZteR]

Speaking of contribution, I might as well add my thoughts on Stanford.

1. Stanford wants to be a leader (if not already) in academic medicine. They invest heavy on research and would probably want to attract people going into academic medicine. This doesn't mean just MD/PhD, but also those (like me) who wants to do research and clinical work in the future, possibly with just an MD.

2. Stanford MMI is tough. The interviewers were semi-cold and very confrontational. To raise the hopes of those who are waiting for decisions in Dec, I felt I did pretty crappy on the MMI. Unlike at SD where I think I rocked the MMI (and got in), I really couldn't evaluate my performance at Stanford, other than feeling I bombed it.

3. MMI at any school is only a portion of your application, sometimes only a small portion.

Hope this helps a little

MMIs are designed to be high stress so many applicants see them as tough. Best way to do well is to develop a framework to them! good luck.

 

[raney]

Have there been any rejections or IIs lately?

 

[kingmamba09]

I interviewed Oct 2nd and still have not heard back. This basically means they are going to wait till the end of the cycle to let me know if I'm either rejected or waitlisted (which is basically a rejection with Stanford) right? It looks like a lot of people have gotten in at this point, even those who have interviewed in december

 

[termitechips]

I interviewed Oct 2nd and still have not heard back. This basically means they are going to wait till the end of the cycle to let me know if I'm either rejected or waitlisted (which is basically a rejection with Stanford) right? It looks like a lot of people have gotten in at this point, even those who have interviewed in december

You may be right, but no one can really know. Stanford's admissions process is incredibly opaque. They said they would release a wave of decisions in December but then did not follow through. Who knows what's going on now....

 

[lalalapartay012]

So.... I still haven't been pre-interview rejected by Stanford. What's the dealio

 

[BruinBear13]

So.... I still haven't been pre-interview rejected by Stanford. What's the dealio

Same. I feel that I am not even worthy of them mailing a rejection..

 

[whiteshadodw]

Same. I feel that I am not even worthy of them mailing a rejection..

Just interviewed yesterday, they are still screening apps. I think they screen hard though, 480 II off of 7000 applications. And about 40% get accepted according to the Dean.

 

[oceanmist]

Just interviewed yesterday, they are still screening apps. I think they screen hard though, 480 II off of 7000 applications. And about 40% get accepted according to the Dean.

When did they tell you guys to expect your notifications/decisions?

 

[kingmamba09]

You may be right, but no one can really know. Stanford's admissions process is incredibly opaque. They said they would release a wave of decisions in December but then did not follow through. Who knows what's going on now....

I thought it was just the acceptances that they would send out in december. maybe they did and its just that most of the people that have gotten in haven't posted on SDN. Either way, its not cool that we're just left hanging in limbo.

 

[JediOchoa]

I thought it was just the acceptances that they would send out in december. maybe they did and its just that most of the people that have gotten in haven't posted on SDN. Either way, its not cool that we're just left hanging in limbo.

Im in exactly the same shoes. Interviewed on the same date and have not heard back. I'm definitely expecting bad news too which is a bummer. I don't see why they would wait so long to tell us it though.

 

[Randomname59]

Im in exactly the same shoes. Interviewed on the same date and have not heard back. I'm definitely expecting bad news too which is a bummer. I don't see why they would wait so long to tell us it though.

yep, exact same situation here too! haha in some weird way though it's nice that its been so long because i'm completely numb to it now. think a rejection a few months ago would have been crushing but now i'm completely ready for/expecting it because i've been rejected in my own head for such a long time now

 

[bora]

c'mon guys send out positive vibes!!!!you never know until you know!!!

 

[oceanmist]

What the prior poster wrote about assuming that they meant only acceptances would go out by end of Dec could definitely be true. Somehow I remember Dean Garcia saying, "By December 20th, about 40% of you will have received a call". I also remember him saying that although the timeline is different this year, the "majority of you will hear back from us by early Jan" (indicating waitlists and rejections may go out during same time period and not at the very end in March)

Does anyone else remember him saying something to this effect during his MMI talk?

 

[bora]

i do remember Dr. Gabe saying that he would attempt to begin making acceptances in early december...he also said that they had over-enrolled the previous class and that they were going to be extremely careful with this cycle because there were like 10 spots already for deferred students...i do not remember him telling us that we'd all know by december or whenever, i am almost sure if you interviewed and have not heard back, like me =o(, you are in an w.l. obviously there has been some acceptances, but the ones accepted were top dogs in the "game"..but here is the thing their class is not just top dogs, they got the slick dogs, and medium dogs, and some small doggies too...so hang in there if you have not heard back..i am sure that if we look at their data for this year, we will see that all of a sudden stanford was even harder to interview at when compared to historical means!

 

[termitechips]

i do remember Dr. Gabe saying that he would attempt to begin making acceptances in early december...he also said that they had over-enrolled the previous class and that they were going to be extremely careful with this cycle because there were like 10 spots already for deferred students...i do not remember him telling us that we'd all know by december or whenever, i am almost sure if you interviewed and have not heard back, like me =o(, you are in an w.l. obviously there has been some acceptances, but the ones accepted were top dogs in the "game"..but here is the thing their class is not just top dogs, they got the slick dogs, and medium dogs, and some small doggies too...so hang in there if you have not heard back..i am sure that if we look at their data for this year, we will see that all of a sudden stanford was even harder to interview at when compared to historical means!

When did you interview, bora?

 

[bora]

first date of the cycle, oct 2nd!..which made my head get a little big..lol...

 

[termitechips]

first date of the cycle, oct 2nd!..which made my head get a little big..lol...

lol. almost unavoidable.

 

[polyatomic]

Do you guys really think they sent out most acceptances already? I find that hard to believe since we've seen so few people post with acceptances.

 

[Athanasius]

For what it's worth, I interviewed with the MSTP in October and I emailed the office asking about this earlier this week. I got the following reply:

"I'm sorry this is taking so long. This year MD decisions are later than usual. I'm not sure exactly why. The MSTP cannot make any offers unless the candidate is also admitted by MD, so we must wait. Hopefully, they will start moving things along next month, but I can't really say for sure."

Hopefully this is some hopeful news for all those who are waiting to here back!

 

[termitechips]

For what it's worth, I interviewed with the MSTP in October and I emailed the office asking about this earlier this week. I got the following reply:

"I'm sorry this is taking so long. This year MD decisions are later than usual. I'm not sure exactly why. The MSTP cannot make any offers unless the candidate is also admitted by MD, so we must wait. Hopefully, they will start moving things along next month, but I can't really say for sure."

Hopefully this is some hopeful news for all those who are waiting to here back!

This is an incredibly useful post. Thank you Athanasius.

 

[bora]

is it safe to assume that this never happened b4 at stanford?...or did they ever take super long to get back to people? it appears as if only 1 round of pre-interview rejections went out by mail and no person that interviewed got rejected or formally waitlisted. if you were to guess what percentage of total acceptances (close to 200) have been given out so far?

 

[Narmerguy]

Is Stanford done giving out interviews then?

 

[juliuspepperwood]

is it safe to assume that this never happened b4 at stanford?...or did they ever take super long to get back to people? it appears as if only 1 round of pre-interview rejections went out by mail and no person that interviewed got rejected or formally waitlisted. if you were to guess what percentage of total acceptances (close to 200) have been given out so far?

There is a new director of admissions this year so everything is different.

 

[termitechips]

Is Stanford done giving out interviews then?

We were told that they planned to do about 15 interview dates this cycle (with 30 applicants each date). I don't know how many there have been so far.

 

[Narmerguy]

We were told that they planned to do about 15 interview dates this cycle (with 30 applicants each date). I don't know how many there have been so far.

Perhaps someone with a more recent interview can recall the remaining date options they were given?

 

[jeghaber]

Is Stanford done giving out interviews then?

Narmerguy, didn't you already interview with Stanford?

 

[lalalapartay012]

Same. I feel that I am not even worthy of them mailing a rejection..

lol same sentiments here. you and me both, buddy.

Is Stanford done giving out interviews then?

someone who interviewed recently posted above that they are still in the process of screening apps, so no, i don't think they are done giving out II. that being said, i doubt they have many left to give out

 

[Runican]

The remaining dates are February 14, 21, 28 and March 27.

 

[Narmerguy]

Narmerguy, didn't you already interview with Stanford?

Yep, but know a couple others who haven't heard one way or another yet which is frustrating.

someone who interviewed recently posted above that they are still in the process of screening apps, so no, i don't think they are done giving out II. that being said, i doubt they have many left to give out

Ah I didn't quite realize that meant screening for more interviews, thanks.

 

[jeghaber]

Yep, but know a couple others who haven't heard one way or another yet which is frustrating.

Ah, makes sense. Your consideration was an outlier for my jaded expectations

 

[Narmerguy]

Ah, makes sense. Your consideration was an outlier for my jaded expectations

Haha, and I'm generally concerned about everyone else as well

 

[whiteshadodw]

And about 30 II per date if it goes like my day went. Their lunch is amazing by the way.

 

[aspirantmed]

And about 30 II per date if it goes like my day went. Their lunch is amazing by the way.

Hah. Yeah, I really want to get an interview at Stanford Med for the lunch. Oh, and I hear it's not a half-bad school, either. ;-)

 

[whiteshadodw]

Their breakfast is actually really good too, scrambled eggs...the only school I know of that does that

But in all seriousness with the interview dates left, I'd say there is lots of hope left. I didn't get an invite until a week or two before my date. Hang in there.

 

[lalalapartay012]

Their breakfast is actually really good too, scrambled eggs...the only school I know of that does that

But in all seriousness with the interview dates left, I'd say there is lots of hope left. I didn't get an invite until a week or two before my date. Hang in there.

Real breakfast with scrambled eggs?! Now that is simply amazing!

 

[aspirantmed]

Seems like Stanford still has 100 or more spots left to give out. There's hope yet!

 

[Codynna]

is stanford receptive to pre-interview status email. i really want to email them about the status of my app, but last time i did that for another school, i got sent a rejection email shortly :/

 

[yasah]

is stanford receptive to pre-interview status email. i really want to email them about the status of my app, but last time i did that for another school, i got sent a rejection email shortly :/

I called them and they were nice. Just call them if you want.

 

[alamo4]

1. Stanford wants to be a leader (if not already) in academic medicine. They invest heavy on research and would probably want to attract people going into academic medicine. This doesn't mean just MD/PhD, but also those (like me) who wants to do research and clinical work in the future, possibly with just an MD.

2. Stanford MMI is tough. The interviewers were semi-cold and very confrontational. To raise the hopes of those who are waiting for decisions in Dec, I felt I did pretty crappy on the MMI. Unlike at SD where I think I rocked the MMI (and got in), I really couldn't evaluate my performance at Stanford, other than feeling I bombed it.

Stanford doesn't just want to be a leader in academic medicine, they want to graduate students who do something exceptional in all different areas of medicine. If you want to be the next Paul Farmer, head of the FDA, head of DHHS, head of Genentech, get elected Senator, or something else, those are all good goals from their perspective. For example, they are doing a big push into primary and managed care, as that is a big part of the future of medicine under the ACA, and the hospital has been buying up a ton of small private practices all over the Bay Area. This is an older article that mentions this: http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/print-edition/2012/01/20/med-groups-stanford-ally.html?page=all

When they put together a class of students, they really strive for diversity, and that doesn't mean just racial diversity. They try to have some international students, students from different parts of the country, students who have done a lot of work in community health, students with a humanities or arts background, people who worked as teachers, older nontrads, child prodigies etc. Yes, of course there are people with a ton of publications and research experience and aspirations, but that is only some of the accepted students, some have no basic science research experience. You don't need to have done everything. Also, your MMI experience doesn't reflect everyone else's. The raters are a diverse mix of people, and can have different backgrounds and the same moodiness you'd expect of someone who has to do it again and again for hours. That's why you get normalized across their ratings. Some are charming and friendly, others are grumpy curmudgeons. It's just like seeing patients or working in customer service.

Anyway, good luck!

 

[star230]

I would like to invite you guys to watch this 6min short speech from Stanford Med 2007. I feels it reflects the value and chill environment of Stanford