2020-2021 Boston University

Getting into Med School is Hard? Not with BeMo.
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Skaterboi123 said:
How much would be considered generous XD I just got mine and big sad
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You can PM me if you want. I have an EFC of 0 though so other than the deans scholarship it was all need based.
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So based on last year's stats... they interviewed 1019 people, accepted 503 people (for 120 spots) and waitlisted 300 (20 ended up getting a spot). This leads to some questions:

1. are the 20 people who accepted the spot or 20 offers? Like is it 20 people in the new class are people who were waitlisted or could it be like 40 or 50 waitlist offers bc people have already committed to schools and the offer goes to the next person in line?
2. are the 300 offers or accepted waitlist positions (can't be an even 300 unless it's offers because otherwise people can turn down the waitlist randomly)
3. did they currently accept 500 people or did they accept closer to 120 and are then going to go off of the waitlist? It seemed like more people posting waitlist than A but I didn't count.
4. this year they say they had 12,200+ applicants... so almost 500 more people than last year? Does this change anything?
5. Do we think they interviewed more people than usual this year or were more selective about interviews and kept the same slots (there was an email a while back that said it was something like 10% interviewed).
6. And of course... the question we're all asking... do we think there's going to be more waitlist movement this year bc of Covid Zoom interviews???

PS congrats to everyone who got in!! and an extra congrats to people who are turning down their offers so WL can get your leftovers hehe :)
 
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victory_splash242 said:
Does anyone know how many people are usually WLed at BUSM?
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If their MSAR numbers are still accurate, it's essentially a soft R. They gave 300 WL spots and 20 were admitted off the WL.

So based on last year's stats... they interviewed 1019 people, accepted 503 people (for 120 spots) and waitlisted 300 (20 ended up getting a spot). This leads to some questions:

1. are the 20 people who accepted the spot or 20 offers? Like is it 20 people in the new class are people who were waitlisted or could it be like 40 or 50 waitlist offers bc people have already committed to schools and the offer goes to the next person in line?
2. are the 300 offers or accepted waitlist positions (can't be an even 300 unless it's offers because otherwise people can turn down the waitlist randomly)
3. did they currently accept 500 people or did they accept closer to 120 and are then going to go off of the waitlist? It seemed like more people posting waitlist than A but I didn't count.
4. this year they say they had 12,200+ applicants... so almost 500 more people than last year? Does this change anything?
5. Do we think they interviewed more people than usual this year or were more selective about interviews and kept the same slots (there was an email a while back that said it was something like 10% interviewed).
6. And of course... the question we're all asking... do we think there's going to be more waitlist movement this year bc of Covid Zoom interviews???
Click to expand...

More or less speculation, but based on my experience during previous cycles, it's much more likely that they've extended 300-400 acceptances already and the waitlist is if more than 50-60% of their acceptance offers fail to convert. The harsh truth is that it really is only for BU's benefit (which based on reports here, they extended a WL to pretty much everyone who didn't get an A) to extend such a large waitlist. If they have a normal cycle, then they'll barely dip into their waitlist. If somehow they ended up with a catastrophic cycle where an overwhelming amount of their acceptance offers are declined (talking like 70-80%, however unlikely this is even with the backdrop of COVID), then they can pull extensively off the waitlist.

Ultimately, if we trust their delay e-mail which made it sound like they weren't going to change the amount of interviews they extended this year, it doesn't matter that they received a 10%-20% jump in applicants, they've already filtered that number out before the interviews. Essentially, if you view BU as a school better than your other options, take the waitlist position and hope that you're in the top 5% of WL'ed applicants. However, based on their previous data, it would be foolish to assume that being waitlisted is anything other than a R as ~95% of people on the WL will ultimately end up cut out.

As an aside, I would say that it makes sense for BU to have poor waitlist movement given their rank. They're on the borderline of mid/high tier schools meaning that a large amount of the students who hold an acceptance will have BU as the highest ranked school among their acceptances. Typically schools with the largest amount of WL movement are the elite institutions which are competing over the same limited candidate pool or the lower tier schools who have difficulty convincing applicants to attend their programs over a significantly higher ranked program.
 
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Exocus said:
If their MSAR numbers are still accurate, it's essentially a soft R. They gave 300 WL spots and 20 were admitted off the WL.



More or less speculation, but based on my experience during previous cycles, it's much more likely that they've extended 300-400 acceptances already and the waitlist is if more than 50-60% of their acceptance offers fail to convert. The harsh truth is that it really is only for BU's benefit (which based on reports here, they extended a WL to pretty much everyone who didn't get an A) to extend such a large waitlist. If they have a normal cycle, then they'll barely dip into their waitlist. If somehow they ended up with a catastrophic cycle where an overwhelming amount of their acceptance offers are declined (talking like 70-80%, however unlikely this is even with the backdrop of COVID), then they can pull extensively off the waitlist.

Ultimately, if we trust their delay e-mail which made it sound like they weren't going to change the amount of interviews they extended this year, it doesn't matter that they received a 10%-20% jump in applicants, they've already filtered that number out before the interviews. Essentially, if you view BU as a school better than your other options, take the waitlist position and hope that you're in the top 5% of WL'ed applicants. However, based on their previous data, it would be foolish to assume that being waitlisted is anything other than a R as ~95% of people on the WL will ultimately end up cut out.

As an aside, I would say that it makes sense for BU to have poor waitlist movement given their rank. They're on the borderline of mid/high tier schools meaning that a large amount of the students who hold an acceptance will have BU as the highest ranked school among their acceptances. Typically schools with the largest amount of WL movement are the elite institutions which are competing over the same limited candidate pool or the lower tier schools who have difficulty convincing applicants to attend their programs over a significantly higher ranked program.
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Sad thought for WL’d applicants but this seems like a sound analysis to me, thank you for sharing!
 
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My aid portal seems to have updated but just says testing? (Plus the dean’s scholarship I already had) does this mean I did not receive any aid? That would be surprising considering my EFC
 
MediocreClimber said:
My aid portal seems to have updated but just says testing? (Plus the dean’s scholarship I already had) does this mean I did not receive any aid? That would be surprising considering my EFC
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+1

Update: Just received an email for my aid award
 
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MediocreClimber said:
My aid portal seems to have updated but just says testing? (Plus the dean’s scholarship I already had) does this mean I did not receive any aid? That would be surprising considering my EFC
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Just got my package. It’s fine but not amazing.
 
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Just declined my waitlist offer. It’s been fun guys thanks for the ride! Best of luck to you all!!
 
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Okay I just want to share info in case it is useful to people. The MSR packet says that it is subsidized and comparable to other housing options. I totally see the benefits of MSR (close to hospital, community, gym) but the line in their email saying "This is below most comparable apartments" just *isn't* true. Especially considering the way rents in Boston have decreased due to the pandemic, you can find something way way better for 1,300 a month, even still in walking distance to BMC. Like 5 minutes on zillow gave me nice studio apartments that are also a 10 minute walk to BMC, and if you're willing to commute ~30 minutes you can find something equally nice for literally half of what they're asking. And MSR apts don't have a living room? No judgment at all to anyone doing MSR, honestly I'm still considering it, I just found it irritating that BU was painting an inaccurate picture to people who may not know the Boston rental market. ☮️
 
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woodlawn52 said:
Okay I just want to share info in case it is useful to people. The MSR packet says that it is subsidized and comparable to other housing options. I totally see the benefits of MSR (close to hospital, community, gym) but the line in their email saying "This is below most comparable apartments" just *isn't* true. Especially considering the way rents in Boston have decreased due to the pandemic, you can find something way way better for 1,300 a month, even still in walking distance to BMC. Like 5 minutes on zillow gave me nice studio apartments that are also a 10 minute walk to BMC, and if you're willing to commute ~30 minutes you can find something equally nice for literally half of what they're asking. And MSR apts don't have a living room? No judgment at all to anyone doing MSR, honestly I'm still considering it, I just found it irritating that BU was painting an inaccurate picture to people who may not know the Boston rental market. ☮️
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Yeah its a total lie that its cheaper. I would highly recommend everyone looks at other places in the area because you can get a much nicer apartment for a similar price. Boston is expensive but its very possible to get a decent two bedroom apartment for that price per person.
 
MediocreClimber said:
Yeah its a total lie that its cheaper. I would highly recommend everyone looks at other places in the area because you can get a much nicer apartment for a similar price. Boston is expensive but its very possible to get a decent two bedroom apartment for that price per person.
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Yeah, I noticed that as well when looking on apartments.com or other sites. I think if the $275/month grant continues though, then it's a pretty good option? Haha I have 0 experience with the Boston housing market though.
 
probablyhungry99 said:
Yeah, I noticed that as well when looking on apartments.com or other sites. I think if the $275/month grant continues though, then it's a pretty good option? Haha I have 0 experience with the Boston housing market though.
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I live pretty close to BU currently for $1000 a month in a nice place. It’s doable for sure if you look. But the MSR is definitely easy and not a bad deal which is nice
 
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woodlawn52 said:
Okay I just want to share info in case it is useful to people. The MSR packet says that it is subsidized and comparable to other housing options. I totally see the benefits of MSR (close to hospital, community, gym) but the line in their email saying "This is below most comparable apartments" just *isn't* true. Especially considering the way rents in Boston have decreased due to the pandemic, you can find something way way better for 1,300 a month, even still in walking distance to BMC. Like 5 minutes on zillow gave me nice studio apartments that are also a 10 minute walk to BMC, and if you're willing to commute ~30 minutes you can find something equally nice for literally half of what they're asking. And MSR apts don't have a living room? No judgment at all to anyone doing MSR, honestly I'm still considering it, I just found it irritating that BU was painting an inaccurate picture to people who may not know the Boston rental market. ☮️
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Thank you that’s really helpful I was thinking MSR was the the only reasonable option but the floor pans didn’t look the best lol
 
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amethyst10 said:
Thank you that’s really helpful I was thinking MSR was the the only reasonable option but the floor pans didn’t look the best lol
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I've been spending way too much time on apartments.com the past few days -- there are some nice 3-bedroom units that would be ~800-1000/person
 
probablyhungry99 said:
I've been spending way too much time on apartments.com the past few days -- there are some nice 3-bedroom units that would be ~800-1000/person
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I was bad at apartment hunting in undergrad and it's still showing lol how are you finding these?
 
How long does it usually take after submission of all materials to hear back about financial aid?
 
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Hi all! I recently got accepted but because my interview was just one 30 minute interview, I feel like I don't have some info. Does anyone know if lectures are mandatory and/or posted online? I'm under the impression that first 2 years are not P/F, is that the case?
Thanks!
 
justafewquestions1 said:
Hi all! I recently got accepted but because my interview was just one 30 minute interview, I feel like I don't have some info. Does anyone know if lectures are mandatory and/or posted online? I'm under the impression that first 2 years are not P/F, is that the case?
Thanks!
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There was a Google Doc that was shared with us (may be in the portal under interview materials? Don't quite remember) with all this answered. The first two years are true p/f no internal rankings.
 
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FYI I confirmed with admin that rent in MSR is $1025 w/ the housing grant for this upcoming year
 
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reizh said:
There was a Google Doc that was shared with us (may be in the portal under interview materials? Don't quite remember) with all this answered. The first two years are true p/f no internal rankings.
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Wow I really missed all of that lol thank you!
 
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Not sure if this has been posted, but I just found the admitted students' group from @BUSMAdmissions on Insta: LinkTree
 
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Financial aid portal has my Awards section updated with "Testing" for a few days now...anyone else? :(
 
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reizh said:
Financial aid portal has my Awards section updated with "Testing" for a few days now...anyone else? :(
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That happened to me right before they gave me my award. I’m sure it’ll update soon.
 
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altruistic_hopeful said:
does anyone know if the waitlist is ranked or it's equal?
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From past threads, I believe there is some kind of ranking but they do not reveal your position to you. Someone called from the 2019-20 thread I think. I also do want to clarify one thing: at all schools, even an unranked waitlist does not mean everyone is equal. A female URM veteran that drops a seat will likely be replaced by another female URM veteran on the waitlist (or as close to that as they can get). They won't roll a dice and randomly select someone to pull off since schools need to maintain diversity in their class.
 
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reizh said:
Financial aid portal has my Awards section updated with "Testing" for a few days now...anyone else? :(
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Mine too. I submitted my financial aid documents the weekend after the most recent decisions went out, and I emailed the financial office asking for a time estimate and they said "within the next month"
 
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spottedcory said:
Mine too. I submitted my financial aid documents the weekend after the most recent decisions went out, and I emailed the financial office asking for a time estimate and they said "within the next month"
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Thank you for the information!!
 
pikachulover17 said:
Sorry if this has already been addressed and I missed it - but can someone please clarify what the housing grant is? Does it apply to all students who are going to live in the MSR?
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Rent is technically $1300 but each person in the MSR gets a housing grant for $275 each month. Rent is functionally $1025, so I dunno why they do that, but I'm guessing so that they have flexibility in adjusting rent every year if they have to
 
Hey y'all current M1. There is a FB page for admitted students - an email should have been sent out about that as well as about second look and a groupme.

I'm seeing a lot of talk about the MSR so i'll share some points on that - rent in Boston is expensive and while you can find places for around $1100-1200 a month they might not be great. While the MSR isn't the greatest, there are some great pros about it. The best being that you'll be living with a huge amount of your classmates. With the pandemic this year, living in the MSR is the biggest reason I know any of my classmates. I'd say I'm friends with probably 3 people in my class that don't live in the MSR simply because I've probably only met ~10 people that don't live here. Living in the same building as your classmates can be great for both your social life and your education - it's nice to be able to walk to a friend's room to ask about a tricky concept or just hang out for a bit.
Also the MSR is fully furnished and the cost includes utilities. I highly doubt you'll be able to find a place near campus for $1025 that's fully furnished with all your utilities and pretty fast internet included.
Now I'm not saying the MSR is perfect but I've definitely benefitted from living here my first year, but I'm also definitely trying to move out of the MSR because like some people said, some rooms are better than others and I don't have the best room.
For those on waitlists or unsure about BU, submitting the MSR housing document is great because then you don't have to worry about housing and I think the reservation is $500 (which is a lot but cheaper than signing a lease and then getting off a WL and having to figure that out...)
 
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spottedcory said:
Mine too. I submitted my financial aid documents the weekend after the most recent decisions went out, and I emailed the financial office asking for a time estimate and they said "within the next month"
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Where do you see the "Awards" section? On my application portal I clicked "Financial Aid" and then went to the SFS section but don't see a "Awards" section.
 
futuremd2101 said:
Where do you see the "Awards" section? On my application portal I clicked "Financial Aid" and then went to the SFS section but don't see a "Awards" section.
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Financial Aid > SFS > second hyperlink in the top green bar
 
NeedsV4lidation said:
Hey y'all current M1. There is a FB page for admitted students - an email should have been sent out about that as well as about second look and a groupme.

I'm seeing a lot of talk about the MSR so i'll share some points on that - rent in Boston is expensive and while you can find places for around $1100-1200 a month they might not be great. While the MSR isn't the greatest, there are some great pros about it. The best being that you'll be living with a huge amount of your classmates. With the pandemic this year, living in the MSR is the biggest reason I know any of my classmates. I'd say I'm friends with probably 3 people in my class that don't live in the MSR simply because I've probably only met ~10 people that don't live here. Living in the same building as your classmates can be great for both your social life and your education - it's nice to be able to walk to a friend's room to ask about a tricky concept or just hang out for a bit.
Also the MSR is fully furnished and the cost includes utilities. I highly doubt you'll be able to find a place near campus for $1025 that's fully furnished with all your utilities and pretty fast internet included.
Now I'm not saying the MSR is perfect but I've definitely benefitted from living here my first year, but I'm also definitely trying to move out of the MSR because like some people said, some rooms are better than others and I don't have the best room.
For those on waitlists or unsure about BU, submitting the MSR housing document is great because then you don't have to worry about housing and I think the reservation is $500 (which is a lot but cheaper than signing a lease and then getting off a WL and having to figure that out...)
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Should waitlisted students submit MSR documentation? Or can we wait until after (if) we are accepted? Does the space run out quick?
 
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