Columbia Email

justoneplease said:

Anyone receive an email from Columbia inviting them to apply to the school? I personally did not apply there but received an email today asking me to apply. Figured it was a general email to all students not originally applying but I just wanted to make sure.

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You'll likely get more emails like that. Why does it matter if everyone gets them? If you like columbia, then apply, if not then don't.

Schools can contact you based on your MCAT scores if you agreed to have them released to them. The email generally goes out to those students with MCAT scores in the range of what the schools are looking for.

It's spam and a virus. Ignore it. Delete it.

Ever since I took the MCAT, I've received a few e-mails from med schools asking me to apply. I was wondering the same thing as you, but I figured it was like in high school when colleges would send us recruitment brochures and e-mails simply because we took a College Board test, not because we got a certain qualifying score. Correct me if I'm wrong though; I'd love to know if these schools are actually selective about who receives these e-mails

Edit: looks like Ursa confirmed my suspicions, haha.

phnerd1105 said:

Schools can contact you based on your MCAT scores if you agreed to have them released to them. The email generally goes out to those students with MCAT scores in the range of what the schools are looking for.

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Is this generally a good enough reason in applying to said school? Or is it "too general" to consider as sign of actually having a chance of acceptance?

MeowMeowCAT said:

Is this generally a good enough reason in applying to said school? Or is it "too general" to consider as sign of actually having a chance of acceptance?

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Like she said, it's based on MCAT and nothing else. So it just means your score is considered competitive for that school. They don't have access to your application hence the request to apply. So no it doesn't necessarily mean you have a good chance. It doesn't hurt to try though.

ilton said:

Like he said, it's based on MCAT and nothing else. So it just means your score is considered competitive for that school. They don't have access to your application hence the request to apply. So no it doesn't necessarily mean you have a good chance. It doesn't hurt to try though.

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This. I know many people who were invited to apply to schools and then rejected. And vice verse, I know many who were accepted. It is solely based on MCAT, not GPA, letters, EC's, etc., so there's no way to gauge whether it will result in an acceptance. However, if your other factors are solid, there may be a good chance at an interview.

ilton said:

Like he said, it's based on MCAT and nothing else. So it just means your score is considered competitive for that school. They don't have access to your application hence the request to apply. So no it doesn't necessarily mean you have a good chance. It doesn't hurt to try though.

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The he is actually a she. Watch your back now haha - Phnerd might kill you

raltima07 said:

The he is actually a she. Watch your back now haha - Phnerd might kill you

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Oh wow I didn't even catch that haha. Thanks for the support

Hope I don't have to start clarifying it in my sig...

i got a 33 and only the army mailed me

phnerd1105 said:

Oh wow I didn't even catch that haha. Thanks for the support

Hope I don't have to start clarifying it in my sig...

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Sorry about that.

^ (WUbear) Yea IDK if it's by MCAT. I got the e-mail and my 32Q is not competitive for Columbia. I did apply though, and I'm a MED-MAR applicant. Perhaps this is why? Dartmouth sent me an e-mail because of the MED-MAR designation...

Vandy Premed said:

^ (WUbear) Yea IDK if it's by MCAT. I got the e-mail and my 32Q is not competitive for Columbia. I did apply though, and I'm a MED-MAR applicant. Perhaps this is why? Dartmouth sent me an e-mail because of the MED-MAR designation...

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What's the Med-mar again?

Logically though, what else would it be by? They don't have access to anything except your MCAT as far as I know.

ilton said:

What's the Med-mar again?

Logically though, what else would it be by? They don't have access to anything except your MCAT as far as I know.

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It's for URM and economically disadvantaged applicants. You select it when signing up for the MCAT, and it's released to schools that are looking for diversity I suppose.

You guys may be right. I'm just be surprised that a 32 is in their desired range. Obviously they accept people with a 32 every year, but it's well below their 35.something average.

justoneplease said:

I was just wondering if it was a good enough reason to apply. If it was a generic email, then I figured I would save some money and not apply but if it was specific or more in-depth of sort, I figured I might as well apply to help my chances of getting into a school. That was all.

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It's just a generic email, but if the rest of your application is good, there's no reason not to apply

Vandy Premed said:

It's for URM and economically disadvantaged applicants. You select it when signing up for the MCAT, and it's released to schools that are looking for diversity I suppose.

You guys may be right. I'm just be surprised that a 32 is in their desired range. Obviously they accept people with a 32 every year, but it's well below their 35.something average.

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I think the bold probably makes a difference.

ilton said:

I think the bolded probably makes a difference.

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Here's the signature:

Thank you for your interest in P&S and good luck.

Sincerely,

.Hilda Hutcherson, MD .

Hilda Y. Hutcherson, MD
Associate Dean
Office of Diversity

^ So, it looks like it is for MED-mar...

justoneplease said:

I was just wondering if it was a good enough reason to apply. If it was a generic email, then I figured I would save some money and not apply but if it was specific or more in-depth of sort, I figured I might as well apply to help my chances of getting into a school. That was all.

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If you like the school and think it's a good fit apply. The only harm is to your wallet.

Yes that's what I was getting at.

Vandy Premed said:

Here's the signature:

Thank you for your interest in P&S and good luck.

Sincerely,

.Hilda Hutcherson, MD .
. .
Hilda Y. Hutcherson, MD
Associate Dean
Office of Diversity

^ So, it looks like it is for MED-mar...

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ilton said:

Yes that's what I was getting at.

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I know. I was just helping your cause .

Vandy Premed said:

I know. I was just helping your cause .

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Thanks.

Good luck

theWUbear said:

i got a 33 and only the army mailed me

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Is this surprising?

I don't understand either,
I got a 29, but I also received an email from Columbia,
I don't know if I count as a Med-Mar, ( I am from Taiwan)
But I think I'm economically disadvantage (Don't know how they determine that either...)
How can I find out? I don't remeber selecting anything like that on the day of MCAT.

gettheleadout said:

Is this surprising?

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haha. ugunnin