2012-2013 Stanford University Application Thread

I was accepted to Stanford for incoming class of 2012 if anyone has questions about the application/MMI

FemaleWoman said:

I was accepted to Stanford for incoming class of 2012 if anyone has questions about the application/MMI

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What kind of student is Stanford looking for?

I think getting rid of that scary avatar would be a good first step

I'm heading there next fall, so I'll do my best to impart what I've noticed during the interview day and admit weekend.

I apologize in advance for any errors, it's late and I'm typing on my iphone haha.

I feel that breadth of experience and extent of commitment are very important. I'll elaborate on that a bit. Most of the students I met have either taken some time during undergrad or thereafter to really immerse themselves into a project or an area of study. That is to say, they got involved in an activity and showed a sincere interest in their work. That isnt just academic, it really could be anything.

What I'm trying to say is diversify yourself as an applicant, take the time to get involved and undertake
roles of responsibility. Everyone applying to medical school has great stats, but do something that makes you different, take an interesting and less trodden path to med school. Most of all, just do what makes you happy and make the most of your time, all your hard work will pay dividends very shortly. Getting involved in activities for the sake of your application really won't help because you most likely won't be passionate about them (if you though, that's fantastic).

There isn't one secret for getting admitted to any school, at this point, if you're applying this cycle, it's too late to add anything significant to your application. So my biggest piece of advice is put a ton of effort into your personal statement. Make it something you're proud of and that you feel you wouldn't hate reading if you were an ADCOM member. A lot of my friends procrastinated working on theirs until May and they really regretted it. Your personal statement is one of the few things you have the ability to control this late in the game and it's important you put the same effort you applied to your classes for 4 years into your statement.

I wish you the best of luck! The process is a marathon, but it's worth it.

Just to be clear, it's not impossible to get in the "traditional" way. I'll be starting in the fall straight from undergrad, so don't think that you're automatically out of the running without a few years off.

That being said, I agree with the previous poster haha. Try to be interesting. I was amazed at how many cool stories I heard at admit weekend. Overall it seems like a very cool, and very willing-to-try-different-things kind of class.

Oh yes, sorry about that if I wasn't too clear. I didn't want to suggest you should take time off, but definitely make the most of the time you have.

CuriousUser, correct me if I'm mistaken, but it appeared the majority of students had either come straight or take one year off (when they made us raise our hands at the talent show I was shocked how many traditionals there were).

OldMan707 said:

Oh yes, sorry about that if I wasn't too clear. I didn't want to suggest you should take time off, but definitely make the most of the time you have.

CuriousUser, correct me if I'm mistaken, but it appeared the majority of students had either come straight or take one year off (when they made us raise our hands at the talent show I was shocked how many traditionals there were).

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Yeah, I think you're right. Overall I was very pleasantly surprised by how well everyone got along

Yeah, I was really excited by the people I met. Very down to earth and approachable, which was my primary concern during admit weekend, really wanted to see if the admits were people I could live with for 4 years.

Everyone was very accomplished but easy to talk to.

What's your opinion of the MMI and the people selected by the process?

Make sure you pay extra attention to the activities section. Some adcoms openly state that the activities section is more important than the personal statement. Also, they usually see your activities section before they see your personal statement because that is the order of the application packet, so it helps set a good first impression. Sometimes people spend all their energy on the PS and forget about carefully editing their activities.

I agree with the above posts that Stanford tends to admit who are strongly passionate about something AND have the results to prove it. I think the MMI also helps to choose people who know how to communicate. MMI requires you to think on your feet and reason through "tough" (they're not really that tough) situations quickly.

I guess I can't speak really about stats since my MCAT and GPA were above average, but I don't think schools like Stanford and UCSF and Harvard really put much emphasis on MCAT/GPA after a certain point. They really just want interesting people. My friend got into Hopkins with a 30. And it's not some rumor (like saying "I know a friend or a friend who got a 45"), she actually showed me her score.

I'll be applying this cycle, but my MCAT score won't be in until late August which means my secondaries won't be in until late August. Anyone else follow a similar "timeline" with regard to Stanford? A lot of emphasis is put on the timing since you're farther down in the pile submitting later.

sportsmed2017 said:

I'll be applying this cycle, but my MCAT score won't be in until late August which means my secondaries won't be in until late August. Anyone else follow a similar "timeline" with regard to Stanford? A lot of emphasis is put on the timing since you're farther down in the pile submitting later.

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I interviewed here even though I submitted my secondary on the deadline (November 15th). I don't recommend doing that, though.

question. my fiance and i are applying to medical schools at the same time. we would ideally like to go to the same school, and we are amazing study partners. second best option would be being in the same city, or at least very close to eachother. I love everything about stanford, but its located so far from all the other schools we are applying to that i would only want to go there if my fiance got in too- the problem is that my stats are slightly better than his. He did well in school (graduated with a 3.95, but im not sure what the calculated AMCAS gpa will be after it Incorporates his classes from freshman year at another school- but prob closer to a 3.8) and he got a 30 on the mcat. do you think he might get in / is it worth the both of us applying?

lilabz89 said:

question. my fiance and i are applying to medical schools at the same time. we would ideally like to go to the same school, and we are amazing study partners. second best option would be being in the same city, or at least very close to eachother. I love everything about stanford, but its located so far from all the other schools we are applying to that i would only want to go there if my fiance got in too- the problem is that my stats are slightly better than his. He did well in school (graduated with a 3.95, but im not sure what the calculated AMCAS gpa will be after it Incorporates his classes from freshman year at another school- but prob closer to a 3.8) and he got a 30 on the mcat. do you think he might get in / is it worth the both of us applying?

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I would say if he has a 3.8 and 30 his chances aren't great. BUT, and I could be wrong on this, I think it doesn't hurt to tell the schools about your situation and express the fact that you two want to stay together.

I've heard rumors that if they want one of the students badly enough, the other can occasionally come along for the acceptance ride. Best of luck!

thanks for the advice! would you recommend explaining our situation somewhere in the primary/secondary apps? or wait to see about an interview, and bring it up then?

In my opinion, I'd wait to discuss the situation until you have some leverage, i.e. after you've been offered a spot at the school.

Why complicate matters early on, wait a little until they really like you, then complicate matters

But that's just my opinion, I feel like we have enough working against us during whole process anyways.

Also, you mentioned that Stanford is really far away from all the other schools, UCSF is pretty close, especially if you lived somewhere slightly south of SF, you'd be about 20-25 mins away from each depending on traffic.

Although your fiances scores aren't mid-30's, I know a handful of people who interviewed at both Stanford and UCSF with a 30, and a few that got in.

I have my fingers crossed for you guys! Best of luck with the cycle! Feel free to message me with specific questions if you have any.

OldMan707 said:

In my opinion, I'd wait to discuss the situation until you have some leverage, i.e. after you've been offered a spot at the school.

Why complicate matters early on, wait a little until they really like you, then complicate matters

But that's just my opinion, I feel like we have enough working against us during whole process anyways.

Also, you mentioned that Stanford is really far away from all the other schools, UCSF is pretty close, especially if you lived somewhere slightly south of SF, you'd be about 20-25 mins away from each depending on traffic.

Although your fiances scores aren't mid-30's, I know a handful of people who interviewed at both Stanford and UCSF with a 30, and a few that got in.

I have my fingers crossed for you guys! Best of luck with the cycle! Feel free to message me with specific questions if you have any.

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thanks! i loved the idea of UCSF too but i am out of state and felt like my OOS status makes the public California schools even more of a reach than Stanford. I would apply to it regardless if school apps werent a few hundred each plus all the secondaries i have to do!

Anyone receive secondaries here yet??

Any word on when to expect secondaries? Also, does anyone know Stanford's policy on Native Americans? I didn't put it down on my Primary App since I do not have a Tribal ID card... but I feel it is important to mention, and would love to include it on my secondaries (if there is space set aside to mention it)

Anyone got an email regarding non-resident status ineligibility? I applied here bc AMCAS said they accept a reasonable number of non-residents...Sigh

kad said:

Anyone got an email regarding non-resident status ineligibility? I applied here bc AMCAS said they accept a reasonable number of non-residents...Sigh

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you trolling?

Anyone know anything about or can comment about the MSTP program?

Especially in comparison to UCSF. It seems that UCSF is a much larger research institution. ??

lilabz89 said:

thanks! i loved the idea of UCSF too but i am out of state and felt like my OOS status makes the public California schools even more of a reach than Stanford. I would apply to it regardless if school apps werent a few hundred each plus all the secondaries i have to do!

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UC Davis might be less of a reach, particularly for someone with a strong interest and background in community and undeserved communities. It's also fairly close.

NY or Boston might be better bets, with lots of schools across a range.

UCSF is known for sending out secondaries to almost everyone to get your fees. Not all schools are that bad.

Whomp said:

Any word on when to expect secondaries? Also, does anyone know Stanford's policy on Native Americans? I didn't put it down on my Primary App since I do not have a Tribal ID card... but I feel it is important to mention, and would love to include it on my secondaries (if there is space set aside to mention it)

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If you are askng about community. There is a small Native American health issues club/secial interest group and some really talented Native American students, e.g.:
http://coe.stanford.edu/spotlight/Alexander-Red-Eagle.html

Stanford in the past has a long diversity section in the secondary, so you can write a lot about what diversity you will bring to your Stanford class.

The COE at Stanford holds many groups, forums and meetings for people of all kinds of backgrounds applying to medical school, as do many student organizations. You can pke around on their site:
http://coe.stanford.edu/

In the end though it's about showing how you will bring a diverse viewpoint and special knowledge to improve your class. Good luck!

regularbobj said:

Anyone know anything about or can comment about the MSTP program?

Especially in comparison to UCSF. It seems that UCSF is a much larger research institution. ??

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Stanford has all the engineering schools, computer science, stats, physics, anthropology and regular biology. All these fields have a lot of synergy with med school. Actually the law and business school faculty collaborate with med all the time. Cross field collaborations are where real high impact work gets done.

MSTP is competitive at any school, but Stanford as lots of funding for MD students and even residents and fellows to get their PhD directly funded by their advisor or other training grants. Lots of dedicated money for student research in their med scholars program.

For many things, you might be better served with a Stanford Masters in something like bioengineering or an MBA to go along with your MD.

At UCSF I saw a lot of new buildings with huge lab spaces, with benches densely packed in row after row. An army of students and probably many more foreign post docs are going to be pipetting there in misery. I shivered at the factory like science.

sportsmed2017 said:

I'll be applying this cycle, but my MCAT score won't be in until late August which means my secondaries won't be in until late August. Anyone else follow a similar "timeline" with regard to Stanford? A lot of emphasis is put on the timing since you're farther down in the pile submitting later.

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This is often how people get put on the wait list. If you're slow, you might be considered after they have a full class, and there was very little waitlist movement last year. Stanford is a popular school. Where else can you do something like this class:
http://med.stanford.edu/ism/2010/june/genotype.html

http://stanford.edu/class/gene210/web/html/welcome.html

Secondary Received!

DCSB6 said:

Secondary Received!

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Congrats. Do you mind posting it here or PMing gettheleadout?

Fivo said:

Congrats. Do you mind posting it here or PMing gettheleadout?

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1. The Committee on Admissions regards the diversity of an entering class as an important factor in serving the educational mission of the school. The Committee on Admissions strongly encourages you to share unique, personally important, and/or challenging factors in your background, such as the quality of your early educational environment, socioeconomic status, culture, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, sexual identity, and life or work experiences. Please discuss how such factors have influenced your goals and preparation for a career in medicine.

Please limit your answer to 2,000 characters including spaces.

2. What do you see as the most likely practice scenario for your future medical career?

Choose the single answer that best describes your career goals:

Private Practice

Health Policy

Academic Medicine

Public Health

Health Care Administration

Why do you feel you are particularly suited for this practice scenario? What knowledge, skills and attitudes have you developed that have prepared you for this career path?

Please limit your answer to 1,000 characters including spaces.

I got mine today also. Definitely an interesting second essay. should make it fun!

Tatertots said:

1. The Committee on Admissions regards the diversity of an entering class as an important factor in serving the educational mission of the school. The Committee on Admissions strongly encourages you to share unique, personally important, and/or challenging factors in your background, such as the quality of your early educational environment, socioeconomic status, culture, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, sexual identity, and life or work experiences. Please discuss how such factors have influenced your goals and preparation for a career in medicine.

Please limit your answer to 2,000 characters including spaces.

2. What do you see as the most likely practice scenario for your future medical career?

Choose the single answer that best describes your career goals:

Private Practice

Health Policy

Academic Medicine

Public Health

Health Care Administration

Why do you feel you are particularly suited for this practice scenario? What knowledge, skills and attitudes have you developed that have prepared you for this career path?

Please limit your answer to 1,000 characters including spaces.

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Was there also a question on their curriculum/academic program?

busta292 said:

Was there also a question on their curriculum/academic program?

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Yeah same as last years.

does stanford screen before they send out secondaries? Just curious. I got mine today too!

amaranth said:

does stanford screen before they send out secondaries? Just curious. I got mine today too!

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nope

can a Stanfrod Med student tell me if it is possible to do a foundation in Medical Education and a application in neuroscience at the same time?

I'm looking into academic med and that would be an awesome combo - formal med experience and continuing my love for neuroscience.

I have an acknowledgement in a recently published paper. Does anyone know if this would qualify for:

12. If you have publications resulting from scholarly endeavors, please complete a citation for each of your publications in the space below using the following format: Author, Title, Journal, Volume, Pages, and Date of Publication. This section applies for papers that have been published or been accepted for publication. Please do not include abstracts or unpublished conference papers.

As Stanford does not screen before sending out secondaries, should I be worried I have not received the secondary yet? I checked spam filter and it seems I haven't missed anything... Do they send out secondaries in batches? Anyone else in my shoes?

mrbrowncanmoo said:

As Stanford does not screen before sending out secondaries, should I be worried I have not received the secondary yet? I checked spam filter and it seems I haven't missed anything... Do they send out secondaries in batches? Anyone else in my shoes?

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I was verified on June 6th and just received the secondary last Tuesday. When were you verified?

weezynation said:

I was verified on June 6th and just received the secondary last Tuesday. When were you verified?

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I was verified 6/20. So maybe they will get to me soon?... Thanks for the info!

3rdarmageddon said:

I have an acknowledgement in a recently published paper. Does anyone know if this would qualify for:

12. If you have publications resulting from scholarly endeavors, please complete a citation for each of your publications in the space below using the following format: Author, Title, Journal, Volume, Pages, and Date of Publication. This section applies for papers that have been published or been accepted for publication. Please do not include abstracts or unpublished conference papers.

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No, you have to be a co-author.

amaranth said:

does stanford screen before they send out secondaries? Just curious. I got mine today too!

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http://med.stanford.edu/md/admissions/app_process.html

"Stanford Supplemental Application

ALL applicants will be invited to submit a Stanford Supplemental Application once we receive your AMCAS application. Invitations will be sent via e-mail, and will be accompanied by directions for completing the Supplemental Application. We STRONGLY suggest that you complete it as soon as possible.

All materials must be postmarked by the deadline. We will communicate with all applicants primarily via email; it is therefore essential that you have a reliable email account that you check on a regular basis to verify receipt of the Stanford Supplemental Application invitation email."

I'm a little unclear about some of the definitions in the "practice scenario" question. Does private practice refer to being self-employed, or does it include working for a hospital as well? Also, is academic medicine like someone who teaches and does research? Do academic doctors see patients? Which category would working for some large hospital fall under? Thanks

amonymous said:

I'm a little unclear about some of the definitions in the "practice scenario" question. Does private practice refer to being self-employed, or does it include working for a hospital as well? Also, is academic medicine like someone who teaches and does research? Do academic doctors see patients? Which category would working for some large hospital fall under? Thanks

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Academic basically medicine means being a med school professor. They typically see patients and also do research, which runs the gamut from clinical studies like a vaccine trial or drug trial to having a core, basic science lab. Not all see patients, but almost all have some kind of research at some level, although for some it is only nominal. There are usually divisions within academic medicine based on how much research publications and grant money you are supposed to bring in versus clinical duties, and there are almost purely clinical, purely research, or mixed positions which have slightly different titles and so forth. May have some classroom teaching duties, but is generally supposed to be part of teaching ms3+ students and residents clinical skills.

Private practice is being a regular doctor, who could be self employed, be in a group practice, work for an HMO, etc. Working at a hospital doesn't mean you always work FOR a hospital either, and it's actually kind of a new thing for an attending to do so commonly. For example a surgeon or obstetrician could be part of a group practice, but has privileges at different hospitals where they do surgery or deliver babies, etc. May actually also be involved with teaching clinical skills if they work close to a med school and if this of interest. If a community internist's patients are admitted to the local teaching hospital, then they typically become involved in teaching the people training there, by just having to work with them.

It might help to try to learn more about different daily lives of physicians if you can. There is a lot of variability and it will help you to know more about what you're getting yourself into.

Imapremed - As far as I have been told, yes, you can combine scholarly concentrations and/or tailor them to fit your specific needs.

Finally got my secondary today! So, I guess they are indeed sending them out in batches.

@alamo4: thanks for the comprehensive answer!

For the question "How will the Stanford curriculum, and specifically the requirement for a scholarly concentration, help your personal career goals?" would it be okay to mention which of the scholarly concentrations I am interested in, or do they prefer students to come with an open mind and decide during med school?

An MD Hopeful said:

For the question "How will the Stanford curriculum, and specifically the requirement for a scholarly concentration, help your personal career goals?" would it be okay to mention which of the scholarly concentrations I am interested in, or do they prefer students to come with an open mind and decide during med school?

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I mentioned a specific one that I was interested in, and I think that should be fine. I feel like they would rather have you express interest in some specific aspect of their program and say why/what experiences you have that make you interested in that, rather than throw out a typical "Why ____?" essay. And of course, I doubt they'd hold us to anything we say, as they'd probably expect us to potentially change our minds once (if) we end up there.

Yeah, these are some pretty assuming secondary questions. I am curious as to what they try and achieve out of them. Are they looking for particular goals? They are a very academically-oriented school, of course.

Does anyone know what the deal is with the fact that the essay question about diversity is "strongly encouraged"? I really can't think of anything I could put here that wouldn't sound like BS so my pre-med advisor told me to leave it blank. Is that a really bad idea?