2008-2009 Albany Secondary Application Thread

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Last Thursday. 2/26

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Just called. Apparently mine was one of the applications that didnt get reviewed last week. More waiting...great.
 
Good luck! Maybe you'll be one of the acceptances they hand out every week.
 
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has anyone gotten in off the under consideration list? i might just withdraw
 
has anyone gotten in off the under consideration list? i might just withdraw

I might have to as well. As I understand it, they aren't moving people off the list until may 15 when they get a flood of withdrawals. Keeps their stats more attractive...
 
I might have to as well. As I understand it, they aren't moving people off the list until may 15 when they get a flood of withdrawals. Keeps their stats more attractive...

actually thats ******ed why would i withdraw if i havent been accepted yet. nvm

lol
 
Hi,

I interviewed last thursday, and we had a very nice tour guide who gave out her email address. However, I seem to have misplaced it and I would really like to contact her to ask a few Q's. Does anyone on this board have this information, or any other current student's address who would be willing to answer my Q's?

Good luck to those of you who interviewed last thursday, I hope that many of you agree that the school largely came across as better than represented here on SDN.

Anyways, just looking for some unbiased and honest opinions. Good luck again to all.
 
Hi,

I interviewed last thursday, and we had a very nice tour guide who gave out her email address. However, I seem to have misplaced it and I would really like to contact her to ask a few Q's. Does anyone on this board have this information, or any other current student's address who would be willing to answer my Q's?

Good luck to those of you who interviewed last thursday, I hope that many of you agree that the school largely came across as better than represented here on SDN.

Anyways, just looking for some unbiased and honest opinions. Good luck again to all.

Sorry I don't have the e-mail address. Have you already heard back?
 
Sorry I don't have the e-mail address. Have you already heard back?

Yup, heard back yesterday.....Anyone else know the email or any current students willing to answer a few quick Q's?
 
I'm interviewing on Monday March 16th (I'm taking a day trip from Seattle, ugh!) but I totally forgot what I wrote about in my application. I can't remember which EC I said that I would like to talk about.... is that going to be a problem?
 
I'm interviewing on Monday March 16th (I'm taking a day trip from Seattle, ugh!) but I totally forgot what I wrote about in my application. I can't remember which EC I said that I would like to talk about.... is that going to be a problem?

That's probably not all that important. The interview was relatively laid back. I didn't get asked about what i wrote on my secondary...
 
I just received this email. It looks like I still have a *little* bit of hope for an interview from Albany....

Your application to the Albany Medical College has been placed in the
"Hold" category.

As we review applications, we inevitably find that the number of
qualified applications exceeds the number of applicants that we are
able to interview. From an applicant pool of approximately 9,000
candidates, roughly 600 hundred will be invited to interview.
Screening is done on an ongoing basis as applications become
complete. Therefore, in some cases a final screening decision is
temporarily deferred. If over the course of the admissions season we
find that too few candidates were initially invited to interview, we
will turn to the "Hold" category and invite selected applicants to
interview.
 
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I just received this email. It looks like I still have a *little* bit of hope for an interview from Albany....

Your application to the Albany Medical College has been placed in the
"Hold" category.

As we review applications, we inevitably find that the number of
qualified applications exceeds the number of applicants that we are
able to interview. From an applicant pool of approximately 9,000
candidates, roughly 600 hundred will be invited to interview.
Screening is done on an ongoing basis as applications become
complete. Therefore, in some cases a final screening decision is
temporarily deferred. If over the course of the admissions season we
find that too few candidates were initially invited to interview, we
will turn to the "Hold" category and invite selected applicants to
interview.

when were you complete?
 
Good luck to those of you who are hearing tomorrow. :luck:
 
Interviewed last week. Unless they didn't get to me, I must be a rejection then, since they said that rejections were mailed. I'll call to verify in a couple days.
 
So how big is this "under consideration" group?

It seems like thats were most people are ending up.
 
They pull a lot of people off of there, they definitely do.

I would have almost as much confidence about being on that list as I would about being on the 'high priority alternate list' at suny upstate (if you even applied there).

The problem is, if you're not very high on the list, they could pull you off sometime after may 15th, after all the movement. That would be a rough amount of time to wait.

good luck with albany and your other pending decisions.
 
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Just got an interview invite from Albany. Definitely a surprise since I figured it was so late in the season, but I'm excited to check out the school and the area. There were interview dates set up through April 16th in case anyone is curious :)
 
I just received this email. It looks like I still have a *little* bit of hope for an interview from Albany....

Your application to the Albany Medical College has been placed in the
"Hold" category.

As we review applications, we inevitably find that the number of
qualified applications exceeds the number of applicants that we are
able to interview. From an applicant pool of approximately 9,000
candidates, roughly 600 hundred will be invited to interview.
Screening is done on an ongoing basis as applications become
complete. Therefore, in some cases a final screening decision is
temporarily deferred. If over the course of the admissions season we
find that too few candidates were initially invited to interview, we
will turn to the "Hold" category and invite selected applicants to
interview.

Hate to burst your bubble, but I doubt there's much hope. I've been on hold myself since Jan, and I retook the MCAT in the meantime and got a much higher score. I emailed Albany to tell them, and got a nasty reply saying, "Albany does not accept January scores. Also, the limitations of the application process mean that each applicant can only be looked at once." Well, if that's true, why put someone on "hold" as opposed to rejecting them? The email itself implies that they can revisit your app in the future, but here they are refusing to do just that when there is a material change in the applicant.
 
Hate to burst your bubble, but I doubt there's much hope. I've been on hold myself since Jan, and I retook the MCAT in the meantime and got a much higher score. I emailed Albany to tell them, and got a nasty reply saying, "Albany does not accept January scores. Also, the limitations of the application process mean that each applicant can only be looked at once." Well, if that's true, why put someone on "hold" as opposed to rejecting them? The email itself implies that they can revisit your app in the future, but here they are refusing to do just that when there is a material change in the applicant.

Last year, I submitted my app in September and was placed on hold. I was eventually granted an interview in late March for mid April w/o sending in updates and etc. However, I declined the interview as I assumed that most likely it would be for a waitlist spot.
 
Hate to burst your bubble, but I doubt there's much hope. I've been on hold myself since Jan, and I retook the MCAT in the meantime and got a much higher score. I emailed Albany to tell them, and got a nasty reply saying, "Albany does not accept January scores. Also, the limitations of the application process mean that each applicant can only be looked at once." Well, if that's true, why put someone on "hold" as opposed to rejecting them? The email itself implies that they can revisit your app in the future, but here they are refusing to do just that when there is a material change in the applicant.

Many schools score the application, and then grant interviews based on scores. So if an interview spot opens up, they will offer it to you based on your application score- that way they don't have to re-review each application.
 
Many schools score the application, and then grant interviews based on scores. So if an interview spot opens up, they will offer it to you based on your application score- that way they don't have to re-review each application.


Yeah, I know for a fact they score the applications that way.

Anyone hear yet that interviewed last week? Good luck.
 
Got the "Hold" e-mail so. I'm coming to NY on April 1st so I'm thinking that I might call and request an interivew for around that time.

Has anyone had any success doing this?
 
does anyone know what's the last date they send out the invites for interviews? are they still handing them out?..
 
I callled this morning to try 2 request an interview since I'll be in NY and they said that since I was placed on "hold" I cannot. Said there are no immediate plans to use the hold category at all this year.:(
 
I callled this morning to try 2 request an interview since I'll be in NY and they said that since I was placed on "hold" I cannot. Said there are no immediate plans to use the hold category at all this year.:(

laaaaaaame. good luck with everything merissa..

anyone else hear anything lately? I sort of want to fast forward to the summer, can't believe it's only march.
 
I just interviewed on Monday the 16th, so the committee should discuss me on 03/24. I've gotten into a school in Ohio, but if I get into Albany I would definitely choose that.
 
hey everyone, I've been checking up on this thread periodically and figured i might as well introduce myself..

My timeline:

- (Sept) Pre-interview hold
- (Oct) Interview Invite
- (Nov 15th-ish) Interviewed
- (Dec 10th) - placed in "under consideration"

Fast forward to March 23rd, and I'm still under consideration. Nice.

Just from going through this thread, it seems like the 'under consideration' group is the unofficial 'post-interview hold' found at other schools and the majority of us may have to wait til May-June to hear back one way or another.
 
Hopefully we will start hearing about some movement from the "under consideration" group soon. I would hate to have to wait until May or June.
 
I just got an e-mail from Joanne Nanos saying she wanted to "talk about my application"...thoughts on what this could mean? I'm pretty scared that she's going to nicely reject me over the phone haha.
 
I just got an e-mail from Joanne Nanos saying she wanted to "talk about my application"...thoughts on what this could mean? I'm pretty scared that she's going to nicely reject me over the phone haha.


I have not heard of this before; the way I look at it, any time I can get direct contact with anyone means another chance to show them I belong. Good luck, hopefully it's only good things she wants to talk about.
 
I just interviewed on Monday the 16th, so the committee should discuss me on 03/24. I've gotten into a school in Ohio, but if I get into Albany I would definitely choose that.

Hey, I think I was in ur interview grp (probably the only one w/o an acceptance at hand too :(). Let's hope the best for both of us!
 
I just got an e-mail from Joanne Nanos saying she wanted to "talk about my application"...thoughts on what this could mean? I'm pretty scared that she's going to nicely reject me over the phone haha.

The fact that she wants to talk to you over the phone could only be a good thing. Why go out of your way to reject someone on the phone? Then again, maybe there is some really unique situation that actually needs clearing up. Whatever it is, good luck.

Good luck asant, nancy, and anyone else who might hear tomorrow.
 
I hate to be a party pooper (since I figure a bunch of you guys have been accepted to Albany and will be going there), but...just what is it that makes this school attractive?

Maybe it's because I'm comparing my interviews/tours to those I had at two other schools (one of whom I'm practically 100% decided upon), but I tried to be as objective as I could while I was evaluating this school, and came up with a con list that far outweighed the pro's:

Some of these are:...

1. The admissions department wasn't the most welcoming/helpful (again, maybe it's just me). But to relate 2 experiences that happened there...the welcoming lady (no clue what her name was) barely looked me in the eye when I was talking to her, and seemed upset that I dared to ask her any questions. And when I was leaving and needed help calling a cab and telling them where to pick me up (the place where cabs usually drop you off is different from the admissions building itself), she seemed confused that someone who'd never been to Albany Med wouldn't know the names of the buildings..

2. The admissions director (i think it was her anyway) had to refer to a fabricated positive interview feedback in response to the negative ones posted here on sdn (she literally said what she was quoting was probably made up). We had a laugh about it, but I felt it was a little awkward...granted, the interview feedbacks were somewhat negative, but the fact that she had to refer to something that was possibly fake seemed a little..defensive to me.

3. The facilities are veeerrry lackluster..(anatomy room can be smelled a mile away, the hallways were narrow as hell, student lounge was okay I guess but it looked like it could only fit about 10 students, the library/hospital seemed decent, but our tour guide didnt go into detail regarding them). Maybe I didn't see much, but I would assume that if you're trying to attract students, you would show them the best that you had to offer...and really, what I saw was kinda lacking.

4. Albany (or at least the area I saw on my cab ride to the school) is a very run down city. Now, I'm sure some of you may have grown up here and know a lot of nice spots, etc...but, I grew up in a similar area myself, and trust me, I wouldn't feel comfortable living in this area for 4 years. I simply did not feel safe there at all. It's completely unreasonable to fault the school itself for this, but again, if this is the city you have to work with, I didn't see any evidence of their trying to make up for this negative ( a pretty huge one, in my book).

5. There seemed to be nothing much 'happening' in the school. I didn't hear much about any significant, cutting edge research taking place, any new programs, etc...I actually found this pretty surprising considering the fact that there are so many different combined degrees available there, they have a partnership with an engeneering school, and the Department of Health is in the same area. The only person that remotely touched on this was one of my interviewers, who talked about some research he was doing with the EPA. There was nothing about any possible changes to their curriculum, or why it was devised the way it is (this I found particularly glaring, since case-based learning seems to be the thing now with most medical schools - for a very good reason which I wont go into detail about now - but Albany was mum on the issue)

6. I got the sense that Albany relied on 'history' way too much. A lot of the things they touted (one of the oldest medical schools, one of the first to use current 'systems' curriculum, notable alumni, etc..) is nice, but there was very little about future plans. It just seemed as if the faculty/admin at Albany were okay with the way things were (which seems wrong to me, since almost every other medical school admin office I've spoke with touts how med school education is even more challenging these days).

7. Maybe the students were in hiding or something? I really saw only 2 (our tour guides), and while they seemed excited enough...that's kinda their job.

As for pluses:

1. I did get the sense that the faculty were very top-notch, and that an education here would definitely get you far.

2. My interviewers were great, and frankly even though the interviews were more 'omg what if a deadly plague struck the earth and you only had 1 vaccine available', I thought it was a little refreshing to have that challenge and have to think quick on your feet. Contrary to popular sdn belief, there is *nothing* wrong with a little stress during one's interview.

3. The interviewers (and from here, I'm assuming the faculty) appeared to take their tasks very seriously. At one point, during my second interview, someone interrupted and my interviewer became visibly upset, even going so far as to call the person a .. something. Though it was a little surprising, it was nice to see that I wasn't just another number to them, they were very interested in getting to know me well.


In the end though I really didnt see anything that would draw me to this school. I am honestly very curious as to what some of you guys see in Albany Med though :) I'm not trying to attack this school at all, but this was the impression I got when I visited.
 
Just go to your school that you're 100 percent decided on and let the people who have chosen albany be happy there.
 
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This isn't a personal attack, I am considering the school, otherwise I wouldn't have bothered going on the interview at all. Missing a day of work and spending 10 hours on a train isn't really my idea of fun.

And the reasons I described aren't all subjective/anecdotal. Obviously, some of them are, since it was *my* experience, which is why I'm wondering if maybe there was something I missed.

If you don't feel like answering, that's okay. It's too bad, since I really am interested as to what other's experiences were. But like I said several times, my post wasn't meant to bash the school, I'm just relating my observations during interview day and wondering whether my particular experience was just a rare occurrence.
 
This isn't a personal attack, I am considering the school, otherwise I wouldn't have bothered going on the interview at all. Missing a day of work and spending 10 hours on a train isn't really my idea of fun.

And the reasons I described aren't all subjective/anecdotal. Obviously, some of them are, since it was *my* experience, which is why I'm wondering if maybe there was something I missed.

If you don't feel like answering, that's okay. It's too bad, since I really am interested as to what other's experiences were. But like I said several times, my post wasn't meant to bash the school, I'm just relating my observations during interview day and wondering whether my particular experience was just a rare occurrence.


Wait, so you are considering it now? You just said you were 100 percent decided on a school. Otherwise I would happily defend albany and talk about the positive aspects of the city. You are interested - I can see that - otherwise you wouldn't have spent so much time typing up that original post. Your first post also indicates that it's not for good reasons (that you are actually considering attending albany), but mainly to satisfy some curiousity about why anyone else would actually consider going there.

About not going to the interview: well how would you have known how much you disliked the look of albany and the demeanor of the admissions coordinator if you hadn't gone in the first place?


edit: I'm sorry I'm getting defensive here, I just really don't see the point of your post. Frankly, it does seem like a bash.
 
Sorry, I chose the wrong words.

I'm *nearly* 100% with the other school..partly because I've been sitting on that accept since October, and I just interviewed at Albany like last week. I'd already made housing plans and everything. However, ideally it would be great to go to school in NY since I currently live in NY and it'd be great to stay close to family (the other school is in another state).

But, this would be a very hard decision for me to make, and it's not something I want to take lightly. Again, I am very seriously considering the school, but I would like to know whether my experience was a fluke and I should give Albany another chance.
 
I can fully appreciate not being excited about the facilities, but what really turned me on to Albany was the faculty. Much like you said, it is obvious that they take their roles very seriously and are passionate abou teaching. The doctor who interviewed me has already called me two or three times to see if I had any questions and to just check in on me. They definitely depend a lot on history, but that's something I value. I guess when it comes to med schools its all about personal gut feelings.
 
I hate to be a party pooper (since I figure a bunch of you guys have been accepted to Albany and will be going there), but...just what is it that makes this school attractive?

Maybe it's because I'm comparing my interviews/tours to those I had at two other schools (one of whom I'm practically 100% decided upon), but I tried to be as objective as I could while I was evaluating this school, and came up with a con list that far outweighed the pro's:

Some of these are:...

1. The admissions department wasn't the most welcoming/helpful (again, maybe it's just me). But to relate 2 experiences that happened there...the welcoming lady (no clue what her name was) barely looked me in the eye when I was talking to her, and seemed upset that I dared to ask her any questions. And when I was leaving and needed help calling a cab and telling them where to pick me up (the place where cabs usually drop you off is different from the admissions building itself), she seemed confused that someone who'd never been to Albany Med wouldn't know the names of the buildings..

2. The admissions director (i think it was her anyway) had to refer to a fabricated positive interview feedback in response to the negative ones posted here on sdn (she literally said what she was quoting was probably made up). We had a laugh about it, but I felt it was a little awkward...granted, the interview feedbacks were somewhat negative, but the fact that she had to refer to something that was possibly fake seemed a little..defensive to me.

3. The facilities are veeerrry lackluster..(anatomy room can be smelled a mile away, the hallways were narrow as hell, student lounge was okay I guess but it looked like it could only fit about 10 students, the library/hospital seemed decent, but our tour guide didnt go into detail regarding them). Maybe I didn't see much, but I would assume that if you're trying to attract students, you would show them the best that you had to offer...and really, what I saw was kinda lacking.

4. Albany (or at least the area I saw on my cab ride to the school) is a very run down city. Now, I'm sure some of you may have grown up here and know a lot of nice spots, etc...but, I grew up in a similar area myself, and trust me, I wouldn't feel comfortable living in this area for 4 years. I simply did not feel safe there at all. It's completely unreasonable to fault the school itself for this, but again, if this is the city you have to work with, I didn't see any evidence of their trying to make up for this negative ( a pretty huge one, in my book).

5. There seemed to be nothing much 'happening' in the school. I didn't hear much about any significant, cutting edge research taking place, any new programs, etc...I actually found this pretty surprising considering the fact that there are so many different combined degrees available there, they have a partnership with an engeneering school, and the Department of Health is in the same area. The only person that remotely touched on this was one of my interviewers, who talked about some research he was doing with the EPA. There was nothing about any possible changes to their curriculum, or why it was devised the way it is (this I found particularly glaring, since case-based learning seems to be the thing now with most medical schools - for a very good reason which I wont go into detail about now - but Albany was mum on the issue)

6. I got the sense that Albany relied on 'history' way too much. A lot of the things they touted (one of the oldest medical schools, one of the first to use current 'systems' curriculum, notable alumni, etc..) is nice, but there was very little about future plans. It just seemed as if the faculty/admin at Albany were okay with the way things were (which seems wrong to me, since almost every other medical school admin office I've spoke with touts how med school education is even more challenging these days).

7. Maybe the students were in hiding or something? I really saw only 2 (our tour guides), and while they seemed excited enough...that's kinda their job.

As for pluses:

1. I did get the sense that the faculty were very top-notch, and that an education here would definitely get you far.

2. My interviewers were great, and frankly even though the interviews were more 'omg what if a deadly plague struck the earth and you only had 1 vaccine available', I thought it was a little refreshing to have that challenge and have to think quick on your feet. Contrary to popular sdn belief, there is *nothing* wrong with a little stress during one's interview.

3. The interviewers (and from here, I'm assuming the faculty) appeared to take their tasks very seriously. At one point, during my second interview, someone interrupted and my interviewer became visibly upset, even going so far as to call the person a .. something. Though it was a little surprising, it was nice to see that I wasn't just another number to them, they were very interested in getting to know me well.


In the end though I really didnt see anything that would draw me to this school. I am honestly very curious as to what some of you guys see in Albany Med though :) I'm not trying to attack this school at all, but this was the impression I got when I visited.

It really depends on what you consider solid reasons to like or dislike a school. Frankly, will having a smelly anatomy lab affect me LEARNING anatomy...uh, probably not in my opinion. Do I care if they're doing research for the EPA and not to discover new molecules involved in carcinogenesis? - not if I don't plan on doing research...Do I want my professors to be passionate and care about their students, making sure they're the most prepared they can be - absolutely. And that's exactly what impressed me about my interviewers and the people I met there.

I've been on interviews where the person is falling asleep and taking calls during the interview. My interview at Albany was as far from that as it could have been. They didn't need great facilities to impress me - just great people.

I can see why you would be turned off. If you are paying $200k for an education, you want to be comfortable during it and there are other places that could be more fitting for that. Just saying that the things that seem important to you are not necessarily the same for everyone else.
 
its really a matter of personality fit. one thing i didn't like about albany is that the average age of students there is like 22 or something, which is way too young. i would see kids in lecture who looked like they were still in undergrad... and the was no campus

other than that, it seemed like a good school. not my top choice, but not worth taking a huge dump on like priam
 
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