2009-2010 Columbia University Application Thread

Discover Your Odds of Getting into Medical School
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after finishing my bachelors, i am taking undergraduate courses as a non-degree student. I am neither a senior, nor a graduate student or a non-student. What option do I choose?
 
viscous said:
after finishing my bachelors, i am taking undergraduate courses as a non-degree student. I am neither a senior, nor a graduate student or a non-student. What option do I choose?
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I think you would be a non-student since you're not enrolled in a program. You can always call/e-mail Columbia and ask.
 
I am in the same situation and wrote non-student. They can always see you are taking classes by looking at your amcas.
 
in a similar vein... as a senior in high school, i took a one-semester calculus course at a local university. should i list this university as "other undergraduate institution attended" on the previous education section of the columbia 2ndary? the transcript from the course is on my amcas...

any wisdom would be much appreciated! 🙂
 
juliar711 said:
in a similar vein... as a senior in high school, i took a one-semester calculus course at a local university. should i list this university as "other undergraduate institution attended" on the previous education section of the columbia 2ndary? the transcript from the course is on my amcas...

any wisdom would be much appreciated! 🙂
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yes
 
Postal Blowfish said:
Is there any way to check/verify if we are complete at Columbia?
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I was trying to find a status page yesterday and couldn't... I think they send you an email eventually. I do remember seeing a disclaimer somewhere on the Columbia site that says it takes them longer than average to get through the secondaries.
 
tralu said:
I was trying to find a status page yesterday and couldn't... I think they send you an email eventually. I do remember seeing a disclaimer somewhere on the Columbia site that says it takes them longer than average to get through the secondaries.
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Yeah, it's weird. I received an email after I submitted my secondary, but I guess there is currently now way of knowing if they have received anything else.
 
I called them about completion about a week ago and I was told that they haven't begun sorting through ANYTHING yet and would be organizing around now. They will send an email out.
 
Doe87 said:
I called them about completion about a week ago and I was told that they haven't begun sorting through ANYTHING yet and would be organizing around now. They will send an email out.
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The ball should get rolling soon!
 
Particularly bad for them since they'll be so far behind on sorting through our photos too.
 
Is anyone uploading the "additional document"? I'm not sure what to put here, but I was considering trying to explain some of my grades. Also - does the education interruption question apply to those of us who are re-applicants and taking the year off? I did not apply to Columbia last year. Probably a stupid question, but I'd rather ask a stupid question than submit a stupid secondary.

Ugh- crap. Their photo document looks pretty size specific. Should I get an actual passport photo done, or print out the photo I've been using and trim it to the right size?
 
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MedMe said:
I was just about to ask the same question about the additional document. I wrote something up about why columbia and am thinking about explaining a weakness in my app. Should I take one or the other out?

Food, I just trimmed down my wallet sized photo....my face fills up the whole box.
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Hm..so is an inkjet quality photo okay?
 
Food said:
Is anyone uploading the "additional document"? I'm not sure what to put here, but I was considering trying to explain some of my grades. Also - does the education interruption question apply to those of us who are re-applicants and taking the year off? I did not apply to Columbia last year. Probably a stupid question, but I'd rather ask a stupid question than submit a stupid secondary.

Ugh- crap. Their photo document looks pretty size specific. Should I get an actual passport photo done, or print out the photo I've been using and trim it to the right size?
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No, the interruption means if you took time off during your undergrad. if you finished undergrad and then took time off, that doesn't count as an 'interruption'. (this was answered several pages back i think)

... since it sounds like you already have an image you'd like to use, i think it'd be easiest to just find a CVS or some other pharmacy that does digital prints -- you just pop in a flash drive or whatever containing your image, and then select to print 'passport sized or ID 2"x2" photos' and then you can print a bunch of them for cheap -- they were like 25cents each when i did them in ny. don't get the passport photos taken there though, i think they charge you like $8.
 
jtink said:
No, the interruption means if you took time off during your undergrad. if you finished undergrad and then took time off, that doesn't count as an 'interruption'. (this was answered several pages back i think)

... since it sounds like you already have an image you'd like to use, i think it'd be easiest to just find a CVS or some other pharmacy that does digital prints -- you just pop in a flash drive or whatever containing your image, and then select to print 'passport sized or ID 2"x2" photos' and then you can print a bunch of them for cheap -- they were like 25cents each when i did them in ny. don't get the passport photos taken there though, i think they charge you like $8.
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Okay, thanks. Anyone got ideas for what to put in the "extra info" document?
 
i think this is the most appropriate place to ask/post this.

i was in a book store today trying to figure out which VR mcat book to buy and i saw this book with all the medical schools summarized individually (similar to those TPR top 356 or w/e colleges for undergrad, etc). i thumbed through it and under columbia it suggests that you let the school know if it is your #1 choice, especilly if you are on the waitlist.. the waitlist part makes sense, but i thought it was generally a bad idea to tell a school it is your #1 unless you were waitlisted or something... (because people flip flop as the cycle progresses i guess..?)..? where would you even mention this while applying? at the interview? in an update letter before final decisions are made? probably not in the secondary, right? ha. just curious. t.i.a.
 
You can tell your interviewer, and you can say that in a thank-you letter (for the interview) a month or two after your interview. That way it gives you a chance to see other schools during your other interviews, and you have something to compare Columbia to. Trust me, it makes a difference. (Only if Columbia truely is your number one, though)
 
non-rolling decision schools still have rolling interview invites. no interview invite = no chance of acceptance
 
redlight said:
i think this is the most appropriate place to ask/post this.

i was in a book store today trying to figure out which VR mcat book to buy and i saw this book with all the medical schools summarized individually (similar to those TPR top 356 or w/e colleges for undergrad, etc). i thumbed through it and under columbia it suggests that you let the school know if it is your #1 choice, especilly if you are on the waitlist.. the waitlist part makes sense, but i thought it was generally a bad idea to tell a school it is your #1 unless you were waitlisted or something... (because people flip flop as the cycle progresses i guess..?)..? where would you even mention this while applying? at the interview? in an update letter before final decisions are made? probably not in the secondary, right? ha. just curious. t.i.a.
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drumboy said:
You can tell your interviewer, and you can say that in a thank-you letter (for the interview) a month or two after your interview. That way it gives you a chance to see other schools during your other interviews, and you have something to compare Columbia to. Trust me, it makes a difference. (Only if Columbia truely is your number one, though)
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From what I've heard, its a good idea to mention it if you're on the waitlist.. you can send them an update letter that gives them new info on what else you've been doing and mention that its your first pick
 
Has anyone gotten a complete email from them yet? I submitted my app way early, and my letters should have been in around 7/22 or 7/23, but nothing yet.
 
Girfaroo said:
Has anyone gotten a complete email from them yet? I submitted my app way early, and my letters should have been in around 7/22 or 7/23, but nothing yet.
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Same here, my letters and photo should have been with them by 7/20 but nothing from them yet. I think they start sorting through stuff about now, so a couple more weeks maybe.
 
Does anyone know much about the Columbia-Bassett program. I am applying and am curious how competitive it is. Rural medicine is definitely where my experience lies, and I would love to get into this program.

<--- Also, take a look at my mdapp profile and let me know what you think. Probably too many top tiers?
 
alberbla said:
Does anyone know much about the Columbia-Bassett program. I am applying and am curious how competitive it is. Rural medicine is definitely where my experience lies, and I would love to get into this program.

<--- Also, take a look at my mdapp profile and let me know what you think. Probably too many top tiers?
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the program is brand new so i don't think anyone knows how competitive it is going to be. and i just commented on your mdapps 🙂
 
alberbla said:
Does anyone know much about the Columbia-Bassett program. I am applying and am curious how competitive it is. Rural medicine is definitely where my experience lies, and I would love to get into this program.

<--- Also, take a look at my mdapp profile and let me know what you think. Probably too many top tiers?
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i was thinking about applying to it too. i just googled it and Cooperstown definitely looks rural, tiny, and in the middle of nowhere. Which is pretty appealing.


Edited to add: Maybe this has already been answered somewhere, but I can't seem to find it: How many people actually get into the Bassett program? it looks like you do the first 1.5 years with the Columbia class in NYC and then 'split off.' it can't be that many people . . .
 
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hey how would we know if they've received our picture?
 
They are supposed to send out application complete emails, but they haven't been doing it yet. I called them a week or two ago to ask if my application is complete and I was told that they haven't begun processing any applications yet.
 
They are sooo late lol, oh well I guess they get to do w/e they want.
 
MaryLennox said:
i was thinking about applying to it too. i just googled it and Cooperstown definitely looks rural, tiny, and in the middle of nowhere. Which is pretty appealing.


Edited to add: Maybe this has already been answered somewhere, but I can't seem to find it: How many people actually get into the Bassett program? it looks like you do the first 1.5 years with the Columbia class in NYC and then 'split off.' it can't be that many people . . .
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Cooperstown is indeed quite small, rural and in the middle of nowhere (one traffic light in town and I think the town population just fell under 2,000), but was a great place to grow up 🙂 Bassett Healthcare is awesome...it would be amazing (for so many reasons) if I got into this program :xf:
 
swimchick said:
Cooperstown is indeed quite small, rural and in the middle of nowhere (one traffic light in town and I think the town population just fell under 2,000), but was a great place to grow up 🙂 Bassett Healthcare is awesome...it would be amazing (for so many reasons) if I got into this program :xf:
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you grew up there???? ok seriously then they HAVE to take you . . . what are the odds, right?

anyway- the way it works is, if you apply to Bassett program and don't get in, they consider you for regular admission at Columbia NYC right?? if thats the case i think I will apply Bassett.
 
Got a stupid question here. The science GPA refers to BCPM GPA right? I'm not sure because I think amcas counts my gpa in community college course towards it too (physics I).
 
MaryLennox said:
you grew up there???? ok seriously then they HAVE to take you . . . what are the odds, right?

anyway- the way it works is, if you apply to Bassett program and don't get in, they consider you for regular admission at Columbia NYC right?? if thats the case i think I will apply Bassett.
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Yeah, I applied to both. I mean why not? They say that they'll consider you for regular MD automatically if you don't clear the Basset application. I think the Basset program will be pretty competitive though, they only have like 30 or so spots? I'm not sure where I got that number exactly, but I feel like I read it somewhere...I could be totally wrong.
 
Food said:
Yeah, I applied to both. I mean why not? They say that they'll consider you for regular MD automatically if you don't clear the Basset application. I think the Basset program will be pretty competitive though, they only have like 30 or so spots? I'm not sure where I got that number exactly, but I feel like I read it somewhere...I could be totally wrong.
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somebody did bring up a good point about a possible drawback of applying to both tho..since it's the first year, they don't know how long it will take for bassett to process your app, so it may take them a while to get it to nyc for them to review you for regular MD ie. delay your app for the MD program...but who knows..maybe early app isn't as important when you only have rolling interviews but non-rolling acceptance
 
Dam, I made a very slight grammatical error on the satisfaction essay. It's very easy to pass by when reading quickly, which is why I missed it. Hope that's not a killer....
 
Food said:
Yeah, I applied to both. I mean why not? They say that they'll consider you for regular MD automatically if you don't clear the Basset application. I think the Basset program will be pretty competitive though, they only have like 30 or so spots? I'm not sure where I got that number exactly, but I feel like I read it somewhere...I could be totally wrong.
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I actually don't think it will be that competitive; if there was a huge amount of people interested in rural medicine then there wouldn't be so many rural, underserved communities. If you don't have a convincing reason for applying I doubt it would help your chances. In fact I think it would hurt it, ADCOMs don;t want their times wasted and even if they dont officially affect your admission to the regular MD program the watercooler is a powerful place.
 
sewcurious said:
I actually don't think it will be that competitive; if there was a huge amount of people interested in rural medicine then there wouldn't be so many rural, underserved communities. If you don't have a convincing reason for applying I doubt it would help your chances. In fact I think it would hurt it, ADCOMs don;t want their times wasted and even if they dont officially affect your admission to the regular MD program the watercooler is a powerful place.
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What do you think qualifies as "a convincing reason" to apply to Basset, or any rural medicine program (assuming you never lived in a rural community or had any contact with a rural community at all - which has to be most applicants).
 
Food said:
What do you think qualifies as "a convincing reason" to apply to Basset, or any rural medicine program (assuming you never lived in a rural community or had any contact with a rural community at all - which has to be most applicants).
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That's exactly my point if you have never lived with or purposely interacted with any rural community then I don't think you have one. Imagine trying to explain that you have a huge passion for something that there is no evidence of in you app, I;m not sure anyone can BS that well. My question is if you have never had any interactions with these types of communities why would you want to join the Columbia Bassett program?
 
sewcurious said:
That's exactly my point if you have never lived with or purposely interacted with any rural community then I don't think you have one. Imagine trying to explain that you have a huge passion for something that there is no evidence of in you app, I;m not sure anyone can BS that well. My question is if you have never had any interactions with these types of communities why would you want to join the Columbia Bassett program?
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Fair enough - I was able to argue that I did have interaction with these types of communities, just not in this country.
 
Then it sounds like you have a good reason.
 
Do you guys know if we will get a "Complete" Email when our app has been processed?
 
I think Columbia takes a little while to start looking at the apps.
 
Oi, the computer keeps yelling at me about "logging in/out." I am unable to access the PDF form for the photo. Is anyone able to get it and perhaps upload it to Rapidshare or some place? I really would like to get it settled today :-/
 
Compass said:
Oi, the computer keeps yelling at me about "logging in/out." I am unable to access the PDF form for the photo. Is anyone able to get it and perhaps upload it to Rapidshare or some place? I really would like to get it settled today :-/
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The picture form has your name and your SSN on it so they can file it, so maybe you should try to contact them about your technical difficulties?
 
ItalianGuy13 said:
The picture form has your name and your SSN on it so they can file it, so maybe you should try to contact them about your technical difficulties?
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Oh...

All I found was the address in the secondary. I guess I'll just bother the Frequently Asked Question email address 🙁
 
Compass said:
Oh...

All I found was the address in the secondary. I guess I'll just bother the Frequently Asked Question email address 🙁
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The website for columbia is funny that way.. if you're applying to another school that uses the same website to do their secondary, it gives you that thing about logging in and logging out. Try just completely closing down whatever browser you're using and opening it up again or just opening up another browser program (i.e. if you were looking at it on explorer first and it keeps giving you that problem, try opening the page on firefox). Hope that helps! :luck:
 
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