2009-2010 Columbia University Application Thread

Discover Your Odds of Getting into Medical School
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All of you Bassett kids can stop wetting yourselves (😉 ), they have not started interviews for you. The should begin near the end of October. You are being reviewed by the same MD adcom as everyone else, but selected files are also being reviewed by the Bassett folk as well. You will be interviewing with members from both groups, and your acceptance into the program will be on mutual agreement (though it was hinted that Columbia's part is more of a sanity check. Don't quote me on this).
 
I interviewed here today! Loved the school, the people, and my interviewer (a psychiatrist) was very nice and friendly - he did ask me some specific questions about my application but the talk was very conversational.

mmmcdowe, did you drop by the interview suite today?
 
trueBelief said:
I interviewed here today! Loved the school, the people, and my interviewer (a psychiatrist) was very nice and friendly - he did ask me some specific questions about my application but the talk was very conversational.

mmmcdowe, did you drop by the interview suite today?
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Yeah, I try to make it a point to come to every day of interview. The first three letters of my user name are the same as the first three of my columbia email, to give you a hint. 😀 (Hopefully I'm not mistaken and there was only one JH interviewee today)

As an aside, I think a good 2/3 of the people that I have met in the last week at interviews have had Columbia as their 3rd. Wierd!
 
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mmmcdowe said:
Yeah, I try to make it a point to come to every day of interview. The first three letters of my user name are the same as the first three of my columbia email, to give you a hint. 😀 (Hopefully I'm not mistaken and there was only one JH interviewee today)

As an aside, I think a good 2/3 of the people that I have met in the last week at interviews have had Columbia as their 3rd. Wierd!
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haha so you know who I am now. It was really nice meeting you. Everyone I met today was so friendly, it really does seem like a great environment to be in.
 
I have a quick question for anyone out there. I submitted my secondary and all other materials by Sept. 15th. Is this too late? I know Columbia doesn't have rolling admissions but the website still said something about there being fewer seats remaining as the year progresses on. If there is no rolling admissions policy then what exactly do they mean by that?

In either case, I hope I'm not too late - but I'd like to hear what you guys think.
 
I think someone with some insight posted earlier on this. From what I remember, they said that while admissions are non-rolling, it is potentially going to be easier to get an interview earlier in the cycle when there are more spots available. Once you have an interview, timing is basically irrelevant, but you have a better chance of landing an interview by getting everything in early in the cycle. Make sense? I'm not 100% on this, but it seems logical that they would get more selective in regards to who they interview as they get farther along in the cycle.
 
anfielder said:
I think someone with some insight posted earlier on this. From what I remember, they said that while admissions are non-rolling, it is potentially going to be easier to get an interview earlier in the cycle when there are more spots available. Once you have an interview, timing is basically irrelevant, but you have a better chance of landing an interview by getting everything in early in the cycle. Make sense? I'm not 100% on this, but it seems logical that they would get more selective in regards to who they interview as they get farther along in the cycle.
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I think this is right for Columbia. Admission decisions are made in Feb but the interview invites are rolling. It doesn't hurt you if you interview in Jan Vs Oct but submitting late in the cycle reduces chances of being interviewed as spots are likely to fill up. With that said, I don't this its too late to apply here. Get the app in as soon as you can. Good Luck!
 
anfielder said:
I think someone with some insight posted earlier on this. From what I remember, they said that while admissions are non-rolling, it is potentially going to be easier to get an interview earlier in the cycle when there are more spots available. Once you have an interview, timing is basically irrelevant, but you have a better chance of landing an interview by getting everything in early in the cycle. Make sense? I'm not 100% on this, but it seems logical that they would get more selective in regards to who they interview as they get farther along in the cycle.
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I had everything submitted by Sept 15th. So in your opinion, would that be too late?
 
skeptic29 said:
I had everything submitted by Sept 15th. So in your opinion, would that be too late?
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Too late? No. Late enough that you might have decreased your chances of an interview if you aren't an absolutely top candidate? Yes. Made it impossible for someone who isn't an absolutely top candidate to get an interview? No. Just don't expect one in the next few cycles, because you are well past the halfway point of application submissions, and Columbia reads them in order.
 
Question: I think I have decent stats for Columbia (38R, 3.8 in biology), but I don't have any research experience.

Honestly, do you think it's worth a shot? I know it's super selective either way, just want to know if my app would even get looked at before I send in $85..
 
marele86 said:
Question: I think I have decent stats for Columbia (38R, 3.8 in biology), but I don't have any research experience.

Honestly, do you think it's worth a shot? I know it's super selective either way, just want to know if my app would even get looked at before I send in $85..
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If this was June I would say go for it, because Columbia is a tad less research hungry than most top research schools. You are very much late to begin applying to Columbia (It will take a long time for you to be processed), and I think that will hurt you as much as a lack of research.
 
mmmcdowe said:
If this was June I would say go for it, because Columbia is a tad less research hungry than most top research schools. You are very much late to begin applying to Columbia (It will take a long time for you to be processed), and I think that will hurt you as much as a lack of research.
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Ah, damned processing. I was hoping the non-rolling admissions would work to my advantage. Thanks for the honesty, that was pretty much what I needed to hear.
 
marele86 said:
Ah, damned processing. I was hoping the non-rolling admissions would work to my advantage. Thanks for the honesty, that was pretty much what I needed to hear.
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Non-rolling just means that acceptance/rejection/wait list decisions are sent out to everyone at the same time. Interviews would be very difficult to make non-rolling and as a result, I don't think any schools have non-rolling interview invitations.
 
Beta Cell said:
Non-rolling just means that acceptance/rejection/wait list decisions are sent out to everyone at the same time. Interviews would be very difficult to make non-rolling and as a result, I don't think any schools have non-rolling interview invitations.
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I think that U of M used to claim that they were non-rolling in all aspects. That being said, I'd always rather be the first in the pile than the last.
 
mmmcdowe said:
Too late? No. Late enough that you might have decreased your chances of an interview if you aren't an absolutely top candidate? Yes. Made it impossible for someone who isn't an absolutely top candidate to get an interview? No. Just don't expect one in the next few cycles, because you are well past the halfway point of application submissions, and Columbia reads them in order.
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I submitted my secondary on Aug. 24th; the photo probably got there by Aug 31st (but no complete email yet).

Does that put me at about halfway point of application submissions, in your opinion?
 
johncalvin said:
I submitted my secondary on Aug. 24th; the photo probably got there by Aug 31st (but no complete email yet).

Does that put me at about halfway point of application submissions, in your opinion?
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I don't have exact numbers, but I would say you are probably close to the half way point.
 
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interview invite today! complete 9/9

is there a host program or suggestions of where to stay? also, are they accommodating towards rescheduling?
 
great job! anyone receive an interview invite who was complete after 9/9?
are they going in order?
 
gflip88 said:
interview invite today! complete 9/9

is there a host program or suggestions of where to stay? also, are they accommodating towards rescheduling?
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Yes, they will reschedule. There is a host program. There aren't a lot of hotels near the campus, so you'll have to take a cab if you stay in a hotel.
 
Goodluck to everyone who is waiting for invites and just interviewed! I just received my secondary yesterday and have started to work on it. The feedback that has been posted has been VERY helpful!
 
Anyone care to speculate about how many interviews / acceptances Bassett will be giving out?
 
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Does Columbia have a student hosting program? I really need a place to stay before my interview but can't figure out if Columbia even offers student hosts. PLEASE HELP!
 
does the adcom send out a list of students? I haven't received any info from them about student hosting?
 
Hi guys!
I submitted my secondary on 9/5, but I was never told it was completed. Does Columbia send out email notifications that your file is complete?
Thanks so much! And congratulations to all of you who've already gotten interview invites! You rock 🙂
 
sunshining said:
Hi guys!
I submitted my secondary on 9/5, but I was never told it was completed. Does Columbia send out email notifications that your file is complete?
Thanks so much! And congratulations to all of you who've already gotten interview invites! You rock 🙂
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yeah they do -- it takes a while though.
 
sunshining said:
how long did it take you to hear from them about complete application status?
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I submitted at the end of july/early august.. and didn't get a complete email until Sept 25. I think some people may have gotten it a little quicker, but it's pretty slow in general.
 
LeavingThisLab said:
I submitted at the end of july/early august.. and didn't get a complete email until Sept 25. I think some people may have gotten it a little quicker, but it's pretty slow in general.
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wow... i guess i have loooooong ways to wait. thanks so much! good luck! 🙂
 
redwinger47 said:
Does Columbia have a student hosting program? I really need a place to stay before my interview but can't figure out if Columbia even offers student hosts. PLEASE HELP!
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I also haven't been able to find out anything about student housing, if anyone hears something please post!
 
The Beav said:
I also haven't been able to find out anything about student housing, if anyone hears something please post!
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I e-mailed the admissions office, and they kindly sent me a list of student hosts.
 
Interview invite today via email! I got a complete email on 9/9 for those who are wondering.
 
couple years ago 1194 interviewed, 286 accepted, 23.95%.
 
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