2009-2010 University of Colorado Application Thread

[mvenus929]

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is this one you have to mail out? (I haven't submitted yet but i was wondering if i was going to have to make a trip to the post office...)

You don't have to mail the secondary, but you do have to mail them a check. They haven't switched over to a credit card system yet.

 

[Sleight]

You don't have to mail the secondary, but you do have to mail them a check. They haven't switched over to a credit card system yet.

man i hate mailing stuff...i am always paranoid it is not going to make it and so i pay extra for tracking but its just annoying...sorry ranting...

just submitted...mailing check tomorrow.

 

[MedYEP]

Yeah I was really quite stupid for submitting a primary here. There is no way I could spend 80K a year on OOS tuition, and I don't think I could commit to 4 years of active service.

When I interviewed at CU last year, I was told that the tuition is not $80K a year but it was somewhere around $45k. It used to be $80k/year but they changed it. Not sure if it changed again...you might want to check with the school.

 

[mvenus929]

When I interviewed at CU last year, I was told that the tuition is not $80K a year but it was somewhere around $45k. It used to be $80k/year but they changed it. Not sure if it changed again...you might want to check with the school.

The website used to say about $45k. It's back to saying over $80k, so it looks like they changed it again.

 

[MedYEP]

The website used to say about $45k. It's back to saying over $80k, so it looks like they changed it again.

http://www.cudenver.edu/Admissions/...ees/Pages/SchoolofMedicineTuitionandFees.aspx

I think the tuition is actually 51k from where it says Medical MD - Accountable Student. I remember them talking about "accountable students."

Someone should still call and find out. I just don't want people not to apply there because of the tuition and then find out that the tuition is actually not what it says on their site. 🙂

 

[Caprica6]

I am having difficulty writing this essay, I could always choose to write about option b, but I really would rather discuss a more personal experience.

Due to some early education struggles I chose a non-traditional educational path. I did well in my new environment and I believe it shaped some of my personal characteristics, goals, and views on learning. I feel that if I write about this only the first paragraph or so will be about my struggles, and the rest about what I did about it and how it turned out well. I'm not really sure that is what they are looking for. Thoughts?

 

[mvenus929]

I am having difficulty writing this essay, I could always choose to write about option b, but I really would rather discuss a more personal experience.

Due to some early education struggles I chose a non-traditional educational path. I did well in my new environment and I believe it shaped some of my personal characteristics, goals, and views on learning. I feel that if I write about this only the first paragraph or so will be about my struggles, and the rest about what I did about it and how it turned out well. I'm not really sure that is what they are looking for. Thoughts?

I think they want how you dealt with the struggles. Personally, I wrote about how I helped raise my little sisters after my step-dad left my mom. I didn't go into detail about individual struggles, just about how I had to take on a lot of responsibility at a rather young age.

 

[LanMan]

When I interviewed at CU last year, I was told that the tuition is not $80K a year but it was somewhere around $45k. It used to be $80k/year but they changed it. Not sure if it changed again...you might want to check with the school.

To clear-up the tuition question, the cost of attendance (not the tuition) for non-resident students close to 80K. The actual tuition was closer to 50K I believe. Cost of attendance is broken up into tuition, living expenses, books, health insurance, etc. Now for the truly scary part: http://www.cudenver.edu/Admissions/...e/Pages/ResidentStudentsSchoolofMedicine.aspx.

 

[mvenus929]

The status page is supposed to be up today or tomorrow (if they are stressing the AFTER). Does anyone actually think it'll be put up on Labor Day weekend?

 

[TheDuder]

The status page is supposed to be up today or tomorrow (if they are stressing the AFTER). Does anyone actually think it'll be put up on Labor Day weekend?

I wouldn't bet on it, but who knows?

 

[987]

Don't expect anything to be up until at least tuesday...we have tomorrow off....and if you have questions PM me!

 

[AspenGrove]

The actually got the status check up and going, faster than I thought.

 

[newapple]

Does anyone know how to submit the fee or waiver? I accidentally overlooked it on the application page!

 

[housefish26]

Does anyone know how to submit the fee or waiver? I accidentally overlooked it on the application page!

You have to mail a check to them. Not sure about the fee waiver. You can find the address on their webpage.

 

[housefish26]

status page doesnt really tell me much, basically just a complete status. anyone else different? (mine just says dates when payments were received etc)

Same for me. I have:
7/28: Received AMCAS
8/18: Received Application
9/8: Received Payment

Anyone else?

 

[AspenGrove]

I like how it reminds you again that we aren't going to be hearing anything until March 31st 2010. However, it is somewhat reassuring that they received everything.

07/13/2009 We have received your AMCAS application
09/02/2009 We have received your CU Online Secondary Application
09/08/2009 We have received your secondary application payment and have begun processing your completed application. The final status for most applicants will not be decided until March 31, 2010.

 

[tigah]

Same for me. I have:
7/28: Received AMCAS
8/18: Received Application
9/8: Received Payment

Anyone else?

Yeah, mine has those three status entries too:

7/11 - Received AMCAS
8/23 - Received Secondary Application
9/8 - Received Payment

Waiting for that interview invitation...

 

[zenlike]

Hey, I'm a current MS1 and I'll be checking here occasionally if you guys have any questions.

 

[MDiggity]

Hey, I'm a current MS1 and I'll be checking here occasionally if you guys have any questions.

Great! It'll be nice having you as a resource. I have a question. Earlier this year I spoke with a guy who recently graduated from Colorado. He was OOS, but said that he only had to pay OOS tuition the first year, and was able to pay in-state tuition for the remaining three. Do you know if this is still how it works? Because the price tag on OOS tuition kinda scares me...

 

[zenlike]

Great! It'll be nice having you as a resource. I have a question. Earlier this year I spoke with a guy who recently graduated from Colorado. He was OOS, but said that he only had to pay OOS tuition the first year, and was able to pay in-state tuition for the remaining three. Do you know if this is still how it works? Because the price tag on OOS tuition kinda scares me...

The way it used to work is that you'd pay like $72k OOS for your first year. You would qualify for residency in one year and then you'd pay $26k for each of the remaining three years.

Now, if you're OOS, you have to pay ~$45k each year for all four years.

-----------------------------------------

On a slightly unrelated note, the open house for pre-meds is this Saturday (Sept. 12) at 9am.

 

[MDiggity]

Oh ok. Thanks for the info.

 

[TheDuder]

Good luck to all the UCD SOM hopefuls out there. I'm really, really hoping that I'll be a part of the class of 2014 with some of you.
I'm expecting you guys to post your interview invites here as they start arriving. 👍 Maybe next week?

 

[zenlike]

question for Zenlike...

It seems like CU strongly prefers older, non-traditional applicants... this is def. one of my top choices as a CO resident but just wondering if I should expect the same treatment as at other schools, just cuz I'm a traditional applicant... any thoughts?

Just to rephrase your question: you want to know if you're going to have a harder time getting into Colorado because you are a traditional student?

If that's your question, I don't know the answer to be honest. I'm pretty sure they don't subtract points for being younger than 25. However, given the fact that so many of us are traditionally non-trads, there must be something to it. Is it that more non-trads apply here than other schools? Or is it that there is some specific trait that non-trads typically have that the adcom keys into? I don't know. But, to be truthful, as a non-trad myself, I think being a non-trad was a little bit of an advantage at every school I applied to.

 

[Rach83]

zenlike, another q for you. 😛

The msar shows that colorado accepts applicants from canada but I remember seeing that you guys don't have a single non-US citizen in your class. Is this true? My sister has lived in Denver for years and I know the city pretty well and would love to attend but if there is virtually no shot for me as a Canadian, perhaps I should save my application money.... Thoughts?

thanks!

 

[zenlike]

zenlike, another q for you. 😛

The msar shows that colorado accepts applicants from canada but I remember seeing that you guys don't have a single non-US citizen in your class. Is this true? My sister has lived in Denver for years and I know the city pretty well and would love to attend but if there is virtually no shot for me as a Canadian, perhaps I should save my application money.... Thoughts?

thanks!

The MSAR shows the stats for last years class (the people who are 2nd years now). I don't know if they have any foreign citizens or not. We have one Canadian in our class that I know of, but she has a pretty interesting resume and is also the oldest student in our class. I think we may also have one resident alien, as well.

I was never in your shoes, so I don't know if it would be a waste of money for you or not.

 

[Rach83]

The MSAR shows the stats for last years class (the people who are 2nd years now). I don't know if they have any foreign citizens or not. We have one Canadian in our class that I know of, but she has a pretty interesting resume and is also the oldest student in our class. I think we may also have one resident alien, as well.

I was never in your shoes, so I don't know if it would be a waste of money for you or not.

Thanks. It's good to know that they have at least accepted one Canadian recently. At least it's not like they'll rip up my application before reading it. 🙂

 

[rockymhs]

In state, and just checked my status page today.

And guess what!

Got an interview!

Nice~~

I mean I sent my secondary like a week ago.

 

[rockymhs]

Same here! It's a good day...

Do you know if we have to call and set it up, or do they contact us by mail or phone or something?

I don't know, I wanted to call them up, so visited the status site again, and my invitation for interview status is gone for some reason.

Oh no~~~~.....

 

[rockymhs]

wow me too... maybe i shouldn't have sent them that e-mail. or maybe they just wanted to contact us before we saw we had an interview? hopefully it wasn't a mistake lol

I sent an email to the office, and got a reply.

They said the new server is having a bug, but I should be getting a formal invitation via email.

So I think you are ok as well!

Good Luck!

 

[AspenGrove]

Now I'm kicking myself for not checking my status page, I've only been checking my email. Make sure you guys post when you get the email invitation.

 

[RRTinCO]

Still no "official" interview invites anyone??

 

[RRTinCO]

Well, congrats!! I wish I would have looked at the status page sometime when the interviews were up, I didn't catch this thread until they had already been removed 👎.

 

[snitchseeker88]

Does the secondary fee have to be mailed to them, or can it be paid online? Thanks.

 

[housefish26]

Does the secondary fee have to be mailed to them, or can it be paid online? Thanks.

You have to pay it online. Don't listen to anyone else who tells you otherwise.

 

[snitchseeker88]

You have to pay it online. Don't listen to anyone else who tells you otherwise.

lol. Thanks. But I figured it out...mailing first thing tomorrow morning. I submitted my secondary a few days ago, but forgot that the fee has to be mailed in, and just realized it when I checked the status page and saw that my fee hasn't been received. First time I did that, luckily I realized it now or I would have wondered why my secondary was never complete. *facepalm*

 

[Substance P]

lol. Thanks. But I figured it out...mailing first thing tomorrow morning. I submitted my secondary a few days ago, but forgot that the fee has to be mailed in, and just realized it when I checked the status page and saw that my fee hasn't been received. First time I did that, luckily I realized it now or I would have wondered why my secondary was never complete. *facepalm*

It takes a bit for them to process the payment as well. I mailed mine last Thurs from Denver and they still haven't processed it... I should have just dropped it by, but was worried that if I did my payment would run a larger risk of getting lost.

 

[AspenGrove]

I dropped my check off in person on the Friday before the status page was up, and on Tuesday when they got the page up it showed that my fee had been processed. If you live nearby I would drop it off in person.

 

[Miked489]

CU claims most applicants will not know their final status until the end of March. Is this actually true, when do applicants start getting offered admission and at what rate, etc?

 

[Ziff700]

Last year, around the middle of each month CU gave out about 30 acceptances for about 5 months. Considering they interview 20 applicants about 5 times a month, roughly a third of all interviewees will get offered admittance fairly quickly. Come the end of March, all non-interviewees get rejected and a good chunk of interviewees. Some are accepted. The rest are waitlisted in one of three tiers. 2 years ago, they accepted about half of their interviewees, which is about 250 students.
So "most applicants" are the non-interviewees (mainly out of state)
I also find it funny how only about half of the out of state applicants even complete the secondary. At 31 dollars an app, that is nearly $50,000 that goes to AMCAS/Colorado (if they get any) and they aren't even considered for admission.

 

[Substance P]

CU claims most applicants will not know their final status until the end of March. Is this actually true, when do applicants start getting offered admission and at what rate, etc?

This is very true, but here is their official statement on their website:

The Associate Dean and the Assistant Dean for Admissions each chair one of the two committees that meet concurrently following the interview process. Both interviewers who saw the applicant are present in the same room, and the first presenter provides the details of the candidate (with accompanying projection of the file), and the second interviewer adds any additional details pertinent to the case. Should the scores of the two interviewers be widely divergent, the medical school calls upon a third interviewer, arranged at a different time. All members have voting sheets, and a score based on the hearing of the case, plus subsequent discussion contributes to each individual’s final committee score. Compilation of data from all voting members occurs at the end of the meeting. Following that meeting, a final rank ordering of applicants considered for that day occurs. After October 15th, acceptances are offered to the top ranked candidates on a monthly basis until the class is filled.

This page is a great resource for CU's application process:


http://www.uchsc.edu/som/admissions/

 

[Substance P]

Last year, around the middle of each month CU gave out about 30 acceptances for about 5 months. Considering they interview 20 applicants about 5 times a month, roughly a third of all interviewees will get offered admittance fairly quickly. Come the end of March, all non-interviewees get rejected and a good chunk of interviewees. Some are accepted. The rest are waitlisted in one of three tiers. 2 years ago, they accepted about half of their interviewees, which is about 250 students.
So "most applicants" are the non-interviewees (mainly out of state)
I also find it funny how only about half of the out of state applicants even complete the secondary. At 31 dollars an app, that is nearly $50,000 that goes to AMCAS/Colorado (if they get any) and they aren't even considered for admission.

I noticed that as well. Strange. I did that for one school this year, but that wasn't because I didn't want to apply, rather I couldn't afford the secondary...

 

[zenlike]

Last year, I interviewed on the first day (Sept. 15) and I received my acceptance on Christmas Eve (along with a several other people). Some of the people in my interview group were accepted within a week of interviewing.

 

[Substance P]

Last year, I interviewed on the first day (Sept. 15) and I received my acceptance on Christmas Eve (along with a several other people). Some of the people in my interview group were accepted within a week of interviewing.

Talk about an amazing Christmas gift. I would love to have an acceptance from CU sitting under my tree this year.

 

[Miked489]

Well I submitted my secondary yesterday and mailed the check off this morning. I am still waiting to find out about my MCATs that I took on Aug 21. I am hoping to be pleasantly surprised.

I know, or have heard, that CU is big on non-trads, but does anyone know how strongly they look at applicants with a military background? I am a Colorado resident and I graduated from West Point 6 years ago. I spent 5 years in the Army in a non-medical field. My GPA was ok, (3.2 overall, 3.6 science) and I have spent the last year finishing up a couple prereq's at a community college. I have also been shadowing a surgical oncologist in my free time gaining some necessary experience. I am hoping that the strengths of my background (leadership experience, service, etc) compensate for my inexperience in medicine and what is a lower GPA.

 

[Jessie Rae]

Well I submitted my secondary yesterday and mailed the check off this morning. I am still waiting to find out about my MCATs that I took on Aug 21. I am hoping to be pleasantly surprised.

I know, or have heard, that CU is big on non-trads, but does anyone know how strongly they look at applicants with a military background? I am a Colorado resident and I graduated from West Point 6 years ago. I spent 5 years in the Army in a non-medical field. My GPA was ok, (3.2 overall, 3.6 science) and I have spent the last year finishing up a couple prereq's at a community college. I have also been shadowing a surgical oncologist in my free time gaining some necessary experience. I am hoping that the strengths of my background (leadership experience, service, etc) compensate for my inexperience in medicine and what is a lower GPA.

I too have heard that CU is very friendly to non-trads...anyone know if this is true or not? Anyone know if they also look at those of us with graduate degrees? I will be completing my PhD in a few months in Rad Onc. My graduate GPA is a 3.7, but my undergrad is not so hot (3.3) and my MCAT is low for CU (29). I have tons of experience and have gotten some great letters, its just so hard to figure out if you are a candidate or not when you don't come from a typical pre-med background!

Here's to hoping that we all get a shiny little acceptance letter under our trees!

 

[mvenus929]

CU claims most applicants will not know their final status until the end of March. Is this actually true, when do applicants start getting offered admission and at what rate, etc?

They send out enough acceptances to fill the class before March, but yeah, most people will find out at the end of March.

I know, or have heard, that CU is big on non-trads, but does anyone know how strongly they look at applicants with a military background? I am a Colorado resident and I graduated from West Point 6 years ago. I spent 5 years in the Army in a non-medical field. My GPA was ok, (3.2 overall, 3.6 science) and I have spent the last year finishing up a couple prereq's at a community college. I have also been shadowing a surgical oncologist in my free time gaining some necessary experience. I am hoping that the strengths of my background (leadership experience, service, etc) compensate for my inexperience in medicine and what is a lower GPA.

I know a guy currently at CU who served in the military for several years before he went back to school (with me) to do his pre-reqs. He was one of the few from my undergrad accepted to CU med school the year we applied.

 

[MedYEP]

They send out enough acceptances to fill the class before March, but yeah, most people will find out at the end of March.



I know a guy currently at CU who served in the military for several years before he went back to school (with me) to do his pre-reqs. He was one of the few from my undergrad accepted to CU med school the year we applied.

Yeah, the news at the end of March tends to be mostly bad news. Last year there were only a few acceptances left at the end of March, there were some good news for those who are told they are on the upper third of the WL, and then a whole lot of other WL and rejections.

I personally really did not like how CU does this. I interviewed in October and was rejected at the end of March. Waiting for so long was very frustrating. I would have much rather been rejected earlier...they clearly didn't like me since I was not on the WL at all so why drag out the inevitable?

Anyway, good luck to everyone applying to and interviewing at CU!

 

[mvenus929]

Yeah, the news at the end of March tends to be mostly bad news. Last year there were only a few acceptances left at the end of March, there were some good news for those who are told they are on the upper third of the WL, and then a whole lot of other WL and rejections.

I personally really did not like how CU does this. I interviewed in October and was rejected at the end of March. Waiting for so long was very frustrating. I would have much rather been rejected earlier...they clearly didn't like me since I was not on the WL at all so why drag out the inevitable?

Anyway, good luck to everyone applying to and interviewing at CU!

I feel your pain. Two years ago, I interviewed at the beginning of November and got a rejection on like March 14th. And, of course, they don't make note of the fact that many people get rejected post-interview... they make it sound like everyone gets on the waitlist. It was a sad day.

 

[Miked489]

Did anyone apply for the optional tracks (Rural or Global Health)? I know the site says it neither increases or decreases your chance of admission, but I just don't imagine that many people applied for that program. I couldn't find the details but I assume it is some sort of payback of X number years in a rural community if you accept the funding from the program, right?

I applied for the Global Health as I found it interesting, I have to say that the essay was quite the two part question to cover in 2500 characters.

 

[Ziff700]

Did anyone apply for the optional tracks (Rural or Global Health)? I know the site says it neither increases or decreases your chance of admission, but I just don't imagine that many people applied for that program. I couldn't find the details but I assume it is some sort of payback of X number years in a rural community if you accept the funding from the program, right?

I applied for the Global Health as I found it interesting, I have to say that the essay was quite the two part question to cover in 2500 characters.

Miked,
During my tour last year, most people in the tour had applied for Global Health and a few said that other interviewees that day had. Global Health means the school gives you a little extra rotation money to cover your travel expenses to foreign countries. You may have to do some sort of global health project and a presentation. For the first two years, it's one meeting a month you attend. You can still do foreign rotations on a regular track. Rural just means you'll get matched up with a rural doctor adviser and do a few rotations in rural Colorado.