2010-2011 Boston University Application Thread

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hey just curious...did you guys write all the essays?
 
gujuDoc said:
I wrote an essay for unique educational experiences to talk about my experience learning classical dance but did not write anything for the optional essay since what I would've written in there was written about in my reapplicant section.

Otherwise yes I did write most of the other essays.
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LOL. I wrote the essay for reapplicant as well... just to find out a few days later that I'm not actually a reapplicant... I bet they're still staring at my app wondering why I filled it out. Maybe that's why I haven't been rejected yet (knock on wood) because they don't know what do with mine.
 
BullDog4Eva said:
LOL. I wrote the essay for reapplicant as well... just to find out a few days later that I'm not actually a reapplicant... I bet they're still staring at my app wondering why I filled it out. Maybe that's why I haven't been rejected yet (knock on wood) because they don't know what do with mine.
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I'm curious how you didn't know whether or not you were a reapplicant. :laugh:
 
BullDog4Eva said:
LOL. I wrote the essay for reapplicant as well... just to find out a few days later that I'm not actually a reapplicant... I bet they're still staring at my app wondering why I filled it out. Maybe that's why I haven't been rejected yet (knock on wood) because they don't know what do with mine.
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LOL seriously?? Haha maybe they'll invite you to interview to ask what you were thinking when you filled it out.
 
AceXIII said:
I'm curious how you didn't know whether or not you were a reapplicant. :laugh:
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That's not entirely my fault. My situation was that I applied last year and withdrew before it was verified. I called AMCAS and asked whether I need to check off reapplicant. They said "YES" over the phone. I asked them again in several different ways and they kept saying "YES".

Someone recently e-mailed them and asked for an official statement. The official statement contradicted what the person over the phone told me. Incompetent staff, apparently.

With BU, it's interesting because they sent me an e-mail saying something like "we have on record that you tried applying... we still have your secondary and you can transfer the material if you wish." They caught me red-handed... what am I to do? LOL
 
gujuDoc said:
LOL that's like me with one of the Florida schools. I applied but never turned in the secondary for one particular school last time so I'm a reapplicant but not necessarily a reapplicant in that I never finished my app there before.
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Well... with me, my primary wasn't even verified. So they have nothing on file for me.

On a completely different note... can someone tell me whether the reject e-mails are sent at random time or are they sent each Morning/evening? I asked that a few posts back but I think people must have missed that.
 
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Ok (I've been glued to this thread to try to get more information on this situation), so I've pretty much been flagged on every "Required Areas of Study" Prerequisite. This is because I'm using AP credits for Gen. Chem and Biology (although I have taken an advanced Chemistry class and advanced Biology courses) as well for one semester of English. What the deal is with my Org. Chem. and Physics courses is that I took them all at my university (an accredited institution), but I took lecture and lab courses in separate semesters.

My school makes me takes the labs for all prereqs, so I do have those for Gen. Chem and Bio., but the reason I did not take the lectures was because my majors are not science-related and I was trying to find a way to fit them in while also studying abroad. I've completed (or tried to) the Prerequisite Grid, but it seems like there's such a big emphasis on taking every lecture and lab. I'm hoping that I can talk about studying abroad and my other experiences in greater detail in the extra essay, but can you guys give me some thoughts on whether it would be worth applying here (without getting the auto-thumbs down due to my debacle of a course situation)? 😕


(And my convoluted course setup is ok to some schools with the positive responses I've been hearing...it's the Grid that's psyching me out!:scared:)
 
nice1sir said:
Ok (I've been glued to this thread to try to get more information on this situation), so I've pretty much been flagged on every "Required Areas of Study" Prerequisite. This is because I'm using AP credits for Gen. Chem and Biology (although I have taken an advanced Chemistry class and advanced Biology courses) as well for one semester of English. What the deal is with my Org. Chem. and Physics courses is that I took them all at my university (an accredited institution), but I took lecture and lab courses in separate semesters.
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I don't think that it matters that you took them in different semesters as long as you took the course with a lab. For example, for orgo, I did not take my lab and lecture concurrently but I put down that I took 2 lecture portions, and 2 separate lab portions for a total of 4 courses taken at an accredited institution (my undergrad).

Conversely, my bio lecture and lab were part of the same course, so I only put down 2 lecture portions with 0 lab portions for a total of 2 courses.

Again, as long as you actually finished the prerequisites, which is what I took out of your comment, then there should be no issue in my mind.
 
I have been complete at BUSM since 7/2 and today received the following email, anyone else?


It has been 30 days since we sent you a notice indicating that your application was complete and had been referred to our Committee on Admissions for review. While our Committee is accustomed to reviewing a very large volume of applications, this year we have seen an unprecedented number of applications that have been completed early in the cycle. It appears that we will be able to interview only about 10% of our applicants this year, so these reviews are quite challenging. As a result, we are running several weeks behind.

I regret the fact that we have not been able to take action on your application as yet, but I want to assure you that we are moving as quickly as we can and that there will be no penalty for the delay in our processing. Applicants who are selected for interview are invited in chronological order by date of application completion, not by date of review. If our Committee on Admissions concludes that we can invite you for an interview and campus visit, we will get it done!

Please accept our apology for any inconvenience caused by our extended review of your file. We expect to complete our evaluation quite soon, and wish you success with all your applications.

Sincerely,

Robert A. Witzburg, M.D.
 
DrNerd said:
I have been complete at BUSM since 7/2 and today received the following email, anyone else?


It has been 30 days since we sent you a notice indicating that your application was complete and had been referred to our Committee on Admissions for review. While our Committee is accustomed to reviewing a very large volume of applications, this year we have seen an unprecedented number of applications that have been completed early in the cycle. It appears that we will be able to interview only about 10% of our applicants this year, so these reviews are quite challenging. As a result, we are running several weeks behind.

I regret the fact that we have not been able to take action on your application as yet, but I want to assure you that we are moving as quickly as we can and that there will be no penalty for the delay in our processing. Applicants who are selected for interview are invited in chronological order by date of application completion, not by date of review. If our Committee on Admissions concludes that we can invite you for an interview and campus visit, we will get it done!

Please accept our apology for any inconvenience caused by our extended review of your file. We expect to complete our evaluation quite soon, and wish you success with all your applications.

Sincerely,

Robert A. Witzburg, M.D.
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That's interesting that they reviewed and rejected people who were completed after you. I would imagine this is a good sign, if anything.

What's also interesting is how they do their invites. Other schools will rank the candidacy of their applicants and invite them in order of how qualified they are.
 
rejected this morning

complete 7/16

too expensive, but still a little sad.
 
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ap594 said:
rejected this morning

34R/4.0 complete 7/16

too expensive, but still a little sad.
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Really sorry to hear that. Those are amazing stats. I'm sure you'll get more acceptances than you'll know what to do with. Can I ask your state of residency?

It's striking how they send rejects almost exactly about 2-3 weeks after completion (i.e. yesterday, they sent out for people completed on 7/15). If on Monday, they send out rejects for people completed on 07/17, this will further substantiate my theory.

On my end, I was complete 07/15 and I've been FREAKING OUT every time I see a new e-mail in my inbox.
 
DrNerd said:
I have been complete at BUSM since 7/2 and today received the following email, anyone else?


It has been 30 days since we sent you a notice indicating that your application was complete and had been referred to our Committee on Admissions for review. While our Committee is accustomed to reviewing a very large volume of applications, this year we have seen an unprecedented number of applications that have been completed early in the cycle. It appears that we will be able to interview only about 10% of our applicants this year, so these reviews are quite challenging. As a result, we are running several weeks behind.

I regret the fact that we have not been able to take action on your application as yet, but I want to assure you that we are moving as quickly as we can and that there will be no penalty for the delay in our processing. Applicants who are selected for interview are invited in chronological order by date of application completion, not by date of review. If our Committee on Admissions concludes that we can invite you for an interview and campus visit, we will get it done!

Please accept our apology for any inconvenience caused by our extended review of your file. We expect to complete our evaluation quite soon, and wish you success with all your applications.

Sincerely,

Robert A. Witzburg, M.D.
Click to expand...

I was complete the same day as you (7/2). Got the email this morning.
 
BullDog4Eva said:
Really sorry to hear that. Those are amazing stats. I'm sure you'll get more acceptances than you'll know what to do with. Can I ask your state of residency?

It's striking how they send rejects almost exactly about 2-3 weeks after completion (i.e. yesterday, they sent out for people completed on 7/15). If on Monday, they send out rejects for people completed on 07/17, this will further substantiate my theory.

On my end, I was complete 07/15 and I've been FREAKING OUT every time I see a new e-mail in my inbox.
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I'm from Michigan. And thanks for the words of encouragement :xf:
 
DrNerd said:
I have been complete at BUSM since 7/2 and today received the following email, anyone else?


It has been 30 days since we sent you a notice indicating that your application was complete and had been referred to our Committee on Admissions for review. While our Committee is accustomed to reviewing a very large volume of applications, this year we have seen an unprecedented number of applications that have been completed early in the cycle. It appears that we will be able to interview only about 10% of our applicants this year, so these reviews are quite challenging. As a result, we are running several weeks behind.

I regret the fact that we have not been able to take action on your application as yet, but I want to assure you that we are moving as quickly as we can and that there will be no penalty for the delay in our processing. Applicants who are selected for interview are invited in chronological order by date of application completion, not by date of review. If our Committee on Admissions concludes that we can invite you for an interview and campus visit, we will get it done!

Please accept our apology for any inconvenience caused by our extended review of your file. We expect to complete our evaluation quite soon, and wish you success with all your applications.

Sincerely,

Robert A. Witzburg, M.D.
Click to expand...

same e-mail today, sent to "Mr. MyLastName", OoOOh.. send shivers hearing me called like that :laugh:
 
Sweet fancy, it's raining rejections.
Oh well, I guess I'll wait on the email of doom.
Anyone know if they are even giving invites now while rejecting highly qualified people?
 
aw42 said:
Sweet fancy, it's raining rejections.
Oh well, I guess I'll wait on the email of doom.
Anyone know if they are even giving invites now while rejecting highly qualified people?
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When were you complete? According to last year's thread... earliest interviews come out towards the end of August.

I also saw some cases where people were "safe" within 2-3 weeks post-completion but eventually got the axe anyways. Moral of the story is... you just never know. My resolve is to stop checking this thread so often, because it's unnecessarily stressing me out. Whatever come will come.
 
aw42 said:
Sweet fancy, it's raining rejections.
Oh well, I guess I'll wait on the email of doom.
Anyone know if they are even giving invites now while rejecting highly qualified people?
Click to expand...

Looking at last year's thread, they don't start giving interview invites until the end of August or so.
 
rejected on 8/5 🙁

was complete on 7/16. 35P, 3.73 sgpa, 3.70cgpa. was hoping because I'm from a neighboring state, they'd give me an interview! 🙁 oh well
 
2014'ers just had our white coat ceremony today. Dean Witzburg said that there were 11,300+ applicants last year, our class size is 174(?), which includes MD/PhD, 7-year BU undergrad, GMS, and other alternative track students.

If you're lucky enough to get an interview here, go thru with it. You really can't get a good feel for the school until you come here in person and meet Dean Witzburg and hear what BU is all about.

Good luck!
 
also, that "30 days since" email is definitely a good thing. You guys can probably tell BU axes bushels of students at a time, so no news is good news, and that update email just means you've made it past this round of cuts. Doesn't mean you won't be axed later though. Last year BU did a good job of going through applicants according to completion date; even interview invites seemed to be sent in order of completion date. More reason to apply early. If I remember right, late July completions were getting interview invites several weeks ahead of early August completions, just b/c so many people applied within that 1-week time frame.
 
hey guys I'm about to work on BU secondary which I haven't touched for a few weeks now. I'm pretty sure it's come up but is it worth answering that "optional" essay? I think I can talk a little bit more about myself/my interests? Do you think instead I should talk about why I want to go to BU?


Also does anyone know if there is a section for listing any BU med alumni you're related to?

Thanks.
 
REJECTED! just now! 🙁🙁🙁🙁🙁🙁

I mean semi-expected- but I was hoping with the money i paid and my efforts on my optional essays that i had some shot! urgh!!!!!!!!

o well gotta keep trucking as they say!
 
blackcoffee said:
Rejected. OOS. 35S/3.8
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I'm really sorry to hear that. Can you guys put when u were complete? this way we know how far along they are with their reign of rejecting people. I completed a bit later so I'll probably be next :scared:
 
moogle44 said:
i'm really sorry to hear that. Can you guys put when u were complete? This way we know how far along they are with their reign of rejecting people. I completed a bit later so i'll probably be next :scared:
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7/20
 
brianmed said:
REJECTED! just now! 🙁🙁🙁🙁🙁🙁

I mean semi-expected- but I was hoping with the money i paid and my efforts on my optional essays that i had some shot! urgh!!!!!!!!

o well gotta keep trucking as they say!
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LOL it looks like I implied here that i paid them money to get in lol. I was distraught and annoyed that i paid the supplemental fee! lol just wasnt that clear
 
it looks like they are rejecting a lot of high stat people....... now i dont even know if i should apply here... my stats are similar to the bunch who were rejected.. =(
 
so why are we all getting rejected? complete 7/20. does not help for my neuroticism.
 
blackcoffee said:
so why are we all getting rejected? complete 7/20. does not help for my neuroticism.
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I'm actually a re-applicant and I remember talking to my friend who lives in Boston about how my application was on hold last year and I didn't know what they were looking for. His response: nobody knows what they're looking for.

I guess the moral of it all is that it's pretty random, only their adcom knows exactly what they look for in an applicant. Either way, I'm sure all you guys with such great stats will find somewhere else that's happy to have you. It's way too early to lose faith.
 
DoctaFuture said:
hey guys I'm about to work on BU secondary which I haven't touched for a few weeks now. I'm pretty sure it's come up but is it worth answering that "optional" essay? I think I can talk a little bit more about myself/my interests? Do you think instead I should talk about why I want to go to BU?


Also does anyone know if there is a section for listing any BU med alumni you're related to?

Thanks.
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IMHO, anything that shows that you have a strong connection to the school or to the region is worth talking about. They want to know that you might come if accepted.
 
Just got that dreaded rejection email. 3.35/31 IS, complete 7/21.
 
ditto, rejected today, submitted 7/21 3.75 gpa 28S
 
Well I was complete on 7/22, so I guess I should expect my rejection sometime tomorrow or Friday lol...it really does seem like they throw these applications up in the air and whichever ones land face up get looked at...
 
Jeez! Should I even bother turning in the secondary? I mean I'm not really stoked about throwing away 100 bucks... And I'm from the University of Washington... NO Boston ties whatsoever.
 
I want to say that they haven't rejected anyone from MA yet... but most people actually didn't revealed their state residency. How wrong am I with this theory?
 
Anybody else having trouble logging in? When I go to the login page, it says:

An error has occurred. If this error continues to occur please contact us, and we apologize for any inconvenience.

PS: all this talk of massive cuts and axes is scaring me!! Especially since I'm a Californian resident!! :scared: It's horrible because I don't have great chances at my IS schools (3.99cGPA, but 28M 🙁 ), and it seems like a lot of other states don't like Californians..

And I definitely feel like admissions is pretty random with all schools (ESPECIALLY BUSM!!).
 
bpost137 said:
Anybody else having trouble logging in? When I go to the login page, it says:

An error has occurred. If this error continues to occur please contact us, and we apologize for any inconvenience.

PS: all this talk of massive cuts and axes is scaring me!! Especially since I'm a Californian resident!! :scared: It's horrible because I don't have great chances at my IS schools (3.99cGPA, but 28M 🙁 ), and it seems like a lot of other states don't like Californians..

And I definitely feel like admissions is pretty random with all schools (ESPECIALLY BUSM!!).
Click to expand...

Yup I have the same error message.. I'm also scared after reading these rejections..
 
marshmallow said:
Yup I have the same error message.. I'm also scared after reading these rejections..
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I also have the same error message. I don't think its any indication of being rejected because I was just confirmed complete today. Unless they really really wanted to get rid of me asap...
 
Hi, for Boston secondaries, I answered NO for the question "Are you expecting to go on to medical school directly after completing your undergraduate work?"

I'm Canadian and I applied to Ontario schools during my fourth year and didn't get any offers. I just graduated this summer and now I'm applying to the US for med school. Is it bad to mention that I had intended to go to med school following undergrad but just didn't get an offer in Ontario? Would it make my application seem like I'm a re-applicant?

Thanks for your help!
 
Rejected...NYS resident, 3.5/32. Classy Rejection letter though, I must say.
 
jcheun62 said:
Hi, for Boston secondaries, I answered NO for the question "Are you expecting to go on to medical school directly after completing your undergraduate work?"

I'm Canadian and I applied to Ontario schools during my fourth year and didn't get any offers. I just graduated this summer and now I'm applying to the US for med school. Is it bad to mention that I had intended to go to med school following undergrad but just didn't get an offer in Ontario? Would it make my application seem like I'm a re-applicant?

Thanks for your help!
Click to expand...

Hi there,

I'd advise you to word it in another way.

However, regarding reapplication, even though I never applied to US schools before (I had applied only in Canada), I always answered "yes" to "have you applied to medical school before" questions. I don't want to seem like I'm lying, even though I haven't applied to US schools... it may cause trouble down the road.
 
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