2010-2011 Rosalind Franklin Application Thread

[rpgdude21]

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I just got rejected! Bah! I need some advice. My stats are 3.41 cum and 3.14 bcpm. I have a GPA trend of 3.00 f, 3.11 s, 3.71 jr , 3.5 sr, 4.0 postbac (4 hrs). My most recent MCAT is a 310: 10 P 11 VR 10 BS. However, I have old scores ranging from 23-25. I feel my ECs are above average: musician, clinical and lab research, healthcare employment for 2-3 years, chemistry intern at Fortune 50 company, non-healthcare volunteering, scholarships (former HS valedictorian). Obviously I had a rough start in college, but I've worked hard since then. Can I assume I got rejected because of the 3.14 science GPA? I got Cs in calculus and genetics (4 years ago). I am a good writer and my essays are nice. I can't imagine I would have bad LORs. Blah.

Honestly, as a reapplicant I can offer my two cents. It seems to be your numbers. If you look in the MSAR, you can look at your gpa, science gpa and MCAT and what percentage of people with those scores get accepted to medical school. I was told last yr that my 3.43 science gpa was too low and a 3.4 gpa seems pretty low. I think it depends on a few factors and there are threads explaining this (search them) 1. Where did you apply? 2. Did you apply early? 3. Did you apply to your state school. Maybe you should think about grad school or taking some more courses to get your gpa/science gpa up. What I was told from the Ad Com of one medical school in regards to my application is that the reason gpa is so important is that it shows you can handle difficult and rigorous courses. You can always contact admissions and ask them problems with your app and Im sure they would be happy to tell you. Not sure if you could do this without an interview. Also, possibly DO/Caribbean? Although medical schools say they arent all about numbers, they usually are. You dont have to take my advice but thats my two cents. Hope it helps.

 

[startswithb]

And yet the sad thing is their SMP students get in with those kinda stats all the time even with 3.0s in their program. Its quite sad.

I've seen stories of such.

I know someone who got into GW, Suny buffalo, and Wayne state with similar stats. they also got interviews at 3 other schools of which 2 they attended and got waitlisted. they did a grad program with a 3.4 as well.

In this person's case they probably just need to do a postbac, 1 year MS like at USF or Tulane, or SMP Master's program and do well.

I'm more interested though. How did the rejection come in??? Via snail mail or email???

It was an email. Yeah, I am lucky enough to have an interview this week at my state school (which I love), and if I get accepted there I will be 😀. If not, it's off to an SMP I think. Since I already have over a 30 MCAT, I think I would be a good candidate. But I really don't want to wait 2 more years!!! State School. Good luck on the rest of your apps Guju.

 

[doc727]

when did you guys submit your application...i enter primary screening on the 1st of october and i have yet to hear back from them yet about primary screening??

 

[doc727]

Ugghh i guess i will just have to keep waiting

 

[unleash500]

Just entered small pool after being in primary screening since 9/23.

It seems to me that being put in small pool is a good sign this year??

 

[xgalaxy00]

Just entered small pool after being in primary screening since 9/23.

It seems to me that being put in small pool is a good sign this year??

I hope its a good thing! I got small pooled today too 👍 Have most people in the small pool been offered interviews?? How long did they have to wait?

 

[Yeeds]

Just entered small pool after being in primary screening since 9/23.

same for me, got the email ~30 min ago.

 

[rpgdude21]

same for me, got the email ~30 min ago.

Well... I felt the same way about a month ago when I was pooled. Then got progressively less and less hopeful as it seemed like few people actually got out of the pool. 👎

 

[slwhite3]

I entered primary screening on 9/23 too, and I haven't heard anything! Boo.

 

[thegame11]

I will mention that i went into primary screening in late september cuz of new MCAT scores on the 14th. Otherwise it might have been slightly before that. I don't know really for sure.

but yes once you get the under primary screening its like another 5-6 weeks before some sort of response.

If you pass the initial primary screening you get an emailing say you passed the primary screening as people showed above. if you don't you get the rejection email I get.

If you pass primary screening and get small pooled you may end up getting an interview. Some people have been small pooled for a long time while others have for a short time before getting an interview.

Just something to note.

I entered primary screening 9/21. I haven't received any email since then. According to your theory, I will receive a rejection soon? 😳

 

[Longshanks]

I received the small pool e-mail tonight. So guess I'll be wadding/tredding water in the small pool with you all until we hear what happens.

edit:

Figured I should add the dates since that's more helpful for everyone:

Complete 9/7
Primary Screening 9/23
Small Pooled 11/2

 

[Natasha1989]

Complete 09/3
Entered Primary Screening 09/23
Small Pooled 11/02

 

[MFC]

Complete 9/6
Primary Screening 9/23
Small pooled 11/2

Here's to hoping for an interview! Good luck everyone =)

 

[courtnes]

Complete 9/3
Entered primary screening 9/23
Small pooled 11/2

Looks like they took care of a lot of apps this week!

Sorry to hear your news, guju! I wish you the best of luck with your other apps, from everything I've read it sounds like you've worked really hard to get here.

 

[dogster]

Just got small pooled yesterday as well - same timeline as others who have posted (complete early Sept, primary screening 9/23)

So what do we expect to happen at this point? How long between being smalled pooled and receiving an interview offer/rejection (in general)?

 

[courtnes]

From what I remember in this thread and looking at last years' thread, it's highly variable... you could receive an interview invite later this week or you could be floating in the small pool for weeks/months.

Better to just get ready to wait and be pleasantly surprised if you hear earlier. I don't *think* they send out rejections to small poolers until the end of the application cycle but I didn't really look at the threads for that.

 

[glasshalfMD]

From what I remember in this thread and looking at last years' thread, it's highly variable... you could receive an interview invite later this week or you could be floating in the small pool for weeks/months.

Better to just get ready to wait and be pleasantly surprised if you hear earlier. I don't *think* they send out rejections to small poolers until the end of the application cycle but I didn't really look at the threads for that.

Been swimming along since 8/6! 👍

 

[Natasha1989]

Congratulations. Just saw you are canadian. Hope US shows some love to you cuz I imagine its harder for you guys as a canadian.

Hi Gujudoc, thanks! Let's hope Rosalind shows some love by inviting me 😛 Good luck with the rest of your med school apps!

 

[RazT]

hey everyone, im an smp grad with a 3.7 out of the program...small pooled since mid october....although there is no timeframe, they told me that a decision would be made within 4 weeks post small-pooling.....sooooo yeahhhh, keeping my fingers crossed good luck everyone!

 

[jcwhitts]

hey everyone, im an smp grad with a 3.7 out of the program...small pooled since mid october....although there is no timeframe, they told me that a decision would be made within 4 weeks post small-pooling.....sooooo yeahhhh, keeping my fingers crossed good luck everyone!

Interesting. Some of us have been small pooled for a couple months, so I wonder if that means the decision's already made and they just aren't rejecting people in the small pool yet.

 

[Lccjblu]

hey everyone, im an smp grad with a 3.7 out of the program...small pooled since mid october....although there is no timeframe, they told me that a decision would be made within 4 weeks post small-pooling.....sooooo yeahhhh, keeping my fingers crossed good luck everyone!

4 weeks? not true. been small pooled since july 27th and haven't heard anything since.. unless its a silent rejection or something

 

[newnimproved]

i submitted my secondary on Sept 9th and received an email that they received it on the sept 14th and would process it for completion over the coming weeks. I called today to find out I was already 2 weeks into primary screening (primary screening lasts anywhere from 4-6 weeks...hope that clarifies questions in previous posts). Did anyone else not receive a complete email and entered primary screening email? Do they not like me (jk)?

 

[premed0205]

i submitted my secondary on Sept 9th and received an email that they received it on the sept 14th and would process it for completion over the coming weeks. I called today to find out I was already 2 weeks into primary screening (primary screening lasts anywhere from 4-6 weeks...hope that clarifies questions in previous posts). Did anyone else not receive a complete email and entered primary screening email? Do they not like me (jk)?

that happened to me too.

 

[RazT]

4 weeks? not true. been small pooled since july 27th and haven't heard anything since.. unless its a silent rejection or something

I highly doubt it's a silent rejection...and i hope it's not for all of our sake....my assumption is that they are automatically interviewing the overqualified first, then the relatively qualified (assuming that's the small pool)...so perhaps we'll hear something this month or the next?? keepin the faith is all i can do at this point...

 

[hitsugaaya]

I'm still unclear about the MD/PhD program here. The website states that they interview in feb but consider you for regular admission at the same time. Has anyone here received an MD/PhD invite? I have beeen in small pool since early september and wonder if that means I am rejected from MD/Phd but they just did not tell me, and is it the same office that handles it? I would probably like to call to check on my app

 

[medicineiscool]

Hi all!

I just called the admissions office and they told me that about 6000 applications receive the completed primary screening e-mail, which is the small pool.

out of that 6000, only 700 get interviewed..

So...if this is correct...getting small pooled is not as good as it seems to be.

Anyone care to confirm if this is true? (hoping what I heard was incorrect...................................................T.T)

 

[RazT]

Hi all!

I just called the admissions office and they told me that about 6000 applications receive the completed primary screening e-mail, which is the small pool.

out of that 6000, only 700 get interviewed..

So...if this is correct...getting small pooled is not as good as it seems to be.

Anyone care to confirm if this is true? (hoping what I heard was incorrect...................................................T.T)

So the initial email that is sent tells the applicants that all the materials have been received and the application is complete....this is NOT the small pool email....i'm assuming this is the 6000 applicant pool...

the small pool email says something along the lines of "Your file is complete and has passed a primary screening. This means you are in the pool of applicants who may be invited to interview with CMS...."
...since its a small pool....im pretty sure it's less than 6000 applications lol...or at least i hope it is.

 

[newnimproved]

id bet my bottom dollar that the small pool probably has 6,000 applicants in it. The primary screening is mostly similar to other school's screening process before handing out their secondary.

 

[MediCynical]

Is RF receptive to update letters and/or "I'll be in the area" e-mails?

 

[RazT]

id bet my bottom dollar that the small pool probably has 6,000 applicants in it. The primary screening is mostly similar to other school's screening process before handing out their secondary.

=/

 

[2050vlsb]

Is RF receptive to update letters and/or "I'll be in the area" e-mails?

Nope, unfortunately not. I just sent them an "in the area" email this morning, and they said they don't accept requests for interviews .. it was worth a shot, but I guess we'll just have to wait some more

 

[NHBPFA5]

Nope, unfortunately not. I just sent them an "in the area" email this morning, and they said they don't accept requests for interviews .. it was worth a shot, but I guess we'll just have to wait some more

an "in the area" notification is not a "request for interview"... 😡

Where are you going that you'll be in the area? (it's my area lol)

 

[tomh98]

finally entered primary screening 🙂

complete email on 9/21

 

[2050vlsb]

an "in the area" notification is not a "request for interview"... 😡

Where are you going that you'll be in the area? (it's my area lol)

I know, right? I figured, if I'm going to get an interview, it might be easier to just do it when I'm there instead of flying out again urgh!

I'm actually interviewing at MCW in January, so not exactly in the area, but I'll probably be staying with family in Gurnee, IL, which is about ~20 min from CMS. Maybe I can just hope that they'll make a decision in the next month that lets me schedule something in early January

 

[premed0205]

finally entered primary screening 🙂

complete email on 9/21

+1. how long does it normally take to get small pooled? thanks!

 

[frescoengano]

around 1 month

 

[courtnes]

There were a bunch of us who entered screening 9/3 and just found out last week, so about 8 weeks, but there were a couple lucky ones that heard about 2 weeks before us.

 

[courtnes]

Well I think yoou are confusing something.

There is being considered complete and getting an email for that saying that you are going to go into initial review and then another email 3 weeks later that says entering primary screening. Then 5 weeks later you get the decision.

So in total its 8 weeks. But 5 weeks from the primary screening email, 8 weeks from the complete email.

I'm not confusing anything. Here is my timeline, at each of these points I received an e-mail:

Secondary received 8/19
Complete 8/20
Entered primary screening 9/3 (no time frame given - sorry, had to go back and check. I don't know where I got the 6-8 weeks thing from, maybe I was thinking of UVM which does say 6-8 weeks for primary screening)
Small-pooled 11/2 (so, yes, 8 weeks for me)

Some people got their small pools or rejections sooner even though they entered screening the same day, there were several people that entered primary screening on 9/3 that received small pool notices in the weeks before the 11/2 batch. Applicants' timelines are not all going to be the same, and the process can take longer depending on the volume of applications they are evaluating.

 

[Year Off Love]

Just joined SDN, anyone else interviewing on the next week on the 10th?

 

[gunit770]

Hey folks,
For any of you planning on interviewing here, I don't mean to scare you but I wanted some info from those who already interviewed:
I interviewed a week ago and had an unpleasant time of it.
First off, the student tour guides were uninterested and did not seem really excited about med school.
Secondly, the first interviewer I had was only interested in talking about himself and the second one was insulting to my religion.
Thirdly, nobody in the school seemed really interested in being there at all.
FYI, I have been on 8 interviews so far in various far flung med schools and never did I have such a bad experience.
Did anybody else out there have something simliar?

 

[Squeakers]

Hey folks,
For any of you planning on interviewing here, I don't mean to scare you but I wanted some info from those who already interviewed:
I interviewed a week ago and had an unpleasant time of it.
First off, the student tour guides were uninterested and did not seem really excited about med school.
Secondly, the first interviewer I had was only interested in talking about himself and the second one was insulting to my religion.
Thirdly, nobody in the school seemed really interested in being there at all.
FYI, I have been on 8 interviews so far in various far flung med schools and never did I have such a bad experience.
Did anybody else out there have something simliar?

I definitely had a similar experience, as did a few other interviewees who were there with me. We all found the school dreary, with the students uninterested in being there. Our guides did not seem to be excited about the school and were ill informed in any extracurriculars opportunities. The interviewers touted medical school as an end all, with the main focus being studying; they went so far as to say that any other aspirations were unnecessary and an idealized vision pre-med students have. There was also very little early clinical exposure.

Everyone I talked to (student-wise) spoke of how they could not wait to go to Chicago for their third and fourth year, and that they just have to get through the first two years and then they'll finally be in the city. It did not seem like a school that promoted a cohesive student body.

In addition, the M1 lecture hall did not have desks, only theater seating. And the other facilities seemed run down/needing an update. I too have been to multiple interviews, and this was by far the worst impression I got from a school. The other interviewees who took the train back into the city with me echoed my concerns and opinions as well.

 

[deleted350384]

Hey folks,
For any of you planning on interviewing here, I don't mean to scare you but I wanted some info from those who already interviewed:
I interviewed a week ago and had an unpleasant time of it.
First off, the student tour guides were uninterested and did not seem really excited about med school.
Secondly, the first interviewer I had was only interested in talking about himself and the second one was insulting to my religion.
Thirdly, nobody in the school seemed really interested in being there at all.
FYI, I have been on 8 interviews so far in various far flung med schools and never did I have such a bad experience.
Did anybody else out there have something simliar?

My experience last year was the exact opposite of yours actually. One of my interviewers was friendly and the other one was more intimidating, but not insulting. The tour guides were decent.

You said you had your interview last week? I wouldn't be surprised with you saying none of us were interested to be there. We had 3 exams in 2 weeks so all of us M1s were walking zombies. The only place I was interested to be was in my bed sleeping =)

 

[PinkNoise]

Complete 10/3
Entered primary screening 11/5

 

[spiderpete]

Hey folks,
For any of you planning on interviewing here, I don't mean to scare you but I wanted some info from those who already interviewed:
I interviewed a week ago and had an unpleasant time of it.
First off, the student tour guides were uninterested and did not seem really excited about med school.
Secondly, the first interviewer I had was only interested in talking about himself and the second one was insulting to my religion.
Thirdly, nobody in the school seemed really interested in being there at all.
FYI, I have been on 8 interviews so far in various far flung med schools and never did I have such a bad experience.
Did anybody else out there have something simliar?

I was there a week ago and had a positive experience. Likely we were on the same day.

The tour guides I had were friendly and honest. They did not act like cheerleaders, but they were happy and genuine about their experience. I did not get any vibes from them that they did not like the school or their experience. On the contrary, they seemed pretty cool about what they had and what they were going thru. They liked the school and tried to share that without being used car salesmen.

The facilities sent a mixed message. Anatomy lab was the best I've seen so far: new, nice mix of technology. The M1 'lecture hall' is a real turn off. I'd take 200k out of the new pharmacy school and rehab the room with outlets and desk/table tops for each student. But the cafeteria, other lecture rooms, gym, etc. were great. Reading the financial statements (sorry, I'm a business person) and then touring the place, it is clear they are committed to investing in their school and making it happen. Just fix the auditorium 😉

My interviewers were professional and helpful. One was an associate prof who asked a standard slate of med school interview questions... reasonable given his science background and inclination to have consistent comparative data. Into that we insinuated a nice mix of stories. The second interview was with a senior researcher/prof who was the former president of the university. We basically had a conversation, equal measures of information sharing and selling each other.

Regarding the location, you are in the boonies of Chicago for the first two years. You're close to a major medical facility, and that comes into play some, but maybe not as much as one would like in the first couple years. There are clinical experiences in M1 and M2... standardized patients and clinical training. But their list of hospitals for M3, match list, etc. is the real story. You'll be wherever you want to live years 3 and 4 and be at some of the best hospitals in Chicago.

I walked away thinking this was a great place to get a medical education.

 

[alphasyn]

anyone heard anything from the admin for the 10/25 interview group? just wonder when i should give them a call...

 

[MIAmedica]

Got an interview invite for 12/3 😀 Anyone else gonna be there? For those of you who interviewed already I would love to hear how it went. And any comments from current students would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Barcu]

I definitely had a similar experience, as did a few other interviewees who were there with me. We all found the school dreary, with the students uninterested in being there. Our guides did not seem to be excited about the school and were ill informed in any extracurriculars opportunities. The interviewers touted medical school as an end all, with the main focus being studying; they went so far as to say that any other aspirations were unnecessary and an idealized vision pre-med students have. There was also very little early clinical exposure.

Everyone I talked to (student-wise) spoke of how they could not wait to go to Chicago for their third and fourth year, and that they just have to get through the first two years and then they'll finally be in the city. It did not seem like a school that promoted a cohesive student body.

In addition, the M1 lecture hall did not have desks, only theater seating. And the other facilities seemed run down/needing an update. I too have been to multiple interviews, and this was by far the worst impression I got from a school. The other interviewees who took the train back into the city with me echoed my concerns and opinions as well.

I kind of got this vibe too. In one of my interviews, my interviewer basically told me I should only be working towards experiences that got me into a good residency. That certainly is important to me, but I want a variety of experiences (and how can doing a rotation abroad not be good for my residency? Still confused about that one). And for him to be so blunt about it just bothered me a bit. It seemed like he was pushing the bottom line for RFU to get better matches.

I also got the vibe that many students were there because they didn't get into their top schools. This is no knock on the school. I thought a lot of the facilities were great (that anatomy lab is sweet). It seemed like an excellent place to get a medical education, and the 3rd and 4th year opportunities really are stellar.

The first two years would be tough though. That's the impression I got.

 

[Barcu]

anyone heard anything from the admin for the 10/25 interview group? just wonder when i should give them a call...

I interviewed a week before you and have yet to hear anything, so I think you should probably just hold tight.

 

[xgalaxy00]

Got an interview invite for 12/3 😀 Anyone else gonna be there? For those of you who interviewed already I would love to hear how it went. And any comments from current students would be greatly appreciated!

Congrats! did you just get the interview invite? when did you get small pooled?

 

[turkaglew]

anyone on hold (post interview) planning to send a letter to the committee?