2011-2012 Boston University Application Thread

Discover Your Odds of Getting into Medical School
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FattySlug said:
Is that 30 day email real or just a myth? I have been complete for 25 days with 3.64 and 33M from CA. Seeing people with crazy high stats get rejected is very discouraging.
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It's quite real. I received it at 31 days, and try not to get too discouraged at seeing high stats get rejected. The trend at Boston seems to reject the highest and the lowest. Stats like ours seem to be getting a harder look. If you've made it that far, that's very good news, but does not mean an invite. Some people get rejected at 29 days, but most at 19.
 
FattySlug said:
Is that 30 day email real or just a myth? I have been complete for 25 days with 3.64 and 33M from CA. Seeing people with crazy high stats get rejected is very discouraging.
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Perhaps the 30 day email is a myth for MD/PhD people. 39S/3.81 complete June 28 and nothing from BU yet. Crickets.
 
Just got the 30 day email, completed exactly 30 days ago. Hopefully good news to come:xf:
 
congrats! do you mind telling us your stats?
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cGPA = 3.93, sGPA = 4.0, MCAT = 36R


What does that email say?
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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.
 
Secondary confirmed complete! Yay!

30-day e-mail on Sept 4th? :xf:
 
Is it just me, or do most of the people who've received the 30-day email seem to have been complete after July 1st, and those who were a part of the massive rejection pile were mostly complete before July 1st?
 
hootiehoo said:
Is it just me, or do most of the people who've received the 30-day email seem to have been complete after July 1st, and those who were a part of the massive rejection pile were mostly complete before July 1st?
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I was complete on June 24, received the 30-day email on July 27.
 
For future reference (I don't think it's noted anywhere on SDN or on the BU website), if you have multiple mcat scores, the committee looks at the best score in each subject matter and then adds them together for a cumulative score. That can make a big difference for a lot of people.
 
Snuke said:
It's quite real. I received it at 31 days, and try not to get too discouraged at seeing high stats get rejected. The trend at Boston seems to reject the highest and the lowest. Stats like ours seem to be getting a harder look. If you've made it that far, that's very good news, but does not mean an invite. Some people get rejected at 29 days, but most at 19.
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*looks at post*
*looks at mdapp profile*
😕

So what would be considered a high stat? :laugh:
 
n3xa said:
*looks at post*
*looks at mdapp profile*
😕

So what would be considered a high stat? :laugh:
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haha, I'm sorry - I meant the MCATs hanging around 36-40. That's the region that seems to be getting the most rejections early.

My MCAT is strong, but it's not amazing/incredible like a 40. I concur with some earlier posts suggesting that Boston doesn't want to award people using it as a safety. I didn't mean anything by that!
 
long time lurker here.... just thought I'd share I am on day 19 and obsessively checking my email box, dreading a rejection. Here's to hoping that a watch pot REALLY never boils :laugh: :xf:
 
Nakita said:
long time lurker here.... just thought I'd share I am on day 19 and obsessively checking my email box, dreading a rejection. Here's to hoping that a watch pot REALLY never boils :laugh: :xf:
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I know how you feel. I feel kind of bad for my refresh button 🙄
 
Nakita said:
long time lurker here.... just thought I'd share I am on day 19 and obsessively checking my email box, dreading a rejection. Here's to hoping that a watch pot REALLY never boils :laugh: :xf:
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day 17... same thing. ahhhh
 
Snuke said:
It's quite real. I received it at 31 days, and try not to get too discouraged at seeing high stats get rejected. The trend at Boston seems to reject the highest and the lowest. Stats like ours seem to be getting a harder look. If you've made it that far, that's very good news, but does not mean an invite. Some people get rejected at 29 days, but most at 19.
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Highest and the lowest? How high could their "highest" criteria be? I just got the 30 day email at 3.9/3.9 39.

I'm thinking they reject the lowest and high, and keep the middle and the highest....not that I understand any of this 😛
 
They clearly want to yield-protect (grrr...), but they might be similar to Einstein in that they'll wait a looong time to invite you to an interview. By that time, if your numbers are high enough, you will likely have gotten in somewhere better and will decline their interview invite. Then they don't have to worry about you fudging up their matriculation numbers. :-/

Obviously, if BU wants to have a good profile and boost its image, they can't afford to just weed out the highest numbers. But there are a number of readers, and each one likely differs in opinion on how to yield-protect for those people who may view BU as a backup.
 
TheGreyWarden said:
Highest and the lowest? How high could their "highest" criteria be? I just got the 30 day email at 3.9/3.9 39.

I'm thinking they reject the lowest and high, and keep the middle and the highest....not that I understand any of this 😛
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Obviously not everyone - but the majority of the rejections seem to be from the highest MCAT levels. There's obvious a lot going into their decisions than we know or can guess, as few who post GPA and MCAT also post ECs.

I'm just a fellow applicant like you, trying to make some sense out of this process. 🙄
 
Complete 8/3...a long way to go to that 30-day mark! And 10% of applicants get an interview?? CRAZY!
 
Chemdude said:
For future reference (I don't think it's noted anywhere on SDN or on the BU website), if you have multiple mcat scores, the committee looks at the best score in each subject matter and then adds them together for a cumulative score. That can make a big difference for a lot of people.
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Where did you get that? I called the school and was told they consider the best score. I think only GWU actually use the highest of each subsection. If BU uses it to the my MCAT becomes a 35 instead of 33.
 
FattySlug said:
Where did you get that? I called the school and was told they consider the best score. I think only GWU actually use the highest of each subsection. If BU uses it to the my MCAT becomes a 35 instead of 33.
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Our committee looks at the best score in each subject matter and then adds them together for a cumulative score.

Teresa

Teresa Kelleher
Assistant Director of Admissions
Boston University School of Medicine
72 East Concord Street, L124
Boston, MA 02118-2526
617/638-4630
617/638-9013 direct
617/638-4718 fax
[email protected]
 
Chemdude said:
Our committee looks at the best score in each subject matter and then adds them together for a cumulative score.

Teresa

Teresa Kelleher
Assistant Director of Admissions
Boston University School of Medicine
72 East Concord Street, L124
Boston, MA 02118-2526
617/638-4630
617/638-9013 direct
617/638-4718 fax
[email protected]
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oh sweet. great find!
 
Completed on 7/5 and Rejected on 7/24

3.64 cGPA, 3.61 BCPM, and 37R
 
so i'm still a little confused about this 30 day email business. if you get it, doesn't that still mean you could get outright rejected (judging from the email provided by someone before me)? like what's so special about it?
 
citrusguy2010 said:
so i'm still a little confused about this 30 day email business. if you get it, doesn't that still mean you could get outright rejected (judging from the email provided by someone before me)? like what's so special about it?
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look through last year's thread. people who received the 30 day email were likely to get interviews.
 
Well, I can't log-in to the BU online status check. Either it's routine maintenance, or they're getting ready to send me my 19-day kiss of death. Stay tuned..... (complete 7/19)
 
doctorSOX said:
Well, I can't log-in to the BU online status check. Either it's routine maintenance, or they're getting ready to send me my 19-day kiss of death. Stay tuned..... (complete 7/19)
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I couldn't log in either a few days ago. I'm now on day 23 or so since I was complete with no rejection email. The error message said something about how there were too many people trying to access it at that time, so I doubt it has anything to do with your status being updated.

Good luck tho bro.
 
doctorSOX said:
Well, I can't log-in to the BU online status check. Either it's routine maintenance, or they're getting ready to send me my 19-day kiss of death. Stay tuned..... (complete 7/19)
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Well, I guess if it follows the trend, we'll both find out how we did today. I had the log-in issues too a little while ago.
 
All right, got the 30-day email. I did not answer the optional essay but I am non-trad so I had plenty to say for the other questions (talked about my work experience overseas and around the US).

Forgot to add I was complete on 7/8.
 
Last edited:
Any news from anyone in the 7/19-complete crew?
 
rrmix said:
Doubt they send emails over the weekend
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They pull no punches. They send emails all hours of the day and night, any day of the week. Pretty sure it's automated.
 
To add to the data....

I was complete on the 18th too and still no news yet
MCAT 33, cGPA 3.6
 
Snuke said:
haha, I'm sorry - I meant the MCATs hanging around 36-40. That's the region that seems to be getting the most rejections early.

My MCAT is strong, but it's not amazing/incredible like a 40. I concur with some earlier posts suggesting that Boston doesn't want to award people using it as a safety. I didn't mean anything by that!
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It's totally fine. :laugh: Just had to rib you just a tad for a second there. 😛

Seriously expecting *something* in the next four days...
 
n3xa said:
It's totally fine. :laugh: Just had to rib you just a tad for a second there. 😛

Seriously expecting *something* in the next four days...
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Thanks. 😛 I do agree that we ought to hear something very soon.
 
Stewabeet said:
Got my complete email 7/18...not rejected yet!! :xf::xf::xf:
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Got mine on 7/19 - me neither. I'm actually a little concerned since no one has reported getting any 19-day rejection letters on here. Statistically, seems like there should have been at least one, since they only interview 10% of applicants. hoping the lack of letter isn't a fluke - for me or anyone else!
the waiting continues...good luck guys! hope your other schools are going well...still checking every status page daily for my first interview invite. oy.
 
nucleophilic said:
Got mine on 7/19 - me neither. I'm actually a little concerned since no one has reported getting any 19-day rejection letters on here. Statistically, seems like there should have been at least one, since they only interview 10% of applicants. hoping the lack of letter isn't a fluke - for me or anyone else!
the waiting continues...good luck guys! hope your other schools are going well...still checking every status page daily for my first interview invite. oy.
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Only daily? I envy you. It's probably not healthy the number of times I check each site in a day...
 
nucleophilic said:
Got mine on 7/19 - me neither. I'm actually a little concerned since no one has reported getting any 19-day rejection letters on here. Statistically, seems like there should have been at least one, since they only interview 10% of applicants. hoping the lack of letter isn't a fluke - for me or anyone else!
the waiting continues...good luck guys! hope your other schools are going well...still checking every status page daily for my first interview invite. oy.
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There have been people rejected at 19 days in previous pages.
 
now you guys got me counting days. sigh. i went deep into my inbox and checked my emails from BU 3 years ago (I am now a re-applicant), and I had gotten the "30-day email" followed by a rejection letter 9 days afterwards... i guess the 30-day email didn't do much for me last cycle.
 
As quiet as my email inbox 🙁 lol
 
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