2011-2012 Boston University Application Thread

[PeterPesto]

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Rejected today on a Sunday, u think admissions work on bloody Sunday? Or its automatic?

Definitely automated. It seems 19 days is the norm.

 

[asrikrishnan]

Anybody got any other notification besides rejection? I'm on day 30 now and still nothing.

 

[TuloRocks]

Anybody got any other notification besides rejection? I'm on day 30 now and still nothing.

I've been in limbo for a little bit longer. Interviews start in October at BU so hopefully they're just waiting until august to send us invites or to reject us haha

 

[PeterPesto]

You should get a 30-day email in which case that means you made the first cut.

 

[jjcucla89]

rejected today, first one sure does suck

3.78/36Q

oh well, there are other fish in the sea... good luck everyone

 

[cwang1990216]

i know that boston secondary allows you to indicate if you want to defer the MCAT score. I am currently at 30R,and scheduled retake s sep 1st. is it worth it to defer the score( assuming i get around 35-37 the second time)?

 

[Topo]

For a low(er) ranking medical school, BU sure is picky - rejecting all these applicants with high stats.

 

[jjcucla89]

For a low(er) ranking medical school, BU sure is picky - rejecting all these applicants with high stats.

My exact sentiments... maybe they are going in a different direction this year haha

 

[blizzah]

i know that boston secondary allows you to indicate if you want to defer the MCAT score. I am currently at 30R,and scheduled retake s sep 1st. is it worth it to defer the score( assuming i get around 35-37 the second time)?

Why are you planning to retake if you don't want them to see that score?

 

[therunner12]

My exact sentiments... maybe they are going in a different direction this year haha

Nope. This happens every year.They don't want to be used as a safety school.

 

[cwang1990216]

Why are you planning to retake if you don't want them to see that score?

i m applying to canadian schools as well..

 

[blizzah]

i m applying to canadian schools as well..

Depends how confident you are in that 35+.

I would submit now with a 30, rather than delay my app over 2 months for that MCAT score. You can see from the rest of this thread, and previous years that BU doesn't care that much for stats.

 

[JediMasterCrumb]

You should get a 30-day email in which case that means you made the first cut.

I've been wondering, does that 30 day email mean you are going to be interviewed? Or does it just mean that wanted to rip off the bandaid slowly?

 

[cwang1990216]

Depends how confident you are in that 35+.

I would submit now with a 30, rather than delay my app over 2 months for that MCAT score. You can see from the rest of this thread, and previous years that BU doesn't care that much for stats.

k! thanks for your help!

 

[PeterPesto]

I've been wondering, does that 30 day email mean you are going to be interviewed? Or does it just mean that wanted to rip off the bandaid slowly?

Based on the above post, I'm assuming that the 30-day email signifies that you made the first cut in which the applicant pool is whittled down to ~7500 applicants. However, BU will interview only ~1000 applicants, therefore the most selective review is yet to come. I imagine this is how it works at a lot of schools, but the effect is more pronounced at BU because they reject a lot of high stat applicants.

 

[JediMasterCrumb]

In that case, I'll remain in the fetal position reluctantly hitting refresh on my inbox lol. Thanks for the info! Good luck everyone!

 

[PeterPesto]

In that case, I'll remain in the fetal position reluctantly hitting refresh on my inbox lol. Thanks for the info! Good luck everyone!

Although it seems far more people are rejected than pass through the screen so I could be wrong.

 

[PeterPesto]

Actually I was wrong. It seems like a substantial portion of those who receive the 30-day email eventually end up receiving interviews based on last year.

 

[limsch87]

Rejection... T_T

Science:3.83, cumulative:3.84, MCAT: 38
+2000 research hours (publication), with multiple volunteer service activities and others..

Based on the school's median GPA and mcat, I thought I was going to get the interview.. T_T

Oh well. let's cheer up guys. there are other schools 🙂

 

[asrikrishnan]

I have a feeling that 7,500 applicants number that they throw around is included among people that are rejected. Meaning that people that are rejected sometimes pass the initial screen that they do and end up in the 7,500 applicant pool. Then they go through another (probably more stringent) screen and weed those down to the 1000 that they interview. So getting past 19 days probably means that they are debating whether or not you are one of lucky few that get to interview. They could still reject you at any time.

 

[medschool2016]

Rejection... T_T

Science:3.83, cumulative:3.84, MCAT: 38
+2000 research hours (publication), with multiple volunteer service activities and others..

Based on the school's median GPA and mcat, I thought I was going to get the interview.. T_T

Oh well. let's cheer up guys. there are other schools 🙂

I am sorry limsch87! BU sounds like its just sort of random because with your stats, you definitely deserve a interview

 

[limsch87]

I am sorry limsch87! BU sounds like its just sort of random because with your stats, you definitely deserve a interview

Thanks medschool2016! 🙂

This is the first real response I got from med schools, and I am just disappointed to have a bad start...Oh well. Good luck to all other BU applicants!!!!!!!!!

 

[TuloRocks]

Rejected this morning. 3.7/35 great ECs

Complete 6/23

When a door closes, a new door opens (and my ex is at BU so it's probably for the best I got rejected 😀)

 

[Snuke]

Rejected this morning. 3.7/35 great ECs

Complete 6/23

When a door closes, a new door opens (and my ex is at BU so it's probably for the best I got rejected 😀)

After 3 weeks? Maybe they're on the second round of rejections?

Good luck - you'll make it somewhere with those stats.

 

[sam500]

Rejected this morning. 3.7/35 great ECs

Complete 6/23

When a door closes, a new door opens (and my ex is at BU so it's probably for the best I got rejected 😀)

I wonder if this is a 30 day screen. Friday was your 30 day window, maybe the email was held till this morning.

Sorry to hear of your rejection. Good luck elsewhere.

 

[blujhae]

Rejected this morning. Guess it is the 19-day mark for many...
Complete 7/6 3.8/31
Love this school too...Good luck everyone!

 

[Topo]

Are you guys defining "complete" as when BU emailed a completion email? Or when the online status indicates that the application has been finalized? Mine has a lag of a week between the two.

 

[blujhae]

Complete = Complete Email from BU

 

[pinkshrink]

k! thanks for your help!

Im in the same boat, but with a 27 MCAT. Im retaking it this week, but the scores won't be released until end of Aug. My stats are otherwise very good - I just had an unfortunate problem right when I took the test last time. But I dont know if I should release my application now or wait and risk it being so late in the cycle. Why are so many people with such great stats getting rejected?

 

[RogueUnicorn]

For a low(er) ranking medical school, BU sure is picky - rejecting all these applicants with high stats.

considering it's ranked higher than ~100 other medical schools, i'd say then can pick whoever they want

 

[Topo]

considering it's ranked higher than ~100 other medical schools, i'd say then can pick whoever they want

And those with great stats and decent (I'm assuming) ECs top a very high percentage of other students as well. Though BU not wanting to be a back-up school makes sense, and of course there's always the matter of the character one reflects in their essays.

 

[oaklandguy]

And those with great stats and decent (I'm assuming) ECs top a very high percentage of other students as well. Though BU not wanting to be a back-up school makes sense, and of course there's always the matter of the character one reflects in their essays.

The essays are optional though and I know of people who have made it past the 3 week mark without writing an essay.

I'm sure they look for something specific as an activity and overall theme of each application.

 

[Topo]

The essays are optional though and I know of people who have made it past the 3 week mark without writing an essay.

I'm sure they look for something specific as an activity and overall theme of each application.

Perhaps BU's appreciation of their AMCAS and PS?

Either way, I know BU has their reasons (which I will attribute to back-up school fear).

 

[oaklandguy]

Perhaps BU's appreciation of their AMCAS and PS?

Either way, I know BU has their reasons (which I will attribute to back-up school fear).

Yeah, I didn't even apply. Based on last years thread way too many people were rejected with stats similar to mine and I don't know if a highly touted school like BU would even respect my stats coming from a tier 4. But I know a bunch of people from my undergrad applied last cycle and are applying this cycle. I doubt too many people have it as a back-up and I would say they might reject these high stat people with a fear of an elitist attitude or something more so with a different part of their application because there are tons of people who get accepted with top of the line statistics. They're huge on the "holistic" view of an applicant.

 

[RogueUnicorn]

And those with great stats and decent (I'm assuming) ECs top a very high percentage of other students as well. Though BU not wanting to be a back-up school makes sense, and of course there's always the matter of the character one reflects in their essays.

that's completely your own assumption. bu as a school has a very specific ethos related to the underserved, and those who typically seem good on paper often do not match it.

 

[Topo]

that's completely your own assumption. bu as a school has a very specific ethos related to the underserved, and those who typically seem good on paper often do not match it.

I realize that is my assumption, since it makes sense to me personally. As we do not know intimate details of their selection process, everything else is simply assumption as well.

 

[RogueUnicorn]

I realize that is my assumption, since it makes sense to me personally. As we do not know intimate details of their selection process, everything else is simply assumption as well.

you..

 

[PeterPesto]

Complete 7/6, haven't been rejected ...yet

 

[PotteryBarn]

What is the "30-day email"? I have been complete since 6/23 and no word. From posts, I assume this means I passed some-sort of initial screen, but should I be expecting an update email soon?

 

[medschool2016]

For those of you who already heard back, was your file 100% complete? The reason i am asking is because my school's committee letter is not going be in until later this summer so I am wondering if I haven't heard anything from them because they haven't read my file or if I am under consideration.

 

[NeuralNetwork]

For those of you who already heard back, was your file 100% complete? The reason i am asking is because my school's committee letter is not going be in until later this summer so I am wondering if I haven't heard anything from them because they haven't read my file or if I am under consideration.

yes

 

[luckyducky87]

Submitted over the weekend - Complete today.

Gah, perhaps my application is too research-focused for BU. I did tie in a lot of cultural experiences and comments on personal growth during the gap year, but we'll see I guess!!

 

[vannguyen]

For those of you who already heard back, was your file 100% complete? The reason i am asking is because my school's committee letter is not going be in until later this summer so I am wondering if I haven't heard anything from them because they haven't read my file or if I am under consideration.

So you finalized your application even though your committee letter hasn't been sent? I was wondering if it was okay to do that since that's the only thing I'm waiting on.

 

[asrikrishnan]

What is the "30-day email"? I have been complete since 6/23 and no word. From posts, I assume this means I passed some-sort of initial screen, but should I be expecting an update email soon?

Last year the applicants that didn't get rejected within 3 weeks received an email on (or around) the 30 day mark that said that BU was sorry for not corresponding with applicants on a regular basis due to a high volume of applicants. If you received this email it was very likely that you would soon be receiving an interview invite.

 

[medschool2016]

So you finalized your application even though your committee letter hasn't been sent? I was wondering if it was okay to do that since that's the only thing I'm waiting on.

I don't know what you mean by finalize but I submitted the secondary/paid for everything.

 

[Treesop]

Oh shoooot! Just realized I mentioned a nurse's name in one of the essays. It was when I was abroad though but still...now they're going to think I don't respect confidentiality 🙁

 

[asrikrishnan]

30 days and still standing =]

Nice man. I hope that means that both of us will get interview invites soon.

 

[oaklandguy]

Out of curiosity, has anyone received a 30 day e-mail??

 

[xlwmind0526x]

Submitted. Seems like BU rejects applicants pretty quickly..

 

[TheGreyWarden]

Oh boy, 3.9 39 and holding on for dear life!

Too bad... the Boston area is pretty nice

Hey, there's always Tufts, Harvard, etc. right? lol