2011-2012 Boston University Application Thread

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tmh said:
thanks for the update. i think i got my 30-day in mid-october, so maybe i'll hear in the next couple weeks.
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I was complete on 9/13 with the 30 day email 10/13 and was invited for an interview on 11/23 (I'm interviewing tomorrow 11/30).

It can definitely take over two month post-complete, so it could be coming.
 
Does anyone know if BU is internally ranked during the first two years?
 
I had a question about the secondary:

Because I am so late in the game, is it worth it to do an optional essay? I have not started the optional essay yet but was wondering whether it was worth it?

Also, what about the "other educational experiences"? I have volunteered abroad and learned a lot about culture but I already mentioned those same volunteering experiences elsewhere, but not so much about the culture I learned....is it worth it to fill this part out?

Thanks in advance!
 
leafs2012 said:
I had a question about the secondary:

Because I am so late in the game, is it worth it to do an optional essay? I have not started the optional essay yet but was wondering whether it was worth it?

Also, what about the "other educational experiences"? I have volunteered abroad and learned a lot about culture but I already mentioned those same volunteering experiences elsewhere, but not so much about the culture I learned....is it worth it to fill this part out?

Thanks in advance!
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I just submitted mine today without an optional essay, but I did write to the limit on another optional question.
 
astr1x said:
If you could try and rememeber some interview questions/interview tips that would be great! and any random information that may be interesting/useful 🙂

Good luck!
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Phew... what a few days. 6 hours of flying and 10 hours of driving in 30 hours.

The interview went great, at least in my opinion. Some of the other people interviewing didn't feel too confident about their interviews but I had an amazing faculty member.

Questions at the interview were really conversational. There was an ethical question, but I was prepared for it from the interview feedback section on here, and all other questions were spurred from my application.

Some things about the school that might interest some of you guys (if you haven't already researched it):


PROS: They offer scholarships to some students ($5k-$15k). USMLE step 1 pass rate for the past few years at BU has been 99%, and average score last year was 18 pts higher than national average. The school is pass fail ONLY (none of the "honors, high pass, pass, fail adjusted grading scales...). The students really really stressed that this is one of the best things about the school curriculum and urged us not to go to a school that internally ranks its students.
BU is finishing a medical student apartment complex that will have reserved spots for all first year students (for all four years) starting next year. The apartments not only are brand new, but they're tied into the university online system and are offered (as of now, the school may continue getting funding to continue to lower costs) $300-400 less than market price in Boston.

Cons Boston does not have happy hours and alcohol is never on sale in bars. I.e. no drink specials 🙁.
Seriously though.. I had 2 students point this out to me during the day haha.

Also, those of you taking a taxi. From Logan to the front of the medical school cost me $20.40 and on the way back it was $19.60. So if you budget $25 for these you should be fine.

Feel free to pm me with any specific questions I'd be happy to help anyone else interviewing
 
western1 said:
Cons Boston does not have happy hours and alcohol is never on sale in bars. I.e. no drink specials 🙁.
Seriously though.. I had 2 students point this out to me during the day haha.
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An amendment to repeal the anti-happy hour law was being considered in a casino bill that was passed last week, getting all of our hopes up, but the amendment ended up getting shelved until next year. If you're lucky, they'll pass it before school starts for you next August. 🙂🙂

Some more colorful kvetching...
http://blogs.bostonmagazine.com/boston_daily/2011/11/15/massachusetts-legislators-happy-hour-fun/
 
Verified on 11/29 but had submitted my primary 10/29 and still haven't received the BU secondary. When should I be worried? (If it helps I'm Canadian).
 
SH3 said:
Verified on 11/29 but had submitted my primary 10/29 and still haven't received the BU secondary. When should I be worried? (If it helps I'm Canadian).
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It may be different for you, but I received the secondary after submitting the AMCAS before it was verified. This was in August though. Since the deadline is soon and they will go on break, I would call or email them to ask. Did you check your email's spam folder?
 
elblackwell said:
It may be different for you, but I received the secondary after submitting the AMCAS before it was verified. This was in August though. Since the deadline is soon and they will go on break, I would call or email them to ask. Did you check your email's spam folder?
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They just sent me a "No response follow up" email and I emailed them back so I should be getting it soon? Thanks for the heads up though.
 
western1 said:
USMLE step 1 pass rate for the past few years at BU has been 99%, and average score last year was 18 pts higher than national average.
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Are you sure about the 18 point number?
 
I've got to say, that after this interview day BU is definitely one of my top choices!

The curriculum is great, and the student atomsphere seemed really welcoming and positive. Seems like facultry really is involved in their students' learning.

My interviewer knew my file inside out, and asked really detailed questions. Mostly geared towards why I did certain things, to understand my thinking behind my choices. Oh, and there was an ethical question. Recommend brushin up on ethics, if you havent taken a course beforehand.

Best of luck to all of you interviewing!! Hopefully will see some of you in 2012!
 
SH3 said:
They just sent me a "No response follow up" email and I emailed them back so I should be getting it soon? Thanks for the heads up though.
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I checked and I got a web account registration email right after I designated BU on my AMCAS. Have you tried calling?
 
astr1x said:
If you could try and rememeber some interview questions/interview tips that would be great! and any random information that may be interesting/useful 🙂

Good luck!
Click to expand...

I interviewed 11/14. It was very relaxed and conversational. The interviewer started by asking me to summarize why I wanted to be a doctor and what events lead me to come to that decision. After a long conversation about that he asked me to elaborate on my extracurriculars that he found important. He also asked me very detailed questions about my research, so if you do research be sure you know it inside and out. Lastly, I actually did not get asked an ethical question so don't be surprised if it doesn't come up, but I would still prepare for it... I did.

Good Luck
 
What...the no-happy-hour thing is a LAW? So lame! I live off of happy hour to try new restaurants and food as a poor student 😛

Flying in later today for an interview Monday. Really excited to explore Boston over the weekend.
 
western1 said:
PROS: They offer scholarships to some students ($5k-$15k). USMLE step 1 pass rate for the past few years at BU has been 99%, and average score last year was 18 pts higher than national average. The school is pass fail ONLY (none of the "honors, high pass, pass, fail adjusted grading scales...). The students really really stressed that this is one of the best things about the school curriculum and urged us not to go to a school that internally ranks its students.
BU is finishing a medical student apartment complex that will have reserved spots for all first year students (for all four years) starting next year. The apartments not only are brand new, but they're tied into the university online system and are offered (as of now, the school may continue getting funding to continue to lower costs) $300-400 less than market price in Boston.
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To make sure everyone knows, pass/fail is only for the first two pre-clinical years; the clinical years are regular honors/high pass/pass/fail. The students are not internally ranked, and AOA is decided by step scores, clerkship grades, extracurriculars, and other factors that noone really knows.
I think another huge pro is in fact the hospital, and the patients, and the clinical things that you get to see that you might not see at many other places.
 
elblackwell said:
I checked and I got a web account registration email right after I designated BU on my AMCAS. Have you tried calling?
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The Admissions Office replied to my email saying they are resending the account password today but, haven't received it yet :scared:. I'm a Canadian so it would be a long distance phone call so holding out till tomorrow to call 😛. Thanks for the help though 😀
 
Agree.

Just a shout out to BUSM applicants! I am fourth year and applying for residencies -- so far I have over 25 interview invites in a very competitive specialty, and four in top ten programs!!!

I couldn't be happier with my BU experiences and the opportunities now open to me!!!

Good luck to all of you!
 
I tried to search for it, but couldn't find it...

What time does the interview day generally end?
 
Rejected on a Sunday afternoon pre-interview....looks like the adcom is working overtime. OOS
 
did anyone get interviews without doing the optional essay?

I am getting caught up with school and am wondering if its worth it. I would love to go here, my stats are 3.76cgpa, 31Q (12,8,11) and 3.69 sgpa.

what should i even discuss in the optional essay if i should do it? I was thinking how i can contribute to the diversity of the incoming class.

Also, for the educational summary part that is optional (i.e have you spent time in another country), i have spent time in another country learning their culture but discussed this a lot in other areas.
 
leafs2012 said:
did anyone get interviews without doing the optional essay?

I am getting caught up with school and am wondering if its worth it. I would love to go here, my stats are 3.76cgpa, 31Q (12,8,11) and 3.69 sgpa.

what should i even discuss in the optional essay if i should do it? I was thinking how i can contribute to the diversity of the incoming class.

Also, for the educational summary part that is optional (i.e have you spent time in another country), i have spent time in another country learning their culture but discussed this a lot in other areas.
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I got an interview relatively early in relation to when I sent my application in and didn't do the optional essay. I don't have stellar stats either.
 
Rejected today ~1 wk after getting the 30 day email. Turned my stuff in pretty late (11/1) but thought I would still manage to get an interview. 3.85 sGPA, 3.82 cGPA, 36Q, will have my master's in BME by the end of this year. Good luck to everyone else!
 
slowbutsteady said:
Agree.

Just a shout out to BUSM applicants! I am fourth year and applying for residencies -- so far I have over 25 interview invites in a very competitive specialty, and four in top ten programs!!!

I couldn't be happier with my BU experiences and the opportunities now open to me!!!

Good luck to all of you!
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Thank you for your update! You are truly an inspiration!! 😀 Good luck to you!
 
western1 said:
I got an interview relatively early in relation to when I sent my application in and didn't do the optional essay. I don't have stellar stats either.
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Could you please elaborate on "relatively early"? I don't have a good sense of what timing to expect, whether to hear about a potential II or a rejection. I got the 30-day email 2 days ago (decided to add the school to AMCAS later on, don't know why I never had it on there in the first place :smack:, but did a very quick secondary turn-around).

Thanks!
 
I got the 30 day email on Oct 23......think it's worth calling the admissions office and casually inquire?
 
tripledouble said:
I got the 30 day email on Oct 23......think it's worth calling the admissions office and casually inquire?
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You probably don't want to bug them... we all know that this is huge pain-in-the-butt waiting game, period.
 
Neuralbunny said:
Could you please elaborate on "relatively early"? I don't have a good sense of what timing to expect, whether to hear about a potential II or a rejection. I got the 30-day email 2 days ago (decided to add the school to AMCAS later on, don't know why I never had it on there in the first place :smack:, but did a very quick secondary turn-around).

Thanks!
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Relatively early for me was about 4 days after my 30 day notice.
 
Rejected a month ago (I'm new to SDN). Complete early September.

Hats off to those that somehow made it through the mob for an interview. Luck to all.
 
Anybody else get a verify contact info email at 1:22 am? What's that mean been complete since july?
 
tap5103 said:
Anybody else get a verify contact info email at 1:22 am? What's that mean been complete since july?
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Not sure what it means.. I interviewed in October. Post-interview decisions will be in January and March, but in all likeliness, it's probably just a check-up to make sure that everyone's contact info is still up-to-date.
 
I got the following around midnight:

We are writing to verify your contact information. The contact information listed below is an exact duplicate of what we have in our database. Please review it to confirm that this is the contact information you wish to have listed for BUSM.

Does this mean that I might have a chance for an interview?
 
I got the same email. I guess since we haven't been rejected we still have a chance but I dont think this means it's some type of guarantee or something. I think they are simply making sure that the contact info is current for those that haven't been rejected yet.
 
Does anyone know when in January the committee send out final decisions? I interview 11/19 and sent a LOI. Really liked BU and would love to be in Boston
 
annabanana1690 said:
Does anyone know when in January the committee send out final decisions? I interview 11/19 and sent a LOI. Really liked BU and would love to be in Boston
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January 5th based on last year's forum. They trickle out throughout the week. Here's to 3 more weeks : ) Cheers!

Anyone else going slowly insane?
 
I also got the contact verification email... like everyone else here is hinting, it's probably wishful thinking that this email indicates that a nice email will soon arrive...
 
ilovechemistry said:
I got the following around midnight:

We are writing to verify your contact information. The contact information listed below is an exact duplicate of what we have in our database. Please review it to confirm that this is the contact information you wish to have listed for BUSM.

Does this mean that I might have a chance for an interview?
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I got it post interview so they may just be checking up on us. Not sure..
 
Yep, I got it too (post-interview), and I'm about 99% sure that this doesn't mean jack and that everyone gets it lol 🙂
 
annabanana1690 said:
Does anyone know when in January the committee send out final decisions? I interview 11/19 and sent a LOI. Really liked BU and would love to be in Boston
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The dean said "around January 10th" on my interview day.
 
annabanana1690 said:
Does anyone know when in January the committee send out final decisions? I interview 11/19 and sent a LOI. Really liked BU and would love to be in Boston
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According to Dr Witzburg at the interviews this year, they're shooting for around Jan 10.
 
tap5103 said:
Anybody else get a verify contact info email at 1:22 am? What's that mean been complete since july?
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i did. so i think they r ready to send out decisions lol. fingers crossed
 
Last edited:
Haha, I read this morning's email on my phone and only saw the MEDADMS@bu part...worst cock tease ever. 😀
 
What if I haven't received the email at all............REJECTION?
 
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