2012-2013 Boston University Application Thread

Discover Your Odds of Getting into Medical School
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MedPR said:
No clue, but stats don't seem to be very important.

I have an ii with a 3.00 BPCM, 3.14 cGPA, 33Q (retake of a 28M). I'm a non-AA URM with average research, no pubs/posters, lots of clinical volunteering, some non-clinical, some leadership, lots of shadowing (500+ hours), and about 20 months working in a clinical lab. Nothing spectacular though.
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heliscomo said:
I would agree with this. I posted my EC's for the most part above (I know I'm forgetting something...) I have 2 publications from my summers of research, which some schools value highly, but I also have mediocre stats by most standards: 3.63 cgpa, 3.32 sgpa, 31S MCAT.

I wonder how much your personal statement and EC descriptions etc on AMCAS factor in to these decisions? Any ideas/opinions??
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Thanks for the info, guys. Yes, hispanic definitely makes you URM and gives you a big added advantage to your app. URMs are generally considered to be African/African American, American Indian, and Hispanic.

I guess the BU admissions criteria will remain a mystery as I anxiously await my decision. I'm not really hoping for much.
 
Hmm...I was complete 8/08 and they said they review applications in order, but they seem to have passed that date and I haven't had any word yet. Do you think I am on some sort of re-review?
 
Taranis said:
Hmm...I was complete 8/08 and they said they review applications in order, but they seem to have passed that date and I haven't had any word yet. Do you think I am on some sort of re-review?
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I have been complete since 7/9 and have not heard anything...no idea what's up.
 
I think at this point in the discussion we should all remember this post:

betheltim said:
Pretty sure the committees of schools that get 10,000+ applications follow a workflow that goes something like this:

1) Print off first page of every applicant's file.
2) Neatly sort pages into two stacks, one for qualified applicants, one for unqualified applicants.
3) Shred pages for unqualified applicants.
4) Appropriately shuffle pages for qualified applicants.
5) Toss pages into air.
6) Neatly sort pages into two stacks, one for face-up applicants, one for face-down applicants.
7) Shred pages for face-down applicants.
8) Repeat steps four through seven until number of face-up applicants is equal to number of interviews available.
9) Offer interviews to remaining applicants.
10) Interview all applicants in step nine.
11) Neatly sort pages into two stacks, one for post-interview qualified applicants, one for post-interview unqualified applicants.
12) Shred pages for post-interview unqualified applicants.
13) Appropriately shuffle pages for post-interview qualified applicants.
14) Toss pages into the air.
15) Neatly sort pages into two stacks, one for face-up post-interview qualified applicants, one for face-down post-interview qualified applicants.
16) Shred pages for face-down post-interview qualified applicants.
17) Repeat steps thirteen through sixteen until number of face-up post-interview qualified applicants is equal to the number of initial offers plus waitlist positions.

One could also consider a wind tunnel in lieu of the paper tossing method.
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heliscomo said:
no problem at all haha

I have fairly good EC's and they're pretty diverse in my opinion, which might help.

I was a competitive athlete for about 12-13 years (from elementary school until junior year of college) and competed internationally in my sport.
I also did two summers of research projects with oncologists at a major academic medical center.
I had a marketing internship during college which is obviously unrelated to medicine but shows versatility and varied interests.
I also volunteered at Planned Parenthood for two years throughout college.
I am an EMT and worked as an EMT in the community and with a club at my college.
Now I am in my gap year working at a major academic medical center in the emergency room. I also was senior editor of an undergrad medical journal at my college. I think that's it.

I made sure to be involved in a lot of interesting, non-cookie cutter stuff on a pretty constant basis. I know a lot of people do the same things I did but I really got a lot a lot a LOT of clinical exposure from all of my EC's that were medically related. The athletic stuff probably helps too. Oh I also tutored children at a shelter for battered women in my freshman year of college.👍
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We actually have similar ECs (minus the competitive athlete part), except yours are more extensive than mine I'd say. I'm also an EMT, and also work in an ER at a major teaching hospital giving me thousands of hours of clinical experience, and most of my ECs are not very cookie cutter (except obligatory volunteering). I'm not URM, so I'm probably at a disadvantage, but you've given me some hope, so thank you 🙂
 
cest la vie said:
Thanks for the info, guys. Yes, hispanic definitely makes you URM and gives you a big added advantage to your app. URMs are generally considered to be African/African American, American Indian, and Hispanic.

I guess the BU admissions criteria will remain a mystery as I anxiously await my decision. I'm not really hoping for much.
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I'm native hawaiian and even so, I don't think it helps all that much for a school like BU. They get 10k+ applicants and among those are likely many URMs with stats that would make them competitive even as an ORM. Not all URMs have low stats like me. I don't have a link, but I saw an AAMC spreadsheet of average stats by ethnicity and native hawaiians (although URM) are pretty much on par with caucasians in terms of matriculant stats.
 
heliscomo said:
I would agree with this. I posted my EC's for the most part above (I know I'm forgetting something...) I have 2 publications from my summers of research, which some schools value highly, but I also have mediocre stats by most standards: 3.63 cgpa, 3.32 sgpa, 31S MCAT.

I wonder how much your personal statement and EC descriptions etc on AMCAS factor in to these decisions? Any ideas/opinions??
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Well, I like to think my PS was well written, but I know that my AMCAS EC descriptions didn't help me at all. I just described my responsibilities and used the secondary to talk more about what I learned and why they were valuable experiences.
 
MedPR said:
I'm not hispanic or native american and even so, I don't think it helps all that much for a school like BU. They get 10k+ applicants and among those are likely many URMs with stats that would make them competitive even as an ORM. Not all URMs have low stats like me.
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Do you mind me asking what classifies you as URM? Keep in mind there are very few URMs that apply (compared to ORMs) and they are generally not compared to non-URMs in the applicant pool. If you have the URM classification it's bound to help because it's everyone's best interest to have good racial representation in our physicians.
 
cest la vie said:
Do you mind me asking what classifies you as URM? Keep in mind there are very few URMs that apply (compared to ORMs) and they are generally not compared to non-URMs in the applicant pool. If you have the URM classification it's bound to help because it's everyone's best interest to have good racial representation in our physicians.
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You quoted me before I had a chance to edit my post. I'm Native Hawaiian.

Yes, I agree that in general the URM tag helps, but I don't think it helps at every school. For example, since BU receives so many applications, it is possible that they receive many URM applicants with ~3.6/31. If they can fill their URM quota with those students they certainly will and the low-stat URMs won't get in.
 
Well, I knew it was coming. Rejected today! 3.57/mid-30's/OOS.

A really strangely worded rejection email that sounded kinda fake.

Don't really have much feeling about this one but happy to start hearing back from schools.
 
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heliscomo said:
Definitely have hope! Also I just checked your mdapps and I see you're interviewing at GW also! I'm gonna be there October 11 do maybe I'll see you ha
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Yup I'll be there on the 11th too. Hope to see you there!
 
Rejected tonight. 3.97 GPA, 32O MCAT, DIII Football athlete, 2 years of research with one publication, plenty of clinical work and volunteering, OOS applicant

Kinda bummed about this one as it was one of my top choices..but I got 19 more invites waiting!

Good luck to everyone who were offered an interview!
 
mtremblay said:
Rejected tonight. 3.97 GPA, 32O MCAT, DIII Football athlete, 2 years of research with one publication, plenty of clinical work and volunteering, OOS applicant

Kinda bummed about this one as it was one of my top choices..but I got 19 more invites waiting!

Good luck to everyone who were offered an interview!
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You have 19 invites? Or 19 schools to hear back from?
 
I was complete 8/7, and I just received this today:

"Dear ChartaBona,

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 will be contacted via email. 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."

Should I read into this much, or is it really just a "sorry we're running behind" letter? If people who were complete after me are getting R's, does that mean I made it past the preliminary reviews, but they're still on the fence about me?
 
ChartaBona said:
I was complete 8/7, and I just received this today:

"Dear ChartaBona,

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 will be contacted via email. 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."

Should I read into this much, or is it really just a "sorry we're running behind" letter? If people who were complete after me are getting R's, does that mean I made it past the preliminary reviews, but they're still on the fence about me?
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Just a generic sorry we're running late letter.
 
Can someone please post the secondary app/status check link? I deleted the email by accident!
Thanks
 
MedPR said:
Just a generic sorry we're running late letter.
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Last year many people reported getting a "30 day email" and then going on to receive an interview. It was viewed as a first cut, meaning that many other people didn't get that email, they just got rejected outright. So, I think that this may be a similar indication. I would view it as neutral to positive. Keep your head up, you're not out yet!
 
just go the "it has been 30 days since we sent you a notice indicating that your application was complete" email. i really hope ddb is correct in thinking this is a "making the first cut" email.
 
That's how it was last year. But this year they've been giving out interviews to people before that email is even sent out, so I don't know if it means passing the first cut any more than they're behind on applications.
 
Rejected today. Secondaries submitted Aug 20. =[
 
giants25 said:
That's how it was last year. But this year they've been giving out interviews to people before that email is even sent out, so I don't know if it means passing the first cut any more than they're behind on applications.
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I received the 30-day email on 8/24 and have heard nothing since...:whistle:
 
I'll be hitting the 19 day mark on Monday. :scared: Hopefully I get some in-state love.
 
levodopa said:
I'll be hitting the 19 day mark on Monday. :scared: Hopefully I get some in-state love.
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Haha, you know, the ceremonial "19-day mark". I got my 30 day email a few days ago, so it sounds like that's how things are rolling over at BU right now.
 
Rejected. 4.0/30Q - complete 8/20 - good luck to all who have made it this far. It seems to me that this year, if u didn't apply early, getting an interview is a complete lottery - regardless of stats
 
scottydsntkno said:
Rejected. 4.0/30Q - complete 8/20 - good luck to all who have made it this far. It seems to me that this year, if u didn't apply early, getting an interview is a complete lottery - regardless of stats
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Yea, that makes perfect sense.
 
rejected tonight hahahaha saw this one coming a mile away lol hahahahah 🙂

but hey i got a LOR request from Mayo and a secondary from wake, and i have already had 2 interviews, so I must be doing something right lol hahaha
 
riseagainsthoya said:
rejected tonight hahahaha saw this one coming a mile away lol hahahahah 🙂

but hey i got a LOR request from Mayo and a secondary from wake, and i have already had 2 interviews, so I must be doing something right lol hahaha
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rejection on a saturday? that's intense
 
^ yup saturday night......Guess they hated my app so much they decided to spend saturday night working just to reject me instead of sending in my rejection on monday. Rofl hahahahaha 😀
 
rejected this morning. 3.8/35. meh, kinda saw this one coming with the previous Boston Massacre stats...but still, on Sunday morning??!!! 🙁
 
bearintraining said:
rejection on a saturday? that's intense
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riseagainsthoya said:
^ yup saturday night......Guess they hated my app so much they decided to spend saturday night working just to reject me instead of sending in my rejection on monday. Rofl hahahahaha 😀
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magnolia210 said:
rejected this morning. 3.8/35. meh, kinda saw this one coming with the previous Boston Massacre stats...but still, on Sunday morning??!!! 🙁
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Well, they keep sending out emails apologizing for being behind, and everyone wants to hear their status changes ASAP....Desperate times, my friend....
 
Anyone else suffering from the hotmail outage? I haven't been able to access my email for days and don't even know if the server is receiving or rejecting them!! Microsoft has made no statement about the matter...

I have my Boston secondary essays completed, but no longer have access to the link to the secondary essay because it was on my hotmail account. If someone PM's me the link, can I submit my secondary? I don't remember if Boston is one of the school's that gives you a temporary account name and password via email, so not sure if even getting the link will help?

Advice anyone?
 
Maybe I'm wrong, but my guess is the rejections are automated and are scheduled to be sent out on the weekend to minimize network usage... I wouldn't take it personally.
 
greenbeam said:
Anyone else suffering from the hotmail outage? I haven't been able to access my email for days and don't even know if the server is receiving or rejecting them!! Microsoft has made no statement about the matter...

I have my Boston secondary essays completed, but no longer have access to the link to the secondary essay because it was on my hotmail account. If someone PM's me the link, can I submit my secondary? I don't remember if Boston is one of the school's that gives you a temporary account name and password via email, so not sure if even getting the link will help?

Advice anyone?
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advice: GMAIL!!!

c'mon who uses hotmail? In fact, you can create a gmail account today, and they ask if you want to upload all of your email from a different account. Simply enter your hotmail information when prompted and wala - all of your hotmail emails in a new and reliable gmail account. just make sure to update your email on amcas and with all other schools who require a direct change with their office. (and hopefully gmail will be able to extract everything for you even though hotmail is down).. gluck!
 
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