2012-2013 Stanford University Application Thread

Discover Your Odds of Getting into Medical School
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GorillaPanic said:
Hello all. I interviewed in October, accepted in November. If I remember right, I believe it is 1/3 accepted, 1/3 waitlist, 1/3 rejected after the interview. Although, according to to USNews, last year around 41% were accepted post-interview (perhaps some wait list movement?). The numbers for last year were 459 interviewed --> 190 accepted --> 86 matriculated.

In terms of how to best prepare for the MMI; you don't need to review your own activities, nor do you have to prepare to be an actor in a scenario with another actor. If I remember correctly, 8 of the stations were just one-on-one conversation with a rater regarding various questions about (very general) ethical situations in healthcare. I know this sounds daunting, but is was actually pretty straightforward. You don't really need any background knowledge to reason your way through an prompts -- they just want to see you take a reasonable approach to a complicated problem. If you can support your ideas with past experiences, then this is even better (as you buttress your point and stealthily share a little bit about a notable activity from your AMCAS that might subconsciously impress your rater).

These were unlike my other MMIs -- the raters actually were more conversational and asked many follow-up and clarifying questions which helped a lot when I got stuck. I also bombed my first two stations due to nerves, but it's important to remember that you have 8 other stations to really shine. Don't think about a past station's performance!

There may also be other stations where you and another applicant do a "teamwork" activity. Essentially, one applicant instructs the other applicant to make something without being able to see what the other person is doing. Just be patient, friendly, and offer constructive feedback and you'll be fine. Don't worry about actually finishing the task, as you most likely wont (nor will the raters actually inspect the final product).

If you absolutely feel the need to prepare, it wouldn't hurt to familiarize yourself with a few bioethics topics here:

http://depts.washington.edu/bioethx/topics/index.html

But be advised that this is NOT a necessity. Don't obsess over it -- just skim some of the pages here to get acquainted with some concepts if you absolutely must do something to feel more prepared. Also, it doesn't hurt to familiarize yourself with issues in health care reform.

Despite the attempt to make MMIs as standardized as possible, I firmly believe that there is a lot of subconscious bias from the raters. If you smile, talk clearly in a confident but friendly manner, and just have an overall likable demeanor, it will positively influence the raters' perception of you. Pretend the rater is a friend, not an adversary -- after all, the rater deeply wants to believe you are a person who deserves the spot in the class. Relax and be natural. Being genuine will score you huge points, I promise you. Saying what you think the raters wants to hear in a robotic fashion will certainly be to your disadvantage.
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Sorry to be a party pooper but this post--while super helpful and informative--kinda violates the non-disclosure agreement we signed!! I hope Dean Garcia doesn't see this 😛
 
wangers5270 said:
Sorry to be a party pooper but this post--while super helpful and informative--kinda violates the non-disclosure agreement we signed!! I hope Dean Garcia doesn't see this 😛
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I never made any mention of what the specific questions or teamwork activities actually entail. The MMI format is widely known and we were briefed ahead of time about the above. This does not violate the nondisclosure agreement.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2
 
GorillaPanic said:
I never made any mention of what the specific questions or teamwork activities actually entail. The MMI format is widely known and we were briefed ahead of time about the above. This does not violate the nondisclosure agreement.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2
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GorillaPanic said:
At least, I hope not :x

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Oh I guess that's true, he did mention the group work activities during his pre-MMI (why MMI) talk, and we got him to give some hints while he was talking. I was just worried about you mentioning more details about it. Anyways, in that case, you're just making people more neurotic about preparing 😛 😛 Sorry about that! 😍
 
wangers5270 said:
Oh I guess that's true, he did mention the group work activities during his pre-MMI (why MMI) talk, and we got him to give some hints while he was talking. I was just worried about you mentioning more details about it. Anyways, in that case, you're just making people more neurotic about preparing 😛 😛 Sorry about that! 😍
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No no no! Thank you for looking out! I edited my post a tiny bit to make sure I was speaking in vague enough terms 👍. Appreciate you 🙂

I hope that the take-away point of my post isn't "stress and study" but instead is "smile and be genuine." Although the resource I pointed to will hopefully give individuals neurotic enough to 'study' a little confidence boost by thinking they are more prepared. (Although pointing this out might diminish this placebo effect. Sorry y'all 😛).

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2
 
CardinalRules said:
Good luck to you all! I'm a 4th year at Stanford and I absolutely have loved my experience. If you're trying to decide, I share a lot about my time at Stanford in my blog. Hope it helps!

http://stanfordmedstudent.blogspot.com/
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Your blog is fantastic. Huge props for keeping it up over 4 years. Read your "Tuesdays with Larry" post, and I'm glad to see another person who thinks so highly of Dr. Zaroff.
 
CardinalRules said:
Good luck to you all! I'm a 4th year at Stanford and I absolutely have loved my experience. If you're trying to decide, I share a lot about my time at Stanford in my blog. Hope it helps!

http://stanfordmedstudent.blogspot.com/
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Thank you so much for this blog! It's a huge coincidence that I found it on the Internet yesterday, and here you are posting it yourself! Your posts are both entertaining and informative, and they've definitely answered some of my questions about med school, so thank you! Good luck with residency! I hope you get in where you want to go. 🙂
 
UrbanRiver said:
+1 i thought stanford was good about quick rejections

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+100 it's February and I have heard nothing from about 5-6 schools. Maybe they think they are just giving us our money's worth, stretch out the suspense.
 
Does anyone know the address to send the intention to matriculate form? For some reason, on my form it just says at the bottom--please send to the following address:

Then there is no address indicated. It looks like it might be cut off.

Thanks so much!!
 
Adventure533 said:
Does anyone know the address to send the intention to matriculate form? For some reason, on my form it just says at the bottom--please send to the following address:

Then there is no address indicated. It looks like it might be cut off.

Thanks so much!!
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Stanford School of Medicine
Office of MD Admissions
1265 Welch Rd., MSOB Suite X3C01
Stanford, CA 94305-5404
 
Does Stanford send out pre-interview rejections on a rolling basis or at the end in March? I haven't heard a peep since October... Are they sending anymore invites or is it over?
 
Member 1944 said:
Does Stanford send out pre-interview rejections on a rolling basis or at the end in March? I haven't heard a peep since October... Are they sending anymore invites or is it over?
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From what I can gather on SDN, they send out rejections in huge waves. There was one back in September (?) and another around late October (?). If you look back through the thread you can find the exact dates. Either way, it doesn't seem like they've sent out any other rejections since then. They're probably waiting until the end of interview season to let those still waiting know.
 
are there still spots at stanford left? i am excited for my early march interview but am I just interviewing for the waitlist this late?
 
leon sandcastle said:
are there still spots at stanford left? i am excited for my early march interview but am I just interviewing for the waitlist this late?
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No, you won't be interviewing for the waitlist. Mr. Vaughn told us that day that interviewing earlier does not give people an advantage in the admissions process, so I do think that since they review one interview group in each meeting, they probably only accept a certain number of the students from each interview group, allowing them to retain enough spots for people interviewing near the end. That's my speculation based upon what he told us.

I wish you the best of luck in the interview!
 
Interviewed 1/16, accepted yesterday! Seems like they are def on the roll with 3 wk notifications! Love them! San Fran here we come! Soooooooooo happy.
 
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alisvolatpropri said:
Interviewed 1/16, accepted yesterday! Seems like they are def on the roll with 3 wk notifications! Love them! San Fran here we come! Soooooooooo happy.
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Congrats! I interviewed the same day, but I'm out of town for the next 2 weeks so I won't know until then... 🙁 Did you get a call?
 
My friend submitted his application last year the first week of October and got rejected snail mail the first week of November (pre-interview). Are they just not going to send out the pre-interview rejections until March 9th this year? I wonder why they are holding out so long this year? I'm almost certain all the interview spots have already been given out.

It doesn't seem like they rejected anyone in the months of November, December, or January. I wonder why...are they just holding these for a massive rejection day?

Are we just looking at silent rejections?
 
To current students: how important is it to attend Admit Weekend, if I already know that I will be matriculating? As much as I would love to be there to meet future classmates, I'm not sure if it's worth it to pay to fly all the way out again if I'm already decided on going. What do you think?
 
leon sandcastle said:
are there still spots at stanford left? i am excited for my early march interview but am I just interviewing for the waitlist this late?
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Hey, I am also interviewing in early March and wondered the same thing. 🙂 I looked at last year's thread, and it seems there was at least one person who interviewed early march (the 7th?) and was accepted around the 25th. So there's hope!
 
I also received a folder-sized envelope with an acceptance letter in the mail. No call. Needless to say, I'm absolutely thrilled!
I interviewed 1/30, by the way, and got the letter yesterday -- quick, two-week turnaround.
 
blandone said:
I also received a folder-sized envelope with an acceptance letter in the mail. No call. Needless to say, I'm absolutely thrilled!
I interviewed 1/30, by the way, and got the letter yesterday -- quick, two-week turnaround.
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Hey, congrats. That was really quick. Do you live on the west coast? Snail mail is so unpredictable.
 
Yeah -- snail mail is totally unpredictable and they may not review the 30 applications all at once. But I am on the east coast.
 
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Accepted today!

Interviewed: 2/6/2013 Accepted: 2/15/2013

Stats: 33Q, 3.7 UG, PhD in progress.
 
blandone said:
Yeah -- snail mail is totally unpredictable and they may not review the 30 applications all at once. But I am on the east coast.
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The south here...Thanks for the info. And congrats again to those accepted.
 
afflatus said:
What are the dates again for Admit Weekend?
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From the website: "Admitted students will be invited to attend the 2013 Stanford Medical School Admit Weekend, which will begin Friday, April 6, and conclude on Saturday, April 7. MSTP specific activities will begin the afternoon of Wednesday, April 3, and the day of Thursday, April 4."

The email I received mentioned that some activities for everyone maybe planned starting 6 PM on Thursday, April 4.
 
I found out on the phone. Unrecognized 650 area code number ;-)
 
ironyeti said:
I found out on the phone. Unrecognized 650 area code number ;-)
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so I also interviewed on 02/06 and have not heard anything back. Should i assume that they did not accept me? The dean would most likely inform all the acceptees on the same day, right? This one probably hurts the most so far this cycle...
 
Is there a Facebook group for admitted students?
 
plabyrinth said:
so I also interviewed on 02/06 and have not heard anything back. Should i assume that they did not accept me? The dean would most likely inform all the acceptees on the same day, right? This one probably hurts the most so far this cycle...
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Some of us were notified by mail and did not receive a phone call. I got mine a day later than others reported here (2/16). I interviewed in January though....
 
Hey folks, I just wanted to be absolutely clear on something: there is no one-on-one interview at Stanford - it's just the MMI?
 
Has anyone heard back recently either by phone or mail? First of all, I hope it was fantastic news! When did you interview? Sorry, I'm getting a bit impatient/nervous/excited...
 
chhotu007 said:
Has anyone heard back recently either by phone or mail? First of all, I hope it was fantastic news! When did you interview? Sorry, I'm getting a bit impatient/nervous/excited...
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Accepted by mail about two weeks ago. Interviewed at the end of January. No phone call. But remember, just because someone who interviewed after you got an acceptance before does not mean you've been "passed over." That said, I remember certain... feelings... that I had when I saw ironyeti's and blandone's posts myself, so I don't blame you.
 
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WorksInProgress said:
Accepted by mail about two weeks ago. Interviewed at the end of January. No phone call. But remember, just because someone who interviewed after you got an acceptance before does not mean you've been "passed over." That said, I remember certain... feelings... that I had when I saw ironyeti's and blandone's posts myself, so I don't blame you.
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Hi, may I please ask whether the mail came to your permanent or preferred address?

Thanks!
 
obviouslyteal said:
They send to your preferred address in AMCAS, I believe you can check on your application to see if your address is up to date or call/email them to make sure it is. They also mention that you can give them an alternative phone number if you're outside the country, so I'm sure they're receptive to updating/confirming any contact info.
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Awesome. Thanks for the reply!:laugh:
 
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