2013-2014 Albany Medical College Application Thread
Started by JJMrK
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My understanding for Albany is that they only accept for the number of spots they have available. So they will start taking people off the UC list as soon as spots open up
Interviewed on 2/18 and just received a UC.. Kind of a bummer.. Thought I did well in the MMI..
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I don't think that's true. People interviewing now til April are still interviewing for a spot, not the waitlist or anything like that. So they are still spots open. I just can't believe they're not going to start pulling people from the UC list until June.... :-/
They do start pulling from the UC list before June (I believe some on this thread have already been accepted from UC). They just don't finalize a waitlist until June -- or at least that's what I was led to believe from my correspondence. There's always a chance to hear back at any time.
The admissions woman pretty clearly stated to us that they start with a pretty high bar for immediate acceptance, and the bar goes down several times throughout the year. When the bar goes down, those on UC who are above that level get an acceptance notification. After all interviews are done, they begin pulling from the top of the UC list to fill spots. Then in June they place the top leftovers onto the waitlist.
Yep, that's how I understand it as well. Glad to have corroboration. 🙂
They specifically told us that they rank all candidates selected for interview in a big list, but they cannot tell you where you rank on that list.
Don't be bummed. I'm sure you did very well in the MMI. UC isn't a bad status to have, it just means that your application as a whole wasn't at the very top of their list. From what I remember of the explanation they gave on my interview day, there will be a bunch of acceptances sent out after they finish interviewing, and then another bunch after people respond to those. The lady also said that they usually accept between 200 and 300 applicants for the 100 available spots. So, we just have to be in the top 25% of interviewees to get in. Of course, maintaining both patience and perspective is a tricky endeavor...
It is true... I was complete in August, interviewed 10/4, and was placed on the UC list late November. I got the acceptance email a month later on 12/23.
How I'm pretty sure it works is that as people interview, everyone gets ranked into one big list. If you are amazingly awesome and are at the very top, you get an outright acceptance. If you are not a good fit at all, you get an outright rejection. Everyone else gets put onto the UC list, and then the committee continues to fill spots by taking from the top of said list. So essentially, I wasn't super fabulous enough to get an outright acceptance, but I must have been pretty high on the UC list since I was only on it for about a month.
Hope this helps!
Dang I was on it for over several months now. Not very optimistic anymore :\
Accepted this AM at 7:08 AM EST! Interviewed 9/16. UC 11/19/2014. In-state. MCAT 30. First acceptance 🙂
Also accepted this morning. Reapplicant, interviewed mid-December, UC mid-January. OOS and this my first acceptance so far. I am beyond pumped! Does anyone know if there is a facebook group for the class of 2018?
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Accepted today too!
I haven't seen a facebook group yet. I don't know if any student makes it or if the orientation coordinators make it, since that is what last years class page looks like.
Congrats to everyone that's heard the good news. Glad to see there's been movement on the UC. That gives me hope. Do you guys mind sharing stats?
Accepted yesterday, interviewed ~2 weeks ago. Great start to spring break!
i know its probably been discussed all ready but can anyone comment on the likelihood of getting off hold at this school? got the email about a week ago
This very much depends on your academic numbers, application extras, and interview. As they will have ~1100 interviewees and matriculate ~100 (accept ~200+?), this information is just about the only thing that can help hazard a guess at chances. Sorry -- though maybe someone else has more insight!
Any chance of getting off the pre-interview hold list at this point or should I just assume rejection?
They are interviewing up until the end of April, so all hope is not gone.
Wow an under consideration less than a week later!
I got that email this morning as well. Almost identical stats but complete late September
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That was fast. Congrats!
Me too! I keep checking and no updates on my account. I am getting worried.
Do you mind telling us your stats?
Might want to give them a call -- I know that's led to resolution for some "overlooked" people.
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Just got the UC email today and I interviewed on 3/4. Good luck to everyone!
Can anyone tell me if the grading for medical students is still Excellent, Good, Marginal, and Unsatisfactory for the pre-clinical years? Also, is the pre-clinical grading on a curve (or in any way based on how other students perform) or is it instead based on a pre-set scale (i.e. 90+ = excellent, 80-89 = good...) set up before the students take an exam and not afterwards? Thank you.
The way I understood it was that grading was based on standard deviations. The students explained it as a modified pass/fail system so if you got over a certain standard deviation you got good or excellent etc.
Mostly correct. Excellent with Honors (EH) is usually +2 z-score and above, Excellent (E) is usually +1.5 - 2.0, Good (G) is -1.5 to +1.5, Marginal (M) is -2 to -1.5, and Unsatisfactory (U) is usually less than -2. As far as I know, the passing level is set at 70, so if the average for an exam is high and the standard deviation is small, someone with a -2 or lower can actually still get a G, so there are courses where nobody gets below a G. There have also been courses where it only took a z-score of +1 to get an EH.
Hi all.... I have an interview coming up in mid April. I would love some input on how to prepare for the MMI. Did any of you feel that it was somewhat directed to your own personal application or was it very general i.e. ethical situations? This will be my first interview ever and I am quite a bit nervous. Also, where what would be the recommended place to stay. I will be driving up from New York, so having a car will not be an issue. Thanks!
MMI: The situations are not tailored to your secondary at all, because everybody has the same scenarios that day. In fact, the interviewers might be seeing the prompt for the first time, so they are not going to be experts on the subject of discussion; they may not even be that opinionated about it. So just speak clearly and be able to back up your answers, because there will likely be follow-up questions.
I had good luck with TownePlace Suites by Marriott. They free breakfast and a shuttle van that will take you to the interview, or you can walk in less than 10 minutes.
The Hilton Garden Inn is great, because you don't even have to go outside to get to your interview - just cross the skybridge!
Grading: For most courses, the exam points are the only things that go into the grade. So if the exam was 100 questions, and the exam mean was an 80 with a standard deviation of 7, and you got an 87, then you will have a +1 z-score and likely a G for the theme. If you got a 95, then you would have >+2 and therefore likely an EH.
I had good luck with TownePlace Suites by Marriott. They free breakfast and a shuttle van that will take you to the interview, or you can walk in less than 10 minutes.
The Hilton Garden Inn is great, because you don't even have to go outside to get to your interview - just cross the skybridge!
Grading: For most courses, the exam points are the only things that go into the grade. So if the exam was 100 questions, and the exam mean was an 80 with a standard deviation of 7, and you got an 87, then you will have a +1 z-score and likely a G for the theme. If you got a 95, then you would have >+2 and therefore likely an EH.
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That totally depends on your situation. I really enjoyed my interview at Albany, so I might say it's worth it if you're still looking for more options.
If you already have an acceptance at your #1 choice, though... no, it's probably not worth it for a slim chance at acceptance at a place you probably wouldn't attend.
They UC most people so that people who interview later in the year aren't at a disadvantage in terms of the class filling up.
Hypothetical: If the score for automatic acceptance in October was a 90, and minimum for UC was a 70 and person A got an 80, then he would get placed UC until the bar was lowered to below 80, after which person A's status would change from UC to accepted. That automatic acceptance bar is lowered throughout the year. If person B interviewed in April and got an 80 and the acceptance bar had been lowered to 78 by that time, then he would get an automatic acceptance. So it is nicer in that sense to interview later. If you do equally as well in the spring as you would have in the fall, you are actually more likely to get accepted right away.
Disclosure: Didn't actually happen for me. I was interviewed in March but still was put on the UC list, like many posters here. It's a huge bucket they put people into in order to be conservative and not over-enroll, and it obviates the need to do admissions on a rolling process.
Disclosure: Didn't actually happen for me. I was interviewed in March but still was put on the UC list, like many posters here. It's a huge bucket they put people into in order to be conservative and not over-enroll, and it obviates the need to do admissions on a rolling process.
