2013-2014 Boston University Application Thread

BU Medical Sciences
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YankeeBean said:
Has anyone who was verified early by AMCAS NOT received the secondary invite yet? It does BUSM screen?
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I was verified 6/10 and have not received the secondary yet. Hopefully it will come tomorrow. 🙂
 
I submitted my AMCAS 6/11, not verified, but received secondary 7/2. Seems like people who were verified haven't received the secondary...? Doesn't make sense.
 
I submitted 6/10, was verified on 6/28, and received the secondary on 7/3 around midnight! There are quite a few steps before you can actually view the secondary, though.
 
How do you receive secondaries? Is it by email? I'm not verified but several of the schools I've applied to have people saying they aren't verified but are receiving secondaries, so I just want to make sure I'm not missing anything.
 
Moxess said:
How do you receive secondaries? Is it by email? I'm not verified but several of the schools I've applied to have people saying they aren't verified but are receiving secondaries, so I just want to make sure I'm not missing anything.
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I got an email. You have to register first so you get a couple o emails from BU about the secondary.
 
Disaster. My application is on hold because of a missing signature.
 
Just got an email saying I'm complete!
 
What types of courses count for humanities?

I know philosophy does, what about government, fine arts or special studies?
 
If I am not mistaken, BU does an initial screen.

Quick question, do you have to have all of your letters uploaded before BU sends you their secondary?
 
Penguino92 said:
If I am not mistaken, BU does an initial screen.

Quick question, do you have to have all of your letters uploaded before BU sends you their secondary?
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Nope! But I think you need to be verified.
 
The admissions site states "2014 BUSM Supplemental Applications will be available the second week of July."

According to this forum that's just a lie?
 
I love the quarter system, but man.. filling out that prerequisite grid was annoying
 
So I took two semesters of Orgo lecture and two semester of Orgo lab non-concurrently. Does that still qualify as Lecture with Lab semesters? Technically they're related but different course designations, and if I input it as is then my chemistry requirement isn't met.
 
we can't submit until we're verified...
 
Can anyone comment on if BU screens and how stringent the screen is. I'm applying with a 4.0/37 so I should make it through, but I'm International so you never know...
 
hopefulMD12 said:
Can anyone comment on if BU screens and how stringent the screen is. I'm applying with a 4.0/37 so I should make it through, but I'm International so you never know...
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i have extremely similar stats and i got one.
 
Does anyone know if BUSM is rolling admissions or not?
 
According to their website, everyone gets a secondary. No pre-screen.
 
rfenzo said:
Disaster. My application is on hold because of a missing signature.
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Same thing happened to me. However, I've been marked complete at UVA and GW, so maybe only Boston U cares about letterhead/signature? Not sure what's happening.
 
Gene Parmesan said:
Same thing happened to me. However, I've been marked complete at UVA and GW, so maybe only Boston U cares about letterhead/signature? Not sure what's happening.
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Amazing user name
 
Just finished my final drafts for the three essays, but I'm going to go to sleep and take a fresh look at it tomorrow morning. Hopefully submitted by noon. Good luck, everyone!
 
Gene Parmesan said:
Same thing happened to me. However, I've been marked complete at UVA and GW, so maybe only Boston U cares about letterhead/signature? Not sure what's happening.
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Yeah I don't think they all prioritize it to the same degree. And I second the user name shout out.
 
Anyone not do either of the essays? I have a pretty intense autobiography along with my committee letter so I really don't think I have anything else to say.
 
Submitted 6/10 and verified 6/20 and still no secondary. Have the average MCAT according to MSAR and an above average GPA. One of my LOR writer is a new faculty. Maybe this person didn't upload the letter head? How do you guys know about the letter head?
 
SuperDhooper19 said:
Submitted 6/10 and verified 6/20 and still no secondary. 34 MCAT and 3.8+ GPA. Could I have possibly been screened out. I know Boston has a lot of applicants so do they do some screening before sending out secondaries?
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Directly from their website: "BUSM does not pre-screen information from AMCAS. All applicants indicating interest in BUSM on their initial AMCAS application will receive a secondary application from us in due time"
 
SuperDhooper19 said:
Submitted 6/10 and verified 6/20 and still no secondary. Have the average MCAT according to MSAR and an above average GPA. One of my LOR writer is a new faculty. Maybe this person didn't upload the letter head? How do you guys know about the letter head?
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I have literally the same scores and was verified later. Just got a secondary 15 minutes ago.
 
Just stayed up all night to submit the application after a few final touchups, and now I can't because I'm not verified yet 🙁.
 
I received the "Initial Contact" e-mail, but didn't get the second follow-up e-mail. Has this happened for anybody else?
 
BundleofHis said:
Anyone not do either of the essays? I have a pretty intense autobiography along with my committee letter so I really don't think I have anything else to say.
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I've been debating this as well. But, I really think that my personal statement and my letters say it all, and if I try to write another essay it'll just end up being repetitive and might annoy them. Pretty sure I'm just going to leave them blank. Have you decided what you're going to do?
 
Gobucks2014 said:
I've been debating this as well. But, I really think that my personal statement and my letters say it all, and if I try to write another essay it'll just end up being repetitive and might annoy them. Pretty sure I'm just going to leave them blank. Have you decided what you're going to do?
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I decided to leave both optional essays blank as well. For most schools, I would use this to explain being a reapplicant or what I've done since getting my bachelor's, but they covered that in separate sections - nothing else to say without being redundant. I'm sure this is why they make them optional. Good luck :luck:
 
Gobucks2014 said:
I've been debating this as well. But, I really think that my personal statement and my letters say it all, and if I try to write another essay it'll just end up being repetitive and might annoy them. Pretty sure I'm just going to leave them blank. Have you decided what you're going to do?
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Directed them to my autobiography in the shorter one and left the main optional essay blank. Hopefully that wasn't a poor decision!
 
I figure that given how large the applicant pool is, any opportunity to direct the conversation and steer the reviewer to the right parts of my application is critical.
 
I thought BUSM made it very clear not to write another essay unless you had something absolutely imperative to say, so I chose to leave it blank.

Also, I think it speaks well about a person if they don't feel compelled to unnecessarily answer every optional prompt. It shows the ability to use their judgement. It's probably a good way BUSM uses screens out the overly neurotic... but I could be wrong!
 
Is anyone else having difficulty uploading a picture? It keeps saying "The image was not saved because it does not meet the size requirements." I can't figure out how to make it work.
 
temporaryumm said:
Is anyone else having difficulty uploading a picture? It keeps saying "The image was not saved because it does not meet the size requirements." I can't figure out how to make it work.
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Resize the image to the dimensions they call for (2x2 I think) and it should work.
 
I just started my secondary application and under the letter of recommendation section it says:

"No Health Professions Advisory Committee letter is available to me for the following reason(s): Use the additional space provided to elaborate on your reason beyond what is provided in the drop-down menu. 2000 character limit, approximately 400 words"

My school does not have a health care professions committee and under the drop menu I indicated this. Do I still have to provide further explanation in the text box?
 
member6121 said:
I just started my secondary application and under the letter of recommendation section it says:

"No Health Professions Advisory Committee letter is available to me for the following reason(s): Use the additional space provided to elaborate on your reason beyond what is provided in the drop-down menu. 2000 character limit, approximately 400 words"

My school does not have a health care professions committee and under the drop menu I indicated this. Do I still have to provide further explanation in the text box?
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I opted for brevity on this one. My college also didn't have a premed committee, but any explanation I tried to write was just a longer way of saying "my college doesn't have a premed committee." I figured the space was mostly intended for nontrads with letters from employers/military/etc instead of professors.
 
McMeowerson said:
Resize the image to the dimensions they call for (2x2 I think) and it should work.
Click to expand...

I also had trouble and I resized it to 400x400 pixels (2"x2"). It uploaded, but the preview looks super compressed and not that easy to look at. Anyone else have this issue? Will they see it the same way I do? I assume so, but can't figure out how to make it show up non-compressed.
 
omg this grid thing is ridic....i hate being in a quarter system.

Does anyone have any advice on this?
 
mhm31 said:
I also had trouble and I resized it to 400x400 pixels (2"x2"). It uploaded, but the preview looks super compressed and not that easy to look at. Anyone else have this issue? Will they see it the same way I do? I assume so, but can't figure out how to make it show up non-compressed.
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To get rid of the squashie pic I would make the dimensions 400 pixels for the lower number, and lock it to keep the proportions the same. It will still fall within the size requirements and you won't be smashing your face.
 
I was verified early, and I received the secondary tonight for those who are worrying about not getting one.
 
So, what's the over/under for 2ndary apps submitted to BUSM so far? Any guesses?
 
If I am waiting for my MCAT score to come out in the next week or so, and add BU to my list of schools on the primary app, how long will it take till I receive the secondaries? I didn't add schools except one, because I wanted to wait for a score

Also, how long after I submit my secondary do I get fully verified?

Thanks!
 
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