2013-2014 Northwestern University Application Thread

Discover Your Odds of Getting into Medical School
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Christy7080 said:
I emailed Northwestern two days ago to ask about their secondary application process. They responded saying I would receive an email with the secondary in a week or two. HOWEVER I just got an email this morning saying they are no longer considering my file.

Does anyone know if it is possible that they are no longer considering me because I sent them an email? ...MSAR says they send secondaries to all verified AMCAS applicants...
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Please let us know what happens with this... Very concerning.
 
This is concerning, but should not reflect on medical education at Northwestern.
 
Amygdarya said:
This is concerning, but should not reflect on medical education at Northwestern.
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It probably doesn't, but it still may give Northwestern a more negative reputation to residencies, etc.
 
neuronerd24 said:
It probably doesn't, but it still may give Northwestern a more negative reputation to residencies, etc.
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I seriously doubt it will impact how Northwestern medical graduates will be perceived by residency program directors.. It *will* impact the researchers concerned, it *may* impact some research funding and regulations at Northwestern (though not by much), but, since it has nothing to do with medical education, it won't affect medical students.
Don't worry, people in academia (and residencies are part of academia) do know the difference between "misbehaving" researchers and med students. Plus, unfortunately, this kind of research "misbehavior" is not that rare: I know of some other similar examples; however, med students were not affected at all and matched to many good residencies.
 
Cambover said:
Northwestern is a huge place like all academic medical centers. What that PI did was completely reprehensible, but won't effect more than his lab or perhaps his institute in the long run.
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Completely agree with this.
 
YankeeBean said:
I wonder where it is!
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Of the schools I applied, Colorado and NU haven't even sent primary confirmations and yet other schools are sending people interview invites. I have a friend who thought NU was giving her a silent rejection. This process is so different.
 
Heads up - received the Northwestern secondary half an hour ago, but it was marked as spam in my email. Might want to check those spam folders!
 
Secondary out. Best of luck everyone! 👍

Essays are the same as last year but with a 250 word limit instead of 300.
 
The MSTP prompt is completely different:

Why did you choose your undergraduate major? How does the subject appeal to you? (200 words)

Name a scientific paper that you have read recently that had a strong impact on you and describe what impact it had. (200 words)

Discuss a current unanswered question in biomedical research that you find particularly interesting and what research you would like to see done to address it. (200 words)

What is the most gratifying research experience you have had to date and why? What was the greatest obstacle you had to overcome in research and how did you overcome it? (200 words)

How do you envision your career after you complete your training, including residency and fellowship? What aspects of your life and career will be most satisfying? What frustrations can you envision in your future career, and how do you hope to handle them? (200 words)

Please describe your current research interest as you plan your research training. (400 words)
 
I still haven't gotten a secondary...
 
I understood from family friends who are physicians that a large portion of school ranking and administration comes from NIH funds. How would this affect the funds available for resources at the medical school? While our future pathways may not be affected directly, would this be indirectly by a lack of funds to the school? Along with private donations to the school?
 
I am interested in applying for the MSTP so I tracked MSTPs at various schools for several years. Does anyone have any inside story as to why the leadership at this school has changed so much in the past few years?
 
WorfoSAUR said:
Neither have I. My LizzyM score is a 78 and submitted my primary on day one. Do they do pre-screens on applications?
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I don't think they screen. If you look at previous year's thread, it took people up to a week or so to receive the secondary, so don't sweat it 🙂
 
Can someone post the secondary for those of us who haven't received it? (Also to answer above poster, there is no secondary screening)
 
Essay 1: Given the distinctive educational philosophy and curriculum at FSM, describe how your personal characteristics and learning style would fit the institution.

Essay 2: Describe the coping skills (not problem solving skills) you use when confronted with difficult situations

Essay 3: Describe your career plans and goals. Be as specific as your current thinking will allow.

Essay 4: (if applicable): If you have (or expect to have) a year or more between college graduation and Medical school matriculation, describe your activities and/or plans.

Essay 5 (on the diversity page): If you wish, use this space to provide more detail about your selections [note: this is about your racial background, sexual identity, and social background. Gotta love these when you are a white, heterosexual, middle class male] above and how you would bring diversity to the Northwestern community.

Each essay is limited to 250 words
 
WorfoSAUR said:
Essay 1: Given the distinctive educational philosophy and curriculum at FSM, describe how your personal characteristics and learning style would fit the institution.

Essay 2: Describe the coping skills (not problem solving skills) you use when confronted with difficult situations

Essay 3: Describe your career plans and goals. Be as specific as your current thinking will allow.

Essay 4: (if applicable): If you have (or expect to have) a year or more between college graduation and Medical school matriculation, describe your activities and/or plans.

Essay 5 (on the diversity page): If you wish, use this space to provide more detail about your selections [note: this is about your racial background, sexual identity, and social background. Gotta love these when you are a white, heterosexual, middle class male] above and how you would bring diversity to the Northwestern community.

Each essay is limited to 250 words
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the last essay can only be aobut " racial background, sexual identity, and social background" ? and not any other way we could bring diversity? also white middle class male :/
 
yoyohomieg5432 said:
the last essay can only be aobut " racial background, sexual identity, and social background" ? and not any other way we could bring diversity? also white middle class male :/
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I would assume you can talk about how you would bring diversity, but the essay prompt refers to the selections you make on the page above and the page focuses on those three things.
 
Those who haven't gotten a secondary - check your spam! This I the last one I've gotten and the only one to go to spam so far. I won't be applying because my fee would just be a donation, but good luck everyone!
 
also, is there any more specifics on the coping essay.

i.e. is it about dealing with stress? or dealing with death/other challenges as a physician?

as is the prompt just says difficult situation which is pretty broad.
 
yoyohomieg5432 said:
also, is there any more specifics on the coping essay.

i.e. is it about dealing with stress? or dealing with death/other challenges as a physician?

as is the prompt just says difficult situation which is pretty broad.
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Dealing with stress in general
 
how did you guys answer the question about the career you envision?

did you focus on one specialty? i was considering that but i have multiple areas of interest. there's not enough room to write about multiple, but don't want to come off as close minded by picking only one.
 
yoyohomieg5432 said:
how did you guys answer the question about the career you envision?

did you focus on one specialty? i was considering that but i have multiple areas of interest. there's not enough room to write about multiple, but don't want to come off as close minded by picking only one.
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I said a specialty, listed the reasons why, then added the disclaimer that I recognize my bias and am coming into medical school with an open mind. Then closed it by saying regardless of my specialty, I see myself in academic medicine. Hope that helps 👍

Also, just submitted!
 
I see this question more along the lines of private practice/academic medicine/health policy etc. But I also specified the area of medicine I'm most interested in after describing what kind of career I'd like to have.
 
Hmm ... Do they send the secondaries in batches? Haven't gotten mine yet :/
 
joonage said:
Hmm ... Do they send the secondaries in batches? Haven't gotten mine yet :/
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YankeeBean said:
I haven't either :/
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It's been mentioned before, but spam folder? I checked yesterday and there was nothing, but this morning it arrived in my spam folder. Otherwise it might be in batches and you'll probably get it tomorrow 👍
 
Bauman1535 said:
It's been mentioned before, but spam folder? I checked yesterday and there was nothing, but this morning it arrived in my spam folder. Otherwise it might be in batches and you'll probably get it tomorrow 👍
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Thanks for this, I didn't get one and just searched and found it in my spam folder. This is the first one that got kicked there, that's weird...
 
Nada in my inbox or spam folder...oh well, I'm sure it'll come in soon.
 
could anyone post the email address that the secondary is sent from? if we add to our contacts it might be a good way to oprevent others from having it arrive in their spam folder
 
Wondering why I haven't gotten this one yet... Submitted AMCAS on day 1 and 76 LizzyM
 
Are the secondaries sent out even if the primary hasn't been verified yet?
 
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