2014-2015 University of Massachusetts Application Thread

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I_Cant_tell_you said:
Are you under the impression that everyone gets an interview? Take a look at threads from previous years....
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That wasn't what I was saying at all. My point was that they move pretty damn slowly.

However, I'm under the impression that my odds of getting one are pretty good.
 
ridethecliche said:
That wasn't what I was saying at all. My point was that they move pretty damn slowly.

However, I'm under the impression that my odds of getting one are pretty good.
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About half the applicant pool gets interviewed. It's been like this for years. With the MMI, they interviewed a little over 50% last year (it was something like 600/1100).

RedSox143 said:
I also attended UMass undergrad and heard a resounding yes from when Umass med spoke , from our premed committee and current med students that the class has a majority of students from the public system high majority UMass Amherst

Edit: just what I've heard, maybe they say that to make us feel good but hopefully they were sincere
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I'm not sure we're a majority, but certainly comprise the largest proportion. My class has a pretty good mix of schools. I think it's the first time we don't have a ton of students from Tufts (maybe they didn't apply?), but we have quite a few from Northeastern. Wellesley, Brandeis and McGill are also well represented in my class. Lot of people from liberal arts colleges in my class. Could be a quirk of my class, though.

ridethecliche said:
That's freaking weird. I was complete a few days after you and didn't get anything yet. Wait, does that date include the year it took them to get the letters together? Jeebus.
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You'll spare yourself a lot of anxiety if you try not to make sense of the admissions process at this school. It'll never go how you like or proceed in a logical fashion. Just chillax and let the process develop organically.
 
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Hey guys! Hope interviews and applications are going well for everyone! Any sub-30 interview invites/WLs/acceptances? If so, when were you complete and what were your stats? Thanks for the information and good luck to all applicants!
 
Dr. Stalker said:
Hey guys! Hope interviews and applications are going well for everyone! Any sub-30 interview invites/WLs/acceptances? If so, when were you complete and what were your stats? Thanks for the information and good luck to all applicants!
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Complete 8/13, II 8/22. Interviewed on 10/9. 3.67 cGPA, 3.60 sGPA, 29 MCAT retake up from a 22. UMass considers me URIM, so take that as you will.
 
Kaixes said:
Complete 8/13, II 8/22. Interviewed on 10/9. 3.67 cGPA, 3.60 sGPA, 29 MCAT retake up from a 22. UMass considers me URIM, so take that as you will.
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Are you in state or out of state?
 
@Kaixes , did they tell you if you'd hear a decision soon after oct 15th? I can't remember if Umass releases stuff in batches starting oct 15th or if they wait till after the new year.

Crossing my fingers for you!

StayCoolIceCube said:
It's not such a ridiculous question; OOS applicants are allowed to apply MD-PhD.
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MD-PhD and MD applications at the same institutions have absolutely nothing in common. MSTP is a totally different ball game and asking that question without specifying if it's MSTP is also kinda hilarious.
 
ridethecliche said:
@Kaixes , did they tell you if you'd hear a decision soon after oct 15th? I can't remember if Umass releases stuff in batches starting oct 15th or if they wait till after the new year.

Crossing my fingers for you!
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Thanks!

Regarding when we get a decision, the quote from the Dean was "You'll know when I know". But after reading through last year's thread it seems if we don't hear back by the end of the year, we won't hear back until February-March. It astounds me how many people interviewed as early as September and didn't get a decision until the end of the cycle compared to how many people would hear back within a month. She did note that they would try to move things quicker, particularly pulling people off the waitlist in April as opposed to May. Take that as you will. :S
 
II. complete august-ish.
do they only give you one date? I'd prefer to have it earlier since I'm home for holidays at certain times.
 
4malit said:
II. complete august-ish.
do they only give you one date? I'd prefer to have it earlier since I'm home for holidays at certain times.
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I just received a II as well, also complete late august I think. I just called, because I needed to change the date, and asked if any december dates were available--they were only able to give me dates later than the one I was scheduled for!
 
Does anyone else have "Interview Date:_______" written on their supplementary application in the top box, along with application number, etc.? I was looking at my secondary today and noticed this (with no date written) and am not sure if it has always been there or if it's potentially good news.
 
omgmedschool2019 said:
Does anyone else have "Interview Date:_______" written on their supplementary application in the top box, along with application number, etc.? I was looking at my secondary today and noticed this (with no date written) and am not sure if it has always been there or if it's potentially good news.
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Yeah, I have that too. I wouldn't read too much into it :/
 
I called to make sure I was complete early-mid October and they said it was under review. Would love to go to this school and stay in state, but hopefully going out of state for undergrad won't hurt me. Also I have low stats, but it would still be nice to know of a rejection or II asap.
 
StayCoolIceCube said:
Do you know if your interview date was the first one of the cycle? If so, they started kind of late compared to last year. Then again, not much activity on this thread to compare...
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They didn't specify. They did mention at the orientation that they had ~1100 applicants and were only planning to interview ~400 of them though. Maybe less interviews could explain the slower start?
 
Kaixes said:
They didn't specify. They did mention at the orientation that they had ~1100 applicants and were only planning to interview ~400 of them though. Maybe less interviews could explain the slower start?
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Chromey said:
Pretty sure 10/9 was the first interview date
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Ok thank you! I wonder if 1100 is less than the number of applicants they usually have by the beginning of October. Hopefully they're not done sending out all 400 invitations... :shy:
 
StayCoolIceCube said:
Ok thank you! I wonder if 1100 is less than the number of applicants they usually have by the beginning of October. Hopefully they're not done sending out all 400 invitations... :shy:
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When the admissions committee visited our school they told us that they typically receive~ 1000 applications and would interview half of them. From what I recall, they had roughly 1100 applicants last cycle and interviewed ~600 of them?
 
I wish this interview was sooner. I'm heading in towards the end of Jan.

Such a long waittttt!

They also don't let you move up if space opens up.

Much sad.

Does anyone know what % of interviewees get an acceptance? I have a feeling it's going to be in atleast the 50-60% range at the least right?

And woah, I didn't know they had an ED policy. There would have honestly been a pretty big chance that I would have applied to it had I known...
 
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ridethecliche said:
I wish this interview was sooner. I'm heading in towards the end of Jan.

Such a long waittttt!

They also don't let you move up if space opens up.

Much sad.

Does anyone know what % of interviewees get an acceptance? I have a feeling it's going to be in atleast the 50-60% range at the least right?

And woah, I didn't know they had an ED policy. There would have honestly been a pretty big chance that I would have applied to it had I known...
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It's a class size of 125 and half the class is supposedly pulled off the waitlist so... something something math.
 
Kaixes said:
It's a class size of 125 and half the class is supposedly pulled off the waitlist so... something something math.
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Hah. I don't know if that's enough data!

There are way too many hypotheticals to that, though I'm guessing that they admit more than their class and still have to pull from their waitlist. Regardless, this means that getting an interview is a pretty good sign if they only interview 400-500.
 
ridethecliche said:
I wish this interview was sooner. I'm heading in towards the end of Jan.

Such a long waittttt!

They also don't let you move up if space opens up.

Much sad.

Does anyone know what % of interviewees get an acceptance? I have a feeling it's going to be in atleast the 50-60% range at the least right?

And woah, I didn't know they had an ED policy. There would have honestly been a pretty big chance that I would have applied to it had I known...
Click to expand...

Med school ED applications are totally different from college ED applications. For medical schools, you really have to be in the top 1% of applicants in order to have a shot at getting in ED. If you're not a superstar student and still decide to apply ED, you just end up shooting yourself in the foot because all your other applications will be submitted late.
 
ridethecliche said:
Hah. I don't know if that's enough data!

There are way too many hypotheticals to that, though I'm guessing that they admit more than their class and still have to pull from their waitlist. Regardless, this means that getting an interview is a pretty good sign if they only interview 400-500.
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Actually I heard the opposite - that they're not allowed to accept more than their class size, which would explain the huge waitlist movement. I'm guessing the process is so slow because they want to have a large pool of interviewees before making decisions and flooding us with them in February.
 
StayCoolIceCube said:
Med school ED applications are totally different from college ED applications. For medical schools, you really have to be in the top 1% of applicants in order to have a shot at getting in ED. If you're not a superstar student and still decide to apply ED, you just end up shooting yourself in the foot because all your other applications will be submitted late.
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Had no idea, thanks!

Kaixes said:
Actually I heard the opposite - that they're not allowed to accept more than their class size, which would explain the huge waitlist movement. I'm guessing the process is so slow because they want to have a large pool of interviewees before making decisions and flooding us with them in February.
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Huh. Interesting how every school has it differently.

So they potentially accept 120 or so and pull about 60ish from the waitlist of 400-500 interviewed.

Haha this isn't really helpful but I guess it's fun to think about. I want to do a lot of prep for this guy since I'd love to go here.
 
Just got an II!!!! First one of the season!

Lizzy M ~ 70. Complete Mid-August. Interview spot was for Mid-Feb.
 
II this morning! Complete mid-August and LizzyM = 75 (3.8/37). The date I was offered was early Feb. Keep your head up everyone, they're definitely still reviewing.
 
ridethecliche said:
Complete mid august and a II as well. PSYCHED!
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ridethecliche said:
I wish this interview was sooner. I'm heading in towards the end of Jan
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It's weird/worrisome that at the end of October, Umass was already booking interviews through the end of January. How many interview slots do they have left? I hope they aren't almost out of invitations 🙁 And where are all the MA applicants on SDN this year? This thread has been completely dead, yet people must be getting interviews for October-January...
 
I'd guess they're re-reviewing apps. I had everything submitted mid august, but got the 'complete' email in sept sometime and was sent a II in late october for the end of jan.

The two posters above got II's a few weeks after I did and are interviewing about 1-2 weeks after me. I think they just release them in batches.

Edit: 'Complete' is from the green circle and secondary being closed off. I applied to lots of schools getting everything mixed up although umass has a system that gives dante's circles of hell a run for their money.
 
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That said, yeah, this thread is really lonely this year. C'mon peepz!
 
ridethecliche said:
I'd guess they're re-reviewing apps. I had everything submitted mid august, but got the 'complete' email in sept sometime and was sent a II in late october for the end of jan.

The two posters above got II's a few weeks after I did and are interviewing about 1-2 weeks after me. I think they just release them in batches.
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Are you sure you got a "complete" email? I never got one and now I'm worried I was supposed to...mind pasting it here (or in PM) & which email address it came from?

Thanks so much!
 
StayCoolIceCube said:
Are you sure you got a "complete" email? I never got one and now I'm worried I was supposed to...mind pasting it here (or in PM) & which email address it came from?

Thanks so much!
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I never got a complete email either,the symbol turned green in my portal and my secondary automatically became closed from further edits sometime in Mid-August.

Hang in there, I'm sure your II will come!
 
I got an II today as well. If I remember correctly UMASS has interviewed into March the last couple cycles.
 
I'd rather stay as anonymous as possible but I interviewed after September
 
ridethecliche said:
Hah. I don't know if that's enough data!

There are way too many hypotheticals to that, though I'm guessing that they admit more than their class and still have to pull from their waitlist. Regardless, this means that getting an interview is a pretty good sign if they only interview 400-500.
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UMMS does not admit more than the class size. The school cannot accept more than 125, as there is only enough funding for 125 students per class (your tuition is subsidized by the Commonwealth, yada-yada). This is a major reason why the cycle here is so long. I'm not sure how many people come off the waitlist, but it is a large number. Bear in mind that the wait list here is a bit different in that this school doesn't overaccept, so your chances of getting in are still decent even if you're on the waitlist

For anyone wondering about the quality of education we have here, last year's median Step 1 score for UMMS was 236 (national was 228). With the exception of a couple years, we have consistently scored above the national average over the past 10 years. Plus, we're a true P/F school (no ranking for the preclinical years).
 
MedWonk said:
UMMS does not admit more than the class size. The school cannot accept more than 125, as there is only enough funding for 125 students per class (your tuition is subsidized by the Commonwealth, yada-yada). This is a major reason why the cycle here is so long. I'm not sure how many people come off the waitlist, but it is a large number. Bear in mind that the wait list here is a bit different in that this school doesn't overaccept, so your chances of getting in are still decent even if you're on the waitlist

For anyone wondering about the quality of education we have here, last year's median Step 1 score for UMMS was 236 (national was 228). With the exception of a couple years, we have consistently scored above the national average over the past 10 years. Plus, we're a true P/F school (no ranking for the preclinical years).
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According to MSAR, they interviewed 572/1000 applicants last year. So about 25% acceptance right off the bat, but I'm guessing it's closer to twice that with waitlist movement etc.

Thanks for the info. Much appreciated. I wish my interview was sooner. I'm really excited for this!
 
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