2015-2016 Rush Medical College Application Thread

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Just out of curiosity , do you guys think if someone has multiple acceptances, shouldn't they just choose the top 2 schools they want to attend and withdraw from others?
There are so many people waiting just to get an opportunity to interview.
I would withdraw if I was in that position.
 
prayer525 said:
Just out of curiosity , do you guys think if someone has multiple acceptances, shouldn't they just choose the top 2 schools they want to attend and withdraw from others?
There are so many people waiting just to get an opportunity to interview.
I would withdraw if I was in that position.
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I completely agree. But I also think that schools know this and take this into account when they determine how many people they want to interview/accept. So I don't think someone giving up their spots necessarily helps those of us who haven't gotten an interview. Maybe for waitlist. Just my 2 cents.
 
Have the interview Wednesday, any advice? also does anyone know how long they typically get back to interviewees? thanks for any input
 
Boilermaker11 said:
Have the interview Wednesday, any advice? also does anyone know how long they typically get back to interviewees? thanks for any input
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2.5 weeks. At the interview day, they'll tell you the exact day and time (morning) you can expect to hear back
 
Would anyone who has an II mind sharing what January and February dates were listed/available? I'm living abroad and trying to plan my dates in the US accordingly. Thanks!
 
Are they receptive to ITA e-mails? Thanks you!!
 
prayer525 said:
Just out of curiosity , do you guys think if someone has multiple acceptances, shouldn't they just choose the top 2 schools they want to attend and withdraw from others?
There are so many people waiting just to get an opportunity to interview.
I would withdraw if I was in that position.
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No, not before I have the financial aid package for every school I get accepted to. Most people, I assume, are also in the position of not having the luxury to ignore the costs of med school.

That said, if I did have that luxury, then yes I would. Although keep in mind it won't help you get an II, it only helps those in post interview consideration.
 
rukia013 said:
Sorry to hear about that 🙁 Was it pre- or post- interview? Wishing you the best for the rest of your cycle!
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Thanks. It was pre-interview. Complete 8/3. Best of luck to you guys!
 
Rejected, and the email says their secondary invitation mentioned a 150 service hour requirement. That definitely wasn't in the secondary email and I don't see it after a quick glance on their site. What?
 
CowboyNiceguy said:
Rejected, and the email says their secondary invitation mentioned a 150 service hour requirement. That definitely wasn't in the secondary email and I don't see it after a quick glance on their site. What?
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That is really odd, I don't remember ever reading about a service requirement either, only that they "highly value" community service. Well, I guess all the speculation around here about there being a hard-and-fast cutoff is true! Take note, future applicants! And sorry to hear about your rejection, I can sense mine coming soon too.
 
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CowboyNiceguy said:
Rejected, and the email says their secondary invitation mentioned a 150 service hour requirement. That definitely wasn't in the secondary email and I don't see it after a quick glance on their site. What?
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They said this at an info session at my school and gave out handouts on it too. I never saw it on their website though. Then again, it's next to impossible to find anything on their website.
 
JackieJormpJormp said:
That is really odd, I don't remember ever reading about a service requirement either, only that they "highly value" community service. Well, I guess all the speculation around here about there being a hard-and-fast cutoff is true! Take note, future applicants! And sorry to hear about your rejection, I can sense mine coming soon too.
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I don't remember exactly where the requirement was published, but the requirement is 150 hours of community service and 150 hours of clinical experience. An activity can count for both if it is something like volunteering in a clinical setting, but in that case the number of hours must total 300.

Accepted this morning also!
 
I believe that it's out there somewhere. But it's not on the admissions requirements web page, and it's not in the secondary invitation email (which this rejection email specifically references).

It makes me wonder if they are intentionally hiding this information or just disorganized.

Here's the email, for anyone curious:




Dear (name) ,

We regret to inform you that Rush Medical College will not be able to offer you an interview invitation for the 2016 application cycle; be assured that this is a confidential decision, which will not be shared with others.

As noted on the invitation to complete our secondary invitation, the Committee on Admissions minimum criteria for interview invitation eligibility this year included a minimum of 150 hours of community service, as well as 150 hours of healthcare exposure, especially when it involves patient contact.

Should you find yourself reapplying in the future, you will need to examine your overall application to determine how it might be best strengthened. While the Committee on Admissions does not provide us with specific feedback on individual applications, we can tell you that in addition to academic credentials, the Committee on Admissions values community service, exposure to the healthcare field, research experience, and demonstrated leadership.

We predict that the 2016 matriculating class will have over 800 hours of community service, and over 1800 hours of health care exposure.

On behalf of the Committee of Admissions, we thank you for your interest in Rush Medical College and wish you the best in the future.

Sincerely,

Jill M. Volk, M.S. Ed.
Director of Admissions and Recruitment
Rush Medical College
 
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CowboyNiceguy said:
I believe that it's out there somewhere. But it's not on the admissions requirements web page, and it's not in the secondary invitation email (which this rejection email specifically references).

It makes me wonder if they are intentionally hiding this information or just disorganized.
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I swear, someday there is going to be a class-action lawsuit in med school admissions. For cases like this, when apparent standards and minimums exist, but are not published (or readily presented), and thousands of students pay $100 to be considered, but never are.
 
CowboyNiceguy said:
I believe that it's out there somewhere. But it's not on the admissions requirements web page, and it's not in the secondary invitation email (which this rejection email specifically references).

It makes me wonder if they are intentionally hiding this information or just disorganized.

Here's the email, for anyone curious:




Dear (name) ,

We regret to inform you that Rush Medical College will not be able to offer you an interview invitation for the 2016 application cycle; be assured that this is a confidential decision, which will not be shared with others.

As noted on the invitation to complete our secondary invitation, the Committee on Admissions minimum criteria for interview invitation eligibility this year included a minimum of 150 hours of community service, as well as 150 hours of healthcare exposure, especially when it involves patient contact.

Should you find yourself reapplying in the future, you will need to examine your overall application to determine how it might be best strengthened. While the Committee on Admissions does not provide us with specific feedback on individual applications, we can tell you that in addition to academic credentials, the Committee on Admissions values community service, exposure to the healthcare field, research experience, and demonstrated leadership.

We predict that the 2016 matriculating class will have over 800 hours of community service, and over 1800 hours of health care exposure.

On behalf of the Committee of Admissions, we thank you for your interest in Rush Medical College and wish you the best in the future.

Sincerely,

Jill M. Volk, M.S. Ed.
Director of Admissions and Recruitment
Rush Medical College
Click to expand...

Interesting. I got a similar letter, but in mine they told me that a 3.0 uGPA was required. I had a little under that for a number of reasons, but a solid formal post-bacc. Guess they tailor letters for generic rejection reasons.
 
Also rejected (submitted secondary 8/1). Best of luck to everyone else in the running 🙂
 
They said 1800 hours is expected?? Umm... Last year their admissions rep said it was 1200. How could it have gone up 600 hours?!?!?
 
When I talked to Jill, she said that the minimum is 150 hours. Their average student has 600 volunteering hours. I just got accepted today and I have over 800. They really treasure those who fill their motto of service.
 
bunchesonothing said:
As a non traditional student/applicant, that numbers' not any easier without working in healthcare.
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That's what I meant. You can't really have that much involvement without taking a gap year and working a full time job in healthcare.
HybridEarth said:
They said 1800 hours is expected?? Umm... Last year their admissions rep said it was 1200. How could it have gone up 600 hours?!?!?
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I think it's more like an average of the incoming class vs an expectation
Boilermaker11 said:
When I talked to Jill, she said that the minimum is 150 hours. Their average student has 600 volunteering hours. I just got accepted today and I have over 800. They really treasure those who fill their motto of service.
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When did you talk to her?
 
Rejected pre interview as well today. I was not aware of their required # of hours of community service... though i met that requirement - too bad i couldn't demonstrate it to them. ah well
 
Sorry, I should have said projected average for matriculants 😛 got lazy!!
 
livinginlalaland said:
That's what I meant. You can't really have that much involvement without taking a gap year and working a full time job in healthcare.

I think it's more like an average of the incoming class vs an expectation

When did you talk to her?
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I had over 4500 hours of health care experience by simply working as a CNA all throughout college and never took a gap year (even played college football for 2 of those years- so it's not like I had a whole lot of free time).
What Im trying to say is that it is possible to get a couple thousand if you try, and I think that's what they really want to see since they are such a mission based school.
 
mr.mkitty said:
I had over 4500 hours of health care experience by simply working as a CNA all throughout college and never took a gap year (even played college football for 2 of those years- so it's not like I had a whole lot of free time).
What Im trying to say is that it is possible to get a couple thousand if you try, and I think that's what they really want to see since they are such a mission based school.
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I've also been working throughout undergrad to support myself which is why I took a 26/hr teaching job with flexible hours instead of a healthcare job. Rush is entitled to select candidates based on their preferences but I really wish they publicized their criteria. Yes we all know that it's a service oriented school and that serving the community/underserved is important but I wouldn't call working a healthcare job much more altruistic than any other job. I personally believe that healthcare exposure should reflect that you know what your getting into as a physician and in that regard, there's not too much of a difference between 500 vs 1800 hours. Overall I think they should have been more public with their standards so that I and many others would not have wasted our time and money.
 
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Rejected with the generic community service/healthcare experience email. It's a shame because I JUST completed those hours this month. Oh well. Gotta update my other schools ASAP!
 
Oh boy. Could someone please post a generic version of the letter?
 
livinginlalaland said:
I've also been working throughout undergrad to support myself which is why I took a 26/hr teaching job with flexible hours instead of a healthcare job. Rush is entitled to select candidates based on their preferences but I really wish they publicized their criteria. Yes we all know that it's a service oriented school and that serving the community/underserved is important but I wouldn't call working a healthcare job much more altruistic than any other job. I personally believe that healthcare exposure should reflect that you know what your getting into as a physician and in that regard, there's not too much of a difference between 500 vs 1800 hours. Overall I think they should have been more public with their standards so that I and many others would not have wasted our time and money.
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1600 hours is not the requirement. The hard cut off is only 150 of community service and 150 of clinical. They clinical hours can be paid, the community service cannot. I managed to get the hours as a non trad that works full time in a non-healthcare field. I have less than the 500 -600 hour average and got accepted.

Another thing to note, my interviewer showed me how AMCAS basically graphs your community service and clinical experiences over time. So, if you wait until right before applying and try to pack in all the hours, it's obvious to them you are doing it to check the box instead of out of a true commitment to service.

Edit: Maybe it's possible to have paid experience count as community service. Maybe if you work for United Way or another service nonprofit they would consider it community service. I'm not sure.
 
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andyrayy said:
1600 hours is not the requirement. The hard cut off is only 150 of community service and 150 of clinical. They clinical hours can be paid, the community service cannot. I managed to get the hours as a non trad that works full time in a non-healthcare field. I have less than the 500 -600 hour average and got accepted.

Another thing to note, my interviewer showed me how AMCAS basically graphs your community service and clinical experiences over time. So, if you wait until right before applying and try to pack in all the hours, it's obvious to them you are doing it to check the box instead of out of a true commitment to service.
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I'm talking about the letter that states they expect their incoming class to have 1800 hours in healthcare and 800 of community service. I have almost 500 in community service and 300 in healthcare (over 2.5 years) so I pass the minimum but I really wish they stated averages instead of minimums and especially for others that don't meet the 150 hour requirements.
 
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livinginlalaland said:
I'm talking about the letter that states they expect their incoming class to have 1800 hours in healthcare and 800 of community service. I have almost 500 in community service and 300 in healthcare (over 2.5 years) so I pass the minimum but I really wish they stated averages instead of minimums especially for others that don't meet the 150 hour requirements.
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Ahh gotcha. I agree it should be clearly stated. Somehow I feel like the website has changed though. I know when I filled out the secondary, I knew there was a hard cut off at 150 hours of each type because I strategically picked the experiences to write about in my secondary to reflect those numbers. I also remember seeing a class profile for the previous year's class that showed extremely high average number community service hours. I can't find either piece of info on the website anymore.

Since I got in with less than than the average numbers of community service and clinical experience (below average GPA and MCAT as well) I can only assume they also look at the quality of the experiences.
 
Rejected as well. Submitted 7/23 and had the hours for it (LizzyM 69). Good luck to everyone else!
 
what if your healthcare experience was the same as community service? i volunteered to teach inner city kids clinical skills to become medical assistants (i.e - take and read EKGs, even practiced injections/phlebotomy on fake arms, take vitals, etc.)

-_- haven't been rejected yet but im worried that this experience wont count for both.
 
whitelotus23700 said:
what if your healthcare experience was the same as community service? i volunteered to teach inner city kids clinical skills to become medical assistants (i.e - take and read EKGs, even practiced injections/phlebotomy on fake arms, take vitals, etc.)

-_- haven't been rejected yet but im worried that this experience wont count for both.
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It can count for both but you will need a total of 300 hours.
 
I'm a bit confused. So does that mean if a student has at least 150 hours of community service and 150 hours of clinical experiences (assuming the GPA and MCAT is good enough), he or she will def get an interview??
 
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