2015-2016 Weill Cornell Medical College Application Thread
Started by Ismet
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+1 curious
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+1 I'm also curious - student hosting?
I just got an interview invite yesterday - looks like they're rolling out the first batch! The first interview date offered was August 27, and they have a lot throughout September as well. The invite didn't mention anything about student housing or other accommodations.
I just got an interview invite yesterday - looks like they're rolling out the first batch! The first interview date offered was August 27, and they have a lot throughout September as well. The invite didn't mention anything about student housing or other accommodations.
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about hosting:
m1 here. We just moved in last week and then spent the entire weekend in the mountains on a class camping trip (it was awesome). since we got back Monday afternoon we've been pretty busy and that includes the administration.
If you want hosting I'd encourage you to email the admissions department, as I remember when I interviewed last year that was the only method by which to obtain hosting. However it may be pretty hard to find hosting, as most of us live in dorms in Olin Hall (the same building as the admissions office) and there's not a tremendous amount of space - not to mention we've only been living here about a week and most of us are still getting settled. That being said, our class is pretty laid back and hospitable so it wouldn't shock me if many people opened their doors to interviewees.
We're all looking forward to welcoming you here to NYC and showing you what a great school this is. best of luck to people still applying/waiting to get an interview!
m1 here. We just moved in last week and then spent the entire weekend in the mountains on a class camping trip (it was awesome). since we got back Monday afternoon we've been pretty busy and that includes the administration.
If you want hosting I'd encourage you to email the admissions department, as I remember when I interviewed last year that was the only method by which to obtain hosting. However it may be pretty hard to find hosting, as most of us live in dorms in Olin Hall (the same building as the admissions office) and there's not a tremendous amount of space - not to mention we've only been living here about a week and most of us are still getting settled. That being said, our class is pretty laid back and hospitable so it wouldn't shock me if many people opened their doors to interviewees.
We're all looking forward to welcoming you here to NYC and showing you what a great school this is. best of luck to people still applying/waiting to get an interview!
Maybe that's what Lisa Ryan meant by transients during the Housing orientation
The few people with no bathroommates will have temporary intervieweesIndeed. Looking forward to meeting possible candidates for the Class of 2020 ! Weill Cornell is a dream come true (for me) and, not to brag but, I couldn't ask for a better group of classmates
Hey all - congrats on all the II's!
I'm a rising m2 here and loving it. I'll try to hang around this forum a bit if anyone has any questions. Good luck with your applications!
I'm a rising m2 here and loving it. I'll try to hang around this forum a bit if anyone has any questions. Good luck with your applications!
Is anyone interviewing on 09/03 looking to share a room? I got one at the New York Presbyterian Guest Facility at Helmsley Medical Tower, but it comes with 2 king beds. Since I only need 1, could save us both some money!
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Did anyone else get two identical e-mails informing them their application was complete? I got one earlier today, and then a second at around the same time everyone started posting about interview invites. I have some far-fetched hopes they meant to send me an interview invite but sent me another "complete" email, instead.
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Congrats! That is some fast turnaround haha. Mind sharing your stats?
Any opinions on whether it's unfavorable for me to submit my secondary at this point? I noticed II's already being sent out, and I want to finish my secondary by tomorrow but don't want to invest in the fee if interviews operate on a rolling process.
I don't think Cornell has rolling admission, the first acceptances go out in March. Plus, they interview a tonnn of people. If I were you, I would send it in anyway! Just my $0.02 🙂
Dude every single school in the U.S. sends interviews on a rolling basis. I'm not sure what you're thinking. It is only August, interviews are far far far far far from being done.
Oh, and did I mention they're far from being done? 😆
Any current WC students here? What's your experience at WC been like? What are your favorite/least favorite things, and why did you pick the school?
Also, does anyone know if WC's interview is open or closed file? I can't find any info on it.
Also, does anyone know if WC's interview is open or closed file? I can't find any info on it.
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My interview is tomorrow afternoon! I'm very excited.
Haha thank you for the sound advice. I think I'm just irrationally stressed/impatient that the application cycle will be such a long time. Best of luck!
I just read on the 2014-2015 page that both interviews are open file!
Good luck!
Really? Is that a typo 😕
I'm a rising second year (we start classes on Monday!) here. The experience has been great so far. We were the first class to go through the new curriculum, so there have been a couple kinks, but the administration has been very responsive to us and make changes in real time. Plus, they've made a lot of good changes for the current first year class in terms of the curriculum.
I mostly picked the school based on the location, the strength of the clinical experience, and the proximity to a bunch of research/hospital giants (ie Sloan, HSS, and Rockefeller). They're all literally right across the street from where we all live, and if you have any kind of interest in oncology (even remotely), having Sloan right around the corner is amazing because of all the research, shadowing, and clinical opportunities there. Same for HSS (if you're into rheum or ortho). The location is hard to beat being right up in the upper east side and with a subway stop a couple blocks away. For our clerkship year, we have the option of doing part of our medicine and surgery rotations or our entire neuro rotation at Sloan.
And yes, the interview is open file, and the interviewers make a good effort to go through and touch upon everything in your app.
Not a typo, that is the date my MCAT score came in to complete my application. I submitted the secondary the week before though, so I guess its possible they already looked at some of my app before I was complete? Happily surprised.
New curriculum has been really good thus far. Definitely a couple kinks, but the administration has been great at smoothing things out pretty quickly. Feedback is taken very seriously here and I can imagine that the new students will have less complaints than we had. I, too, found the curriculum to be quite logical in theory, and fortunately, it turned out to be that way in practice.
PBL is not a huge part of the curriculum for us; only two 1-1.5 hour sessions per week and for some units, it kind of morphed into a "work on this question sheet together" kind of thing. But it's definitely still a part of the curriculum.
Overall, the curriculum far surpassed my expectations coming in, and I could not be happier with how it is turning out.
Rising m2 here. My experience here has been really great so far.
Favorite things:
Classmates: All incredibly nice, talented, fun to hang with etc. It's a relatively small class (101), so everyone knows everyone pretty well. There's not a week that goes by without someone inviting everyone on the class Facebook page to join them at a restaurant, bar, movie, etc.
Curriculum: Like I explained before, I'm a pretty big fan of the new curriculum.
Research opportunities: This is a particularly strong aspect. Like nemo123 said above, we really have tons of research opportunities. Regardless of your interests, you will find someone studying it. It took me a total of one email to join a research group that was studying something I was interested in.
Least favorite: I don't really have much to say about this. I love it here.
Interviews are indeed open file.
First year student here
It has been great (though I've only experienced orientation activities and one week of class .. our first quiz is tomorrow! )
My experience has been great .. can't complain thus far
I picked the school because it has a plethora of opportunities for their students, plus being in NYC (and, now that I've gotten to know the city some, being specifically in the Upper East Side)
Interview is open file. Both interviewers were really interested in the activities and research that I put down on my AMCAS, so be sure you can be articulate about your activities and interests
Hey so we have only been in the new curriculum for about a week but I can comment on some parts of it that I really like. There are several components to it that for the most part try to teach you the material in various ways. We have lectures, problem based learning small groups, flipped classrooms, the leap program, workshops, and, of course, anatomy lab. At this early stage I do like all components of it. They are really putting in overtime to make sure that you learn from each part and you take away good info from it. I will admit it is hard to figure out sometimes where our test material is coming from (it on the syllabus though), but I can't say I'm not learning and cementing the concepts well. My favorite part about the curriculum here
( which is not really curriculum based) is the iPad though. And i am going to explain why:
As you may have heard, Cornell is very progressive with tech. All students get an iPad and a wireless keyboard. What this does for us that I consider an advantage is it gives us up to date quick access on everything we need to know. Download lectures before class on it, watch the video of lectures on it, take notes on the powerpoints with it, etc. it's very handy. Beyond that there are laptops and monitors you can airdrop presentations to in the PBL rooms. And they have three walls out of the four covered with whiteboards for you to write on (with markers and erasers in each room so you don't have to bring your own).
Oh I have been waiting for the opportunity to tell why I love it here!
Top likes: my classmates are extremely cool and welcoming and smart. New York is a great place with tons to do. The fact that all the first year students live together makes collaborating easy. The admin offices you need are on the bottom floor of where you live so you have easy access. The library is 24 Hours. The gym and bball court in the dorms are also 24 hour. The curriculum is great. Great care by the administration. Very tech advanced rooms and equipment. Etc.
Dislikes: only one really - the dorms first year are not really the greatest. But they are ok.
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Thank you so much for all of your replies! I'm actually really humbled that there were so many responses, and I feel like that indicates good things about the school too 😉 I'm super excited to be interviewing here now!
And thanks to everyone who commented on the curriculum too, though that wasn't my question!
You just had to e-mail your top choices to the admissions office (Ms. Guerrier specifically) and then she e-mails you back with your time slot and you get an official e-mail from the admissions office confirming it.
They're not luxury living, but I think they certainly have made us into a very cohesive class. Going out together, forming study groups/sessions in the kitchen lounges, making it possible for us to watch Stephen Colbert tonight in the lounge downstairs for whoever's interested
I'm definitely alright with the facilities for these intangible benefits 🙂
+1! Complete 8/10
+2! I was in class and couldn't focus after I saw the inviteBTW Should our shoulders be in the photo they requested? I have a passport style photo but it doesn't show my shoulders.
No shoulders = instant rejection.
Think about it, would you want a doctor without shoulders treating your mother?
For anyone who submitted to WCMC or will be submitting to WCMC: does the secondary have a section for additional updates or information? I don't remember if I updated them about a recent publication while submitting the secondary. If not, I would like to send them a pre or post interview update. Don't want to repeat information if it was already in my secondary.
is it reasonable to drive to Cornell the morning of for an afternoon interview day that starts at 12:30? For reference, google maps estimates the travel time at 2hr 45min and I haven't heard anything back from admissions regarding student hosting so im guessing thats a no-go. I'm just not sure how bad vehicle traffic is around Cornell and if it's reasonable at all to change into my suit somewhere in the vicinity so I don't have to wear it during the drive.
I think it is definitely reasonable to drive there the day of, as long as you leave PLENTY of time. I'm originally from NJ and we were 15 miles from Manhattan but it would easily take 1.5 hours to get into the city during rush hour. If you leave at like 7 am, then by the time you start approaching the city, traffic might start dying down. If you are going to drive, I would also ensure that you know where you can park. Parking in Manhattan is a nightmare.
Depending on which direction you're coming from, another option is to drive to a train station or subway station outside of Manhattan and leave your car there for the day and take public transportation into the city. Trains/subways are a little more predictable (time-wise) than driving in my experience, but they're also much less convenient. I don't know how changing would work there either, but when I have had to drive to interviews I'll usually just wear my pants/skirt and the shirt, and I just put on the jacket and fix myself up a little when I get there.
Good luck with your commute!
If you want to drive, depends what time you start and from where. Even during the regular hours Manhattan is congested. Find a parking garage within walking distance and pay the fee. Change in the bathroom of the administration building, dump regular clothes in the closet at front desk. PM me if you want to know more about traffic on your proposed commute.
I sent one. Received an II the following week if I remember correctly.
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Very receptive, at least from last year's (and the year before?) thread 🙂
Well, looks like I'm the first one in the thread, but rejected today around 1pm. Completed 7/20 w/ a LizzyM of ~69. I always knew this was a reach with my stats so I'm not shocked, but I guess you never know, right? Anyway, good luck everybody and just remember you're still in the running even if you haven't heard anything!
Ugh. I can feel the stabbing pain for you. That sucks. Did you have a good research background? Your LizzyM score is not terrible..what was your actual gpa and mcat?
I'll say that I have an above average MCAT to supplement a below average GPA, along with very solid EC's. It's okay though, while this rejection stung a bit more than others (really love the idea of getting to live in NYC for a few years and the school is obviously one of the best), I'm fortunate enough to have had at least some interview invite success so far this cycle. This process truly is unpredictable!
