2015-2016 Yale University Application Thread

Discover Your Odds of Getting into Medical School
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Kelilah said:
but I feel like YSM does a better job than some of the other top medical schools of selecting applicants from a broad range of undergraduate institutions
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Too bad this really isn't supported by the few pieces of data we've come across. All the top schools have about the same proportion of elite vs. non-elite school representation. Look at last year's Yale thread where interviewees got numbers of the undergrad makeup of a recent class. Something like 60-65% from <10 top schools, total around 70% from top private schools, period. It is hard to believe this is any improvement from what HMS might have (b/c I doubt they have 80% top school representation).
 
rsrs said:
Has anyone looked at their letter of rec status? Mine says not yet received which is weird ...
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Mine also says not received. Annoying! I called admissions and they said that Yale Admissions needs to look through all of the info AMCAS sent them still, so it seems like just slow processing on Yale's part.
 
FriendlyFH said:
The two bio courses don't have to be intro bio. Higher level bio course works just fine as substitutes for lecture credit hours.
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Yale is not strict with any of the requirements such as specific prerequisites.
 
G.NA said:
Too bad this really isn't supported by the few pieces of data we've come across. All the top schools have about the same proportion of elite vs. non-elite school representation. Look at last year's Yale thread where interviewees got numbers of the undergrad makeup of a recent class. Something like 60-65% from <10 top schools, total around 70% from top private schools, period. It is hard to believe this is any improvement from what HMS might have (b/c I doubt they have 80% top school representation).
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Self-selection is my best guess. Top students in high school mostly end up in top undergrads.

Good thing school reputation doesn't matter a whole lot in the med admissions game 😀
 
ElCapone said:
Good thing school reputation doesn't matter a whole lot in the med admissions game 😀
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so are top schoolers getting into top med schools because they were already excellent or because their school helped them so? we do not know enough about the answer to make such broad statements. reputation matters because, on average, there are things top school kids do that many in the country have no chance at accomplishing. this, i think, is as close to fact as possible.
 
G.NA said:
so are top schoolers getting into top med schools because they were already excellent or because their school helped them so? we do not know enough about the answer to make such broad statements. reputation matters because, on average, there are things top school kids do that many in the country have no chance at accomplishing. this, i think, is as close to fact as possible.
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Don't be too confident about yourself 😉 There's plenty that's been said by LizzyM and the others on here. School reputation does matter, but not the extent you think. And the MCAT is the great equalizer. So it's fantastic that someone went to Columbia undergrad, and did well with a 3.8 and 35 MCAT. But what about that state school kid who has a 3.98 and a 42 MCAT? He sounds more impressive - especially when you consider that getting into an Ivy is more of a reflection of your parents and your socioeconomic background.

And yes it's true that kids at top schools have more opportunities. But those in state schools can easily find those same opportunities by working harder.

Also, GPA and MCAT only matter for interview invites. After that, your interview performance and the other things you bring to the table are what what count.
 
ElCapone said:
Don't be too confident about yourself 😉 There's plenty that's been said by LizzyM and the others on here. School reputation does matter, but not the extent you think. And the MCAT is the great equalizer. So it's fantastic that someone went to Columbia undergrad, and did well with a 3.8 and 35 MCAT. But what about that state school kid who has a 3.98 and a 42 MCAT? He sounds more impressive - especially when you consider that getting into an Ivy is more of a reflection of your parents and your socioeconomic background.

And yes it's true that kids at top schools have more opportunities. But those in state schools can easily find those same opportunities by working harder.

Also, GPA and MCAT only matter for interview invites. After that, your interview performance and the other things you bring to the table are what what count.
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sure, but at all points of marginal analysis, the deck is still stacked for those from elite schools. whether we like this or not, the sporadic data we get tells us this. 60-70% of YSM coming from a select few top schools, again, is staggering. absolutely staggering. so staggering i don’t believe it, but that’s what the handouts last year at interviews said.
 
G.NA said:
sure, but at all points of marginal analysis, the deck is still stacked for those from elite schools. whether we like this or not, the sporadic data we get tells us this. 60-70% of YSM coming from a select few top schools, again, is staggering. absolutely staggering. so staggering i don’t believe it, but that’s what the handouts last year at interviews said.
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30% state school kids making it in? That's good enough for me* 😉




*Heh. The only people on here who could confidently get into Yale are @phuynh94 and @FutureBenCarson
 
G.NA said:
sure, but at all points of marginal analysis, the deck is still stacked for those from elite schools. whether we like this or not, the sporadic data we get tells us this. 60-70% of YSM coming from a select few top schools, again, is staggering. absolutely staggering. so staggering i don’t believe it, but that’s what the handouts last year at interviews said.
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But a hugely disproportionate number of high-achievers attend top schools (because they can get into them and tend to attend them). If you are a high-achiever at a not top school, you will likely into a great medical school too. In general, high-achievers (wherever they attended undergrad) will get into top med schools.
 
Just to add my 2 cents, I definitely think that medical schools don't look at undergraduate school ranking. A ton of students at top 20 schools end up getting 3.4's and 3.5's and aren't at all competitive in their applications just because they go to a "prestigious" university. Interestingly enough, I know a bunch of students at top universities who haven't performed up to par and regret they didn't go to their state school, so I guess the complaints stem from both ends. I truly believe that schools accept the best students, and it just so happens that 70% of those happen to already be at top universities. Also I agree with what people have said about MCAT being a good normalizing factor.

tldr: If you're not at a top 20 university, it definitely is NOT a disadvantage. On the flip side, if you are at a top 20 universities, don't rest on your laurels. Write your essays and go into your interviews remembering that you are a stellar student in your own right and the admissions committee will view you for your own individual accomplishments, not the name that's on your diploma. Cheers!
 
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Should I be concerned that I haven't received a secondary invite yet? I've emailed and they told me it's coming soon.
 
seazea01 said:
Should I be concerned that I haven't received a secondary invite yet? I've emailed and they told me it's coming soon.
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Check your email soon! I got mine about 10 minutes ago =)
 
Has anyone else not had their Recs marked as received? I submitted on 7/11 and while my MCAT scores were marked the LOR packet was not.
 
Received my secondary today!

Should I feel obligated to write the optional essay? Any ideas on what I can write about if so?
 
2º received today! pre-verification

They use the same application system as Columbia, haha. cool. slick UI
 
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bararaboi said:
Received my secondary today!

Should I feel obligated to write the optional essay? Any ideas on what I can write about if so?
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You can definitely get an interview without writing the optional essay if you're qualified.
 
G.NA said:
2º received today! pre-verification

They use the same application system as Columbia, haha. cool. slick UI
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It's also very similar to HarvArd's too.
 
Do you guys think the "additional info" place would be a good spot to put like a diversity essay for Yale?
 
Still no secondary...verified 6/16, all of my scores and LOR's have been in since then
 
wanderyonder said:
Just to add my 2 cents, I definitely think that medical schools don't look at undergraduate school ranking. A ton of students at top 20 schools end up getting 3.4's and 3.5's and aren't at all competitive in their applications just because they go to a "prestigious" university. Interestingly enough, I know a bunch of students at top universities who haven't performed up to par and regret they didn't go to their state school, so I guess the complaints stem from both ends. I truly believe that schools accept the best students, and it just so happens that 70% of those happen to already be at top universities. Also I agree with what people have said about MCAT being a good normalizing factor.

tldr: If you're not at a top 20 university, it definitely is NOT a disadvantage. On the flip side, if you are at a top 20 universities, don't rest on your laurels. Write your essays and go into your interviews remembering that you are a stellar student in your own right and the admissions committee will view you for your own individual accomplishments, not the name that's on your diploma. Cheers!
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Mmm I agree to an extent but not totally. I think that the crux of your argument is that the majority of students at top schools don't have 3.4's and 3.5's. There will always be some, but with grade inflation at many (including Yale) the average GPA is probably higher.

I went to HPYS for undergrad, and when I asked my advisor about how undergrad prestige played in, she basically said that it doesn't really but that most students applying from my school naturally do very well on the MCAT. The example above about a state school applicant with 3.98/42 and a Columbia applicant with 3.8/35 is probably not as great an example as you think because when you get that high in numbers, other aspects of the application are much more important.

There are also factors like opportunity level at top schools vs. state schools. HYPS have a ton of money to give to undergrads to do amazing summer research and go abroad as a result of their endowments. That isn't always the case at other places with smaller endowments. Most of my peers are not the type of students to "rest on their laurels"; rather, they are hyper-achievers with incredible accomplishments and a ton of opportunities to achieve even more. This is probably why some med schools have a high proportion of students from top-20 schools -- it seems like it's the school name doing the work, but it's not, it's the students themselves.

All that being said, I truly think that top students from state schools have as good a chance at getting in to great med schools as top students from Ivy schools. Prestige probably plays a minimal role when you get to that caliber of students. I just think that there are proportionally more top-caliber students at Ivy-level schools as a result of the opportunities there. Sortof along the lines of two high school students applying to colleges, one from a public school background and one from a prep school. The prep kid obviously had way more opportunities to excel than the public school kid and a ton of guidance to make him into the type of applicant that gets in. The public school kid may still be great, but won't have had as many opportunities/guidance. I think the same paradigm exists with college --> medical school. It's a problem (for the record, I am not in favor of school prestige playing a role) .

souled394 said:
Do you guys think the "additional info" place would be a good spot to put like a diversity essay for Yale?
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I used it to talk about interview date restrictions.

Unrelated but EVERYONE: I called YSM yesterday and sounds like there was a glitch in their system causing some secondaries to get delayed because they hadn't received AMCAS yet. I'd guess the letter issue is related and should be resolved soon.
 
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carpediem22 said:
Mmm I agree to an extent but not totally. I think that the crux of your argument is that the majority of students at top schools don't have 3.4's and 3.5's. There will always be some, but with grade inflation at many (including Yale) the average GPA is probably higher.
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Actually quite the contrary. I didn't want to be too cynical, but I know a lot of people (like a good half and half) who have 3.5's range and are bummed about going to the institution for that reason alone. It's an unfortunate reality that med schools put us into... premeds in general put too much of their happiness on their grades.
 
From office:

Hello,

Thank you for inquiring about your application. We are currently experiencing a delay in transmission of letters of recommendation from AMCAS. We anticipate this will be corrected in the next day or two. Once we receive your letters, you will see this reflected in your application.


Thank you for your patience,

Office of Admissions
 
wanderyonder said:
Actually quite the contrary. I didn't want to be too cynical, but I know a lot of people (like a good half and half) who have 3.5's range and are bummed about going to the institution for that reason alone. It's an unfortunate reality that med schools put us into... premeds in general put too much of their happiness on their grades.
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Guess it depends on where you are talking about! Certainly not the case at my school. But we have grade inflation. 🙂
 
carpediem22 said:
From office:

Hello,

Thank you for inquiring about your application. We are currently experiencing a delay in transmission of letters of recommendation from AMCAS. We anticipate this will be corrected in the next day or two. Once we receive your letters, you will see this reflected in your application.


Thank you for your patience,

Office of Admissions
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Awesome, so imma stop worrying about my recs not being marked!
 
So what do you guys think are the awesome things about Yale Medical School?
 
Am I the only one without a secondary at this point?
 
NotAnotherPreMed said:
So what do you guys think are the awesome things about Yale Medical School?
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I'll let you know in a couple weeks when I start. But I'm sure the whole no class rank thing will be awesome. Definitely got the vibe that everyone was incredibly happy and willing to help one another when I visited. And of course all the things that go along with a university like Yale (world class research, theatre, music, guest speakers, etc.).
 
carpediem22 said:
So many things

You should call them
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Haha its a top class university I'm sure there a lot of amazing things about it. I wanted to know any specific factors that caught your attention specifically above and beyond the normal "awesomeness"! 🙂
 
LOR finally marked as received early this morning! woot, and now the wait...
 
Can anyone speak to the "New" curriculum that Yale has? I am a bit confused about what it would entail for the 2016 entering class exactly.
 
Submitted with a LizzyM around 70. Hopefully they don't just look at MCAT superstars. Good luck!
 
HybridEarth said:
Submitted with a LizzyM around 70. Hopefully they don't just look at MCAT superstars. Good luck!
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Right back at you with a 69 LizzyM. MCAT superstar, but a GPA as grotesque as something out of a horror film. Would much rather be you if I could have it any other way. Secondary submitted for all that need to know. Good luck this cycle!
 
@bestinthewest keep in touch, hopefully we get some love from Yale's admissions team (by the way, thanks for the laugh feel regarding your GPA comment)
 
CaliforniaDreamer said:
Can anyone speak to the "New" curriculum that Yale has? I am a bit confused about what it would entail for the 2016 entering class exactly.
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Here's a link for the curriculum rebuild website. The class entering in the Fall will be the first to go through the new, 1.5 year curriculum. The new curriculum is more integrated, starting at the molecular basis building up to tissues and organs. Additionally, as a housekeeping note, Step 1 is taken after the first year of rotations, which would be about 2.5 years through medical school.
 
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