2016-2017 Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons Application Thread

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robotfinches said:
Not sure about II, but Columbia does send out a "complete" email.

Edit: This is the timeline they give for their application process.

Timeline 2016-2017

  • May 2016: Primary application becomes available via AMCAS
  • June – October 2016: AMCAS applications are received
  • October 17, 2016: Deadline for submitting the AMCAS application
  • July – October 2016: Application invitations are sent and secondary applications are received
  • August 2016 – January 2017: Review of applications
  • late-August 2016 – January 2017: Interview invitations are emailed
  • October 29, 2016: P&S deadline for secondary application
  • November 12, 2016: P&S deadline for supporting documents
  • Mid-February 2017: Admission offers are sent
  • January – July 2017: Admitted students submit Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and other financial need applications
  • April 2017: P&S Revisit for admitted students
  • May 1, 2017: Deadline for admitted students to accept an offer of admission from P&S
  • Mid-August 2017: Orientation and classes begin for the matriculating class
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Can people who received a complete email say when they submitted their app and when they received the email?
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AAAmeds said:
Can people who received a complete email say when they submitted their app and when they received the email?
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Submitted July 18, complete July 18 (they had already received my LORs from amcas)

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July 26th submitted and complete (they had everything else on file from AMCAS already).
 
Just out of curiosity, did anyone answer yes for the scholarly materials question?
 
Secondary completed today. Top school choice. Ugh, fingers crossed.
Good luck everyone!
 
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summergirl said:
I did for my native language.
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See I would do that too, but I doubt that I would be able to fully translate a research article if they put one in front of me. I do, however, have experience translating literature and poetry. Don't think that counts though
 
MDhopeful324 said:
See I would do that too, but I doubt that I would be able to fully translate a research article if they put one in front of me. I do, however, have experience translating literature and poetry. Don't think that counts though
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It's probably better to be safe and not list the language then, though I would mention somewhere that you are natively fluent in another language (either on your primary if you did so or somewhere on the secondary, perhaps in the "anything else you would like us to know", or in the "big city challenges" if the language is Spanish).
 
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onceawolverine said:
I have absolutely no idea why they ask that question.
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I think its just a maybe slightly too strong filter for people who are really fluent in a language (and not people who took Spanish 1 and 2 in high school and are good at ordering cervezas in Puerto Rico).
 
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WedgeDawg said:
It's probably better to be safe and not list the language then, though I would mention somewhere that you are natively fluent in another language (either on your primary if you did so or somewhere on the secondary, perhaps in the "anything else you would like us to know", or in the "big city challenges" if the language is Spanish).
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Thank you! I believe that information is on my primary so I will leave it at that. It was my first language so I am pretty fluent, but then again that has nothing to do with my ability to translate scholarly material. I doubt my parents would be able to do that either.
 
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Any idea if it would be detrimental to not include a CV? almost every meaningful experience I have participated in is already on my primary...
 
desidoc_ said:
Any idea if it would be detrimental to not include a CV? almost every meaningful experience I have participated in is already on my primary...
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A friend of mine called the admissions office for this very reason. They told her that uploading a CV would be redundant in that case.
 
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End of August can't come soon enough! I can't believe I'm already this impatient to find out :sick:
 
II!!

How? LizzyM ~70

Came as a complete shock to me. ORM. Non-trad. Truly humbled. What did they see in me?
 
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II as well!! LizzyM ~80.
Congrats to everyone else getting invites!
 
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Can anyone tell us what dates/days are available for interview?
 
So proud of everyone getting interviews! Good job, guys! :soexcited:
 
how many II's does columbia offer to internationals? am considering withdrawing app
 
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Literally shocked at the amount of people that have LizzyM scores over 80, not saying they're lying, but, extraordinary that many people scored over a 40 on their Mcats
 
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biochem406 said:
Literally shocked at the amount of people that have LizzyM scores over 80, not saying they're lying, but, extraordinary that many people scored over a 40 on their Mcats
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I personally know at least three people at my institution with a 100th percentile. Definitely agree with your shock - seeing all these high lizzyms makes me want to retake my 519.
 
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Exactly I thought my 518 was competitive but now I feel like I should've retaken hahah
 
I know this literally goes against the logic of a percentile, but I feel like there are a lot more 40+ after the MCAT change. Beforehand I hadn't heard of a single person beating 40. Now, I know 4 people who got the equivalent of a 44. I don't get it.
 
schepschep12 said:
I personally know three people at my institution with a 100th percentile. Definitely agree with your shock - seeing all these high lizzyms makes me want to retake my 519.
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Iwannaknow said:
I know this literally goes against the logic of a percentile, but I feel like there are a lot more 40+ after the MCAT change. Beforehand I hadn't heard of a single person beating 40. Now, I know 4 people who got the equivalent of a 44. I don't get it.
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That's what I thought, but it doesn't make sense because it's percentiles so the scores are redundant.

I've had a lot of people say they've scored such and such, but I think it's intrinsic with the new MCAT scale that people add 2-4 points to their actual score and don't think it's as big of a difference since it's out of 528 as opposed to 45. On Sdn I can see why though since most people most on these schools forms are those that excelled, so they have very high stats.
Whatever who cares lmfao.
 
You're obviously going to know more people with high MCAT scores when you're in the process of applying since you know more total people who have taken the MCAT (i.e., your classmates) than you did last year.
 
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schepschep12 said:
how many II's does columbia offer to internationals? am considering withdrawing app
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From the school's FAQ section:

"Do you accept international students?

It is rare that we admit individuals from foreign universities because the Admissions Committee does not have satisfactory means of evaluating premedical education at universities outside of the United States and Canada. We therefore require at least one year of premedical training at an institution in the United States, in addition to the MCAT. Please note that non-residents of the United States are ineligible for federal financial aid programs."

Do you have the MSAR? You could check there. I would check for you but I'm out and about right now.

Edit: any OOS applicants who applied to the (dreamy) Bassett track? :love:
 
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Hey @Divine Comedy, @kegar99 @jewish_samurai

Congrats on the IIs!!

Did you guys writing anything down for the "is there anything else you would like us to know?" I am anxious to get secondaries completed by the end of this week and I don't want to write an essay if I don't have to. Thanks!
 
kdirnfueu said:
I have a 516, and I still have this existential crisis over whether I should've retaken to be competitive at the top schools..
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That's nothing. I'm sitting at a paltry 511. I chose not to retake because that was well above the 495's-500's I got on some of the AAMC tests. You should be fine. ;)
 
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NoteBlock said:
That's nothing. I'm sitting at a paltry 511. I chose not to retake because that was well above the 495's-500's I got on some of the AAMC tests. You should be fine. ;)
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Yeah. 508. I just enjoy punching above my weight every now and then.


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Does anyone know how often they send out II's? I know they sent some out earlier this month but I'm wondering if they do it like some schools where once a week people get invites all at once or if they send out invitations without a specific cadence?


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Woke up to an II.

Gave me enough motivation to get up.

Just made my good day a great day!

Secondary 7/19, LizzyM 77.
 
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WedgeDawg said:
It's probably better to be safe and not list the language then, though I would mention somewhere that you are natively fluent in another language (either on your primary if you did so or somewhere on the secondary, perhaps in the "anything else you would like us to know", or in the "big city challenges" if the language is Spanish).
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Okay super silly follow-up question for this conversation. I speak another language (from childhood) and I wrote on AMCAS that it was "good" because I'm a little rusty and don't speak it very often at all. But then I included it on this question without really thinking about it. Looking back, I probably would need a dictionary if I needed to translate super science-y articles and maybe should not have included it. Now I'm stressing because I just got an II (YAY!!!) and looked at this thread and am now worried about them making me translate or something during my interview. Do you think I should clarify this before it comes up in my interview? Send a correction? Haha sorry if I am overthinking this!

PS. It's not a super useful language that they really care about (not Spanish)
 
voteknope said:
Okay super silly follow-up question for this conversation. I speak another language (from childhood) and I wrote on AMCAS that it was "good" because I'm a little rusty and don't speak it very often at all. But then I included it on this question without really thinking about it. Looking back, I probably would need a dictionary if I needed to translate super science-y articles and maybe should not have included it. Now I'm stressing because I just got an II (YAY!!!) and looked at this thread and am now worried about them making me translate or something during my interview. Do you think I should clarify this before it comes up in my interview? Send a correction? Haha sorry if I am overthinking this!

PS. It's not a super useful language that they really care about (not Spanish)
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I'm in the exact same boat as you! I studied Spanish for 8 years and fully considered myself fluent and able to translate scholarly material (as I was in AP Spanish Literature and we did have to read some articles, albeit not scientific ones) but listed Spanish as a language I was comfortable translating scholarly material in. Now if they meant scientific research articles, I'm not so confident about that...But if they asked me to translate Great Expectations or East of Eden or a classic novel, I could.

If it comes up in an interview, would it be valid to just honestly say I interpreted the question as being able to translate novels and the like, rather than scientific material?
 
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DrChef94 said:
I'm in the exact same boat as you! I studied Spanish for 8 years and fully considered myself fluent and able to translate scholarly material (as I was in AP Spanish Literature and we did have to read some articles, albeit not scientific ones) but listed Spanish as a language I was comfortable translating scholarly material in. Now if they meant scientific research articles, I'm not so confident about that...But if they asked me to translate Great Expectations or East of Eden or a classic novel, I could.

If it comes up in an interview, would it be valid to just honestly say I interpreted the question as being able to translate novels and the like, rather than scientific material?
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That's probably what I would say! I wasn't a science major so when I hear scholarly material, my first thought is usually literature and essays, not research papers.

Also: Just finished re-reading East of Eden yesterday, what a great book :)
 
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DrChef94 said:
I'm in the exact same boat as you! I studied Spanish for 8 years and fully considered myself fluent and able to translate scholarly material (as I was in AP Spanish Literature and we did have to read some articles, albeit not scientific ones) but listed Spanish as a language I was comfortable translating scholarly material in. Now if they meant scientific research articles, I'm not so confident about that...But if they asked me to translate Great Expectations or East of Eden or a classic novel, I could.

If it comes up in an interview, would it be valid to just honestly say I interpreted the question as being able to translate novels and the like, rather than scientific material?
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I would do that. I grew speaking the language as a child (native language) and studied it in college, but I left the question blank. Sure, I would be able to translate different forms of literature, but scholarly material is something else. I have a background in medical translating and I still don't feel super confident translating scientific research articles. Be honest about it. Better safe than sorry is the way I'm choosing to look at the situation.
 
voteknope said:
Okay super silly follow-up question for this conversation. I speak another language (from childhood) and I wrote on AMCAS that it was "good" because I'm a little rusty and don't speak it very often at all. But then I included it on this question without really thinking about it. Looking back, I probably would need a dictionary if I needed to translate super science-y articles and maybe should not have included it. Now I'm stressing because I just got an II (YAY!!!) and looked at this thread and am now worried about them making me translate or something during my interview. Do you think I should clarify this before it comes up in my interview? Send a correction? Haha sorry if I am overthinking this!

PS. It's not a super useful language that they really care about (not Spanish)
Click to expand...

If they make you translate scientific terminology that you don't even know in English yet, I would consider that either misdirection or unprofessional. I don't think you need to worry about it.
 
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