2018-2019 Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons

BU Medical Sciences
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Lazy Surgeon said:
Yeah, probably. Should use all opportunities to stand out
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The essay has to be good for it to help you tho. I might not do anything for it and focus on polishing the required essays instead
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For the following question, do you guys think studying abroad counts, or no? I can't find an answer anywhere in Columbia threads from past years...

"If you took time off from your undergraduate studies, please briefly summarize your reasons for doing so. (250 words)"
 
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bill2018 said:
For the following question, do you guys think studying abroad counts, or no? I can't find an answer anywhere in Columbia threads from past years...

"If you took time off from your undergraduate studies, please briefly summarize your reasons for doing so. (250 words)"
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I dont think so. Study abroad is continuous with the rest of your undergrad studies, just abroad
 
So for the collegiate extracurricular question, is it pretty much the consensus that we should rehash our primary app activities?
 
zimzamzoop said:
So for the collegiate extracurricular question, is it pretty much the consensus that we should rehash our primary app activities?
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I interpreted "collegiate extracurriculars" to be activities done through my university not for pay - so I didn't include things like tutoring (paid) or clinical volunteering (not though my university). Not really sure if this helps, just weighing in on how I read the question! It's a bit of a weird one :shrug:
 
So for the “anything else you’d like us to know” question, I basically just used that as a “why us” essay. I used a couple sentences to explain why I’m interested in studying medicine in the New York area, then I mentioned a school-specific reason. Is this fine?


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For MSTP applicants, how much are you guys writing for the "PhD Goals" essay? 5000 char seems a lot for research goals haha
 
initialize said:
So for the “anything else you’d like us to know” question, I basically just used that as a “why us” essay. I used a couple sentences to explain why I’m interested in studying medicine in the New York area, then I mentioned a school-specific reason. Is this fine?


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Bump. I was thinking of doing the same thing and was curious as well!
 
"Did you work for compensation during college during the year or the summer?"

Do SURP/SURF programs that provided a stipend count as "work for compensation"? I would think so right? I usually say I "participated" in the program, should I mention somewhere in my description that it was a paid program or that I was compensated with a stipend? Or is it obvious because I'm putting it in the "work for compensation section"?
 
Hey there, What are people's thoughts on this question "What challenges do you expect to arise from living and working in a complex urban environment? How will you meet them?" There are only 300 words... Are they looking for how I will deal with crowds, transportation, cost of living etc... or more along the lines of dealing with diversity?
 
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KAT_CHEM said:
Hey there, What are people's thoughts on this question "What challenges do you expect to arise from living and working in a complex urban environment? How will you meet them?" There are only 300 words... Are they looking for how I will deal with crowds, transportation, cost of living etc... or more along the lines of dealing with diversity?
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What challenges do _you_ specifically think you will have to face. I'm a current applicant as well but I suspect that drawing from your previous experiences to highlight how living/training in NYC will be different and then coming up with a solution would be the way to go.
 
Is anyone using an acronym in their essays? or just saying Columbia?
 
So for the "Experiences" section, I was planning on just listing my research/academic activities and not just my primary all over again. Are people using the same descriptions or writing something new? The char requirements are virtually identical...
 
klucket2 said:
"Did you work for compensation during college during the year or the summer?"

Do SURP/SURF programs that provided a stipend count as "work for compensation"? I would think so right? I usually say I "participated" in the program, should I mention somewhere in my description that it was a paid program or that I was compensated with a stipend? Or is it obvious because I'm putting it in the "work for compensation section"?
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I think it counts. I did a similar summer program and am including it. Also, I think mentioning that you were compensated with a stipend is a good idea (that's what I did)
 
Is anyone else's letter of reference not marked as completed?
 
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lococola said:
For MSTP applicants, how much are you guys writing for the "PhD Goals" essay? 5000 char seems a lot for research goals haha
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I was wondering that too. Plus, I'm not sure if it's supposed to be for goals you have about doing the work for your PhD or the goals you have for using your PhD in your career.
 
For the question: "In what collegiate extracurriculars did you engage?", should I only list the activities that were located on campus/ affiliated with the university, or can I list all activities that I've done throughout my college career?
 
bigeman101 said:
Is anyone else's letter of reference not marked as completed?
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I'm having this same problem! And it's across a number of schools - but not all of them. Is anyone else having the same problem/know what's going on?
 
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Does columbia med curriculum have any special research programs? I am struggling to find any
 
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Hey all, since this is both my first secondary and my first choice school I'm a lil nervous about submitting. If any of you have not submitted yours, lmk if you'd like to trade real quick and compare.
 
How about we meet back here tomorrow. I'm on some wonky time-zone and its 11:00 pm and I've not exactly finished the whole thing yet (almost)
 
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Lucca said:
So for the "Experiences" section, I was planning on just listing my research/academic activities and not just my primary all over again. Are people using the same descriptions or writing something new? The char requirements are virtually identical...
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What section is this? I only saw a section for extra curriculars with way too low of a character count

jma90 said:
Hi there, do you have the word count on the Bassett essay? Thanks!
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3000 characters!
 
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For the secondary "What challenges do you expect to arise from living and working in a complex urban environment? How will you meet them?" are you guys making a point to focus equally on aspects of both living and working in an urban environment? As I reread my essay, I realize I focused more on a general sentiment that centers on "working" in diverse areas of NYC more than living in them.
 
zimzamzoop said:
For the secondary "What challenges do you expect to arise from living and working in a complex urban environment? How will you meet them?" are you guys making a point to focus equally on aspects of both living and working in an urban environment? As I reread my essay, I realize I focused more on a general sentiment that centers on "working" in diverse areas of NYC more than living in them.
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I did both. My "essay" pretty much came down to me talking about the difficulties of getting around in a city like that, the overcrowded feeling, and how expensive it is and then how I planned to overcome that/why I was prepared for it. I really didn't know what other challenges to expect but I've also lived in a huge city before (although in another country) so I might just be used to it. I was thinking of including something more medically related but I feel like they literally just meant what everyday problems we'd expect to face so I went with that.

If I'm totally off someone let me know please so I can change mine lol
 
Orthopedics101 said:
Incoming M1 to P&S. Let me know if you guys have any questions.
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How's housing, I know S&S does dorm-like housing for med students but are you guaranteed a spot? If you don't live on campus, how's living in Harlem? I'm not opposed (maybe I'd actually rather) but I mean prices (or if there's anything else noteworthy to mention).
 
Detective SnowBucket said:
How's housing, I know S&S does dorm-like housing for med students but are you guaranteed a spot? If you don't live on campus, how's living in Harlem? I'm not opposed (maybe I'd actually rather) but I mean prices (or if there's anything else noteworthy to mention).
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P&S does have dorms, which are the cheapest option, and everyone is guaranteed a spot there. They also have subsidized apartments near the medical school that upperclassmen live. Some people in my class are opting to get apartments with 2 or 3 other people not through P&S since the dorms really aren’t the nicest. Can’t comment on how it is living in Harlem since I haven’t moved in yet. Maybe one of the current students can chime in.
 
Orthopedics101 said:
Incoming M1 to P&S. Let me know if you guys have any questions.
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Thank you for joining this thread! I think a few people (including me) have been uncertain about 1) uploading their CV and 2) what/if to write in the "anything else you would like us to know" box. Do you have any suggestions?
 
penguinlover111 said:
Thank you for joining this thread! I think a few people (including me) have been uncertain about 1) uploading their CV and 2) what/if to write in the "anything else you would like us to know" box. Do you have any suggestions?
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Completely my opinion but I don’t think it matters if you upload your cv. If you have other stuff that you want to notify the adcoms that isn’t on your primaries feel free but don’t feel pressured to make one up. I did not upload my cv.
Many schools have the “is there anything else you would like us to know question” I ended up filling them out with either a “why x school” or my diversity essay or a combination of the two.
 
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For the listing of extracurricular activities, is it appropriate to use a sort of bulleted list? Or should I stick to paragraph/sentence structure? I'm having trouble keeping under character count with the latter, so I'd like to use a list. Any input would be appreciated!
 
BillDugRomans said:
For the listing of extracurricular activities, is it appropriate to use a sort of bulleted list? Or should I stick to paragraph/sentence structure? I'm having trouble keeping under character count with the latter, so I'd like to use a list. Any input would be appreciated!
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I haven't submitted yet (I plan to later today or tomorrow) but I just went with a list and had an extremely brief description for some if I wanted to draw attention to them or if they weren't self explanatory.
 
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Anyone else submit a couple days ago and it still says their LORs haven’t been received?


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If you haven't been verified yet, but received the secondary for Columbia, would it even matter if you turn it in early? I mean they aren't going to look at your secondary essays until your primary gets verified right?
 
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kochis said:
If you haven't been verified yet, but received the secondary for Columbia, would it even matter if you turn it in early? I mean they aren't going to look at your secondary essays until your primary gets verified right?
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Correct. I believe the only thing they might start reviewing without is LOR's
 
I used a list for the extracurriculars because of the character limit, but for the "work for compensation" question it also asks about hours and what you did. Are people just listing jobs/hours/responsibilities almost resume style? I had about 7 jobs throughout college, so describing them all essay-style is tricky with the word limits.
 
For the 'collegiate extracurriculars' secondary question, would it be weird to list college things that I did NOT put anywhere on my primary Work/Activities section?

I take 'collegiate extracurriculars' to mean ECs that were specifically tied to my college in one way or another (rather than ECs I undertook on my own volition)...so by that definition I had other NON-collegiate ECs that took priority in my primary. However, since this question is asking about collegiate ECs, I'm happy to include the ones that didn't make the cut on my 15 activities. That's cool right?
 
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Sorry for double comment, but also have a question on this secondary Q:

3. If you have graduated from college, please briefly summarize what you have done in the interim. (300 words)

I've been working full-time and essentially already answered this question in a Work/Activities entry on my primary...would it show bad taste if I essentially copy/paste that Experience Description in here? I'm trying to rewrite it, but there's only so many ways I can describe my job lol, at the same time I don't want to come off as lazy for copy/pasting....
 
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