2019-2020 Chicago Med at Rosalind Franklin

[Polarbare50]

Lol I got the same two emails. I feel like this was intended to be a standard pre-II rejection, but they said:

1) "unable to make a final decision" --> They did make a final decision and it was a rejection
2) "due to timing and volume" --> I'm sure timing didn't have anything to do with it unless they didn't review past June applicants
3) "cancelled" ---> Why can't you just say rejected?

Instead of the standard message, it sounds like they couldn't do their job- to make decisions.

But then of course, we should consider their health science grad options.

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[deleted962695]

Since I may have to reapply to med school, I am not going to respond because I do not want to have a bad reputation with the school. But if I was already accepted elsewhere I would ask for a refund. This is very unfair.

 

[ruledaworlds]

"Although our records indicate that your file is complete, we were unable to make a final decision prior to the start of the intended term due to the timing of your application and volume of applications received for the Fall 2020 term. At this point your file will be cancelled for continued consideration."

This wording makes me feel like I was in a long distance relationship with RFU since I submitted, thinking maybe we'd move in together in the future, and she's now dumping me because the timing wasn't right/we were in different stages of life

 

[DopeAmine95]

Are you just going to email the grad address back? I don't think AMCAS would help with this sort of thing since they're only really responsible for the primary application portion of the process...

I just now emailed the grad email. Will report back

 

[cheauxds]

I submitted July 12 (the day after they sent the secondary) and was complete July 18 and I STILL got those two emails

 

[DopeAmine95]

I submitted July 12 (the day after they sent the secondary) and was complete July 18 and I STILL got those two emails

I was actually complete on the same date as you. I just got an email from them saying that they could take up to two business days or more to get back to me

 

[lavender_flowers]

True they may only have control over primary applications but they also serve as a regulatory authority. If a school is doing something untoward, they may be the people to ask for next steps, ESPECIALLY if we get enough people to email that they think this is unacceptable. If all of us band together and email RFU and possibly AMCAS, the chances of them doing something about it are a lot higher l.

Just asked for a refund. I felt so indignant when I got that email, it was like they were blaming us for "the timing of our application," even though I literally completed the secondary in July.

 

[DoctorOrdinary]

This Cancellation email is absolutely infuriating

 

[applecidervinegar]

I submitted my application several weeks earlier than my first application 3 years ago. First application: II, this time around, "cancelled"

 

[Sam Losco]

Incredibly disrespectful. I am strongly considering asking for a refund.

 

[Polarbare50]

Hands down, the absolute worst rejection email I have ever received (and I've gotten a lot). What was going through their minds to make them think this was a good idea? If anyone can report back about their response to refund requests I'm really curious how they will reply.

Tbh, I can't imagine that they would say yes. If they gave a refund, then anyone who received that email would have a legitimate claim.

Thousands of applicants got that email and if even 500 of us got a refund, that's at least $50,000.

 

[meek20]

I’m frustrated and I already am holding an acceptance. I can’t even imagine someone how upsetting that is for someone who doesn’t have an acceptance yet. Don’t apply here next year people if you are reading this.

 

[holdthemayo]

I’m frustrated and I already am holding an acceptance. I can’t even imagine someone how upsetting that is for someone who doesn’t have an acceptance yet. Don’t apply here next year people if you are reading this.

Lol

Lol I got the same two emails. I feel like this was intended to be a standard pre-II rejection, but they said:

1) "unable to make a final decision" --> They did make a final decision and it was a rejection
2) "due to timing and volume" --> I'm sure timing didn't have anything to do with it unless they didn't review past June applicants
3) "cancelled" ---> Why can't you just say rejected?

Instead of the standard message, it sounds like they couldn't do their job- to make decisions.

But then of course, we should consider their health science grad options.

I think you landed on what happened here. This is a standard rejection letter, it's just horribly worded.

 

[Hypnosis]

I forgot I applied here and I have no intentions of going here anyways so I’ll be sending them an email requesting for a refund because I was under the assumption I was applying for a medical school, not donating.

 

[Band-Aid King]

Just emailed a request for refund as well

 

[Sam Losco]

Just a received an apology email.

 

[brainreducio]

+1 on the apology email

 

[medschoolapplicant123]

Their apology email is very carefully worded to be apologetic, but not actually say there was any significant review of our applications. "Please know that your application was processed in a manner consistent with other candidates who applied to the Doctor of Medicine program. However, because we follow rolling admissions, there were no remaining interview slots to offer for this year."

I wonder if this is actually how lots of schools do it, RFU was just accidentally too honest about it.

 

[idontwanttomakeanaccount]

I wonder if this is actually how lots of schools do it, RFU was just accidentally too honest about it.

DEFINITELY.

 

[mmchick]

Their apology email is very carefully worded to be apologetic, but not actually say there was any significant review of our applications. "Please know that your application was processed in a manner consistent with other candidates who applied to the Doctor of Medicine program. However, because we follow rolling admissions, there were no remaining interview slots to offer for this year."

I wonder if this is actually how lots of schools do it, RFU was just accidentally too honest about it.

I don’t think so. Most schools explicitly say “your application was carefully reviewed.” Schools would be under some serious liability to lie about that but also the chances for catching that are slim; though I assume there considering RFU’s particular avoidance of this language.

 

[hailbate]

RFU:

 

[aniongap]

I forgot I applied here and I have no intentions of going here anyways so I’ll be sending them an email requesting for a refund because I was under the assumption I was applying for a medical school, not donating.

Omg! I did the same thing and received a silly apology email. I really do want a refund because it seems like they didnt even look at my application.


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[Absentminded_Kiddo]

Received the same email as everyone else. Emailed asking for a refund. For next person's thread, I'll update my secondary submission date to know when is the implied cutoff for this email if no refund is received.

 

[medschooldreamz]

Absolute garbage

 

[aniongap]

Folks, I requested a refund upon receiving the first email, but then I got the apology email. Then, I looked here and saw all your posts. How can we band together?

Also, did anyone have Zachary Rowe as their counselor?


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[meek20]

Folks, I requested a refund upon receiving the first email, but then I got the apology email. Then, I looked here and saw all your posts. How can we band together?

Also, did anyone have Zachary Rowe as their counselor?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

+1 on the counselor

 

[DoctorOrdinary]

Folks, I requested a refund upon receiving the first email, but then I got the apology email. Then, I looked here and saw all your posts. How can we band together?

Also, did anyone have Zachary Rowe as their counselor?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

+1

 

[tom_r]

People from Rosalind Franklin admissions, if you're reading this, I'm sincerely trying to help you. I get that this is a crisis for you, and that deciding how to respond is difficult. Let alone that we have a pandemic going on right now. But let me try to describe objectively to you what happened here.

Email #1: You failed to complete you application, so we canceled it.

Email #2: Actually, you completed your application, but we didn't have time to read it, so we canceled it.

Email #3: Actually, we DID read your application. I promise.


Even if email #3 really is true, how can you expect applicants to believe it? Give everyone who received these mails a refund. That's where this is headed eventually anyway, and the longer you delay, the worse it will be. If you handle this poorly, it will hurt your applicant pool for years to come.

 

[Hypnosis]

Looks like chances of a refund are pretty slim considering they followed up with an “apologetic” email doubling down on their decisions. In their email they apologize for contradictory messages when their follow-up literally contradicts their initial email this morning.

I’ll personally give them a benefit of doubt and wait 2-3 business days for a response. If not, I’ll go ahead and forward their response to AAMC and attach my complete notification, which proves I submitted months before their deadline.

 

[Polarbare50]

That's where this is headed eventually anyway, and the longer you delay, the worse it will be. If you handle this poorly, it will hurt your applicant pool for years to come.

Do you really think this is the case? I'm doubtful. I believe events like this, or Mayo's inadvertent acceptance email, evoke strong reactions in this year's pool, but I doubt will affect future applicants. At least broadly speaking. Duke, a couple years ago for example, did something similar to Mayo, in mistakenly giving out acceptances. I'm sure very few applicants even knew about that when applying this year. Application volume definitely increased across the board.

Given the power dynamics of med school apps, schools will consistently get high volumes of applicants because we want to go to medical school. It sucks, but that's reality. It usually takes something major (like losing accreditation) to cause shifts in application volume.

Also, given the volume of applicants, almost every school does a version of this. Given previous years interview invitation numbers, acceptances, and yields, schools generally have a sense of the number of IIs needed to fill out their class. Then, certain applications are given priority for review based on some of the following: application date, connection to school/area, MCAT, publications, URM status, etc. If you applied later in the cycle, maybe you'll get preliminarily reviewed if you have some of the aforementioned characteristics.

Take, for example, UCLA or Mayo. Both programs finished sending out IIs in early-November. If you applied in late October, they probably glanced at your app and if anything didn't immediately stick out, they rejected you. They technically looked at your application.

 

[mmchick]

If you applied later in the cycle, maybe you'll get preliminarily reviewed if you have some of the aforementioned characteristics.

Most people who have posted were complete late July to early August. That would hardly be considered late.

Of course it is understood that rearranging occurs and priority for review is determined with most school. But RFU had 8-9 months to review all of our applications. I expect if I pay a secondary fee, that is to pay admissions members to actually open my file and look through it. It’s not a donation or a gratuity fee for simply forwarding my information along to the school. If I’m paying into salaries or programs within the school for the expectation my application will receive fair consideration, then I expect that to be done.

It’s completely unabashedly unprofessional and inappropriate to take fees from applicants and never get around to them in 8-9 months. Not only for obvious reasons, but just the general professional consideration and respect that someone put time into their application sent to the office as well as paid other associated fees to get the final product there. It doesn’t matter if they messed up wording or other schools do it; they explicitly stated they didn’t perform the service of reviewing my and others’ applications in time, so I expect a refund for that service I paid for.

 

[tom_r]

I think it would be worth having a discussion outside this publicly viewable forum. If you got these three emails and would like to participate, please DM me. I'll wait until later this evening to start that, so that folks have time to reply.

 

[caterwaiter]

Most people who have posted were complete late July to early August. That would hardly be considered late.

Of course it is understood that rearranging occurs and priority for review is determined with most school. But RFU had 8-9 months to review all of our applications. I expect if I pay a secondary fee, that is to pay admissions members to actually open my file and look through it. It’s not a donation or a gratuity fee for simply forwarding my information along to the school. If I’m paying into salaries or programs within the school for the expectation my application will receive fair consideration, then I expect that to be done.

It’s completely unabashedly unprofessional and inappropriate to take fees from applicants and never get around to them in 8-9 months. Not only for obvious reasons, but just the general professional consideration and respect that someone put time into their application sent to the office as well as paid other associated fees to get the final product there. It doesn’t matter if they messed up wording or other schools do it; they explicitly stated they didn’t perform the service of reviewing my and others’ applications in time, so I expect a refund for that service I paid for.

I'd love to make some noise about this. Particularly for applicants who are financially stressed already, and perhaps don't qualify for FAP, paying for secondaries is a HUGE burden. For schools to be transparent about the fact that they're just not looking at our applications at all....is unacceptable.

Applicants deserve some proof that the service we are paying for is being done. I understand that schools like RFU have a very large pool of applicants, but if they can't ensure that an application review will be done, then they can't expect us to pay for it.

 

[Hypnosis]

It's clear RFU was completely okay with taking the fees of applications that their committee knew they couldn't possibly process in a timely manner.

I don't know the inner workings of RFU, but this whole ordeal begs the question of why the school didn't do anything to accommodate the large volume of applications...until the near-end of the cycle where they ultimately just rejected people they weren't able to get to. My guess is greed.

 

[rockersoccer]

I was offered an interview here and kind of glad I declined it given this debacle....

 

[mmchick]

Received a very snooty response back to my request for a refund, something along the lines of, “you should have received our third email that explained the situation” (despite their third email being just as ambiguous as the first two) with a reiteration of very suspicious language that still doesn’t explicitly say it was reviewed. “Considered along the same process as other candidates”.

Anyway, horrible vibes from this school in general which yes does come with the bias of the R; but very unprofessional, unclear, and impersonal. Probably the most relieved I’ve been of all the schools to reject me.

 

[purpleguys99999]

I was offered an interview here and kind of glad I declined it given this debacle....

+1, I was getting bad vibes before all of this even went down lol

 

[DopeAmine95]

Received a very snooty response back to my request for a refund, something along the lines of, “you should have received our third email that explained the situation” (despite their third email being just as ambiguous as the first two) with a reiteration of very suspicious language that still doesn’t explicitly say it was reviewed. “Considered along the same process as other candidates”.

Anyway, horrible vibes from this school in general which yes does come with the bias of the R; but very unprofessional, unclear, and impersonal. Probably the most relieved I’ve been of all the schools to reject me.

The response I got to the email I sent:

"Unfortunately, the Chicago Medical School supplemental application fee cannot be refunded as your application was processed in a manner consistent with other candidates who applied to the Doctor of Medicine program. For more information on the application requirements, please refer to our website or university catalog."

Notice the careful language used. Our apps most likely were not thoroughly reviewed. My stats hit last year's matriculating medians and my ECs are strong, so I'm not sure how my app would have been filtered out to not be in the review pile at some point over the last 8 months, given I was marked complete in mid July. I certainly don't expect to get into every school, and am happy with my cycle overall, but I don't enjoy paying $125 or so for my application to be ignored due to inefficiency (which their earlier emails strongly implied to most us). That's a lot of money to throw away

 

[ECG92]

I have to speak up to everyone complaining right now. I know it does not feel good to be rejected, but let me analyze this.

Here is the email creating so much controversy:

“ Thank you again for applying to the Doctor of Medicine program at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science (RFU). Although our records indicate that your file is complete, we were unable to make a final decision prior to the start of the intended term due to the timing of your application and volume of applications received for the Fall 2020 term. At this point your file will be cancelled for continued consideration. "

Show me where it says that they did not review your applications at all. It says they were unable to make a final decision. This does not mean they were unable to make a first decision. They do not say they did not review your application at all, and look back in the forum on how many people had pre-II rejections months ago. Don't you think it's possible that they reviewed your application once, you stood out enough to not get a pre-II rejection, but, like they say in the email, you applied too late and all their spots got filled by the huge wave of applicants? For those of you who will try and rebuttal that you don't feel you applied late, did you submit your primary on the first day you were allowed to and did you submit your secondary on the first day you were allowed to? If your answer is no to any of the two above questions, don't be upset that other students were quicker to apply than you, because I assure you there were students who probably had their primaries submitted the SECOND that they were first allowed to and worked like an animal getting their secondaries in as soon as they could. That is just the way it is.

Also to those saying they got horrible vibes from the school, look back in the forum on how many people LOVED their interview day. Also, if the vibes are so bad, why are you so upset? If the vibes are so bad why aren't you glad you dodged a bullet instead of being upset that you didn't get in? You should be thankful that for only $125 dollars you are not stuck going to a school with such horrible vibes that you'd have to spend 81 thousand dollars per year to attend for four years.

This is my third time applying to medical school. I know it sucks getting rejected. Believe me. I have had to spend five years after graduating college working jobs to survive while wishing I was in medical school every single day. I've cried feeling like the world is passing me by. I have watched many people I know get into medical school and it sucks to feel left out. I found out that a student who literally copied off of my physics exams (I didn't know him but he was good friends with a friend of mine who told me about this literally years after the fact) got into medical school last year. That one especially hurt, but I keep trying and keep coming back because I know this is what I want to do and it's up to me to make it happen.

You all should have studied for the MCAT psychology section and remember internal and external locus of control and how those with internal locus of control tend to be more successful than those with an external locus of control. Take my advice, internalize this experience and use it for future success. Apply earlier, apply to more schools, don't waste time beating yourself up or blaming others. You WILL get in if you WANT to.

Best of luck to you all.

 

[rockersoccer]

*grabs some popcorn*

 

[purpleguys99999]

I have to speak up to everyone complaining right now. I know it does not feel good to be rejected, but let me analyze this.

Here is the email creating so much controversy:

“ Thank you again for applying to the Doctor of Medicine program at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science (RFU). Although our records indicate that your file is complete, we were unable to make a final decision prior to the start of the intended term due to the timing of your application and volume of applications received for the Fall 2020 term. At this point your file will be cancelled for continued consideration. "

Show me where it says that they did not review your applications at all. It says they were unable to make a final decision. This does not mean they were unable to make a first decision. They do not say they did not review your application at all, and look back in the forum on how many people had pre-II rejections months ago. Don't you think it's possible that they reviewed your application once, you stood out enough to not get a pre-II rejection, but, like they say in the email, you applied too late and all their spots got filled by the huge wave of applicants? For those of you who will try and rebuttal that you don't feel you applied late, did you submit your primary on the first day you were allowed to and did you submit your secondary on the first day you were allowed to? If your answer is no to any of the two above questions, don't be upset that other students were quicker to apply than you, because I assure you there were students who probably had their primaries submitted the SECOND that they were first allowed to and worked like an animal getting their secondaries in as soon as they could. That is just the way it is.

Also to those saying they got horrible vibes from the school, look back in the forum on how many people LOVED their interview day. Also, if the vibes are so bad, why are you so upset? If the vibes are so bad why aren't you glad you dodged a bullet instead of being upset that you didn't get in? You should be thankful that for only $125 dollars you are not stuck going to a school with such horrible vibes that you'd have to spend 81 thousand dollars per year to attend for four years.

This is my third time applying to medical school. I know it sucks getting rejected. Believe me. I have had to spend five years after graduating college working jobs to survive while wishing I was in medical school every single day. I've cried feeling like the world is passing me by. I have watched many people I know get into medical school and it sucks to feel left out. I found out that a student who literally copied off of my physics exams (I didn't know him but he was good friends with a friend of mine who told me about this literally years after the fact) got into medical school last year. That one especially hurt, but I keep trying and keep coming back because I know this is what I want to do and it's up to me to make it happen.

You all should have studied for the MCAT psychology section and remember internal and external locus of control and how those with internal locus of control tend to be more successful than those with an external locus of control. Take my advice, internalize this experience and use it for future success. Apply earlier, apply to more schools, don't waste time beating yourself up or blaming others. You WILL get in if you WANT to.

Best of luck to you all.

Disagree with this take. This isn't about being rejected or not being rejected, I think the medical school is at fault here and I didn't even receive said rejection (i was offered an interview which I declined). This is also not about students liking this school post-interview. They are entitled to like it just as people are entitled to be upset here. I believe the school is at fault because their messaging was not clear for something that should have been fairly easy to do (rejecting people). They sent applicants emails suggesting that 1. their applications were complete but could not undergo final review and 2. their application was incomplete although it was in fact complete based on the first email. This suggests some level of disorganization at best and that applications were blatantly overlooked at worst. I believe it to be the latter having read between the lines and comparing it to my prior experiences with writing/receiving emails like this. I have about the same amount of compassion for medical schools as they have for their applicants. I see no issue with putting a school on blast when there are so many other great programs to choose from that will not make these mistakes. In fact, without holding them accountable, mistakes like this can't be prevented in the future. In my opinion, pre-medical students already put up with too much bs in this process and should be advocating for a fairer system. Not even being able to call out obvious missteps like this one only hurts us further. The entire point about not applying early does not make much sense either. You even end it by saying that "that is just the way it is". Rather than accept a system that is suboptimal, I'd hope people act to make positive changes to benefit future generations whenever possible. Overall your argument is hurt by the fact that you seem to be projecting some of your preconceived world views (the world won't change so you must adapt) onto others who likely do not share them.

 

[aniongap]

@ECG92

Let's agree to disagree. We have all received rejection emails from other schools. None of them said that they could not make a decision on our application. I think getting a rejection is completely different than getting neither a rejection nor an acceptance, but simply a "no decision" email saying that our files are closed. Also, most of us got this email right after another email indicating that our files were not even looked at. Here is that email:

"Thank you again for applying to the Doctor of Medicine at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science (RFU). Our records indicate that your file remains incomplete for Fall 2020. At this point, your file will be canceled as the deadline has passed for continued consideration."

I submitted my secondary mid-August, but my application was complete mid-September because I had to send in a transcript evaluation document. I reached out to the person in my application 2-3 times in September, asking if my application was complete. I only got an automated complete email in mid-November. I got many rejections in the meantime. None of the schools said that they could not make a decision. I don't request money back from other schools, because in the end, even if they spent only 5 minutes in my application, the other schools were able to deliver what they were supposed to deliver: a decision.

I think we have to hold RFU accountable because they should not put any student through this situation in the future. I think someone in this thread mentioned that maybe they were understaffed. If that was the case, then maybe they will learn from our response to them and not make the same mistake again. I know some people who could not apply to as many schools as they wanted to simply because they were poor. Now consider if some of the applicants to RFU were poor and spent the last $125 they have to RFU... Loci of control is an important concept, but as we are fighting for our place in medicine, it is important to keep the concept of socioeconomic status in mind as well.

 

[tom_r]

@ECG92, your post is mature and well-thought out. It is also calm and respectful, which I greatly appreciate. To everyone else, I would encourage you to maintain a tone that is as calm and civil as this post.

You make some good points, and I’d like to address a few of them.

Show me where it says that they did not review your applications at all. It says they were unable to make a final decision. This does not mean they were unable to make a first decision.

Completely fair. When I paid the application fee, however, I didn’t just expect that they would start reviewing my file, I expected that they would finish. They’ve said they didn’t do that, and if I’d know ahead of time that that was a possible outcome, I probably wouldn’t have applied here. The key word for me is “cancelled.” My application was cancelled by them, not withdrawn by me. Based on that, they did not complete the service that I thought I was paying for. Applying to med school has become unreasonably expensive, and it's understandable that people are upset that they paid an application fee and their files didn't get a full review.

Rosalind Franklin (and every med school) is free to run their decision process however they want. If they think there is nothing wrong with the emails they sent, then they should be happy to defend them, and should have no problem with them being posted widely on pre-med forums and social media. It’s perfectly appropriate for future applicants to be able to read the facts about what happened, and make their own decisions based on that.

Your point about reacting emotionally is fair. I encourage everyone to share these messages with mentors and other people in your lives who you trust. Doctors you’ve shadowed, pre-med advisors, even your parents. Forward the mails, describe how you feel, and ask if they think you’re overreacting. Getting this kind of feedback is very valuable.

Take my advice, internalize this experience and use it for future success. Apply earlier, apply to more schools, don't waste time beating yourself up or blaming others.

Good advice, but not mutually exclusive from objecting when you feel you have been mistreated. Personally, the replies I’ve read here strike me as different from the typical whining about rejections. I’ve read a number of well-thought out posts that describe why people feel they were deceived. You don't feel that way, and that's fine. But many others on the thread do, and that's also fine.

Best of luck to you all.

Same to you. We are all on the same team, and I’m glad you realize that.

 

[mmchick]

I have to speak up to everyone complaining right now. I know it does not feel good to be rejected, but let me analyze this.

For someone with so much time to analyze things, you sure missed all the marks for the majority of us taking issue with their case.

I highly doubt that all students who got an interview/acceptance this year were in before August. Anyone who applies before Labor Day is considered early for MD which isn't some anomaly that excuses RFU.

I actually never complained about not getting in, I complained that they never got to my application. As the confirmation bias (as you like to refer to MCAT terms) tends to go, believe what you will with your interpretation of that one version of the many emails they sent. Lastly, myself and I'm sure most others are already accepted at other places. That's great you have pep advice from your couple of failed cycles, but you can keep that and your judgements/assumptions of others for yourself.

 

[ECG92]

For someone with so much time to analyze things, you sure missed all the marks for the majority of us taking issue with their case.

I highly doubt that all students who got an interview/acceptance this year were in before August. Anyone who applies before Labor Day is considered early for MD which isn't some anomaly that excuses RFU.

I actually never complained about not getting in, I complained that they never got to my application. As the confirmation bias (as you like to refer to MCAT terms) tends to go, believe what you will with your interpretation of that one version of the many emails they sent. Lastly, myself and I'm sure most others are already accepted at other places. That's great you have pep advice from your couple of failed cycles, but you can keep that and your judgements/assumptions of others for yourself.

No one needs a fireball of an angsty applicant who wants to stand on a soap box to shut others down in the midst of very justified frustration. The school handled this situation like **** and this is a public forum that allows us to sit around here and vent about it. Your unsolicited perspective most certainly does not change my opinion of that.

Says this is a place to sit around and discuss and accuses me of being a "fireball of an angsty applicant".........after telling me to keep my opinions to myself in an angsty manner.

 

[mmchick]

Says this is a place to sit around and discuss and accuses me of being a "fireball of an angsty applicant".........after telling me to keep my opinions to myself in an angsty manner.

Again, said that this is a place for us to vent about the RFU event. Never mentioned open discussion about others' opinions of our opinions. Let it go mate.

 

[rockersoccer]

*grabs extra buttered popcorn and a large soda*

 

[ECG92]

@ECG92, your post is mature and well-thought out. It is also calm and respectful, which I greatly appreciate. To everyone else, I would encourage you to maintain a tone that is as calm and civil as this post.

You make some good points, and I’d like to address a few of them.


Completely fair. When I paid the application fee, however, I didn’t just expect that they would start reviewing my file, I expected that they would finish. They’ve said they didn’t do that, and if I’d know ahead of time that that was a possible outcome, I probably wouldn’t have applied here. The key word for me is “cancelled.” My application was cancelled by them, not withdrawn by me. Based on that, they did not complete the service that I thought I was paying for. Applying to med school has become unreasonably expensive, and it's understandable that people are upset that they paid an application fee and their files didn't get a full review.

Rosalind Franklin (and every med school) is free to run their decision process however they want. If they think there is nothing wrong with the emails they sent, then they should be happy to defend them, and should have no problem with them being posted widely on pre-med forums and social media. It’s perfectly appropriate for future applicants to be able to read the facts about what happened, and make their own decisions based on that.

Your point about reacting emotionally is fair. I encourage everyone to share these messages with mentors and other people in your lives who you trust. Doctors you’ve shadowed, pre-med advisors, even your parents. Forward the mails, describe how you feel, and ask if they think you’re overreacting. Getting this kind of feedback is very valuable.


Good advice, but not mutually exclusive from objecting when you feel you have been mistreated. Personally, the replies I’ve read here strike me as different from the typical whining about rejections. I’ve read a number of well-thought out posts that describe why people feel they were deceived. You don't feel that way, and that's fine. But many others on the thread do, and that's also fine.


Same to you. We are all on the same team, and I’m glad you realize that.

First, I appreciate your maturity as well. We ARE in this together!

1. Cancelled is a harsh word, but when you look at the sentence as a whole, "At this point your file will be cancelled for continued consideration," they are not saying that your application was cancelled. They said that your file will be cancelled for continued consideration. In other words, up to this point it has been under continued consideration, but moving forward it is cancelled from that. I think it's odd wording I'll admit, but It doesn't, to me at least, say that they've cancelled your entire application and it's gone under absolutely no review whatsoever.

2. Agreed on it being acceptable to post about frustrations and emails in general to help future applicants. I just know that getting frustrated and pointing fingers doesn't do anything to help those who have been rejected. Looking at one's self as a victim of circumstance does one little service in the long term, especially when being a victim is up for debate, so I wanted others to take my standpoint into consideration as well.

3. Good point about asking mentors opinions.

 

[ECG92]

Again, said that this is a place for us to vent about the RFU event. Never mentioned open discussion about others' opinions of our opinions. Let it go mate.

It is a place to vent. Never said it wasn't. It is not, however, a place to ONLY vent. It is first and foremost a place to DISCUSS openly and freely, which is why this is called a forum. You telling me to "Let it go" is basically you telling me to stop talking openly and freely on a public forum, which I have no intention of doing. Sorry.

 

[ECG92]

*grabs extra buttered popcorn and a large soda*

LMAO I didn't think I'd be so polarizing. I thought people would appreciate someone telling them that maybe they're not victims. If I was up in arms over something and someone was like, "Hey wait a minute maybe this is a simple misunderstanding and your energy would be put to better use elsewhere," I'd at least take it into consideration lol.