2019-2020 Columbia VP&S

[deleted972488]

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Congrats! when were you complete?

Early July, but this is for the 3 year PhD-to-MD program which has a small pool of applicants and only has one interview date.

 

[peanuttbuttah]

Early July, but this is for the 3 year PhD-to-MD program which has a small pool of applicants and only has one interview date.

k less hope but more joy

 

[deleted688779]

k less hope but more joy

Literally same. Makes me feel like they be done with us regular MDs and wrapping up

 

[deleted834048]

Looking back a couple pages it seems Columbia’s still hovering on early-mid August complete dates, and even late July. I saw 1 reported II from very early September. It would be odd for them to fill their calendar with such a small range from the applicant pool (spoken as a still-hopeful mid-September applicant haha).

 

[deleted688779]

Looking back a couple pages it seems Columbia’s still hovering on early-mid August complete dates, and even late July. I saw 1 reported II from very early September. It would be odd for them to fill their calendar with such a small range from the applicant pool (spoken as a still-hopeful mid-September applicant haha).

Hopes crushed into little bite sized pieces (early-July applicant)

 

[FatherTime-PhD]

Wait I’m confused- their website says the interview through January... and decisions don’t get released to March.. so isn’t that a good thing for us hopefuls?

 

[GoBlue2019]

II this morning! So excited!! OOS, complete 7/29

 

[deleted688779]

Wait I’m confused- their website says the interview through January... and decisions don’t get released to March.. so isn’t that a good thing for us hopefuls?

It means only about a month of interview invites left. I think they’re currently on mid-December.

How I’m experiencing it is: it’s like one day everyone is screaming the SDN gospel “IT’S STILL EARLYYYYYYYYY” and with some people even claiming the wait for an II can even go until March. Then all of the sudden like with a blink of an eye IIs are almost all gone. Literally none of my schools interview past Feb and they reached their halfway point like over a month ago, so much for “early”

 

[BaxandWinny]

II!!! 🙂

Early July, but this is for the 3 year PhD-to-MD program which has a small pool of applicants and only has one interview date.

I applied for that program too! Did you get a first round interview for the MD program and a second interview for the 3 year program?

 

[deleted972488]

I applied for that program too! Did you get a first round interview for the MD program and a second interview for the 3 year program?

Nope. Just one notification for the 3 year program.

 

[mass-premed66]

Not going to do a Memelord-esque love letter... but god I ****ing love this school. Wow.

 

[Ballista]

Not going to do a Memelord-esque love letter... but god I ****ing love this school. Wow.

I agree! This is absolutely my top choice 😀. Hoping for some II love in the coming weeks >.<

 

[deleted965528]

Please don't quote the details below. Looking at the comments here it seems like they're almost done with sending out IIs. This is a top 3 choice for me but I haven't heard back regarding an interview. I'm thinking of doing a hybrid of an update and letter of continued interest. I wanted to know everyone's thoughts on this.

In my update I would include

1) We submitted a paper to Science and received feedback from the reviewers. We did some experiments and made edits for our second submission, we're about to send it in again. I know schools usually want accepted papers but interview season might conclude by then. Only briefly mentioned preparing the first draft on my secondary.

2) After submitting my primary, I joined the leadership of a non-profit org on the side and it had been a really meaningful experience. The past months we held a big event with thousands of attendees and made partnerships with other non-profits. This EC was not mentioned in my app at all.

Thoughts?

 

[adventum]

why do you think that interview season is almost over, might I ask? 😳
also, i interviewed at a t3 school recently and if they have a similar philosophy, they emphasized a super strict publications only cutoff for updates, and even then, not before ii. not sure if that helps you or not but food for thought.

 

[deleted965528]

why do you think that interview season is almost over, might I ask? 😳
also, i interviewed at a t3 school recently and if they have a similar philosophy, they emphasized a super strict publications only cutoff for updates, and even then, not before ii. not sure if that helps you or not but food for thought.

Thanks for the thought!

I just made an assumption based on the comments on this thread that they’re almost done with interviews???

 

[deleted688779]

why do you think that interview season is almost over, might I ask? 😳

I just made an assumption based on the comments on this thread that they’re almost done with interviews???

Someone said they're on mid-Dec dates and interviews end mid-Jan. So one month left of interviews to hand out.

 

[~Uncle Iroh~]

What a way to kick off the week, II just now! Complete 8/10

 

[Medapplicant101]

II, complete 10/1. Dates offered were early December

 

[deleted976595]

Cancelling my interview here. I thought gen chem fell under the category of “strongly suggested” that you take an additional year if you used AP but apparently it does not. Graduating in December so I won’t have time to retake the 1 semester of gen chem I’m missing. Hope my slot can go to one of you!

 

[youdecide]

Cancelling my interview here. I thought gen chem fell under the category of “strongly suggested” that you take an additional year if you used AP but apparently it does not. Graduating in December so I won’t have time to retake the 1 semester of gen chem I’m missing. Hope my slot can go to one of you!

No, AP credit is fine as long as your college counts your AP credit. You dont need retake one semester of gen Chem

 

[deleted976595]

No, AP credit is fine as long as your college counts your AP credit. You dont need retake one semester of gen Chem

At most schools, yes. But not here:

“For applicants whose undergraduate college awarded Advanced Placement credit in Chemistry, Physics, Biology, or English, we require they take an additional year at the collegiate level.”

(Application Requirements)

 

[deleted996731]

At most schools, yes. But not here:

“For applicants whose undergraduate college awarded Advanced Placement credit in Chemistry, Physics, Biology, or English, we require they take an additional year at the collegiate level.”

(Application Requirements)

If you’re accepted and talk to the council they often let things slide. My friend currently attends there now and also placed out of gen chem 2 with no extra class. I would attend the interview and just see what happens

 

[deleted976595]

If you’re accepted and talk to the council they often let things slide. My friend currently attends there now and also placed out of gen chem 2 with no extra class. I would attend the interview and just see what happens

Oh that’s great to know. Glad I hadn’t actually sent the email yet! Love the school I just didn’t want to waste their time if I were to be admitted and then couldn’t actually go even if I wanted to.

 

[deleted996731]

Oh that’s great to know. Glad I hadn’t actually sent the email yet! Love the school I just didn’t want to waste their time if I were to be admitted and then couldn’t actually go even if I wanted to.

Yea it’s definitely not worth it throwing away such an amazing ii if time and money isn’t tight. Obviously I’m providing an anecdote but if everything else is perfect, you should be able to argue that a semester of chemistry isn’t necessary to show competency.

 

[MDToBe1!]

Cancelling my interview here. I thought gen chem fell under the category of “strongly suggested” that you take an additional year if you used AP but apparently it does not. Graduating in December so I won’t have time to retake the 1 semester of gen chem I’m missing. Hope my slot can go to one of you!

Oh, my God, PLEASE do NOT cancel your interview here! If you get in, that can be discussed, and they will most likely let it slide.

 

[deleted976595]

Oh, my God, PLEASE do NOT cancel your interview here! If you get in, that can be discussed, and they will most likely let it slide.

Thankfully I was set straight before I sent my email!

 

[proudofmykids]

At most schools, yes. But not here:

“For applicants whose undergraduate college awarded Advanced Placement credit in Chemistry, Physics, Biology, or English, we require they take an additional year at the collegiate level.”

(Application Requirements)

I interpret that as an additional year requires a similar number of credits in each respective AP subject, not a required repeat of the AP courses.

 

[deleted976595]

I interpret that as an additional year requires a similar number of credits in each respective AP subject, not a required repeat of the AP courses.

That’s definitely true. AP credit at my school is just for one semester so the easiest solution for me would be retaking gen chem 1 rather than taking an upper level inorganic chem meant for chem majors.

It seems they’re moderately lenient though which is good

 

[desperatepremed2024]

Did anyone send thank you letters and NOT receive an acknowledgement email saying that the admissions committee would "very strongly consider" them?

 

[mzlipton]

Did anyone send thank you letters and NOT receive an acknowledgement email saying that the admissions committee would "very strongly consider" them?

I thought everyone gets that email? Or at least I was under the impression that it wasn't that special to receive it..

 

[FranklinDelanoRoooosevelt]

II this morning! Completed 8/20 and they had two weeks in December available. I’m hype - I’d heard nothing from any schools since early September, was losing hope. The lesson is stay strong! Good luck to all!!!

 

[doobeebop]

Did anyone send thank you letters and NOT receive an acknowledgement email saying that the admissions committee would "very strongly consider" them?

I uploaded them as updates so I only got a "thank you for your continued interest" email. Perhaps I did it wrong?

 

[deleted996731]

I uploaded them as updates so I only got a "thank you for your continued interest" email. Perhaps I did it wrong?

They’re supposed to be uploaded to the portal that’s what I was told by the admissions office the day I interviewed

 

[desperatepremed2024]

I uploaded them as updates so I only got a "thank you for your continued interest" email. Perhaps I did it wrong?

how long has it been since you submitted the thank you letters?

 

[desperatepremed2024]

I thought everyone gets that email? Or at least I was under the impression that it wasn't that special to receive it..

That's what I've been trying to figure out. Like how much weight does it actually hold.

 

[deleted996731]

That's what I've been trying to figure out. Like how much weight does it actually hold.

I doubt it holds much weight. It’s just a nice gesture that they like to see. Upload it to the portal and don’t read into it anymore. We’ve done the hard part now we just have to wait lol.

 

[mvsrocks]

I doubt it holds much weight. It’s just a nice gesture that they like to see. Upload it to the portal and don’t read into it anymore. We’ve done the hard part now we just have to wait lol.

The waiting is the hard part tho

 

[desperatepremed2024]

I doubt it holds much weight. It’s just a nice gesture that they like to see. Upload it to the portal and don’t read into it anymore. We’ve done the hard part now we just have to wait lol.

I'm talking about the response that the admissions office was reportedly sending out to some people, not the thank you letter itself. I agree that thank you letters themselves don't hold much weight, but I'm wondering whether they sent this "acknowledgment" to only people they plan on admitting.

 

[deleted996731]

I'm talking about the response that the admissions office was reportedly sending out to some people, not the thank you letter itself. I agree that thank you letters themselves don't hold much weight, but I'm wondering whether they sent this "acknowledgment" to only people they plan on admitting.

Lol

 

[doobeebop]

how long has it been since you submitted the thank you letters?

I submitted 10/23 and got confirmation 10/24. They were titled "Thank You Note" and labeled as additional documents so I doubt it's ambiguous what they are, I'm not sure why I didn't get a "thank you letter"-specific email. I think you're definitely overthinking it, they don't make decisions until March and it's probably just an automatic reply system.

 

[CuriousGeorge20]

Although, I received the "very strongly consider," response, I did not read too much into it. I am sure it's a canned response to all the people that submit thank you notes. It's too early in the process anyways for them to rank anyone at this juncture. But what do I know!

 

[mass-premed66]

I don’t have the interview packet on me so I can’t remember, did they give us the emails of our interviewers for thank yous? (I know we also need to upload them on the portal)

 

[deleted996731]

I don’t have the interview packet on me so I can’t remember, did they give us the emails of our interviewers for thank yous? (I know we also need to upload them on the portal)

We didn’t get their emails only emails for our guides. The admissions office specifically said to only upload to the portal and not to email

 

[deleted994247]

We didn’t get their emails only emails for our guides. The admissions office specifically said to only upload to the portal and not to email

i believe they said you could do both, but to just make sure you upload to portal. They want to make sure they have a copy; if the notes only go to the doctors, the emails could get lost.

 

[CupcakeCarabiner]

I was complete around July 4th for this school...is it possible I can still hear back from here and other schools of similar caliber?

 

[moldydorito]

I was complete around July 4th for this school...is it possible I can still hear back from here and other schools of similar caliber?

Possible but less likely at this point

 

[CupcakeCarabiner]

Possible but less likely at this point

Aw shucks : /
This was pretty much my top choice. Alas

 

[deleted846158]

Aw shucks : /
This was pretty much my top choice. Alas

I was complete late July and recently got an interview so I don’t think they necessarily go in chronological order here. I would say it’s still possible.

 

[deleted688779]

I was complete around July 4th for this school...is it possible I can still hear back from here and other schools of similar caliber?

+1, mood this whole cycle

 

[Ikzencriel]

i believe they said you could do both, but to just make sure you upload to portal. They want to make sure they have a copy; if the notes only go to the doctors, the emails could get lost.

I also emailed an interviewer directly (since they gave me their email), and that email got uploaded to the portal as well. So I'm pretty sure you can just upload everything to the portal and be golden - no need to email anyone directly.