2019-2020 Columbia VP&S

Discover Your Odds of Getting into Medical School
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ExtraRoughWheatBread said:
How formal should the photo be? I have a shirt-and-tie photo taken by a photographer but it is in an outside setting, would this work?
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uhhh dang lol I didn't even think about formal vs informal. my friends who were applying last cycle said they just did a white tee casual headshot. I just sent in my pic in a lab coat that I took for my job.... oh wells
 
alwayseating said:
uhhh dang lol I didn't even think about formal vs informal. my friends who were applying last cycle said they just did a white tee casual headshot. I just sent in my pic in a lab coat that I took for my job.... oh wells
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I am guessing the purpose of the photo is so that your interviewer can verify you didn't send a surrogate? Who knows. I wouldn't sweat it regardless as long as you aren't uploading your beach party pics from spring break in Miami
 
For the question about leadership experiences, is it pretty much just a list of experiences along with descriptions/what we learned?
 
for the work essay... most of the description is copied basically from my CV.. which they will also see. Did anyone else run into this problem? did you just keep it identical? reword?
 
bluekangaroo said:
For the question about leadership experiences, is it pretty much just a list of experiences along with descriptions/what we learned?
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I don't think I would make it a list. I interpreted this more as an essay where you should focus on 1, maybe 2 (if related) leadership experiences
 
For the "Experiences" section now I'm thinking that the "Type of Work" entry should be very brief (e.g. Basic laboratory research) since the box after you enter the experience is quite small

Plus, they should have plenty to reference if you already mention the work in your primary, secondary essays, and CV...
 
babykarat said:
For the "Experiences" section now I'm thinking that the "Type of Work" entry should be very brief (e.g. Basic laboratory research) since the box after you enter the experience is quite small

Plus, they should have plenty to reference if you already mention the work in your primary, secondary essays, and CV...
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Experiences section? We still talking MD?
 
ahhhhh I was just about to submit and go to bed! The website has been down for like 5 mins! Guess I'll sleep on my essays another night...

edit - website back up now, and just submitted!
 
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So I'm an idiot and clicked the wrong thing for my major. I'm a double major and my primary one falls under the biological sciences, which I clicked. I didn't realize that the "All Other" option was meant for double majors. Should I email admissions asking if they can fix this?
 
thatguyoverthere said:
So I'm an idiot and clicked the wrong thing for my major. I'm a double major and my primary one falls under the biological sciences, which I clicked. I didn't realize that the "All Other" option was meant for double majors. Should I email admissions asking if they can fix this?
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No
 
For those who have received a secondary, how long did it take for all of you to get one? I have yet to receive one, and I was verified in early June. Thank you!
 
MAJ123 said:
For those who have received a secondary, how long did it take for all of you to get one? I have yet to receive one, and I was verified in early June. Thank you!
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Verified June 27, and transmitted June 28. I got my secondary July 3. I believe they send secondaries to everyone, so you might want to contact the admissions office
 
MAJ123 said:
For those who have received a secondary, how long did it take for all of you to get one? I have yet to receive one, and I was verified in early June. Thank you!
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Verified 7/15 got the secondary 7/16. Maybe contact the admissions office since you've been verified for a while.
 
Potentially dumb question: for the "have already graduated college" question, if I am graduating this fall, should I mention what I am planning to do between that time and Fall 2020 matriculation? Or nah?
 
Quick question, for the "Experiences" section we should only list paid jobs, right? (That is, not volunteering/ECs). Thanks!
 
Jobs including paid research positions. No volunteer positions, clinical/research or otherwise
 
For the question regarding your parents' profession, did you just state them? Or are they looking for how their profession influenced our development/personal professional goals?
 
meek20 said:
For the question regarding your parents' profession, did you just state them? Or are they looking for how their profession influenced our development/personal professional goals?
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Most people (myself included) seem to be offering brief descriptions (100-250 characters or so)

No introspection required, but I don't think it could hurt so long as you keep it short. The secondary is already so long
 
meek20 said:
For the question regarding your parents' profession, did you just state them? Or are they looking for how their profession influenced our development/personal professional goals?
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I just stated them. Last year's secondary had a ridiculously short character limit (like ~100 characters) I think. I figured if they wanted any sort of reflection they would have indicated so in the question. :shrug:
 
xkcd6330 said:
I just stated them. Last year's secondary had a ridiculously short character limit (like ~100 characters) I think. I figured if they wanted any sort of reflection they would have indicated so in the question. :shrug:
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Bless, thank you. Was not prepared to dive into another 300-word essay.

On another note, does it look unprofessional to use a resume in place of a CV? I have a current resume but not a CV, and I am not sure if using this instead will have an impact on my reviewer. Worth the time converting it over? I have some research experience but only upcoming publications (in process of peer review, but not yet published) so a CV seems less relevant than a resume at this point.
 
It's totally fine not to upload a CV/resume right? They already have all of our activities and I also wanna take the wording I used in my resume for some of my leadership positions secondary lol. I just feel like my resume adds nothing new to my app, just has it in a different format
 
ef2497ef said:
It's totally fine not to upload a CV/resume right? They already have all of our activities and I also wanna take the wording I used in my resume for some of my leadership positions secondary lol. I just feel like my resume adds nothing new to my app, just has it in a different format
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That's exactly how I felt, but I ended up uploading one. It could be used down the road by someone interviewing you if we are fortunate enough to make it to that point, so I included one to be safe. It wasn't anything fancy I just spend an hour or two converting a resume to a CV.
 
ef2497ef said:
It's totally fine not to upload a CV/resume right? They already have all of our activities and I also wanna take the wording I used in my resume for some of my leadership positions secondary lol. I just feel like my resume adds nothing new to my app, just has it in a different format
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I would upload it. It may be that they want a facesheet to see what your app is all about before they spend time reading your essays, etc.
 
meek20 said:
On another note, does it look unprofessional to use a resume in place of a CV?
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I definitely don't think it's that big of a deal, but if you do have time to make a CV it might be worth it because you'll be almost using that exclusively from here on out. So probably better to do it now, and give them exactly what they want as it'll be beneficial for future you.
 
For peeps uploading a CV: once you upload, can you tell that it's successfully uploaded? Mine just seems to go back to letting me upload another...
 
Had a very vivid dream last night about getting an interview invite here and being thrilled about it, then woke up and remembered I still have to submit this secondary. I think the application process is getting to me a little...
 
Marr97 said:
Had a very vivid dream last night about getting an interview invite here and being thrilled about it, then woke up and remembered I still have to submit this secondary. I think the application process is getting to me a little...
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That's ok. Last time I applied, I had a very vivid dream that I got accepted here after interviewing.







Take a guess if the dream came true.
 
and 99 others said:
That's ok. Last time I applied, I had a very vivid dream that I got accepted here after interviewing.







Take a guess if the dream came true.
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273658


giving you my energy
 
Beyonce2.0 said:
Do any MSTP applicants think the 5000 word caps were a mistake? I was already barely at 5000 characters with my PhD goals, so I can’t imagine getting even close to 5000 words...
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I'm confused about this too, did you end up figuring it out/what did you decide to do?
 
premstp1 said:
I'm confused about this too, did you end up figuring it out/what did you decide to do?
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I just submitted what I had originally written, which wasn't anywhere close to 5000 words. My PhD goals ended up being ~600 words and I wrote about 300 words of additional information. I highly doubt admissions wants to read any 5000-word essays so I'd recommend just writing enough to get your point across and leaving it at that.
 
Would using the anything else for a "why columbia" look forced. I am not sure if I should add it
 
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