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PapaGuava

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Good luck to everyone applying!

Interview Feedback: Loyola University

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Hey, I am a current student rising into my third year at Loyola. Last year we recorded a podcast interview with the Dean of Admissions, Sunny Nakae, where she talks about her admissions philosophy, common mistakes applicants make, and Loyola's mission in general. We recorded this in November of last year right before she left Loyola for a position at University of California Riverside, however I think the content will still be VERY useful for anyone considering the Stritch School of Medicine. The new Dean of Admissions, Darrell Nabers was promoted internally and his outlook and perspective shouldn't differ much.

You can listen to it by going to this link: Ep03 | Must-Hear Discussion on Medical School Admissions by Medicus • A podcast on Anchor but you can also find it on itunes, google, or any other podcast app by searching for "Medicus" or going to https://medicuspodcast.com/listen/

At the very least you should listen to it during your airplane ride to Chicago if you are invited for an interview because it will be a super high-yield resource to understand the admissions process at Loyola. If you are interested in digging deeper into the culture of Stritch you might consider listening to some of the other episodes as well.

Good luck!
 
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Hey, I am a current student rising into my third year at Loyola. Last year we recorded a podcast interview with the Dean of Admissions, Sunny Nakae, where she talks about her admissions philosophy, common mistakes applicants make, and Loyola's mission in general. We recorded this in November of last year right before she left Loyola for a position at University of California Riverside, however I think the content will still be VERY useful for anyone considering the Stritch School of Medicine. The new Dean of Admissions, Darrell Nabers was promoted internally and his outlook and perspective shouldn't differ much.

You can listen to it by going to this link: Ep03 | Must-Hear Discussion on Medical School Admissions by Medicus • A podcast on Anchor but you can also find it on itunes, google, or any other podcast app by searching for "Medicus" or going to https://medicuspodcast.com/listen/

At the very least you should listen to it during your airplane ride to Chicago if you are invited for an interview because it will be a super high-yield resource to understand the admissions process at Loyola. If you are interested in digging deeper into the culture of Stritch you might consider listening to some of the other episodes as well.

Good luck!

I plan to listen while at the gym tomorrow morning. I do have a question for you though. Does your current Dean still look at students who are utilizing reinvention for an interview?
 
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Hey, I am a current student rising into my third year at Loyola. Last year we recorded a podcast interview with the Dean of Admissions, Sunny Nakae, where she talks about her admissions philosophy, common mistakes applicants make, and Loyola's mission in general. We recorded this in November of last year right before she left Loyola for a position at University of California Riverside, however I think the content will still be VERY useful for anyone considering the Stritch School of Medicine. The new Dean of Admissions, Darrell Nabers was promoted internally and his outlook and perspective shouldn't differ much.

You can listen to it by going to this link: Ep03 | Must-Hear Discussion on Medical School Admissions by Medicus • A podcast on Anchor but you can also find it on itunes, google, or any other podcast app by searching for "Medicus" or going to https://medicuspodcast.com/listen/

At the very least you should listen to it during your airplane ride to Chicago if you are invited for an interview because it will be a super high-yield resource to understand the admissions process at Loyola. If you are interested in digging deeper into the culture of Stritch you might consider listening to some of the other episodes as well.

Good luck!

Thank you!! I find podcasts with Admissions Deans extremely helpful, so I appreciate the link. Good luck to everyone applying to SSOM this cycle!
 
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Was just checking the stats for the 18-19 cycle and looks like Loyola had the most apps of any school with 15,000. Truly, we are applying in unprecedented times :oops:
 
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Hey, I am a current student rising into my third year at Loyola. Last year we recorded a podcast interview with the Dean of Admissions, Sunny Nakae, where she talks about her admissions philosophy, common mistakes applicants make, and Loyola's mission in general. We recorded this in November of last year right before she left Loyola for a position at University of California Riverside, however I think the content will still be VERY useful for anyone considering the Stritch School of Medicine. The new Dean of Admissions, Darrell Nabers was promoted internally and his outlook and perspective shouldn't differ much.

You can listen to it by going to this link: Ep03 | Must-Hear Discussion on Medical School Admissions by Medicus • A podcast on Anchor but you can also find it on itunes, google, or any other podcast app by searching for "Medicus" or going to https://medicuspodcast.com/listen/

At the very least you should listen to it during your airplane ride to Chicago if you are invited for an interview because it will be a super high-yield resource to understand the admissions process at Loyola. If you are interested in digging deeper into the culture of Stritch you might consider listening to some of the other episodes as well.

Good luck!
Thank you so much for this. I do a podcast at my Alma Mater for Career and Writing Services. I know how hard it can be. Great insight thank you!!
 
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Was just checking the stats for the 18-19 cycle and looks like Loyola had the most apps of any school with 15,000. Truly, we are applying in unprecedented times :oops:
Oh no... blahhhhhh
Wild
 
I plan to listen while at the gym tomorrow morning. I do have a question for you though. Does your current Dean still look at students who are utilizing reinvention for an interview?

Thanks, I hope it was useful. I'm honestly not sure what you mean by reinvention. I would contact the admissions office if you have any questions that aren't answered on the website. Good luck with the cycle!
 
Thanks so much, @NathanB, for the podcast!

Listened to it while brainstorming for the secondary, and definitely connected w/ many of her ideas.
 
Hey, I am a current student rising into my third year at Loyola. Last year we recorded a podcast interview with the Dean of Admissions, Sunny Nakae, where she talks about her admissions philosophy, common mistakes applicants make, and Loyola's mission in general. We recorded this in November of last year right before she left Loyola for a position at University of California Riverside, however I think the content will still be VERY useful for anyone considering the Stritch School of Medicine. The new Dean of Admissions, Darrell Nabers was promoted internally and his outlook and perspective shouldn't differ much.

You can listen to it by going to this link: Ep03 | Must-Hear Discussion on Medical School Admissions by Medicus • A podcast on Anchor but you can also find it on itunes, google, or any other podcast app by searching for "Medicus" or going to https://medicuspodcast.com/listen/

At the very least you should listen to it during your airplane ride to Chicago if you are invited for an interview because it will be a super high-yield resource to understand the admissions process at Loyola. If you are interested in digging deeper into the culture of Stritch you might consider listening to some of the other episodes as well.

Good luck!

Thank you for the podcast! This made me even more excited to apply to SSOM, I resonated with a lot of the things Dean Nakae discussed.
 
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This may have been mentioned elsewhere- but what do people mean by low yield? Thank you!

15000 people applying for 165 spots. Roughly 1% acceptance.
 
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I don't think meepdog was specifically mentioning OOS as low yield (2/3 of the class is OOS), but Loyola in general as low yield. Cornfed summed it up well: 15,015 apps for 165 seats = ~1.1% acceptance rate. Harvard also has 165 seats, but only 7645 apps, so roughly twice the acceptance rate. Granted acceptance rates don't tell the whole story, but it can give you an idea. From the schools I have looked at, private schools tend to have acceptance rates closer to 2%.
 
I don't think meepdog was specifically mentioning OOS as low yield (2/3 of the class is OOS), but Loyola in general as low yield. Cornfed summed it up well: 15,015 apps for 165 seats = ~1.1% acceptance rate. Harvard also has 165 seats, but only 7645 apps, so roughly twice the acceptance rate. Granted acceptance rates don't tell the whole story, but it can give you an idea. From the schools I have looked at, private schools tend to have acceptance rates closer to 2%.
This is in fact what I was going for, the school doesn't seem to have much of a preference IS/OOS at all. Thanks for clearing it up.
 
I don't think meepdog was specifically mentioning OOS as low yield (2/3 of the class is OOS), but Loyola in general as low yield. Cornfed summed it up well: 15,015 apps for 165 seats = ~1.1% acceptance rate. Harvard also has 165 seats, but only 7645 apps, so roughly twice the acceptance rate. Granted acceptance rates don't tell the whole story, but it can give you an idea. From the schools I have looked at, private schools tend to have acceptance rates closer to 2%.

It should be taken into account though that their the school is not really 'Low Yield' when you are around their median stats. There are a lot of high stat and very low stat applicants who apply that don't really fit the mission or the stat range of the school. So if you took them out of the total 15,000 apps, the acceptance rate is actually a lot more nice. You have to be in their stats range to have the highest chance of getting consideration. People with a 510 have a much better chance at interview than those with 500 or 520. Also, they are a service oriented school, so those with a good amount of volunteer and service work will be more likely to get an interview. I think it is worth it to apply if you have service and have an MCAT from 503-516.
 
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It should be taken into account though that their the school is not really 'Low Yield' when you are around their median stats. There are a lot of high stat and very low stat applicants who apply that don't really fit the mission or the stat range of the school. So if you took them out of the total 15,000 apps, the acceptance rate is actually a lot more nice. You have to be in their stats range to have the highest chance of getting consideration. People with a 510 have a much better chance at interview than those with 500 or 520. Also, they are a service oriented school, so those with a good amount of volunteer and service work will be more likely to get an interview. I think it is worth it to apply if you have service and have an MCAT from 503-516.
That holistic review they tout needs to come through lol but seriously though!
 
It should be taken into account though that their the school is not really 'Low Yield' when you are around their median stats. There are a lot of high stat and very low stat applicants who apply that don't really fit the mission or the stat range of the school. So if you took them out of the total 15,000 apps, the acceptance rate is actually a lot more nice. You have to be in their stats range to have the highest chance of getting consideration. People with a 510 have a much better chance at interview than those with 500 or 520. Also, they are a service oriented school, so those with a good amount of volunteer and service work will be more likely to get an interview. I think it is worth it to apply if you have service and have an MCAT from 503-516.

True, but that logic can be used on every school (obviously scaled to their respective stats).
 
Good Luck to everyone! let us know when you receive a secondary!
 
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What is low yield? People seem to use the term differently on here

Here's the answer from above:
I don't think meepdog was specifically mentioning OOS as low yield (2/3 of the class is OOS), but Loyola in general as low yield. Cornfed summed it up well: 15,015 apps for 165 seats = ~1.1% acceptance rate. Harvard also has 165 seats, but only 7645 apps, so roughly twice the acceptance rate. Granted acceptance rates don't tell the whole story, but it can give you an idea. From the schools I have looked at, private schools tend to have acceptance rates closer to 2%.

Put another way, if you take the number of people accepted (usually twice the number who matriculated roughly) and divide it by total number of apps, it gives you a raw percentage of acceptances/applicants. Schools like Loyola, which don't have a strong IS preference and generally not sky-high stats, tend to attract a lot of apps because there are just more people who fit their numbers.

Of course with Loyola and most schools like it, there's a lot more to the story. Usually it's that the school is more mission focused, or values volunteer hours more highly than others. So despite the story it's median stats tell, the school is still selective just for different things. Since a lot of applicants might not key into the mission focus, they get a lot of applications which fit their student profile in numbers but not mission. The long and the short of it is, if you think you fit a school's mission you should apply despite "low yield" labels, but no matter what your stats are don't bother applying to schools like Loyola or Rush with 0 volunteering.
 
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Anyone recieve a secondary yet? I was processes June 15th and I still havent got a secondary
 
Anyone recieve a secondary yet? I was processes June 15th and I still havent got a secondary
Haven't gotten one and I submitted earliest I could for primary.
 
Just got an email saying the secondary was sent to me, but no email with the secondary itself
 
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Just got an email saying the secondary was sent to me, but no email with the secondary itself
Also have this problem? Email says a secondary has been sent to the email associated with my AMCAS account....which is the one that THAT email was sent to :shifty: am I missing something here?
 
Also have this problem? Email says a secondary has been sent to the email associated with my AMCAS account....which is the one that THAT email was sent to :shifty: am I missing something here?

There we go, just got it. Can't check prompts atm as I'm driving
 
Prompts are the same as last year
 
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1) Becoming a person for others is a core Jesuit value. What does this Jesuit ideal mean to you?

2) Please describe a personal or professional challenge or conflict that you have experienced. How did you resolve it? What skills, resources and/or strategies did you employ? DO NOT write about the MCAT, a course, or an academic issue.

3) How will you contribute to the diversity of the Stritch student body and community? Specifically, what unique traits, identities, experiences, skills and perspectives will you contribute?

4) Please use this space to bring the information in your AMCAS application up-to-date. Please indicate additional grades earned, alterations in your proposed coursework or graduation date, address changes, additions to your list of activities, and anything else you feel we should know. If you have not been enrolled in coursework, please let us know what you have been doing since coursework ended.

5) Have you or any of your relatives attended or been employed by Loyola University Chicago or the Loyola Stritch School of Medicine?

-OPTIONAL QUESTIONS-

6) Please use the space below to further explain anything in your application that may help us in our review of your candidacy-gaps or delays in education, academic missteps, or personal challenges not listed elsewhere, etc. (this response limited to 1500 characters)

7) Have you applied to Loyola Stritch School of Medicine prior to this application? If so, please list the years of your previous application submissions to Loyola SSOM.

8) Have you applied to any medical school prior to this year’s application? If so, please list the years of your previous application submissions to AMCAS. Please also tell us how your application has improved since your previous application.

@PapaGuava
 
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1) Becoming a person for others is a core Jesuit value. What does this Jesuit ideal mean to you?

2) Please describe a personal or professional challenge or conflict that you have experienced. How did you resolve it? What skills, resources and/or strategies did you employ? DO NOT write about the MCAT, a course, or an academic issue.

3) How will you contribute to the diversity of the Stritch student body and community? Specifically, what unique traits, identities, experiences, skills and perspectives will you contribute?

4) Please use this space to bring the information in your AMCAS application up-to-date. Please indicate additional grades earned, alterations in your proposed coursework or graduation date, address changes, additions to your list of activities, and anything else you feel we should know. If you have not been enrolled in coursework, please let us know what you have been doing since coursework ended.

5) Have you or any of your relatives attended or been employed by Loyola University Chicago or the Loyola Stritch School of Medicine?

-OPTIONAL QUESTIONS-

6) Please use the space below to further explain anything in your application that may help us in our review of your candidacy-gaps or delays in education, academic missteps, or personal challenges not listed elsewhere, etc. (this response limited to 1500 characters)

7) Have you applied to Loyola Stritch School of Medicine prior to this application? If so, please list the years of your previous application submissions to Loyola SSOM.

8) Have you applied to any medical school prior to this year’s application? If so, please list the years of your previous application submissions to AMCAS. Please also tell us how your application has improved since your previous application.

@PapaGuava
Do you mind sharing the word/character limit?
 
OOS, verified 6/28/19, secondary received 7/8/19. $95 secondary required prior to accessing the actual secondary application. To those of you have received the secondary email, the instructions, at least in my invite, were in a .pdf attachment.
Edit: Actually, if you press "Print Application" on the sidebar, it shows you all the questions but not the required word or character count. Design flaw!
 
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Anyone else have this message on the portal home page?

"We have received your secondary application, however, we are missing the necessary letter(s) to be uploaded to our system from AMCAS in order to complete your file. Please refer to your AMCAS application for more detailed information on their progress. If AMCAS is verifying receipt of all your letters, we should be receiving them with the next week."
 
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Anyone else have this message on the portal home page?

"We have received your secondary application, however, we are missing the necessary letter(s) to be uploaded to our system from AMCAS in order to complete your file. Please refer to your AMCAS application for more detailed information on their progress. If AMCAS is verifying receipt of all your letters, we should be receiving them with the next week."
+1
 
Anyone else have this message on the portal home page?

"We have received your secondary application, however, we are missing the necessary letter(s) to be uploaded to our system from AMCAS in order to complete your file. Please refer to your AMCAS application for more detailed information on their progress. If AMCAS is verifying receipt of all your letters, we should be receiving them with the next week."

How many letters do you have? The .pdf says that their minimum is 3 or a committee letter. Only 3/4 of my letters are in so you may need to satisfy the minimum.
 
Secondary received and submitted 07/08! OOS CA applicant!
 
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Anyone else have this message on the portal home page?

"We have received your secondary application, however, we are missing the necessary letter(s) to be uploaded to our system from AMCAS in order to complete your file. Please refer to your AMCAS application for more detailed information on their progress. If AMCAS is verifying receipt of all your letters, we should be receiving them with the next week."
I also have 6 letters and got the same message. Other schools have received them from AMCA's so I'm sure they will update it soon for us
 
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secondary received OOS

side note: does anyone know how we can check the status of our letters? I don't see an option for that on the portal I think.
 
Secondary received and submitted 07/08! OOS CA applicant!
I also received this email from them after secondary submission:
"We have received your secondary application, however, we are missing the necessary letter(s) to be uploaded to our system from AMCAS in order to complete our file. Please refer to your AMCAS application for more detailed information on their progress. If AMCAS is verifying receipt of all your letters, we should be receiving them within the next week. If you have any questions, feel free to contact our admissions office at [email protected]."
 
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