2019-2020 Rush

BU Medical Sciences
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Still havent got the secondary and I was verified in late June. Have I been screened out?
 
sunflowerz23 said:
Trying to explain why I don’t have a committee letter when my school offers one... struggling here... really just didn’t trust a panel of random profs writing about my preparedness for medical school. Anyone else???
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do they directly ask this on the secondary and if so what is the full question?
 
sunflowerz23 said:
Yes, the question is:

“Please explain why you chose not to submit your institution’s Committee Letter.”
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I am struggling with this as well. You can email the admissions office, but there was an applicant two years ago who posted on reddit that stated he/she was rejected automatically because of no committee letter when offered. I may not apply for this reason.
 
Anyone know how hard they screen? Secondary received, but I’m no where even close to their mean healthcare exposure/volunteer hours. Thanks for any advice!
 
mplsboy612 said:
Anyone know how hard they screen? Secondary received, but I’m no where even close to their mean healthcare exposure/volunteer hours. Thanks for any advice!
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I don’t think it’s that stringent of a screen. Lots of people with 100-200 volunteer hours got secondaries.
 
Does anyone know what the lowest matriculated MCAT score of last year's class was? Trying to find the range
 
Dumb question: for the "please upload a photocopy of [A/B/C/D]" can I just take a picture with my phone and upload that? Or do I need to scan it, email it to myself, and then upload it?
 
FutureSurgical said:
Dumb question: for the "please upload a photocopy of [A/B/C/D]" can I just take a picture with my phone and upload that? Or do I need to scan it, email it to myself, and then upload it?
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I took the effort to scan it. I was probably just being the typical neurotic pre-med, but I don't want even the slightest thing to delay my app.
 
FutureSurgical said:
Dumb question: for the "please upload a photocopy of [A/B/C/D]" can I just take a picture with my phone and upload that? Or do I need to scan it, email it to myself, and then upload it?
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I ended up having to make a copy and scan it because I couldn't get a clear picture of my passport (it wouldn't lay flat), but I doubt it matters as long as the picture is clear enough to read everything
 
google12 said:
@FutureSurgical sorry what exactly do you have to copy? I’m still waiting for the secondary but didn’t know anything extra was needed
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They ask for proof of citizenship, so your passport, birth certificate, etc. It might be good to find yours now if you don't know where it is!
 
FYI to anyone who has to explain why they didn't have a committee letter... once you click "Save" on the LOR questionnaire page, you cannot edit the text of your explanation, so make sure you have finished editing before you save!


EDIT: Submitted 7/25, marked complete thereafter!
 
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For the prompt on being able to 'better understand patients with a culture different from your own,' would you address a circumstance particularly related to the traditional definition of culture or can it be any group different from yourself?
 
Gorpu said:
For the prompt on being able to 'better understand patients with a culture different from your own,' would you address a circumstance particularly related to the traditional definition of culture or can it be any group different from yourself?
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different from yourself is okay, as culture is a term that is defined by community/societies own social norms, arts etc... so its varied.
 
Hi all. Does anyone have advice on how to structure the "situation in which you did not agree with a directive/rule" prompt? I don't want to sound like some morally omniscient being haha.
 
gengargrin said:
Hi all. Does anyone have advice on how to structure the "situation in which you did not agree with a directive/rule" prompt? I don't want to sound like some morally omniscient being haha.
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If it helps...

I talked about a time in the hospital I work in where a nurse instructed me to deliberately ignore a seemingly high maintenance patient who could not speak English. I proceeded to explain in my response how I “overstepped” the nurse and took action to improve the communication method between the healthcare team and the patient so the patient’s needs could be adequately addressed.
 
How have you all been dealing with this personal letter requirement? I honestly can think of nobody who fits the bill.
 
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rune2h said:
How have you all been dealing with this personal letter requirement? I honestly can think of no-one who fits the bill.
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When reading their requirements, I didn't realize they require one letter from each of the categories and already submitted my secondary :meh: Who are we supposed to ask to write a letter that's personal but not a friend or family member?
 
Do we know when interviews will start to be sent out?
 
Can someone help advise whether I should put yes or no for the committee letter (for whether your school has one or not). I graduated 4 years ago (which on their site it says committee letter for those that graduated 2 years ago) and I did a pre-health post bac at a different institution. My post - bac offerred a committee letter but I didn't qualify for it because I had taken some of my pre-reqs at my undergrad. That being said, my undergrad doesn't offer CL but they created a Letter Packet for me with both undergrad letters and updated postbac letters. I thus submitted a packet from a school that doesn't offer CL so I am tempted to say no, however, in theory my post bac did offer letters but its an enrollment process that not everyone qualifies for, if they do it as a DIY type post-bac. I am scared if I hit no, they will see the post bac and think I am lying, but then if I hit yes, I am scared they will auto-reject which seems to have happened in the past. Any one in a similar situation?
 
rune2h said:
How have you all been dealing with this personal letter requirement? I honestly can think of nobody who fits the bill.
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akjr98 said:
When reading their requirements, I didn't realize they require one letter from each of the categories and already submitted my secondary :meh: Who are we supposed to ask to write a letter that's personal but not a friend or family member?
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I sent them an email before I submitted mine and they clarified. If you are submitting a committee letter or a packet, the personal letter isn’t required. If you are submitting individual letters, then you need to follow the individual letters requirement. Regarding the personal letter writer, here’s what she said:

“For clarification, the personal letter must be written by someone who can speak to your personality and character. Any individual who you feel will best meet the listed criteria can write your Letters of Recommendation. However, we advise against family and friends. Often times applicants find that mentors, managers, or professors also fit the personal criteria in addition to the professional and academic letters criteria.”

So as long as one of your professors or other letter writers will write about your personal attributes (which I hope at least a couple of your letter writers have done), I think you’re covered, at least that’s what I understood from her clarification.

Hope that helps!
 
AdductorMagnus said:
I sent them an email before I submitted mine and they clarified. If you are submitting a committee letter or a packet, the personal letter isn’t required. If you are submitting individual letters, then you need to follow the individual letters requirement. Regarding the personal letter writer, here’s what she said:

“For clarification, the personal letter must be written by someone who can speak to your personality and character. Any individual who you feel will best meet the listed criteria can write your Letters of Recommendation. However, we advise against family and friends. Often times applicants find that mentors, managers, or professors also fit the personal criteria in addition to the professional and academic letters criteria.”

So as long as one of your professors or other letter writers will write about your personal attributes (which I hope at least a couple of your letter writers have done), I think you’re covered, at least that’s what I understood from her clarification.

Hope that helps!
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This was SUPER helpful, thank you so much!
 
I am struggling with the space limit on #4, did you guys use personal examples as to why you would fit in at Rush or just focus on what Rush can offer?
 
FuturePedsDoc1993 said:
I am struggling with the space limit on #4, did you guys use personal examples as to why you would fit in at Rush or just focus on what Rush can offer?
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I think it's best to talk more about yourself than about the school. They already know why the school is great, they're really interested in why you think you're a good fit.
 
What's the screening process for Rush? My primary has been verified since 6/06 and this is one of the last secondaries I'm waiting on.
 
dr.batman said:
What's the screening process for Rush? My primary has been verified since 6/06 and this is one of the last secondaries I'm waiting on.
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They screen for 3.0 and like a 503+. I can’t remember if it’s a 503 or 504 they want and like 150 community service. Other than that, no screen.
 
notadoc71 said:
They screen for 3.0 and like a 503+. I can’t remember if it’s a 503 or 504 they want and like 150 community service. Other than that, no screen.
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Okay thanks for the information. I'm going to shoot them an email.
 
On the secondary app in the FAQs it states "The 2019 entering class had a mean undergraduate cumulative GPA of 3.7, a mean MCAT score of 512, over 2500 healthcare exposure hours as well as over 1000 hours of community service experience. "
Who here has 2500 hours of healthcare exposure? Does that include shadowing? If so, I only have about 130. I have more than 4000 hours of community service but no where near 2500 hours of healthcare.
 
HtownNittanyLion said:
On the secondary app in the FAQs it states "The 2019 entering class had a mean undergraduate cumulative GPA of 3.7, a mean MCAT score of 512, over 2500 healthcare exposure hours as well as over 1000 hours of community service experience. "
Who here has 2500 hours of healthcare exposure? Does that include shadowing? If so, I only have about 130. I have more than 4000 hours of community service but no where near 2500 hours of healthcare.
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Yeah I thought that was crazy too. Extra zeroes there?
 
2500 hours is 1.2 years of full-time work. 1000 community service involves two years of 10 hours a week. They aren't crazy numbers, as that is what Rush aims for.
 
rdyotz said:
2500 hours is 1.2 years of full-time work. 1000 community service involves two years of 10 hours a week. They aren't crazy numbers, as that is what Rush aims for.
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Fair enough. As a nontrad with a non medical full time job, my clinical hours are a tenth of what they are looking for. I guess I'll be lucky to get a look from Rush.
 
MrsDrDr said:
Fair enough. As a nontrad with a non medical full time job, my clinical hours are a tenth of what they are looking for. I guess I'll be lucky to get a look from Rush.
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Remember this is the mean. Means are easy to skew with extreme applicants. One non-trad who worked 20 years in healthcare could raise 17 people that had 0 clinical hours to the mean. (well, something like that, I didn't want to do the math). Rush values community service very highly.

google12 said:
Do you think the 1000 community service hours is clinical and nonclinical combined? Or just nonclinical per we?
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I believe it is all community service combined.
 
MrsDrDr said:
Fair enough. As a nontrad with a non medical full time job, my clinical hours are a tenth of what they are looking for. I guess I'll be lucky to get a look from Rush.
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I am in the same exact boat. Although, I left my full time job to become an EMT this coming year (and taking a huge pay cut, moved back home with parents) with the hopes of having tons of clinical experience
 
Jeez I heard they were really big on service but I didn't really realize most students had even more clinical. Here I was thinking my 1000 hours was a lot
 
I still have not received my secondary. Should I email them? I have plenty of community service, I got a secondary last cycle, I was verified mid June...
 
google12 said:
How are you all going about the time when you gained more from an experience than was expected? Is this like an personal challenge essay or?

Also thanks @rdyotz that makes me relieved lol
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I think you can treat it as a challenge essay or you dont have to. For instance, I lived and worked abroad. I learned far more than what I imagined.
 
For the second question, do I have to write a response in which I went against the grain/rule?
I had a situation where I accepted the rule out of professionalism and to not make a scene but inquired about the rationale behind it the following day from my higher-ups. Would that work? Or are they looking moreso for someone who went against the grain (and still morally okay to do so)?
 
Also note that it is the entering class and not applicants. People can accrue ~1500 hours of experience in any of those activities if they do it full time during the application year before the matriculate.
 
HtownNittanyLion said:
For the second question, do I have to write a response in which I went against the grain/rule?
I had a situation where I accepted the rule out of professionalism and to not make a scene but inquired about the rationale behind it the following day from my higher-ups. Would that work? Or are they looking moreso for someone who went against the grain (and still morally okay to do so)?
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I think it's more about how you thought through and responded to the situation. Mine was also about eventually accepting the directive, but only after I asked some questions that were critical to how my team was operating.
 
Tilertee said:
Gap year update question: since there wasn't a section to include the gap year in the application, are you all uploading to the update section?
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Late reply but yes I updated with my gap year information

EDIT: typo
 
google12 said:
For the question about “when did you learn more from an experience than you expected to” - did you all write about a medical/premed related activity or like a hobby or? Not sure what direction I should take
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I didn’t write about a medical activity but about living in another country when I was in middle school. I don’t think it’s necessary to write something medical related as long as you have something that can show good qualities and lessons that you’ve learned.
 
Icebird said:
Late reply but yes I updated with my gap year information

EDIT: typo
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if you don't mind me asking, how exactly did you format this? and did you list the upload as a "narrative" or "other"?
 
I put other.

I simply just stated that I wanted to inform them of my gap year plans; I listed my current gap year job and other extracurriculars I plan on doing.
 
For the letter of recommendations requirement I am submitting 3 individual letters. I know that on the questionnaire ,for the letters of recommendation requirement on the secondary, you were supposed to designate which letters you want to be read if you "submitted 3 or more letters". However, I accidentally clicked on the save button before specifying the 3 letters I want to be read and the page locked itself for further editing. If I only am submitting exactly 3 letters should I even worry about contacting them to fix this?
 
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