2020-2021 Boston University

Discover Your Odds of Getting into Medical School
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nh15 said:
Fam I am still waiting on an II. Secondaries completed 8/29. Kinda getting desperate. Anyone in the same boat? LM 82 🙁
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Maybe send an update? I think BU is one of the schools that like them (since they basically told people who already interviewed to send them updates). Good luck!
 
Can anyone say what is the delay email ? My complete date 10/14 OOS and I never got one ..
 
CowBoy98 said:
Can anyone say what is the delay email ? My complete date 10/14 OOS and I never got one ..
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I received mine in September and was complete end of July- maybe they're not sending them anymore because they may have gotten back on track by the time you were complete? I wouldn't worry about the delay email though since it just meant that they didn't get to your app yet.
 
I haven’t heard back but I interviewed in early Dec, and I think late Nov/early dec will probably hear later. They had said by the end of December or early January there should be some update but I’m not sure if that is still happening
 
CowBoy98 said:
Can anyone say what is the delay email ? My complete date 10/14 OOS and I never got one ..
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Honestly don’t worry about it. Sdn will make you try to be anxious about it trying to find meaning behind something silly like that.
 
scienceishard111 said:
I haven’t heard back but I interviewed in early Dec, and I think late Nov/early dec will probably hear later. They had said by the end of December or early January there should be some update but I’m not sure if that is still happening
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Where did you hear that?
 
Does anyone else’s portal show a tab for financial aid? I’m still waiting to hear back post interview and was wondering if this means anything
 
Anyone else still waiting to hear back post interview? I received the Round 1 and Round 2 follow up emails so I’m not sure what to make of the silence lol
 
alexarrrrr said:
Are they still sending out II invitations or have they finished send those out?
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I think your best bet would be to check last year's thread and see if anyone received an II in January. MSAR says they interview through January but I am not sure how accurate that is because many schools continue interviewing until March and also BU's second decision day is in March so I would be surprised if they did nothing but make decisions (rather than interview students) for all of February. Keep in mind that this is a weird year so some of the time lines may be off. In my experience, BU gives a lot of options for interview days (unlike some schools that I got an II in September and could only schedule for January). This may mean that even people that got II's in December didn't fill the interview roster for January. Good luck!
 
II for their MD/PhD!!! Lowkey losing my mind I'm so hyped 🙏 My portal had two dates to choose from in January, but I don't know if MD/PhD works on a separate schedule from MD. Complete 10/29, stats in signature!

Edit: I also uploaded an update to the portal a week ago if that matters!!
 
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hopefulmedstudent21 said:
Any current BUSM students on here that could speak on what the culture/environment is like? How understanding and supportive are students and faculty? Is there a lot of general pressure?
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Current M1. I probably wont check back on this sorry yall but i randomly got bored and decided to check this after a friend hmu about BU (tho maybe i'll check tomorrow if there are more questions). From my experience my class is hella kind. Everyone's sharing exam materials to help people study the week before the exam. People make anki decks and just send them to everyone - it's def a chill vibe in that sense. I'd say faculty are generally supportive and they all have weekly office hours which helps. I enjoy being at BU. I will say I think the teaching could be a bit better but tbh I'd probably say that regardless of where I went cause who doesn't love to complain? I wouldn't say there's a lot pressure - medical school is definitely hard but for the most part you know if you put in the work you'll pass your exams. I think my class' averages on exams have been like 10-15% above the 70% pass cutoff.
 
Has anyone interviewing tomorrow received their Zoom link? I haven't gotten anything yet.
 
According to the post-interview email I received in November, there should be news soon??

"Our Committee on Admissions will review your application in the context of the overall applicant pool. By the end of December or early January, we will send a status update email to each individual who has interviewed prior to that time, accepting a small number of candidates, declining some, and deferring a final decision on some."
 
Pre II R as well! There's no way to send a letter of interest/update to them even if I got rejected right? I read on Reddit that someone sent a letter after a pre-II R and then they got considered for an II. BU is one of my top choices and I'm just crushed.
 
victory_splash242 said:
According to the post-interview email I received in November, there should be news soon??

"Our Committee on Admissions will review your application in the context of the overall applicant pool. By the end of December or early January, we will send a status update email to each individual who has interviewed prior to that time, accepting a small number of candidates, declining some, and deferring a final decision on some."
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I interviewed the third week of November and still haven’t heard anything. I’m hoping we hear back soon, even if it’s just a follow up email saying we’ve been pushed into the second pool.
 
themightychondrion said:
M1 at BUSM here, happy to answer questions. Good luck to everyone!!
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Thank you so much!
The schedule says that for the first two years you have lectures and such from 8-12 and that you only have occasional things in the afternoon like anatomy lab ~ is this actually true/do you have most afternoons to yourself?

Since there is no house or society system do you think that the larger class size hinders students from getting close? (although I know it might be different for you since everything was online)

Have you heard from M3 or M4s if it's possible to do all rotations in Boston? I think a common worry is that there are so many medschools in Boston, so does the competition for rotation spots mean you will eventually have to do some rotations outside of Boston?

Would you recommend the Medical Student Residence?

Is lecture mandatory/do many students attend it?


Sorry for bombarding you! You don't have to answer all of them, just any that you have insight on 🙂
 
OliveMDToBe said:
Thank you so much!
The schedule says that for the first two years you have lectures and such from 8-12 and that you only have occasional things in the afternoon like anatomy lab ~ is this actually true/do you have most afternoons to yourself?

Since there is no house or society system do you think that the larger class size hinders students from getting close? (although I know it might be different for you since everything was online)

Have you heard from M3 or M4s if it's possible to do all rotations in Boston? I think a common worry is that there are so many medschools in Boston, so does the competition for rotation spots mean you will eventually have to do some rotations outside of Boston?

Would you recommend the Medical Student Residence?

Is lecture mandatory/do many students attend it?


Sorry for bombarding you! You don't have to answer all of them, just any that you have insight on 🙂
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No worries!

1. That's true! During first year, lectures are typically 8am-12pm Monday - Friday and all the lectures are recorded and posted online. A handful are mandatory (usually when a patient is coming in to speak about their experience with a condition we're learning about), so you can really organize most of your day however you'd like; although honestly you'll prob be studying for the large majority of your days). Besides that, we have a course called Doctoring two days a week, which is mandatory. One of the days is small group PBL and the other is practicing clinical skills.

2. It's truthfully been quite challenging for my class to meet and get to know each other because of COVID restrictions, but under normal circumstances I think there are a lot of opportunities to do so without a house or society system. I've personally not heard of any issues from current M2-4s about not being able to bond with their classmates, but of course it's possible there are students that would disagree that I just haven't met

3. Although there are 3 med schools all pretty much within walking distance of each other, there are also TONS of clinical sites. My understanding is that most students of our do the majority of their rotations at Boston Medical Center, and we have a lot of other clinical affiliates within the city. So while I can't say with 100% certainty that you can do all your rotations within Boston, I'm pretty sure you can. I'll ask around and update this when I hear back just to make sure! I will say though, that clinical training students receive is generally considered to be one of BUSM's biggest strengths

4. Like any city, Boston can be incredibly expensive and each neighborhood has its own personality. If you're unfamiliar with it, it can be difficult to know where to start. I think living in the MSR during your first year is a great (and relatively cheap!) way to get introduced to the city and figure out what parts you'd like to live in, how much you're willing to spend on rent, etc. It's also a great way to meet your classmates and med students from other years, and being a 5 minute walk from campus and BMC is honestly so convenient. It is important to know, though, that the neighborhood the MSR, BUSM, and BMC are located in (the South End/Roxbury) is not the most... glamorous part of Boston (a lot of homeless individuals in the area, pretty common to find needles on the sidewalks, etc), but I don't think I've heard of any students ever really having any problems

5. Answered this is #1 🙂

Hope this helps! Feel free to ask more questions if you have them
 
themightychondrion said:
No worries!

1. That's true! During first year, lectures are typically 8am-12pm Monday - Friday and all the lectures are recorded and posted online. A handful are mandatory (usually when a patient is coming in to speak about their experience with a condition we're learning about), so you can really organize most of your day however you'd like; although honestly you'll prob be studying for the large majority of your days). Besides that, we have a course called Doctoring two days a week, which is mandatory. One of the days is small group PBL and the other is practicing clinical skills.

2. It's truthfully been quite challenging for my class to meet and get to know each other because of COVID restrictions, but under normal circumstances I think there are a lot of opportunities to do so without a house or society system. I've personally not heard of any issues from current M2-4s about not being able to bond with their classmates, but of course it's possible there are students that would disagree that I just haven't met

3. Although there are 3 med schools all pretty much within walking distance of each other, there are also TONS of clinical sites. My understanding is that most students of our do the majority of their rotations at Boston Medical Center, and we have a lot of other clinical affiliates within the city. So while I can't say with 100% certainty that you can do all your rotations within Boston, I'm pretty sure you can. I'll ask around and update this when I hear back just to make sure! I will say though, that clinical training students receive is generally considered to be one of BUSM's biggest strengths

4. Like any city, Boston can be incredibly expensive and each neighborhood has its own personality. If you're unfamiliar with it, it can be difficult to know where to start. I think living in the MSR during your first year is a great (and relatively cheap!) way to get introduced to the city and figure out what parts you'd like to live in, how much you're willing to spend on rent, etc. It's also a great way to meet your classmates and med students from other years, and being a 5 minute walk from campus and BMC is honestly so convenient. It is important to know, though, that the neighborhood the MSR, BUSM, and BMC are located in (the South End/Roxbury) is not the most... glamorous part of Boston (a lot of homeless individuals in the area, pretty common to find needles on the sidewalks, etc), but I don't think I've heard of any students ever really having any problems

5. Answered this is #1 🙂

Hope this helps! Feel free to ask more questions if you have them
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Thank you so much! This was so helpful!
 
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