2020-2021 Boston University

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LC1957 said:
we’re you guys allowed to pick dates? I was assigned a date when I had my interview. Nothing wrong with that and no complaints obv. Just curious.
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i was able to pick a date out of one week of dates but was assigned a random time
 
Pre-II R received this morning, complete late August. Super nice rejection email though lol. Good luck everyone!
 
anyone know if BU will stop sending out IIs mid-Jan as noted on the portal, or has that been extended due to COVID/higher volume of applicants this year? Thanks!
 
I feel like it hopefully isn't a big deal but i thought i'd ask--does BU notice if you miss the strongly encouraged info session? I already had my interview and thought it went well! But I completely got bulldozed with work the day that I was supposed to attend the info session.
 
Redman3122 said:
Could anyone share how stressful the interview was and if any of the questions were different than what you would expect? This is my first interview and I'm pretty nervous haha
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From what I heard it depends on the interviewer, but most are super chill. The format of the interview is very open, so the questions will be tied to your activities and your interests (as the interview is open file). This allows you to kind of guide the conversation in the direction that you want, which I think is nice.
 
I received an II this morning. Completed 8/29. And did receive the delay email. Right now, they are only showing interview dates option for tomorrow, Jan 14th. Does anyone know if there are other dates available? I unfortunately have another interview at a different school tomorrow but am scared to push that I can't accept that date.
 
nh15 said:
I received an II this morning. Completed 8/29. And did receive the delay email. Right now, they are only showing interview dates option for tomorrow, Jan 14th. Does anyone know if there are other dates available? I unfortunately have another interview at a different school tomorrow but am scared to push that I can't accept that date.
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Congrats on the II! You can ask adcoms, but have an answer in mind already to this question: if they say no, would you cancel the other school to interview here? BU's is just one hour-long 1-on-1 meeting (I think?) though, so depending on your schedule for the other school you miiight be able to work something out.

I think a lot of the IIs now are from cancellations which is why the turnaround time is so short in this case; more dates might open up, but not predictably.
 
Does anyone know if BUSM does stress interviews? I just had the wildest technical interview ever (What is the body's main dietary source of vitamin D? About how much Vitamin D do you absorb per hour in sunlight? What is its role in calcium absorption? How does calcium absorption relate to bone density and kidney function? Describe the role of parathyroid hormone and calcitonin. Which hormone regulates calcium absorption? Where is it made? How does it work, and which part of the body does it act on? What are neural crest cells?). My major/research background has absolutely nothing to do with this, though the interviewer's definitely did. We talked very little about my app, and they would also randomly and sporadically ask me in the middle of the interview if I had any questions for them. Additionally it was only 30 minutes rather than the full hour. Note to future interviewees - read, read, read the interviewer profile and probably a few of their papers to be 100% sure!

Edit: This was at BU
 
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wpneuro said:
Congrats on the II! You can ask adcoms, but have an answer in mind already to this question: if they say no, would you cancel the other school to interview here? BU's is just one hour-long 1-on-1 meeting (I think?) though, so depending on your schedule for the other school you miiight be able to work something out.

I think a lot of the IIs now are from cancellations which is why the turnaround time is so short in this case; more dates might open up, but not predictably.
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Thanks!! I would most likely cancel the other interview since BU is one of my top choices. I hope it doesn't come to that though. I think you're right about most interviews being due to cancellations though. I'll give them a call

EDIT: called them and they were very nice and added more interview times for me to sign up for. Just for anyone who is worrying about it, there are still interview times later in January! Good luck everyone 🙂
 
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Redman3122 said:
Was this interview at BU or were you just wondering if BU interviews are similar to this? If you were just wondering about BU interviews, I just had mine and it was super casual and conversational. That's crazy tho that interviews even ask questions like that!
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Updated! It was at BU 🙂
 
xcrunningstar said:
Does anyone know of BUSM does stress interviews? I just had the wildest technical interview ever (What is the body's main dietary source of vitamin D? About how much Vitamin D do you absorb per hour in sunlight? What is its role in calcium absorption? How does calcium absorption relate to bone density and kidney function? Describe the role of parathyroid hormone and calcitonin. Which hormone regulates calcium absorption? Where is it made? How does it work, and which part of the body does it act on? What are neural crest cells?). My major/research background has absolutely nothing to do with this, though the interviewer's definitely did. We talked very little about my app, and they would also randomly and sporadically ask me in the middle of the interview if I had any questions for them. Additionally it was only 30 minutes rather than the full hour. Note to future interviewees - read, read, read the interviewer profile and probably a few of their papers to be 100% sure!

Edit: This was at BU
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I had the same interviewer, though you got asked many more technical questions than I did. Other than that one technical question the rest of it was very casual. They also asked me randomly throughout the interview if I had questions for them, and seemed like they were done with the interview at the 30 min mark but I started asking them questions about their research for about 15 min so in total it was a 45 min interview. Seems like what you described is that interviewer's format for interviewing, but you def got asked more technical questions 🙁 Maybe it was cause you knew all the answers and they were impressed and wanted to ask more? Wishing you the best of luck!
 
OliveMDToBe said:
I had the same interviewer, though you got asked many more technical questions than I did. Other than that one technical question the rest of it was very casual. They also asked me randomly throughout the interview if I had questions for them, and seemed like they were done with the interview at the 30 min mark but I started asking them questions about their research for about 15 min so in total it was a 45 min interview. Seems like what you described is that interviewer's format for interviewing, but you def got asked more technical questions 🙁 Maybe it was cause you knew all the answers and they were impressed and wanted to ask more? Wishing you the best of luck!
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I had the same and it was crazy. By far the weirdest interview I’ve had. I also had really technical questions but I got the A so. (I even said vitamin D came from oranges..... 😬)
 
To those accepted in December, did any of you guys get an acceptance letter in the mail? I did not receive anything, just by email.
 
Is sending a post II update letter expected? I’m still waiting on my unofficial transcript so I haven’t sent it yet (interviewed early dec)
 
Did anyone else receive the question asking what your longest relationship was during their interview? I thought it was a pretty odd question to ask, I wasn't sure what they could get assess from asking that. It was unrelated to anything I talked to them about too, so it was a question she had prepared prior to speaking with me. :shrug:
 
rainingcatsz said:
Did anyone else receive the question asking what your longest relationship was during their interview? I thought it was a pretty odd question to ask, I wasn't sure what they could get assess from asking that. It was unrelated to anything I talked to them about too, so it was a question she had prepared prior to speaking with me. :shrug:
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Sounds like some BUSM interviewers are asking some really odd questions this year...
 
In their email, they say updates or a new LOR would be "expected". Do they want an actual update to the portal or can I just go ahead and link a letter through the AMCAS.
 
CowBoy98 said:
Anyone still waiting for II or R ?? my complete date is early October and never got R or II ??

As per the website BU ends the II invite by mid Jan 2021
Interviews (by invitation only):Mid September 2020–
Mid January 2021
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Me
 
CowBoy98 said:
Anyone still waiting for II or R ?? my complete date is early October and never got R or II ??

As per the website BU ends the II invite by mid Jan 2021
Interviews (by invitation only):Mid September 2020–
Mid January 2021
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Also early October and haven't heard anything yet
 
Does anyone have any insight to how post-interview letters of intent are received at BUSM/if they're even looked at? I know there's an option for it on the portal's application update section, but I'm curious how much consideration they're given.
 
wpneuro said:
Does anyone have any insight to how post-interview letters of intent are received at BUSM/if they're even looked at? I know there's an option for it on the portal's application update section, but I'm curious how much consideration they're given.
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Don’t they basically require all interviewees to submit a letter of interest/update after the interview? So I think post-II letter of intent would be pretty appreciated
 
Has anyone who is interviewing on 01/19 received their zoom link? I have my interview tomorrow, but I don't have the zoom link.
 
victory_splash242 said:
Are the next round of decisions expected to be in March?
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Yeah, they mentioned at my interview that they would review interviews sometime in February, with decisions released early March (they emphasized NOT as in March 1st, but as in before around March 15)!
 
wpneuro said:
Yeah, they mentioned at my interview that they would review interviews sometime in February, with decisions released early March (they emphasized NOT as in March 1st, but as in before around March 15)!
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Thank you for the info! Did you happen to interview after mid-November?
 
meowing-moose said:
Does anyone know how many people BU gives post-interview acceptances to?
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There was a spreadsheet from last year that had it at around 50% for OOS and 53% for IS. It might be different this year because so many more students applied but I feel like that was mostly accounted for in their lower percentage of IIs with (I'm assuming) similar amounts of interviews from last year, and thus, a similar post-ii acceptance rate. Just speculating...
 
So does anyone know of any certain info about the chances of acceptance if your post interview decision was postponed until March? I interviewed in September and was not given an answer in December.
 
SurgOnc1d said:
So does anyone know of any certain info about the chances of acceptance if your post interview decision was postponed until March? I interviewed in September and was not given an answer in December.
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I’m assuming equal to the people who interviewed in the round two. The number of accepted in the first round is over represented on sdn. People are obv more eager to post As then deferments. Try not to stress. It’s still just a coin flip.
 
Redman3122 said:
Does everyone who interviewed here send a letter of update after? That's what the language of their post interview email made it seem like but I'm not sure how common it actually is
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I sent one and got the early A. It can’t hurt and they seem to like them so might as well.
 
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