2020-2021 Columbia VP&S

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
brainscience2 said:
@KnightDoc : I disagree. High-stat candidates who receive interviews definitely have an edge over lower-stat ones who do (within the same demographic group). Just look at MDapps or something, "low-stat" candidates for these schools have worse outcomes than higher-stat (again, within the same demographic group) after getting II even though the lower-stat ones obviously needed better ECs to even get the II in the first place. If they were viewed as equal then we would see similar post II acceptance rates. Also I highly doubt lower stat ones just all happened to have worse interviews ; if anything, they probably had better ones on average since they needed better "personal factors" (whatever that means) to land the interview compared to like a 4.0/525 or smtng
Click to expand...
I'm not familiar with MDApps, but I'm sure it's not official or statistically valid, so speculating on what you or I think ought to happen before or after an interview is pointless.

I'm confident relying on little nuggets dropped here on occasion from actual insiders on the actual adcoms at the very schools we are speculating about. If all they cared about were stats, there are enough applicants to fill their classes at medians higher than what they currently report. They don't waste their time interviewing people who are inadmissible, other than as courtesies to VIPs. @LizzyM helpfully gave us the staircase analogy to demonstrate that no, everyone doesn't begin an interview on equal footing.

I'm not sure if she explicitly said this (if not, hopefully she will comment now and clear this up for you once and for all), but position on the staircase is not solely, or even predominantly, based on stats. I don't know how many "low stat" people interview at a school like Penn or Columbia (defined as what, below 520? 🙂), but I am confident that everyone who gets an interview (other than as a courtesy) has a real shot, and that plenty of 522 candidates are rejected just like plenty of 517s.

I have no way to know who is reporting on MDApps and who isn't. Neither do you. I also have no way to know whether people with higher stats also have better ECs than those with lower stats, but there is no reason to think they can't, so you can't possibly know whether people with "lower" stats don't receive As after interviews because they don't interview well, have weaker ECs than other candidates, or because they receive interviews, but reviews really aren't that holistic at the end of the day, and they never had a chance if their MCATs are more than two points below the median.
 
Back when 4.0 and a 40 on the MCAT (~521 on the new MCAT) was the epitome of a tip top candidate, we had as many LizzyM = 80s at the top of the staircase as at the bottom when all was said & done. The schools that chase high stats are going to prioritize that but some schools have other priorities or know that they aren't going to snag many superstars and temper their expectations by choosing the people who are very good but unlikely to turn them down for a seat at Stanford.
 
Weird question, but has anyone who's IS received an II? Just from looking at the tracker there are literally 0 IS interviews reported there... Just seemed strange.
 
Alpha Centauri said:
Stats will get you an interview. They wont make or break you after that.
Click to expand...
Honestly, I feel like it depends on the type of interview setup. For open file interviews, I think the bias is unavoidable. For closed file ones, I think there's no edge.
 
Hello everyone. Is there anyone that has interviewed that can speak to how the interview went. Mine is coming up and I have no idea what to expect. Thank you in advance!
 
nel_simon_yaye said:
Hello everyone. Is there anyone that has interviewed that can speak to how the interview went. Mine is coming up and I have no idea what to expect. Thank you in advance!
Click to expand...
They were both very chill and conversational. I went into the first one pretty nervous but I was at ease within a few minutes. Overall a really good experience!
 
GoingWeast said:
Was high fantasy one of the topics?
Click to expand...

Gee, I wish. Glad someone gets the Discworld reference 😉 I was tempted to address you by an altered version of your name, incorporating the directions of the Disc, but alas, I can’t find a way to appropriately relate the mixed cardinal direction “Weast” to any of the directions Pratchett uses, relating as they do, to the disc itself and not to anything “absolute.”
 
How many interviews did people have on the big day? I know someone who interviewed at Columbia 2 years ago and she had only 1 interview that went for more than an hour. Someone else had 3 interviews that were 30 minutes. What's the structure?
 
Maroon2021 said:
How many interviews did people have on the big day? I know someone who interviewed at Columbia 2 years ago and she had only 1 interview that went for more than an hour. Someone else had 3 interviews that were 30 minutes. What's the structure?
Click to expand...
2 traditional 30 min interviews
 
Hi, I was wondering how long does it take to get a secondary from Columbia after submitting your primary?
 
I just got an interview invite, but when I went to schedule, there were 0 openings and I couldn't click on any of the dates. Is anyone else experiencing this same problem?
 
is the resume upload optional or mandatory? it used to be optional but it doesn't say anything on the page.
 
do these likes denote agreement? and did anyone else submit a 2-page resume or only a 1 page?
 
doobopshedoo said:
Yeah I did 1pg but left out a LOT from my W/A (it's the same resume I'd submit to a job), but a lot of people seem to have submitted multi-page fully detailed CVs, so I'm hoping I didn't mess up...
Click to expand...

I wouldn’t worry. They’ve not expressed any preference for submission of a CV over a résumé — or vice versa. A résumé can be just as powerful as a CV, and sometimes more so.
 
Last edited:
Hi everyone! Does anyone know when you receive your information for your interview? Mine is next week and I have not received specifics nor zoom links.
 
Noodle22 said:
Hi everyone! Does anyone know when you receive your information for your interview? Mine is next week and I have not received specifics nor zoom links.
Click to expand...
Hey, I received my interview confirmation and zoom link the morning before the interview
 
Did anyone who has interviewed already receive any feedback from admission after interviewing / sending in thank you notes?
 
sergioramos said:
Did anyone who has interviewed already receive any feedback from admission after interviewing / sending in thank you notes?
Click to expand...

Don’t put any stock into responses to thank you notes. They’re misleading. Last year, all who sent a thank you note got a response that said they’re strongly considered or something like that
 
7pH545 said:
I just got an interview invite, but when I went to schedule, there were 0 openings and I couldn't click on any of the dates. Is anyone else experiencing this same problem?
Click to expand...
Not sure if this is still relevant for you, but I'm seeing the same thing where there aren't any available dates on the calendar from October through January. I tried a couple different browsers in case it was a compatibility issue, but no luck. I'll probably call/email them on Monday to ask about it, since I wanted to give them a few days to add more interview dates after my invite email!
 
accioMD! said:
Weird question, but has anyone who's IS received an II? Just from looking at the tracker there are literally 0 IS interviews reported there... Just seemed strange.
Click to expand...
also wondering this! I still have yet to see one, can anyone IS with an II confirm?
 
anyone have tips for the CV? CV I already have incorporates most (if not all) of activities/info from AMCAS. Should I be trying to highlight aspects of myself NOT covered else in the primary, or just reiterate most things?
 
plantmom said:
Not sure if this is still relevant for you, but I'm seeing the same thing where there aren't any available dates on the calendar from October through January. I tried a couple different browsers in case it was a compatibility issue, but no luck. I'll probably call/email them on Monday to ask about it, since I wanted to give them a few days to add more interview dates after my invite email!
Click to expand...

Ah, so I ended up calling them and they said they will open up more dates, and I was able to schedule mine. I think they open only a few dates at a time, so hopefully by the end of the weekend there are more interview slots to pick from. Good luck and congrats on the interview invite!
 
7pH545 said:
Ah, so I ended up calling them and they said they will open up more dates, and I was able to schedule mine. I think they open only a few dates at a time, so hopefully by the end of the weekend there are more interview slots to pick from. Good luck and congrats on the interview invite!
Click to expand...
Okay, good to know! Glad you got to schedule yours, and thanks for the luck
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

wysdoc
2024-2025 Columbia (Vagelos)
8 9 10 11 12
Replies
578
Views
227K
monetary_bear
M
wysdoc
2024-2025 Missouri - Columbia
2 3 4 5 6
Replies
283
Views
52K
homeadelove
homeadelove
wysdoc
2024-2025 South Carolina - Columbia
2 3 4
Replies
178
Views
48K
Lil Car's Son
Lil Car's Son
TheDataKing
2020-2021 Missouri - Columbia
9 10 11 12 13
Replies
618
Views
124K
DesiPreMed
D
wysdoc
2021-2022 Columbia (Vagelos)
7 8 9 10 11
Replies
547
Views
218K
Jalapeño22
J
Top