2021-2022 Colorado

Started by wysdoc
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microbezzzz said:
Has anyone else noticed a delay in Colorado marking Casper scores as "received"? My scores were delivered to other schools last week and I also completed the other two tests 6 days ago, so I would have expected those to have been delivered already since they do not require grading by Altus.
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My CASPer has not been received yet either (I added Colorado to my distribution list around a week ago). Have you tried contacting them?
 
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traddart said:
My CASPer has not been received yet either (I added Colorado to my distribution list around a week ago). Have you tried contacting them?
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I gave them a call and they informed me that different programs have different distribution systems and some take longer than others. They told me to give it another week because sometimes theirs takes a bit. I wouldn't be too concerned about the delay. Sounds normal for them.
 
wysdoc said:
1. The pillars of our curriculum are Leadership, Curiosity, and Commitment. Tell us about how you have embodied one or more of these attributes in your path to medicine thus far. In which of these areas do you see the most opportunity for personal growth and why?
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Another question about this prompt. Does it imply that the trait we have embodied is the one we see for the most personal growth? Or could we say that we have embodied X trait and want to grow in Y trait?
 
premed-->md said:
Another question about this prompt. Does it imply that the trait we have embodied is the one we see for the most personal growth? Or could we say that we have embodied X trait and want to grow in Y trait?
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You can say how you have shown you have a trait, and also say one you want to improve on, of course.
 
got my secondary invite on 8/9 and planning to submit it tomorrow. Is anyone starting to receive an interview invite yet? I'm worried I may be too late in the cycle 🙁
 
Inbutanxious said:
got my secondary invite on 8/9 and planning to submit it tomorrow. Is anyone starting to receive an interview invite yet? I'm worried I may be too late in the cycle 🙁
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I was complete 8/18! I haven't seen anyone post here about getting II yet, and they seem to still be screening some for secondaries so I wouldn't worry too much. I don't think you're too late!
 
Saw a few comments above and felt like I should share--

Check your spam folder!! My secondary for Colorado went to my spam folder and I didn't see it until two weeks later. Thankfully I already had something prepared, but could have been a disaster if I let it go longer
 
So...I finally submitted my 1000 word pillar essay today 8/31...it really took me forever to get it right. I'm concerned that I'm very late with this application, especially given how good a fit I would be with this school, but I have been behind on my secondaries this whole past month because I work full-time and it's been a struggle. Any chance I still have a shot?
 
DS_G3 said:
So...I finally submitted my 1000 word pillar essay today 8/31...it really took me forever to get it right. I'm concerned that I'm very late with this application, especially given how good a fit I would be with this school, but I have been behind on my secondaries this whole past month because I work full-time and it's been a struggle. Any chance I still have a shot?
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You're on time, not late. Better to have perfected it to your best ability than to have rushed it. Best of luck!
 
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coramDeo said:
I remember getting a secondary within 3-4 days. Do they pre-screen? If not, maybe reach out to the admissions office?
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Ya I'm gonna reach out. I checked every school I applied to make sure I pass their screen if they do pre-screen. They mentioned nothing about pre-screening
 
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They do screen for secondaries.
For the 2019-2020 application season, we had 10,431 primary applications from AMCAS and reviewed 6,847 invited secondary applications.
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Secondary applications are requested from selected candidates. We do not send secondary applications to all applicants.
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Selection Criteria for the University of Colorado School of Medicine

medschool.cuanschutz.edu medschool.cuanschutz.edu

From an interview last year with the former assistant dean of admissions:
When I first took this job back in 2014, we were a school that automatically sent secondaries to every applicant who sent us an AMCAS application. I’m a true believer in holistic review, and I don’t think that that’s fair to either the applicant or the school. If there’s a candidate that we wouldn’t consider interviewing, we shouldn’t ask for their money or their time. We do screen, and we have some automated features. So students above certain thresholds automatically get a supplemental application. But every single person who doesn’t meet that threshold gets a human review, and the human decides whether or not that applicant would be someone that we would want to send a secondary application to, and we do that every year.
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www.google.com

What Med School Applicants Need to Know About the University of Colorado School of Medicine [Episode 359]

Find out everything you need to know about the University of Colorado School of Medicine from Dr. Nichole Zehnder, Assistant Dean of Admissions and Student Affairs.
www.google.com www.google.com
 
seanm028 said:
They do screen for secondaries.


Selection Criteria for the University of Colorado School of Medicine

medschool.cuanschutz.edu medschool.cuanschutz.edu

From an interview last year with the former assistant dean of admissions:

www.google.com

What Med School Applicants Need to Know About the University of Colorado School of Medicine [Episode 359]

Find out everything you need to know about the University of Colorado School of Medicine from Dr. Nichole Zehnder, Assistant Dean of Admissions and Student Affairs.
www.google.com www.google.com
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Screening doesn’t make you a holistic school then…but what’s more bothersome is that this was not stated on their website. It should be on their website before students add them to AMCAS or send them their Casper score.
Regardless, thank you for sharing this information.
 
MDPhDHopeful3985 said:
Screening doesn’t make you a holistic school then…but what’s more bothersome is that this was not stated on their website. It should be on their website before students add them to AMCAS or send them their Casper score.
Regardless, thank you for sharing this information.
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You're welcome for sharing. And for clarification, the first two quotes and the first link in my last post are, in fact, from their website under Admissions > Requirements > Selection Criteria.
 
seanm028 said:
You're welcome for sharing. And for clarification, the first two quotes and the first link in my last post are, in fact, from their website under Admissions > Requirements > Selection Criteria.
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I should clarify as well. No where is there a numerical value listed as a cutoff. Aside from this one sentence being buried among other information, not having a specific numerical value can make any applicant feel as though they will be given a fair chance to present their story. The irony of claiming to be holistic while practicing screening is truly mind boggling but if a school is to do this and mask it under the guise of “not asking for their money”, they should at least explicitly state what numbers the select for. Again, it is truly ironic given that they select for a number. Then cherry pick from that batch who to interview and subsequently admit. Holistic admissions is looking at the entire application and making a decision based on that whether or not to interview (or at least send a secondary to but I know the UC system is problematic as well).
 
MDPhDHopeful3985 said:
I should clarify as well. No where is there a numerical value listed as a cutoff. Aside from this one sentence being buried among other information, not having a specific numerical value can make any applicant feel as though they will be given a fair chance to present their story. The irony of claiming to be holistic while practicing screening is truly mind boggling but if a school is to do this and mask it under the guise of “not asking for their money”, they should at least explicitly state what numbers the select for. Again, it is truly ironic given that they select for a number. Then cherry pick from that batch who to interview and subsequently admit. Holistic admissions is looking at the entire application and making a decision based on that whether or not to interview (or at least send a secondary to but I know the UC system is problematic as well).
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Fair points.
 
MDPhDHopeful3985 said:
I should clarify as well. No where is there a numerical value listed as a cutoff. Aside from this one sentence being buried among other information, not having a specific numerical value can make any applicant feel as though they will be given a fair chance to present their story. The irony of claiming to be holistic while practicing screening is truly mind boggling but if a school is to do this and mask it under the guise of “not asking for their money”, they should at least explicitly state what numbers the select for. Again, it is truly ironic given that they select for a number. Then cherry pick from that batch who to interview and subsequently admit. Holistic admissions is looking at the entire application and making a decision based on that whether or not to interview (or at least send a secondary to but I know the UC system is problematic as well).
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Which schools put their hard cut-offs on their websites? Even if they specific gpa/mcat cut offs I believe it is also to ensure that a student will be able to endure the rigors of medical school and various testing that comes with it. With EC, GPA, personality all the same, a student with a sub-500 mcat is different than a student with 520. There is a correlation between MCAT scores and Step 1 & 2 Scores. Also another perspective is that admission committees are trying to reduce 8000 applicants and sometimes 10K+ to 150 seats. In this case 14,000 applicants to 700 Interviews to 150 seats.

Also the admissions director stated that if you do not make the criteria your application is pushed to a human review so you do still get a 'holistic' review and a chance to be offered a secondary even if you do not automatically meet their criteria.
 
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Does anyone know what the group activity is for the interview or if its like MMI style? Also, do you think the group interview is that we are being interviewed in a group of other applicants? Or that we are being interviewed by a group of people? Thank you in advance! 🙂
 
cmahlen said:
There was one IS II according to the interview tracker, but I haven't seen any of them elsewhere. Sort of weird how that's the only one lol
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Don't forget that many, MANY people do not use SDN. Albeit I wish I didn't because my mental health during the application cycle would be a lot better lol. But that being said, there are probably II but we don't see them!

Good luck, stay sane. We got this.
 
TravelingMedicine said:
Which schools put their hard cut-offs on their websites? Even if they specific gpa/mcat cut offs I believe it is also to ensure that a student will be able to endure the rigors of medical school and various testing that comes with it. With EC, GPA, personality all the same, a student with a sub-500 mcat is different than a student with 520. There is a correlation between MCAT scores and Step 1 & 2 Scores. Also another perspective is that admission committees are trying to reduce 8000 applicants and sometimes 10K+ to 150 seats. In this case 14,000 applicants to 700 Interviews to 150 seats.

Also the admissions director stated that if you do not make the criteria your application is pushed to a human review so you do still get a 'holistic' review and a chance to be offered a secondary even if you do not automatically meet their criteria.
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People keep saying this but to me, that is a weak statement. It appears as though every study says the correlation is strong but this study made an interesting observation: "For one, people with scores in that middle range (495-504) did comparatively well in medical school. Consider some numbers: 95% of students with middle-third scores moved from year 1 to year 2 of medical school on time compared with 98% of those with upper-range scores (505-528)."

But it's whatever. I'm finished with secondaries anyways. Now it's a waiting (and interview) game.
 
MDPhDHopeful3985 said:
People keep saying this but to me, that is a weak statement. It appears as though every study says the correlation is strong but this study made an interesting observation: "For one, people with scores in that middle range (495-504) did comparatively well in medical school. Consider some numbers: 95% of students with middle-third scores moved from year 1 to year 2 of medical school on time compared with 98% of those with upper-range scores (505-528)."

But it's whatever. I'm finished with secondaries anyways. Now it's a waiting (and interview) game.
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I understand the frustration that you are feeling but we are all in the same situation as you. Guessing what is happening behind the admission's closed doors is just gonna make the cycle that much tougher. If you want to go to a school then apply, if you do not then save your money and apply elsewhere. It sucks but we wont really know what goes on in an application review unless we are on the other side.
 
MDPhDHopeful3985 said:
People keep saying this but to me, that is a weak statement. It appears as though every study says the correlation is strong but this study made an interesting observation: "For one, people with scores in that middle range (495-504) did comparatively well in medical school. Consider some numbers: 95% of students with middle-third scores moved from year 1 to year 2 of medical school on time compared with 98% of those with upper-range scores (505-528)."

But it's whatever. I'm finished with secondaries anyways. Now it's a waiting (and interview) game.
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Interesting point. However, the study you're citing doesn't really contradict the strong correlation between MCAT and STEP scores because your study is looking at the success rate of MS1s moving to MS2 year, but Step 1 isn't taken until the end of the second year. Also, passing your first year is different than scoring high on the standardized exams, which (unfortunately) is something schools care a lot about.

It definitely sucks, but to echo what @TravelingMedicine said, simply coming to terms with the fact that the process may be unfair and in part a matter of luck has personally helped ease my frustration and anxiety.
 
cmahlen said:
Interesting point. However, the study you're citing doesn't really contradict the strong correlation between MCAT and STEP scores because your study is looking at the success rate of MS1s moving to MS2 year, but Step 1 isn't taken until the end of the second year. Also, passing your first year is different than scoring high on the standardized exams, which (unfortunately) is something schools care a lot about.

It definitely sucks, but to echo what @TravelingMedicine said, simply coming to terms with the fact that the process may be unfair and in part a matter of luck has personally helped ease my frustration and anxiety.
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I agree with both of you that a large part of this process is luck (more than we would like to admit). I lost some money here but at least it wasn't way more.
 
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