2023-2024 Columbia (Vagelos)

[girlynerd]

any current students that can give insight into the waitlist

A ton of my classmates got off the waitlist, but I also don't know how big that list is

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[girlynerd]

congrats to everyone who received As! I'll be your best friend and mentor if you send me gooood vibes for my psych exam tomorrow

 

[lilacmagnolia]

congrats to everyone who received As! I'll be your best friend and mentor if you send me gooood vibes for my psych exam tomorrow

I am sending you goooodddddddddd vibes for your psych exam. YOU'RE GOING TO KILL IT

 

[TMB-trying]

congrats to everyone who received As! I'll be your best friend and mentor if you send me gooood vibes for my psych exam tomorrow

Sending the best vibes for your psych exam ❤️

Just had a quick question if you have the time: do you happen to know how common it is for students to get on-campus housing (is it guaranteed?) and how much it is?

 

[girlynerd]

Sending the best vibes for your psych exam ❤️

Just had a quick question if you have the time: do you happen to know how common it is for students to get on-campus housing (is it guaranteed?) and how much it is?

I personally live off campus literally a block away from school but It is supper common for students to live on campus (I am definitely one of the odd ones out hehe), and yes it is guaranteed! Pricing can be found on the VP&S website under housing

 

[jmstp]

Does anyone have any historical wisdom about movement on the MD PhD Waitlist?

 

[j243]

Thoughts from a current student who would perhaps re-think Columbia:

Given the time of year, if you are reading this, I assume that you have either been accepted or wait-listed at Columbia. It is such a huge accomplishment to make it to this stage of an incredibly difficult process, so congratulations to you all! I am a current student at Columbia VP&S, and I have finished the bulk of my time here at the school. I went back and forth over whether I should write something on this forum or not, but I found this site to be helpful to me when I was a prospective student trying to tease out culture at different medical schools, and I thought it was appropriate to pass along my own opinions.

Columbia, quite frankly, is not always what it seems. Part of what drew me to VP&S initially was the collegial environment among students and the seemingly down-to-earth faculty and administration. While I have been overall impressed by my classmates, the administration at Columbia is abysmal. It is ironic that this school prides itself on listening to feedback and supporting its students, as that has not been the experience of me or several of my colleagues. The administration is incredibly fixated on checking boxes that have more to do with perceiving school reputation than the actual education and experience of its student. Perhaps many medical schools are this way. But, what is particularly frustrating about Columbia is that all of this is done under some guise of deeply caring about student education, experience, and feedback. Actions speak louder than words. Further, I know classmates who have been unfairly retaliated against for simple actions with good intentions and others have been made to feel at fault for even minimal struggles with coursework while the administration preaches incessant support for students and a focus on remediation instead of punishment. As a result, those who have had negative experiences rarely share their experiences, as they likely feel that they are one of very few. It creates a culture of isolation and inauthenticity.

Maybe these things aren't important to you when choosing a school, and that's okay. Columbia has a great name, and I do concede that name definitely means something in the medical rat race. But, if you are someone who expects any semblance of authenticity and genuine support from your school or organization, this place is not for you. Simply put, the administration at Columbia is disingenuous. They will not have your back if you ever find that you do need a bit of help, and they do not care about the quality of your education or experience outside of how it reflects upon their reputation.

I would like to stay anonymous, for obvious reasons, but if you have questions, I would be happy to answer them via DM. Congratulations, again, for making it to the end of such a crazy process, and I hope you all find the place that is right for you.

 

[girlynerd]

Thoughts from a current student who would perhaps re-think Columbia:

Given the time of year, if you are reading this, I assume that you have either been accepted or wait-listed at Columbia. It is such a huge accomplishment to make it to this stage of an incredibly difficult process, so congratulations to you all! I am a current student at Columbia VP&S, and I have finished the bulk of my time here at the school. I went back and forth over whether I should write something on this forum or not, but I found this site to be helpful to me when I was a prospective student trying to tease out culture at different medical schools, and I thought it was appropriate to pass along my own opinions.

Columbia, quite frankly, is not always what it seems. Part of what drew me to VP&S initially was the collegial environment among students and the seemingly down-to-earth faculty and administration. While I have been overall impressed by my classmates, the administration at Columbia is abysmal. It is ironic that this school prides itself on listening to feedback and supporting its students, as that has not been the experience of me or several of my colleagues. The administration is incredibly fixated on checking boxes that have more to do with perceiving school reputation than the actual education and experience of its student. Perhaps many medical schools are this way. But, what is particularly frustrating about Columbia is that all of this is done under some guise of deeply caring about student education, experience, and feedback. Actions speak louder than words. Further, I know classmates who have been unfairly retaliated against for simple actions with good intentions and others have been made to feel at fault for even minimal struggles with coursework while the administration preaches incessant support for students and a focus on remediation instead of punishment. As a result, those who have had negative experiences rarely share their experiences, as they likely feel that they are one of very few. It creates a culture of isolation and inauthenticity.

Maybe these things aren't important to you when choosing a school, and that's okay. Columbia has a great name, and I do concede that name definitely means something in the medical rat race. But, if you are someone who expects any semblance of authenticity and genuine support from your school or organization, this place is not for you. Simply put, the administration at Columbia is disingenuous. They will not have your back if you ever find that you do need a bit of help, and they do not care about the quality of your education or experience outside of how it reflects upon their reputation.

I would like to stay anonymous, for obvious reasons, but if you have questions, I would be happy to answer them via DM. Congratulations, again, for making it to the end of such a crazy process, and I hope you all find the place that is right for you.

I Disagree with this opinion, and I think everyone's experience is different -current M1

 

[texasvandy]

Institutions tend to protect themselves and dont want anyone questioning them. It is a very common practice. Most people who make it to an elite school like Columbia tend to do well and so they are not on the wrongside of the track. However, some will run into some problems either academically or find that one person has it in for them and get them in trouble and thats when they find out all the coverups that go on when the institution is protecting its own against someone who will be passing thru, aka the student.

It happens at most medical schools and only the impacted are aware of it.

 

[dumplingsloth]

Does anyone who is currently in the GroupMe for admitted students know what happened for the student to get removed? i don’t know if I’m being ignorant but I couldn’t tell if anything was exceedingly wrong with their messages

 

[FantasticFanatic]

Does anyone who is currently in the GroupMe for admitted students know what happened for the student to get removed? i don’t know if I’m being ignorant but I couldn’t tell if anything was exceedingly wrong with their messages

From the wording, it sounds like the comments were made outside of the admitted students chat. Perhaps through DMs? This is purely speculation though.

 

[harpertarper2024]

In one of the identity subgroup chats the student did make an intro post that included some sensitive details about their past, I’m wondering if that’s

I’m in that group that was probs hard to talk about they did give a trigger warning and idk if I’m being ignorant but don’t think that warranted them being kicked if that’s a part of their why doctor that intro made sense tbh it was inspiring to me I’m confused too they were blessing us with the notes and financial aid help

 

[Chemistry97]

As another admitted Class of 2028 student, I want to discourage speculation about why this student was removed from the group chats. Instead we should focus on how this was extremely poorly handled by the student representatives, who didn't offer a chance for the student to clarify any misunderstanding and potentially alienated her among her prospective future classmates. This action honestly comes across as hostile and raises red flags about whether they were targeted because of their identities/the adversarial social climate at Columbia.

 

[starwars6768]

They did participate a lot, but they were always helping us? What was wrong with their messages? Something they said about the underserved convinced me to choose Columbia over Cornell but admin made the chat awkward now. Seems like jx24 is right to an extent.

 

[manifestinggoalsrn]

congrats to everyone on the cycle! i’m currently a premed student at a state school i wanted to ask for advice on what i could be doing to make myself standout and hopefully get an A to columbia or a top medical school in the country.

 

[lilacmagnolia]

Did everyone make an SDN account just tonight to make a comment on what happened in the GroupMe?

Hey, I’m the afflicted student. I literally don’t know why I got kicked out and wasn’t given notice or communication before it happened. I found out when my peers began sending me a screenshot of the PSA that was given in the group chat, and we were all confused. Can you imagine finding that out through others and not being told yourself from the start? I was crying pretty heavily to my peers about it because it felt like it came out of nowhere, and I thought I was making a lot of friends. I swear to God didn’t have one bad experience with any peer. I’m glad some students are also just as confused. And that’s a good point about the accs lol I wonder if my friends did this to stand up for me. Either way, I am grateful for their words. And despite what happened, which I still don’t know, I think Columbia is great. Every school has its pros and cons, and hopefully, I get this issue resolved because again, I swear I don’t know what happened. To future applicants, if you’re reading this, don’t let it affect your decision on Columbia. I believe a misunderstanding occurred, and somehow that blew up. But I’ll get it resolved. No big deal

 

[lilacmagnolia]

I know I’m identifying myself now to some peers lol but I don’t want whoever wrote these nice words about me to be dragged. And also, I didn’t want what happened to me to affect the decision of future applicants (you can totally DM me for specifics if you want to know more of what happened). But it’s nothing serious, and I’m sure it’s a misunderstanding lol because I was out here always doing my best to try to help others even via DMs.

 

[lilacmagnolia]

In one of the identity subgroup chats the student did make an intro post that included some sensitive details about their past, I’m wondering if that’s it?

Glad to see you’re lost, too lol If that’s the reason, that would be crazy because that’s what got me into the school with my personal statement. I totally understand it not being the most palatable topic. But when they asked us for our intros, I shared it because that is central to who I am as an aspiring MD. Knowing it’s not the world’s happiest topic, I even gave a trigger warning. Context: TW: RAPE…in part of my intro in the student group chat, I mentioned my aspiration for being a doctor for the underserved is due to being sex-trafficked as a child. When I escaped, I never got medical help due to the stigma. Now, I want to be a physician for the marginalized and stigmatized like asylum seekers, refugees, LGBTQ+, etc.And I’m really proud to share that story as a survivor because it took a lot of work to gain resilience and overcome it. Hopefully, it’s not what got me removed suddenly, but let’s see. Again, I’m sure this is a misunderstanding, and the issue will resolved. I’m going to stop talking about this on this thread because this page deserves attention on more pressing questions about the school. But Columbia is great!! And my situation shouldn’t affect your decision.

 

[cdf134]

I don’t want to take away from what seems to have been a very unfortunate experience being described above, but does anyone know if Columbia offers any merit aid/ever considers matching outside offers?

 

[Endoxifen]

I don’t want to take away from what seems to have been a very unfortunate experience being described above, but does anyone know if Columbia offers any merit aid/ever considers matching outside offers?

They do not. I've really been trying to get them to match, but no dice

 

[affable_dwarf]

They do not. I've really been trying to get them to match, but no dice

Did they respond to you and explicitly say that they don’t match? I emailed them a while back and they just said they would consider it and get back to me by mid April.

 

[Endoxifen]

Did they respond to you and explicitly say that they don’t match? I emailed them a while back and they just said they would consider it and get back to me by mid April.

Yeah, they told me point-blank that there was nothing they could do. If you know someone who says different though, I'd love to reach out to them!

 

[lilacmagnolia]

Yeah, they told me point-blank that there was nothing they could do. If you know someone who says different though, I'd love to reach out to them!

I can confirm that they don’t match. Both a student rep and the financial aid office told me that. But they have a super generous need-based financial aid program and are also open to budgeting, as long as it doesn’t involve leveraging merit scholarships. If your family makes below $125k, you’re essentially considered as having an estimated family contribution of $0.

 

[girlynerd]

As another admitted Class of 2028 student, I want to discourage speculation about why this student was removed from the group chats. Instead we should focus on how this was extremely poorly handled by the student representatives, who didn't offer a chance for the student to clarify any misunderstanding and potentially alienated her among her prospective future classmates. This action honestly comes across as hostile and raises red flags about whether they were targeted because of their identities/the adversarial social climate at Columbia.

As a current M1 student who is in the chat, this is not true at all. Columbia admin does an exceptional job at making sure all students are represented and heard. Nobody was targeted and this whole situation has been totally blown out of proportion, and it's sad to see this happen because it may affect a student's decision to go to an Incredible school. Anyone can message me if they would like.

 

[PatentForamenOvale]

As a current M1 student who is in the chat, this is not true at all. Columbia admin does an exceptional job at making sure all students are represented and heard. Nobody was targeted and this whole situation has been totally blown out of proportion, and it's sad to see this happen because it may affect a student's decision to go to an Incredible school. Anyone can message me if they would like.

As another admit in the chat who knows others in the chat as well, I'm sad to say that @Chemistry97 is kind of correct-- with the lack of transparency and no chance for the student to explain their side (luckily I know the truth now, but I've heard this from others who didn't at the time), this experience has made that student seem like a poor potential classmate who did something so serious that admin had to get involved (based on the wording of the message sent in the chat from the student representatives).

If this situation was "totally blown out of proportion", the lack of corrective action or, at the very least, explanation from the student representatives and administration is honestly concerning.

I know Columbia is a great school, but I've heard so many stories of the administration not being supportive for certain students, and this makes those seem like more than just a potentially disgruntled n=1 student. (@girlynerd, I know this is likely not your experience, but seeing as how you're an M1 in the admitted students chat, I'd hazard a guess that you're not one of the students struggling with different circumstances that seem to fall through the cracks at Columbia).

I don't want to discourage anyone, but I do wish we could see some meaningful response to situations like this, rather than just reassurance on an anonymous forum...

 

[sunechidna1]

As another admit in the chat who knows others in the chat as well, I'm sad to say that @Chemistry97 is kind of correct-- with the lack of transparency and no chance for the student to explain their side (luckily I know the truth now, but I've heard this from others who didn't at the time), this experience has made that student seem like a poor potential classmate who did something so serious that admin had to get involved (based on the wording of the message sent in the chat from the student representatives).

Yeah, the wording makes it seem like some grievous wrong was committed. Poor communication on all fronts.

 

[girlynerd]

As another admit in the chat who knows others in the chat as well, I'm sad to say that @Chemistry97 is kind of correct-- with the lack of transparency and no chance for the student to explain their side (luckily I know the truth now, but I've heard this from others who didn't at the time), this experience has made that student seem like a poor potential classmate who did something so serious that admin had to get involved (based on the wording of the message sent in the chat from the student representatives).

If this situation was "totally blown out of proportion", the lack of corrective action or, at the very least, explanation from the student representatives and administration is honestly concerning.

I know Columbia is a great school, but I've heard so many stories of the administration not being supportive for certain students, and this makes those seem like more than just a potentially disgruntled n=1 student. (@girlynerd, I know this is likely not your experience, but seeing as how you're an M1 in the admitted students chat, I'd hazard a guess that you're not one of the students struggling with different circumstances that seem to fall through the cracks at Columbia).

I don't want to discourage anyone, but I do wish we could see some meaningful response to situations like this, rather than just reassurance on an anonymous forum...

Actually, you would be wrong in your guess, as I am struggling with many many circumstances that are unforeseen and in need of much support. As I continue to contest, Columbia has blown my mind in how supportive and reliable they have been as an institution. I could not see myself anywhere else- going through what I am going through, and surviving! Like seriously...

 

[starwars6768]

Actually, you would be wrong in your guess, as I am struggling with many many circumstances that are unforeseen and in need of much support. As I continue to contest, Columbia has blown my mind in how supportive and reliable they have been as an institution. I could not see myself anywhere else- going through what I am going through, and surviving! Like seriously...

We can all tell you feel supported and love Columbia. But it’s also valid for us admitted students to wonder and talk about what administration did because the student rep made it public. I’m sure we all want to be as supported as you are. That’s why many of us are shocked at how someone who helped us so much in the chats suddenly disappeared. Hopefully, we see the same support for us and the other admitted student…

 

[PatentForamenOvale]

Actually, you would be wrong in your guess, as I am struggling with many many circumstances that are unforeseen and in need of much support. As I continue to contest, Columbia has blown my mind in how supportive and reliable they have been as an institution. I could not see myself anywhere else- going through what I am going through, and surviving! Like seriously...

I’m sorry I misjudged you. I admit I jumped to conclusions. I genuinely have heard so many bad things about the support at Columbia, particularly for students with mental health issues, disabilities, and chronic illness, etc. that it’s hard to believe anyone going through that has had a good experience. But I’m glad you have, and hope that we can see some of that support for ourselves in the chat in response to what happened with the student who was kicked from the chat.

 

[flowfish]

Hi! I'm applying this upcoming cycle and am really interested in the Bassett track! I'm pre-writing my secondaries now and was wondering if anyone had the Bassett prompt and character count from last year? Thanks so much!!

 

[lesbianherbs]

Hi! I'm applying this upcoming cycle and am really interested in the Bassett track! I'm pre-writing my secondaries now and was wondering if anyone had the Bassett prompt and character count from last year? Thanks so much!!

What aspect of Columbia-Bassett has the most appeal to you? (300 words)

I think that was the only extra prompt for Bassett!

 

[flowfish]

What aspect of Columbia-Bassett has the most appeal to you? (300 words)

I think that was the only extra prompt for Bassett!

Thanks so much!!

 

[greekolives]

After a year of stalking SDN, I finally caved in and made an account lol. Any current or prospective students know of waitlist updates? Should us WL'rs be optimistic or nah? Really want to figure out where I'll be the next 4 years. Also, may be looking too much into it but pretty sure my Update Upload tab in the portal is gone. Anyone confirm this on theirs too?

 

[texasvandy]

Historically, Columbia puts too many on their waitlist of those interviewed.