2023-2024 Columbia (Vagelos)

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whyamihere99 said:
quite possibly one of the most painful rejections from anyone in my life LOL
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I feel you. Keep your head up. Can't go through life without some failure...then the success wouldn't feel as good! Keep working at it and I'm sure you will make a great doctor one day!
 
For those who were accepted, does your financial aid welcome letter (available in the portal) say the deadline for submitting materials is March 11th or 2 weeks after acceptance, whichever is later?
 
I have heard from a few that the clinical year tends to be very competitive and gunnery. Can anyone speak on the culture, especially during clinical years?
 
Also how common is it to live off campus during M1? I really would prefer to be able to cook and roughly how much would it cost? I am open to 1 to 3 flatmates but would like my own room. Thank you
 
sleepyseal said:
Also how common is it to live off campus during M1? I really would prefer to be able to cook and roughly how much would it cost? I am open to 1 to 3 flatmates but would like my own room. Thank you
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+1 to both of sleepy seal’s posts!
 
sleepyseal said:
Also how common is it to live off campus during M1? I really would prefer to be able to cook and roughly how much would it cost? I am open to 1 to 3 flatmates but would like my own room. Thank you
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I am but a fellow incoming M1 but the Towers seems like the most common housing option for students and its suite-style living. So you have your own room and shared common spaces, including a kitchen. You can find more info on their website!
 
girlynerd said:
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 🙂
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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?
 
TMB-trying said:
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?
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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
 
Does anyone have any historical wisdom about movement on the MD PhD Waitlist?
 
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.
 
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j243 said:
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.
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I Disagree with this opinion, and I think everyone's experience is different 🙂 -current M1 🙂
 
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.
 
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
 
dumplingsloth said:
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
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From the wording, it sounds like the comments were made outside of the admitted students chat. Perhaps through DMs? This is purely speculation though.
 
popcornpup said:
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
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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
 
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.
 
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.
 
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