2025-2026 Hackensack Meridian

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they review your app by date of submission, I am assuming next will be 7/31 (maybe today or tomorrow).
 
narwhal9103 said:
As someone who interviewed here last cycle, I can echo some of the points made here. In general, the admissions committee loves interviewing CA applicants because they know how competitive the CA state schools are. This lets them make a “backup list” in case things go horribly wrong (they had a ~10% acceptance rate in the ‘23-24 cycle due to mass waitlist movement).

The waitlist movement was much less this last cycle, and although I got into my state MD school I still don’t think I’d have gotten into Hackensack if I stayed on their waitlist till their CTE deadline. They definitely prioritize east coast connections for admitting students and this is reflected quite well in their match list (very few match outside the East coast.)

I do think they made some errors and are very generous in sending out interview invites to people they know have very little chance of being admitted (0 east coast ties, stats, etc.). There was someone last cycle who had an admissions person imply to them they that their interview invite was accidental (oops) and they were never on the waitlist all along.

The school seems great quality wise but the admissions team will waste your time (campus tour invites, info sessions, etc.) if you don’t fit their mission. For the west coast applicants here with 0 east coast ties, I recommend prioritizing secondaries for your other schools.
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Certain thresholds (not just scores and GPAs) are used to determine interview invites, and if the interview invite is sent out, the applicant will be considered. Everyone is evaluated independently, and it would be a waste of time for interviewers who volunteer their time to speak with someone who won’t be considered. That would subsequently be a waste of the committee’s time because all interviewed applicants are discussed, so the argument that mistakes were made and interviews sent out of generosity may be misleading. Unfortunate what your colleague was told but definitely an exception, not the rule, and inappropriate for them to have been told that. Even if it was a clerical error, that does not mean that person was not considered because every interviewed candidate is given consideration once interviewed.

Would follow by saying that they will “waste your time … if you don’t fit their mission” with tours, info sessions doesn’t make any sense—those are done in an effort to provide transparency even if you perceive it as a waste of your time. It might be a waste of your time but for the candidate floating 3 offers in the region and wanting to compare the details and facilities of those locations, I don’t see how this wouldn’t be helpful. They could just neglect those offerings and provide less transparency, which seems to be a concern of some people applying, based on reactions to the web page.
 
I submitted my app on 8/8 and just checked my status. It shows “Undergrad Date before June of App Year” (Pending review) and “Letter of References” (Not received). I went back through the application, but couldn’t find anywhere to submit an undergrad date, so now my app is marked incomplete. I’ve already emailed Hackensack SOM for clarification.

I’m a nontraditional applicant—has anyone else run into this issue?
 
typeAB said:
I submitted my app on 8/8 and just checked my status. It shows “Undergrad Date before June of App Year” (Pending review) and “Letter of References” (Not received). I went back through the application, but couldn’t find anywhere to submit an undergrad date, so now my app is marked incomplete. I’ve already emailed Hackensack SOM for clarification.

I’m a nontraditional applicant—has anyone else run into this issue?
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I have this issue as well. I am assuming that means they haven’t been able to verify the application yet or look at it before sending it to their review stage. We probably just have to wait longer 🙁
 
hi guys, current M1 here happy to answer any q's! down to chat abt most things, so long as my digital footprint isn't put at risk lmao. might take a bit to respond but I'll check back periodically. full disclaimer, this was my only A so I can't say much in terms of comparing to other interview/application experiences.
 
Submitted 8/8 still haven’t gotten the complete status yet :/ should I reach out or just keep waiting?
 
lol i just submitted my secondary today.....so far I have pre-req verification, LOR, and application review marked as pending review
 
Submitted 8/6 and also still waiting :/// even my LORs say pending review for whatever reason. Has anyone else had any luck?
 
adap98 said:
hi guys, current M1 here happy to answer any q's! down to chat abt most things, so long as my digital footprint isn't put at risk lmao. might take a bit to respond but I'll check back periodically. full disclaimer, this was my only A so I can't say much in terms of comparing to other interview/application experiences.
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Hey, I just received an IS II. I'm asking here bc I cant find the info elsewhere, but it says I have to wait for a phone call to schedule the interview as well as schedule my admission day event thing online. How long does it take to receive the phone call, and how do I schedule the admission day event? It says "coming soon" where I *think* the registration link is going to be, but I'm not sure. Thank you!
 
giratina origin forme said:
Hey, I just received an IS II. I'm asking here bc I cant find the info elsewhere, but it says I have to wait for a phone call to schedule the interview as well as schedule my admission day event thing online. How long does it take to receive the phone call, and how do I schedule the admission day event? It says "coming soon" where I *think* the registration link is going to be, but I'm not sure. Thank you!
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When was your application complete
 
Current M3 and to the discourse RE admissions: the people who do admissions are just the people who do admissions. The chaos going on there is not indicative of the school quality or experience. Not to say I don’t have any complaints about the school, but I am biased in believing nothing should deter you from applying to a school other than knowing you would not attend even if it was your only acceptance. Because for a lot of us, it was.

Also, getting jerked around post interview is (I fear) pretty much universal. It happened at basically every place I interviewed. Sent Kaiser an update letter after months of dead air post interview and they emailed me a week later saying “thanks remember you only get two updates!” then rejected me two hours after. Geisinger egregiously sent everyone on the waitlist a physical newsletter with a taped in letter addressed “Dear Future Geisinger Student”. They also sent an email with subject line “update on your waitlist status” and the first line read “congratulations! Due to your status on the waitlist we are pleased to offer you admission…(this is where the email preview ended) …to our post bac program!”. LECOM sent me an email saying that since I didn’t respond to their waitlist invitation (which they never sent) I was out of consideration. PCOM let me in off the waitlist literally while I was in HMSOM orientation in July. Basically, hang in there guys. Admissions is hell and you are on your way through it.

Also RE the idea that we don’t take CA applicants but do waitlist them all: I think we waitlist pretty much everybody. I waited months to hear back after my interview, got waitlisted, and was off the waitlist in like three weeks. One person got in a day after being waitlisted. We also have a fair number of CA students so idk.
 
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btfreash said:
PCOM let me in off the waitlist literally while I was in HMSOM orientation in July.
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Had a friend that initially ended up at MSU DO get an acceptance to an MD in the middle of their first week of classes. Stood up in the middle of lecture and walked out to start packing up their life and move OOS because the MD started in two days.

Just wanted to share because, like you said, the process jerks you around the entire time. Best thing to do is get through it and try to make it better when you are on the other side.
 
Thank you so much for sharing this both of you. Truly. as a re-applicant who was on waitlist last cycle, I truly start to question myself and the universe if this is for me. But I guess the process itself is so competitive in nature that we just have to accept it. No matter what the school is.
 
btfreash said:
Current M3 and to the discourse RE admissions: the people who do admissions are just the people who do admissions. The chaos going on there is not indicative of the school quality or experience. Not to say I don’t have any complaints about the school, but I am biased in believing nothing should deter you from applying to a school other than knowing you would not attend even if it was your only acceptance. Because for a lot of us, it was.

Also, getting jerked around post interview is (I fear) pretty much universal. It happened at basically every place I interviewed. Sent Kaiser an update letter after months of dead air post interview and they emailed me a week later saying “thanks remember you only get two updates!” then rejected me two hours after. Geisinger egregiously sent everyone on the waitlist a physical newsletter with a taped in letter addressed “Dear Future Geisinger Student”. They also sent an email with subject line “update on your waitlist status” and the first line read “congratulations! Due to your status on the waitlist we are pleased to offer you admission…(this is where the email preview ended) …to our post bac program!”. LECOM sent me an email saying that since I didn’t respond to their waitlist invitation (which they never sent) I was out of consideration. PCOM let me in off the waitlist literally while I was in HMSOM orientation in July. Basically, hang in there guys. Admissions is hell and you are on your way through it.

Also RE the idea that we don’t take CA applicants but do waitlist them all: I think we waitlist pretty much everybody. I waited months to hear back after my interview, got waitlisted, and was off the waitlist in like three weeks. One person got in a day after being waitlisted. We also have a fair number of CA students so idk.
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Those messages esp geisinger are insanely messed up man im glad you made it out
 
Interviews have begun rolling out today (friend recieved II)...and I'm still waiting for them to mark mine complete/verified (submitted 8/7)
 
omg congrats to everyone receiving interviews!! when were you guys complete? TIA
 
oh oops do you mind if i ask when you submitted actually? thank youuu
 
giratina origin forme said:
Hey, I just received an IS II. I'm asking here bc I cant find the info elsewhere, but it says I have to wait for a phone call to schedule the interview as well as schedule my admission day event thing online. How long does it take to receive the phone call, and how do I schedule the admission day event? It says "coming soon" where I *think* the registration link is going to be, but I'm not sure. Thank you!
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Hi, congrats on the interview! Apparently last year I was assigned an admissions day event time slot and asked to confirm that I can make it at that time. In that same email giving me the date and time, I was told that I’d be called to schedule an interview a few days before the event. So it looks like they might have changed their system, sorry I can’t be very helpful here!!
 
+1 on waiting for app to complete. I’m late submitting secondary 9/26. LORS and prereq verification still not check marked on status. Hopefully they start completing more apps soon 🙂)
 
+1 OOS II on 10/1, was called today to schedule interview.
 
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I scheduled my interview for a few weeks from now and am wondering if anyone has interviewed yet and can provide insight into the format! I’m wondering if if it is more casual, get to know you questions, or ethical tough questions?
 
burningout said:
I scheduled my interview for a few weeks from now and am wondering if anyone has interviewed yet and can provide insight into the format! I’m wondering if if it is more casual, get to know you questions, or ethical tough questions?
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My interview last year was extremely causal, it almost threw me off how casual it was. It was with a doctor from the Hackensack health system through zoom. It can vary though, from what I remember hearing. Just generally know about the school's features, why you would like to go there, what your "why" is for being a doctor. The general stuff tbh and you should be fine. I don't remember hearing about any weird stress-test/ethical type interviews but you never know for sure sadly
 
I was complete on 8/5 and just received an email saying that I have successfully met their admissions requirements and will now head on to a holistic review. They also requested I double check that my CASPER and Duet were complete. Hoping to hear more soon, those I know at Hackensack speak positively about their experience.
 
Are anyones links not working on the portal to watch the informational videos for before your interview?
 
btfreash said:
Current M3 and to the discourse RE admissions: the people who do admissions are just the people who do admissions. The chaos going on there is not indicative of the school quality or experience. Not to say I don’t have any complaints about the school, but I am biased in believing nothing should deter you from applying to a school other than knowing you would not attend even if it was your only acceptance. Because for a lot of us, it was.

Also, getting jerked around post interview is (I fear) pretty much universal. It happened at basically every place I interviewed. Sent Kaiser an update letter after months of dead air post interview and they emailed me a week later saying “thanks remember you only get two updates!” then rejected me two hours after. Geisinger egregiously sent everyone on the waitlist a physical newsletter with a taped in letter addressed “Dear Future Geisinger Student”. They also sent an email with subject line “update on your waitlist status” and the first line read “congratulations! Due to your status on the waitlist we are pleased to offer you admission…(this is where the email preview ended) …to our post bac program!”. LECOM sent me an email saying that since I didn’t respond to their waitlist invitation (which they never sent) I was out of consideration. PCOM let me in off the waitlist literally while I was in HMSOM orientation in July. Basically, hang in there guys. Admissions is hell and you are on your way through it.

Also RE the idea that we don’t take CA applicants but do waitlist them all: I think we waitlist pretty much everybody. I waited months to hear back after my interview, got waitlisted, and was off the waitlist in like three weeks. One person got in a day after being waitlisted. We also have a fair number of CA students so idk.
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What does a day to day schedule look like during phase 1?
 
jackfrost59 said:
What does a day to day schedule look like during phase 1?
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I'm an M1 and it depends on the course we're in. Class almost always starts at 8 am, for the first course we're done w classes at around 12-2, sometimes earlier. For anatomy right after that the hours are longer and things are packed in more, start at 8 and usually end around 2-3. Things go back to 12-2 after that. We have regular lectures most days (different for anatomy bc of lab), with Wednesdays swapping each week from clinical skills class and something called human dimension class. Weekly(ish) quizzes
 
Does anyone know the expected timeline to hear back after the interview?
 
sg1283 said:
what was the interview like? similar questions to what we saw in this thread?
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my interview was pretty standard with why medicine, why Hackensack, tell me about a time... etc. questions
 
rosegold123 said:
my interview was pretty standard with why medicine, why Hackensack, tell me about a time... etc. questions
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did they also tell you that you might get a call for a second interview? i have no idea why they're splitting into two and can't have two intervieweres on the same day lol
 
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