application HORROR stories

[draino15]

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Anyone got interesting stories about how Admissions Offices have been making mistakes.

heres one:

I called CMS - Finch, and asked about the status of my application. The guy on the phone told me to hold on as he wen to go check for it. He came back and said....."I don't mean to alarm you, but your application is missing."

Oh, I was very alarmed.

He continued..."I can't seem to find your file or secondary, are you sure you turned one in? We normally would have withdrawn you by this point since your application is incomplete without a Secondary, but the fact that your not withdrawn in your system, and your application is missing tells me something is wrong. I'll do some checking and call you back."



Seems ODD that they didn't "miss-place" my $90 application fee, (I checked with my bank on whether that check was cashed or not) but they did misplace my secondary.

Things that make you go........HMMMMMMMMMMM😡

 

[Saluki]

The same thing happened to me when I applied to Baylor undergrad. They said they never received an application from me, yet my 50$ check was cashed. They gave me the choice of filling out the application again, but at that point it was past the deadline for scholarships so I basically said "screw you" and went someplace else...

 

[kreno]

After my UMICH interview I got a snail-mail from the school saying I was rejected (like a week after). being an in-state applicant, that blew! but then i got a call from the dean saying it was a mistake and i was on the waitlist (still ****ty, but at least not a rejection!). kinda emotional rollarcoaster

kreno

 

[Medical123]

Here is mine:

Drexel sent me an e-mail around the first of the year wanting to know if I still intended on sending in a secondary. I had already sent the secondary in a long time ago. They could not find my file or where I had sent in my application fee, but had my letters of recommendation. Within a couple of days, the file was finally found!

I had my luggage lost prior to an interview across the country! They told me that it would be on the next flight. That flight ended up being delayed due to weather. I am so glad that I left a couple of days early, or else I would have interviewed in a sweatshirt (from my state university and blue jeans) Plus, I kept getting hit on by these scuzzy looking men at the hotel, who just couldn't understand why I kept turning down their advances.

Utah and Finch deactivated my files because they did not receive my letters of recommendation in a timely manner. Therefore, I have lost all chances of being accepted and a couple hundred dollars in application fees.

Two other schools did not receive my letters of recommendation in a timely manner, but at least they were kind enough to work with me.

Yet another school mistyped the name of one of the persons that was writing my recommendation letter when they entered it into their computer system. Therefore, when the letter arrived, they did not enter it in their computer and labeled my application as incomplete!

I am soooooo disgusted! No acceptances yet, either!

 

[Moskeeto]

I guess this is pretty popular thing to have happen, because the same thing happened to me at UC Davis. I called in to see why my application fees didn't show up as payed on the status webpage and they told me they didn't have any of my secondary or LORs or app fee. I thought it was a bit odd because the secondary was submitted online, but I guess these things happen. I had to show them a copy of the cashed check, but I think even by that point my odds were no good. they've called me a couple times trying to clear it up, but everytime i talked to them, something was misunderstood. I haven't heard from them since december. 🙁

 

[Ginza]

I also have a Finch story from last year. So, I send everything in, the check is cashed and I get a postcard saying my application is complete. Then, nothing for a few months. Finally, I get a letter saying that my application has been withdrawn because I failed to submit all my letters before their deadline. Funny since all my letters were sent together in the same envelope by my school's pre-med office.

 

[Allygator89]

I sympathize with the luggage thing. Mine has been lost twice now at different interviews... Why don't I just carry my luggage on? For some reason, it is just a bit too wide (my shoulder bag). Go figure! Luckily, I got both really late that night, so I didn't have to wear jeans!

 

[Moskeeto]

Originally posted by Allygator89
I sympathize with the luggage thing. Mine has been lost twice now at different interviews... Why don't I just carry my luggage on? For some reason, it is just a bit too wide (my shoulder bag). Go figure! Luckily, I got both really late that night, so I didn't have to wear jeans!

I'm so scared I'll lose my luggage, so for interviews, I always carry on. I have a pretty big bag too but I've only gotten crap from a flight attendant once and she still didn't make me check it. sometimes i feel bad that I may be taking up too much space in the overhead compartment, but I let people put stuff on top of my luggage so i can sleep without the nagging guilt.

 

[Bob Dole]

[Unnamed med school] sent me an invitation to interview at their school. The e-mail said travel and interview information would be e-mailed to me after I confirmed the date given. I wrote back to say that I couldn't make it on the given date, and waited for a reply...and waited...and waited. After about a week of waiting, I called the school and told them I had sent them e-mail about changing interivew date. I was able to change it to another day and the admissions office staff said she would e-mail with travel info. I waited...and waited... A couple days before the interview, I called to see what was going on. They said "Sorry Bob Dole, there is another Bob Dole who is also applying and we kept sending the travel information to him." So anyways, I ended up not going to [Unnamed med school] to interview because purchasing a plane ticket a couple days before the travel date is EXPENSIVE! And when I called the second time, I withdrew my my application.

 

[crazyA]

I don't think anything will ever top the girl who got 9 rejection letters for U of Chicago last year.

 

[srmonkey]

I had my letters of req complete except for one professor. His letter was lost twice in interdepartmental mail. When it finally arrived my file was misplaced for a few days. Then the premed department didn't send out my package even though i had given them permission to do so. So my letters didn't arrive until 5 weeks after they could have arrived, essentially negating all nov 15th deadline schools. I talked to someone at admissions for one of them and was told (paraphrase) "Based on your file we would have offered you an interview, except that the lateness of your letters signals that you have no real interest in pursuing medicine."
Apparently, UVM thought one of my letters did not meet its faculty requirements, but didn't see any reason to contact me about it. No soup from them.
At one of the schools i did interview at, my first interviewer arrived late and had not read my file. He proceeded to lecture me that medicine was an art and that if i thought i was a scientist i had no business going into medicine.
At another school, my second interviewer did not arrive. I tracked down his secretary and found out he had a heart attack the day before. His secretary had contacted the admin office, but the person who took care of that had also had a stroke the day before. They were able to schedule an interview for me at the last minute, and luckily my interviewer was great.

 

[Blitzkrieg]

luggage lost= 3 times

pwn 🙁

 

[Blitzkrieg]

oh, and my advisor wouldnt send in my letters for about 5 months and threatened to not send any in if I asked about it (at all)....furthermore, I was ridiculed for applying to ranked schools. Lovely 🙂

 

[Adcadet]

Sent in app material to Jefferson. Called in early October and was told that my file was complete and should be going off to committee. Called late October and was told that they were missing 3 of my LORs. When I told them that they had been sent (I knew, since I mailed one of the letters that was missing), the person told me that he'd check around the office and get back to me in a few minutes...he didn't. The next day I was flying out for an interview at another school, so I called and was given the same "I'll call back in a few minutes." It took 30 minutes, but he did finally tell me that they didn't have the letters and gave me their fax number. Thanks guys. What would have happened if I didn't call back after being told that my application was complete? This is why I think calling every medical school you're applying to every two weeks is a good idea.

It was nice to see that they finally did finally get all my LORs, and it was fun to turn down the interview offer..


It seems to me that a good deal of the horror of the process stems from the fact that so much information, in many different forms, needs to get to adcoms. But I definitely think medical school applicants are being abused by the system, and changes need to be made. It's sad that the most caring profession has such an inhumane method of admitting new members.

see here: http://www.studentdoctor.net/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=49682&highlight=reform

 

[Moskeeto]

Originally posted by srmonkey
I tracked down his secretary and found out he had a heart attack the day before. His secretary had contacted the admin office, but the person who took care of that had also had a stroke the day before.

that really sucks srmonkey, i'd laugh if it wasn't so freakin tragic. Hopefully everyone lived and you got an acceptance out of it.

 

[DarkChild]

i've got one:
Premed comittee letter: ..."after re-evaluating his ideas, DarkChild has decided not to pursue MD/PhD programs..."
🙄
MSTP interviewer: "have you seen your LORs..."
me: "No.... uhhhh why??!!!"
MSTP interviewer: "look at this line..."
me: 😕 😕 😳 😡 😡
its one thing to get screwed by a school you're applying to, but its f-ing embarrasing to get screwed by your own ugrad.

 

[Street Philosopher]

woah darkchild, wtf kind of LOR was that?! jeebus

 

[Medical123]

Oh, I have got a couple more.....

I applied to a certain school with an online application. I was having some trouble with submitting it. I asked for technical help and this computer expert at the medical school tried to recreate the error that I had. Well, he typed in a lot of gibberish, random letters, numbers, etc. and submitted my application. The thing is when the application gets submitted, it can't be changed!!!!
This lead to a real mess! I wound up having to type out every question on computer, along with my answers, and mailed it to them along with a copy of what he had done, my application fee, and a letter of apology. I am sure the admissions committee did have a laugh over that one! Anyhow, I got a rejection letter, but they did invite me to send in an application for a special post-baccalaureate program that they have that is supposed to help with admission to the medical school if I complete certain requirements.

Another school transposed a couple of numbers in my AMCAS application, which confused the heck out of them when it came time to filing my stuff.

You would think for these application fees, there would be a lot more organization than this! It certainly has been one weird year for me! I feel as if I can't win for losing! Even the dog is not helping matters any. She knocked a drink over into my laptop and ate a brand new pair of shoes in a matter of a week's time!

 

[ocean11]

Top this one:

Spending 3,000$ applying to MANY schools through AMCAS. Having your advisor send out a 'pre-med recommendation letter' and since it's from U of T, having ALL the med schools tell you later that it is completely insufficient (diff system up here) and missing the deadline for a few schools (Boston, Finch etc) and making my application late.... running to profs etc to beg for last min reference letters....

Now I'm realistically waiting to hear from NY med school, Einstein, Howard, Washington, and Creighton.

I was so depressed I applied to St. George in the Carribean, I can't go through another year of this ****... fuc$ it, either way I'll be going somewhere this Sept!

 

[stressedout]

hi everyone,

this one isn't directly related to admissions offices, but it was still a killer...
here goes.
i did a summer pre-med program. Thru this program you're almost guaranteed an interview to a certain med school.
I talked to one of the heads of the program prior to applying about my letters of rec, grades, mcat. She sits on the admissions committee. She basically told me that i was going to get into this particular school and not too worry.
long story short, waitlisted and eventually no acceptance.
reapplying this coming june.
that one hurt...ouch.

 

[HouseHead]

AMCAS decided that they messed their confirmation of my grades last year, and that this year my GPA is actually 0.14 lower than my school says it is. I found out at one of my more recent interviews that they had done this. Now 2 of the schools I interviewed at last year (1 waitlisted) won't give me the time of day this year.
F'em, I'm going to medical school anyway!

 

[wolferman]

Here are my 2 stories:

1. Last year AMCAS managed to miscalculate my GPA and give me a 2.1 cumuative GPA. I called several times, but each time the reps told me they'd fix it. Eventually my app was transmitted WITH the error. With essentially no shot of getting into medical school I tried to get a refund, but then the reps told me I was past the deadline. I finally ended up getting about half my money back ($300) in January after explaining thoroughly in emails, faxes, and letters how I would've requested a refund sooner had the reps not lied to me and said they would fix the problem.

2. Howard mails me a secondary application and interview invitation. I call the school and make my appointment for Nov. 19. Then the next day I discover I have an exam that day and need to reschedule, so I call again. Apparently the lady never wrote down my first request so it was a good thing I called again. Then couple weeks later I get the index card in the mail telling me that they've received my secondary materials. Then the following day I get another secondary application in the mail. Can anyone say disorganized?!

 

[surge]

I guess it wasn't a real horror story for me, but it's pretty ridiculous anyway....

I get this big thick envelope from a very good unnamed medical school in the mail. I open it, and there is a nice letter congratulating me and inviting me for an interview, fancy letterhead and all. So I start going thru the rest of the papers in the envelope, and lo and behold, the next piece of paper is another letter on the same letterhead.
I start reading and I see the dreaded 'We are sorry....very qualified.....but......cannot....offer.....interview....this year......good luck....' So, I'm like WTF??
I go on, and the next piece of paper - same deal!!!! 😱

And then it dawns on me. I look at who the letters are addressed to. 😳

Yes, you are correct. I did indeed get FIVE (5!) other people's rejection letters in my packet 😱

You should've heard my subsequent conversation with the admissions people 😀 I ended up mailing the letters back to the admissions office....

😱

 

[relatively prime]

Originally posted by mashce
The same thing happened to me when I applied to Baylor undergrad. They said they never received an application from me, yet my 50$ check was cashed. They gave me the choice of filling out the application again, but at that point it was past the deadline for scholarships so I basically said "screw you" and went someplace else...

Did they at least return your application fee? If that happened to me, I would demand my fee back... and not rest until I got it.

 

[ocean11]

Hmmm interesting to hear the GPA F'up story. I'm so very sorry.... 2.1 damn! thats so unfair... this happened to me: my actual GPA is 3.53, In Ontario (Canada) it was converted to a 3.50 and AMCAS converted it to a 3.42 which is weird... hmmmm I should have called probably, Anyhow.... whatever we'll see what happens.... with my 7 in verbal I doubt I'll get in anyhow...

(MCAT: 7,10,10,Q)

 

[Tremblez]

Originally posted by surge
I guess it wasn't a real horror story for me, but it's pretty ridiculous anyway....

I get this big thick envelope from a very good unnamed medical school in the mail. I open it, and there is a nice letter congratulating me and inviting me for an interview, fancy letterhead and all. So I start going thru the rest of the papers in the envelope, and lo and behold, the next piece of paper is another letter on the same letterhead.
I start reading and I see the dreaded 'We are sorry....very qualified.....but......cannot....offer.....interview....this year......good luck....' So, I'm like WTF??
I go on, and the next piece of paper - same deal!!!! 😱

And then it dawns on me. I look at who the letters are addressed to. 😳

Yes, you are correct. I did indeed get FIVE (5!) other people's rejection letters in my packet 😱

You should've heard my subsequent conversation with the admissions people 😀 I ended up mailing the letters back to the admissions office....

😱

At a certain unnamed med school (that might be ranked 2nd) I received the app complete postcard before the primary app received postcard, both of which were followed up by a rejection letter mailed to me, but addressed to someone else. Not going to hold my breath on that one.

 

[X]

1. Ohio school - I called a month after everything was submitted to check if my file was complete. Nope you haven't sent in payment. Um...it was sent. So they lost it and I had to find the check that the bank sends back after it is cashed and send them a copy. That took another few weeks to get everything done and my app was probably real late - have not heard from them yet.

2. Cali school - same deal. Called about a month later to find out if my app was complete (we are talking about oct - nov). Nope you didn't send in 1 letter of rec. Yes I did. Okay i will resend it. had it resend overnight, 2 months later they still couldn't find it, eventually it went into the system mid january and had been sitting on their desk since november. I had to call them so many times to make sure they put that into the system. Have not heard back yet and the app went to adcoms so late that it probably doesn't even matter anymore.


X

 

[wolferman]

3. After getting all my materials in to Utah right before the deadline, I still noticed that the online status page showed my materials as missing. Hoping to head off an unwarranted rejection I called the office only to find that my file was missing and that they'd have to call me back. As it turns out, someone filed half of my materials under my first and middle name and the other half correctly. The mistake was promptly fixed and I was sent my rejection the following week.

 

[abw]

Originally posted by surge
I guess it wasn't a real horror story for me, but it's pretty ridiculous anyway....

I get this big thick envelope from a very good unnamed medical school in the mail. I open it, and there is a nice letter congratulating me and inviting me for an interview, fancy letterhead and all. So I start going thru the rest of the papers in the envelope, and lo and behold, the next piece of paper is another letter on the same letterhead.
I start reading and I see the dreaded 'We are sorry....very qualified.....but......cannot....offer.....interview....this year......good luck....' So, I'm like WTF??
I go on, and the next piece of paper - same deal!!!! 😱

This is a grad school example but it's similar and a horror. I open my mailbox after lots of waiting and there's a big fat overstuffed letter from a school i would have died to go to. I ripped into the envelope on the way back to my dorm and found housing info, my advisor's name, the fall semester's offered courses, etc. - all the good stuff. (on the way, see friends and celebrate) Finally I get to the official letter and read "i'm sorry, we cannot accept you to (grad school) this year". Thoroughly confused, i called my "advisor", who transferred me to admissions who said they were sorry, they meant to enclose an application for next year - someone must have stuffed the envelope wrong. 😡