Can we consult the admissions office of schools that we've been rejected from?

Discover Your Odds of Getting into Medical School
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Some schools will tell you, some schools won't tell you until the cycle is over (in the summer, if you still care at that point), some schools won't tell you at all. If OSU encourages it, then they will give you advice.

Usually they tell you at the interview if you can call and ask. The two schools that stick out in my mind from my interview trail:
-Cincinnati will tell you if you call after being rejected
-Michigan will not tell you until after the cycle is completely over
 
A few schools I applied to had admissions counselors (check their website to find them.) This means they are interested in hearing from you if you're concerned you won't be accepted, or if you've been rejected. I was rejected at this one school, so I spoke with an admissions counselor toward the end of that cycle. He was the nicest guy ever. I say call the office- if you're polite, and don't try to elicit information they clearly aren't willing to give, what could it hurt? Especially call if they have admissions counselors.
 
premed2000 said:
What about for schools that reject you pre-interview?
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It doesn't hurt to call and say "Hello, I was just rejected before being offered an interview, and I was wondering if the admissions office provides application feedback?"

If they say yes, give them your name.
If they say no, say thanks and hang up (remaining anonymous)
 
premed2000 said:
Thanks! Would you think around now is a good time to do that to schools that already rejected me? Or should I wait until the near of the application cycle to do it? Or it doesn't matter?
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Wait until after the cycle is over, and ask about how you can improve for next year. No place has time to talk usefully to all the people it rejected while the cycle is ongoing. You will not be treated as nicely or candidly if you try to call now.
 
Ask after May 15 and ONLY if you do not have any offers of admission anywhere. Some people call because they are miffed that they didn't get interviewed at a specific school despite being admitted to several peer institutions. Don't waste your time if that is your situation.

Everyone else, call or email after May 15 and politely ask if it is possible to schedule a telephone conversation with a member of the admissions staff.
 
LizzyM said:
Ask after May 15 and ONLY if you do not have any offers of admission anywhere. Some people call because they are miffed that they didn't get interviewed at a specific school despite being admitted to several peer institutions. Don't waste your time if that is your situation.

Everyone else, call or email after May 15 and politely ask if it is possible to schedule a telephone conversation with a member of the admissions staff.
Click to expand...

Do you plan on doing an AMA again this year? 😀
 
It's usually pretty pointless, they won't tell you anything useful.

If you're a traditional and applying while in college, they'll say "take a year to build up your grades and apply again."


One year later, they'll tell you "do a Postbac or a SMP."

If you have a poor MCAT, they'll tell you to bring it up.

If you haven't done anything clinical, well...

(seriously, one of my friends did meet the last criteria).
 
HughMyron said:
It's usually pretty pointless, they won't tell you anything useful.

If you're a traditional and applying while in college, they'll say "take a year to build up your grades and apply again."


One year later, they'll tell you "do a Postbac or a SMP."

If you have a poor MCAT, they'll tell you to bring it up.

If you haven't done anything clinical, well...

(seriously, one of my friends did meet the last criteria).
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What if you are a 3.7/30/cookie cutter EC applicant - what do they say then??
 
MelissaThompson said:
What if you are a 3.7/30/cookie cutter EC applicant - what do they say then??
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they'll say they had an enormous amount of applications, and highly qualified applicants had to be rejected in order to fill the class.
 
Do you think they have ever told people with red flags the red flags?
 
gyngyn said:
In CA it's not your weakness, just the strength of the pool.
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Disagree. If he actually has a bunch of research and 3.8 and 34 and tons of clinical volunteering and is a CA resident, without some other red flag it's very surprising he didn't get at at least one UC interview or acceptance - if i were in that situation I'd definitely want to know what my red flag is, because if he has no acceptances with those numbers and applied widely, there definitely is a big one IMHO
 
postalkwk said:
Disagree. If he actually has a bunch of research and 3.8 and 34 and tons of clinical volunteering and is a CA resident, without some other red flag it's very surprising he didn't get at at least one UC interview or acceptance - if i were in that situation I'd definitely want to know what my red flag is, because if he has no acceptances with those numbers and applied widely, there definitely is a big one IMHO
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CA is a state where almost every school has a 34+ MCAT median except for UC Davis and Loma Linda which have very specific missions.
 
Will schools let you know if you have a bad LOR?
 
TheShaker said:
CA is a state where almost every school has a 34+ MCAT median except for UC Davis and Loma Linda which have very specific missions.
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UC Irvine has a median MCAT of 32 and GPA of 3.7

http://www.meded.uci.edu/Admissions/first_year_profile.asp

and UC Davis' mission isn't super specific. Also - with what he claims are great ECs and a great GPA, a 34 should still give him a decent shot at interviews at the other top UCs being in state.
 
Also, UCSD's was 33.4 in 2008 and while it may be higher now, I doubt it's jumped to 35 or above. I know plenty of people with worse stats than that and seemingly worse extracurriculars than the poster above has that have plenty of interviews and acceptance to top schools like UCSF. His stats/ECs are really too high for this just to be bad random luck, unless he applied really late or only applied to a couple schools.
 
I think you're looking at the matriculant MCAT while I'm looking at the MSAR MCAT median for accepted applicants but that's beside the point. Most schools in CA are top schools with many strong applicants applying to them. My point is that even with a 3.8/34, the applicant can still be thrown out for whatever reason because there are a bunch of applicants with high stats standing in line. It's really hard to expect interviews from schools that sit at the top unless you have a very powerful application. For schools outside of CA, yeah, there might be a red flag or a huge error and I guess submitting late is one of them (this is my problem too).
 
premed2000 said:
You are completely right. I do think I deserve atleast on interview from UC Schools. However, note that I am well aware that completing my application/secondaries in late-september is perhaps the killer here. Especially with UC Schools, completing in late-sept without any dazzling EC or 40+ MCATs will not garner much attention IMO.

And this is one of the reasons (reasons other than submitting late) why I really wish I can speak to the admissions (probably after 5/15 if I don't get an acceptance) on how I can improve my application for reapplication.
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I think people on SDN often fall prey to this. No one really "deserves" anything besides being treated with respect. After that, it's completely up to the schools to choose who they do an do not deem worth interviewing/accepting and that's their choice.
 
postalkwk said:
Disagree. If he actually has a bunch of research and 3.8 and 34 and tons of clinical volunteering and is a CA resident, without some other red flag it's very surprising he didn't get at at least one UC interview or acceptance - if i were in that situation I'd definitely want to know what my red flag is, because if he has no acceptances with those numbers and applied widely, there definitely is a big one IMHO
Click to expand...

It's very easy to underestimate the admissions process if you haven't gone through it. You look at all these nice MDApp profiles and see that people have been getting multiple acceptances to great schools. In reality, most people aren't like that. Getting into medical school is very difficult and Californian schools are the most competitive in the nation. I've met a bunch of applicants from California and they almost invariably applied to around 30 schools, even those with much better stats than the ones you posted. If a school has a 33 as their matriculant average, that means that their accepted range is significantly higher since more desirable candidates get more offers (and they can only take one seat). Being unsuccessful doesn't necessarily necessitate a red flag. The people who get interviews are a very strong bunch and the competition is pretty fierce, especially since it's much more merit-based.
 
premed2000 said:
Are we allowed to call the admissions office and ask them regarding the strengths and weaknesses for our application and for advice on how to improve for reapplication? I remember reading a page on OSU's admissions page on advice for reapplicants, and they encourage students to seek advice from admissions office on areas to improve.

So, do admissions office actually do that? If anyone has experiences with this, which schools are actually willing to take the time and talk to you about it?
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It honestly depends on the school. If you need to reapply contact the schools you are interested in and set up a meeting/phone call with one of the deans or adcom. They will oftentimes help outline why you didn't get in and ways to improve your application. I did this and netted an acceptance from one of the schools I spoke with. However another school I went and spoke with told me I should have gotten in and that they had no constructive advice to give...in my opinion it can't hurt.
 
I know certain schools that will gladly set up a meeting and tell you your strengths and weaknesses and there are other schools that state on their website that they cannot provide such services. So check out the website and then call the schools you want to reapply to and set up an appointment.
 
yehhhboiii said:
It's very easy to underestimate the admissions process if you haven't gone through it. You look at all these nice MDApp profiles and see that people have been getting multiple acceptances to great schools. In reality, most people aren't like that. Getting into medical school is very difficult and Californian schools are the most competitive in the nation. I've met a bunch of applicants from California and they almost invariably applied to around 30 schools, even those with much better stats than the ones you posted. If a school has a 33 as their matriculant average, that means that their accepted range is significantly higher since more desirable candidates get more offers (and they can only take one seat). Being unsuccessful doesn't necessarily necessitate a red flag. The people who get interviews are a very strong bunch and the competition is pretty fierce, especially since it's much more merit-based.
Click to expand...

I actually applied MSTP this cycle with a 36/3.6 and have been accepted to Mt. Sinai and BU and have interviewed at UCSF and NYU. So I have been and am going through this process. Yes, given my stats, i've been extremely fortunate. Even if a school's average accepted is higher than 33, the average matriculant MCAT and GPA prove there are a lot of people getting in with around 33 +/- 1 or 2. The point is, if he really thinks his ECs are awesome, to not get even one interview? There must be some other reason.

I just think its this bizarre SDN mentality that you have to be way above a school's average accepted to get an interview or acceptance. Of course you shouldn't expect an acceptance or interview to any specific school, but half the people who get accepted and matriculated do have below the average stats for a given school. And you can say they are just lucky, but this is a HUGE chunk of people. And not all of these people have published 10 papers or started their own charity or whatever. So if you apply to 30 schools, half of which you have significantly greater the average stats, and get no II, there's gotta be something you're not doing well as there are plenty of great but not insanely amazing people with lower stats getting in who are somehow all beating you.
 
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premed2000 said:
So when I posted this thread almost four months ago, I had 1 II and 9 Rejections. Four months later, I stand at 1 II, 24 Rejections, and 1 Silent. It has been an absolutely gruesome four months (nothing but rejections), and I am glad my nightmare is about to come to an end, and it is time for me to learn from this cycle and to better myself.

It's April 8th, and it is almost towards the end of the cycle. Will this be a good time to start asking schools if they offer feedback on what my weaknesses are and how to improve since I have a failed cycle with absolutely not acceptances? Or should I wait a little longer until May 15th, like what LizzyM said?
Click to expand...

Or you could go back to the responses you got to your very first posts last November... you applied late and top-heavy. That may be all you need to know.
 
postalkwk said:
I actually applied MSTP this cycle with a 36/3.6 and have been accepted to Mt. Sinai and BU and have interviewed at UCSF and NYU. So I have been and am going through this process. Yes, given my stats, i've been extremely fortunate. Even if a school's average accepted is higher than 33, the average matriculant MCAT and GPA prove there are a lot of people getting in with around 33 +/- 1 or 2. The point is, if he really thinks his ECs are awesome, to not get even one interview? There must be some other reason.

I just think its this bizarre SDN mentality that you have to be way above a school's average accepted to get an interview or acceptance. Of course you shouldn't expect an acceptance or interview to any specific school, but half the people who get accepted and matriculated do have below the average stats for a given school. And you can say they are just lucky, but this is a HUGE chunk of people. And not all of these people have published 10 papers or started their own charity or whatever. So if you apply to 30 schools, half of which you have significantly greater the average stats, and get no II, there's gotta be something you're not doing well as there are plenty of great but not insanely amazing people with lower stats getting in who are somehow all beating you.
Click to expand...

wrong... A median can represent the fact that more than half of the pool have scores at the floor (no one with less than x but more than 50%= x). With a mean, you may not have a bell curve but rather a skewed distribution with no left tail or a very narrow tail comprised of students who were exceptional in some other way (URM, military veterans, 4th generation legacies, etc).
Also, take into account the fact that some schools did not wait for the second MCAT or may have averaged the two MCATs rather than used the more recent.
 
LizzyM said:
wrong... A median can represent the fact that more than half of the pool have scores at the floor (no one with less than x but more than 50%= x). With a mean, you may not have a bell curve but rather a skewed distribution with no left tail or a very narrow tail comprised of students who were exceptional in some other way (URM, military veterans, 4th generation legacies, etc).
Also, take into account the fact that some schools did not wait for the second MCAT or may have averaged the two MCATs rather than used the more recent.
Click to expand...

It makes me sad to realize that these are even comparable characteristics.
 
To the OP, let me know how it goes. I feel you on how gruesome this application cycle was. I am attempting to contact admissions offices too.

I just want brutally honest feedback. One school told me that my uGPA was too low and to bring it up. I don't know how that makes sense after successfully completing a masters degree in a hard/basic science field.
 
premed2000 said:
Is it better to call or email when consulting regarding the weakness of my application? And if I email, who do I email?
Click to expand...

I emailed the admissions office. The director of admissions ended up responding back, listing a couple of areas that I was weak in. The director also listed things I could do over the next year to improve my application.
 
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