"Competitive Applicant Pool" post-interview at Georgetown

[abcehmu]

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Got a letter saying i've been put in the "competitive applicant pool" about 6 weeks after I interviewed.

Anyone know what to make of this?

Sounds like a waitlist to me. Anybody agree or disagree?

 

[justskipee]

Got a letter saying i've been put in the "competitive applicant pool" about 6 weeks after I interviewed.

Anyone know what to make of this?

Sounds like a waitlist to me. Anybody agree or disagree?

I'm on it too, and it seems like a waitlist.

 

[JacqueCousteau]

Got a letter saying i've been put in the "competitive applicant pool" about 6 weeks after I interviewed.

Anyone know what to make of this?

Sounds like a waitlist to me. Anybody agree or disagree?

You must have fallen asleep during that woman's spiel as well (man, was there some crap being spewed from her mouth or what). Uh, she said that, yeah, its a waitlist, but the only way you get off of the g'town waitlist is to write a very convincing essay, couple pages, explaining how they missed you because gtown is truly the university that you fell in love with, ha.

 

[abcehmu]

You must have fallen asleep during that woman's spiel as well (man, was there some crap being spewed from her mouth or what). Uh, she said that, yeah, its a waitlist, but the only way you get off of the g'town waitlist is to write a very convincing essay, couple pages, explaining how they missed you because gtown is truly the university that you fell in love with, ha.

oh yeah, I kind of remember that now. i think she even indicated who we should write to in the event of this happening. i actually liked um, Mrs. Sullivan (?) and what she had to say, but found a huge discrepancy between what was coming out of her mouth and the reality of the G'Town medical student.

Anyway, thanks for flashing a light on that dark spot of my memory. Never would have pulled that one out without some help.

 

[UCdannyLA]

Mrs. Sullivan said that if you get put in the "highly selective pool" and GTOWN is your first choice then you should write a 3 paragraph persuasive essay...and she said usually 50-75% of these letter writers are accepted.

 

[abcehmu]

Mrs. Sullivan said that if you get put in the "highly selective pool" and GTOWN is your first choice then you should write a 3 paragraph persuasive essay...and she said usually 50-75% of these letter writers are accepted.

is the "highly selective pool" different than the "competitive applicant pool" ?

anyway, I hate the "lets waitlist a ton of people and see who comes around kissing a**" method of filling a class. to me it seems that the point of this approach is to increase the applicants enrolled/applicants admitted ratio in an effort to boost rankings and save face. all at the expense of the time and sanity of applicants. columbia seems to do something similar.

admit people who may not come and take your chances like the vast majority of schools do.

 

[drhouse]

What day did those of you just hearing back interview?

 

[anystream]

is the "highly selective pool" different than the "competitive applicant pool" ?

anyway, I hate the "lets waitlist a ton of people and see who comes around kissing a**" method of filling a class. to me it seems that the point of this approach is to increase the applicants enrolled/applicants admitted ratio in an effort to boost rankings and save face. all at the expense of the time and sanity of applicants. columbia seems to do something similar.

admit people who may not come and take your chances like the vast majority of schools do.

yea..I see your point. even so, i think its nice to know that if you really want to be there, they'll likely give you a spot. most schools don't really seem to care how much you want to go there. i think in the end it makes for a better environment, since most of your classmates ended up somewhere they wanted to be.

i don't remember mrs. sullivan saying that you should *only* write if g'town is your first choice. from what i remember, if you're at all interested in going there, you should write a letter of interest (not intent). i don't think this pool is very big, since they seem to reject a lot of people post-interview. i think you have a good shot.

 

[JacqueCousteau]

yea..I see your point. even so, i think its nice to know that if you really want to be there, they'll likely give you a spot. most schools don't really seem to care how much you want to go there. i think in the end it makes for a better environment, since most of your classmates ended up somewhere they wanted to be.

i don't remember mrs. sullivan saying that you should *only* write if g'town is your first choice. from what i remember, if you're at all interested in going there, you should write a letter of interest (not intent). i don't think this pool is very big, since they seem to reject a lot of people post-interview. i think you have a good shot.

Alright, for the sake of arguing, ha...Im not really sure thats the case. I interviewed there several months ago-- was my first one. The part that was ridiculous about Georgetown was this whole 'kiss our ass' approach. In that long speech she said several times, Im gonna tell you how to get admitted, the larger part being (albeit in a roundabout way), make sure your interviewer knows youre in love with Gtown. This was crap-- the first school I had seen-- how was I gonna know if I loved it or not with nothing to compare it to? Needless to say, I did not pretend with my interviewer. Ms Sullivan was VERY adamant about not writing if this wasnt the school you were in love with- said it several times in fact.

 

[medstylee]

i don't remember mrs. sullivan saying that you should *only* write if g'town is your first choice. from what i remember, if you're at all interested in going there, you should write a letter of interest (not intent). i don't think this pool is very big, since they seem to reject a lot of people post-interview. i think you have a good shot.

actually, at my interview just a few days ago, mrs. sullivan said very explicitly that you should write the persuasive letter only if you're intent on attending georgetown. they're not looking for a letter of interest, they're looking for a letter of intent.

 

[anystream]

ok- sorry if i gave the wrong info re: letter of intent. i personally didn't write one and i got in, so i figured it wasn't necessary.

Just to offer a different perspective- I had a terrible interview and when they asked why I wanted to go there I just mumbled something about cura personalis (i kind of cringe when I think about it..but I don't think it qualifies as ass kissing). I actually really liked the school though, so maybe they sensed that. I think a lot of people use them as a safety school (JacqueCousteau possibly?), so they try to filter people out who wouldn't go there/wouldn't like it there.

Is there anyone else on SDN who likes GT? I feel like the only one.

 

[medstylee]

i really like georgetown too. i did their special masters program last year and i'd go there in a flash if i was accepted. it disappointed me that my interview did not ask me about why i wanted to attend. i had a lot to talk about on the subject. oh well, i still hope that i came across as interested and as a good fit. congrats on the acceptance, anystream.

 

[JacqueCousteau]

ok- sorry if i gave the wrong info re: letter of intent. i personally didn't write one and i got in, so i figured it wasn't necessary.

Just to offer a different perspective- I had a terrible interview and when they asked why I wanted to go there I just mumbled something about cura personalis (i kind of cringe when I think about it..but I don't think it qualifies as ass kissing). I actually really liked the school though, so maybe they sensed that. I think a lot of people use them as a safety school (JacqueCousteau possibly?), so they try to filter people out who wouldn't go there/wouldn't like it there.

Is there anyone else on SDN who likes GT? I feel like the only one.

I dont have a problem with Gtown, I just realized that it wasnt the right school for me on interview day. I thought that they would have more to offer in the way of research--through the research track program-- and when I asked them how many people a year do this, they said 3, at most 4-- not what I wanted to hear. But, if you wanted to follow through with one of their specialties, Im sure it would be great. What I would question, though, is Gtown worth paying for when you could go to a state school (if thats an option) for much cheaper and get the same education and value in prestige. I was recently chatting with a wise research director at one of the 'more prestigous', yeah thats crap, schools, and he told me going to medical school is like cooking a hamburger, how many ways can you do it? you can change up a few things, make yourself look a little different (cura personalis), but everyone learns the same stuff and takes the same tests. I agree with this except when it comes down to strength of students (your peers make you think) and research opportunities. Yeah, Gtown does tend to get trashed on sdn, I didnt mean to come off that way. i think its a fine school, and if you think its the one for you, then who cares what anyone else thinks?

 

[Minion677]

i really like georgetown too. i did their special masters program last year and i'd go there in a flash if i was accepted. it disappointed me that my interview did not ask me about why i wanted to attend. i had a lot to talk about on the subject. oh well, i still hope that i came across as interested and as a good fit. congrats on the acceptance, anystream.

im in the same boat as yall.. i may write this letter of intent, but i feel like i already gave them my "why georgetown" speech in the secondary... considering the topic was "why do you want to go to georgetown".

 

[Jalby]

oh yeah, I kind of remember that now. i think she even indicated who we should write to in the event of this happening. i actually liked um, Mrs. Sullivan (?) and what she had to say, but found a huge discrepancy between what was coming out of her mouth and the reality of the G'Town medical student.

Anyway, thanks for flashing a light on that dark spot of my memory. Never would have pulled that one out without some help.

It's bulls%^t that you have to go out there, interview for a spot, and then really the only way you get a spot at GT is if you commit to going to their school. They are completely trying to take advantage of the system. If I were applying to GT again, I would write a letter, wait for the acceptance, and then drop it once I got into a better school. If they are taking advantage of the system, you should take advantage of their system.

 

[WhittyPsyche]

It's bulls%^t that you have to go out there, interview for a spot, and then really the only way you get a spot at GT is if you commit to going to their school. They are completely trying to take advantage of the system. If I were applying to GT again, I would write a letter, wait for the acceptance, and then drop it once I got into a better school. If they are taking advantage of the system, you should take advantage of their system.

Nice bump there [emoji23]

Was going to write this in the other thread. Honestly I don't see the big issue. You have a long waitlist and stats is no longer what matters to you, you want people to come there who want to be there not because they had no other options. Why is that any worse than a waitlist where they just go back and pick the highest stats, then what was the point in interviewing for the lower stats.

As an alum from the ugrad, I've had tons of interactions with the med students and physicians from Gtown and I do think that having people who really want to be there is valuable, and they're more likely to stick around and continue to be part of the community in practice and academia post-graduation.


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[slippydubloons]

It's bulls%^t that you have to go out there, interview for a spot, and then really the only way you get a spot at GT is if you commit to going to their school. They are completely trying to take advantage of the system. If I were applying to GT again, I would write a letter, wait for the acceptance, and then drop it once I got into a better school. If they are taking advantage of the system, you should take advantage of their system.

It begins anew!!!

 

[ChrisMack390]

Out of curiosity, does the % of acceptees that matriculate factor into ranking lists and such at all? Can't see any other reason why GT would give this much of a **** about how in love their applicants are. It's not like they are short on applicants or otherwise prevented from accepting 2-3x their class size like everyone else does.