for adcoms, how long does it take you to review 1 application

[havil]

a couple of minutees? Hours?

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[LizzyM]

20-30 minutes for a first reader. About 7 minutes for a second reader who needs to confirm or refute the findings of the first reader. (e.g. first reader says this applicant didn't have any xyz, you go in and see if you can find something to refute that opinion, maybe misclassified or imbedded in another activity).

 

[Mr.Smile12]

I haven't done this, but I hear AI modules make screening triage more efficient.

 

[LizzyM]

If you are asking this question because you wonder how long it will take to get a response, let me assure you that while reading your application takes far less than an hour, it may take a week or two for a reader assigned to your application to actually open your file. Then it may take a week, or three, for the second reader to do so. They your file's score needs to be compiled with scores from other applicants to see if you fall into the "must interview" category or "maybe later if there is room" or the "maybe not". If you are "maybe not" you may not hear anything more until Spring. You'll just be "under review" for the next 9 months. It sucks -- don't shoot the messenger.

 

[Catalystik]

Average of 40 minutes, depending on number and length of LORs.

 

[Goro]

20 to 30 minutes depending upon how much stuff is in the application. Those people who submit more letters of recommendation require more time devoted to the application.

 

[surelycalm]

They your file's score needs to be compiled with scores from other applicants to see if you fall into the "must interview" category or "maybe later if there is room" or the "maybe not". If you are "maybe not" you may not hear anything more until Spring. You'll just be "under review" for the next 9 months. It sucks -- don't shoot the messenger.

How does the ranking system work outside of GPA/MCAT?

I think the most daunting aspect of this process is seeing sankies from 520+/4.0 applicants with great ECs that get 2-3 T20 acceptances, but were pre II rejected from the rest.

How is someone good enough to get accepted to Harvard and Hopkins (or whichever T10 etc), but not good enough to even get considered for an interview at other T20s? I get that that anything lower than that might be yield/resource protecting.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

How does the ranking system work outside of GPA/MCAT?

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[LizzyM]

How does the ranking system work outside of GPA/MCAT?

I think the most daunting aspect of this process is seeing sankies from 520+/4.0 applicants with great ECs that get 2-3 T20 acceptances, but were pre II rejected from the rest.

How is someone good enough to get accepted to Harvard and Hopkins (or whichever T10 etc), but not good enough to even get considered for an interview at other T20s? I get that that anything lower than that might be yield/resource protecting.

Some of the top schools might resource protect. If they have only N interview slots and they suspect that someone who has a terrific application and who was raised in New England and educated undergrad at an Ivy and whose parent graduated from a different Ivy med school and works at another Ivy, that the applicant is unlikely to choose a school in the south or midwest. Maybe unfair but sometimes chasing the unattainable for a few years teaches even "top" schools to temper their expectations.

There are ways of saying on a scale of 1 to X (choose the upper number), how does this student compare to a benchmark on:
academic achievement
research
leadership and teamwork
community service
clinical experiences
communication skills (written application materials)
letters of recommendation
There might be points toward interview if one has ties to the school but these can also be merely courtesy interviews where unless the heavens open and a white dove appears, it is unlikely that the candidate will move into the "admit" column.

Maybe it is a scale of 1-10 for some things and a scale of 1-7 or 1-5 for others such that those are weighted less than others. Then you sum the scores and have an overall score.

Just throwing this out as an example of how it can be done.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

You also have to remember, volume is not the same at each school, but we share the same time constraints and urgency.

Some of us have to review a couple thousand applications in a cycle. Others have over 15K.

 

[Moko]

Average of 40 minutes, depending on number and length of LORs.

20 to 30 minutes depending upon how much stuff is in the application. Those people who submit more letters of recommendation require more time devoted to the application.