For those of you that interviewed at top 20s, how many were you rejected pre-II?

[gyngyn]

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*cannot tell if sarcasm or not, appreciated either way*

Feelings are real.

 

[capriccio]

This process would be a whole lot easier, less stressful, and save applicants a lot of money if schools clearly defined (or at least generally outlined) what their ‘fit’ is. Many schools do this (ie. UChicago very clearly is looking for a diverse group to look after their community) but even more do not (ie. Every school with a mission statement about ‘developing leaders in medicine through biomedical innovation, diversity, and compassion’)

Oh for sure - I didn't mean to imply that "fit" is transparent to applicants, because it's certainly not, and imo fit also encompasses much more obscure/inaccessible elements than the program/mission (e.g. your app in relation to the class makeup itself). And the judgement of the app (esp of essays and interviews) has a significant subjective element too.

 

[MyOdyssey]

This process would be a whole lot easier, less stressful, and save applicants a lot of money if schools clearly defined (or at least generally outlined) what their ‘fit’ is. Many schools do this (ie. UChicago very clearly is looking for a diverse group to look after their community) but even more do not (ie. Every school with a mission statement about ‘developing leaders in medicine through biomedical innovation, diversity, and compassion’)

Interesting. U Chicago is known for being one of the pure stats driven schools along with schools like Wash U, Northwestern, NYU, Vanderbilt and perhaps a few others.

 

[907914]

Interesting. U Chicago is known for being one of the pure stats driven schools along with schools like Wash U, Northwestern, NYU, Vanderbilt and perhaps a few others.

That is absolutely not the impression I got on interview day. Particularly in that I am <10% on their cGPA. The place had a really chill and non-competitive vibe, and I believe the average MCAT/GPA for my interview day was like 519/3.8 - so high but not super duper high.

 

[MyOdyssey]

I believe the average MCAT/GPA for my interview day was like 519/3.8

The school told you this?

 

[deleted987519]

Rejections are random, acceptances are based on merit 😉

 

[907914]

The school told you this?

Nah, several of us went out for dinners/lunches and talked/compared app cycles thus far. It was just a brief part of the overall conversation, but it still came up.

 

[Engrailed]

Considering the following facts of my experience, it would be difficult to attribute the outcomes to differences in "mission statements."
At the following three medical schools: 1.Emory, 2.Vanderbilt, and 3.UCLA, I was:
1. rejected pre interview
2. rejected post-interview
3. Awarded Geffen scholarship

Could you provide any insight into the Geffen scholarship and what they are looking for in those candidates?

 

[FISTMCLARGEHUGE]

Nah, several of us went out for dinners/lunches and talked/compared app cycles thus far. It was just a brief part of the overall conversation, but it still came up.

Groups of premeds and conversations about stats regardless of location and atmosphere are basically a law of nature at this point. I found the best solution is to just tell people you're rocking a 2.8 and a 496 to make it bearable, bonus points if you do this at a T20.

 

[Engrailed]

Groups of premeds and conversations about stats regardless of location and atmosphere are basically a law of nature at this point. I found the best solution is to just tell people you're rocking a 2.8 and a 496 to make it bearable, bonus points if you do this at a T20.

haha yeah, a roundtable discussion about stats sounds like a great dinner ice breaker! haha

 

[907914]

Groups of premeds and conversations about stats regardless of location and atmosphere are basically a law of nature at this point. I found the best solution is to just tell people you're rocking a 2.8 and a 496 to make it bearable, bonus points if you do this at a T20.

Unfortunately so, particularly relatives and coworkers who know nothing about admissions and are very insistent on learning more about your cycle...It is all free to talk about here, but at work and with family it gets really annoying because you have to explain everything in detail for them to understand....

Also, I will try that 2.8/496 at Harvard HAHAHAwill love to see the jaws dropping (this is a joke.....but seriously, that would be funny).

 

[907914]

haha yeah, a roundtable discussion about stats sounds like a great dinner ice breaker! haha

I think we mostly did it to see who had interviews where and when so we knew who we would see on the interview trail again. That is much more social than stats comparison.

 

[FISTMCLARGEHUGE]

haha yeah, a roundtable discussion about stats sounds like a great dinner ice breaker! haha

Unfortunately so, particularly relatives and coworkers who know nothing about admissions and are very insistent on learning more about your cycle...It is all free to talk about here, but at work and with family it gets really annoying because you have to explain everything in detail for them to understand....

Also, I will try that 2.8/496 at Harvard HAHAHAwill love to see the jaws dropping (this is a joke.....but seriously, that would be funny).

There is a very... zealous, group I took a large number of prereqs with who legitimately think I have a 2.4 and a 484. Sharing an interview with 1 of them this month is what keeps me going currently.

 

[Luckyone1023]

Could you provide any insight into the Geffen scholarship and what they are looking for in those candidates?

Wish I could provide insight, but all I can say is that my application was more oriented toward volunteer/service than research along with high stats. In my particular case, I think I presented best in MMI 'cause NYU also awarded a full COA scholarship, but I was rejected or WL post-interview by half of the other schools with standard interviewing formats.

 

[Goro]

In my experience it was random... I applied to 15 top 20s: got 11 interviews, attended 10, and ended up with 7 acceptances and 3 waitlists.

to be clear, 3 of those pre-II rejections were from top 5s, but I got into the other two (one of which gave me a full merit scholarship) - that always seemed super random. also, I got scholarship offers from two other top 20s, but neither was close to the money the top 5 offered me - again, seemed weird but obviously I wasn't complaining.

SDNers are advised to not make the mistake of thinking "I interviewed at Stanford, so I should have interviewed at every Reality Top School."

This is no different than job hunting. How many of you who have multiple work experience were offered multiple jobs by multiple companies simultaneously.

I know this has been asked before, but how many of them can go straight through to the reject pile bc of stats/lack of EC's ( in your opinion, at your DO school). I know it's been speculated but I want your input.

Based upon feedback from other Adcom members here, anywhere from 10-50%!

 

[mwsapphire]

SDNers are advised to not make the mistake of thinking "I interviewed at Stanford, so I should have interviewed at every Reality Top School."

This is no different than job hunting. How many of you who have multiple work experience were offered multiple jobs by multiple companies simultaneously.


Based upon feedback from other Adcom members here, anywhere from 10-50%!

That's comforting! 😀 I'm applying low tier MD and DO so hopefully I don't get thrown out 😀 It makes those pre-interview cuts seem less scary!

 

[LeaveNoTrace]

It's as random a process as Olympic trials.

Olympic gymnastics or ice-skating trials: it's an individual, judged sport.

 

[Engrailed]

You're probably seeing more of a pattern than really exists. There are exceptions and extremes, like UCLA and WashU prioritize grades and test scores differently, or Mayo being Mayo. But the real mission of most t20s is to recruit very similar student bodies with high LizzyMs and strong research. You'll see some of the same folks on the interview trail, second look weekends, or in the class with you wherever you matriculate and it'll end up being a very unpredictable smattering of who got attention where.

Can you please elaborate on the bolded part? Im aware that WUSTL is an extreme stat school.

 

[efle]

Can you please elaborate on the bolded part? Im aware that WUSTL is an extreme stat school.

UCLA keeps much lower stats ranges, they prioritize other things more. Wustl is extreme stats. Mayo is a tiny little program that makes invites and decisions much more about quirky interesting apps and "good fit" instead of the usually high stats research cookie cutters

 

[907914]

UCLA keeps much lower stats ranges, they prioritize other things more. Wustl is extreme stats. Mayo is a tiny little program that makes invites and decisions much more about quirky interesting apps and "good fit" instead of the usually high stats research cookie cutters

Yay for being quirky! Boo for 26% post-II acceptance rate...

 

[Engrailed]

Yay for being quirky! Boo for 26% post-II acceptance rate...

What schools have abnormally high/low acceptance rates?

 

[efle]

What schools have abnormally high/low acceptance rates?

 

[907914]

What schools have abnormally high/low acceptance rates?

This is probably Inaccurate Or outdated but:



I know most schools are in the 40% range, UMich is up at 75%, Mayo and Harvard are at 26%, WVU goes as low as 14% for OOS...

 

[907914]

Beat me to it!

 

[MyOdyssey]

UCLA keeps much lower stats ranges, they prioritize other things more. Wustl is extreme stats. Mayo is a tiny little program that makes invites and decisions much more about quirky interesting apps and "good fit" instead of the usually high stats research cookie cutters

What does UCLA prioritize?

What kind of quirky does Mayo seek? artsy?

 

[907914]

What does UCLA prioritize?

What kind of quirky does Mayo seek? artsy?

Everyone I know who has an interview at Mayo fits in to one of my predominantly debunked “superstar” categories (high stats URM/LGBT, Military, lots of pubs, those types). Basically, Mayo, UChicago and Harvard seem to like Walter-lite types of applicants. Most other schools are a little more predictable.

 

[MyOdyssey]

Everyone I know who has an interview at Mayo fits in to one of my predominantly debunked “superstar” categories (high stats URM/LGBT, Military, lots of pubs, those types). Basically, Mayo, UChicago and Harvard seem to like Walter-lite types of applicants. Most other schools are a little more predictable.

high stats and URM/LGBT

or

high stats or URM/LGBT

All T20s like those categories, no?

 

[907914]

high stats and URM/LGBT

or

high stats or URM/LGBT

All T20s like those categories, no?

And (no comma).

All schools will like these types of applicants, but these schools seem to specifically prioritize them.

 

[Engrailed]

high stats and URM/LGBT

or

high stats or URM/LGBT

All T20s like those categories, no?

I believe some T20s are more holistic than others. And from my current application cycle experience (albeit still very early and cannot be used as a predictive measurement), I think schools do value other things beyond high stats. My MCAT is below the median but I think ECs have been helpful

 

[KnightDoc]

What do you know about the rest of the T20-T25's merit based scholarship policies?

Do merit based scholarships from these schools treat very high stats (>3.9 and >521) as a necessary but not sufficient qualification?

It's not as much a stats driven thing as it is simply unique attributes a particular applicant might bring to the class, what other opportunities that applicant has, and how much the school wants that person. The general rule is that the higher the ranking of the school, the more money they have available to throw around to attract who they want without regard to financial need. Of course, this also means they have more money available to address financial need as well, which is why their aid/scholarship packages are typically more attractive than that of lower ranked schools.

The (literally 🙂) $250,000 question is how much NYU is going to move the needle on this, in terms of peer schools needing to raise endowments to be able to compete with full tuition for all without regard to demonstrated financial need. Time will tell.

 

[efle]

It's not as much a stats driven thing as it is simply unique attributes a particular applicant might bring to the class, what other opportunities that applicant has, and how much the school wants that person. The general rule is that the higher the ranking of the school, the more money they have available to throw around to attract who they want without regard to financial need. Of course, this also means they have more money available to address financial need as well, which is why their aid/scholarship packages are typically more attractive than that of lower ranked schools.

The (literally 🙂) $250,000 question is how much NYU is going to move the needle on this, in terms of peer schools needing to raise endowments to be able to compete with full tuition for all without regard to demonstrated financial need. Time will tell.

I predict mayo goes 100% free tuition next. I recall seeing they got a donation of many many millions earmarked for reducing cost of medical education

 

[DNAJB6]

You're probably seeing more of a pattern than really exists. There are exceptions and extremes, like UCLA and WashU prioritize grades and test scores differently, or Mayo being Mayo. But the real mission of most t20s is to recruit very similar student bodies with high LizzyMs and strong research. You'll see some of the same folks on the interview trail, second look weekends, or in the class with you wherever you matriculate and it'll end up being a very unpredictable smattering of who got attention where.

How so?

Edited: Oops; never mind! You addressed this later.

 

[907914]

I predict mayo goes 100% free tuition next. I recall seeing they got a donation of many many millions earmarked for reducing cost of medical education

Ugh, another reason to love Mayo....but I just can’t get over mandatory lectures and always wearing a suit! /s (slightly)

 

[Engrailed]

How so?

Edited: Oops; never mind! You addressed this later.

😉