For those with Columbia Interviews

[Premed2003]

when did you submit? Was it both an e-mail and a snail mail? I am hoping I will get one soon. Crossing my fingers tightly

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[laviddee]

you'll get an interview man. as long as your stats are decent and the essay is good.. you should be ok.
they interview almost 30% of those who do their application. since their application is separate from amcas, they also have a lot less applicants.
not like i did this research, it was told to me by others.

i'm not applying to columbia. those guys, they want me to take a year of college physics before i matriculate... Boston, Columbia, and Harvard are the only schools i know that won't accept credit granted from the ap physics exam. too bad.

 

[VirtuoJ]

also for those who got a columbia interview, did columbia send a email/letter/postcard confirmation that your application file was complete? i haven't gotten anything from them and i'm pretty sure my application is complete.

 

[Street Philosopher]

in 2001 Columbia had 2252 applications. 1191 of those were interviewed. That's over 50%. Of those interviewed, 305 offers of acceptance were given out (obviously also from the waitlist). 25% got in after interview (out right + off the waitlist), and about 13.5% overall.

source: stanford's infamous pdf

 

[mystic_b]

Originally posted by laviddee

i'm not applying to columbia. those guys, they want me to take a year of college physics before i matriculate... Boston, Columbia, and Harvard are the only schools i know that won't accept credit granted from the ap physics exam. too bad.

Really? Harvard says:

Physics
One full year.
Calculus-based physics for HST applicants. AP credit which enables a student to take an upper level course may be used to fulfill one semester of this requirement.

Did you get in to Columbia, and they told you that you needed to take a full year of physics before you could start? So they accepted you without having fulfilled the requirement? Thanks.

 

[laviddee]

no no no..
i didn't get into columbia.. i'm applying for 2003.

i called them up, and they said they would review and accept applicants even without the required courses-- as LONG AS you take the full years worth of physics BEFORE MATRICULATING.

harvard-- yes. if you take the ap, instead of a full year, you only have to take a semester. which OF COURSE i'm willing to do.

those stats are alarming! maybe i should apply to columbia and take spring and summer courses???? eh.. i kinda think i'd like to enjoy my last year before med school.

 

[JennaB4MD]

I received word today from Columbia about an interview. I submitted my application back in early July, and my letters of rec and transcripts probably got there several weeks ago. They sent me a packet by snail-mail. Columbia also schedules the interview for you ahead of time, which is both good and bad I guess.

 

[Random Access]

Originally posted by laviddee
since their application is separate from amcas, they also have a lot less applicants.

So people are that averse to applying because it's not AMCAS? NYU is also non-AMCAS too?


-RA

 

[SMW]

In my opinion, the fact that it's non-AMCAS, is a reason to apply. It is a little more work than most secondaries, because you have to tell them everything, since they don't have your AMCAS app to go on. However, you don't have to worry that AMCAS will screw something up! Plus they get back to you early, interview lots of people, and accept people with less than stellar stats -- like me!!

 

[FlySi80]

i heard that the dean of columia med "handpicks" his applicants. is there any truth to this rumor?

also, just to see what i'm up against, what're ur stats??
i was actually surprised when i got an interview for columbia.
gpa: 3.6
mcat: 32Q
school: univ of chicago

 

[NYC Non-Trad]

I, like ViruoJ, have submitted my application and the letters of rec should have been received by 8/15/02 or so, but yet I have heard nothing from Columbia.

Did those who received interview invitations receive separate confirmation that their applications were complete? If so, should I attempt to contact them since I have not heard yet?

Same applies to NYU. Everything should have been received at least 2 weeks ago and no word of confirmation.

Thanks for your advice.

 

[SMW]

Give it a bit more time. Two weeks is not a long time in the med school admissions game. Imagine the volume of mail the offices are dealing with. You should receive confirmation when your app is complete from all schools.

Oh, and welcome to SDN!!

 

[NYC Non-Trad]

Thanks for the welcome.

I was just really curious about NYU and Columbia because all of the other schools to which I had letters of rec sent out the same day (August 12) had confirmed my completed application as of August 22. (I sent the secondaries out before the letters of rec.)

And seeing that other on this board have already begun hearing of interview invitations at Columbia, it intrigued me that they couldn't at least confirm that everything necessary was in my file.

Don't worry, I'm not about to do anything rash, just trying to be proactive in case something may have been lost in the mail.

 

[relatively prime]

I don't like how Columbia interviews practically everyone. If I get an interview from Columbia, it's very possible that I still have no chance of being accepted... yet I'm going to be spending all this money to go and interview. At least with the other schools... if you get an interview you feel it's worth the expense since typically you have a ~ 1 in 2 chance of getting in.