U know how long it takes for MERCER to make interview decision after the file is declared complete?
mine was declared complete oct 4th
Thanks
It shouldn't take that long...of course, I've only had experience with EDP where they only have about 100 applicants to deal with. Now, they've got like 700 so it probably takes longer. Mary Putnam in admissions is very nice and easy to talk to, so if you want to ask her, just call (but don't tell her I told you...I think she knows my SDN screen name). She also responds quickly to e-mail.
As I think of information you guys might find relevant, I'll try to post it. One thing I remembered is the general process of the admissions committee. You probably all know that Mercer has rolling admissions. They are pretty liberal in who they invite for interviews. They receive about 800 apps per year so they can afford to interview more people than, say, MCG who has to sift through 2000 or more. Once you're complete, if you're a GA resident and you have any kind of decent numbers (anything from a 22 MCAT up i'd say) you should get an interview. Now, I'm just speaking from limited experience. Mercer is unique in that it really does "consider the whole applicant". So, if you have a 2.8 GPA and a 22 MCAT you may not get an interview invite. But, if someone sees some potential they'll interview you and truly consider you (they won't just invite you to waste your time).
As I posted before, they have some way of assigning each applicant an overall number based on several things: GPA, MCAT, personal statement, and interview. Once you have a number they really don't encourage you to update your file with other info. so make sure you put everything in there before hand. The admissions committee is made up of basic science and clinical faculty. Sometimes a 4th year student may be on the committee. Since they're all involved in teaching, they don't meet as often as you'd think. When they do meet, it's usually on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. As they accept people, they notify them by Certified Mail (you have to be there to sign for it).
Usually 20 of their 60 come from EDP (but it could be more or less). Since those people cant' back out, that leaves about 40 slots to be filled by the regular decision pool. They fill their class steadily through March and they usually guarantee that even if you're in the last interview group of the year there are still two or three places open in the class. After the last interview, they form a ranked wait-list (good luck getting anything out of them about that). Since a lot of people accepted through the regular decision pool would rather go to other schools (Emory, MCG, etc) the wait list usually moves a LOT.
The take-home message is: prepare for a LONG road, but never give up hope. Mercer continues taking people off the wait list through the FIRST week of classes in August. A LOT of waitlist movement will occur in May.
I've rambled enough. Sorry. If you have any other questions, please pm me or whatever. And, my offer to meet with anybody before their interview stands. I'm at school by 6:00am every day, so if you want to meet early and talk about your file, the professors who may interview you, or anything else just let me know.
