Help Santa compile his naughty vs. nice list: Adcom style

[jcaptian]

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Nice list:

Loma Linda University:

Getting the acceptance notification by phone call from the dean of admissions is always nice 🙂 faculty was really friendly, interviews were pleasant and conversational (talk about soccer with the dean of admissions, director of admissions..and one of my interviewers? YES awesome)

University of Iowa:

Very friendly faculty and staff. My student host bought me dinner my first night (yum!). Nifty little tote bag for interview day. Offer a stipend ($100) to offset the travel costs 🙂 great!

Naughty list:

University of South Florida:
Why would you have me write a novel instead of a normal secondary?

University of Pittsburgh:
Seriously? Interview invitations the SAME DAY as marked complete? They say they take the time to read through the whole application. Impossible! -_-

bahhh...maybe I'm just bitter

 

[Procyon]

Naughty list. Georgetown. My interviewer told me I was stupid.

😱 That's awful. You have to tell the whole story now. 😛

They're on my naughty list, too. The admissions people were rude to me when I tried to call them once, and they strung me along forever before rejecting me, when everyone else who was complete on my date heard something or other two months before.

 

[idontcaureuknow]

Nice List:

University of Pittsburgh: I agree with tots, the holiday card was super nice. Now if only if only I could get an acceptance.

University of Central Florida: VERY VERY transparent admissions process. Yes I'm bottom third of the waitlist, and I love knowing that. I would have loved to be accepted to this school, but it's also good to know that the only way one is going to a school is if the twilight zone happens. Contrasted with the generic "waitlist." Where you know nothing.

Naughty:
Every school that's only post interview options are Acceptance or Waitlist, and tell you nothing about the waitlist (UF, FSU, WVU, ect.)

Florida State U: Sending me the wrong interview date e-mail and causing me to reschedule work on almost zero notice.

 

[jcaptian]

Nice List:

University of Central Florida: VERY VERY transparent admissions process. Yes I'm bottom third of the waitlist, and I love knowing that. I would have loved to be accepted to this school, but it's also good to know that the only way one is going to a school is if the twilight zone happens. Contrasted with the generic "waitlist." Where you know nothing.

Naughty:
Every school that's only post interview options are Acceptance or Waitlist, and tell you nothing about the waitlist (UF, FSU, WVU, ect.)

👍

 

[JFK90787]

Nuaghty: JHU, sending out mass rejections 5 days before Christmas.

 

[AnthonyBourdain]

Naughty list. Georgetown. My interviewer told me I was stupid.

WTF? When is it ever okay or professional to call someone stupid in an interview, even as a joke.

Jalby was right about Georgetown...

 

[sector9]

What is test prep week?

Basically a week where company reps from various test prep companies (MCAT, USMLE, DAT, specialty boards, etc), admissions counseling companies, textbook publishers, etc. all can sign up to have their own little subforum for a week for free. They're encouraged to have free raffles for their products for SDN members to enter, offer promotions/discount codes/etc, and other incentives to draw readers in. Users can ask questions from the various verified company reps.

That's how I understand it anyway. The last one was in 2011 so it has been a little while

 

[Spinach Dip]

Nuaghty: JHU, sending out mass rejections 5 days before Christmas.

Dear applicant,

We wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Sincerely,
The JHU adcom staff


PS. You're rejected.

 

[MusicJunkie]

Nice List:

UA Phoenix Med:
- For personally calling me and informing me of my acceptance. Not only did the admissions director call me, she was able to remember specific things about me as an applicant. Awesome.

- For sending out a personalized acceptance e-mail stating specific positive things my interviewers had to say about me, and really making it seems like they would bend over backwards to make sure I considered their school. I also hear that accepted students receive a personalized letter from the Dean as well, and I've also heard that there is a fun video.

- For having Tara, the admissions director, on SDN to answer any and all questions regarding the admissions process in the school specific forum. Absolutely NO guess work. The very definition of transparency.

- For being the most well-organized, personable staff I have ever encountered, along with having the most smoothly run MMI.

** special mention to two DO schools (PCOM-GA, PCOM-PA) for sending out holiday well-wishes e-mails.

Naughty List:

Nova:
- Not an MD school, but sent out "congrats on your acceptance, we received your deposit" e-mail to everyone who applied because of a computer glitch.

- Routinely send out the same e-mails over and over.

- Difficult system to log into.

- Sent a friend an interview invite, only to rescind it because it was an accident, and then to re-offer her said interview again. *facepalm* Yeah, she was NOT happy. [I still loved the school though. haha]

 

[MedPR]

Nice List:

UA Phoenix Med:
- For personally calling me and informing me of my acceptance. Not only did the admissions director call me, she was able to remember specific things about me as an applicant. Awesome.

- For sending out a personalized acceptance e-mail stating specific positive things my interviewers had to say about me, and really making it seems like they would bend over backwards to make sure I considered their school. I also hear that accepted students receive a personalized letter from the Dean as well, and I've also heard that there is a fun video.

- For having Tara, the admissions director, on SDN to answer any and all questions regarding the admissions process in the school specific forum. Absolutely NO guess work. The very definition of transparency.

- For being the most well-organized, personable staff I have ever encountered, along with having the most smoothly run MMI.

** special mention to two DO schools (PCOM-GA, PCOM-PA) for sending out holiday well-wishes e-mails.

Naughty List:

Nova:
- Not an MD school, but sent out "congrats on your acceptance, we received your deposit" e-mail to everyone who applied because of a computer glitch.

- Routinely send out the same e-mails over and over.

- Difficult system to log into.

- Sent a friend an interview invite, only to rescind it because it was an accident, and then to re-offer her said interview again. *facepalm* Yeah, she was NOT happy. [I still loved the school though. haha]

I agree that nova has dropped the ball several times.. Their website is straight forward though..

Sent from my SGH-T999 using SDN Mobile

 

[MusicJunkie]

I agree that nova has dropped the ball several times.. Their website is straight forward though..

Sent from my SGH-T999 using SDN Mobile

That hasn't been my experience, or a couple of others I've talked to. =/

Maybe it's just us though. I can be completely computer unsaavy at times. 😛

 

[Cambino]

Naughty List: OHSU

Not giving any personal details, but almost all my friends and I hate OHSU with a passion, because they

1) Have a very low IS preference
2) Use "pre-interview hold" to basically reject people outright
3) Sometims don't even respond to applicants
4) Abnormally strong nontrad preference
5) Incredibly long secondary, MMI interview

Yeah, it sucks to live in Oregon

1. False.
Total applications received: 4,600+
Of the 4,600 applications received, approx. 9% are Oregonians, 91% are non-residents
Applicants Interviewed: 450+
Number of acceptance offers made: 220+
Class size: 132
Profile of Entering Class:
70% residents of Oregon
That does not warrant 'very low IS preference'.

2. Make sure you meet their mission statement criteria. I have a friend who is currently a med student there, and they had told him they use pre-interview holds for people who don't meet their mission statement; namely, desire to work in underserved/rural areas, and if you're not IS, a 32+ ~3.8+ GPA.

4. This is a good thing.

5. They account the interview/personal statement to be worth ~70% of your TOTAL application. Also a good thing.

 

[Josh7]

1. False.
Total applications received: 4,600+
Of the 4,600 applications received, approx. 9% are Oregonians, 91% are non-residents
Applicants Interviewed: 450+
Number of acceptance offers made: 220+
Class size: 132
Profile of Entering Class:
70% residents of Oregon
That does not warrant 'very low IS preference'.

2. Make sure you meet their mission statement criteria. I have a friend who is currently a med student there, and they had told him they use pre-interview holds for people who don't meet their mission statement; namely, desire to work in underserved/rural areas, and if you're not IS, a 32+ ~3.8+ GPA.

4. This is a good thing.

5. They account the interview/personal statement to be worth ~70% of your TOTAL application. Also a good thing.

Nice try, OHSU faculty.

 

[BoricuaMD]

UT Southwestern is definitely on the nice list:

- They notified me of my acceptance 6 days after my interview.

- Sent me an email with an attachment of a video with faculty and students welcoming the class of 2017 to UTSW

- My faculty interviewer emailed me personally to congratulate me and tell me he thinks I will make an excellent physician

UT Houston is on the naughty list...for grillin the **** out of me during my interview.
Oh...and for telling me to my face, mid-interview, I would not be pre-matching (early acceptance in TX) to their school...lolwutwtf 👎

 

[wizedw]

😱 That's awful. You have to tell the whole story now. 😛

They're on my naughty list, too. The admissions people were rude to me when I tried to call them once, and they strung me along forever before rejecting me, when everyone else who was complete on my date heard something or other two months before.

I don't wanna tell my story because I don't want everyone to know who I am and such. But my entire interview he was just incredibly rude to me and I was just like WHAT DID I DO? Whatever, hated in here anyway. Sorry not sorry.

 

[HughMyron]

1. False.
Total applications received: 4,600+
Of the 4,600 applications received, approx. 9% are Oregonians, 91% are non-residents
Applicants Interviewed: 450+
Number of acceptance offers made: 220+
Class size: 132
Profile of Entering Class:
70% residents of Oregon
That does not warrant 'very low IS preference'.

2. Make sure you meet their mission statement criteria. I have a friend who is currently a med student there, and they had told him they use pre-interview holds for people who don't meet their mission statement; namely, desire to work in underserved/rural areas, and if you're not IS, a 32+ ~3.8+ GPA.

4. This is a good thing.

5. They account the interview/personal statement to be worth ~70% of your TOTAL application. Also a good thing.

1) "Low" is relative...compared to other schools, it is low lol.


2) So basically they use the holds as a way to reject people outright. You didn't dispute that point.

OHSU could at least show some respect and give a rejection rather than putting people on hold for up to 10 months (because they process apps reaaaallly late).


4) It isn't if you throw away more qualified applicants just to get nontrads. My advisors tell me stories of (in state) people who get into Mayo and WUSTL, yet are rejected from OHSU just because of this.


5) All the students I've talked to about MMIs treat it with annoyance. All the adcoms I've talked to treat it with skepticism and give multiple reasons why their schools don't do MMIs. How is that a good thing?

 

[ComradeDoktor]

Nice:

UCSD. Told me the exact date AND time that my admission decision would be released, and stayed true to that.

Naughty:

USC. Student interviewer had to apologize for forgetting what questions he wanted to ask. Faculty interviewer was a PA. She shot me a long list of completely random questions and neither took any notes nor engaged me on any of my answers. I get the feeling they don't do much training for their interviewers.

UCI:When I called to ask about preqs, they told me to ask via email. When I emailed them, they never responded.

 

[Barley426]

Naughty list:

University of South Florida:
Why would you have me write a novel instead of a normal secondary?

I'll have to stand up for USF here, during my interview there I could tell that both of my interviewers thoroughly read my secondary prompts, which is great to me. This means that the thorough secondary was a genuine attempt to get to know you, not just a big long string of hoops to jump through.

Additionally their interview day was very pleasant, and the director was very open about when you'll likely hear from him and more or less stuck to it.


All my experiences have been pretty nice so far, as long as I don't give a lump of coal for silence.

Nice:
USF
UCF
FIU
UMiami

 

[MaxillofacialMN]

Temple sending all of its MD applicants a podiatry advertisement after months of silence! 😡

Not terrible, but deserving of maybe one or two coals. 😛

I hate that they do that... it's so demeaning to the podiatry school and all the MD applicants.

 

[jcaptian]

I'll have to stand up for USF here, during my interview there I could tell that both of my interviewers thoroughly read my secondary prompts, which is great to me. This means that the thorough secondary was a genuine attempt to get to know you, not just a big long string of hoops to jump through.

Additionally their interview day was very pleasant, and the director was very open about when you'll likely hear from him and more or less stuck to it.


All my experiences have been pretty nice so far, as long as I don't give a lump of coal for silence.

Nice:
USF
UCF
FIU
UMiami

Hmmm...fair enough. At least your interviewers read all of it, which definitely makes writing that detailed novel worth it in the end 😛 hopefully it helps you garner an acceptance, good luck!

 

[anguisette]

Nice:

UCSD. Told me the exact date AND time that my admission decision would be released, and stayed true to that.

Naughty:

USC. Student interviewer had to apologize for forgetting what questions he wanted to ask. Faculty interviewer was a PA. She shot me a long list of completely random questions and neither took any notes nor engaged me on any of my answers. I get the feeling they don't do much training for their interviewers.

UCI:When I called to ask about preqs, they told me to ask via email. When I emailed them, they never responded.

Oh, same thing happened to me. Hmph.

 

[TipToad]

Nice list: Iowa. Really helpful admissions staff. And one of the interviewers contacted me and gave me more information on questions I asked during our interview, and even suggested a novel to me.

 

[anguisette]

Nice list: Iowa. Really helpful admissions staff. And one of the interviewers contacted me and gave me more information on questions I asked during our interview, and even suggested a novel to me.

In that case, nice list: UCSD and Case Western. My interviewers gave me a novel. 😀

 

[deleted480308]

Nice: university of central florida

I'm applying next cycle and they don't do individual tours so REL (admissions director) found a local premed group tour that I could tag along with...REL also routinely answers all questions in the ucf school specific thread

 

[sector9]

So far, this is how things have gone. Schools in bold show up on both the Naughty and the Nice lists:

Nice List 🙂
-UNC
-Jefferson (+2)
-Chicago (+1)
-Michigan
-Pitt (+2)
-Creighton (+1)
-Arizona-Phoenix (+2)
-MCW
-Brown
-JHU
-VCU
-BU (+1)
-Wright State
-Loma Linda
-Iowa (+1)
-UCF (+2)
-UTSW
-UCSD (+1)
-USF
-FIU
-Miami
-Case Western

Naughty List 🙁
-Temple
-Drexel (+1)
-UNC
-NYMC
-ACOM
-Creighton
-Stanford
-OHSU
-Georgetown (+1)
-USF
-Pitt
-UF
-FSU
-WVU
-JHU
-Nova
-UT-Houston
-USC
-UCI

 

[487806]

So far, this is how things have gone. Schools in bold show up on both the Naughty and the Nice lists:

In the final list, add Pitt to the Nice list since it has more likes than dislikes.

 

[ilikevegetables]

I'll go ahead and put University of Cincinnati on the Nice list. They do ask secondary questions but only for those invited for interview (i.e. saving work for those who don't get an interview), only charge $25 for their application fee, and are super transparent about the whole admissions process. The MMI interviewers I had were all super nice, and it was good to go into the interview knowing exactly how I was being rated and how the conversation about my application would go. Also, I got my decision 1 week after being interviewed! Talk about quick turnaround (though I think this was mostly because I interviewed pretty early on here).

 

[Cambino]

1) "Low" is relative...compared to other schools, it is low lol.


2) So basically they use the holds as a way to reject people outright. You didn't dispute that point.

OHSU could at least show some respect and give a rejection rather than putting people on hold for up to 10 months (because they process apps reaaaallly late).


4) It isn't if you throw away more qualified applicants just to get nontrads. My advisors tell me stories of (in state) people who get into Mayo and WUSTL, yet are rejected from OHSU just because of this.


5) All the students I've talked to about MMIs treat it with annoyance. All the adcoms I've talked to treat it with skepticism and give multiple reasons why their schools don't do MMIs. How is that a good thing?

Sure - it's relatively low compared with, let's say, California or Texas. ok. I would appreciate it being a little higher, but it's by no means very low.

The second point doesn't really need to be disputed... why apply to a school where you don't fit their mission statement? It's going to be a bad time, and it's along the same lines of applying to schools that have their median's bottom 10% GPA/MCAT higher than yours. I don't think OHSU or many other state schools expect random OOS cookie cutter applicants to actually matriculate there.

OHSU also run on rolling admissions, hence the long the delay before responses. That doesn't constitute disrespect to me.

Qualified in what sense? I don't understand your reasoning in how traditional applicants are more qualified than non-traditional students. Life experience goes along way and is definitely reflected in interview.

I've heard quite different impressions from MMIs after the fact. From what I've heard, they seem to be a good icebreaker, and the anticipation up until your MMI is I'm sure nerve-wracking as hell. Many schools probably haven't tried MMIs in the first place much less have gained feedback to determine its effectiveness.

 

[TheWeeIceMan]

I'd forgot to add that I'd thrown Creighton in the nice list. I had a ton of trouble paying their secondary fee online. Talked to admissions and they had no idea why it wasn't working. After a couple days of exchanging calls with the admissions office they just waived the secondary fee and apologized a bunch of times for the inconvenience. Thought that was pretty nice of them.