Howard??????????????????????

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nona1

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Has anyone out there STILL not received the Howard secondary despite numerous calls/emails to the admissions office, and despite several promises from human beings from that office that a secondary would be sent or had already been sent? I don't know to what capacity the admissions office reflects the academic environment of the medical school, but sheesh. 😴
 
nona1 said:
Has anyone out there STILL not received the Howard secondary despite numerous calls/emails to the admissions office, and despite several promises from human beings from that office that a secondary would be sent or had already been sent? I don't know to what capacity the admissions office reflects the academic environment of the medical school, but sheesh. 😴

my file has been complete since october and I havent heard anything from them. I sent out a letter of interest and emails and heard nothing. Should I just forget about them and move on? Has anyone had an interview recently? The last interview posted on interviewfeedback was in nov? I just don't want to give up on howard yet...
 
Howard can't even tell me if they've received my LORs.

Very frustrating.
 
I'm a day away from giving up too. 👎
 
i've given up on them. i was processed by amcas in august and have been calling/e-mailing since october. no secondary. i'll be sending a very stern letter to the admissions office/president/dean/etc towards the end of the cycle in hopes of making the process a little easier for future applicants. judging from this experience, it probably won't even get read. 🙄
 
Trident said:
i've given up on them. i was processed by amcas in august and have been calling/e-mailing since october. no secondary. i'll be sending a very stern letter to the admissions office/president/dean/etc towards the end of the cycle in hopes of making the process a little easier for future applicants. judging from this experience, it probably won't even get read. 🙄



So they finally sent me a secondary today. Dumb as$es. Is it worth filling out? For those of you who are non-URMs and who have filled out the secondary- have you been invited to interview?

American Idiot- I pm'd you back but I'm not sure if you got my message. I hope you haven't gone to any trouble yet, esp in light of these new events. Thanks again...
 
I talked with a member of the adcom way back last year and this is what they told me:

They offer interviews based only on the AMCAS,GPA & MCAT. Thats why you can do the interview before secondary. After all, their secondary doesn't have an essay anyways. They don't look at recomms or any other material until after your interview.

They "do not reject any one pre-interview until the class is full". So basically, if they don't think you qualify for an interview they won't tell you (anything) until the class is full, regardless of when your file was complete and reviewed (and rejected for interview). They won't even tell you if you call them.

Good luck folks.
 
Friday said:
I talked with a member of the adcom way back last year and this is what they told me:

They offer interviews based only on the AMCAS,GPA & MCAT. Thats why you can do the interview before secondary. After all, their secondary doesn't have an essay anyways. They don't look at recomms or any other material until after your interview.

They "do not reject any one pre-interview until the class is full". So basically, if they don't think you qualify for an interview they won't tell you (anything) until the class is full, regardless of when your file was complete and reviewed (and rejected for interview). They won't even tell you if you call them.

Good luck folks.


So if what you say is true, it doesn't matter if I fill out the secondary or not. They will decide whether or not to interview me based on my initial application, with or without the secondary. So I might as well save my last remaining dollars and the trouble...

Do other people have similar opinions?
 
nona1 said:
So if what you say is true, it doesn't matter if I fill out the secondary or not. They will decide whether or not to interview me based on my initial application, with or without the secondary. So I might as well save my last remaining dollars and the trouble...

Do other people have similar opinions?

In my opinion the only advantage you'll have by sending it in is that in order to put it in your folder they actually have to access and open your folder. Have you seen the secondary? No essays or anything, just biographic info. You may want to send it in anyways to remove the 'what if' or 'if only' factor. After all, whats $75 compared with what you already spent?
 
nona1 said:
So if what you say is true, it doesn't matter if I fill out the secondary or not. They will decide whether or not to interview me based on my initial application, with or without the secondary. So I might as well save my last remaining dollars and the trouble...

Do other people have similar opinions?


There is major truth in what Friday says. I have two friends this year who received interview invitations and did not receive a secondary in the mail at all. We have decided that the secondary is a stalling tactic for Howard. They usually let the early interviewees fill the form out when you are sitting in the office waiting for an interview. Of my two friends and I (we applied together), I am the only one who received a secondary (about early December) and......you aren't going to believe this(sarcastically)....not a single word on an interview despite them letting me know my file is complete. They both received word on acceptance about a week ago and to twist the knife in my stomach still no word yet on an interview for me. I also have an uncle on the adcom (teehee and I am still not in, I must be terrible :laugh: ) and he says they interview and accept students well into the orientation week. The problem is that too many students use Howard as a back up school during the app process. It's not really fair to be so critical of their adcom because they have three times as many applicants than alot of schools for this reason. Howard graciously accepts all these students and so many subsequently reject the acceptance (and this doesn't happen until March/May). So Howard's adcom begins the process of pulling up files that they have not interviewed yet for another cycle of admissions. Whereas most schools end their admissions cycle around March, Howard sometimes has to pick back up again around this time. If you really are interested in the med school, I'd say send in your secondary! I wish you the best!
 
nona1 said:
So if what you say is true, it doesn't matter if I fill out the secondary or not. They will decide whether or not to interview me based on my initial application, with or without the secondary. So I might as well save my last remaining dollars and the trouble...

Do other people have similar opinions?


I agree.....and kinda wish I would've saved my money. Everybody stay positive though. I didn't get the impression that they were that organized.
 
Howard is notorious for being unorganized. I have a friend who did get an interview there in Nov. and has been waiting for months to hear from them. She finally called them to see what's going on and they tell her that they were waiting for a transcript, which they never bothered to communicate with her. If she hadn't of called them, she would have never known that. And that was a few weeks ago and she's still waiting to hear from them.
However, I do understand the problem that fytnowl05 talked about. It is well-known as a back up school. But they could be better at organization and communication so as not to leave a bad image in the eyes of potential applicants.
 
I don't know much about the med school, but I live in DC, which is notoriously unorganized in general, and as an observing EMT we delivered patients to the Howard ER. It was terrible. The only place I've ever seen where EMTs waste 1-2 hrs just to admit a patient, godawful. Be careful about Howard, not saying it's bad, but it could very well be.
 
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