I know there have been some threads on this subject but my concern is regarding a few specific schools: I have received interviews from the following schools: Mt. Sinai, Georgetown, U of Md, Harvard, Hopkins, Columbia, and Yale my secondary at the following schools has been complete since early September and I have not heard a peep: BU, Penn, Cornell, and WashU. I haven't included Stanford or UCSF(out of state) on this list because I know they take forever... Is it safe to assume that I will be receiveing a rejection from the above-mentioned schools? I sent an e-mail to Penn (one of my top choices), Cornell, and Wash U to schedule an interview because I was going to be in the area and received no response. I know Wash U is rolling and they have handed out a fair amount of slots and am curious to see how late they interview. The most frustrating thing is that we can't use last year as an example because the AMCAS was all messed up and caused severe delays. Is there anything I can do beside wait? Any info as to how late these schools interview would be extremely helpful as well as any info on how many interviews have been assigned by each of the schools. I wish someone would write a book as to how crazy and random this whole process is. I sometimes wish Deans would swallow their pride, stop worrying about matriculation rates and be fair to the applicants... sorry to vent but I am getting extremely disenchanted and broken by the whole process!
congrats on those interviews...it looks like you're a pretty stellar applicant. w/ that said, keep in mind that you can't expect to get an interview from EVERY school you apply to no matter how strong of an applicant you are. each school has its own idea of what kind of student it wants to fill their class and will pick applicants based on those characteristics. i got a rejection from BU last week even though my mcat score is 5 points higher than their average. it's just how the cookie crumbles. keep your chin up, you're doing more than fine in this process. --jj
its interesting that you havent received word from upenn, cornell or washu. in my experience, those schools have had some of the fastest turn around. yale got back to you, so thats pretty cool - I've found them to be pretty quick too. honestly, dont sweat it, you might not get interviews at all three, but I would be surprised if at least one didnt get back to you... I know upenn will still be interviewing well into february. cornell also has a ton of interview dates lined up. as for BU... and to joe joe, I wouldnt be surprised if you got flat rejected. from what I understand about the school, they look at the very good students and actively screen them out - since the school has no secondary, lots of people apply (8000). also folks tend to view them as a safety, which they really arent, because they seem to really like jerking applicants who they think would never go to BU. (their acceptance rate is 3.8% for a reason) do a search and you'll see what I mean.
I also haven't heard a word from BU. Just got a WashU interview, and there are still a lot of spots there I"m pretty sure. I'm going in two weeks, so I wouldn't give up hope there just yet. Good luck!
Hey alphabeta - I am in the same shoes as you (I got all my secondaries in middle of august) - I have interviewed at Hopkins, Penn, Columbia, Pitt, NYU, and Yale. But, I haven't heard anything from Cornell, Harvard, or Tufts (my stats are much higher than the average for all these schools). I just guess that some schools look for different things or have decided to interview some people later. I wouldn't worry about it, I am not.
Thanks for all of the encouraging words. I definitely have more hope. Just update this thread if new developments occur for those in a similar position. Again, best of luck to all.
Arsh and alphabeta, I'm wondering the same thing as you guys. I've interviewed at duke, harvard, upenn, dartmouth, uva, and georgetown, but haven't heard a peep from cornell, hopkins, or yale. I've been wondering why I can't seem to get interviews at those schools and it's gettin a little late. Hopkins I can understand because their supercompetitive, but I figure it's probably harder to interview at harvard than yale or cornell. I guess they do look for different things. I only really want interviews to gauge my chances of getting into duke. man I wish they would just let me know now. although I might really like one of those other schools if they'd just invite me for an interview. Maybe I should just give up hope.....
Yale turned out to be a school I really liked once I visited and interviewed there. Hopefully, you get an interview there so you can decide for yourself. There should really be a set time when schools notify everyone whether they will be getting an interview or not. After experiencing this completely random process, I much rather have drank more beer than worry about doing well in classes...
alphabet - i agree 100%, I didnt have high expectations of yale, but they do a great job of selling the school. its probably my first choice right now.
If one applied in mid-November, when could one reasonably expect to hear about an interview? How long after you guys applied did you hear about an interview?
While I can't answer the question regarding turnaround time, there is no doubt that schools, especially top schools that receive many qualified applicants, look for qualities/attributes in addition to #s. As an example, a top school looking to fill a slot may select a first chair violinist from the NY Philharmonic or an accomplished athlete out of several equally qualified candidates. Why? Some claim that it adds diversity to a class, others say such people have demonstrated excellence in other endeavors and hence are more likely to excel in medicine/make better physicians, and the cynical say that schools like to boast such matriculants as human trophies/validation of the school's preeminance. There is no guarantee that if one is invited to interview at schools considered to be top-tier that they will receive interviews/acceptances at mid or lower tier schools -- at least as far as med schools go.
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