One more thing. I have a feeling that you read what I just wrote and think that I didn't pay attention to what you said about "other factors". Trust me, I did. What you say would normally have a lot of merit EXCEPT for the fact that Mayo didn't make us fill out any secondary with extra essays. So what other factors are they basing their decision on? The major thing they look at is GPA, MCAT, PS, ECs, and LORs. Yeah, I know there's things like race, socioeconmic status, and probably some that I can't even think of. However, I believe that the five I just mentioned are the most important. His grades and MCAT are phenomenal. His ECs (and we don't know really all the things he's done other than volunteer and research) seem to be pretty solid if not spectacular. I already said that it is possible that his PS was bad, but I think it's unlikely. Someone that intelligent can probably express himself well to write at worst an average PS. At the very least, considering how dedicated a student this guy seems ot be, he probably put a ton of time in his PS to make sure it was good. You're not going to bust your ass to get a 4.0 and then just blow off your PS. Finally, his LORs might not be great, but I find that unlikely aswell. If you're a top student and have done award winning research, chances you can find two or three people to say some pretty nice things about you. At the very least his research LOR must have been amazing considering he won awards. Residency could be an issue as well, but I have no idea where this kid is from so I can't comment on that. I just don't see how someone like that can be denied at least a phone interview, other than for the reason I initially wrote about. Not to cheapen or take anything from those of you who have received invites for phone interviews. Congrats to those who have, and it is a great accomplishment.
Finally, I want to once again retract what I said in regrads to Mayo specifically. I can see how what I said casts Mayo in a negative light and could be offensive. It wasn't my intent to offend anybody. However, I still think that my argument makes some sense. All I'm saying that's in a med school's best interest to interview people who they feel will matriculate to their school given that they have multiple offers.
