mount sinai admissions process

[luckycharms]

i have this theory on how mt. sinai (and possibly other medical schools) do admissions. but first, i need to explain my story. i had sort of drilled into my head the notion that earlier is always better. that's wy when my invitation to interview at sinai was scheduled for january i was (stupidly) paranoid that it might possibly hurt my chances, knowing that sinai is rolling. so i requested an earlier date, and b/c there was a cancellation i was actually able to interview earlier. now, my theory is this....
they invite applicants in order of strength of application. they will invite stronger, more qualified applicants earlier in the process, while intermediate or slightly weaker applicants will be accordingly scheduled later. therefore, if you (like me) were scheduled for a later date, but ended up somehow interviewing earlier then you are going to be up against stiffer competition. however, due to sheer volume of applicants they have to make cuts as they go, so b/c you are up against these stellar applicants you may be rejected outright while if you had interviewed later against "weaker" ppl you might have actually been accepted. i got this idea b/c when i met all the sinai med students they all told me they had interviewed sometime in january or the spring. i assume i did not meet students who interviewed earlier, b/c ppl who interview earlier meet one of two fates: 1) they get rejected straight up , or 2) they are so strong they get in, but b/c they're strong they go to better schools
moral of the story: earlier is not always better, am i right?
oh yeh, i jus want to add that sinai is an awesome school, and i am really hoping to hear something good, and so the waiting and hoping begins...

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[somewhere2010]

i have this theory on how mt. sinai (and possibly other medical schools) do admissions. but first, i need to explain my story. i had sort of drilled into my head the notion that earlier is always better. that's wy when my invitation to interview at sinai was scheduled for january i was (stupidly) paranoid that it might possibly hurt my chances, knowing that sinai is rolling. so i requested an earlier date, and b/c there was a cancellation i was actually able to interview earlier. now, my theory is this....
they invite applicants in order of strength of application. they will invite stronger, more qualified applicants earlier in the process, while intermediate or slightly weaker applicants will be accordingly scheduled later. therefore, if you (like me) were scheduled for a later date, but ended up somehow interviewing earlier then you are going to be up against stiffer competition. however, due to sheer volume of applicants they have to make cuts as they go, so b/c you are up against these stellar applicants you may be rejected outright while if you had interviewed later against "weaker" ppl you might have actually been accepted. i got this idea b/c when i met all the sinai med students they all told me they had interviewed sometime in january or the spring. i assume i did not meet students who interviewed earlier, b/c ppl who interview earlier meet one of two fates: 1) they get rejected straight up , or 2) they are so strong they get in, but b/c they're strong they go to better schools
moral of the story: earlier is not always better, am i right?
oh yeh, i jus want to add that sinai is an awesome school, and i am really hoping to hear something good, and so the waiting and hoping begins...

hmm that's a really interesting theory! can't say i disagree! and i hope it's true for my own sake...should be hearing from sinai and wash u soon!

 

[LizzyM]

You are right about the very best having many choices and perhaps not matriculating at Sinai (it's a great school but not top 5, IIRC).

Meanwhile, most of the time, you aren't being compared with the other people interviewing that day, but with an "ideal". At one place, the interviewers are asked to categorize appliants as "top student - recruit", "acceptable", "reservations", and "unacceptable". Or the appliants might be assigned a number from 1-10 with 10 being "better than any student who has ever matriculated here", 9 "as good as our very best student", 8 "equal to our average student", 7 "as good as our poorest students" and 6 "not someone we want here". (The rest of the numbers aren't used except in exceptional circumstances). Usually, you need to have an average that is in the high 7s or higher to get an offer of admission (sometimes there are so many very good applicants in a season that you need an average above 8 to get an offer). Unless the school is top 10, you are going to find most of the students with 9+ averages going elsewhere and 8s wind up matriculating if you are lucky. Sometimes the 7+ appliants get off the waitlist.

 

[somewhere2010]

You are right about the very best having many choices and perhaps not matriculating at Sinai (it's a great school but not top 5, IIRC).

Meanwhile, most of the time, you aren't being compared with the other people interviewing that day, but with an "ideal". At one place, the interviewers are asked to categorize appliants as "top student - recruit", "acceptable", "reservations", and "unacceptable". Or the appliants might be assigned a number from 1-10 with 10 being "better than any student who has ever matriculated here", 9 "as good as our very best student", 8 "equal to our average student", 7 "as good as our poorest students" and 6 "not someone we want here". (The rest of the numbers aren't used except in exceptional circumstances). Usually, you need to have an average that is in the high 7s or higher to get an offer of admission (sometimes there are so many very good applicants in a season that you need an average above 8 to get an offer). Unless the school is top 10, you are going to find most of the students with 9+ averages going elsewhere and 8s wind up matriculating if you are lucky. Sometimes the 7+ appliants get off the waitlist.

whoa, how do you know all that? just curious...ehehe

 

[LizzyM]

whoa, how do you know all that? just curious...ehehe

Just a guess, based on my work experience.

 

[NYMed]

i have this theory on how mt. sinai (and possibly other medical schools) do admissions. but first, i need to explain my story. i had sort of drilled into my head the notion that earlier is always better. that's wy when my invitation to interview at sinai was scheduled for january i was (stupidly) paranoid that it might possibly hurt my chances, knowing that sinai is rolling. so i requested an earlier date, and b/c there was a cancellation i was actually able to interview earlier. now, my theory is this....
they invite applicants in order of strength of application. they will invite stronger, more qualified applicants earlier in the process, while intermediate or slightly weaker applicants will be accordingly scheduled later. therefore, if you (like me) were scheduled for a later date, but ended up somehow interviewing earlier then you are going to be up against stiffer competition. however, due to sheer volume of applicants they have to make cuts as they go, so b/c you are up against these stellar applicants you may be rejected outright while if you had interviewed later against "weaker" ppl you might have actually been accepted. i got this idea b/c when i met all the sinai med students they all told me they had interviewed sometime in january or the spring. i assume i did not meet students who interviewed earlier, b/c ppl who interview earlier meet one of two fates: 1) they get rejected straight up , or 2) they are so strong they get in, but b/c they're strong they go to better schools
moral of the story: earlier is not always better, am i right?
oh yeh, i jus want to add that sinai is an awesome school, and i am really hoping to hear something good, and so the waiting and hoping begins...

Man, I really hope you're wrong because I'm in the same boat. Got originally invited for January, but freaked out becaused of the rolling thing and because of a cancellation was able to schedule for October among the first group of interviewees... But I did get the same feeling about it as you describe...but really really really hope that it's just our fears talking and its not true...

 

[luckycharms]

i hope i'm wrong, too, but i really did get that impression. and also, the other interviewees that were with me were all seemingly very intelligent, extremely well qualified applicants. they were all from ivy leagues, and when they discussed their application process they had all gotten interviews from harvard, hopkins, etc.

 

[Scoot]

I thought of exactly the same thing--too late though. I was offered an interview at a top school (not sinai) during like their 3rd week of interviews. Because of a conflict I asked for and was granted a slot on their very first interview day. Even so, I was the only one there to be on their first interview and they had all already been to outstanding schools. I definitely felt like the odd one out. And now, as I predicted, I have been passed over by the first set of acceptances from this school.

To modify the theory a little, I don't think that we are being compared directly and only to the other people who interview on that day but when you are obviously less qualified than other people that a given interviewer sees that day you are less likely to get high marks.

 

[MDCali]

You know, I think you're right. MSSM is one of my top choice schools, yet I haven't heard anything from them despite being complete for two months. When I called, I asked the lady on the phone why it was taking so long. She told me that when it takes that long, it means the admissions people need a variety of opinions in order to determine if they really want to interview that person, me in this case! Anyways, since my MCAT score is about 5 points lower than their average for accepted students (I think theirs is 35, mine is 30) that is probably why they are waiting. Anyways, I had that same idea in my head, that maybe they interview stellar applicants first and then so on and so forth.

 

[xTiggerx]

You know, I think you're right. MSSM is one of my top choice schools, yet I haven't heard anything from them despite being complete for two months. When I called, I asked the lady on the phone why it was taking so long. She told me that when it takes that long, it means the admissions people need a variety of opinions in order to determine if they really want to interview that person, me in this case! Anyways, since my MCAT score is about 5 points lower than their average for accepted students (I think theirs is 35, mine is 30) that is probably why they are waiting. Anyways, I had that same idea in my head, that maybe they interview stellar applicants first and then so on and so forth.

Hey, your story sounds JUST like mine! MSSM is also my first choice... this whole process is freaking me out! I have my first interview in 2 days but its my only one and I've been complete since september... agh. Well, hopefully we will hear from them soon! MDCali, at least you're not alone!

 

[sicwitit4040]

You know, I think you're right. MSSM is one of my top choice schools, yet I haven't heard anything from them despite being complete for two months. When I called, I asked the lady on the phone why it was taking so long. She told me that when it takes that long, it means the admissions people need a variety of opinions in order to determine if they really want to interview that person, me in this case! Anyways, since my MCAT score is about 5 points lower than their average for accepted students (I think theirs is 35, mine is 30) that is probably why they are waiting. Anyways, I had that same idea in my head, that maybe they interview stellar applicants first and then so on and so forth.

i work at Sinai, they sent out an email to all employees that the average was 33 and a 3.7