Northwestern...strangest email ever

[hpm4]

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Did anyone else get an email from Northwestern asking them to provide interview evaluations from another school because they had to end the interview season early and they didn't have a chance to interview all the applicants they wanted to seriously consider for admissions??? What????

 

[ti89]

Did anyone else get an email from Northwestern asking them to provide interview evaluations from another school because they had to end the interview season early and they didn't have a chance to interview all the applicants they wanted to seriously consider for admissions??? What????

Didn't get that.

When did you get that email?

 

[hpm4]

Didn't get that.

When did you get that email?

I just got the email this morning. Will asking another school to send your interview evaluations to Northwestern offend them???

 

[ti89]

I just got the email this morning. Will asking another school to send your interview evaluations to Northwestern offend them???

Could be going out in small batches to people. I'm pretty sure you can't just ask another school to send your interview eval to NW (atleast I cannot imagine asking that).

Plus if they didn't interview you (you as in a general anyone who got this email) they probably still didn't like you enough for an interview there. Thus, I'd figure it would be an uphill climb to get an acceptance.

 

[hpm4]

Could be going out in small batches to people. I'm pretty sure you can't just ask another school to send your interview eval to NW (atleast I cannot imagine asking that).

Plus if they didn't interview you (you as in a general anyone who got this email) they probably still didn't like you enough for an interview there. Thus, I'd figure it would be an uphill climb to get an acceptance.

I agree. Even if I wanted to go on an uphill climb (I've had enough this interview season), I wouldn't want to offend the other schools I have interviewed at and are still awaiting decisions from.

 

[45408]

Weird. I've never heard of something like this.

 

[KevinZ]

Northwestern was one of the interviews I was really surprised not to get. Given that I've gotten interviews at Harvard & Hopkins, it might not be out of the question that NW just stopped interviewing.

Asking another school for an evaluation though...that just seems unprofessional, unless there's some very serious circumstance that forced them to end interview season prematurely. I'd be very disappointed to hear that it was poor planning (not inviting enough students for each interview day) that precluded them from getting to all the applications.

To be fair, I think those students should get their application fee back...at the least. After all, we agree to a set of conditions when we apply when we check the box or sign the sheet; shouldn't the school be forced to at least look at the application?

 

[NapeSpikes]

That's a very bizarre request from NW. If anything, it'd be more appropriate for THEM to ask another school, not you--and that would still be weird.

 

[Lorrayne]

Wow, they really asked you to do that? I'd call them to clarify because that request seems pretty bizarre. Schools have to dedicate time and resources (some more than others 😉 ) to hold those interview sessions, and I doubt they'd appreciate having to do the work so another school can accept one of their applicants.

 

[hpm4]

I called the Dean who emailed me but she was busy with interviews all morning and would have to call me back. So how "early" did their interview season end if they are still interviewing today and she wants my interview evaluations by Jan. 31st.....it will be interesting to hear what she has to say.

And I completely agree that it is unprofessional and I DO NOT want to offend another school who took the time to interview me. I had been complete since the end of October there also....how many people did they not get to?

 

[knitwitty]

By any chance do you have any friends or acquaintances matching this description:

-computer hacker
-prankster
-poor judgement

 

[SuzieQ3417]

By any chance do you have any friends or acquaintances matching this description:

-computer hacker
-prankster
-poor judgement

No kidding - I can't imagine any school would make such a bizarre request. It doesn't sound real to me, and if it is then I agree that it is totally unprofessional.

 

[theunderdog]

Did anyone else get an email from Northwestern asking them to provide interview evaluations from another school because they had to end the interview season early and they didn't have a chance to interview all the applicants they wanted to seriously consider for admissions??? What????

i think one of your friends pranked you by sending you a BS email.

you should really just call northwestern to confirm.

 

[Scoot]

By any chance do you have any friends or acquaintances matching this description:

-computer hacker
-prankster
-poor judgement

This was my feeling as well, it probably wouldn't even require so much hacking skills as to be able to forge one of those letter-head thingies to fool me. Nope, I'd fall for a simple personal email from aa @yahoo.com address.

 

[copthorne]

i interviewed with nu earlier this week. illinois has a new policy, requiring all med applicants to have a background check, starting in february. nu is trying to sqeeze in applicants before february, and as it turns out, request applicants submit interview comments from other schools. they are trying to review all applicants under one method, rather than having some and some not have a background check.

 

[SanDiegoSOD]

PwN3D! LOL!

 

[NikkiFSU]

PwN3D! LOL!

What is pwn3d?

 

[Depakote]

😵

 

[Bluntman]

What is pwn3d?

Check here.

 

[tacrum43]

i interviewed with nu earlier this week. illinois has a new policy, requiring all med applicants to have a background check, starting in february. nu is trying to sqeeze in applicants before february, and as it turns out, request applicants submit interview comments from other schools. they are trying to review all applicants under one method, rather than having some and some not have a background check.

If this is true (which I find quite unlikely), I wonder how the heck people are supposed to get their evaluations from other schools. Aren't those kept private?

 

[DrRads101]

Northwestern was one of the interviews I was really surprised not to get. Given that I've gotten interviews at Harvard & Hopkins, it might not be out of the question that NW just stopped interviewing.

Asking another school for an evaluation though...that just seems unprofessional, unless there's some very serious circumstance that forced them to end interview season prematurely. I'd be very disappointed to hear that it was poor planning (not inviting enough students for each interview day) that precluded them from getting to all the applications.

To be fair, I think those students should get their application fee back...at the least. After all, we agree to a set of conditions when we apply when we check the box or sign the sheet; shouldn't the school be forced to at least look at the application?

Northwestern did not stop interviewing. Interviews are still going on. We had about 20 people in just today. The interview season has been cut short but interview invites are the same as last year--there are just more people interviewing per day, and the interview season started earlier than last year.

As far as your request for a return of application fee, every application that has been submitted to Northwestern has been thoroughly reviewed in its entirety, and your application has been reviewed by the panel of MDs like everyone else's has. There is no application that has not been looked at.

There is a new law in Illinois that requires a background check before entering medical school. But this has nothing to do with interview season because this background check is performed in the summer, AFTER you have been accepted. All the law states is that if you are found to have committed a felony, that the school administration be notified of it. It is up to the school, then, to decide whether you are to continue on with medical school or not. All of this will be done as people are starting school, I imagine during orientation week when there are no classes.

 

[pnasty]

Northwestern did not stop interviewing. Interviews are still going on. We had about 20 people in just today.

Really? Someone in one of the other threads said that when they interviewed Dean Brown said the last day of interviews would be the 27th (today) and all decisions would be made by the 3rd and sent out on the 6th.....Is that not correct?

 

[titoincali]

Really? Someone in one of the other threads said that when they interviewed Dean Brown said the last day of interviews would be the 27th (today) and all decisions would be made by the 3rd and sent out on the 6th.....Is that not correct?

That's true. Today is the last day of interviews.

 

[thegenius]

i think one of your friends pranked you by sending you a BS email.

you should really just call northwestern to confirm.

Totally possible. It's super easy, and I literally mean that, to send an email with another email address that is not your own.

A major problem with the SMTP email protocol.

 

[thegenius]

Totally possible. It's super easy, and I literally mean that, to send an email with another email address that is not your own.

A major problem with the SMTP email protocol.

And I want to add a funny story. I used to work at this one company, and as a prank my buddy sent an email to my boss, from MY EMAIL ADDRESS, saying something like "David, I really hate where I'm working, this office SUCKS. My co-workers are a**holes and I make no f***ing money. Sincerely (my name)"

My boss David came storming to my office and asked what was going on ... it was a really humorous event.

All because my friend was able to send an email with my "from" address.

 

[ahumdinger]

And I want to add a funny story. I used to work at this one company, and as a prank my buddy sent an email to my boss, from MY EMAIL ADDRESS, saying something like "David, I really hate where I'm working, this office SUCKS. My co-workers are a**holes and I make no f***ing money. Sincerely (my name)"

My boss David came storming to my office and asked what was going on ... it was a really humorous event.

All because my friend was able to send an email with my "from" address.

somehow that doesn't seem humorous to me.

 

[DrRads101]

Really? Someone in one of the other threads said that when they interviewed Dean Brown said the last day of interviews would be the 27th (today) and all decisions would be made by the 3rd and sent out on the 6th.....Is that not correct?

I'm not sure if they stopped today or next week. I got the impression that the guy I was replying to implied that they "just stopped interviewing" as if to say they stopped reviewing applications, which is not true. All applications have been looked at and just as many people interviewed this year as last year, perhaps more.

 

[thegenius]

somehow that doesn't seem humorous to me.

Heh, well it wasn't funny for the first 20 seconds. But my friend couldn't contain his laughter.

Your avatar doesn't look humorous either. Actually it's quite frightening.

 

[SailCrazy]

Really? Someone in one of the other threads said that when they interviewed Dean Brown said the last day of interviews would be the 27th (today) and all decisions would be made by the 3rd and sent out on the 6th.....Is that not correct?

That's true. Today is the last day of interviews.

2 more days of interviews next week (I think added late - today was supposed to be the last day, but its not.)

They're still planning on the 2/3 decision date.

 

[SailCrazy]

By any chance do you have any friends or acquaintances matching this description:

-computer hacker
-prankster
-poor judgement

My thoughts exactly. There is NO WAY that Northwestern sent an email asking for interview feedback from another school. It simply didn't happen. The OP is either trolling or very gullible!

 

[gary5]

Sounds like a prank. Adcoms only admit people they've interviewed. Actually, it's a rather mean prank, because if you call other med schools and ask for this, you're insulting them by asking them to help you get into NW. You'll probably blow your chances there too.

 

[hpm4]

My thoughts exactly. There is NO WAY that Northwestern sent an email asking for interview feedback from another school. It simply didn't happen. The OP is either trolling or very gullible!

So the OP is neither trolling or gullible....after talking with the Dean personally on Friday, the email was real and Northwestern has done this in previous years. The Dean even called one of the schools I applied to, to ask for herself if they could fax her my interview evaluations after they told me that they couldn't do that. I was then offered an opportunity to interview on Tuesday which is not there last interview day.

 

[ti89]

So the OP is neither trolling or gullible....after talking with the Dean personally on Friday, the email was real and Northwestern has done this in previous years. The Dean even called one of the schools I applied to, to ask for herself if they could fax her my interview evaluations after they told me that they couldn't do that. I was then offered an opportunity to interview on Tuesday which is not there last interview day.

Um you are the OP

 

[DesiMcatAcer]

Um you are the OP

 

[CaveatLector]

Have you gotten to the bottom of it yet?

It's obviously a crock...
No school is going to release their interview evaluation. Even if they would be willing to what school worthit's salt would take someone else's word on your viability as a med school candidate. That just doesn't even make sense.

A few explanations:

1. Whoever sent the email from the school was drunk and pissed at their lover.
2. Your friends, or more likely enemies, like to watch you squirm.
3. Your competition wanted to make you look like a idiot to the school.
4. YOU were drunk AND probably high and never really got that email.
5. It was one of those weird dreams where you wake up wondering "did that really happen or did I dream it?"
6. You never really got that email at all, and you know that, but you wanted to see how long SDNers could/would keep the thread going or how many of us were stupid enough to contribute to it.
Lastly, and the most likely scenario:
7. Geo. W. Bush's lackys at the NSA wanted your interview evals for some odd reason and thought this would be the easiest way to get them.

Okay, before you get bent out of shape, especially about number 6, I'm JUST JOKING!

Seriously though, HAVE YOU gotten to the bottom of it yet?

 

[CaveatLector]

Okay, maybe I'm drunk. That or it took me like 2.5 hours to type the last email because I see that the OP has informed us this a.m. that "the OP" has confirmed that the email was real.

What is that all about? That's gotta be the tackiest thing I have heard of in regards to med school admissions. I cannot believe that another school would be willing to release that sort of info to ANYONE let alone the competition. Med schools aren't in the business of doing "triage" FOR other schools. It costs $$. What school would spend the $ to do the interview, write the eval, and then also the time/effort to send it to another school. That's crazy. Maybe we need a new system like the MCAT. An interview clearinghouse. Everyone goes to a regional location to interview with professional interviewers. Then the results are disseminated to every school on your list.

 

[Saluki]

An interview clearinghouse. Everyone goes to a regional location to interview with professional interviewers. Then the results are disseminated to every school on your list.

Well, that's sure as heck the only way an interview evaluation of me is going to make it to Harvard, so bring it on...

 

[veenut]

i find this really, really hard to believe. especially cuz it's northwestern, they get what, like 7000+ apps? why would they care about one applicant here and there?

 

[SailCrazy]

Okay, so I'll go with troll 👎 , because that simply didn't happen. How are they going to use that information? How are they going to compare it to Northwestern's group interview? To the trial group exercise you do at the end of the group interview? How is an interview from another school going to evaluate how much you know about Northwestern and your enthusiasm for the school? 😕 There are so many ridiculous holes in this story it is embarassing to have taken the two minutes required to spell out a few of them in this post! 😛

Say what you want, but we're not buying it.

So the OP is neither trolling or gullible....after talking with the Dean personally on Friday, the email was real and Northwestern has done this in previous years. The Dean even called one of the schools I applied to, to ask for herself if they could fax her my interview evaluations after they told me that they couldn't do that. I was then offered an opportunity to interview on Tuesday which is not there last interview day.

 

[Zoom-Zoom]

Okay, so I'll go with troll 👎 , because that simply didn't happen. How are they goiung to use that information? How are they going to compare it to Northwestern's group interview? To the trial group exercise you do at the end of the group interview? How is an interview from another school going to evaluate how much you know about Northwestern and your enthusiasm for the school? 😕 There are so many ridiculous holes in this story it is embarassing to have taken the two minutes required to spell out a few of them in this post! 😛

Say what you want, but we're not buying it.

Agreed. And what about the poor souls without any other interviews evals to send? Such a troll.

 

[hpm4]

Okay so in all seriousness I am not trolling and there is no way that someone other than the Dean at Northwestern sent this. I just wanted an honest opinion if anyone had ever heard of this before because before SDN I hadn't even heard of LOI's. If you want me to PM you the two emails (the original request and the more personal one after I had spoken to her on the phone), I would be more that happy to do that.

 

[LizzyM]

The OP PM'ed me with copies of the letters. They look genuine but there is one little phrase (I won't reveal it as it might help other pranksters) that just seemed "off". On the other hand, it well may be that schools are willing to share interview notes, particularly if the applicant did relatively well in the interview but is unlikely to get an offer because of the volume of applicants. Adcoms hate to decline a good applicant but when there just isn't room, they take joy in knowing that a good applicant did get in somewhere. That might be the thinking behind asking other schools to share information. However, I can't imagine that this would ever be done without the applicant's written permission.

 

[thegenius]

The OP PM'ed me with copies of the letters. They look genuine but there is one little phrase (I won't reveal it as it might help other pranksters) that just seemed "off". On the other hand, it well may be that schools are willing to share interview notes, particularly if the applicant did relatively well in the interview but is unlikely to get an offer because of the volume of applicants. Adcoms hate to decline a good applicant but when there just isn't room, they take joy in knowing that a good applicant did get in somewhere. That might be the thinking behind asking other schools to share information. However, I can't imagine that this would ever be done without the applicant's written permission.

For what it's worth, it really is easy (for computer-saavy folks) to prank people with phony emails. I obviously have no idea if the one above is a prank, but it does seem odd that NU would send out this email.

 

[hpm4]

For what it's worth, it really is easy (for computer-saavy folks) to prank people with phony emails. I obviously have no idea if the one above is a prank, but it does seem odd that NU would send out this email.

I agree and I doubted the email until I spoke with the Dean on the phone.

 

[Flopotomist]

I just don't buy this - in addition to the flaws that were already pointed out - uhm, the biggest is this -

If NW found that they didn't have enough acceptable applicants that they had interviewed by this date, they could simply continue to interview people at their own darn school. It is only February, there is still plenty of time to interview more people.

Plus, how is your answer to "why do you want to attend Georgetown" going to help NW make a decision?

In the words of Ashton - you've been punked.

 

[OHare]

So is Northwestern still interviewing or now?

 

[OHare]

So is Northwestern still interviewing or not?

 

[SailCrazy]

So is Northwestern still interviewing or now?

They added 1 week. Tomorrow (Friday, Feb. 3rd) is the last day.

 

[LizzyM]

If Dean Brown told someone last week that Feb 3 would be decision day then I highly doubt that anyone will be interviewed tomorrow (Feb 3).

 

[earmuffs]

From NU Admissions:

On Friday, February 3, 2006, we are expecting interviewees from the following undergraduate schools:

[List of 5 schools - Edited out]

The list on interview days usually contain ~20 schools, & not 5. So there won't be nearly as many people at it as a normal interview day.

So they are still interviewing, but the season was cut short. I wouldn't be surprised if tomorrow is the last day, although their full note does not mention whether it is or isn't.

Good luck!