Northwestern

they send a letter

 

Hey, I have NU secondary due on Monday. Anyone else have the problem that the 400 words they say will fit for question one is more like 360. This application is driving me crazy, it is a top choice, but their document is all messed up. Thanks. needed to let some steam off cause it is 3am. and i have been working on it for 5 days straight....

 

yes! i had the same problem, my guess is that they actually have a character limit and translate it into approximate words...i just cut the essays down...it was hard though! btw, i thought apps needed to be received by the due date, not postmarked...so when u said it's due monday, did u mean postmark to get there on time?

 

Well, I called the admissions office, and they said it was ok to physically drop it off. So i am going to handle it myself, and drop in off on Sept 16, the due date. I hope it does not put me at a disadvantage of anything, but i live in the area, so i might as well take advantage of that fact.

 

The pre-secondary rejection is a thin envelope.

I'm just amused; I got the "instant winner" interviews at Vanderbilt and U. Pitt. at the beginning of August, phone interview with Mayo, cleared Duke and Stanford's screenings...and didn't get Northwestern? There's something wrong with this picture....

 

hey xaelia,

congrats on the instant winners. I got past stan, duke, umich, and mayo phone, but reject from vandy and nada word from NU yet.

have you heard back from the mayo phone interview? Did you hear a positive response from them after it, or what? I'm still waiting to hear whether or not I receieved an onsite interview. After three rejections, and interview at mayo would make me happy.....would give me hope in this process..

 

thats funny, i got an instant rejection from stanford and a very early interview invite (mid august) from vanderbilt...wow, maybe diff schools look for different things?

 

hehe..ya..I guess sometimes we gotta laugh at the admisisons process. I was fairly positive I would get a vandy invite...did you get the mayo phone interview? This process is confusing...Hey, I just want one interview..that's all it takes, right? =X

 

What going on with Northwestern? It's the only school I haven't heard from. I know people are being rejected. Should I be relieved that I haven't gotten the letter yet?

 

I'm in the same boat. I called them, and they said it took three-four weeks, after getting your AMCAS for them to decide about a secondary. At that ponit, you either get to write more exciting essays (yay!) or you get what the woman termed "a preliminary rejection." When I laughed at the Orwellian adjective on that one, I got some serious cold-hearted admissions staff action.


Never laugh at their dumb terminology.

 

No, I didn't apply to Mayo. But, I just got the Northwestern invite!! Im stoked!

I know that Northwestern requires both research and clinical experience. Like I said, I think different schools look for very different things. Northwestern obviously seeks the "well-rounded" individual whereas top schools (Harvard, JHU, Stan) probably look for the stellar performer in a particular aspect of the application (43T or started a clinic in africa or has several pubs). I think vandy may be one of those "well-rounded" schools as well.

Good luck y'all!

 

appomattox,
I submitted my AMCAS in mid-July, and I haven't heard anything. Not a peep! This is ridiculous! I'm going to give them a call tomorrow!
ARG!!!!!

 

Here's my sad story...I was abroad when all of my secondary requests came in (AMCAS submitted early June), and for the most part I had no problem. Come end of August, I realized that I was missing two secondaries, one from U of Mich, and from NU. U of Mich sends to everyone, so I sent an email to inquire, and they resent their previous email. I then very tactfully called NU to see if I was supposed to receive anything from them and didn't. The lady I spoke to took a few seconds to look something up and said "you'll receive something in the mail soon." Three days later comes my rejection letter with the date of my phone call.

I'm just a little bitter because NU is where I graduated from with my undergrad. I would think they would give us a little more attention. My MCAT isn't the highest, but I would have hoped that they would have at least given me a chance since I went to their institution. Mind you I figure that I am at least somewhat competitive because I have interviewed at another school.

My revenge is no alumni giving for a long while (which apparently is very important to them because I've already been solicited 3 times since graduation in June!)

 

Sorry to hear that. NU is my #1 choice but I'm not holding my breath for an interview. I don't think I'm quite NU material but I can always hope I guess...

You're not the only NU grad to get rejected. I think there were a couple other NU grads that got pre-secondary rejections as well.

As for myself, I'm shocked that they sent me a secondary but I do have both clinical experience and research experience which supposedly they require. My GPA is good but my MCAT is below NU's averages. I can also tell you that NU tends to look favorably on applicants that have taken sometime off after undergrad. I think the trend is for life experience to be looked on more favorably. I read on here awhile ago that there were some maturity issues regarding some of the students that were in their guaranteed admissions program for the medical school so maybe they wanted to balance that out.

Who knows? The admissions process is funny. Once you get a ton of applicants that have around a 30 MCAT and a 3.5 GPA, the randomness of the process starts to kick in big time.

 

As for the taking time off, I graduated NU in 3 years and am taking this year off to work. As of now I am working as an EMT for a private ambulance company. My MCAT's are below their averages, but my GPA isn't too bad. As for research, I haven't done anything beyond my advanced supervised research at NU for 2 quarters, but I have lots of hospital and EMT volunteer experience abroad. I just don't know if they looked at the whole me or not and that has me bummed. Any attempt to speak to a higher up person at admissions has got me nowhere. Has anyone who has gotten rejected sent "a letter of appeal?"

 

Yep I sent one... No response yet from them... The funny thing is that I got a secondary from them when I applied in 2000. Since then I have one more publication in clinical research, oodles of volunteer work, a ton of clinical research, and a brand-spanking new and very improved MCAT... (this is to go with my undergrad research (1 pub), and grad research (4 pubs)...

Yet this time around, I was denied. The way I see it is if they don't me, there's very little that I can do about it. I just want them to address why my application was reviewed less favorable when it is a know fact the Med Aps are down this year and a MUCH improved portfolio.

C

 

NU does not require research, I'm a Northwestern M1 now and I've never done any sort of research in my life.

 

So how long does it take for them to tell u if you got an interview? My app has been complete since 9/16!!!!! Surely it is starting to get late!? what's the deal?

 

Me too. I believe some of the people that are getting interviews have like MEGA stats--mid to upper 30s MCAT type stuff.

 

Ha ha! Sorry guys, but you're out of the cellar. Mine's been complete since 8/26, and still nada!

 

I really hope NU doesn't require research - they're my top choice also (hey, everyone can dream, right?)

I know their website states that research is "highly recommended", but I know of a few students there that do not have research. I believe their emphasis is on maturity and the desire to be a "life-long" learner.

 

Damn so they must just not like me and my mid 30s MCAT...

a la soup nazi... the application nazi...

"No Secondary for you!"

 

Hey guys,

At least for me, it took about 1 month for them to get back to me about an interview after my file was complete. I found out by checking the status page, but they also send a letter in the mail as well.

Hang in there!