School You Would Never Apply to Again

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wishintobedoc said:
I think this is funny since I just saw you were accepted today to MSUCOM...lol
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Not sure what you find so humorous? You should really think before speaking and give someone the benefit of the doubt and allow them to explain themselves.
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Boston! VERY expensive for a school that rejects most

VCU was just a cold rejection... not even a sympathy email
 
3shtr said:
Same thing happened to me! They also accused me of not paying the secondary fee. Very unprofessional over the phone.
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I can't vouch for the Erie staff, but the admissions people in Bradenton are the nicest people around.

My guess is that people are more likely messing up the ACOMAS application. Erie/Seton Hill and Bradenton have totally separate application processes. Down here in Florida we have our own checkbox on ACOMAS and everything is done through our office. At least it was when I did it 2 years ago.
 
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st. pius v said:
ok....i sent my secondaries in right after Christmas, twiddling my thumbs for the next 4.5 months....and nothing!
i must have called and e-mailed at least a thousand times to check and the person in charge (deborah davis) replied my e-mailswith a cut-n-paste style....from her database of e-mails she probably sent to applicants....finally got in touch w/ the high and mighty Mr. Moseley and found out that my file was just sitting there waiting for a decision....
lousy inter-office communication and i actually released the beast on deborah davis bcoz she sounds like a bloody broken record....anybody heard of any applicants blasting and semi-insulting the admissions staff of the school that he/she is waiting for a decision on???? i think i'm the first!
this is the lousy excuse....computer system broken, everthing has to be done the paper way and i guess that's why my file was seating down somewhere collecting dust!!
boo to meharry.... :thumbdown:
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Meharry is terrible....:thumbdown:
 
ProtonatedAlchy said:
Boston! VERY expensive for a school that rejects most
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Yes, this is one of those SUCKER schools nobody should apply too. I applied to one, but only because i failed to look up the # of applicants and the cost of the secondary.

Schools like Boston, Drexel, GW, Jefferson, NYMC, a bunch of Chicago ones, are all a giant waste of money. :thumbdown:
 
thought it was time to bring this thread back again :)

personally, I would have avoided these schools

primaries: Rush, Temple, FSU, Rosalind Franklin, Albany, Creighton, Georgetown

Secondaries: GW, BU, SLU, Meharry, Howard

The primaries I either didn't meet requirements or I was just too tired to fill them out. And GW and BU I didn't realize how many apps they get. Meharry and Howard gave me a meh/bad vibe over the app process and I have yet to hear anything from SLU.

we really should create a poll though with all the schools.
 
Mr. Seeds said:
Northwestern because of their ridiculous 1 week deadline for the "Please kiss our ***** in 1700 characters or less" secondary, only to reject me 6 MONTHS later.

Mt. Sinai because of the $105 secondary fee.

GWashinton because the admissions office has got to be the most inefficient gagglefuk known to man.

RF because their admissions staff is unbelievably rude. Though it was nice to call those bastards up and tell them I wanted to decline my interview ;)
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Northwestern: when I applied several years ago, I got a letter directly from the dean of the MSTP program, saying how great of an applicant I am and they look forward to me. Rejected immediately after paying the secondary fee.

Mayo: Rejected the day after I paid the secondary fee. Found they were rude and treated people terribly all around.

Duke: What a ridiculous bunch of essays.

Needless to say, I didn't bother applying to any of these schools this time around, specifically for these reasons.
 
NYU - they finished giving out interviews and don't let you know you're rejected until months afterward

Vermont - it's too cold there, why I did I apply?

OHSU - after sending me their secondary at the end of September when I had already been on interviews, I just didn't feel like it. They also sent me an official "we are removing you from consideration" letter about 6 months after my deadline passed. :laugh:
 
Michigan State. They really do not care for OOSers, they even say they will review in staters first and then maybe OOS applicants. Also, they want an applicant that "fulfills their outlook on medicine." Once I read that in the secondary I knew I was screwed.

Oh also Rush, silence from them for 7 months. They wont even meet with you to discuss your rejection. Told flat out NO.
 
This is like a zombie thread.
1) BU- I just got the oddest vibe there. Could have been a personality thing.
2) LLU- WTF was I thinking?!?
3) Every school that did not give me an interview invite.
 
Wake Forest...NYMC...Vermont...and I have added AECOM to this list, too. I interviewed at all of these except Vermont, and I really wasn't very interested in any of them from the outset, so in that respect, it was a waste of time and a lot of money.

Totally wasted my $ on primaries for the schools I never filled out the secondary: Stanford, Harvard, Miami, OHSU, GWU, Pittsburgh (hated that secondary), Duke (ditto on secondary), Northwestern (something about that secondary, too, was a big turn off). I look back at this group of schools now and laugh at myself for wasting this money.
 
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Ohio State. was that an application for medical school, or was it a 7th-grade civics assignment?
 
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Rosalind Franklin. I've heard it's a good school and all, but atmosphere-wise, it's gotta say something when the secondary essay is "Tell us why our meaningless buzzword motto is awesome." There are alarm bells.
 
flip26 said:
Wake Forest...NYMC...Vermont

Totally wasted my $ on primaries for schools I never filled out the secondary: Stanford, Harvard, Miami, OHSU, GWU, Pittsburgh (hated that secondary), Duke (ditto on secondary), Northwestern
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Doesn't the Harvard secondary not have any essays unless you're a reapplicant or taking time off?
 
I applied to 11 schools and got 9 interviews.

I would have not applied to Drexel (I got an interview there) if I could go back in time. Mostly because they accept very few out of state people but interview a ton of them (you wouldn't think this was the case since they're private). So it was a waste of $70 for their secondary and a waste of $100 on a hotel and whatever money I spent on gas. I don't have any hard feelings toward them, I just wouldn't have done it if I could go back in time.

I wouldn't have applied to Tulane either, but I guess that's mostly my fault since I have no reason to go all the way down to New Orleans. They were one of the two schools that outright rejected me.
 
Myuu said:
Doesn't the Harvard secondary not have any essays unless you're a reapplicant or taking time off?
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For Harvard, I did not have the calc pre req, and I finally admitted to myself that I wasn't sufficiently competitive there and I would not take the calc for that purpose alone.

My specific gripe about secondaries was aimed at Pitt and Duke.
 
USCSM: why? An e-mail to "update me on my admission status" (around the time of acceptances and interviews) which came to my balckberry in class, with an attachment simply titled "rejection.pdf"
 
Another vote for mayo. Send $100 for a glance at your primary (maybe?), and for a rejection letter - wait, not even a letter, an EMAIL. A high cost to inconvenience a few electrons.

I later found out they've never even extended an interview offer to anyone who had ever attended my undergrad, regardless of scores, grades, or research.
 
flip26 said:
Wake Forest...NYMC...Vermont

Totally wasted my $ on primaries for schools I never filled out the secondary: Stanford, Harvard, Miami, OHSU, GWU, Pittsburgh (hated that secondary), Duke (ditto on secondary), Northwestern
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I actually appreciate the schools that screen pre-secondary. That way you don't have to pay the secondary fee unless you meet their criteria. I mean, I guess you're still waisting money on the primaries, but the only way to avoid that would be if the schools were up front about their cut-off scores.

NYU, for example - I applied with my 4.0/31S (8PS/10VR/13BS) only to find out a few weeks AFTER sending my hefty secondary app check - that they don't accept students with any section on the MCAT below a 10 (I heard this from a close friend who is an M1 there now). I mean, WHY can't they make that information public? And even if they don't, why not just screen pre-secondary so we don't spend the hours of essay-writing and the $$ on application fees when there's no way they would even invite us for an interview???

It just annoys me to no end. I mean, you would think that a school like NYU with their HUGE tuition rates would have enough money without sucking us pre-med hopefuls dry by collection "donations" during application season! (PS I wonder how much money these schools actually do make during application season... would be interesting to know)

Oh yeah... I also dislike schools like Drexel and Jefferson who do the "silent rejections" I mean, COME ON! After slaving over your applications and sending you money, is it REALLy so much to ask that you ACTUALLY reject me?? Even if you're too cheap to spend a few cents on letters, the LEAST you can do is send an email. It's really not that hard.

Anyways, that was my rant.

My advice to pre-meds : Try to figure out if some schools have cut off scores (like NYU and I'm assuming Boston since they rejected me pretty fast) and if you fall below them, don't even bother.
 
criminallyinane said:
My interviewer was the meanest interviewer I have come across in 12 interviews. He brought me to the verge of tears (I'm not a crier) and then tried to joke around to make it better, but his idea of a "joke" was belitting my father's career (neurosurgery.)
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Ha, ha, ha... forgive me for laughing at this. I don't think many people truly try to "belittle" neurosurgeons. I'm assuming you were born with a congenital defect--no funny bone. :laugh: Be prepared for "patients". They're not all cherry's and roses.
 
I'm assuming you were born with a congenital defect--no funny bone.
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That seems to be a very common affliction in this line of work. My interviewers made fun of astrophysicists. It's not really a big deal. Physicists aren't known as weird because they/we aren't weird. ;)
 
Extra Northwestern vote. Was my top choice coming in, spent a ton of time on their essays, $100, and then 6 mos. later without any other correspondance, rejected. Very lame rejection email as well.
 
NYU, Mt. Sinai, Case Western, & UCLA

none of them hit me right.
 
MilkmanAl said:
That seems to be a very common affliction in this line of work. My interviewers made fun of astrophysicists. It's not really a big deal. Physicists aren't known as weird because they/we aren't weird. ;)
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I think you've got a point.

Anyway, personally, physicists and computer nerds are my favorite types of people. :D
 
U Michigan!!! (as an oos)

the cost of attendance is astronomical. i applied because i heard that they have good aid and because they're a good school that does rolling admissions. i didn't realize that "good aid" only refers to those with merit scholarships. my financial aid package contains 1k of grant money and all the rest in loans.
 
AECOM, NYMC (shudder), UVM ("4-6 weeks" was actually more than 2 months), downstate, jefferson, GWU, georgetown, hopkins, yale, penn

basically... i should have gone with my gut and applied to the 4 schools in MA, and the 4 schools in manhattan. but i'm crazy and felt the need to tack on a bunch more schools to round things out. dumb.
 
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sunUCB said:
georgetown. definitely. try receiving my secondary before sending out my rejection letter....the other schools don't have any problem doing it. enjoy my money.
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Georgetown is wacky. Someone I know and his wife both earned their PhD's there. He's teaches there. His son graduated valedictorian there. His daughter, who graduated Ivy Ugrad with a 3.9x and 40 MCAT got into 15/18 schools she applied to, and is now at an Ivy med. She was rejected from Georgetown the same way you were--after she paid for the secondary but before they received it!
 
futureNCmed said:
I actually appreciate the schools that screen pre-secondary. That way you don't have to pay the secondary fee unless you meet their criteria. I mean, I guess you're still waisting money on the primaries, but the only way to avoid that would be if the schools were up front about their cut-off scores.

NYU, for example - I applied with my 4.0/31S (8PS/10VR/13BS) only to find out a few weeks AFTER sending my hefty secondary app check - that they don't accept students with any section on the MCAT below a 10 (I heard this from a close friend who is an M1 there now). I mean, WHY can't they make that information public? And even if they don't, why not just screen pre-secondary so we don't spend the hours of essay-writing and the $$ on application fees when there's no way they would even invite us for an interview???

It just annoys me to no end. I mean, you would think that a school like NYU with their HUGE tuition rates would have enough money without sucking us pre-med hopefuls dry by collection "donations" during application season! (PS I wonder how much money these schools actually do make during application season... would be interesting to know)

Oh yeah... I also dislike schools like Drexel and Jefferson who do the "silent rejections" I mean, COME ON! After slaving over your applications and sending you money, is it REALLy so much to ask that you ACTUALLY reject me?? Even if you're too cheap to spend a few cents on letters, the LEAST you can do is send an email. It's really not that hard.

Anyways, that was my rant.

My advice to pre-meds : Try to figure out if some schools have cut off scores (like NYU and I'm assuming Boston since they rejected me pretty fast) and if you fall below them, don't even bother.
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Another vote for Drexel. The check-cashing department should be cross trained to send rejection emails as well.

Also: Tulane.
 
vcu-supposedly very fast at getting back to you regarding status updates...but took them forever for me. very rude when i called 2 months later to see what was up (i was polite)

gwu, boston u-too many applicants to these schools=almost certain rejection
 
UT - San Antonio

Found out at the interview that students "get" to do away rotations at a border clinic. I asked if this was a mandatory thing, or if it was really a choice. After alot of hesitation, they said, they "selected" students to go to the border. read - force students to go. Then when we get to ask the students questions and someone asks " why did you choose this school and what do you like about it" All their answers were, "I didn't get in anywhere else and the area is nice."

Thankfully, this was before my interview so I flat out told them I didn't see myself going here, and just had fun talking with the interviewers...
 
riverjib said:
Georgetown is wacky. Someone I know and his wife both earned their PhD's there. He's teaches there. His son graduated valedictorian there. His daughter, who graduated Ivy Ugrad with a 3.9x and 40 MCAT got into 15/18 schools she applied to, and is now at an Ivy med. She was rejected from Georgetown the same way you were--after she paid for the secondary but before they received it!
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My college counselor actually told me to take Georgetown off my app list because they are well know to reject Ivy League grads, because they got a very low yield from those they have accepted in the past.

I did my post bacc work there, so I applied anyway. After being "capped" I actually did end up getting in in June.

Didn't attend, so I guess I added to their insecurity about Ivy grads!!!
 
dw2158 said:
AECOM, NYMC (shudder), UVM ("4-6 weeks" was actually more than 2 months), downstate, jefferson, GWU, georgetown, hopkins, yale, penn

basically... i should have gone with my gut and applied to the 4 schools in MA, and the 4 schools in manhattan. but i'm crazy and felt the need to tack on a bunch more schools to round things out. dumb.
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I know the feeling - I should have just done my 4 state schools, the Manhattan schools, and maybe a couple of others that intrigued me (Mayo, for instance). But it is very difficult to know how well one will do in this process, and it is so easy to add schools to the primary list. I don't regret the money I spent on primaries, even though I really did waste the primary fee for about 8 to 10 schools.

What I regret is going through with interviews at schools I really wasn't too interested in from the gitgo - NYMC and Wake Forest were a total waste of my time and money. AECOM was somewhat of a waste - although it was in the Bronx, and a nicer area than I had imagined, it was immediately obvious to me that I would not want to spend 4 years there...

And I agree about Vermont - I was in a perpetual "4 to 6 week" purgatory with them until they recently broke the bad news to me. I lost interest in this school 6 months ago, and I tried to do the online withdrawal, but I didn't remember my logon password, so I just ignored them...
 
Oh man I can't believe I didn't see this thread last year!
Let's see...

GW/Gtown for the same reasons as everyone else. Total waste of money. I actually really liked GW in theory so I was sad not to even get to interview, but Gtown was just ridiculous. Here, let me make you write an essay about how much you love us based on information that you're gonna get from the website, cash in your check, and then reject you a few days later. Mazeltov.

Stanford for taking for effin ever to do anything.

AECOM and NYMC for having some of the rudest admission people known to mankind.

NYU for rude admission people, self-serving essays, and a general holier-than-thou attitude.

UCSF on principle because their rejection letter suggested I do a post-bac at their school. Um, thanks, but I got in somewhere.

Loyola and UCLA for rejecting me after I had withdrawn. Thanks for trying to take back control, jackasses.

There are probably more...
 
softmed said:
I would have not applied to Drexel (I got an interview there) if I could go back in time. Mostly because they accept very few out of state people but interview a ton of them (you wouldn't think this was the case since they're private). So it was a waste of $70 for their secondary and a waste of $100 on a hotel and whatever money I spent on gas. I don't have any hard feelings toward them, I just wouldn't have done it if I could go back in time.
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:confused:

There were more Drexel matriculants from Cali than there were from PA and NJ combined. Or at least there were when I was there.
 
marele86 said:
Rosalind Franklin. I've heard it's a good school and all, but atmosphere-wise, it's gotta say something when the secondary essay is "Tell us why our meaningless buzzword motto is awesome." There are alarm bells.
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Did you read my mind before posting this?:thumbup:
 
The Rosalind Franklin secondary was an exercise in bull****ting so thorough I could smell the manure. Also, I'm still in primary screening? Really? REALLY? It's April. Are you looking at my rejection letter as you're telling me this?

Tulane...thanks for saving me the disppointment of a rejection letter/email/postcard/smoke signal.

PCOM...thank you for waiting until January to upload my letters of rec. Did you lose them under a pile or something?
 
Vermont--I Filled out my secondary very early, yet I was not moved to pre-interview hold until MONTHS after some people I know already interviewed and were accepted. They submitted the secondary about 3 weeks later than I did. When I called the admissions office they gave me some spiel about applications being processed in the order received. BS

Univ. of Nebraska--Promptly received a pre-interview rejection for being OOS about 2 days after I paid the secondary fee. I felt a bit robbed, but so it goes.

-Also, I did not fill out secondaries for schools that required diversity essays. Although I understand the need for recruiting a diverse student body, I didn't appreciate such an overt blow to meritocracy in the admissions process.
 
my list:

BU - instant rejection... seems like they have some sort of formula, probably computer-generated, to choose who gets an interview and everyone else they instantly reject....also doesn't bode well that they let in a murderer

Georgetown - ridiculously overpriced secondary and instant rejection.... only school that will cash your secondary check and send you a rejection on the same day, also secondary has an enormous limit on "why georgetown" so you feel obligated to fill it only to get instantly rejected

Rosalind Franklin - how does one of the least prestigious schools have such an insanely long secondary? ...needless to say didn't finish the secondary

Albany - interviewed here...atmosphere was bleak...students all seemed to be there because they didn't get in anywhere else...my interviewer was an extraordinarily mean old lady
 
drexel/gtown/gwu/bu - all of these schools get way too many apps its just stupid to even waste 450+ to apply to these schools that most people use as a safety.

All NY schools - I hate NY in the worst way i was just too paranoid and added these schools. Interviewed just confirmed everything.

dartmouth/mayo/ucsf - nothing against these schools, but with my mcat idk WTF i was thinking ahah....such a huge waste of time filling stuff out for these schools

rosalind franklin - worst essays ever, and its a terrible school.I think if all med schools were ranked...rfu would def be at the bottom lol
 
what about west coast schools? anyone have bad experiences in california?
and would agree with Georgetown. the students dont really don't seem happy/part of campus. gloom doom
 
StrangeFruit said:
what about west coast schools? anyone have bad experiences in california?
and would agree with Georgetown. the students dont really don't seem happy/part of campus. gloom doom
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I had great experiences at all my cali school interviews...i guess LLU would be the only school i have no idea why i applied...
 
Elijah05 said:
drexel/gtown/gwu/bu - all of these schools get way too many apps its just stupid to even waste 450+ to apply to these schools that most people use as a safety.

All NY schools - I hate NY in the worst way i was just too paranoid and added these schools. Interviewed just confirmed everything.

dartmouth/mayo/ucsf - nothing against these schools, but with my mcat idk WTF i was thinking ahah....such a huge waste of time filling stuff out for these schools

rosalind franklin - worst essays ever, and its a terrible school.I think if all med schools were ranked...rfu would def be at the bottom lol
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oof. this hurts me in my soul. my SOUL, elijah!

but... i'm super happy for you that you get to stay in cali :thumbup:
 
dw2158 said:
oof. this hurts me in my soul. my SOUL, elijah!

but... i'm super happy for you that you get to stay in cali :thumbup:
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lol hey just because nyc isnt for me doesnt mean you arent awesome!! I guess ill clarify. I dislike NYC and most everything about it except dw who is straight awesome :p
 
Elijah05 said:
lol hey just because nyc isnt for me doesnt mean you arent awesome!! I guess ill clarify. I dislike NYC and most everything about it except dw who is straight awesome :p
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you are correct sir
 
dyeguy21 said:
USCSM: why? An e-mail to "update me on my admission status" (around the time of acceptances and interviews) which came to my balckberry in class, with an attachment simply titled "rejection.pdf"
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That's just evil. :(
 
StrangeFruit said:
what about west coast schools? anyone have bad experiences in california?
and would agree with Georgetown. the students dont really don't seem happy/part of campus. gloom doom
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I did. The UCLA/DREW program told me that I should hear back within 6 weeks regarding getting a secondary. 6 weeks go by I email them. 7 weeks go by I email them. 8 weeks go by I email them....

Needless to say, it's been 6 months now and I still haven't heard from them about a secondary. I truly feel like they lost my application.
 
Note to self: do not apply to Boston University.
 
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