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got an interview invitation from stanford today. what does that mean? are they interviewing for the waitlist? how far behind are they?
standford interview invite today
- Thread starter valliumv
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Eraserhead
No, Stanford is not interviewing for the waitlist. Sorry... at Stanford its called the "hold list" with wait list in parenthesis. They are truly unique.
But no, they take the best people as they come along, regardless of the timing. Many of us got rejections and "hold list" immediately after our interviews because we weren't special enough
But no, they take the best people as they come along, regardless of the timing. Many of us got rejections and "hold list" immediately after our interviews because we weren't special enough
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Eraserhead
When they ask you if you are interested in academic medicine say YES PLEASE.
Not necessarily...
I talked about how much I didn't like research and still got in (surprisingly. But then again, I was clear about what I do want to do. Its a cliche, but just be yourself. If you have to pretend to be something that you are not just for them to like you, then even stanford isn't worth it. The impression that I got from my interviewer (and that is just one person) is that they want people who are really passionate about something (research or anything else) and aspire to be leaders in the future. I think the website also says something along those lines.
Good luck with you interview.
I talked about how much I didn't like research and still got in (surprisingly. But then again, I was clear about what I do want to do. Its a cliche, but just be yourself. If you have to pretend to be something that you are not just for them to like you, then even stanford isn't worth it. The impression that I got from my interviewer (and that is just one person) is that they want people who are really passionate about something (research or anything else) and aspire to be leaders in the future. I think the website also says something along those lines.
Good luck with you interview.
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Eraserhead
well i'd certainly put myself in that category even though i don't want to be a researcher. but this is not the feeling i got from my interviewers.
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I agree with Eraserhead. When I was asked "What do you see yourself doing as a physician in the future?", I said I may wanna go into medical Genetics/clinical practice first, then later on getting involved at CDC or WHO type of organization.
5 minutes later, I asked my interviewer if she spotted any concern in my application that I can explain, she said "Well, it looks good, but you know at Stanford, we look for people who will be academic physicians. We try to select people that way but obviously not everyone turn out to go that path".
Post-interview REJECTION one week after.
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Boo, that sucks, Calbee, I'm sorry.
Sounds to me like you got a crap interviewer who maybe had her own agenda and preconceptions of what Stanford is looking for. My impression of the school's philosophy has always been similar to that of sinnah83...while it is a research-intensive school, it promotes research in many different forms, and the encouragement of students to do research while in med school should in no way mean that they *must* pursue research as a major part of their future careers. Idealist that I am, I should hope that all institutions would try to recruit students who are the most passionate about medicine and compassionate as people, rather than restricting their student body to only a specific career goal. Anyway, congrats on UCLA, which, itself, is a school that is enormously high in terms of research caliber, no? - Joined
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Originally posted by evenstar
Boo, that sucks, Calbee, I'm sorry.
Yea, I was a bit shocked at a straight post-interview rejection at Stanford, but who knows what's the real reason? My student interviewer seemed to like me, so I thought the problem was from my faculty interviewer. She actually was pretty friendly at the beginning, and then I felt that it just went downhill from there...
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STANFORD with one D... make sure to pronounce this right in your interview....
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Eraserhead
Originally posted by MDTom
STANFORD with one D... make sure to pronounce this right in your interview....
lmao, yeah that would really piss them off! i mean, the offices are convered with stanford flags and stanford this stanford that...
oh, and you are supposed to automatically know where to park. i got lost and had to call the office 3 times (more if you include the times that they didn't answer) to find the damn parking lot because there was an accident in the street. then, i was 20 minutes late for the first talk and had to be talked to separately.
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Hmmm...maybe my lack of interest in research and academic medicine is what killed me. I interviewed in Feb and got the rejection less than a week later - my only post-interview rejection. I gotta give it up for them, though...it was the nicest rejection letter I've ever read. It didn't bother me too much because I didn't really like their "scholarly concentrations" program from the start.
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That's precisely what I feel what killed me. I'm sure there are more people who agree with that. "What do you wanna do as a physician in the future?" or related-questions seem to be standard interview question at Stanford. I mean, they even have that question on the Secondary.
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Eraserhead
Its all a scheme. They know the 100 people they want and interview the rest of us just to look more selective.
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Anyone who thinks Stanford is interested in producing clinicians should come and spend a few days at the hospital near my house. Stanford's "ER residency" program is actually a shared program with this hospital so I have had the opportunity to watch Stanford med students and residents in action. It wasn't pretty. They obviously know the theory and all the stuff you can get out of lectures and books, but as a group they lack whatever the quality is that makes you a good clinician. They seem, for the most part, to have trouble translating what they learned to the real world and they can't interact with patients to save their souls. Residents from other schools don't seem to have as much trouble. I'm sure there are exceptions to the rule, but Stanford is known for its academic medicine and there is a VERY good reason for that.
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Eraserhead
Yep, it all makes sense. Hence, I'm not bitter about the hold list. Honestly, UCSD is a research powerhouse, but I didn't get the same vibe there. I think I can come out great as whatever I want from UCSD.
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i just got an invite today... just out of curiosity, did anyone else? i would really like to know what happened that their interviews are so behind - or perhaps i'm just at the bottom of the barrel (their absolute last choice) and they need just one more interviewee for stats sake. in any case, i'm happy for an excuse to go to cali. plus it's stanford right? hello sunshine!
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Eraserhead
You are not the bottom of the barrel. Don't be so modest.
Focus on this... focus completely on this:
Do you see yourself going into academic medicine?
They have a form where they fill out "yes, no, or maybe" I said maybe.
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When you visit Stanford NOW, you may see some sunshine, but being in the Bay area region, it gets foggy and cold much of the time. WHen I interviewed there (January), I met a girl who's from Boston/NYC, and she told me that it was "cold" that day. I think what she meant was that the weather was colder than she expected and she wasn't wearing as many clothes as she usually did in Boston/NYC.
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really? i thought it was wonderful when i visited at the end of feb last year. but then again, perhaps it's because i live michigan. just the other day someone here was commenting on how nice ohio is... so you can imagine how heavenly the bay area seemed to me.
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dunno what's going on. i got an invite last friday, and a friend got an invite a few weeks before. he talked to their admissions office and was told that they're still accepting for next year's class, and that you could also be selected as a "first alternate", where they guarantee your acceptance the following year (mandatory deferral basically).
seems like more so than many schools, they only want people who really want to go there.
Last week I also received an invitation to interview. I wonder if I'm at the bottom of the barrel too, haha. I called the secretary on Friday and she told me that Stanford doesn't interview for the waitlist. I thought that still means that they could be interviewing for the First Alternate position though, which is different from the waitlist since it's given to people who interviewed late but the committee would have accepted if there were any remaining spots open in the class. Still, she assured that there were still acceptances being given out but that the committee could run out of acceptances in the next week or two!! So while Stanford is running behind, I still got the impression that time truly is running out over there if it hasn't already. I decided to take my chances anyway. Thank God for those airfare sales going on now.
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have most people who havent recieved an interview recieved a rejection? is anyone else still waiting for one or the other? i tried calling the admissions office but no one is answering the phone....
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I also have received neither a rejection or interview...still hopeful but it's not looking good.
Keep the hope alive! When I signed up for an interview slot, I noticed that there were a bunch still available until April 30th. Even if there are no spots left in the class, you can still get on the first alternate list which is the first list they go through when other people withdraw their acceptances. Good luck!
yeah, i finally called this morning. the lady asked if i was scheduling an interview. when i said no, she became pretty abrupt and said she sent out a bunch of stuff a couple of days ago. i almost got the sense that they are now done inviting and we can expect our rejections shortly.
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For those who have received interviews, was it by email?
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Eraserhead
Its by mail, then you call them. If you don't call them, evevntually they track you down via email.
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I haven't gotten anything by mail, only an email last week. Maybe they didn't mail anything physically for this last round, especially considering there's only until the end of the month to interview.
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Eraserhead
Probably when they realized none of us received the so-called letters.
OK maybe I am a bit bitter about Stanford, because everytime I look at this thread I get bitchy.
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Sorry to hear many of you have had such lukewarm experiences at Stanford. I'm in no way a researcher, am interested in primary care, and think I'll be an excellent clinician. I'm not interested in academic medicine, either.
The earlier poster, who mentioned that Stanford's looking for people who are passionate about *something*, was right on target.
The earlier poster, who mentioned that Stanford's looking for people who are passionate about *something*, was right on target.
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THe sense I got was that Stanford has sorta start changing its policy and it's trying to look more for future academic physicians than just someone who's interested in being leaders in medicine in general.
Even if you were accepted say last year, they're probably not doing the same admission policy this year anymore.
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I think Eraserhead and Calbee both know how I feel about Stanford.
I interviewed there in February and I wanted to go there so badly-- I felt like I jived with everything about that school-- and I thought my interviews went well, but looking back, it seemed like they were really pushing me to commit to either academic research/ medicine or international health/ policy (I've spent ample time in both fields, 2 years plus in each, great experience and publications and conferences in both fields). I kept explaining to them that I thought it was important that I didn't limit myself in my view of medicine during my undergraduate years, and that the 5 year plan at Stanford would be a great way for me to finally hammer out which way I wanted to proceed. Was it so bad that I was someone with alot of interests? And had followed up on them?
Both interviewers gave me this look, which now in retrospect, irks me.... like I had to have the perfect answer for what area I want to go in! it's not like my experience in both fields was half-assed and I was being indecisive, although that's the feeling I came out with.
And the funny thing was that my student interviewer, who was a really nice person, basically admitted that he was taking a year off to do research for his resume. He flat out told me he didn't like it, but he had to play the game when it came time to match.
I'm sure many people do research for that reason, but you'd think at a school like "Stanford", which supposedly prides itself on wanting students who took the time to cultivate their passion about certain fields, well, it just struck me as ironic.
But overall, I know that students there are really committed to their "outside-of-lecture" activities, and I really dug their concept of scholarly concentrations and all the perks they had w/ TAing, research, classes etc.
Unfortunately I'm on the "hold list" which doesn't move at all-- which of course, begs the question, "what's the point" ? I would give anything to get off that thing, but I'm realistic. I gave it my all, how many more ways can I show interest in that school? It's like @#@#@ unrequited love!
OK, I'll stop my rant b/c just like Eraserhead, this thread makes me bitchy whenever I see it.
In sum, n=3, I too had experiences similar to Calbee and Eraserhead at Stanford.
I interviewed there in February and I wanted to go there so badly-- I felt like I jived with everything about that school-- and I thought my interviews went well, but looking back, it seemed like they were really pushing me to commit to either academic research/ medicine or international health/ policy (I've spent ample time in both fields, 2 years plus in each, great experience and publications and conferences in both fields). I kept explaining to them that I thought it was important that I didn't limit myself in my view of medicine during my undergraduate years, and that the 5 year plan at Stanford would be a great way for me to finally hammer out which way I wanted to proceed. Was it so bad that I was someone with alot of interests? And had followed up on them?
Both interviewers gave me this look, which now in retrospect, irks me.... like I had to have the perfect answer for what area I want to go in! it's not like my experience in both fields was half-assed and I was being indecisive, although that's the feeling I came out with.
And the funny thing was that my student interviewer, who was a really nice person, basically admitted that he was taking a year off to do research for his resume. He flat out told me he didn't like it, but he had to play the game when it came time to match.
I'm sure many people do research for that reason, but you'd think at a school like "Stanford", which supposedly prides itself on wanting students who took the time to cultivate their passion about certain fields, well, it just struck me as ironic.
But overall, I know that students there are really committed to their "outside-of-lecture" activities, and I really dug their concept of scholarly concentrations and all the perks they had w/ TAing, research, classes etc.
Unfortunately I'm on the "hold list" which doesn't move at all-- which of course, begs the question, "what's the point" ?
I would give anything to get off that thing, but I'm realistic. I gave it my all, how many more ways can I show interest in that school? It's like @#@#@ unrequited love! OK, I'll stop my rant b/c just like Eraserhead, this thread makes me bitchy whenever I see it.
In sum, n=3, I too had experiences similar to Calbee and Eraserhead at Stanford.
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Eraserhead
LMAO, way to bull**** us. I'm one of the most passionate people I know. Everyone is passionate about *something* there's obviously more to it than that. I'd rather hear, I was a lucky dork to get into Stanford... or thank Jesus!
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I expressed my interest in becoming a strong CLINICIAN during my interview...didn't hurt me much??
I also heard rumors that Stanford does not produce clinically oriented students, but then today I heard from an attending that Harvard students are fairly mediocre in the clinics. Seems like only some schools can produce these so called "clinicans".
Someone mentioned that the weather at Stanford was akin to Boston. Hmmm...nope. Not even close! Sorry, one shouldn't even bring up THAT comparison. With the financial aid, suburban life-style, weather, reputation, class size, personal attention.....Stanford can work well for some people.
-Harps
I also heard rumors that Stanford does not produce clinically oriented students, but then today I heard from an attending that Harvard students are fairly mediocre in the clinics. Seems like only some schools can produce these so called "clinicans".
Someone mentioned that the weather at Stanford was akin to Boston. Hmmm...nope. Not even close! Sorry, one shouldn't even bring up THAT comparison. With the financial aid, suburban life-style, weather, reputation, class size, personal attention.....Stanford can work well for some people.
-Harps
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Originally posted by Harps
I expressed my interest in becoming a strong CLINICIAN during my interview...didn't hurt me much??
I also heard rumors that Stanford does not produce clinically oriented students, but then today I heard from an attending that Harvard students are fairly mediocre in the clinics. Seems like only some schools can produce these so called "clinicans".
Someone mentioned that the weather at Stanford was akin to Boston. Hmmm...nope. Not even close! Sorry, one shouldn't even bring up THAT comparison. With the financial aid, suburban life-style, weather, reputation, class size, personal attention.....Stanford can work well for some people.
-Harps
Dude...which UC did you go to for undergrad? Jesus...you tore up the admissions process quite admirably. You heading off to HMS in the fall? I know I've told you this before...but I'll say it again here...CONGRATULATIONS!
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Originally posted by Harps
I expressed my interest in becoming a strong CLINICIAN during my interview...didn't hurt me much??
I also heard rumors that Stanford does not produce clinically oriented students, but then today I heard from an attending that Harvard students are fairly mediocre in the clinics. Seems like only some schools can produce these so called "clinicans".
Someone mentioned that the weather at Stanford was akin to Boston. Hmmm...nope. Not even close! Sorry, one shouldn't even bring up THAT comparison. With the financial aid, suburban life-style, weather, reputation, class size, personal attention.....Stanford can work well for some people.
-Harps
reputation=good medical reseach/academic docs (I know a lot about Stanford and its rep 'cause I live really close, my dad did his residency there, and he supervises their med students and residents on their rotations through the OBGYN department at his hospital) . . . I posted previously on this thread about my experiences with Stanford students and grads in the clinical setting you might want to check it out. PM if you want to know more about it.
