2012-2013 Columbia University Application Thread

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Yeah I'm thinking if we haven't received a pre-acceptance call yet, it's probably game over.
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Hi all! If you could forgive me for intruding into you discussion, I would like to inquire what the earliest date Columbia looks at LOR's was in the past cycle. Did this occur as soon as AMCAS transmitted primary app's on the first day last year, as soon as the Columbia secondary was open, or some other date?

I am trying very hard to have my application marked as "Complete" as soon as possible in order to maximize chances of an early interview invite, as after August I will have a very constraining work schedule and will not be able to take much time off for interviews. However, my University has a LOR electronic collection system (veCollect), and they said they will not forward LOR until sometime in mid-July.

Thank you kindly for your time and help!
 
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There's no guarantee of when they'll look at any part of your app. I was in early, and didn't hear anything from anyone till October (Columbia in late October or early November). You're going to have to find a way to make interviews work when or if they happen. I was lucky enough to work somewhere which was understanding about the little trips I was taking here and there. It's definitely not easy, but the power is in the hands of the schools, and the process demands flexibility on your part. Good luck!
 
These curveballs, man. I'm finally settling into the idea of not being at Columbia and I'm happy with where I'm going.... and that's when Dr. Nicholas sends me an email... Whatever I don't even know what to think any more. I'll just think of P&S as a happy surprise if it works out, but plan on being elsewhere.
 
pya said:
is financial aid here is totally need-based? is it possible to get a better financial aid if you tell them you have a full-merit scholarship elsewhere, or do they do everything based on parents' tax returns etc.? thanks
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No, sometimes, some.
 
Farmerboy said:
Hi all! If you could forgive me for intruding into you discussion, I would like to inquire what the earliest date Columbia looks at LOR's was in the past cycle. Did this occur as soon as AMCAS transmitted primary app's on the first day last year, as soon as the Columbia secondary was open, or some other date?

I am trying very hard to have my application marked as "Complete" as soon as possible in order to maximize chances of an early interview invite, as after August I will have a very constraining work schedule and will not be able to take much time off for interviews. However, my University has a LOR electronic collection system (veCollect), and they said they will not forward LOR until sometime in mid-July.

Thank you kindly for your time and help!
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I'm not even sure if Columbia has many interview das in August. Columbia does not look at yor app until the LORs are in.
 
FijiGNR89 said:
These curveballs, man. I'm finally settling into the idea of not being at Columbia and I'm happy with where I'm going.... and that's when Dr. Nicholas sends me an email... Whatever I don't even know what to think any more. I'll just think of P&S as a happy surprise if it works out, but plan on being elsewhere.
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That sounds like a very positive development!!
 
Does anyone know if the character limits in last year's secondary referred to character limits without or with spaces (a la AMCAS)?

Thanks in advance!
 
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I just received my FA package from Columbia but the total amount offered (through scholarships & loans) doesn't equal the cost of attendance for the first year ($79,584 according to the FA office website). I'm assuming the difference is the parent contribution, however my parents aren't contributing financially to my med school education. What do I do? I'm assuming I have to request more money in the form of loans but I'm unsure how to go about this.

I'd appreciate some help understanding this.

Thanks,
MPJ
 
MDPhDJourney said:
I just received my FA package from Columbia but the total amount offered (through scholarships & loans) doesn't equal the cost of attendance for the first year ($79,584 according to the FA office website). I'm assuming the difference is the parent contribution, however my parents aren't contributing financially to my med school education. What do I do? I'm assuming I have to request more money in the form of loans but I'm unsure how to go about this.

I'd appreciate some help understanding this.

Thanks,
MPJ
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I think your next option to cover anything you don't have is to apply for a Grad Plus loan. A bit higher interest rate than a direct loan but still better than private loans.
 
MDPhDJourney said:
I just received my FA package from Columbia but the total amount offered (through scholarships & loans) doesn't equal the cost of attendance for the first year ($79,584 according to the FA office website). I'm assuming the difference is the parent contribution, however my parents aren't contributing financially to my med school education. What do I do? I'm assuming I have to request more money in the form of loans but I'm unsure how to go about this.

I'd appreciate some help understanding this.

Thanks,
MPJ
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It'll be through additional federal loans, depending on your package it'll be either Stafford (most likely) or Grad Plus. Shoot me a PM and I'll be happy to help you out
 
med17 said:
What's the word on the WL?
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I have a friend who got a "we haven't forgotten about you, you are still under consideration" email about two weeks ago from the dean. But I don't know how wide spread this was. Like many schools this year, I think they are having less WL movement than usual.
 
That was a pretty blanket letter sent out to people, I got it too. I've moved on. Signed a lease elsewhere. Columbia, I will have you! This isn't the last you've seen of me. The residency app is a mere three years away. Mwahaha
 
FijiGNR89 said:
That was a pretty blanket letter sent out to people, I got it too. I've moved on. Signed a lease elsewhere. Columbia, I will have you! This isn't the last you've seen of me. The residency app is a mere three years away. Mwahaha
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Anyone else get it besides you and my friend that you know of? Not that there is much of a chance left but just curious. GL with where you are going!
 
any hope for someone on the WL who hasn't gotten any special letter or phone call?
 
I have been checking a few threads and it looks like a lot of schools have been having more late withdrawals than usual. My buddy who got an email from Dean Nicholas said that P&S has had fewer summer withdrawals than usual but may be expecting more late withdrawals than usual. Who knows. Still hanging on to that thread of hope that I can go to my dream school :)
 
@mmmcdowe

I'm looking at the pre-matriculation materials uploaded to the courseworks site and I noticed a link to NMBE shelf exam mean scores. According to this sheet the mean shelf exam scores of P&S students was lower than the national average for every core clerkship. How should this information be interpreted? Obviously P&S students perform in the top percentile of the country when it comes to Step 1 and the match list is great, so why the low NMBE averages?

Just curious...
 
MDPhDJourney said:
@mmmcdowe

I'm looking at the pre-matriculation materials uploaded to the courseworks site and I noticed a link to NMBE shelf exam mean scores. According to this sheet the mean shelf exam scores of P&S students was lower than the national average for every core clerkship. How should this information be interpreted? Obviously P&S students perform in the top percentile of the country when it comes to Step 1 and the match list is great, so why the low NMBE averages?

Just curious...
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I'm not sure if you are interpreting it right, because its been a couple years since I looked at it (if its available on the webpage link it and I'll log in). However, if it is lower than average it is because of the fact that clinical performance here is emphasized over NBMEs (especially surgery, fam med, and psych) and so perhaps that has something to do with it.
 
Here's what I was referring to:

https://courseworks.columbia.edu/ac...ces/National Shelf Score comparison 11-12.pdf

mmmcdowe said:
I'm not sure if you are interpreting it right, because its been a couple years since I looked at it (if its available on the webpage link it and I'll log in). However, if it is lower than average it is because of the fact that clinical performance here is emphasized over NBMEs (especially surgery, fam med, and psych) and so perhaps that has something to do with it.
Click to expand...
 
MDPhDJourney said:
Here's what I was referring to:

https://courseworks.columbia.edu/ac...ces/National Shelf Score comparison 11-12.pdf
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Yeah I looking at the standard deviations basically its saying we get the average on everything and the ones with a few points discrepancy are the ones that we have our own homegrown exams on. Like I said before I assume its partially because we place less emphasis on the shelves in general than other schools. Considering our step 2 averages are also in the 240s, it doesn't seem to really imply a lower level of clinical performance among our students but it's really kind of hard to say for certain.
 
do you think theres any hope for a waitlist candidate at this point?
 
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